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Archives for September 2020

NHL Issues Update On COVID-19 Testing

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As the NHL has done each Monday in recent weeks, they have released an update on the COVID-19 testing being done in the bubble.  For the eighth straight week, there have been zero positive tests.  Their statement reads as follows:

The NHL completed the eighth week of its Phase 4 Return to Play with no positive test results for COVID-19 among the 1,127 tests administered. Testing was administered on a daily basis to all members of the Clubs’ 52-member travelling parties, including Players, during the period from September 13-19. The NHL will continue to provide regular updates on COVID-19 testing results. The League will not be providing information on the identity of any individuals or Clubs.

There have now been over 32,000 tests administered in the NHL’s bubble, with zero positive results. Now that the Stanley Cup Finals have started, we’re down to just two teams and the weekly testing has decreased dramatically.

With just a few days left until the championship is awarded, the league seems destined to get through their return to play without experiencing another outbreak, though things can obviously change in an instant.

Edmonton Loans Tyler Benson To GCK Lions

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The Edmonton Oilers will send another young forward overseas, loaning Tyler Benson to GCK Lions of the Swiss League. Benson, who received his first opportunity at the NHL level this season, was included on the team’s roster for the return to play postseason but will now take his talents to Switzerland’s second tier for the time being.

Benson, 22, is different from many of the prospects that have been sent overseas, as he already has two full professional seasons under his belt. The 32nd overall pick from 2016 has already become a star for the Bakersfield Condors, recording 105 points in 120 regular season games since debuting in the AHL. While he’s not a huge goal scorer, his offensive creativity and playmaking ability is almost unmatched at the minor league level.

The biggest question for Benson will always be his below-average skating ability and whether or not it limits him at the next level. That will have to be answered in his next NHL opportunity, but for now, he can go and continue to work on his explosiveness and two-way game in the structured Swiss system. Given that he’ll be playing in their second league though, you can bet that Benson’s offensive ability will shine through.

While the release does not indicate his return date, Benson is likely to get a shot at cracking the NHL roster whenever camps open. On the last year of his entry-level deal, he’s earned an opportunity with the Oilers.

Jared McIsaac Loaned To HPK

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The Detroit Red Wings have found a landing spot for another prospect, this time loaning Jared McIsaac to HPK in Finland. McIsaac is coming off his final season of junior and will be experiencing professional hockey for the first time. The press release from his new team explains that the initial plan is to have the young defenseman play the entire season overseas, though the Red Wings are allowed to recall him should the AHL season get underway and they feel it would be a better spot for his development.

McIsaac, 20, was the 36th overall pick in 2018 and was a star this year at the World Junior Championship. An elite puck-moving defenseman in the CHL, he tallied 180 points over 241 games. That kind of ability will help him succeed at the next level, but there’s still plenty of development left for the young defender.

It will be interesting to see if other prospects decide to spend the entire season overseas, given the uncertainty around the 2020-21 AHL season. While it would burn the first year of his entry-level contract (McIsaac’s deal has already slid forward twice, and he is now ineligible for it to happen again), Liiga is obviously a perfectly fine development league for many players and shouldn’t prove too intimidating for the youngster. Of course, if camps don’t start until the new year, perhaps the Red Wings will have seen enough by that point to believe that McIsaac could even compete for a roster spot on the NHL squad.

Snapshots: Boeser, Miller, Caufield, Langlois

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With plenty of trade speculation that has surrounded Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser over the last few months, there are quite a few people who have connected the dots of the Canucks sending their promising 23-year-old forward to Minnesota, Boeser’s hometown, to beef up their defense. With a new contract in the hands of Jonas Brodin, general manager Bill Guerin needs to trade Matt Dumba and a swap of the two players make sense, according to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.

However, Canucks general manager Jim Benning said recently that he isn’t trying to trade Boeser, who has scored 71 goals in the past three seasons.

