NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 29, 2020

by | May 29, 2020

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 29, 2020

Sabres captain Jack Eichel grows weary of constant losing, four regular-season awards are handed out, the latest updates on the league’s return-to-play format, and much more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

EICHEL AND RISTOLAINEN TIRED OF LOSING IN BUFFALO.

Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel (Photo via NHL Images).

WGR 550: Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen are growing weary of missing the playoffs. Eichel, a five-year NHL veteran who has yet to make a post-season appearance, said he’s “fed up with the losing”. Ristolainen, a seven-year veteran, said he’s never been part of a winning culture in Buffalo. Both players, however, praised first-year coach Ralph Krueger and his staff for the improvements the club made this season despite missing the playoffs.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sabres have been mismanaged for years, and it’s taking a toll on Eichel and Ristolainen. While I don’t believe Eichel will demand a trade in this off-season, his patience probably isn’t limitless. He could decide his NHL future lies elsewhere if the Sabres fail to improve over the next couple of seasons.

Ristolainen, on the other hand, could be playing elsewhere whenever next season begins. I’ll have more on that in the Rumors section.

FOUR NHL AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED.

NHL.COM: With the regular season over, the NHL released a list of four award winners. Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl is the winner of the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s points leader (110). Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin and Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak share the Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy as the leading goalscorers (48 each).

Bruins goaltenders Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak share the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals (174), while the Bruins won the Presidents’ Trophy for the best overall record with 44 wins.

UPDATES ON NHL’S RETURN-TO-PLAY FORMAT

SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman reports the NHL told the NHL Players’ Association that Phase 3 of its return-to-play plan, which includes training camps, won’t begin before July 10. The league hopes to begin Phase 2, which includes small group workouts at team facilities, as early as next week.

TSN: Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s top health official, said proposals are being reviewed from sports leagues (including the NHL) to resume play, but the mandatory 14-day quarantine for people entering the country remains in place for now. Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver are among 10 cities on the NHL’s shortlist of two host locations for its 24-team playoff tournament. Many NHL players are still in Europe and the United States.

Pierre LeBrun reports Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning suggested holding training camps in the United States because of Canada’s current border guidelines. Many players, such as Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews and goalie Frederik Andersen, are working out in the US and won’t be in a big hurry to return to Canada and undergo a 14-day quarantine before they can resume training.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The United States deemed professional athletes and their training staff as essential workers, making it easier for players in Canada and Europe to travel into that country for training camps.

Darren Dreger reports the NHL and NHLPA are negotiating to push the June 1 deadline for signing entry-level players to July 1. There’s also a debate between the league and the PA over allowing players recently signed to entry-level contracts (such as Montreal’s Alexander Romanov) to take part in the playoff tournament.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: To no one’s surprise, the league is against it while the PA is for it.

Bob McKenzie reports Alexis Lafreniere, considered to be the top prospect in this year’s NHL draft, is considering all his options for next season. That could include perhaps playing in Europe if the NHL, AHL, or CHL 2020-21 seasons haven’t begun by this fall.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: If he does play in Europe this fall you can bet his contract will contain an out-clause enabling him to return to the NHL whenever the puck drops on the ’20-’21 season.

LeBrun reports the seven teams not eligible to participate in the 24-team playoff format can begin making trades with each other. He points out non-playoff clubs usually wait until closer to the draft to begin dealing, but if there’s a fit among those seven teams for whatever reason, they can go ahead.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: I’ll have more on this later today in the Rumor section.

NEW YORK POST: Rangers rookie winger Kaapo Kakko might not be able to participate in the playoff tournament. Kakko is a type-1 diabetic and has a higher-than-normal risk of contracting COVID-19. Rangers president John Davidson said they’ll listen to their medical people to determine if Kakko will be able to play.

SPORTSNET: In his latest “31 Thoughts” column, Elliotte Friedman reported collective bargaining talks between the league and the PA are expected to ramp up enough for the latter to form a negotiating committee. Ryan Miller and Ron Hainsey remain active from the 2012-13 version.

Costs for COVID-19 testing during the playoff tournament could cost as much as $3 million.

Friedman thinks there’s a decent chance the tournament could be re-seeded following the qualifying round instead of going to a bracket format.

The New Jersey Devils are believed to be considering at least four candidates for their head coaching job. Current interim coach Alain Nasreddine, along with Gerard Gallant, Peter Laviolette, and John Stevens, are believed to be in the running.

The Chicago Blackhawks could be making some cuts to the professional scouting department.

TSN: Player agent Mike Liut is advising any player who’ll listen to review their disability insurance before they return to the ice.

