NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 22, 2020

by | Nov 22, 2020

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 22, 2020

The latest return-to-play news and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

TORONTO SUN: Steve Simmons believes the infighting between the NHL and NHL Players Association over the league’s requests for higher escrow and salary deferral rates puts the start of the 2020-21 season into question. He feels league commissioner Gary Bettman faces a difficult challenge, attempting to negotiate during a pandemic with the owners angry and divided and the players unwilling to budge over further cuts to their salaries.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman (NHL.com).

  NEWSDAY: Andrew Gross suggests additional salary deferral could be a way out of this mess despite the initial shock and anger from the players. Unlike escrow, deferrals will at some point find their way back to the players. Another is the desire by Bettman and the PA to start the season as soon as possible.

The league and PA prefer a start date of Jan. 1. With the clock ticking, however, Gross thinks that might have to be pushed back to around Feb. 1. He feels a realistic start date for the season should become clearer by the end of the upcoming American Thanksgiving weekend.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: We can probably forget about a Jan. 1 start to the season if an agreement between the league and the PA isn’t reached by Monday, Nov, 30. Many players still haven’t joined their teams. The league wants a 14-day training camp leading up to the start of the season, with last season’s seven non-playoff clubs getting an additional seven-to-10 days as promised.

ESPN.COM: A recent survey of American sports fans indicates two-thirds of the respondents will await the arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine before returning to arenas and stadiums.

THE MERCURY NEWS: San Jose Sharks president Jonathan Becher said the club will have to hold its training camp outside of Santa Clara county if local health officials won’t allow players to skate in large numbers at its training facility in San Jose.

NBC SPORTS CHICAGO: Blackhawks star Patrick Kane and his girlfriend Amanda recently announced the birth of their first child. Patrick Timothy Kane III arrived on Nov. 12.

TSN: Fred Saskamoose, one of the first Indigenous players to skate in the NHL, tested positive for COVID-19 and has been hospitalized. He played 11 games with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1953-54. Following his playing career, he was extensively involved in developing sports programs for Indigenous youth. Saskamoose was named to the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and received the Order of Canada in 2017.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Best wishes to Saskamoose for a speedy recovery.










NHL Rumor Mill – November 21, 2020

by | Nov 21, 2020

NHL Rumor Mill – November 21, 2020

The latest on Oliver Ekman-Larsson and an update on the Capitals in today’s NHL rumor mill.

ARIZONA REPUBLIC: Jose M. Romero reports Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson has returned to Arizona and hopes to join a group of his teammates on Monday working out at Gila River Arena. He maintains he’s “really glad” he’s a Coyote, which is why he signed his eight-year contract with the club. However, the 29-year-old defenseman acknowledged it’s been a difficult offseason after he was part of trade talks between the Coyotes and the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks.

Arizona Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson (NHL Images).

Ekman-Larsson has a full no-movement clause but only agreed to waive it for the Bruins and Canucks. The Coyotes’ efforts to trade him fell through when a deal couldn’t be reached with either club before his self-imposed deadline on Oct. 9.

The long-time Coyotes blueliner said he understood this was a business decision. He denied any suggestion of tension with new general manager Bill Armstrong and doesn’t expect any strain going forward with their relationship.

AZCOYOTESINSIDER: Craig Morgan reports Ekman-Larsson explained why he choose Boston and Vancouver. He said the Bruins had an interest in him before he signed his current contract. He also spent a lot of time in Boston when he played in Portland, Maine during the 2012-13 lockout. His Swedish friends enjoyed playing and living in Vancouver plus his agent lives there. He also believes the Canucks have a promising young team.

Asked if he envisioned the Coyotes approaching him again about a trade, Ekman-Larsson left that up to Armstrong. He maintains he’s happy in Arizona but would deal with that issue if it came up again. He repeated he has no issue with what recently went down but expects at some point he’ll sit down with management and talk it through. Ekman-Larsson defended Armstrong, pointing out he arrived at a tough time for the club and had a job to do.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: A deal couldn’t be reached sending Ekman-Larsson to Boston or Vancouver because Armstrong understandably set a high asking price. It’s also believed the Coyotes weren’t willing to absorb part of the blueliner’s $8.25 million annual salary-cap hit. Perhaps the Bruins or Canucks would’ve taken on his full cap hit during a normal offseason, especially if the salary cap rose to between $84 million and $88 million as projected before the pandemic.