“Lots of GMs call us about our players,” Benning said. “I listen and sometimes we have a conversation. That’s my job as a GM. If I’m not listening to other GMs, then I’m not doing my job. But we’re not trying to trade Brock Boeser. I have not had a conversation with Minnesota about him.”

Another reason for the trade speculation is that Vancouver has three key unrestricted free agents it would like to re-sign and don’t have the cap space at the moment to do it. Boeser has a $5.88MM contract for two more years and while not an albatross of a contract, the team could save some cap space if they were willing to move one of their forwards to bring in defensive help. Dumba makes $6MM, so the contracts would even out, but then could allow the team to try to focus on re-signing Tyler Toffoli to replace Boeser in the lineup if the Canucks could make that swap.

  • The Athletic’s Eric Stephens writes (subscription required) that the Anaheim Ducks still are waiting for backup goaltender Ryan Miller to make up his mind on coming back for a 18th season. Miller told Stephens that he has been on the ice approximately seven times now and is just trying to see if his body can adjust to sitting for as long as he has. Regardless, the 40-year-old has yet to make a decision, but the long layoff (he last played on March 10) has definitely made him think twice about returning. “You have things that you’re used to doing and when they stop, it’s shocking to the system,” said Miller. “I tried to install a little bit of normalcy so I can kind of get my sense of direction … I just thought that it was best not making any decisions either way if you’re sitting on the couch.”
  • After a report from SportExpressen Saturday that Edmonton Oilers prospect Raphael Lavoie was cut from Rogle of the SHL after the Oilers loaned him to the top SHL team, a new report this morning suggests that they have set their sights on Lavoie’s replacement. HockeyNews.se reports that Rogle is now in negotiations to recruiting Montreal Canadiens star prospect Cole Caufield to join the team. ESPN’s Chris Peters reports that Caufield has been looking for a place to play with his college season at the University of Wisconsin delayed, although the rumor last week was that he was headed to Switzerland. Rogle has declined comment on the situation. Caufield, the Canadiens top pick in 2019, scored 19 goals in his freshman year at Wisconsin.
  • The Montreal Canadiens announced the passing of three-time Stanley Cup winning defenseman Albert “Junior” Langlois, who died at age 85 on Saturday. He helped the Canadiens win Stanley Cups in 1958, 1959 and 1960, the last three of their historic five-straight Cup titles. He also played for the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and the Boston Bruins. The stay-at-home defenseman played 497 games in his NHL career with 21 goals and 112 points. PHR offers our condolences to his family.

East Notes: Stamkos, Zadina, Islanders, Lundqvist

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are now down 1-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals and, of course, the question of Steven Stamkos’ availability came up in the most recent press conference. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said he doubted that Stamkos would be ready for Game 2, but did speculate further on the possibility that Stamkos could make an appearance for the Lightning at some point in the series, according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith.

Cooper said that Stamkos is “inching closer” to a return and it’s “killing him” not to play, but the coach also said he refuses to put him in if he’s not ready. Cooper said the team needs to make sure his conditioning is up and both he and the medical staff are both comfortable with Stamkos on the ice.

  • The Detroit Red Wings sent 2018 first-round pick Filip Zadina to the Czech Republic to continue playing until the 2020-21 begins, but already have felt the danger of loaning out one of their players. HC Ocelari Trinec announced that Zadina will miss the next few weeks with a upper-body injury that he sustained during a game Sunday. While there is no word on how serious the injury is, the diagnosis that he will be out a few weeks likely means it won’t threaten his availability when the NHL begins their 2020-21 season, which likely now won’t be until at least January 2021. Zadina took over a top-six spot late in the season, scoring eight goals and 15 points in 28 games and is a key component to the team’s 2020-21 season.
  • With four pending unrestricted free agents coming up in the offseason, the New York Islanders have quite a few decisions to make about who they intend to keep. While general manager Lou Lamoriello was able to re-sign most of his UFA’s last season, that’s not likely to be the case. Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports that the team may only keep one of them this time around, suggesting that forward Matt Martin could be the only one to retain. The team isn’t likely to bring back goaltender Thomas Greiss now that Ilya Sorokin is on board, although Gross does add that Lamoriello does have a long-standing relationship with Andy Greene, so the team could potentially bring him back as well.
  • USA Today’s Vince Mercogliano looks at the Rangers goaltending situation, suggesting the Rangers may have no choice but to buyout long-time Rangers icon Henrik Lundqvist when the buyout window opens on Sept. 25. General manager Jeff Gorton said he doesn’t plan to keep three goaltenders on the roster and word is the Rangers have not liked any offers they’ve received for Alexandar Georgiev, suggesting the team could save significant cap space in the future if they let go of Lundqvist, including $3MM next season and quite a bit more in 2021-22. With a trade unlikely for Lundqvist even if the Rangers retain half of his $8.5MM salary, the team could announce a buyout as soon as Friday, although at this point, anything is still possible.

