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Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

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The round-robin and qualification round is over and the real playoffs begin tomorrow in the NHL. Things got spicy over the last week, with upsets and comebacks galore. The draft lottery is tonight, where one of the eliminated teams will get the chance to grab the first-overall pick as a consolation prize. With 15 teams now watching from the (perhaps virtual) golf course, it’s time to run another PHR mailbag.

Our last mailbag was split into two parts, which you can read here and here. In the first, Brian tackled questions such as Jack Eichel’s future in Buffalo and Lindy Ruff’s new coaching gig. The second focused on team finances and the top NHL draft prospects.

You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below with the mailbag running on the weekend.

Snapshots: Spezza, Brind’Amour, Komets

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have plenty to talk about following their qualification round exit at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets, including some pending free agent decisions. One of those scheduled for unrestricted free agency is veteran forward Jason Spezza, who came to his hometown of Toronto on a minimum contract to try and chase a Stanley Cup.

Today, when speaking to reporters including Luke Fox of Sportsnet about his future, Spezza explained that “the fire still burns” and that he hopes to be back in Toronto next season. For being a part-time player at the beginning of the season and seeing fourth-line minutes throughout, Spezza was pretty impressive with nine goals and 25 points in 58 games. He even got in a fight during the postseason, trying anything he could think of to wake up the Maple Leafs.

  • Rod Brind’Amour didn’t like a call in the Carolina Hurricanes-Boston Bruins game earlier today and voiced his displeasure to several reporters including Sara Civian of The Athletic. Brind’Amour got a quick fine from the league for his comments, earning a $25,000 penalty. He also received a conditional fine of $25,000 which will be collected if Brind’Amour has any other “inappropriate behavior” in the next year.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights have signed a new two-year affiliation agreement with the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets, who have been partnered with the organization for the last two years. Fort Wayne was coached this season by Ben Boudreau, son of long time NHL head coach Bruce Boudreau. They went 31-23-6, but weren’t able to take part in the playoffs thanks to the COVID-19 cancelation.

Toronto Maple Leafs Loan Two Prospects Overseas

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are the latest team to send some prospects overseas for European training camp and game action. The team announced Filip Kral and Jesper Lindgren have been loaned to HC Prerov and MODO respectively.

Both players are defensemen that would be extreme long-shots to make the NHL roster next season, but they could be recalled from these loans to play for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL when the minor league season begins.

Kral, 20, saw his CHL career cut short when the season was canceled after posting 49 points in 53 games for the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL. The Czech-born defender played three years for Spokane, developing just outside of the spotlight that was on New Jersey Devils prospect Ty Smith who was busy winning Defenseman of the Year awards. While Kral doesn’t have that kind of upside, his 120 points in 154 games and strong performances in the World Juniors certainly makes him more interesting than the average fifth-round pick.

Lindgren meanwhile played this season for the Marlies, recording nine points in 31 games during his first full season in North America. The 23-year old was a fourth-round selection in 2015 and took his time before coming over, but is also an interesting name to keep an eye on as the Maple Leafs try to find cheap depth for their roster. Lindgren has one year remaining on his entry-level contract and will still be waiver-exempt in 2020-21.

Ville Heinola Loaned To Rauman Lukko

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The Winnipeg Jets will do what so many other teams have done this summer and find a place to play for one of their top prospects. Ville Heinola has been loaned to Rauman Lukko of Finland’s Liiga, with the understanding that he will return to North America when the 2020-21 season begins. Heinola played most of the 2019-20 season with the Finnish club and will get a chance to start his season a little bit earlier than his North American counterparts.

Selected 20th overall in 2019, Heinola made an immediate impact at Jets camp and after several injuries (and disappearances) hit the blue line, he was forced into NHL game action as a teenager. The young puck-mover acquitted himself quite well, recording five points in eight games before going back to the minor leagues and then overseas. It’s unlikely that he can keep up that kind of scoring pace through his first full NHL season, but the Jets believe they’ve found a legitimate top-four option that just needs a little more polish.

By heading to Finland again, he’ll end up at NHL training camp with his legs under him and able to hit the ground running. If that ends up in a roster spot isn’t guaranteed since Heinola’s entry-level contract is eligible to slide again next season, but it certainly could as the Jets try to rebuild their club for another postseason run.

