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Can’t Miss Games Of The 2016-17 Season: November and December

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The start of the NHL regular season may be a month away with the World Cup of Hockey and preseason still to come, but it’s never too early to get excited for the best slate of games the NHL has to offer this season. Here are the can’t miss-games of the holidays:

November 1st – St. Louis Blues vs. New York Rangers

The trade chatter surrounding a Rick Nash – Kevin Shattenkirk swap has not gone away, and should these two teams get off to a slow start in the first month of the season, this game could act as the final tryout before they pull the trigger. Even if the trade never happens, it’s still a battle between one of the best from each conference to kick off the month.

November 24th – Boston Bruins vs. Ottawa Senators

Hockey may not be able to take Thanksgiving away from football, but they’re doing their best with this match-up. Not only is Boston not far from the location of the first Thanksgiving, but they’re a team on a mission after missing the playoffs in back-to-back years. A rivalry game against the Senators should make for some great holiday hockey.

December 23rd – Los Angeles Kings vs. Dallas Stars

The NHL might freeze trades over the holidays and take a break around Christmas, but a Friday night face-off between two Western Conference titans is a great way to start off the holiday weekend.

Can’t-Miss Games Of The 2016-17 NHL Season: October

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The start of the NHL regular season may be a month away with the World Cup of Hockey and preseason still to come, but it’s never too early to get excited for the best slate of games the NHL has to offer this season. Here are the can’t miss-games of October:

Oct. 12th – Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators

The puck drops on a new NHL season at 7pm ET in the Canadian capital, as the Sens host the Leafs in a rivalry match-up. With #1 overall pick Auston Matthews and newly acquired keeper Frederik Andersen expected to be among many new faces in the Toronto lineup, the Leafs will have a clean slate as they start the year off against old friend Dion Phaneuf and an Ottawa team looking to get back to the playoffs.

Oct. 12th – Calgary Flames  vs. Edmonton Oilers

Later that night, the Oilers will open the brand new Rogers Place for it’s first NHL regular-season game, as they welcome their Alberta rivals. Edmonton will definitely be curious to see if the newly-acquired Adam Larsson can help to slow down the Flames’ dynamic duo of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Leaving behind Rexall Place and the many memories (though few good ones in recent years) they had there, the Oilers will look to start the season off on the right foot in a new building, while Calgary hopes to play spoiler.

October 13th – Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

The home opener for the 2015-16 Stanley Cup champs comes against none other than the 2015-16 President’s Trophy winners, as fans are treated to a battle of talent and intensity between two fierce rivals on just Day 2 of the NHL season. Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin will each look to start off strong and lead their teams to victory, as the Penguins begin a title defense and the Capitals begin another long march toward that elusive Stanley Cup championship.

October 20th – San Jose Sharks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins have another big game a week later, this time against their Stanley Cup competitors, the Sharks. The 2016 Stanley Cup final was one of the best in recent memory, with immense speed and talent on both sides and young goalies Martin Jones and Matt Murray standing on their heads. Though nothing can make up for falling short when it mattered most, you can bet that captain Joe Pavelski and the Sharks will be fired up for some revenge in this game.

October 23rd – Edmonton Oilers vs. Winnipeg Jets

The Jets will get their first taste of outdoor hockey, as they square off against the Oilers in the Heritage Classic. Investors Group Field in Winnipeg, home of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League, will host the game as these two Canadian teams look to battle it out, and at least put on a better show than the much talked-about Alumni Game.

 

 

 

Tavares Unlikely To Leave Islanders

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ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that upon his arrival in Toronto for the World Cup of Hockey, the rumors of 2018 free agent John Tavares signing with his home-town Toronto Maple Leafs one day have again some to the surface. As they have so many time before, the rumors of a return are being shot down. As of now, Tavares’ only plans are to remain with the New York Islanders and try to lead the team to Stanley Cup.

A 25-year-old superstar, Tavares can’t help it that he is now the center of attention for hockey’s biggest fan base. The Mississauga, Ontario native grew up in the area as a Maple Leafs fan and acknowledged that there is always pressure for top Canadian players to “come home” and play for the Leafs. As a junior hockey prodigy, whose ascension to the NHL was on a borderline-mythological level with the likes of Sidney Crosby and more recently Connor McDavid, Tavares has heard the buzz before about being Canada’s next big hockey star. He’s lived up to the hype as well, with 471 points in just 501 career NHL games.

