2020 Year In Review: June

2020 was certainly a unique year away from the rink.  However, it was also a year that featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look at June which saw a notable front office change get made.

Botterill Fired: After going through more than a decade and a half with some stability at GM with Darcy Regier, his successors in Buffalo haven’t lasted anywhere near as long.  Tim Murray was on the job for 39 months before being let go and Jason Botterill, his replacement, only made it 37 months before being fired by the Sabres.  The team didn’t make any playoff appearances under his tenure and had a couple of different coaches in Phil Housley and current bench boss Ralph Krueger.  Botterill was far from the only one let go as the team eventually slashed a significant chunk of their hockey operations department and have rebuilt their structure under new GM Kevyn Adams, formerly their Vice President of Business Administration, taking over the role in his first managerial position.

Hall Of Fame Class: While there was no formal induction ceremony due to the pandemic, the Hockey Hall of Fame still announced its class of inductees with Marian Hossa, Jarome Iginla, Kevin Lowe, Kim St-Pierre, and Doug Wilson receiving the honor in the player category as well as Ken Holland in the builder category.  Technically speaking, Hossa’s still an active player (he’s entering the final year of his contract with Arizona) which may have made his presence somewhat of a surprise but with his career being ruled over medically back in 2017, he was deemed to have served his mandatory three-year waiting period.

Extension For Reaves: A fan favorite since joining the team in their inaugural season, Ryan Reaves decided to forego the UFA market, instead signing a two-year, $3.5MM contract.  The 33-year-old isn’t known for his offensive prowess (although he has reached at least 10 points in four straight years) but he adds a level of toughness found in few others across the league.  The deal actually represents a pay cut by more than $1MM per year but the $1.75MM AAV is still considerably higher than most of the deals that fourth liners signed over the course of free agency.  In this case, it was the best of both worlds for Reaves – he got to stay with Vegas and may very well have received more than he would have had he waited to hit the open market.

Overseas Signings: A pair of defensemen opted to head overseas, raising some eyebrows along the way.  Stars blueliner Roman Polak signed with HC Vitkovice in the Czech Republic and in doing so, also indicated that he had no desire to return to Dallas for their playoff run, one that wound up taking them to the Stanley Cup Final.  Meanwhile, Sabres rearguard Lawrence Pilut inked a two-year pact with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL.  He played just 13 games with Buffalo last season but was quite productive in the minors to the point where he would have been a contender for a full-time spot on their roster.  Instead, he’ll bide his time overseas and has 21 points in 42 games so far this season.

Mystery Team Wins: The NHL opted to go through with their usual draft lottery even though only seven teams instead of 15 didn’t qualify for the playoffs.  The end result was an unidentified ‘qualifier’ team winning the draft lottery while Detroit, who entered the proceedings with the top odds for the number one pick, dropped the maximum three spots down to fourth.  Ottawa went in with two potential top-three selections based on the odds but had to settle for one as Los Angeles moved up two spots into the second slot with the Sens (with their pick acquired for Erik Karlsson), staying at third.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.