Canada Approves Border Exemption For NHL Playoff Teams
The Canadian government and the NHL didn’t let the weekend stop them from continuing work on a resolution to allow NHL teams to bypass current border restrictions. With the North Division finals potentially ending as early as Monday night, an agreement has been made to allow the victor to travel for road games to the United States and for American teams to cross into Canada. CBC News was the first to report that a federal travel exemption has been enacted for the final two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
As one might have expected, the exception to Canada’ strict quarantine policies comes with its own set of public health safeguards. All team members crossing into Canada, Canadian and American teams alike, will be subject to pre- and post-arrival COVID testing. Team must use private air travel and will be restricted to a “bubble” while in Canada that includes the team hotel and arena. Players are asked to limit all interaction with the general public during this time and to follow all local health guidelines.
The way that the NHL’s postseason has shaken out in terms of regular season standings and playoff scheduling, the next round is already somewhat set. The North Division winner (Montreal is up 2-0 on Winnipeg) will travel to the West Division winner (Colorado is up 2-1 on Vegas) to open up the next round. As a result, these rules that the two sides have worked so hard to hammer out may only apply to just one trip. The West Division winner, should they win the series in four or five games, would only need to travel into Canada once. However, anything beyond that, including a North Division team advancing to the Stanley Cup Final, could mean several trips.
This resolution is a far superior result than the alternative for the Canadian teams, who otherwise would have had to play at adopted American location. Instead, they will be able to have home games with a limited home crowd in the next round. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly expressed his gratitude that an agreement on an exemption could be reached, keeping all teams on an even playing field and protecting the integrity of the postseason.
Injury Notes: Evans, Stastny, Seguin, Rossi
It was a scary moment at the end of Game One between the Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets, as the Habs’ Jake Evans had to be stretchered off the ice after receiving a massive hit from the Jets’ Mark Scheifele as the result of a charge. Scheifele was suspended for four games and with Montreal up 2-0 and playing at home the next two games, he may not play again this season. Regardless of the series length though, it seemed certain that Evans would not play again this season. Fortunately, Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme did have good news this morning, relaying that Evans is doing better since his trip to the hospital on Wednesday. Ducharme added that there is still no timeline for a return, as one might expect, but it is still good to see improvement from Evans following such a frightening check. Hopefully Evans will make an appearance in the arena to root on his teammates in the near future.
- The Jets are hoping to stay alive in the series but face an uphill battle down two games and on the road, missing one of their best players in Scheifele. They are hoping to get one player back sooner rather than later though in Paul Stastny. Stastny has missed each of the first two games of the North Division finals with an undisclosed injury, but TSN’s Sara Orlesky spoke with head coach Paul Maurice and confirmed that Stastny made the trip to Montreal. Maurice stopped short of making any claims about his availability for Games Three and Four, but the 35-year-old would not have traveled if he was not at least in consideration for game action. Needing to replace Scheifele down the middle, Stastny would be a major addition to the lineup for Winnipeg if he is able to go. Update: Stastny is IN for Game Three.
- After returning for the final three games of the regular season, Tyler Seguin is back to work on his rehab this summer. Following hip and knee surgeries last fall, Seguin missed almost all of the season in recovery, but was deemed fit to make a brief return at the end of the year for the Dallas Stars. The goal now is to make sure that his surgically-repaired lower body is completely up to speed for the beginning of next season, writes Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News. Seguin is now able to train at full strength this summer to get back into game shape, telling DeFranks that his skating was still lacking even when he returned to the lineup at the end of the season. The Stars need Seguin at his best if they want to return to the postseason next year following a disappointing 2020-21 campaign.