 

Free Agent Focus: Calgary Flames

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With free agency now less than a month away, many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  While the Calgary Flames have one or two key restricted free agents to deal with, they may have quite a few questions that will need answering among their unrestricted free-agent defensemen.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Andrew Mangiapane – Throughout his career, Mangiapane has done everything right and only continues to get better. A former sixth-round pick in 2015, he worked his way into permanent role in 2018-19 and solidified himself as a top-six forward this year and it showed, posting career highs in his second full season, scoring 17 goals and 32 points. He added another three goals in 10 playoff games this year. The 24-year-old is likely to get a raise after making $800K on his now-expiring entry-level deal. He has proven his value as a key future forward on this team.

F Mark Jankowski – There was a lot of hope for Jankowski, the team’s first-round pick from 2012, but his third season in the NHL was a bit disappointing. In fact, after his rookie campaign in 2017-18 in which the 26-year-old tallied 17 goals, he has seen a continual decline, posting 15 goals in 2018-19 and followed that up with just five goals this year and has seen his playing time continue to drop as he played just 11:06 of ATOI. And at 6-foot-4 and a bottom-line player, he doesn’t play much of a physical game with just 80 recorded hits over three full seasons. However, the team has to decide whether he is worth the $1.75MM qualifying offer to retain his rights.

Other RFAs: F Justin Kirkland, D Oliver Kylington, D Andrew Nielsen, G Tyler Parsons.

10.2(c) Players: F Glenn Gawdin, G Nick Schneider (ineligible for arbitration or an offer sheet)

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Travis Hamonic – The Flames gave up quite a bit to bring in the defensive-minded Hamonic back in 2017. While not particularly much of an offensive player, the 30-year-old blueliner is quite a defensive player and was second on the team in ATOI this season at 21:11. Of course, the team was without his services in the playoffs as he opted out due to COVID-19 and family concerns. His daughter has had a significant battle with a life-threatening respiratory virus in the past while Hamonic has a new baby boy as well. However, the blueliner also was dealing with an upper-body injury for a large chunk of the regular season as well. Will the team bring him back? He was quite an affordable commodity at $3.86MM for the last few years, but undoubtedly will be looking for a raise and how many years is Calgary willing to offer to someone who is already 30 years old? With a team as cash-strapped as Calgary, Hamonic may be too pricey to keep.

D Erik Gustafsson – With five unrestricted free-agent defensemen, the team is likely to have to make some tough decisions in the near future. The Flames picked up Gustafsson for just a third-round pick at the trade deadline, which looked like a steal when Hamonic opted out of the playoffs. The team was expecting to lean on the once-high scoring defenseman. Instead, Gustafsson got just third-pairing minutes and wasn’t a big contributor down the stretch, suggesting the team may move on from him. While the 28-year-old’s price tag likely has dropped since posting a 17-goal, 60-point season back in 2018-19 and then following that up with a six-goal, 29-point season this year, a reunion would seem less likely considering the team has limited means as it is.