IN OTHER NEWS…

LAS VEGAS SUN: The Golden Knights announced their new AHL affiliate will be named the Henderson Silver Knights.

OTTAWA SUN: Senators prospect center Josh Norris, 20, was selected as the AHL’s rookie of the year for 2019-20.










Five NHL Teams That Could Benefit By The Proposed 24-Team Playoff Format

by | May 28, 2020

Five NHL Teams That Could Benefit By The Proposed 24-Team Playoff Format

 










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 27, 2020

by | May 27, 2020

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 27, 2020

Highlights of the league’s return-to-play plan, the updated draft lottery procedure, and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

NHL OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES RETURN-TO-PLAY PLAN

NHL.COM: The NHL yesterday formally announced its’ return-to-play plan with a 24-team tournament to determine the 2020 Stanley Cup champion. the format was approved by a 29-2 vote by the NHL Players’ Association executive board on Friday.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman (Photo via NHL.com).

The tournament will open with a 16-team, best-of-five play-in round, while the top-four teams in each conference will compete in a three-game round-robin to determine their seeding for the playoffs. The 12 qualifying teams in each conference were determined by points percentage.

These rounds will be played at two hub cities, one for each conference. The candidates for those cities include Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Vancouver.

League commissioner Gary Bettman said the final selection of the hub cities and when play can begin depends on COVID-19 conditions, testing ability, and government regulations. For example, Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver would be ruled out as hub cities if the Canadian government maintains its 14-day self-quarantine for non-essential border travel.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports Las Vegas is believed to be a “near lock” as one of the hub cities. NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger reported the U.S. Acting Director of Homeland Security has signed an order indicating professional athletes are considered essential workers. According to TSN’s Rick Westhead, however, the Canadian government has yet to determine if it’ll follow suit.

Bettman said it’s not required to have Eastern Conference clubs play in an Eastern hub or Western Conference teams to play in a Western hub. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly indicated the league might not allow a team to play in its own city to avoid the appearance of competitive advantage.

Training camps could open in mid-July as part of Phase 3 return-to-play plan. Bettman estimated the games could begin sometime this summer and carry on into early autumn. Teams will be limited to 50 personnel in their traveling parties and will strictly limit the number of support staff.

Bettman stressed the health and safety of the players, coaches, essential support staff, and communities remain the priority.

SPORTSNET: Bettman said the 2019-20 regular season is considered to be over for purposes of record-keeping and awards.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: That means the Boston Bruins are the winners of the 2019-20 Presidents’ Trophy. Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has won the Art Ross Trophy (becoming the first German-born player to do so), while Washington’s Alex Ovechkin and Boston’s David Pastrnak will share the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy with the most goals this season (48).

He also indicated it hasn’t been decided if the winners of the qualifying round will be re-seeded for the playoff rounds, or if it will follow a bracket-style format. The qualifying round would be as follows:

Eastern Conference (standings seeding in brackets)

(5)Pittsburgh vs Montreal (12)

(6 )Carolina vs NY Rangers (11)

(7)NY Islanders vs Florida Panthers (10)

(8)Toronto vs Columbus (9)

Western Conference

(5)Edmonton vs Chicago (12)

(6)Nashville vs Arizona (11)

(7)Vancouver vs Minnesota (10)

(8)Calgary vs Winnipeg (9)

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The league’s formal announcement of the 24-team tournament generated plenty of buzz among hockey fans. While this is a step toward returning to action, plenty of potential obstacles must be overcome before this tournament takes place. As TSN’s Pierre LeBrun tweeted, the league and the PA continue to negotiate about the location of the hub cities, testing, protocols, etc.

Responding to questions from fans on Sportsnet, Bettman suggested the start of the 2020-21 season could be pushed ahead to November or December.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: Ken Campbell reports this plan will cost the league tens of millions of dollars and involve 30,000 COVID-19 tests. Bettman indicated the league’s medical advisors said that by the time they’re doing that testing over the summer, it will be a relatively insignificant number compared to the tests that will be available.

The league stated a single positive test or several isolated positives during tournament won’t shut things down, but weren’t as optimistic in the event of a team suffering a COVID-19 outbreak.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: One or two players with positive tests can be isolated, but I’m assuming that means their teammates would have to go into self-quarantine. If not, there’s a real risk of the virus spreading quickly among their teammates and to other clubs they’ve faced in the tournament.

THE ATHLETIC‘s Michael Russo reported via Twitter that NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league’s position remains no contracts can be signed for 2019-20. However, the issues remain to be resolved with the NHLPA.