However, dominating at the NHL level brings with it a devoted fan base and deep connection to a team and city. As LeBrun mentions, Steven Stamkos was the most recent player to pass up a role as Toronto’s prodigal son to simply stay with the team that drafted him. An established star in Tampa, Stamkos chose to take less money and continue to lead a strong Lightning squad to further success. Rather than bolting for a new opportunity close to home, Stamkos decided to repay the organization and fan base for their continued support and dedication by working toward bringing the Stanley Cup back to Tampa Bay.

It seems likely that Tavares will follow suit. His comments on the matter have always shown a deep connection to Islanders and their fans and the young star surely would like to do his best to win a Cup with the team he has come to lead. With that said, there are still almost two years remaining before Tavares truly has to make his decision. With a new ownership group, constant concerns over where the team should be playing their games, and even some speculation that the Islanders’ long-term roster outlook is not especially strong, the next two seasons will be very important for New York. They don’t need to convince Tavares to stay, but they certainly need to avoid having reasons to leave pile up. However, as of now, LeBrun and Stamkos seem convinced that Tavares wants to be an “Islander for life” and the man himself has yet to disagree. Toronto Maple Leafs fans can keep hoping, but as it stands John Tavares isn’t going anywhere.

Toronto Notes: Shanahan, Prust, Rychel

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Brendan Shanahan is entering his third season as president of the Maple Leafs after spending several years in the league office.  While he’s used to being in a winning environment as a player (12 straight postseason appearances to end his career and three Stanley Cups), that level of success isn’t there just yet with the Maple Leafs.  Shanahan spoke with MLive’s Aaron McMann to talk about the process:

“It’s really about developing a culture.  It’s something that is said a lot but much harder to do than to say. We’re at the beginning of a rebuilding process, and certainly my experience early in my career in New Jersey and during the prime of my career here in Detroit when we won those championships, is something I’ve leaned on.”

Toronto finished dead last in 2015-16 and weren’t much better the year before, finishing 15th of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference.  However, they have assembled a promising collection of youngsters in 2016 first overall selection Auston Matthews plus recent top picks in Mitch Marner and William Nylander while going out and adding Frederik Andersen from Anaheim, giving them a quality starting goaltender.  As a result, it’s likely that they will start to make their move up the standings this coming season.

More out of Toronto:

  • Left winger Brandon Prust says his ankle is “back to normal” after being shut down in March to focus on rehab, writes TSN’s Kristen Shilton. Prust will be attending training camp with the Leafs with the hopes of earning a spot on the roster to help protect what should be a very young lineup.  However, the team also added Matt Martin in free agency to play that type of role so Prust will be in tough to earn a spot on the roster.
  • After asking to be traded by Columbus back in September of last season, left winger Kerby Rychel is excited for a new opportunity after the Leafs acquired him back at the draft, notes Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star. Despite Toronto’s surplus of young players, Rychel believes that will benefit him, even if it makes his push for a roster spot more difficult.  The 21 year old played in 32 games last season collecting just nine points but is just three years removed from being the 19th overall pick in the draft.  On a team looking for scoring help, Rychel should be among the many youngsters to get a look in training camp.

Bruins Hope To Extend Brad Marchand By Start Of Season

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The Bruins remain in discussions with left winger Brad Marchand on a long-term contract extension, reports CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty.  Team president Cam Neely had the following to say about their talks:

“We’d like to get Brad signed. We’ve made that clear to him, and we’ve made that clear to his agency. I know Don has been working with their group to a get a deal done. We’d like to get something done before the start of the season.”

Marchand is coming off a career season where he recorded 37 goals and 24 assists in 77 games while averaging 18:36 per game.  His goal total ranked him sixth in the league.  His strong year helped earn him a spot on Team Canada at the World Cup of Hockey where he is currently slotted on the top line alongside teammate Patrice Bergeron and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby.

Earlier this offseason, Marchand commented on negotiations and indicated that he would like to stick with the Bruins for the long term:

“It would be great to be here my whole career, and you see how rare that is nowadays. It doesn’t happen often, so that would be incredible. But a lot of things have to line up in order for that to happen not only now, but down the road. So, we’ll play it year-by-year.”

The 28 year old is entering the final season of a four year contract that carries a cap hit of $4.5MM and will pay him $5MM in salary.  Needless to say, he is looking at getting a big raise on a lengthy contract.

Boston’s highest paid player in terms of AAV is David Krejci who is in the second season of a six year deal with a cap hit of $7.25MM per season.  With the season Marchand just had, it wouldn’t be surprising if it takes more money than that to get a deal done.  If that happens, the team would have at least four players signed for 2017-18 with a cap hit of $6.875MM or more (the others being center Patrice Bergeron and goalie Tuukka Rask).

