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Pacific Notes: Puljujarvi, Tanev, Glass

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With a recent report that New York Rangers’ Lias Andersson is not interested in returning to the team for the upcoming postseason and prefers to stay in Sweden. Now another unhappy lottery pick could be following the same path as Edmonton Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi is believed ready to sign a one-year extension with Karpat of Liiga, according to the Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins.

The fourth-overall pick in 2016 has struggled to establish himself in the NHL and chose to sign a one-year contract with Karpat last season. He had a solid season, scoring 24 goals and 53 points in 56 games this past season, but there remains doubt by many that Puljujarvi will eventually return to the NHL and become a dominant player.

What’s interesting is recent comments in which he referenced a willingness to consider returning to Edmonton when he was quoted last week as saying, “never say never.” Leavins, however, wonders if Puljujarvi made the statement in hopes of raising his trade value, especially since there is a belief that the one-year extension would likely include an NHL opt-out clause.

  • The Province’s Ben Kuzma writes that the Vancouver Canucks could have a tough decision to make with pending unrestricted free agent Chris Tanev. While the team is expected to be capped out this offseason and the team has a number of free agents, including Jacob Markstrom and Tyler Toffoli along with several restricted free agents, Tanev might seem like a player who could easily replaced, especially with a number of young blueliners near NHL ready, including Brogan Rafferty, Guillaume Brisebois, Olli Juolevi and the possible return of Nikita Tryamkin. However, the 30-year-old has made it clear that he wants to stay in Vancouver and considering how well he paired next to rookie Quinn Hughes and his leadership skills, the team might have to seriously consider keeping him over others. “It’s a very tough situation because nobody knows where the cap is going to be,” said Tanev. “But I want to stay in Vancouver. I love it here and it’s sort of my new home. I love the guys on the team and we’re trending in the right direction.”
  • Justin Emerson of the Las Vegas Sun writes that Vegas Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon is still working on who might fill the team’s extra spots on their expanded roster for the upcoming 24-team tournament playoffs. However, one name that won’t be on that list is rookie Cody Glass, who underwent knee surgery in March and is not expected to be ready for the delayed playoffs. Glass had a difficult rookie season in which he struggled on the team’s third line with just five goals and 12 points in 39 games.

Metropolitan Notes: Rangers, Brodeur, Holtby

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With dates set now for training camp (July 10) and playoff start (July 30), pending an official agreement, many players currently residing in Europe will have to eventually make their way back to North American soil to prepare for the playoffs. While it might be too early for some to begin that process, Newsday’s Colin Stephenson writes that several New York Rangers’ players are preparing to start that process soon.

Forward Pavel Buchnevich will be the first to cross the ocean with his agent confirming that the 25-year-old, who has spent the pause in Russia, is expected to be in New York on Sunday. Other Rangers’ players are expected to follow, including Henrik Lundqvist, Mika Zibanejad and Jesper Fast, who are currently in Sweden; Kaapo Kakko and Alexandar Georgiev in Finland; and Filip Chytil from the Czech Republic. Artemi Panarin and Igor Shesterkin both opted to stay in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Players are expected to be tested for the coronavirus when they arrive in New York and then tested again in a week. If both tests are negative, they will then be cleared to practice.

  • Matt Larkin of the Hockey News writes that former New Jersey Devils’ goaltender Martin Brodeur is not interested in becoming general manager of the New Jersey Devils at this time. The longtime Devils goaltender moved from a hockey business position to a hockey operations role on Jan. 12 after the team fired Ray Shero as their general manager and replaced him with Tom Fitzgerald on an “interim basis.” However, Brodeur said that while that role interests him down the role, he’s not ready to take on that challenge yet. The 48-year-old currently lives in St. Louis and made it clear he might not be ready to take on a rigorous role as a general manager. “I’m not saying that one day, I won’t say, ‘You know what? This is the time for me to do it, maybe,’ Brodeur said. “But right now, I value my time off too much to get myself involved. Not that I’m not involved, as in my role I need to be pretty much present, but I’m able to kind of make my own schedule and not rely on the general manager setup.”
  • Sportsnet’s Luke Fox writes that while many people still envision goaltender Braden Holtby to be the Washington Capitals starting netminder when the playoffs resume, it will be critical for the upcoming unrestricted free agent to perform well. With the salary cap not likely to go up this year due to COVID-19, many UFA’s aren’t likely to score big free agent contracts. Holtby, who was outplayed by rookie Ilya Samsonov and posted poor regular season numbers with a career-low .897 save percentage, could benefit if he dominated in the playoffs.