Ekman-Larsson’s name could resurface in the rumor mill if the Coyotes struggle during the coming season or if ownership wants to shed more salary. However, his no-movement clause will continue to give him full control over the situation. His annual average value through 2026-27 will also make him very difficult to move, especially if the Coyotes remain reluctant to pick up part of it to facilitate a trade.

NBC SPORTS WASHINGTON: J.J. Regan recently examined the Capitals’ options to bring in a third-line winger. He expects Daniel Sprong is the strongest candidate if they look to promote from within.

If the Capitals look to external options, their limited cap space (less than $1.5 million) means they could afford two players at barely over the league’s minimum salary. If they can free up some cap room, free agents such as Conor Sheary, Andreas Athanasiou and Melker Karlsson could be realistic possibilities.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Regan believes the Capitals could move a defenseman, such as Nick Jensen, to a club with salary-cap space (such as Detroit or New Jersey) to free up room to add via free agency. The Wings need blueline depth but they could also squeeze the Capitals to include a sweetener.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 21, 2020

by | Nov 21, 2020

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 21, 2020

The latest return-to-play news plus updates on Joe Thornton, Braden Holtby, Anton Khudobin and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

TORONTO SUN: Lance Hornby reports Canadian NHL clubs could be affected if provincial borders close for non-essential travel. British Columbia premier John Horgan recently called upon the federal government to follow his provinces’ lead in discouraging inter-provincial travel.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Canadian teams are located in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and BC. The NHL is considering having an all-Canadian division for this season due to the pandemic as those clubs would have difficulty traveling across the Canada-US border with current restrictions in place. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday he won’t force the closure of provincial borders. However, if provinces decide to do it themselves, he would support it.

The NHL hopes to start the 2020-21 season on Jan. 1, but its push for the NHLPA to accept further salary cuts could close the negotiation window. Hornby cites a source telling Boston Hockey Now’s Joe Haggerty a mid-January return was more likely as the players could object to training camp during the Christmas holiday.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr reportedly continue holding daily discussions. The salary issue upset the players and generated plenty of headlines, but both sides have not released public statements on the matter nor have they been sniping at each other through the media.

Toronto Maple Leafs center Joe Thornton (NHL Images).

Perhaps cooler heads are prevailing here or it’s the calm before another labor storm. Nevertheless, there’s a belief the two sides should be able to work through the salary issue. They’ll have to hammer out an agreement by Nov. 30 at the latest to maintain their Jan. 1 season-opening timeline.

An outbreak of COVID-19 among players for Davos of the Swiss League has sidelined Joe Thornton. “The whole team is in quarantine after five players, not known to include Thornton, tested positive the past few days,” writes Hornby. Thornton, who recently signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, is playing for Davos while awaiting the start of the NHL season.

Speaking of Thornton, SPORTSNET’S Luke Fox reports Davos general manager Raeto Raffainer believes the 41-year-old center’s experience, hockey smarts and leadership will benefit the Leafs in whatever role they choose for him. Thornton has six points in his first six games with Davos.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Skating in a European pro league should give Thornton a competitive edge whenever the NHL starts up this season.

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Braden Holtby had some difficulty getting across the US border into Canada with his family’s two pet tortoises. It’s since been resolved after securing the necessary export papers from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Things kind of slowed to a crawl for a while there for Holtby. See, because he has tortoises and they crawl and, okay, I’ll stop now…

NHL.COM: Dallas Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin is expected to be ready for training camp following surgery last month to repair a nerve issue in his right arm.

OTTAWA CITIZEN: Bruce Garrioch recently reported Anders Nilsson is still plagued by concussion symptoms, putting his availability for the coming season into jeopardy. The 30-year-old goaltender’s been sidelined since suffering the injury on Dec. 16.

TRIBLIVE.COM: Former NHL winger Ken Schinkel passed away at age 87. He spent 12 seasons in the NHL from 1959-60 to 1972-73. His first six seasons were with the New York Rangers until selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1967 NHL expansion draft at age 35. He enjoyed his best NHL seasons with the Penguins, with three 45-plus point campaigns. Schinkel went on to coach the Penguins for parts of four seasons and held a variety of front-office roles with the club before joining the Hartford Whalers in 1989.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: My condolences to Schinkel’s family, friends and former teammates.

 










Latest Bruins and Ducks Speculation in NHL Rumor Roundup

by | Nov 20, 2020

Latest Bruins and Ducks Speculation in NHL Rumor Roundup

 










NHL Rumor Mill – November 20, 2020

by | Nov 20, 2020

NHL Rumor Mill – November 20, 2020

A look at some predicted destinations for the top remaining UFAs in today’s NHL rumor mill.