- In a momentous development following a very difficult year, Minnesota Wild prospect Marco Rossi skated for the first time on Saturday after battling Coronavirus complications this season. Rossi was sent home to Austria at the beginning of the season as he endured serious medical side affects related to a COVID diagnosis months earlier and continued that fight throughout the year. Rossi was finally medically cleared last month and NHL.com reports that Wild GM Bill Guerin has been in close contact with his budding young star and is happy with his progress. Guerin states that Rossi is “incredibly healthy” and “looking very good” as he begins his training to get back into game shape. The Wild hope that the 2020 No. 9 overall draft pick and OHL scoring champion will be ready for training camp and can make a difference for the club next season.
David Krejci Receives Max Fine For Slashing
One penalty call from Friday night’s Game Four between the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders has gone through quite the roller coaster review process and yet questions still remain. The NHL Department of Players Safety has announced that Bruins forward David Krejci has received a maximum $5,000 fine for “slashing” on Islanders forward Mathew Barzal in the second period last night.
Slashing though was not even the original call. The penalty in question was called when Krejci used his stick to jab Barzal between the legs in last night’s contest. The initial call on the ice was a major penalty for spearing. However, when the officials reviewed the call, they reduced the penalty to a minor for slashing. Player Safety seemingly felt that the play deserved further scrutiny and decided on supplemental discipline for Krejci, but they too considered it slashing.
Upon further review, it is hard to watch the play and call it anything less than spearing. With that said, the reduction in the penalty may have also been partially a make-up call by the on-ice officials. The crew missed repeated cross-checks by Barzal against Krejci before the veteran decided to deliver his own brand of justice against the youngster. Upon reviewing the play, the officials may have decided that their own inaction led to the penalty and felt that Krejci did not deserve five minutes in the box. It also seems likely that Barzal helped the penalty along with some acting.
The officials missing calls against the Bruins has been a storyline in this series (and last) as well. Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy spoke out after the Game Four loss, stating that he didn’t think his team was getting a fair amount of calls in their favor during the postseason. Krejci was also critical of the officiating and of Barzal. The question now is whether the comments of the respected coach and veteran will make any impact when the Bruins and Islanders start fresh with a tied series in Game Five on Monday.
2020-21 Selke Trophy Finalists Announced
The NHL has announced the finalists for yet another of its end of the year awards, the Frank J. Selke Trophy. Always a hotly-contested and highly-debated award, the Selke Trophy is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association on the basis of “the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.” The 2020-21 finalists are Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov, Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron, and Vegas Golden Knights winger Mark Stone.
Bergeron should of course come as no surprise. The Bruins captain is a finalist for a record tenth consecutive year and one of only two four-time winners in league history, alongside Bob Gainey who won the award in each of the first four seasons that it existed. Considered by some to be the best defensive forward to ever play the game, Bergeron is always a safe bet to be a Selke contender, especially when he again led the league at the face-off dot this season, recording a 62.5% winning percentage. Bergeron also led the NHL in total face-offs won, while leading the Bruins forwards in blocked shots, short-handed time on ice, and career-best possession stats.
With that said, some wondered if Bergeron was even the best defensive forward on his own team this year with the success that Brad Marchand had forcing turnovers, checking, and recording a league-leading seven short-handed points, not to mention leading all non-Oilers in league scoring. If Bergeron faced competition even on his own team, perhaps the door is open for one of the other finalists to prevent him from taking home a record fifth Selke win.
Barkov led a resurgent Panthers team to the postseason this year, topping all Florida forwards in ice time, takeaways, and possession, as well as points per game, and was second in blocked shots. Barkov finished in the top-15 league-wide in face-offs taken, won, and percentage. A first-time Selke finalist, Barkov has nevertheless established himself as one of the best defensive forwards in the league right now and his candidacy is long overdue.
As for Stone, he is looking to become the first winger to win the Selke since Jere Lehtinen did so three times, the last coming in 2002-03. A takeaway machine, no player in the NHL has forced more turnovers during Stone’s career, as he led the league for the fifth time again this year. Stone led all Knights forwards in time on ice and finished third in short-handed time on ice per game and blocked shots per game. Stone also led all forwards in points and plus/minus. However, Stone faces an uphill battle to win without any face-off contributions and he may also be dinged for not being more engaged in the checking game, trailing Bergeron and Barkov in hits per game despite his considerable size advantage.
