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Snapshots: Lehner, Babcock, Zetterberg

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • Robin Lehner is coming to Buffalo Sabres’ camp 40lbs lighter than last season, according to Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. The Swedish goaltender suffered a high ankle in the team’s opening night game last season and picked up bad habits that contributed to him weighing-in at 240lbs when he returned. Lehner was poised to be the Sabres starter last year before the injury. The Sabres paid a stiff price for him and David Legwand, sending the Ottawa Senators the 21st overall pick in the 2015 Entry Draft (Colin White) in return. Lehner underwent season-ending surgery in March last year to fix the lingering ankle injury, but feels 100% going into camp. He seems to be the clear #1 this year after Chad Johnson signed with Calgary. The Sabres acquired RFA Anders Nilsson from the Blues for a 5th round draft this offseason before re-signing him to a one-year, $1MM deal, but he is not expected to compete for the starting job.
  • The Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons offhandedly revealed that Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg had issues with head coach Mike Babcock while all three were with the Detroit Red Wings. Simmons stated that both players said in their end-of-season exit interviews that they would not re-sign if Mike Babcock remained.  The tidbit’s veracity, however, is in question. Zetterberg signed his last contract in 2009, after the Red Wings lost in the Finals and one year removed from their own Stanley Cup victory, and that contract doesn’t expire until 2021. Datsyuk re-signed his contract at the end of the 2013 season—a contract that expires at the end of this year. It seems improbable that Zetterberg would opine about something far off in the future, or that Datsyuk would complain but re-sign anyways.
  • Speaking of Henrik Zetterberg, the Detroit forward and Swedish veteran spoke to the Windsor Star’s Bob Duff about leaving the Swedish World Cup team this fall. Zetterberg suffered a knee injury and pulled out of the tournament earlier this month. He told Duff that he made the right decision because he could not expect to play through the injury and then arrive at Detroit’s camp in good health. Zetterberg is just one of many players this fall to pull out of the World Cup of Hockey as to not aggravate injuries and risk missing games in the NHL.

New Goalie Equipment Rules For 2016-17 Season

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The NHL will have at least one new goaltending equipment restriction this season: slimmer hockey pants. 2016-17 was supposed to usher in a new era of streamlined goaltending equipment, but manufacturer delays pushed those changes back until further notice. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly stated on SiriusXM Radio, however, that the new pants regulation may be implemented as early as Opening Night.

For years smaller or slimmer goalies got away with wearing bigger pants because the NHL set a maximum size that accommodated its biggest goalies. That meant that smaller goalies could wear bigger pants than necessary to cover more space. It was not uncommon for the upper part of the pant to extend half a foot above normal height, or the lower portion to sag and block off part of the five hole. Because today’s goaltending butterfly style depends on covering as much of the net as possible, goalies looking for any edge turned to oversized equipment.

Now, the pants are streamlined to be smaller and tighter. The point is to maximize protection as efficiently as possible without adding unnecessary net-hiding bulk. The NHL walks a fine line between protecting goalies in a league where technology allows players to shoot harder than ever, and increasing scoring without changing the game. The league does not want to put its goalies in any danger, but at the same time wants to reduce any unnecessary equipment that gives goalies a slight edge.

This may only be the first of a few changes this season. Daly stated that the process is ongoing, and the NHL hopes to implement further changes as soon as possible. Those changes could include slimmer chest protectors and smaller pads. Whether these new changes find their way into the league will depend on how cooperative the goalies and manufacturers are with the league.

Free Agent Notes: Russell, Seidenberg, Trouba, Gionta

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Eight teams remain in the hunt for unrestricted free agent defenseman Kris Russell, reports TSN’s Frank Seravalli. Russell’s agent, Allain Roy, noted that a deal is likely to be reached by the conclusion of the World Cup (which runs as late as October 1st).  However, by that point of the preseason, most teams will have played more than half of their exhibition schedule so there may be a push by teams to get an answer before too long.