THE SCORE: Josh Wegman recently predicted destinations for the top remaining NHL unrestricted free agents.

Would Mike Hoffman be a good fit with the Los Angeles Kings? (NHL Images)

Wegman last month predicted the Los Angeles Kings as a destination for winger Mike Hoffman, considering him a good fit alongside Anze Kopitar on their top line. He suggested a four-year deal worth $5.5 million annually.

SPECTOR’ S NOTE: With Cap Friendly indicating the Kings have $13.6 million in cap space, they can easily afford Hoffman. However, I doubt general manager Rob Blake would bring a 30-year-old winger to a rebuilding roster on a multi-year deal.

Hoffman is reportedly willing to consider a one-year deal for between $5.5 million and $6.5 million. Maybe Blake would be interested in a one-year contract if he can get Hoffman at a lower rate and then flip him for futures at the trade deadline.

Wegman also suggested Anthony Duclair for the Kings. While his defensive game leaves something to be desire, his abilities could prove useful in offensive-zone starts and on the power play for a club that struggled to score last season.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The 25-year-old Duclair could be a better fit with the younger Kings and much more affordable than Hoffman. His defensive play and streaky scoring, however, are areas of concern here.

Erik Haula could address the San Jose Sharks’ lack of bottom-six depth at center. He wouldn’t be overly expensive for the Sharks, who have $2.3 million in cap space. While injuries hampered him over the last two seasons, he tallied 29 goals and 26 assists in his last full campaign in 2017-18.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Haula could be a good, affordable short-term investment as a third-line center in San Jose. Given his injury history and age (29), the Sharks probably wouldn’t invest beyond one year.

The Florida Panthers could use an experienced winger like Mikael Granlund to provide much-needed secondary scoring. He’s coming off a down performance last season with the Nashville Predators but averaged 63 points per campaign in the three previous seasons. He’d be guaranteed second-line minutes with the Panthers.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: There’s speculation the Panthers could be trying to bring back Hoffman. Nevertheless, Granlund’s low production last season and the current economic situation would work in their favor here. A one-year deal for between $3.5 – $4 million might get it done.

Wegman suggests Andreas Athanasiou as a middle-six forward option for the Nashville Predators. The speedy 26-year-old winger didn’t play well last season with Detroit and Edmonton but he tallied 30 goals with the Red Wings in 2018-19.

SPECTOR’ S NOTE: I think the Predators are playing the waiting game with Hoffman hoping to land him for a lower price. If that’s not possible, maybe they’ll take a chance on Athanasiou or Duclair on a low-cost one-year contract.

Manitoba native Travis Hamonic could be a perfect fit with the Winnipeg Jets. The 30-year-old defenseman would play close to home and help improve the Jets’ porous blueline. While they’re listed as not having any cap space, they could get some wiggle room by placing center Bryan Little ($5.29 million cap hit) on long-term injury reserve.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hamonic and the Jets could be waiting to see how things shake out with Little before reaching an agreement. Then again, maybe the Jets have no interest in him.

Wegman suggests Sami Vatanen could be the best veteran free-agent defense option available to the Philadelphia Flyers, who didn’t bring in a suitable replacement for recently retired Matt Niskanen. The 29-year-old Vatanen has played 21 minutes per game in recent years and would give the Flyers a third right-handed shot.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher could surprise us, but I get the impression Erik Gustafsson will be his only UFA signing this year.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 20, 2020

by | Nov 20, 2020

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 20, 2020

The fallout from the league’s request to the players for increased escrow and salary deferral rates in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

THE ATHLETIC: Pierre LeBrun reports return-to-play talks between the NHL and NHLPA have reached a delicate stage following the league’s request for increased escrow rates over the final three seasons of the recent CBA extension and increased salary deferral for 2020-21.

Staging the season would keep the NHL’s brand alive. The league’s requests are essentially because NHL owners are hurting, perhaps more than they thought they would, especially facing reduced revenue because of fewer games and empty or near-empty arenas.

Hockey-related revenue is divided 50-50 between the owners and the players. If the players receive more than 50 percent in 2020-21, they’ll have to pay back that overage at some point.

LeBrun notes the league isn’t asking to prorate players’ salaries for 2020-21. Proration would mean money taken from the players they would never see again, whereas deferral means they would receive it at a later date.

