Perry Set To Join Exclusive Hockey Group
If Team Canada and Corey Perry are able to win the World Cup, one of hockey’s most elite groups will double in size. In an article by The Hockey News’ Ken Campbell, he points out that only Perry’s former teammate and current Ducks assistant coach Scott Niedermayer has won a Stanley Cup, Olympic Gold Medal, World Championship, World Junior Championship, Memorial Cup, and World Cup. With everything else all checked off, Perry just needs three wins to join his friend in hockey’s winningest (albeit obscure) group.
Perry, who was a late addition to Team Canada following the injury of Jeff Carter, is just happy to be on the team and hasn’t given much thought to his potential history-making achievement. Ironically, it all began with him being a late addition to another team. Perry barely made Canada’s World Junior team in 2005, where he played alongside future team mate Ryan Getzlaf, Sidney Crosby, tournament MVP Patrice Bergeron and more on one of the best World Junior teams of all-time. After easily taking the Junior tournament, Perry returned to the OHL’s London Knights, where he finished off a 130-point season with help from Dave Bolland, Marc Methot, and more and then led the team, with a stellar playoff performance, to the Memorial Cup title. Perry made his NHL debut the next year, in 2005-06, and just one year later, he contributed 44 regular season points and 15 postseason points en route to the 2007 Stanley Cup championship. With the stats and titles to back him up, Perry was an easy choice for Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and again in 2014 in Sochi, winning a gold medal at each Games. Finally, Perry won a World Championship for Canada this past spring, joining the team after the Ducks were upset early in the playoffs.
Perry, who is also a three-time All-Star, Hart winner, and Maurice Richard winner, among many other accolades, still holds on to his humility. Although he is on the cusp of joining a group that Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux could not even make it in to, his sights are still just set on helping out his team mates and winning for his country. He’s grateful just to be on the team and to get the chance to enjoy the opportunity. Perry is a proven winner, and don’t be surprised to see his name join more elite groups as his decorated career continues.
The Anaheim Situation
No training camp in the entire NHL will be getting as much attention as the the Anaheim Ducks. As Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register writes, there are so many question marks still remaining for the reigning Pacific Division champs. With less than a month to puck drop on a new NHL season, there is a lot of work to be done on the Ducks.
The most important story line to follow is the status of unsigned restricted free agents Hampus Lindholm and Rickard Rakell. Both players are coming off strong seasons and have shown success and sustainability early in their careers. Lindholm may actually be Anaheim’s best all-around defenseman, while Rakell provides much-needed offensive depth. Yet, neither former first-rounder has signed on for the new season. The young Swedes don’t have much bargaining power, since they are RFA’s with no arbitration rights, but a scenario has already occurred this off-season where an unhappy RFA has signed elsewhere, with Dallas’ Valeri Nichushkin bolting for the KHL. The Ducks have just $7.5MM in cap space as of right now. Can they find a way to bring back their young talent, or at least trade one or the other, or will Lindholm and Rakell decide to play outside the NHL in 2o16-17?
Should Lindholm sign, not only will Anaheim face a cap crunch, but they will also have a logjam on defense to deal with. The Ducks have the best defensive depth in the NHL, with recently re-signed Sami Vatanen, 2015 acquisitions Kevin Bieksa and Simon Despres, and veteran Clayton Stoner, as well as up-and-coming prospects Shea Theodore and Brandon Montour. The odd-man out in all of this could be home-grown star Cam Fowler, who’s name has been on the trade block for months now. The Ducks simply cannot keep all of these defenseman, and Fowler may have overstayed his welcome in Anaheim after the first mediocre season of his young career in 2015-16. While teams would be lining up to trade for Lindholm, Fowler would have quite the market as well. Whatever decision the Ducks decide to make about shipping out a defenseman, many believe that it begin a series of reactions across the league as one D-needy team agrees to a deal and the others finally lock up market stragglers like Kris Russell and Jakub Nakladal.
If Rakell doesn’t sign, the Ducks will be even more eager to make a trade for some help up front, as their depth right now is currently lacking. Top-six mainstays Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler, and Andrew Cogliano are in place, but without Rakell, more pressure to produce will be thrust upon newly-signed veteran Antoine Vermette, swift winger Jakob Silfverberg, grinder Ryan Garbutt, and the unproven Nick Ritchie. The Ducks would like to alleviate some of that pressure by adding another body up front, hence their interest in the trade market, as well as their camp invites to David Booth, Sean Bergenheim, and most recently David Jones. Even if Rakell does return, expect Anaheim to be in the hunt for forward talent.
As if roster management concerns weren’t enough, the Ducks also have a “new” coach in Randy Carlyle and a new dynamic in net, with John Gibson taking over for the departed Frederik Andersen as the starter and trade acquisition Jonathan Bernier looking to hold off three or four legitimate threats and win the backup job. There is still a long way to go and a lot of questions that need to be answered for the Anaheim Ducks. Stay tuned.