Boston already has a little less than $54MM committed to 14 players beyond this season according to Cap Friendly so a big extension for Marchand could potentially present some challenges filling out the rest of their roster next offseason (particularly with both Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak being restricted free agents).  However, in the cap era, teams are spending more money building around their core talent and then using cheaper options to fill the final few spots on the roster which is an avenue that the Bruins would likely take if a deal gets done.

Penguins Notes: Pouliot, Dumoulin

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While Pittsburgh defenseman Derrick Pouliot is hoping for a much better start to this season (including a regular spot in the lineup), that might be a tall task for him to achieve, notes Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Pouliot went into training camp last season with the expectations that he would become a regular player but instead was cut and spent most of the year with their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Pouliot wound up getting into just 22 regular season games with the Penguins plus a pair of postseason contests, collecting seven assists along the way.  He was much more productive at the AHL level, scoring six goals and 17 assists in just 37 games.

While the departure of Ben Lovejoy to New Jersey potentially opens up a spot on their blueline, the team also brought back Justin Schultz who was acquired at the trade deadline who now figures to play a regular role.  Both of those players are right hand shots while Pouliot is a lefty but the 22 year old spent time on the right side at the junior level, making him an option on both sides.  When asked about possibly playing his off-side (much like Trevor Daley does), Pouliot noted that, “It’s something I’m comfortable with, and, if it’s a spot I could fit in, that’d be great.”

On his natural side, Pouliot will be looking to displace Ian Cole on the third pairing but Cole brings a physical element to the Penguins’ lineup, something that some of their other rearguards don’t bring to the table.

Further creating a challenge for Pouliot was Pittsburgh’s decision to bring in David Warsofsky, Steven Oleksy, Stuart Percy, Cameron Gaunce, and Chad Ruhwedel during free agency.  All five of those players have NHL experience and could potentially push for a spot as well.  On top of that, all of the newcomers are waiver eligible while Pouliot is exempt for this season so he could find himself a victim of a numbers game if one or more of those offseason additions impress in training camp.

Pouliot has long been regarded as one of Pittsburgh’s defensemen of the future but he will be in tough to secure a top six role with the team this season.

[Related: Penguins Depth Chart]

More from the Penguins:

  • Defenseman Brian Dumoulin is poised to have a breakout season, writes Jason Mackey, also of the Post-Gazette. The 25 year old saw his ice time jump to over 21 minutes a game in the postseason while playing a top four role, one he is expected to reprise in 2016-17.  While he didn’t score during the season last year, he picked up a pair of postseason goals including the opening tally in their Stanley Cup clinching victory over San Jose.  Dumoulin is entering the final season of a two year deal that carries a cap hit of $800K and should be in line for a sizable raise on his next contract.  If GM Jim Rutherford expects him to have a big season offensively, it wouldn’t be surprising if he tries to get an extension done sooner than later.

Blues Notes: Stastny Brothers, Prospect Tournament Roster

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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dan O’Neill reports that the Stastny brothers couldn’t be more excited to be together at the Blues camp. Yan Stastny, older brother of current Blues forward Paul Stastny, was invited to participate in St. Louis’ camp with a professional tryout. A journeyman hockey player who has played throughout the world, Yan will lace his skates up for an NHL team for the first time since 2010. Though making the team is considered a long shot, Stastny is only concerned about the experience:

“Realistically, I’m going to go have fun,” said Stastny, who makes his home in St. Louis. “I got a phone call out of the blue from (Blues general manager) Doug Armstrong and I asked him if I could take a little time to think about it … But it gives me a chance to skate and stay in shape, if something comes up, in Europe or wherever. Right now, I think I’m the oldest guy going to camp, so I take a little pride in that — the fact that I’m still playing. I’m just going in to compete and have some fun. I know the game has changed quite a bit since I last played in North America. But you never know what can happen. There have been longer shots.”

For the younger Stastny, it’s a thrill to have his older brother in camp. Though they’ve never been on the same professional team, Paul said it will be “exciting” and said it’s a moment that “you dream of” but really aren’t sure that it will actually happen. For the Stastny brothers, it’s a terrific opportunity to spend time together as not only teammates, but brothers and friends. Anything that happens after that would certainly be a bonus.

In other Blues news:

  • The Blues have announced their prospect roster for the NHL Prospects Tournament writes Jeremy Rutherford. The Prospect Tournament is held in Traverse City, Michigan, and features the prospects of eight teams that include the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild and the New York Rangers. In the round robin tournament, the Blues will face the Red Wings, Blackhawks and Blue Jackets. Forward Ivan Barbashev and defenseman Jordan Schmaltz are just two of the many prospects on the list to participate.

Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Second Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection isn’t an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams–or players–intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?