Stanley Cup Tournament Play Expected To Start July 30

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With Phase 3 expected to continue despite recent setbacks, the NHL sent out a directive to teams Friday, following its general manager meetings in which it outlined that the Stanley Cup tournament qualifying rounds will begin on July 30 in hub cities that are expected to be chosen within a week, according to the New York Post’s Larry Brooks.

The dates have been agreed upon in negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA, but still must be officially agreed upon with included protocols for health and safety and a potential extension of the CBA.

That adds another date to the NHL calendar as the league had already announced that training camp would begin on July 10 and is expected to last two weeks. Teams are then expected to travel to their respective hub city on July 23 or 24 and play in one exhibition match before going into the best-of-five qualifying round or top-four seeding round-robin matchups.

Brooks also notes that the current plan would have NHL teams having 30 skaters on their roster with an unlimited number of goalies.

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the NHL has now officially narrowed its list of hub cities down to six from their original 10 and includes at least three Canadian cities, including Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto with Vegas being one of the other cities on the list. LeBrun adds that he believes that Vancouver and Edmonton are ahead of Toronto and there is a likelihood that both hub cities could reside on the West Coast. Vegas remains one of the leading candidates due to its large hotel space.

LeBrun confirms that the league expects to make a decision on hub cities by the end of this week. The decision does need to come quickly as the league then must negotiate with each city before things can truly be official.

NHL Will Not Change Phase 3 Start Date In Response To Positive COVID Tests

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It was a rude awakening for the NHL yesterday. With Phase 2 voluntary workouts underway and excitement finally starting to build toward resuming the 2019-20 season later this summer, it seemed like everything might come to a screeching halt following yesterday’s revelation that 11 players had tested positive for Coronavirus, including Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews, since workouts began on June 8. Additionally, the Tampa Bay Lightning had to shut down their arena and stop all workouts with three players and two staff members among the many new COVID cases in the state of Florida. The NHL shut down in the first place in part to avoid the spread of the virus among its players and staff, but the early signs show that re-starting the league this soon might not be possible if this remains a key objective.

Not so fast though, says the league. Michael Russo and James Mirtle of The Athletic released an in-depth piece earlier today that details the many concerns that player and other stakeholders have with the NHL’s plans to resume play, especially following the positive test confirmed yesterday. Yet, the most important piece of the article is this: the NHL is not considering delaying the start of Phase 3 at this time. The next stage in the league’s plan to return to play is to open training camps on July 10, just under three weeks from now. This would set up the start of the expanded postseason for early August, a timeline that the league hopes would allow them to complete the season, take time off for the off-season, and begin the 2020-21 campaign before the start of the new year. As of right now, 11 positive COVID tests are not enough for the NHL to slow their plan of attack.

Of course, the one caveat to all of these plans is that the players have not yet agreed to the terms of the return to play plan. While the NHL and NHLPA have worked together to approve a potential format that the majority of teams and players felt was fair, there still needs to be a formal vote in which the players agree to return from the league’s pause. With positive cases on the rise, concerns over the conditions related to returning to play, and some players still struggling with simply returning to their teams, all well detailed by Russo and Mirtle, a “yes” vote may not be as easy as it once seemed.

Swiss Club EV Zug Offers 2020-21 Update On NHL Alumni

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NHL fans are not alone in missing hockey and looking for any news from their favorite teams to fill the void created by COVID-19. EV Zug of the Swiss NLA has published an update for their fans courtesy of GM Reto Klay on the future plans of some of their more recent NHL draft picks. These fan-favorites include Columbus Blue Jackets forward Calvin Thurkauf, Washington Capitals defenseman Tobias Geisser, and former New York Rangers prospect Nico Gross.

Of the three, EV Zug offered little hope that fans would see Thurkauf back with the team any time soon. The big, two-way forward has exceeded expectation as a 2016 seventh-round pick, making his NHL debut this season with the Blue Jackets. The 22-year-old left Zug the year before he was drafted to play two seasons with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. During that time, he was also a standout for Switzerland’s entries at the World Junior Championship. Now in his third pro season, Thurkauf has recorded 52 points in 154 AHL games and suited up for three games with the NHL club this year as well. On paper, Thurkauf may not seem like a top prospect, but he has the chance to make a career out of his size and physical presence on an NHL checking line. A restricted free agent following this season, Klay suggests that Columbus is interested in an extension with Thurkauf. Expect the young forward to be back with the organization next year and possibly spending more time with the Blue Jackets.