Other than Marchand, other potential snubs include recent winners Sean Couturier and Ryan O’Reilly, while some felt that Sidney Crosby deserved recognition for what was arguably the best two-way season of his storied career. However, few will argue that the PHWA didn’t settle on the right choices for the top three this year.
Teams Asking About Vince Dunn
The St. Louis Blues have a very busy offseason coming up after a first-round sweep at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche. Jaden Schwartz, Tyler Bozak, and Mike Hoffman are all unrestricted free agents, while Zach Sanford, Ivan Barbashev, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou are all set to become restricted free agents. One other name without a contract for next season is pending RFA defenseman Vince Dunn, who has been on and off the trade block all season.
Tonight, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet indicated that Dunn’s name is once again coming up in preliminary trade talks:
One of the players I think some teams are beginning to ask about is Vince Dunn of the St. Louis Blues.
There was a time during the year where the Blues were thinking about maybe moving him, they were asking for a first-round pick in return. I’m hearing some chatter around him right now, we’ll see what his future is.
Dunn, 24, settled for a one-year $1.875MM contract just a few days before Blues camp opened this season but will have the advantage of salary arbitration this time around. Despite being a healthy scratch early in the season and seeing his name in trade rumors all year, Dunn actually ended up averaging more minutes this season than any of his previous campaigns and scored at a strong rate. His 20 points in 43 games put him on a per-game pace ahead of teammate Justin Faulk, and continued the strong offensive performance he’s had through the first four years of his career.
Since he came into the NHL in 2017-18, Dunn’s 32 goals actually tie him for 27th among all defensemen. His 102 points put him 60th among NHL defenders over the same period, certainly someone that many teams around the league could use. An excellent puck-mover and powerplay quarterback, his defensive consistency has gotten him in trouble with head coach Craig Berube at times. That certainly doesn’t mean the Blues will just throw him away though, as seen by the first-round asking price they had earlier this season.
The question really is whether the team wants to commit more cap space to the back end, which already has nearly $22MM tied up in the quartet of Faulk, Torey Krug, Colton Parayko, and Marco Scandella. Of that group, three are signed long-term and Parayko, who perhaps is the most important of all, is a pending unrestricted free agent after next season.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong has never been one to shy away from making a trade to improve the club, sending out players like Jake Allen, Robby Fabbri, Joel Edmundson, Paul Stastny, and Kevin Shattenkirk over the last several years. If he finds a deal for Dunn that makes sense, it seems likely that the team would move on from the young defenseman.
Gabriel Gagne Signs In Norway
The minor league grind for Gabriel Gagne is over, at least for now. The young forward has signed a contract with Stjernen Hockey in Norway, quite a change from Rockford where he spent the 2020-21 season.
Gagne, 24, was originally selected 36th overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2015 after an outstanding second season with the Victoriaville Tigres of the QMJHL. The 6’5″ center had scored 35 goals that season and was the intriguing mix of size and skill that scouts dream of. In his second year in the AHL he showed off that goal-scoring prowess, potting 20 with the Belleville Senators. Unfortunately, that 20-goal season came with just five assists as Gagne failed to create any offense for his teammates.
A trade to Toronto brought free agency after the Maple Leafs decided not to qualify him in 2019 and then came only minor league contracts. In seven games for the Rockford IceHogs this season, he had just a single goal. That will be the last AHL hockey he plays for a while as the next chapter of his hockey career will take him to Norway.
