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NHL Announces All-Star Teams, All-Rookie Team

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On the heels of the NHL Awards, the league has revealed the rosters of it’s all-league teams. As voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, the selections are as follows:

First All-Star Team (link)

G Andrei Vasilevskiy
D Adam Fox
D Cale Makar
LW Brad Marchand
C Connor McDavid
RW Mitch Marner

Hart, Ted Lindsay, and Art Ross winner McDavid anchors the First Team All-Stars for the fourth time in his career, flanked by Hart candidate Marchand and with Vezina finalist Vasilevskiy in net. However, the story of the top All-Star squad is young defensemen Fox, the Norris winner, and Makar, a Norris finalist, manning the first team blue line in just their second NHL seasons. Marner is another first-time selection with a career year in his fifth season.

Second All-Star Team (link)

G Marc-Andre Fleury
D Victor Hedman
D Dougie Hamilton
LW Jonathan Huberdeau
C Auston Matthews
RW Mikko Rantanen

Vezina winner Fleury highlights an impressive second-team squad that also included Norris finalist Hedman and Hart finalist Matthews. This is Hedman’s fifth appearance on the Second Team All-Star roster, but all the others are first-time selections. Under-rated starts Huberdeau and Rantanen receiving much-deserved recogntion from the PHWA.

All-Rookie Team (link)

G Alex Nedeljkovic
D K’Andre Miller
D Ty Smith
LW Jason Robertson
C Joshua Norris
RW Kirill Kaprizov

With Calder winner Kaprizov leading the way, the All-Rookie teams boasts a mix of seasoned young players in their first full NHL seasons, such as Kaprizov himself and Nedeljkovic, sophomores Robertson and Norris, and true “rookies” in first-year pros Miller and Smith on the back end.

For those thinking that their favorite star was snubbed from all-league recognition this season, the voting results were actually very definitive. Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon was a distant third at center, as was the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin at left wing and Vegas’ Mark Stone at right wing. Colorado’s Philipp Grubauer was way back of the top two in net as well. On defense, Hamilton was actually well behind Fox, Makar, and Hedman, but far enough ahead of Vegas’ Shea Theodore and Boston’s Charlie McAvoy. 

Connor McDavid Named Hart Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award Winner

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Everyone agrees, Connor McDavid is the best. The Edmonton Oilers superstar has won the 2020-21 Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player, as well as the Ted Lindsay Award as the game’s best player as voted on by the players. This is McDavid’s second Hart and third Lindsay to go with his third Art Ross Trophy earned this season as the league’s top scorer.

Really though, everyone agrees. McDavid was a unanimous selection for the Hart Trophy, receiving all 100 first-place votes from the Professional Hockey Writers Association. He joins Wayne Gretzky as the only players to have ever won the award unanimously. McDavid made it hard for the writers, or his peers in the league, to vote otherwise with an unfathomable 105 points in just 56 games. It is no question that he was the most valuable player in the league, contributing to 57% of Edmonton’s top-ten goal total, but it also very hard to argue that anyone was more objectively “outstanding”, as the players voted.

The leading second-place vote-getter for the Hart was Toronto’s Auston Matthews, followed by Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, and Boston’s Brad Marchand. As for Ted Lindsay polling, the results were not revealed to the public, but McDavid topped finalists Crosby and Matthews for the honor.

McDavid received both awards virtually from teammate Leon Draisaitl, who won both himself last season.

Adam Fox Wins Norris Trophy

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Not too shabby for a second-year player. New York Rangers sophomore Adam Fox has been named the Norris Trophy winner as the best defenseman in the NHL at just 23 years old. Fox was phenomenal in 2020-21, recording 47 points and a +19 rating in 55 games.

Fox joins elite company in taking home the Norris at such a young age. He is now just the second defenseman to win the award in his second season, joining none other than Bobby Orr. Fox is deserving of the honor, too. He led the Rangers in assists and finished fifth in total scoring, while also leading the team in time on ice per game and blocked shots with the second-best plus/minus and takeaways. Although Fox is often pegged as an offensive defenseman – he was second in the NHL in defensive scoring – he did it all for the Rangers in 2020-21.

With all that said, there will be plenty of people who want to argue that either other finalist, Colorado’s Cale Makar or Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman, deserved the Norris this year. Both received considerable support in the voting, but Fox finished with nine more first-place votes than Makar and twice that ahead of Hedman. Makar finished less than 100 voting points behind Fox, making it a tight race, but Hedman was actually closer to Boston’s Charlie McAvoy in fifth than he was to catching Fox.

Marc-Andre Fleury Wins Vezina Trophy

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In what can only be described as the ultimate comeback story, 36-year-old Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights has been named the Vezina Trophy winner as the best goalie in the NHL. Fleury is just one year removed from a below-average season in which he was the backup in Vegas, but stormed back this year with stellar numbers to win the starting job and lead the team to the playoffs. Fleury adds the Vezina to his Jennings Trophy that he shared with Robin Lehner this season as the tandem with the fewest goals against in the league.