Geisser is the name that EV Zug fans are most familiar with right now, as the 21-year-old defender played on loan with the team this season. A fourth-round pick of the Capitals in 2017, Geisser spent one more year with Zug in the NLA before signing on with Washington and spending the entire 2018-19 season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. He began this season in the minors as well, but a logjam on defense prompted the Capitals to loan him back to Zug. If it were up to Klay, the same would happen next season. Not only does Zug value the big shutdown defenseman, but Klay feels that the ice time and responsibility that the club affords him is needed for his continued development. However, he admits that the decision is entirely up to Washington. Fortunately for Zug fans, due to Geisser’s entry-level contract sliding in his first year, there is no rush to get him back to North America if he is better off in Switzerland, as he still has a couple years left on his current deal.

In a much different place that Thurkauf or Geisser is Gross. The Rangers recently made the decision – scrutinized by some – to allow Gross’ draft rights to expire on June 1st. A fourth-round pick in 2018 who has been a solid two-way defenseman for the OHL’s Oshawa Generals for the past three years, Gross appeared to be the type of prospect who would be worthy of an entry-level contract. Instead, New York opted not to use the contract slot on one of more highly-regarded Swiss prospects in recent years. Because Gross is still 20 years old, he will re-enter the draft later this year, but the odds are likely low that he will be selected and will likely end up as an unrestricted free agent. While his NHL career outlook might look bleak, Klay believes that there will be opportunities for Gross in North America next season. He would like to see the capable blue liner return to Zug, but notes that Gross will have other options.

PHR Mailbag: Seattle, Draft, Rangers, Playoff Surprises, Buyouts

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It’s time for another edition of the PHR Mailbag.  Topics in this one include Seattle, draft risers and fallers, the Rangers, playoff surprises, and compliance buyouts.  If your question doesn’t appear here, look for it in last weekend’s mailbag.

BOSSports21: Future question – so 20-21 will be delayed, most likely resulting in a mid-summer 2021 end, thereby pushing the draft/FA back again, and presumably the expansion draft. How do you think this will impact Seattle if the expansion draft isn’t until July or Aug, 2021 and you’re starting that October?

M34: Does Seattle benefit or suffer from the recent world events impact on the NHL?

I don’t think a potentially shortened turnaround from the end of 2020-21 to the start of 2021-22 really affects much in the scheme of things for Seattle.  They first have to pick their team and they’ll have data and scouting from that season (plus this one too) to use to make their information.  That’s not really affected by the timeline.

They might, however, be positively affected by the salary cap crunch.  Vegas was used to offload some bad contracts but it seemed like teams would learn their lesson for this one.  However, the expected flattening of the cap due to the pandemic is simply going to force some teams to have to go through that procedure again and that should be to Seattle’s benefit.

A shorter offseason might ultimately expedite some of those moves (or at least squeeze them into a narrower window) but a lot of these could still be pre-arranged while the playoffs were going on.  They’ll have ample time to prepare so even if their team ultimately gets built in a rather short period of time, they’ll be well-positioned to do so.

Winter in Colorado: Detroit shocked most when they drafted Moritz Seider 6th overall, a possible reach. Opposite of that, Arthur Kaliyev was drafted at 33 overall. He went lower than most mocks had him going, a definite slide. Which two players do you see filing these roles in the upcoming draft?

The first thought I had when I read this question was that Russian goalie Yaroslav Askarov could actually fit in both categories.  Not everyone believes that a goalie should go in the top-10 and if he’s taken there, some would call it a reach.  But if enough teams believe in not ‘reaching’ for a goalie early, he could fall deep enough to qualify as a slide as well.

Jake Sanderson is one that might qualify for the possible reach category.  He seems to be somewhat of a late bloomer (which is hard to do considering there haven’t been any games for basically three months) but there are rankings that have the defenseman outside the top-20 and others as high as third overall.  He looks like someone that’s in the 10-13 range but if there’s a team that sees him as the number two blueliner on the board behind Jamie Drysdale (or number one even), they’ll do like Detroit did with Seider a year ago and grab him early.