Among the teams reportedly interested is Russell’s former employer, the Calgary Flames.  He played in 51 games with Calgary last season before being dealt to Dallas in a trade deadline deal.  Seravalli noted that for them to be able to bring him back, they would need to find a taker for fellow blueliner Dennis Wideman.  He has one year left on his contract with a $5.25MM cap hit and a full no-move clause so finding a trade for him may be easier said than done.  Seravalli also believes that some teams may be waiting to see what happens with Anaheim and if they move a defenseman once a deal with RFA Hampus Lindholm gets done.

More free agent notes:

  • Also from Seravalli, a few teams are taking a close look at defenseman Dennis Seidenberg during the World Cup of Hockey (he’s playing for Team Europe). The 35 year old was bought out by Boston earlier this offseason.  However, at this time, Seidenberg doesn’t appear to be interested in going to training camp on a PTO like many other veterans without a deal will be doing.
  • There is little to update in the Jacob Trouba negotiations, writes Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun, who equates the current state of talks to a staring contest with each side waiting for the other to blink. It’s believed that Trouba is seeking a long-term, big money deal while by-passing the bridge contract but with three other blueliners making $5.5MM or more for at least the next two seasons, the Jets may not want to put Trouba into that pay range just yet.  Earlier this offseason, we took a closer look at Trouba’s situation and some of the questions that will be a factor in their discussions.
  • The Islanders announced that they have officially inked with UFA forward Stephen Gionta. The 32 year old has spent parts of the last six seasons with New Jersey and played in all 82 games last year for the first time in his career, collecting 11 points.  You can keep track of which players have already inked tryout deals with our Invite Tracker.

Lightning Hoping To Sign Kucherov By End Of World Cup

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Lightning GM Steve Yzerman is hopeful that he will be able to sign restricted free agent right winger Nikita Kucherov by the end of the World Cup, writes Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times.

Kucherov led Tampa Bay in scoring last season, picking up a career high 30 goals with 36 assists while seeing his ice time jump by over three minutes per night to an average of 18:13.  He also led the team in postseason scoring with 19 points in just 17 games while logging just over 20 minutes per game.

CSKA Moscow of the KHL reportedly offered Kucherov a contract this offseason although it doesn’t sound like that option has received any sort of real consideration.  His agent, Scott Greenspun, has declined to publicly comment on negotiations.

Kucherov is coming off of his entry level deal that saw him earn an NHL salary of just $700K last season.  There’s no doubt that he will be in line for a major raise, potentially as high as ten times that amount depending on how long the contract is for.

Currently, Tampa Bay has just shy of $6.3MM in cap space according to Cap Friendly.  However, not only do they have to re-sign Kucherov, defenseman Nikita Nesterov is also in need of a new deal.  When you factor in that teams like to not spend right to the cap at the beginning of the year to give themselves some wiggle room, it seems likely that a trade will need to happen at some point.

However, Yzerman doesn’t believe that a trade is mandatory before the start of the season.  When Smith asked if both RFA’s could be signed without making a trade, his response was simply, “No question”.  For that to work, the Lightning may have to settle for getting a bridge deal done with Kucherov although Ryan Callahan’s injury that will carry over into November can also provide a short-term solution via LTIR.

Further creating complications for Yzerman is the pending RFA status of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Jonathan Drouin following the 2016-17 season.  All three of those will also be primed for significant raises and the team already has roughly $55MM in cap hits for 2017-18.  While Yzerman may believe that a trade isn’t necessary right away, it certainly looks like they will need to move some players (and money) out sooner rather than later.

Rickard Rakell To Miss World Cup; Patrik Berglund Named Replacement

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Anaheim center Rickard Rakell will miss the World Cup of Hockey, Team Sweden announced.  Taking his place will be St. Louis Blues center Patrik Berglund.

Rakell played in Sweden’s first pre-tournament game, collecting an assist in 13:47 of ice time vs Finland on Thursday but did not play in the rematch on Saturday.  He did not travel with the team as they flew to North America and is currently in a Swedish hospital being treated for an unspecified illness.

Rakell is currently a restricted free agent and is coming off his best NHL season so far, picking up 20 goals and 23 assists in 72 regular season games last year.  He’s expected to play a top six role for the Ducks this coming season.