It is hard to believe Fleury’s Vezina win on multiple levels. First, that one of the best goalies of his generation did not win his first Vezina until his 17th season in the league. Fleury has received Vezina votes three other times, but never even enough to make him a finalist. Second, that the win came after one of his worst NHL season, after which some felt his career could be over and even his own Golden Knights team entertained trade offers. Yet, Fleury stayed put and stayed healthy, winning the starting job in Vegas this season and recording a 26-10-0 record with a stunning .928 save percentage and 1.98 GAA. Fleury finished third in both categories, earning him the Jennings alongside competent play by Lehner, and ultimately the Vezina as well.

The NHL’s general managers liked Fleury for the Vezina this year, but it was a close race. The veteran received 14 first-place votes and 108 total voting points, while Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, the 2018-19 Vezina winner and a finalist four years running, received 12 first-place votes and 99 total voting points. Others receiving votes included finalist Philipp Grubauer of the Avalanche and reigning Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck of the Jets.

Kirill Kaprizov Wins Calder Trophy

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The NHL Awards Show began with recognizing arguably the most exciting player in the league this season. Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov has won the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year. Kaprizov, 24, recorded 27 goals and 51 points in 55 games in just his first season in North America. He received 99 of a possible 100 first-place votes for the award.

Minnesota’s long wait for Kaprizov to make the jump from the KHL to the NHL paid off, as his talent translated perfectly to the North American game. Kaprizov’s dynamic skating and offensive instincts helped to completely re-invent the Wild’s style of play and ultimately led them to the postseason. Kaprizov finished first in goals and points for Minnesota this season while leading all forwards in time on ice. For his efforts, not only did Kaprizov take home the Calder, but he also was named to the All-Rookie Team, finished fourth among left wings in All-Star Team voting, and even received enough MVP votes to tie for fifteenth in Hart Trophy voting.

Behind Kaprizov, Dallas’ Jason Robertson received the vast majority of second-place votes and Carolina’s Alex Nedeljkovic received the vast majority of third-place votes. Other candidates included Ottawa’s Joshua Norris and the Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin.

Free Agent Focus: Colorado Avalanche

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Free agency is now just a little more than a month away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in late July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. The Avalanche have their captain to sign, but he isn’t even the most important deal they have to complete.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Tyson Jost – Not the first player you think of when you think of pending free agents on the Avalanche, but an important negotiation just the same. Jost, 23, is an interesting case study to watch this summer after signing his qualifying offer last year. For one thing, he is now arbitration-eligible, meaning the negotiation will be taken out of their hands if necessary, but the young forward has still not taken the developmental step that many expected. Selected 10th overall in 2016, Jost quickly became a regular in the Colorado lineup, but has failed to record more than 26 points in a single season. His average ice time increased this year to over 14 minutes, but he still had just seven goals and 17 points to show for it. Can he be a long-term piece in the middle-six, or will Jost try to maximize earnings by reaching free agency as quickly as possible? Because he has already completed four seasons, he’s just three years away from unrestricted free agency and won’t have to wait until he’s 27.

D Cale Makar – This is the player that everyone is watching in Colorado as he gets set for his first contract negotiation. Makar has played two seasons in the NHL and could very well have two major trophies to show for it. After winning the Calder in year one, he is a finalist for the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman in just his sophomore campaign. There’s a very real argument to be made that he is the most valuable defenseman in the league right now and a contract indicative of that is likely coming down the pipe. As Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet wrote yesterday, any talk of long-term extensions will have to start at Thomas Chabot’s eight-year, $64MM extension in 2019 and go up from there. Makar (along with fellow young stars Miro Heiskanen and Quinn Hughes) is ahead of Chabot in terms of early-career success and any new contract could end up making him one of the highest-paid defenseman in the league straight out of his entry-level deal. Currently, there are only four defensemen in the league with an average annual value of $9MM or more; Erik Karlsson ($11.5MM), Drew Doughty ($11.0MM), Roman Josi ($9.06MM), and P.K. Subban ($9.0MM). If the Avalanche want to go max-term with Makar, that group is almost certainly going to grow.

Other RFAs: F Kiefer Sherwood, F Travis Barron, F Ty Lewis, D Dennis Gilbert, D Conor Timmins, G Peyton Jones, G Adam Werner

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Gabriel Landeskog – A second-overall pick steps directly into the NHL, wins the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie, and is named captain before his sophomore season. That’s how Landeskog’s story started, and ten years into his career he has established himself as a true franchise icon. Even though there have been other players that take the spotlight at times, the 28-year-old winger has been a constant driving force behind any success the Avalanche have experienced and already sits among the franchise greats on many all-time lists. Seventh in games played, sixth in goals, eighth in points, even if Landeskog doesn’t play another game in an Avalanche sweater, he has made quite the impact on the franchise. That’s why it seems so unlikely that they let him go at this point, especially after another outstanding season.