In terms of a possible slider, I’ll take Mavrik Bourque.  He was top ten in the QMJHL in points per game this season, second behind only Alexis Lafreniere in terms of 18-year-olds in their first year of NHL draft eligibility.  He’s ranked from the mid-teens to mid-twenties by most publications but concerns about his size, skating, and injuries make him a candidate to slide back.  A team that gets him in the late first round or early second (like Kaliyev) should be quite happy to see him there.

acarneglia: Who starts for the Rangers in goal? Are the Rangers the biggest sleeper in the whole postseason?

The debate over who starts is almost certain to be covered in our storylines for them which will run in the coming days so I won’t bother getting into the complete discussion here.  I do think it’s Igor Shesterkin’s spot to lose though.  His strong play is a large factor in them simply getting to this spot as they weren’t really going anywhere before they brought him up partway through the season.  I also think he’s the one that has the best chance at getting on a bit of a run.  The lack of experience is concerning but for me, Shesterkin is the one with the most short-term upside (as well as having the best long-term upside).  In a short series, I’m going for that over giving one last nod to Henrik Lundqvist or potentially trying to aid Alexandar Georgiev’s trade value.

As for part two of your question, I’ll get to that momentarily.

wu tang killa beez: Who would you see as the biggest surprise in these playoffs? After all, there is no momentum for anyone, all the teams are a little rusty and are starting a new season.

Two playing styles come to mind as ones that can really stand out and make a run.  One is that a bunch of players get hot offensively for a few weeks and the other is a team that can get a hot goalie and/or gets their defensive system down quicker than everyone else.  Even better are the teams that can get all of the above and those are the ones that have the potential to surprise.

In the East, that pick would be the Rangers.  They had a top-five offense in the regular season and while career years from Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad played a big part of that, the supporting cast is still relatively strong.  They get good production from the back end as well.  And if Shesterkin plays like he did after being recalled (and that’s a big if given the inexperience), they can win a few rounds.  Of the teams that weren’t in a true playoff spot when the pandemic hit, they’re the biggest sleeper.

I also want to talk about Arizona a little bit as a potential surprise team in the West.  The goaltending was there all year and if Darcy Kuemper falters, Antti Raanta has shown that he can carry the load for a while without the team skipping a beat.  They have the defensive structure in place that they should be able to pick up again without much difficulty despite the layoff as they aren’t really integrating any newcomers from the trade deadline into the fold.  And with Taylor Hall, Phil Kessel, and Clayton Keller, they have a group of players that are capable of carrying the load offensively.  They didn’t do it much during the season but if they play to their potential, the Coyotes go from a decent team to a dangerous one.

aias: Do you think compliance buyouts will happen?

As you noted in a follow-up comment, I did touch on this in a mailbag last month but that wasn’t really a prediction on whether they’d happen and instead answered some more specific questions about it including my proposal on how they could make it a little different.

I think these will be tied to the ongoing CBA talks which are tied to the ongoing Return to Play talks.  If the NHL and the NHLPA can reach an agreement on an extension, a revised financial framework is likely going to come to fruition as well.  It will probably involve some sort of combination of increased escrow, a multi-year negotiation of the Upper Limit without the NHLPA having the ability to use the inflator, salary deferrals, and some revisions as to what is and isn’t classified as HRR.

A fixed salary cap at or around the current $81.5MM next season would be a problem for quite a few teams.  It wouldn’t be pretty but it would be manageable.  Keeping that rate for two years (or longer) is going to cause a lot of problems for a lot of teams and cause significant damage to the UFA market.  There probably isn’t much of an appetite for them if the cap problem is a one-year thing but if it goes longer, then a lot of general managers are going to want it and a lot of pending free agents will want it too to preserve their chances of getting a good contract on the open market.

I think they ultimately do reach a multi-year agreement about running a fixed salary cap so yes, I do think there will be some form of compliance buyout when all is said and done.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

International Notes: Erat, KHL Rights Swap, Berglund, DEL

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Veteran winger Martin Erat has spent the past five seasons playing overseas after a 13-year NHL stint but he told Zdenek Janda of iSport that he has decided to call it a career.  Injuries limited the 38-year-old to just 16 games with HC Kometa Brno this season but he had been close to a point per game player in the previous three years in the Czech Extraliga.

