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East Notes: Chara, Devils GM Position, Kotkaniemi, Meyer

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Almost a year ago, Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara signed a one-year extension (on Mar. 23) as he made it quite clear he wanted to return for another season in Boston. While the league remains suspended, it should be noted that the 43-year-old has not shown the same enthusiasm of signing a contract. Could that signal the end of his career is coming?

When interviewed recently, Chara’s agent Matt Keator, was quite vague about negotiations on a new contract.

“Not thinking about it right now,” said Keator. “Something we’ll all sit down with at the end of the year — Z, me, [Bruins GM] Don Sweeney — and figure out what’s next.”

The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont writes that if the season doesn’t resume, there is a good chance that Chara may have played his last game as a Boston Bruin. While there remains a good chance that the league resumes eventually, which would allow Boston to fight for a Stanley Cup, including Chara, there is a chance that the season gets cancelled and Chara chooses to retire.

Chara still is a solid top pairing defenseman for the Bruins. He averages 21:01 of ATOI, while putting up five goals, 14 points, 60 penalty minutes, 101 hits and has blocked 78 shots in 68 games.

  • The New Jersey Devils might find themselves in bind when it comes to interviewing candidates for their open general manager and coaching positions, according to The Athletic’s Corey Masisak (subscription required). While the team did already interview former Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis two weeks ago, the Devils were hoping to wait until the season was over to interview candidates that are currently employed. With a delay until the season ends, New Jersey could find itself without a permanent GM in place for quite a while, something the team wanted to avoid. Interim general manager Tom Fitzgerald remains a candidate, which could increase the chances of him getting the permanent job. Another option, according to Masisak would be if the NHL allowed teams to interview candidates during the break.
  • The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription required) breaks down the stock of Montreal Canadiens 2018 first-round pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who was lost for the season last week with an injured spleen with little fanfare for a top prospect. The scribe looks at what has happened to the team’s view on the highly regarded rookie last season and how the 19-year-old had lost his confidence during that season and how it hadn’t returned this season, which includes how the centerman was sent to Laval after struggling in his sophomore campaign with just six goals and eight points in 36 games.
  • The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Carson Meyer, who completed his senior year at Ohio State University, has signed with an agent, Jeff Boston of Roy Sports Group. Unfortunately, his next step is unclear with the suspension of play at both the NHL or AHL level. Meyer wrapped up his senior year with a career-high 17 goals and although he could wait until August to become an unrestricted free agent, he is an Ohio native, suggesting he might prefer to sign with the team that drafted him.

 

World Championship In Jeopardy Of Being Cancelled

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While it may not come as much of a surprise with hockey leagues and tournaments getting cancelled, one of the biggest tournaments coming up in May is the World Championship, which is supposed to be held in Switzerland between May 8-24, could find itself on the chopping block as well.

According to German website SRF (translation required), IIHF President Rene Fasel has expressed concern over whether the World Championships will likely be played.

“With the current facts, it is hard to imagine that the World Cup will be held. We have a responsibility to the people of the country,” said Fasel. “It is now a matter of discussing the situation – with all those involved. We still have some time and would like to make the decision with a clear head.”

With the tournament just eight weeks away, it would seem unlikely that the tournament will continue at the moment with the threat of COVID-19 at its peak in Europe. On top of that, with the NHL season still to be determined, there is a possiblity that NHL players will not be availabe at the start of the tournament, even players from non-playoff teams, as the season could be pushed back.

Fasel will have a conference call Tuesday with national officials regarding the status of the tournaments and said he hopes to have a decision made by the end of the week.

LeBrun’s Latest: COVID-19 Tests, Potential Schedules, Drop-Dead Date

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While it has already been discussed that the general managers held a conference call with league officials Saturday about the fluidity that surrounds the COVID-19 crisis, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun (subscription required) notes several other issues that have been discussed or that GMs were made aware of. Much of the conference call dealt with the memo that the NHL sent out to all the teams about what teams should and shouldn’t be doing during the suspension of play. However, there were quite a few other topics of interest:

  • So far, there have been no cases of COVID-19 among players yet, although many players have been tested recently and the league still hasn’t gotten those results back. There is a general assumption that some players will eventually test positive. While only a small percentage of the league has been tested, many more players are slowly getting tested, which means how those tests come out will play a big part in both how the league handles letting players enter team facilities and skating or working out in small groups. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that NHL teams have been told that it will be a full week, if not longer, before they can open their facilities for players.
  • LeBrun also notes that when things look to be improving (and that might be a while), the NHL expects there to be a mini-camp for teams before play resumes. How the league continues after that depends on the timing of the crisis. If the league gets back into action in 30 days, then there likely will be time to finish out the regular season. A longer suspension of the season would likely result in different scenarios, which could include a cancellation of the regular season and an extended playoff as well. However, the league hasn’t even begun to discuss scenarios.
  • Perhaps the worry that most have is whether the league has a drop-dead date in which the league would shut down for the season. The league has watched many other leagues, including most European leagues as well as the ECHL, cancel their seasons, but the league has already asked teams for their building availability through July. That would suggest that the league is ready to continue the playoffs into July. However, LeBrun believes that commissioner Gary Bettman has a drop-dead date in mind if things get out of hand. Any later in July would create other issues, which include what will happen with the 2002 Olympic Games. If the Olympics continue in August, then the NHL must decide whether they want to put their playoffs up against that. Regardless, the belief is that a decision on the season will be made by the end of April.

 

Will College Hockey Players Earn An Extra Year Of Eligibility?

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Few groups have been hit harder by the COVID-19 pandemic than college athletes. The NCAA announced on Thursday that all 2020 winter and spring championships have been canceled, effectively ending college sports for the year. While the decision did not specifically ban conferences from continuing to host postseason tournaments for winter sports and regular season games and tournaments for spring sports, all winter tournaments have been canceled nonetheless and the vast majority of conferences have canceled all practice and competition for the year.

While obviously the proper decision was made in regards to public safety, student-athletes who work year-round to play a relatively short college season have lost their chance at a championship and in many cases the majority of their regular season as well. This is particularly hard on seniors competing in their final season. To make matters worse, college athletes typically have just four seasons and five years to participate in NCAA athletics, and the possibility that this year would be lost entirely had students around the country reeling. To remedy the situation, the NCAA was quick to announce that eligibility relief will be available for spring sports athletes, extending their playing opportunities by another year.

However, the NCAA also made mention that they “will also discuss issues related to seasons of competition for winter sport student-athletes who were unable to participate in conference and NCAA championships.” So could college hockey players also receive an additional year added to their eligibility? The case against this idea is that the vast majority of the season had already been completed, with most conference tournaments already underway by the time of this announcement. However, the statement alluded to the opportunity only being available to the athletes whose teams were still competing in conference tournaments or expected to earn an NCAA Tournament berth.

At the time the decision to cancel all college athletics competition occurred, 40 programs were still competing in conference tournaments and technically all had an equal chance at winning their respective conference and an automatic berth into the national tourney. If the NCAA decides to grant waivers for an extra year of eligibility for winter athletes, they could choose to grant that aid to hockey players on all of these rosters.

The alternative option, one being championed by men’s basketball coaches around the country, is to instead name the teams that would have been selected to the national tournament based on conference standings and national rankings. Some quick “bracketology” using the Pairwise rankings would produce the following list of teams whose players could qualify for an additional year of eligibility under this model:

No. 1 North Dakota – NCHC regular season champion
No. 2 Minnesota State – WCHA regular season champion
No. 3 Cornell – ECAC regular season champion
No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth
No. 5 Denver
No. 6 Boston College – Hockey East regular season champion
No. 7 Penn State – Big Ten regular season champion
No. 8 UMass
No. 9 Clarkson
No. 10 Ohio State
No. 11 UMass Lowell
No. 12 Bemidji State
No. 13 Arizona State
No. 14 Michigan
No. 15 Maine
No. 26 American International – Atlantic Hockey regular season champion

The problem with this process is that the actual NCAA Tournament field likely would have had some slight differences from the final standings and rankings. The Atlantic tournament for instance is often a crap shoot, while skilled teams that underachieved in the regular season, such as Boston University, Harvard, and Minnesota, could have made a run in their respective tournaments. It could be deemed as unfair to select the field without the usual basis of complete tournaments and a final ranking.

It remains to be seen whether winter college athletes will receive eligibility relief at all and by what means the NCAA chooses to award that relief. For now, student-athletes and fans alike will have to appreciate that they got to enjoy a full regular season and will look forward to a return to action next year. Whether or not that return includes some seniors who otherwise would have ended their college careers this year will be the major question.

SHL Playoffs Canceled, 2019-20 Season Over

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As expected, the Swedish Hockey League has moved from postponement to cancellation. The top pro league in Sweden has officially announced that the playoffs have been cancelled, effectively ending the 2019-20 season.