Evening Notes: Carlo, Olympics, OHL Draft
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are down to just four series and the start of the off-season is still a ways away, but that doesn’t mean the hockey news cycle slows down. There have been quite a few notable announcements today, including one that involves one of those few remaining active teams. After taking a hard, but clean check from New York Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck, Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo was forced out of Game Three on Thursday with an apparent head injury. Carlo has a history of concussions, including missing time earlier this season, and after his head made contact with the boards, the big defender struggled to get back up and had to be helped off the ice. The expectation of course was that Carlo could miss considerable time as a result of the check; however, the initial reports suggested that Carlo was feeling good after the game. Well, the Bruins will sit Carlo for at least Game Four, the team has announced, perhaps just out of an abundance of caution. The hope is that Carlo can return sooner rather than later, especially with fellow blue liners Kevan Miller and Jakub Zboril also injured and Steven Kampfer out for the year. In the meantime, Jeremy Lauzon will be elevated to Carlo’s spot on the second pair and Jarred Tinordi will sub into the lineup.
- It appears that the NHL is using the ongoing IIHF World Championships to work with the international governing body on an agreement for the upcoming Olympics. TSN’s Gord Miller relays word from IIHF officials that “significant progress” has been made on terms of NHL participation in the 2022 Winter Games. The two sides have been discussing the topic in-person for the first time while in Riga, Latvia this week and appear to be on the right track. Olympic participation in Beijing, China in 2022 and Milan, Italy in 2026 was negotiated as part of last year’s Collective Bargaining Agreement extension, but was pending an agreement between the NHL and IIHF as well. It seems that such an agreement is now getting close.
- The OHL wrapped up their two-day Priority Selection Draft on Saturday. The opening of the draft made headlines on Friday, with American Quentin Musty being selected first overall and Oakville Rangers U16 program contributing five of the next ten picks. However, it was pick No. 267 today that stole the show. The Sarnia Sting selected goaltender Taya Currie with the pick, making her the first female player to ever be drafted into the OHL. It is quite the honor for Currie, but she now faces the difficult decision of committing to the men’s junior game or instead reserving her NCAA eligibility to play the women’s game at the next level.
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 06/05/21
Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in the COVID-19 Protocol. Here is today’s list for the remaining playoff teams:
Vegas – Brayden McNabb
As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:
(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol
Players removed today: Jayson Megna, Colorado Avalanche
After a long stretch with one player from each team in the ongoing West Division Finals being sidelined on the CPRA list, it’s now down to just one. The wait continues for McNabb to return to the Golden Knights, but Megna is now available to the Avalanche. The veteran forward only played in seven NHL games this year and had not seen any postseason action before he landed on the CPRA list, so this is not the same level of impact as if McNabb, a regular defenseman for Vegas, was able to return. The countdown is now on for the league to get back to an empty list.
Wild Notes: Dumba, Parise, First Round Picks
Although the Minnesota Wild played well in their seven-game first round series against the Vegas Golden Knights, losing with dignity to one of the best teams in the NHL this season, their loss has already fired the rumor mill back up, reports Sarah MacLellan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. At the center of the speculation yet again is defenseman Matt Dumba. Despite another strong season for the 26-year-old blue liner, capped off by a postseason in which he tied for the team lead in points, there is still speculation over Dumba’s future in Minnesota stemming from the impending NHL Expansion Draft. The Wild can only protect three defensemen and seven forwards or instead eight skaters total from selection by the Seattle Kraken. With Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, and Jonas Brodin all carrying No-Movement Clauses, the trio all must be protected. The only way that the team can use the 7-3 format and also protect Dumba would be fore one those three to waive their NMC and allow themselves to be exposed. Otherwise, the Wild will have to protect eight skaters, but with Zach Parise and Mats Zuccarello also with No-Movement Clauses, this would mean Minnesota would have to leave multiple promising young forwards exposed in order to make room for Dumba, including at least one of Joel Eriksson Ek or Jordan Greenway. One thing that is certain is that Minnesota will not let Dumba be taken for free by future Western Conference rival Seattle. If the team cannot convince a veteran to waive their NMC and decide the 7-3 protection scheme is their best choice, Dumba will be traded before the Expansion Draft – hence the abundant speculation. Dumba has stated many times that he would like to remain with the Wild, so the organization is obviously doing all they can to make it work.