Erat’s NHL time ended on a relatively quiet note (aside from being part of a trade that Washington would like to forget) but in his prime, he was a reliable and consistent top-six winger, collecting at least 49 points in a stretch of eight consecutive seasons, all with Nashville.  Overall, his career winds up with a total of 163 goals and 318 assists in 723 games between the Predators, Capitals, and Coyotes.

Elsewhere around the international hockey world:

  • A pair of NHL prospect goaltenders have seen their rights traded in the KHL. HK Sochi announced that they’ve acquired the rights to Jets youngster Mikhail Berdin from CSKA Moscow in exchange for Coyotes prospect Ivan Prosvetov.  Both netminders are already under contract to their respective NHL teams for next season but with the start of the 2020-21 AHL campaign certainly in question as long as there are restrictions in terms of allowable attendance, it’s a real possibility that players that are a little lower down the depth chart (Berdin and Prosetov played exclusively in the minors this year) are loaned to the KHL to ensure a full season of development.
  • Although he signed his entry-level contract back on Monday, don’t expect Bruins prospect Victor Berglund to play in North America next season. Reporter Mark Divver notes (Twitter link) that Berglund is expected to fulfill his previous commitment to play in Lulea of the SHL for the 2020-21 campaign and then come to North America after.  It will be his first taste of action at the top level in Sweden after previously playing in their second-tier Allsvenskan.
  • Earlier this week, Germany extended its ban on public events through the end of October due to the ongoing pandemic. Accordingly, as Szymon Szemberg of the Alliance of European Hockey Clubs notes (Twitter link), that places the start of the DEL in jeopardy and will also have an impact on other international events such as the Champions Hockey League which is set to begin its 2020-21 schedule in early October.  A handful of NHL free agents (often those who have been in the minors for most of the year) sign in the DEL each year but that now may be one opportunity that they opt not to pursue this offseason.

Snapshots: Ferland, Kakko, Kunin, Sabres

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Canucks winger Micheal Ferland has resumed skating as he continues to work his way back from concussion issues, reports Rick Dhaliwal of TSN 1040 and The Athletic (Twitter link).  He suffered a concussion back on October 30th where he missed a little more than a month.  He tried to come back in December but was shut down in his second game.  He made a second comeback attempt in February but was pulled from his first game on a conditioning assignment as the symptoms came back once again.

At that time, he was ruled out for the season but with play not resuming until into the summer, there’s now a possibility that Ferland could return while having the benefit of a full training camp to show that he has indeed recovered.  If healthy, he can make a difference in the bottom six for the Canucks, bringing them a physical presence with some offensive upside after recording at least 40 points in each of the previous two seasons.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • People with diabetes are at a higher risk if they contract COVID-19 and accordingly, some have wondered if NHL players in that situation would opt out of playing. However, com’s Dan Rosen relays that Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko is expected to play in their play-in round series against Carolina while Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports the same for Wild winger Luke Kunin who is expected to suit up against Vancouver.
  • Now-fired AHL Rochester head coach Chris Taylor actually had a two-year extension verbally agreed to before getting let go among Buffalo’s big shakeup earlier this week, notes Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his latest 31 Thoughts column. Ownership opted to hold up the deal which had been negotiated with ex-GM Jason Botterill and will now not honor it.  The rationale for Taylor’s departure (which included his assistant coaches) was attributed to how the team wants to run the Amerks.  In recent years, they’ve relied on veterans but it appears that they will shift towards a younger team with a higher emphasis on prospect development.

11 NHL Players Test Positive For COVID-19

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It has been a harrowing day throughout North American professional sports with plenty of positive tests being identified, including in the NHL.  The league released the following statement through their PR account on Twitter providing an update on their testing situation:

Since NHL Clubs were permitted to open their training facilities on June 8, all Players entering these facilities for voluntary training have been subject to mandatory testing for COVID-19.  Through today, in excess of 200 Players have undergone multiple testing.  A total of 11 of these Players have tested positive.  All Players who have tested positive have been self-isolated and are following CDC and Health Canada protocols.  The NHL will provide a weekly update on the number of tests administered to Players and the results of those tests.  The League will not be providing information on the identity of the Players or their Clubs.

The current protocol is that players are tested once upon arriving in their club city and must test negative before they can take to the ice.  Once that happened, they are tested a minimum of two times per week after that.