Pittsburgh Penguins Keeping 2020 Pick

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When the Pittsburgh Penguins were eliminated from postseason contention in the qualification round and the NHL held Phase 2 of the draft lottery, GM Jim Rutherford had a decision to make. They could give the Minnesota Wild their 2020 first-round pick, which will be the 15th selection in this fall’s draft, to complete the Jason Zucker trade from earlier this season, or hand over their 2021 first-round pick instead. They had seven days to make that decision, but today Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports the Penguins will in fact keep the 2020 pick and give up their 2021 selection instead.

This decision does not come without risk. The 2021 selection is not protected in any way, meaning even if the pick is first-overall by way of winning the 2021 draft lottery, the Wild would still receive it. That would require the Penguins to miss the playoffs again, something that Rutherford obviously doesn’t count on doing.

It’s not the first time a team made a decision like this. The Ottawa Senators famously decided to hold onto their fourth-overall selection in 2018 and select Brady Tkachuk, giving up their 2019 pick to the Colorado Avalanche in the process. As it turned out, that pick ended up being fourth as well, which the Avalanche used to select Bowen Byram.

Obviously, with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin leading the way, the Penguins feel as though they should be contenders for the Stanley Cup every year, let alone the playoffs. That confidence is held for good reason—the Penguins had made it to the playoffs every year since 2007, Malkin’s first season.

Another interesting thing to keep an eye on might be what Rutherford does with the 2020 pick, now that he has it. 15th would be the highest selection the Penguins have made since 2012 when they picked Derrick Pouliot. If Rutherford believes he can win in 2020-21, there’s nothing stopping him from dealing this pick for some help before the October draft.

Snapshots: Maple Leafs, Penguins, Lundqvist

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The Toronto Maple Leafs held a wide-ranging media availability today, where players and management both expressed their frustration with how the season ended. The Maple Leafs once again failed to win a postseason series, extending a drought that is now up to 15 years. In his part of the availability however, team president Brendan Shanahan told reporters including Kristen Shilton of TSN that he still believed in the people running the program:

I have complete faith in Kyle (Dubas) as a general manager, in Sheldon (Keefe) as a coach and complete confidence in what we’re going to do here in Toronto.

Dubas, who has been on the job since taking over from Lou Lamoriello in 2018, stuck up for several of his players including Mitch Marner, whose criticism from fans over the last few days he called “idiotic.” The Maple Leafs now enter the offseason with a huge chunk of their salary cap tied up in their star forwards and lots of need to improve other areas.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t get much of the same defense from their general manager yesterday when Jim Rutherford said changes would have to be made. Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription required) released his annual examination of which roster players could be the target of Rutherford’s wrath and on their way out this summer. While Justin Schultz—a specific target of Rutherford yesterday—finds himself in the “So Long, Farewell” tier, so does Nick Bjugstad who just a few years ago was a 20-goal scorer with plenty of promise. Bjugstad recorded just one goal and two points in 13 games for the Penguins this season.
  • The New York Rangers aren’t expected to carry three goalies next season and that could mean an end to Henrik Lundqvist’s run with the franchise. That won’t be done without speaking to him first, however, as according to Dan Rosen of NHL.com team president John Davidson already had a “personal discussion” with the legendary goaltender after getting off the plane ride home. Lundqvist has always been loyal to the Rangers, but has another year with an $8.5MM cap hit and has already relinquished the starting role to Igor Shesterkin.

Alexis Lafreniere Will Not Report To QMJHL, Will Not Play In Europe

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Alexis Lafreniere is confident he’ll be playing in New York next season. According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, the consensus first-overall pick has decided that he will not report to training camp for the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL or go overseas to play in Europe for the next few months. Instead, he intends on training individually and preparing for the NHL season.

The 18-year old Lafreniere was always expected to go straight to the NHL after his draft, but the uncertainty of when that 2020-21 season actually will begin created some confusion at how he would handle things. McKenzie did note that if the NHL season doesn’t begin in December or January as expected, he will then review his options.

It is interesting to note that the IIHF is still hoping to hold the 2021 World Junior Championship, scheduled to begin on December 26th in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta. If the NHL season still hasn’t begun by then, perhaps Lafreniere—who will still only be 19 and eligible—could represent Canada one last time at the tournament. He was named MVP of the event this year, scoring 10 points and leading Canada to a gold medal.

In any case, you won’t be seeing Lafreniere in Rimouski this fall as he ends his CHL career with two consecutive Player of the Year awards.