D T.J. Brodie – A constant trade-rumor candidate last summer, Brodie has found a way to remain with the team and produce quality minutes and may be the best option for Calgary if they were able to re-sign just one starter in the offseason. While his minutes have declined significantly since 2014-15, he still can put of solid defensive numbers and potentially provide solid play for less than the cost of either Hamonic or Gustafsson. He is capable of playing either side of the ice and plays a game that might suggest he could play deeper into his career than other defensemen.

G Cam Talbot – The Calgary Flames added Talbot to their roster as a veteran backup for young David Rittich and instead, Talbot walked away with the starting job, playing in all 10 of the team’s playoff games with Rittich getting just 16:35 of ice time in the final game before they were eliminated by Dallas (he gave up three goals on six shots). Talbot, who posted solid numbers this year, with a 2.63 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 26 regular season games, put up even better numbers in those 10 playoff games, including a 2.42 GAA and a .924 save percentage. The 33-year-old UFA made it clear he is looking for a starting job, but is Calgary willing to give up on Rittich just yet? And are they willing to pay up to keep Talbot, who could have quite a few suitors after his impressive season?

Other UFAs: F Austin Czarnik, D Derek Forbort, F Byron Froese, G Jon Gillies, F Ryan Lomberg, F Alan Quine, F Tobias Rieder, F Zac Rinaldo, F Buddy Robinson, D Michael Stone, D Rinat Valiev.

Projected Cap Space

The Flames only have about $16MM in available cap space and plenty of players they need to sign, including at least one or two defensemen and a starting/tandem goaltender. That doesn’t leave much money left for the team to spend on potential free agents unless the Flames find a way to move out some salary or some key players. Of course, with several rumors spreading about the availability of Johnny Gaudreau, it could be an interesting offseason for the Calgary Flames.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Ottawa’s Andreas Englund Signs In Allsvenskan

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The Ottawa Senators may have lost one of their defenseman as Vasterviks IK announced (translation required) they have signed defenseman Andreas Englund, who is expected to hit restricted free agency on Oct. 9. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the deal has an out-clause in which he can return to the Senators, but only if the team gives him a qualifying offer next month, which is no certainty. The wording on the announcement also suggests the Allsvenskan team hopes to keep him around permanently.

“24-year-old Andreas Englund played in (Ottawa) last season but his contract has now expired so he is now a free agent,” according to the press release.

Englund did manage to play a career high in games played in the NHL this season. He appeared in 24 games for the Senators, who drafted the blueliner in the second round back in 2014. However, the blueliner was also placed on waivers on multiple occasions throughout the year and didn’t see much time on the ice in Ottawa regardless. Englund averaged just 10:54 of ATOI and due to his lack of offensive ability, many believe that he doesn’t have the ability to win himself a permanent spot as a top-six defenseman in the NHL. That, along with a number of new faces on Ottawa’s defense this year, including a permanent role for Erik Brannstrom, a healthy Christian Wolanin and the overseas signing of Artem Zub, there may not be a place in the NHL for Englund, leaving many questions whether the team will hand him a qualifying offer.

Englund has played in the Allvenskan before when he played for Djurgardens Stokholm squad and then followed that year up with two years in the SHL before coming over to North America. He does have some size at 6-foot-4, but lacks significant offensive skill as he managed just three assists in 24 NHL games and went scoreless in 22 AHL games and his career high in AHL scoring has been 14 points (back in 2018-19).

 

Jimmy Howard Expects To Play Elsewhere, But Not Ready To Retire

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While admitting that his time with the Detroit Red Wings is at an end, goaltender Jimmy Howard said that he isn’t ready to retire, suggesting that “someone is going to have to tell me I can’t play anymore,” according to a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

An unrestricted free agent on Oct. 9, the 36-year-old Howard admitted that he was “probably not” going to return to Detroit after a disastrous season in which Howard had career lows with a 4.20 GAA and a .882 save percentage in 27 appearances. Some of those struggles could be attributed to playing for one of the worst teams in NHL history which finished with a 17-49-5 record last season. Howard has played with the organization his entire 14-year career since he was taken in the second round of the 2003 NHL draft where he has averaged a solid .912 save percentage over those years.