The problem is that there is only so much money, and given how big of a contract Makar is looking at, the Avalanche won’t be dealing with a ton of cap space. Landeskog scored 52 points in 54 games this season and is the kind of physical, heart-and-soul player that would be coveted by every other team in the league. If he wants to check the open market there will be plenty of suitors waiting to snatch him up. That includes the Seattle Kraken, who will get a chance to speak with him ahead of everyone else should Landeskog still not be signed by 48 hours before the expansion draft. It seems entirely reasonable to assume Colorado already has a deal done with Landeskog that will be announced after that expansion draft is completed, but until those papers are filed, other teams can certainly dream.

G Philipp Grubauer – Oh that cap space problem? Don’t forget that the Avalanche don’t currently have a starting goaltender for next season, as their Vezina finalist is also a pending UFA. Grubauer put together the best season of his career at the perfect time, recording a .922 save percentage in 40 appearances. Though he has put up those kinds of save numbers in the past, one of the biggest questions that followed him was whether he could carry the load of a true starting goaltender. Well, strapping on the pads for 40/56 games in a condensed schedule certainly answers that question, especially when it results in 30 wins. Of course, there was a few slip-ups in the postseason, which may cause teams to hesitate when drawing up a long-term contract, but there is still little doubt that Grubauer will receive a substantial raise on the three-year, $10MM deal he signed in 2018. Still just 29, he is Colorado’s best option and at the same time could have played himself out of their price range.

Other UFAs: F Brandon Saad, F Liam O’Brien, F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, F Matt Calvert, F T.J. Tynan, F Mike Vecchione, F Sheldon Dries, D Patrik Nemeth, D Kyle Burroughs, D Dan Renouf, G Devan Dubnyk

Projected Cap Space

The good news: Colorado has nearly $25.5MM in cap space. The bad news: the rest is owed to just 11 players. Normally, players like Saad and Timmins would be front and center on any examination of pending free agents, but on the Avalanche they are secondary to the big fish that need new deals. GM Joe Sakic simply isn’t going to be able to keep everyone around to run back the same group in 2021-22, meaning difficult decisions will have to be made. Can they fit in a long-term deal for Makar alongside healthy extensions for Landeskog and Grubauer? What kind of cap space will that leave them with to fill out the rest of the roster? One important factor is the health and future of Erik Johnson, who ended the year on long-term injured reserve. He played just four games this season and though he skated with the team, didn’t appear in the postseason. His $6MM cap hit could be extremely useful to the Avalanche in other areas, but he’s also an important part of the leadership group in Colorado.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Florida Panthers Hire Tuomo Ruutu

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Despite being mentioned explicitly in their recent hockey operations hirings, Tuomo Ruutu will not return to the New York Rangers. Instead, he’ll be joining the Florida Panthers as an assistant coach, his first opportunity behind an NHL bench. Panthers’ GM Bill Zito released a statement on the hire:

We are proud to welcome Tuomo to the Panthers and receive him as an addition to Joel’s coaching staff. With his career in hockey spanning multiple decades, we believe his experience both as a player and working in player development in the NHL and internationally will be an invaluable addition to our organization as we prepare for an exciting 2021-22 campaign.

Importantly, and pointed out in the Panthers’ release, Ruutu also has a connection to top prospect Anton Lundell from their time together at the World Juniors. Ruutu has been an assistant on the U20 team each of the last three years, including at this most recent tournament when Lundell served as captain. That connection, along with his long history of success for Finland as a player, should only help Ruutu make an immediate impact on the Panthers next season.

It’s not just his international play that was successful though, as Ruutu was a pretty impactful forward in the NHL as well. He started his career with the Chicago Blackhawks after being selected ninth overall and finished sixth in Calder Trophy voting. Coincidentally, he was moved out of Chicago just before Joel Quenneville, his new boss in Florida, came in. In the 2010-11 season, Ruutu set a career-high in scoring with 57 points. He’ll now have to use some of that experience to connect with the young players in Florida.

Buffalo Sabres Hire Don Granato As Head Coach

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It seems the Buffalo Sabres had their next head coach right in front of them all along. After an exhaustive search, Sabres GM Kevyn Adams has announced that Don Granato will lose his interim tag and become the next full-time head coach of the Sabres, signing a three-year contract.