- Another player who would like to stay in Minnesota is Parise. The 36-year-old is coming off of a down year and was even benched for the first three games of the Wild’s first round series. However, he impressed in the remainder of the series once activated. Parise can still play at a high level, but not commensurate to his $7.5MM+ cap hit over four more years. The Wild have tried to move the contract in the past and may do so again this summer, but Parise hopes they don’t. He told Dane Mizutani of TwinCities.com that he “[doesn’t] want to play anywhere else” but for his hometown team. As Mizutani points out, he shouldn’t be too worried given his albatross of a contract. Ironically though, one way that Parise could prove his loyalty to the club would be to waive his NMC for the Expansion Draft, allowing Minnesota to protect all of Dumba, Eriksson Ek, and Greenway in an 8-skater format. There is no way that Seattle would touch Parise’s contract, so it could be a win-win for both sides.
- While the Wild are certainly not looking forward to the Expansion Draft – even if Dumba, Eriksson Ek, and Greenway are safe, the team will still lose a good player like Carson Soucy or Marcus Foligno – they are definitely excited for the NHL Entry Draft. With the Pittsburgh Penguins opting to send their 2021 first-round pick rather than their 2020 for last year’s Jason Zucker trade, the Wild will now have two picks in the top 32 this year. Not only that, but they will have two picks very close together as well. Minnesota’s own pick is locked in at No. 22 overall, but if the Tampa Bay Lightning advance to the next round, Pittsburgh’s pick will be No. 25, allowing the Wild to control the board with two picks out of four selections. They could also look to package the two picks to potentially move up into the top half of the first round. With a pipeline that is already well-stocked, Minnesota has put themselves in position to stay competitive for a long time with a strong roster and deep system after adding two first-rounders this year, as well as all of their own picks and another Pittsburgh pick in the third round.
Snapshots: Development Camps, IIHF, Lundell, Abdelkader
While vaccination rates continue to grow across the NHL’s 32 cities, it doesn’t seem as if one of the staples of the offseason won’t be happening this year either. Player agent Andy Scott of Octagon Hockey told Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch that he doesn’t expect Development Camps to be held due to the various travel and quarantine restrictions. To that end, some rookie tournaments could also potentially be in jeopardy or will need to be shortened unless things open up considerably over the next couple of months. It will be a compressed summer schedule with the draft and free agency being later in July but there could be a couple of notable events that are absent from the usual offseason calendar.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- The IIHF announced that they have made several changes to their rulebook in an attempt to amalgamate those used in the NHL and various international leagues. Among the changes that will be noticeable is the institution of the trapezoid behind the net, expanded video review and challenge options, plus the adaptation of the NHL’s offside rule which allows for a player to be onside as long as the skate is over the plane of the blue line instead of having to have the skate touch the line. These changes will be in effect for the Women’s Worlds which were recently moved to Calgary in late August as well as the upcoming Olympic qualification tournaments.
- The Panthers intend to have 2020 top pick Anton Lundell at training camp in the fall, GM Bill Zito told David Furones of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The center was picked 12th overall and is coming off a strong season with HIFK in the SM-liiga while being Finland’s leading scorer at the World Championships. It’s worth noting that Lundell has not yet signed his entry-level deal but with Zito’s comments, it appears they expect to get him signed by then.
- Winger Justin Abdelkader was on Team USA’s entry at the Worlds before suffering a lower-body injury in their round robin victory over Germany. GM John Vanbiesbrouck told Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen that the veteran will need to have some work done to fix the injury which is speculated to be a knee issue. That could make it tougher for him to return to the NHL for next season which is his intention. The 34-year-old was productive with EV Zug in the Swiss League, notching eight points in nine regular season games plus nine more in 13 playoff contests.