However, Howard told Friedman that he doesn’t want to end his career the way it did and wants another chance to prove his value. The veteran has been training for two months and has discussed moving away from his family for a year if he can’t get a job close to home.

It’s been clear for several months that Detroit is ready to move on from their long-time goaltender and intends to put more responsibility on Jonathan Bernier and bring in another goaltender without throwing a significant amount of money at one of the top free agents.

As for Howard, the veteran will have to hope that he can get a team to give him a chance to win the backup role with their franchise, which becomes even more challenging as many teams are starting to put more faith on goaltending tandems.

Free Agent Focus: Buffalo Sabres

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With free agency now less than a month away, many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  New Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams will certainly have his work cut out for him as more than half of their players are in need of new contracts in the coming weeks.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Sam Reinhart – Two years ago, the Sabres elected for a bridge contract to see if Reinhart had another gear in him.  While he hasn’t quite reached a point per game level, he has emerged as a capable and consistent top liner.  He has reached at least 50 points in three straight seasons and had an outside shot at 60 had it not been for the pandemic which will help his arbitration case as will his increase in usage to over 20 minutes a night.  He’s two years away from unrestricted free agency so this is the time where a long-term pact should be the focus for both sides.  There aren’t a lot of core forwards in Buffalo right now beyond Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner but Reinhart is certainly one of them.

F Victor Olofsson – It was a breakout season for the 25-year-old who went from being predominantly a minor leaguer to one of the top rookie scorers in the league with 22 goals and 20 assists in just 54 games.  His lack of NHL track record makes it difficult to find possible comparables which could make his arbitration case a little more interesting.  Normally, a bridge deal for a player in this situation coming off his entry-level deal would make sense but because he’s an older rookie, a two-year pact would walk him right to unrestricted free agency.  There’s no doubt that Olofsson will get a substantial raise on his salary from this season which was less than $800K but Adams is going to have to decide if he’s ready to commit to a long-term deal or if a one-year contract is the better way to go.

G Linus Ullmark – Ullmark has been Buffalo’s possible goalie of the future for a while but it has yet to materialize into a goalie of the present situation.  Even with Carter Hutton struggling mightily, head coach Ralph Krueger saw fit to platoon the two so Ullmark only played in 34 games and while he has played in five separate NHL seasons, he still doesn’t have 100 games under his belt.  At 27, he’s a year away from UFA eligibility so another one-year contract that kicks the can down the road isn’t an option anymore.  They may not be ready to commit a long-term deal but a two or three-year pact that buys a bit of team control and has a price tag around the $3MM mark might be palatable for both sides; it’d more than double his salary from this season without pricing themselves out of bidding for a starter down the road.

D Brandon Montour – It wasn’t that long ago that Montour appeared to be a part of their long-term plans to the point where Buffalo gave up a first-rounder for him.  However, he struggled a bit under Krueger and his ice time fell as a result.  Add that to the flattened salary cap and there are questions about whether or not they should be tendering him his $3.525MM qualifying offer.  He’s also a year away from UFA eligibility but it’s at least possible that he hits the open market earlier than originally planned.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see him in trade discussions in the coming weeks as a result.

Other RFAs: F Remi Elie, D Brandon Hickey, G Jonas Johansson, F Dominik Kahun, F Curtis Lazar, F Andrew Oglevie, D Matthew Spencer, F Tage Thompson

10.2(c) Players: F Casey Mittelstadt (ineligible for arbitration or an offer sheet)

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Wayne Simmonds – The decision to take a one-year deal came with mixed results for Simmonds.  While he landed more than he would have on a multi-year contract, he didn’t rebound like he or New Jersey had hoped for and didn’t improve upon being moved to Buffalo.  While he’s only 32, he has shown signs of slowing down considerably the last couple of years and should now be looked as more of a depth player than the top-six option he has been for most of his career.  He should still have no difficulty landing a contract this offseason but it will be much cheaper than the $5MM he made this season.