Granato, 53, has actually been with the Sabres since the beginning of 2019-20, coming over from the Chicago Blackhawks after Joel Quenneville made his exit. It wasn’t until partway through this season that he got his first opportunity to serve as head coach in the NHL though, taking over when Ralph Krueger was fired in March. The Sabres were on a 12-game losing streak at the time, and though they certainly didn’t turn things around completely, there was far more competitiveness out of the group under Granato down the stretch.

In 28 games behind the Buffalo bench, Granato posted a 9-16-3 record, still not good enough to come anywhere close to the playoffs. But it’s the way the players seemed much more engaged that is encouraging, at least for a franchise that will grab onto any grain of hope at this point.

This isn’t Granato’s first time as a head coach overall. He led the USNTDP for several years and was a head coach of both the Worcester IceCats and Chicago Wolves in the AHL. He has led several junior-aged iterations of Team USA internationally, leading the U18 squad to gold in 2015. He’s also part of quite the hockey family. His brother Tony Granato played 773 games in the NHL and is now the head coach at the University of Wisconsin. His sister Cammi Granato is in the Hockey Hall of Fame after an incredible playing career that included Olympic gold, and her husband, Ray Ferraro, scored over 400 goals in a 1,258-game NHL career.

There is certainly a lot of encouraging signs with the hire of Granato, but that doesn’t mean it comes without risk. Once again, the Sabres are going with a rookie head coach to try and bring together a group that has had zero success over the past decade. Once again, it’ll mean his biggest task will be developing the top-end prospects that litter the organization, turning them into real difference-makers at the NHL level. There is certainly no guarantee he can accomplish that, even if the last few months of the season were better than under his predecessor.

Darren Dreger of TSN was first to break the news that Granato would get a multi-year deal. 

Colorado Avalanche Re-Sign Jonas Johansson

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The Colorado Avalanche are going to keep one of their midseason acquisitions, re-signing Jonas Johansson to a one-year contract. The depth goaltender was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in March and was set to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer. Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports that the two-way deal will carry an NHL salary of $750K.

Johansson, 25, has played just 21 games in the NHL to this point in his career, despite being a relatively high draft pick in 2014. Selected 61st overall, he slowly worked his way up through the Sabres minor league system, making his NHL debut in 2019-20. Unfortunately, that debut didn’t go very well, with Johansson posting an .894 save percentage in six appearances. He struggled again at the start of 2020-21 when the Sabres were desperate for competent goaltending, leading to the trade with the Avalanche.

Amazingly, things seemed to immediately turned around when put behind a more capable lineup. In Colorado, Johansson posted a .913 save percentage in eight appearances, even recording his first NHL shutout. His 5-1-1 record for the Avalanche showed he could at least be a depth option, if not a full-time backup at the NHL level next season.

At the league minimum, that can be quite a valuable asset for the Avalanche, though Johansson will have to clear waivers to report to the minor leagues. That could mean he is a target of many teams in training camp, should they go through any goaltending injuries early on.

New York Islanders Hoping To Re-Sign Cizikas, Palmieri

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The New York Islanders were once again more than the sum of their parts in these playoffs, taking a group mostly devoid of NHL stars and coming within a game of the Stanley Cup Finals. It’s not that the team lacks talent—far from it in fact—but the workman-like attitude that has been instilled in the group by the front office and coaching staff makes almost every player on the roster equally important.

Perhaps no player better represents that equal-importance structure than Casey Cizikas, the long-time Islander who has only scored more than ten goals in a season once. In fact, Cizikas only has 81 tallies in his entire 590-game NHL career but is still considered an incredibly valuable piece of the puzzle in New York. Acting as a third or fourth-line center, the 30-year-old Cizikas is a key cog in the Islanders defensive structure and can be relied upon in almost any situation.

He’s also an unrestricted free agent this summer, coming off a five-year, $16.75MM contract.

The Islanders don’t have a lot of cap space to work with, especially with new contracts due for restricted free agents like Anthony Beauvillier, Adam Pelech and Ilya Sorokin, but Cizikas remains a priority. GM Lou Lamoriello told reporters today that the team will do everything they possibly can to bring the veteran center back, and that the player has also expressed a desire to stay in New York. He also hinted that a deal might not be done before the expansion draft, noting that because he is an unrestricted free agent the team doesn’t have to make any expansion considerations to keep him.

The same might not be said about Kyle Palmieri, who Lamoriello also mentioned as a player the Islanders are hoping to retain. Quite simply, New York may not be able to afford the UFA winger that was acquired at the trade deadline. As Andrew Gross of Newsday relays, the Islanders executive noted that there are “financial challenges” to the Palmieri situation, even though both sides have interest in him staying. The 30-year-old forward was outstanding for the Islanders in the playoffs, scoring seven goals in 19 games, including an overtime winner against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Palmieri is coming off a deal that saw him earn $23.25MM over five years though; even if the Islanders were able to get him on the same AAV, it’s a tough piece to fit in their current cap puzzle.

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