Nevertheless, the NHLPA wasn’t happy with the league’s requests coming only four months after an agreement was reached on a CBA extension that took revenue losses into account. They feel the league would reject any PA request for adjustments to the extension if the roles were reversed.

LeBrun believes the NHL and NHLPA can reach an agreement here. He suspects the PA will agree to tweak some of the salary deferrals but not at the league’s requested rate, provided the players get something in return.

SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman reports sources claim the league made two requests. The first was for increased salary deferral to 20 percent and escrow to 25 percent for 2020-21. The second was for deferred compensation for 2021-22 to be raised to 26 percent, with escrow rates increased from six percent to between 8.5 – 9 percent for the final three years of the CBA extension.

There were several problems with this for the PA. Some members wondered why the agreement is being changed so soon. Some pointed out they’ve had to live with deals they didn’t like in the past. Some point out if they agree to this, it could happen again.

Part of what’s behind the players’ anger is some of them recently signed contracts that were structured to take advantage of lower escrow over the final years of the CBA.

Like LeBrun, Friedman believes the two sides can reach an agreement as both sides are keen to play as soon as possible. However, the league’s requests knocked negotiations off-course. He also suggested the players seek an expanded playoff format in exchange for accepting alterations to the agreement as it would increase revenues.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: Ken Campbell points out how the league’s proposals would affect player salaries. A player earning $1 million would see his gross pay reduced to $720K under the current agreement. The league’s recent requests would reduce his pay to $592K. That’s before deductions such as taxes and agent fees.

One player agent said the league is offering no concessions to the players. “They get to play,” he said, “That’ll be the give-back.”

Campbell acknowledged the owners are being affected by the pandemic in terms of hockey revenue and other areas of their business. However, they’re getting $650 million in expansion money, none of which goes to the players. They can also borrow money at historically low interest rates to get them through this period. They could also see revenue significantly improve once a vaccine is developed and fans return to the games. The players, on the other hand, lose money now that they probably won’t get back.

If the players refuse to budge, one player agent suggested to Campbell that the owners could trigger Section 17 of the standard player contract that would allow the league to adjust salary based on situations beyond the league’s contract. However, that could trigger a lawsuit.

Campbell also feels this could eventually be resolved, but it could erode whatever goodwill existed between the owners and players that led to the current CBA extension.

ESPN.COM: Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski report when the CBA extension was negotiated, both sides presented best, moderate and worst-case financial outlook scenarios, with the worst case being a full season without fans. The extension was negotiated during the pandemic based on those scenarios. One NHLPA member said the league will have to have to come up with something good as a giveback for the players to accept its recent proposals.

Sources say daily discussions are ongoing between NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr. If the season is to start on Jan.1, teams will need two weeks of training camp leading up to that, with last season’s seven non-playoff clubs promised an additional week.

Players on Canadian teams returning to their clubs require a 14-day quarantine period. The league and PA are in discussions with local and provincial health authorities to see if accommodations can be made, such as having players serve their quarantine while also training.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: I understand the league’s side given the course of this pandemic and its effects upon hockey-related revenue. It’s the way they’ve gone about it, however, that raised hackles among the players. Based on these reports, I believe the players’ reaction is justified.

The league agreed to the extension knowing full well what the worst-case scenario could be. The owners knew what they were getting into here.

So did the players. They agreed to a higher fixed rate of escrow over the first three years of the extension with the promise of a lower rate over the final three years when revenue is expected to improve. That’s money they won’t ever get back. They also agreed to defer part of their salary for next season at a set rate.

Years of playing hardball with the PA are coming back to haunt the league. The players have steadily given back over the past 15 years, as their share of HRR dropped from 74 percent in 2004 to 57 percent following a season-killing lockout, to 50 percent following the 2012-13 lockout. They accepted another reduction under the recent extension with a high escrow rate for this season.

Now, with the ink barely dry on the CBA extension, one that took into account the worst-case scenario, they’re being asked for another giveback without anything in return other than they get to play in 2021. Getting the players to agree to that requires a significant sweetener beyond being able to go to work in a shortened schedule for less money.

Because the players can receive no more than 50 percent of HRR, they must eventually offset any overage for the upcoming season. That’s something that could have been discussed between the two sides after the 2020-21 season is completed when the full amount of the overage has been determined. If the league remains insistent on tweaking those rates now, the owners must come up with a substantial give-back to the players as an enticement.