The readers voted already for the first overall pick. and the results were hardly surprising. With nearly 88% of the vote, Sidney Crosby retained his status as the top pick of the 2005 Draft. Now we move forward to the second pick, where there are a number of strong choices as we re-select all of the ’05 Draft.

To recap how this works:

  • We will go through the entire 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
  • Every team will be represented, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes. We will continue this all the way through the 30th–and final pick of the draft.

We are now at the second overall pick, which was held by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (now the Anaheim Ducks).  With their choice, the Ducks selected Bobby Ryan. While Ryan has enjoyed a productive NHL career, there are certainly other names that stand out: Carey Price, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick, Ben Bishop, and Tuukka Rask just to name a few.

With the second pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim select? Cast your vote below!

Snapshots: US-Canada Rivalry, Injury Updates

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Though the comments were tepid, many top tier Canadian players took exception to some of the late hits by Team USA during the American squad’s 4-2 victory yesterday. Jonathan Toews was careful with his comments, but was blunt about some of the questionable hits doled out by the aggressive Americans. Via the Chicago Tribune, Toews had this to say:

“Without saying too much, I think there were a couple of borderline hits there where our guys were put in some awkward positions and there’s not much you can do there. The one on Weber was the right call there. We just have to try and protect ourselves and expect that the officials are going to do what they have to do. We have no problem with the chippiness and the physical play (but) it doesn’t matter where you’re playing, I think you always have to respect the player when he has his back to you.”

Toews wasn’t the only one making careful comments. Captain Sidney Crosby and netminder Carey Price both agreed that some hits “crossed the line.” Nick Cotsonika writes that Mike Babcock put the onus on the referees to control the rough play during a game between two rivals:

“There were lots of scrums tonight. They were generated by the players. The referees can clean that up in two seconds. All you’ve got to do is put people in the box. No more scrums.”

The US and Canada meet again in exhibition play tonight.

In other hockey news:

  • The Chicago Tribune’s Chris Kuc writes about the concern every team has with the injuries as the World Cup begins its tournament play with an exhibition tilt. With injuries to Marian Hossa, and Marcus Kruger, Blackhawks players were understandably concerned when two significant players from their team suffered injuries. Hossa’s, as it turns out, will not limit him and Europe coach Ralph Krueger said it’s “all green lights” for Hossa to play in Saturday’s game. Kruger, Kuc reports, has a more mysterious upper body injury and will be held out of play during Saturday’s Sweden’s exhibition game against Finland. Both Patrick Kane and Toews, when asked about the possibility of injury, shrugged it off and attributed it to a risk that’s always there, regardless of the circumstance.

Snapshots: World Cup Power Rankings, Updates

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TSN’s Scott Cullen writes that Canada is the team to beat in the World Cup of Hockey. Cullen ranks Canada, Sweden, and North America ahead of the American squad, who he pegs as fourth in his tournament power rankings. Cullen expects the Americans to be competitive but can’t see a team squarely more concerned about a “tougher” style of play going very far in a tournament that emphasizes speed and skill. The US, Cullen writes, is all about smash mouth hockey, but their goalie tandem of Cory Schneider, Ben Bishop and Jonathan Quick could give those aforementioned skilled teams some fits. Cullen places Canada at the top simply because of the top end talent they boast on every line. Sweden, he writes, has an “absurd” defensive corps with Erik Karlsson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, Hampus Lindholm, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Mattias Ekholm all on the roster. He cautions that in order to knock off favorite Canada, they’ll need young forwards Filip Forsberg and Gabriel Landeskog to carry the team in scoring.

Team North America is one that Cullen believes could truly shock everyone. With young, fast, and skilled players like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and John Gaudreau, the under 23 team could turn some heads, and possibly pull some upsets that could unseat the favorites. For the rest of his rankings, Cullen places Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, and Europe as the bottom four teams respectively.

In other World Cup of Hockey News:

  • The USA’s 4-2 victory over Canada featured a lot of aggressive play and injury scares that remained only as fears and nothing serious. Several high profile players took vicious hits, and some had to leave the ice. Flyers captain Claude Giroux took a hit from Joe Pavelski and didn’t return until later in the third period. Logan Couture also took a hard hit from T.J. Oshie in the second period but returned in the third. Though Shea Weber was slammed into the boards by Ryan Kesler in the second period, he didn’t miss any ice time. Kesler was assessed a boarding major and a game misconduct. Pavelski recorded the game winner while Derek Stepan sealed the game with an empty net goal in a contest that became more physical as it wore on. Earlier in the day, PHR recapped some of the other injury scares during exhibition play on Thursday.

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