The issue may pertain to the surgery Rakell had back in March to remove his appendix, reports Eric Stephens of the OC Register.  His agent, Peter Wallen, noted that Rakell is currently unable to eat.

Berglund, meanwhile, is coming off a tough year with the Blues.  He didn’t get into game action until January after undergoing shoulder surgery last August and suited up in just 42 regular season contests, scoring a career low ten goals and five assists.  He did, however, fare better in the postseason, tallying nine points in 20 games.

[Related: Sweden’s World Cup Depth Chart]

Carolina’s Jordan Staal Talks About The Upcoming Season

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Although he just turned 28 earlier this month, Jordan Staal has nearly 700 NHL games under his belt and is one of the most experienced players for the Hurricanes heading into 2016-17.  He spoke with 99.9 The Fan ESPN Radio over the weekend to talk about the upcoming season.  Adam Gold of WRALSportsFan transcribed some of the highlights:

On not having his brother (Eric) around for the first time in Jordan’s tenure with Carolina:

“I’ve always had Eric five minutes down the road here, so for him not to be here, especially for my wife and kids, it’s different….it’s definitely a new chapter for our families, but that’s the way it goes sometimes and we’ll move forward.”

Eric Staal was dealt to the Rangers (where one of his other brothers, Marc Staal) plays prior to the trade deadline last season.  He moved on to Minnesota this summer, inking a three year, $10.5MM deal with the Wild that could turn into one of the better bargains of the offseason if he can show signs of returning to his past form.

On how he has changed since being acquired by the team:

“I’m much stronger mentally. There are still times when I beat myself up a little too much, and that impacts my game negatively, but I’m getting better at that. It’s always a work-in-progress.”

Staal was acquired by Carolina back at the 2012 draft for a package that yielded the Penguins defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Derrick Pouliot as well as center Brandon Sutter.

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Blues Invite Chris Porter To Training Camp

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The St. Louis Blues are set to bring in center Chris Porter on a professional tryout deal, reports Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.  Porter spent last season with the Minnesota Wild, playing in a career high 61 games, collecting four goals and three assists in a fourth line role while averaging 9:38 of ice time per game.

Porter is no stranger to St. Louis having spent the majority of his career in their organization.  He has suited up for the Blues in parts of six seasons, picking up 27 points in 173 games.

St. Louis has five forwards participating at the World Cup of Hockey in Vladimir Tarasenko, Dmitrij Jaskin, Jori Lehtera, Patrik Berglund (who was just added today), and Vladimir Sobotka (who is expected to play with the Blues after spending time in the KHL), the latter three being centers.  On the surface, it appears that Porter could just be in camp to fill in for one of those players in the exhibition season.  However, a strong camp could give him a shot at a depth spot on the roster or potentially a two-way contract but he may have to beat out several other forwards attending on invites, including T.J. Galiardi, Eric Nystrom, and Yan Stastny.

[Related: Blues Depth Chart]

With training camps fast approaching, it’s likely going to be a busy week in terms of players getting tryout contracts.  Keep tabs on who goes where with our Invite Tracker.

Snapshots: Capitals, Zetterberg, Team Canada

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Washington Capitals fans will get a taste of what could have been on Wednesday night, when Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom and former Capitals first-rounder Filip Forsberg line up together for Sweden in D.C.

Forsberg told NHL.com’s Katie Brown that playing with his countryman Backstrom was a dream of his when he was drafted by the Capitals back in 2012. Unfortunately for Capitals fans, it didn’t work out that way as Forsberg was dealt to Nashville for Martin Erat in one of the worst trades in recent memory. Forsberg told Brown “it’s pretty cool” to play with Backstrom, even though “a lot has changed since then”.

In other news out of D.C., Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post reports that Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov isn’t sure where he’s going to end up playing next season. Orlov posted 29 points in 82 games last season, posting good possession numbers while averaging just over 16 minutes per game. Coach Barry Trotz said he’s looking for Orlov to play top-four minutes with John Carlson or Matt Niskanen at even strength, and to contribute at both special teams disciplines.