F Jimmy Vesey – Last summer’s trade to the Sabres didn’t kick-start his offense.  Instead, his production took a nosedive as his nine goals and 20 points were both career lows; even had the pandemic not hit, that still likely would have been the case.  So instead of entering the market as a possible second liner, he’s going to have to seek out an opportunity where he can play on an offensive-minded third line and hope to play his way up the lineup.  At 27, there should be a fair bit of interest but the flattened cap may limit his chances of beating his $2.35MM salary from this season.

F Zemgus Girgensons/F Johan Larsson – I’ve lumped these two together as they’ve followed somewhat similar trajectories thus far aside from Girgensons’ voted in All-Star Game appearance.  They even are coming off of near-identical contracts, $1.6MM for Girgensons and $1.55MM for Larsson.  Both have spent seven years in Buffalo and have done well at times defensively but their offensive games haven’t progressed much along the way.  There is a spot on the fourth line either with Buffalo or elsewhere but it may be hard to justify Adams bringing both of them back at a similar price tag but one of them re-signing could certainly happen.

Other UFAs: F Michael Frolik, D John Gilmour, G Andrew Hammond, D Matt Hunwick, F Taylor Leier, D Casey Nelson, F Vladimir Sobotka, F Scott Wilson

Projected Cap Space

With so many players needing new deals, there isn’t much on the books right now; they have about $47MM tied up in 10 players, per CapFriendly.  That gives them plenty of flexibility to work with if ownership is willing to spend to the $81.5MM Upper Limit.  After they re-sign their restricted free agents, they’ll have enough left to be players in free agency in the coming weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Notes From Gary Bettman’s State Of The Union

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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke with reporters via Zoom today as part of his annual State of the Union before the Stanley Cup Final gets underway.  Here are some of the key highlights as relayed by Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press (Twitter thread) unless otherwise indicated.

  • While there is no firm timetable in place, Bettman indicated that he wouldn’t be surprised if the start of next season slips into late December or early January. The early plans were to start at the beginning of December with training camps beginning roughly two months from now but that hasn’t seemed like a probable outcome for a while.
  • Although there has been some speculation about a possible Canadian division next season to reduce the amount of out-of-country travel, Bettman didn’t want to speculate on it but added that they are considering all possibilities at this point.
  • The NHL is a league that greatly relies on gate revenue and Bettman suggests that the league derives at least half of their revenue from that particular stream. If you were curious to know how much of their revenue could be lost by trying to play with no fans for an entire year, that’s what they could stand to lose and why they’d prefer to try to push things back at this point in the hopes of getting at least some fans in.  However, he conceded that they could start the season without fans with an eye on bringing some in gradually as time progresses, per Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston (via Twitter).
  • The expanded playoff format this year that had 24 teams participate is not something that is going to be continued, notes NHL.com’s Dan Rosen (Twitter link). Bettman stated that “It will take a fair amount of convincing to me at least that we need to make a change” so it appears things will go back to the traditional 16-team format next season.
  • At this time, the focus remains on playing a full 82-game campaign in 2020-21, via Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). While not directly mentioned, many regional television contracts have that number built in with penalties if they play fewer than that many.  That was the case this season and it’s something they’d certainly like to avoid repeating.  It’s worth noting that their broadcast partner in NBC has the rights to the Olympics which are scheduled to start on July 22nd which could represent a target date for the playoffs to be completed.
  • While the end of next season is certainly going to be delayed from its usual time in June, this will not affect the Seattle Kraken’s timeline for their entry into the league for 2021-22.
  • No decision has been made yet on the status of the 2021 Winter Classic which is scheduled to take place in Minnesota, notes Rosen (via Twitter).  While it’s one of their marquee events and could even make for an interesting start point to next season, it would lose a lot of its intrigue if no fans were allowed to be in attendance.

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