NHL DRAFT LOTTERY PROTOCOL REVEALED

NHL.COM: The league also announced the protocol for the 2020 NHL Draft, with the first phase slated for June 26. That phase will consist of three drawings and include the seven teams (Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres) that didn’t qualify for the 24-team playoff tournament, plus eight placeholder spots for the eight clubs that fail to advance in the tournament’s play-in round. The lottery odds for those clubs were determined by their points percentage in the final standings

Detroit Red Wings — (.275) 18.5 percent chance for No. 1 pick

Ottawa Senators — (.437) 13.5 percent

Ottawa Senators (from San Jose Sharks, .450) — 11.5 percent

Los Angeles Kings — (.457) 9.5 percent

Anaheim Ducks — (.472) 8.5 percent

New Jersey Devils — (.493) 7.5 percent

Buffalo Sabres — (.493) 6.5 percent

Qualifying Round Team A — 6.0 percent

Qualifying Round Team B — 5.0 percent

Qualifying Round Team C — 3.5 percent

Qualifying Round Team D — 3.0 percent

Qualifying Round Team E — 2.5 percent

Qualifying Round Team F — 2.0 percent

Qualifying Round Team G — 1.5 percent

Qualifying Round Team H — 1.0 percent

After the first drawing, the odds for the remaining teams “will increase on a proportionate basis for the second drawing, and again for the third drawing, based on which team wins the second drawing.”

THE HOCKEY NEWS: Ryan Kennedy provides a detailed breakdown of how the draft lottery will unfold through each phase to determine the final placements. He noted this format will eliminate the possibility of the Stanley Cup champion also winning the draft lottery.

The Red Wings still have the best odds of winning the lottery, but there’s a real possibility the Senators, holding the second and third overall picks, could also win it. A club eliminated from the play-in round could also have a chance (albeit slim) of winning the lottery.  

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Depending on the outcome of the play-in round, determining those placeholders spots can get complicated. Kennedy’s breakdown provides a clearer picture.

IN OTHER NEWS…

WGR 550: Buffalo Sabres co-owner Kim Pegula announced Jason Botterill will remain general manager for 2020-21.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Rather curious timing by Pegula, given all the news coming down from the league yesterday. Coincidence? You make the call!

LAS VEGAS SUN: The Golden Knights will unveil the new name and logo of its AHL affiliate on Thursday. Earlier this season, they purchase the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage with the intent of moving it to Henderson, Nevada.










NHL Free Agents & Trade Candidates – Vegas Golden Knights

by | May 22, 2020

NHL Free Agents & Trade Candidates – Vegas Golden Knights

 










NHL Rumor Mill – May 7, 2020

by | May 7, 2020

NHL Rumor Mill – May 7, 2020

Next season’s salary cap could affect the Golden Knights’ roster, Jesse Puljujarvi could become a more attractive trade candidate, and an early draft will affect the Canadiens’ efforts to rebuild. Check out the details in today’s NHL rumor mill.

THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS AND NEXT SEASON’S SALARY CAP

THE ATHLETIC (subscription required): Jesse Granger recently examined how the salary cap remaining around $81.5 million for 2020-21 could affect the Vegas Golden Knights roster. They have over $72 million already invested in 17 players, with over $46 million committed to 10 forwards, over $20 million in six defensemen, and $7 million invested in goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

A flat salary cap could hamper the Vegas Golden Knights’ potential effort to re-sign goalie Robin Lehner (Photo via NHL Images).

If the Golden Knights hope to re-sign free-agent goalie Robin Lehner, they’ll have to shed salary unless he agrees to a significant hometown discount. If the NHL implements compliance buyouts this off-season, Granger doesn’t think they’d use it on key players like Fleury, Paul Stastny, or Max Pacioretty. If worst came to worst, they still have significant trade value. Should the cap decline, the Knights would have to let Lehner walk or shed a top-six forward.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Most reports I’ve read and heard indicate the NHL and NHL Players’ Association don’t intend to let the cap decline. It’s believed they’ll maintain it at $81.5 million and see what next season’s revenue looks like. Under that scenario, we might not see compliance buyouts. 

I don’t see how the Golden Knights can afford Lehner under a flat cap. After getting one-year contracts from the New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks, he’ll want a lucrative long-term deal this time around. They’ll have to shed one of their forwards in a cost-cutting deal or attempt to move Fleury if they intend to re-sign Lehner.  

COULD THE OILERS MOVE PULJUJARVI IN AN EARLY DRAFT?