[Related: Capitals’ depth chart at Roster Resource]

The 25-year-old Russian is coming off a two-year contract worth $2.25MM per season, and will likely be looking for a raise on that. Based on the Capitals’ salary cap situation, Khurshudyan estimates the most the Capitals could give Orlov is around $2.6MM. That has lead to Sergei Fedorov, former Capital and GM of the KHL’s CSKA Moscow to contact Orlov’s agent. CSKA owns his KHL rights, and expressed interest in bringing him over to Russia, even if it’s just for one season. Despite the interest from overseas, Orlov says he enjoys playing in the NHL and “would like to stay there, but I don’t know how it’s going to happen. We’ll see.”

In other news from around the hockey world:

Just How Short Is The Leash In Montreal?

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Bob McKenzie appeared on Montreal’s TSN 690 on Monday morning to talk about the Canadiens controversial summer, and just how long of a leash GM Marc Bergevin and coach Michel Therrien have.

McKenzie believes that Bergevin and Therrien aren’t as perilously close to unemployment as some fans think. However, it all depends on how things go to start the season. If the Canadiens are below .500 around American Thanksgiving, then “that’s one [situation] where any coaching staff would have to look over their shoulders a little bit”.

The 2015-16 season started off wonderfully for the Canadiens, who were 12-3 at the start of November when Carey Price got hurt. It was all downhill from there, as backup goalies Mike Condon and Ben Scrivens couldn’t match the elite level of Price. The Canadiens finished 38-38-6. The team came apart from the inside, which lead to some drastic changes in the summer. McKenzie speculated that the organization wants to write off last year’s struggles as “the Carey Price issue. He was injured; we didn’t overcome that.”

Both coach and GM were kept around, and allowed to influence major decisions.

“When you push for something, and I have to assume that Marc Bergevin and Michel Therrien pushed for this – this was something they felt the hockey club needed, and it’s a total different direction to go from P.K. Subban to Shea Weber – then you’ve got to get some results.”

When asked whether or not Bergevin and Therrien’s fates are tied together, McKenzie said even though Bergevin is still behind Therrien after the “horrific” year they had, there will come a point where “the GM will have to make the hard call on his coach… most coaches don’t survive forever.” Based on public comments, it would take a really tough start for Bergevin to axe Therrien, as the pair appear to be close in philosophy, but no coach is safe forever.

Ultimately, McKenzie believes the situation is fluid, depending “on how are they playing, what are the reasons for the losses”, but doesn’t believe the leash is “so short that there’s a chance [Bergevin]’s going to be gone by Christmas.”

World Cup Injury Updates: Rakell, Kruger

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Joe McDonald, writing for ESPN, provides more info on an earlier note mentioning the absence of Team Sweden forward Rickard Rakell from practice today due to an unspecified illness. McDonald says Rakell remians hospitalized and did not travel with the team to the U.S today. McDonald’s article states Sweden’s head coach Rikard Gronberg had this to say about Rakell’s illness:

“He didn’t feel any better this morning, so he went back to the hospital. So far we haven’t found anything. We’ve got to be in contact with him [Monday] and then we’ll see where we’re at, and hopefully for his own sake we know what it is because right now we don’t.”

Rakell, a RFA who the Ducks are still trying to sign, was named to Team Sweden as a replacement for Blues forward Alexander Steen. He had a breakout season for Anaheim in 2015-16, scoring 20 goals and 43 points in 72 regular season games.

Should Rakell not recover in time to participate, Sweden would have until September 16th to designate a replacement, according to McDonald. His piece does not list any specific possibilities in that regard but speculatively speaking, the Swedes could choose either Alexander Wennberg, who tallied eight goals and 40 points as a rookie with the Blue Jackets, or Detroit’s Gustav Nyqvist, who has recorded three straight seasons of 40-plus points for the Red Wings.

On a side note, McDonald does say that Marcus Kruger, who missed Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury, was back on the ice for practice today. Kruger also said that he hopes to return to the lineup in Wednesday’s tuneup game against Russia. If Kruger is a go, he could step into the lineup and replace Rakell.

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