The SHL had initially postponed the beginning of the 2020 postseason to May, but upon further review of the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, made the decision on Saturday that they would recommend cancelling the playoffs altogether. That request was approved this morning by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. SHL CEO Michael Marchal stated (translated) that “It is an extremely sad decision but… we all have a responsibility to limit the Corona [virus] in society and it is obvious that we at SHL should take our responsibility for our audience and the working environment for players and employees.”

With the season officially over, recently rumored NHL targets Fredrik Handemark of the Malmo Redhawks and Mathias Brome of Orebro HK could intensify their discussions with their North American suitors. The season is also done for a number of top NHL prospects, such as disgruntled New York Rangers forward Lias Andersson, fellow Rangers property and top SHL rookie defender Nils Lundkvist, and young L.A. Kings forward Samuel Fagemo. How the premature end of the season may impact the decisions of many prospects in regards to coming to North America next season remains to be seen.

NHL, AHL Not Likely To Follow Same Course For Potential Return

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While it has been clear that the AHL would follow suit to the same policies that the NHL would put in place when it came to the suspension of play and how they would operate beyond that, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that in the wake of the ECHL cancelling their season due to the COVID-19 epidemic, it’s likely that the AHL will not mirror the NHL when it comes to a potential return to the ice this season as they would have some big challenges in front of them.

Whether that means that the AHL will also cancel their season in the upcoming days is unknown. However, Johnston points out that while the NHL has the reserves and the power to push the playoffs off to the summer, if necessary, the AHL may not have that ability. The league has a number of obstacles, which includes travel and revenue issues that it would have to deal with to postpone the rest of the 2019-20 season and the Calder Cup playoffs further into the season.

The AHL has a number of upper-level teams hoping their season will continue with the Milwaukee Admirals, the Nashville Predators’ affiliate, leading the way with a league-leading 90 points this season as it hopes to get a chance to win the Calder Cup. The AHL decided to suspend their season on Thursday.

 

ECHL Expected To Cancel Season

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The ECHL announced that the league will be shutting down for the rest of the season. The ECHL Board of Governors approved the cancelation of both their remaining regular season games as well as the playoffs due to the Coronavirus.

ECHL commissioner Ryan Crelin released a statement:

“The decision by the ECHL to cancel the remainder of the 2019-20 Season does not come lightly, as this is an emotional time for our Players, Coaches, Member Teams, Fans and Staff. At this point in the Season, there has been immense dedication and countless hours committed in moving towards what is traditionally the most exciting part of the hockey year.

With that said however, as each passing day raises additional concerns for the safety of those in the ECHL community and as we take precautionary measures in conjunction with our local authorities across the continent to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, it has become apparent that this is the prudent decision. Our game and our product are based on our Fans and their ability to cheer on their favorite ECHL team and Players at one of our many facilities around the continent. Without that social environment and game atmosphere, the ECHL simply isn’t the same.

“On behalf of the ECHL and our Board of Governors, we appreciate the Professional Hockey Players’ Association for their assistance during this unprecedented time and working as partners in hockey to reach this decision for the best interest of the ECHL and its Players. This decision allows our Players the opportunity to return to their homes and removes the uncertainty that currently exists.

“While we are hopeful that this period ceases and an opportunity to return to normalcy for the hockey calendar presents itself, in the interim, we ask all Fans, Players, Coaches, Officials, and Staff to continue to abide by the measures put in place by their local authorities and follow precautionary protocols for their safety, as we will begin preparations for the 2020-21 ECHL Hockey Season.”

While the AHL and NHL both currently have suspended their seasons, the ECHL is the first of the three to cancel their season. The ECHL announced on Thursday that they had suspended their season due to concerns about the COVID-19 epidemic. The ECHL is the first league in North America to have cancelled their season, although several leagues in Europe have already cancelled their seasons.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the news.

 

 

Edmonton Oilers Express Interest In Bringing Back Anton Slepyshev

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Two years ago, the Edmonton Oilers allowed rugged winger Anton Slepyshev to return to Russia rather than bring him back. The 6-foot-2, 221-pound forward played three seasons for the Oilers, but struggled with injuries and inconsistency throughout that time. The team was eager to move him at the trade deadline in 2018, but was unable to do so. Instead, they let the 25-year-old (23 at the time) to sign a two-year pact with CSKA Moscow in the KHL and made sure to give him a qualifying offer in order to retain his rights.