The league is currently in its second phase out of four in its Return to Play protocol with the third stage being the beginning of training camps and the fourth being the beginning of the play-in round or for the top four teams in each conference, a set of round robin games to determine postseason seeding.  As things stand, it’s only in that final stage that full quarantining rules will be in effect.  However, the final protocols are still being negotiated between the NHL and the NHLPA.

Metropolitan Storylines: New York Islanders

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While the stretch run is officially over with the NHL’s declaration that the play-in games won’t be part of the regular season, we still have one division left to get to in our Stretch Run Storylines series.  Our focus has been shifted to the Metropolitan Division with an eye on things to watch for in the postseason.  Next up is a look at the New York Islanders.

Last season was a bit of a roller coaster for the Islanders.  They surprised many by finishing second in the division despite the departure of John Tavares and swept Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs before being swept by Carolina.  They basically brought back the same roster for this season and the results weren’t as strong.  They’re set to match up with Florida in the play-in round to get back to the playoffs; here’s what to watch for from them.

Sorokin Saga

For years, Ilya Sorokin has been their goalie of the future.  The hope was that with the KHL shutting down its postseason, Sorokin would be free to sign his entry-level contract and burn it through this postseason.  In a normal year, that would be allowed since he was on New York’s reserve list at the trade deadline.  However, the NHL has ruled that no more current year contracts can be signed.  That is being contested by the NHLPA with an answer expected by the end of the month.

The final decision will ultimately have an impact on the Islanders’ plans.  If he’s ruled eligible to play, he’ll have an opportunity in camp to push for a top two spot although that would certainly be risky given his lack of exposure to play on the smaller North American ice surfaces.  It also means that he’d be able to sign a bigger contract this summer as a restricted free agent and eat into their projected cap space for the offseason.  If not, he’ll ink his entry-level deal for 2020-21 (which will likely contain some achievable bonuses) and get his bigger second contract a year later.  With several other teams having players in similar situations, this is one that more than the Isles will be watching.

Pageau’s Integration

Back at the trade deadline, the Islanders made one of the bigger splashes of the day, dealing 2020 first-round and second-round picks along with a conditional 2022 third-round selection to Ottawa for center Jean-Gabriel Pageau and then signed him to a six-year, $30MM extension hours later.  With the Senators, the 27-year-old was used in a top-six role and he responded with 24 goals and 40 points in 60 games that had him on his way to a career year before the pandemic hit.

His ice time dipped a bit after being acquired and while he still received plenty of time in a special teams role, Pageau was used on the third line which is the role he has been most accustomed to in his career with Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson playing ahead of him.  The transition wasn’t the greatest as he had just a pair of goals in seven games after the trade before the pandemic shut down the schedule but he’s hardly the first person to experience an offensive dip while trying to get acclimated to a new team.

This extended break and pending three-week training camp provide Pageau and the Islanders with an opportunity.  He’ll have a chance to develop some chemistry with his expected linemates and readjust to playing in that bottom-six role.  Pageau has had a knack for scoring some big playoff goals in the past and New York will certainly be counting on him for that if they can get past the Panthers.  How well he integrates back into his old role will go a long way in dictating what type of success they’ll have this summer.

Also worth noting here is the conditions of the first-round pick.  If the Islanders lose to Florida and manage to win a top-three pick, the selection would instead transfer to Ottawa in 2021.  The Draft Lottery will be held next week with seven teams and eight placeholder spots to represent the teams that will lose their play-in series.

Barzal’s Last Push

Barzal’s rookie season was one to remember as he led the team in scoring with 85 points in 82 games and actually out-produced Tavares.  Accordingly, expectations were through the roof heading into his sophomore campaign.  While his output wasn’t bad by any stretch (18-44-62), it still represented a significant drop.  As he entered the final year of his entry-level contract, the spotlight was certainly on as he looked to get back to that higher level and bolster his value with the expectation of a long-term, big-money deal this summer.

While his overall production dropped again by two points, New York had 14 games left when the pandemic hit.  In terms of points per game, it improved from 0.76 a year ago to 0.88 this season which is a 72-point pace.  That’s undoubtedly what Barzal’s side will be using when it comes to contract talks.

This stretch of games will be his last chance to make his case the salary cap situation not looking as good as it did just a few months ago doesn’t help him.  But Barzal had a strong showing in the postseason a year ago and a repeat performance could be the clinching element needed to ensure the long-term contract over a shorter-term bridge deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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