EDMONTON JOURNAL: David Staples cited Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer and Sportsnet’s Mark Spector speculating Jesse Puljujarvi’s trade value could increase if the NHL stages an early draft next month. Under that proposed scenario, the league could allow draft picks, prospects, and players outside the league whose rights remain owned by NHL clubs (like Puljujarvi) to be traded during the draft.

Puljujarvi spent this season in Finland after requesting a trade from the Oilers. He remains a restricted free agent without arbitration rights. With no NHL veterans available as trade bait during the draft, the young winger could be more valuable to clubs seeking a second- or third-line winger next season, especially those with a surplus of draft picks in this year’s draft.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: We can’t dismiss that possibility. Interested teams might prefer seeing Puljujarvi play next season before taking a chance on him. Nevertheless, a club with lots of picks in this year’s draft, like the Ottawa Senators or Montreal Canadiens, might be willing to take the gamble if they can sign him to an affordable one-year deal. 

LATEST ON THE CANADIENS

THE ATHLETIC (subscription required): Arpon Basu believes holding the draft before resuming the season throws a monkey wrench into Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin’s efforts to retool his roster. Under a normal draft, Bergevin could peddle those picks to cap-strapped clubs looking to shed salary.

The Canadiens have 14 picks in this year’s draft and had 21 in the last two years. They face having 35 prospects enter their system, pushing them very close to the league maximum of 50 players under contract in a given season. 

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Like most observers, I believe Bergevin loaded up with draft picks in this year’s draft to use some of them as trade bait to bolster his roster for next season. Those deals won’t be possible if the draft is held before the season resumes in July unless the league allows for a second trade deadline. Bergevin could use the prospects he selects as trade candidates, but draft picks tend to be more attractive than prospects in the trade market. 










NHL Rumor Mill – April 30, 2020

by | Apr 30, 2020

NHL Rumor Mill – April 30, 2020

Check out recent speculation on the Bruins, Golden Knights, and Hurricanes in today’s NHL rumor mill.

WHICH BRUINS COULD BE ON THE MOVE FOLLOWING THIS SEASON?

THE ATHLETIC (subscription required): Joe McDonald believes Torey Krug should be among the Boston Bruins’ untouchables, but the 29-year-old defenseman unrestricted free agent status at season’s end creates uncertainty over his future in Boston. Krug expressed his desire to remain a Bruin, but McDonald believes he’ll have to accept a hometown discount. Krug recently said there have been no contract discussions because nobody knows what the financial implications will be for the league.

McDonald also believes pending UFAs Jaroslav Halak and Kevan Miller could be on the move. John Moore‘s spot on the blueline is up in the air because of the Bruins’ growing blueline depth. UFA center Joakim Nordstrom could also be a goner.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Krug’s future with the Bruins will remain a hot topic in the rumor mill until the NHL and NHLPA work out next season’s salary cap. That hometown discount could be around $6.5 million annually, but Krug would get more on the open market. That, of course, is assuming the cap remains at $81.5 million.

Could the Vegas Golden Knights try to re-sign Robin Lehner? (Photo via NHL Images)

This year’s UFA class could find it difficult getting hefty pay raises in the off-season. Nevertheless, clubs with plenty of salary-cap space could be willing to pay big bucks for a top free agent like Krug.

COULD A CHANGE BE COMING IN THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS’ NET?

NBC SPORTS: James O’Brien recently mused over the plight of the Vegas Golden Knights’ goaltending. They acquired Robin Lehner at the trade deadline, prompting O’Brien to wonder if they could try to keep him following this season. “Doing so would require some juggling, possibly including trying to convince MAF (Marc-Andre Fleury) to accept a trade … but it’s something the Golden Knights should at least consider.”

SPECTOR’S NOTE: O’Brien’s not the first pundit to speculate about the Golden Knights re-signing Lehner and shopping Fleury. If that scenario isn’t possible, they could dip into the UFA market for a more affordable, short-term backup option for Fleury. Halak, Anton Khudobin, Thomas Greiss, and Cam Talbot are among those potentially available.

LATEST ON THE HURRICANES FREE AGENTS

THE ATHLETIC (subscription required): Sara Civian speculates the Carolina Hurricanes could part ways with recently-acquired defenseman Sami Vatanen. Their acquisition of Brady Skjei could mean Joel Edmundson won’t be back, but she doesn’t rule out the Canes re-signing blueliner Trevor van Riemsdyk for the right price.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Vatanen was meant to be a rental player with Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce sidelined in late-February. I doubt he’s part of their plans beyond this season. I don’t see Edmundson returning unless he accepts less money on a short-term deal or van Riemsdyk tests the market.