Morning Notes: Trades, Little, Muzzin

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As we start the first round of the playoffs, the offseason has started for nearly half the league. We’ve seen free agents start to take their talents overseas, prospects loaned to European leagues to get their development back on track and the draft lottery determining the order of the top picks this fall. There could be even more moves coming down the pipe, as Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic has confirmed with the league that the 15 eliminated teams are now eligible to make trades.

LeBrun wonders if they will wait for a full 31-team market before pulling the trigger, but there is a difference in how teams can operate during these playoffs. The salary cap, which is usually not set for the following season until after the playoffs end, is fixed and known for 2020-21. That means if teams want to get a headstart on their financials, they could potentially start to pull off some trades and reshape their lineup before the Stanley Cup is handed out.

  • Bryan Little ended up playing just seven games for the Winnipeg Jets this season. After playing in all 82 for each of the last two seasons, Little took a slapshot from Nikolaj Ehlers directly to the head just a few weeks into 2019-20. He suffered a brain injury that kept him out for the rest of the season and even kept him from performing basic physical activity. Little spoke with reporters including Murat Ates of The Athletic today, explaining that for six weeks after the injury he wasn’t even allowed to pick his young daughter up. Little did return to practice at one point before being shut down again, and now just hopes that he’ll be able to play hockey again one day. He’s “not shutting the door” but also needs to be told there’s no risk before returning. Little signed a six-year extension in 2017, which has four years remaining at a $5.29MM cap hit.
  • Jake Muzzin, another player who suffered a scary injury, is feeling much better and is expected to make a full recovery. The Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman was stretchered off the ice last week after an awkward fall and lost feeling in his extremities. After being taken to the hospital he was discharged later that night but did not play again for Toronto. Muzzin was part of the Maple Leafs’ media availability today, a good sign he’s on the road back.

Pittsburgh Penguins Make Changes To Assistant Coaches

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have made sweeping changes to their coaching staff, though Mike Sullivan remains. Sergei Gonchar, Jacques Martin and Mark Recchi, all assistants with the team, will not have their contracts renewed. Penguins GM Jim Rutherford released a statement explaining the decision to fans:

We are in the process of conducting a review of our organization because we have underperformed in the playoffs the last few years. We just thought we needed to change the dynamic of our coaching staff. We have very high standards here in Pittsburgh, and we want to continue competing for Stanley Cups. The message to our fans is that ’We are not rebuilding, we’re re-tooling.’

Sullivan has escaped the executioner for now, but after Rutherford’s comments yesterday about how much change is needed in Pittsburgh you can bet his seat will feel like the surface of the sun in 2020-21.

Gonchar’s departure may be the most surprising, given his close relationship with Evgeni Malkin and history with the franchise. The former NHL defenseman won a Stanley Cup with the club in 2009 and has been with the organization since his retirement in 2015. Gonchar played in more than 1,300 career NHL games and will likely find work before long if he wants it.

In fact, all three coaches have incredible resumes and will likely be snapped up by teams around the league. Martin joined the organization in 2013 after decades of head coaching experience and has been part of championships at basically every level and tournament. Recchi, a Hall of Fame player and sixth on the all-time games played list, could also find himself in a new position quickly. Darren Dreger of TSN suggests that the five-time Stanley Cup winner (three times as a player and twice as a coach) could even move into a management position.

Boston Bruins-Carolina Hurricanes Game One Postponed

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The Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets were locked in a duel for the ages on Tuesday night, playing into a fifth overtime in a game that began at 3:00pm ET – the fourth-longest game of all time. As a result of this historic game and the unprecedented circumstances of the bubble postseason, Game One of the Boston Bruins-Carolina Hurricanes series that was supposed to begin at 8:00pm ET has now been postponed. The league has announced that the two teams will square off at 11:00am ET on Wednesday, which should allow for the Washington Capitals-New York Islanders game to proceed as scheduled at 3:00pm ET.

With Game Two of the Bruins-Hurricanes still scheduled for Thursday night, the teams will open their first round series with back-to-back games. As with every series this year, there is already a back-to-back scheduled, for Games Five and Six on Wednesday and Thursday of next week. As a result, Boston and Carolina could end up playing six games in nine days in this series. Backup goaltenders Jaroslav Halak and James Reimer could very well see a start or two in this series.

Additionally, the Hurricanes long wait has been extended even further. Carolina was the only team to sweep their qualifying round series, knocking out the New York Rangers last Tuesday, August 4. The team had already waited a week, but now will have gone eight days between action. The Bruins meanwhile played their final round robin game on Sunday.

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