Fast forward two years and Slepyshev is coming off a breakout year in the KHL with 18 goals and 45 points in 54 games. Now, with his rights still owned by the Oilers, the Edmonton Journal’s Bruce McCurdy writes that sources suggest there is a greater than 50 percent chance that the Oilers will bring back Slepyshev for next season in hopes of finding a better fit with the franchise.

While there was a point where Edmonton had lost interest in the forward, much has changed, according to McCurdy, who notes that management and the coaching staff have both changed. Throw in the fact that Slepyshev has taken that next step and become a key scorer for CSKA Moscow (he has scored in 23 of his last 24 KHL games), the Oilers might also be able to offer more to Slepyshev than the usual fourth-line role that he held for his first three seasons in the league. With the team constantly looking for top-six wingers, this could be a convenient addition.

The forward spent most of his time on the checking line, playing next to players like Drake Caggiula, Milan Lucic and Mark Letestu in his time. In 102 games, Slepyshev scored 10 goals and 23 points. The Oilers have Slepyshev’s rights until he turns 27 years old, which will be on May 25, 2021.

Snapshots: GM Conference Call, SHL Playoffs, Kubalik

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NHL general managers held a conference call with the league this afternoon. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that much of the call revolved around the memo that the NHL sent out Friday regarding what teams can and cannot do during this self-isolation that the league has set due to the Coronavirus. There is a chance that players may be allowed to skate at team facilities in small groups at a later date, but nothing concrete has been set.

LeBrun added that there was no discussion on a potential schedule or playoffs when the NHL lifts its suspension. It is believed that it is far too early to begin discussing potential scenarios with not enough information available yet on when the season may begin again.

  • The Swedish Hockey League reported on their own website (translation required) that due to everybody’s health and safety due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the league has requested to the Swedish Ice Hockey Association that they cancel the SHL playoffs, which would end their season. The team announced earlier this week that they had postponed the playoffs until Mar. 24, however, the league looks to be reversing course like many leagues have done in the past few days. A decision is expected on Sunday. The Swedish Ice Hockey Association is responsible for competition rules and the playoffs, which is why the SHL must clear it with them first.
  • The Athletic’s Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus reported that the Chicago Blackhawks top priority this offseason is to lock up restricted free agent Dominik Kubalik to a new contract. The 24-year-old rookie signed a one-year entry-level contract this offseason out of the NLA and has seen his career take off with a 30-goal, 46-point season so far this season. While Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes have garnered most of the attention for the Calder Trophy this season, Kubalik is right up there as well. The scribes write that Kubalik’s agent traveled to Chicago this week to discuss a contract with general manager Stan Bowman in hopes of getting a deal done soon.

Blackhawks Expected To Discuss Contracts With Ian Mitchell, Evan Barratt

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Within the next few days, the Chicago Blackhawks are expected to begin discussion with University of Denver’s defenseman Ian Mitchell and Penn State forward Evan Barratt, both college juniors, on signing with the team on entry-level contracts, according to The Athletic’s Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus (subscription required). Early reports suggest that both have shown little interest in returning to their collegiate teams for their senior season.

Both players had their college seasons cut short due to the NCAA opting to cancel all winter championships on Thursday due to the Coronavirus. It was assumed that both players would have the first year of their entry-level deal burned if their college seasons ended before the Blackhawks’ season was over. That could conceivably still happen and a player doesn’t even have to play an NHL game to burn the first year of his contract. They just need to be on an active roster.

Regardless, Mitchell could be a key addition to a Blackhawks team that needs help on defense, whether that is this year or starting next season. Chicago was hoping to bring Mitchell in after his sophomore year at Denver, but the 21-year-old wanted to return to his team in hopes of challenging for a collegiate championship as well as to challenge for the Hobey Baker award. Mitchell had a dominant season with Denver this season, posting 10 goals and 32 points in 36 games as well as playing at the Spengler Cup for Team Canada, where he posted a goal and two points in four games.

Barratt is another surprise for a Blackhawks, who drafted the forward in the third round of 2017. Barratt is more likely to find himself starting his pro career in the AHL. He had a dominant sophomore season in 2018-19, posting 16 goals and 43 points in 32 games, but saw a minor drop in his production this season as he has 12 goals and 34 points in 34 games. Regardless, it would add another talented prospect into the team’s cupboard.

Of course, with a stoppage in work for the moment, both players and the team have plenty of time to work out a deal.

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