Snapshots: Lovejoy, Bennett, Canucks, Lombardi
It’s not uncommon for players to reunite with former coaches and/or a general manager who has previously acquired that player at a previous stop. There is familiarity between coach and player and in the case of GMs, a belief in the abilities, sometimes untapped, of the player. That scenario played out this summer when the New Jersey Devils brought in two former Penguins, defenseman Ben Lovejoy in free agency and winger Beau Bennett via trade, reuniting them with general manager Ray Shero and head coach John Hynes. As Andrew Gross writes in his Fire and Ice blog, those additions should have come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the situation.
Shero spent eight seasons at the helm in Pittsburgh, selecting Bennett in the first-round of the 2010 entry draft. Clearly Shero still believes in Bennett’s upside as evidenced by the Devils giving up a third-round pick – a substantial asset – to Pittsburgh in exchange for the winger. Bennett scored six goals and 12 points in 33 regular season games in Pittsburgh in 2015-16 but appeared in just one postseason game as rookies Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust passed him on the team’s depth chart.
The Devils finished last in the NHL in goals scored during the 2015-16 season, and even after adding LW Taylor Hall in the summer, the team could use more scoring depth. Bennett hopes to be able to provide that and reward Shero’s faith in him.
Lovejoy cited the presence of Hynes as instrumental in his decision to sign with the Devils in the offseason.
“(Hynes) was my defense coach when I played in Wilkes-Barre. I played for him for a full season. He knows my game. It’s not going to be a surprise here. He knows exactly what he’s getting. That’s the reason I’m here. I know the coaching staff through Wilkes-Barre when Ray and (assistant GM) Tom (Fitzgerald) were running the organization the first time I was in Pittsburgh. Those are guys I trust and know. I’m here because they trust me.”
The veteran of eight NHL seasons will be asked to add leadership and experience to a young-ish defense corps that only has one other defender – Andy Greene – over the age of 26. Lovejoy doesn’t bring much of an offensive game to the table but has generally been a responsible blue liner and has posted a negative plus-minus rating just once in his career.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- GM Jim Benning and head coach Willie Desjardins are well aware the team has some ground to cover if they want to make the playoffs in 2016-17 after missing the postseason by 12 points this past season. But as Derek Jory of the Canucks official team site reports, both manager and coach are cautiously optimistic about the upcoming campaign. Desjardins: “We have more depth at every position and I feel we’re stronger at every position.” Benning, for his part, believes adding Loui Eriksson and Erik Gudbranson this summer along with a return to health for center Brandon Sutter will bring needed leadership as well as depth to the club: “We’ve added more depth to our group and adding Loui Eriksson, who I feel is a good player, a healthy Brandon Sutter, adding Erik Gudbranson; we’ve added some leadership in that room to help our young players along, so I’m real excited.”
- Two days after watching Team USA elimination from medal contention at the World Cup of Hockey, the man ultimately responsible for assembling the team, Kings GM Dean Lombardi, defended his roster construction strategy: “We’ve got some darn good players, but the reality is that matchup on a skill basis, if you want to go head-to-head and play a skill game, your odds of winning that game when you look at those matchups is not very good.” While Lombardi is likely correct in his assertion that Team USA wouldn’t have been able to match the skill and talent of the Canadiens no matter who they brought to the tournament, the choice to emphasize grit and heart ignores the NHL’s recent shift to a quicker game that values speed over other traits. Of course we’ll never know whether a Team USA roster including Tyler Johnson, Kyle Okposo, Kevin Shattenkirk and Phil Kessel – for example – would have been better equipped to beat Canada, but it’s clear they couldn’t have done any worse.
Compelling RFA Cases For 2017: Johansen, Parayko, Teravainen
Jacob Trouba, Johnny Gaudreau and Nikita Kucherov highlight a strong and deep group of restricted free agents that remain unsigned at the moment. While they will each ultimately cash in and receive substantial contracts for the 2016-17 campaign and likely beyond, their status as restricted free agents has certainly complicated their respective negotiation processes.
Next summer, another quality group of players are set to hit restricted free agency, unless they can agree to terms on a new deal prior to the 2017-18 league year. In a series of posts, Pro Hockey Rumors will profile the top pending 2017 RFAs and examine what kind of contract they could elicit assuming they put up a strong performance during their platform year. Today we finish with the Central Division and move to the Metro.
Ryan Johansen (Nashville) – In Ryan Johansen, the Predators finally have that elusive #1 center they have lacked since the organization’s inception nearly two decades ago. In a rare “hockey trade” that benefited both parties, Nashville acquired Johansen from Columbus in exchange for Seth Jones, a potential franchise defenseman and something the Blue Jackets have sorely needed.
Johansen has tallied at least 60 points in each of the last three seasons and scored a career-best 71 as a 22-year-old during the 2014-15 campaign. On the downside, his goal scoring output has decreased from a career-high 33 in 2013-14 to 26 the following season and to just 14 in 2015-16. That’s likely the direct result of a shooting percentage of just 7.6%, a figure which was more than five points below the combined shooting percentage the two previous seasons. Simply converting shots at his normal rate would have resulted in a 24 – 25 goal campaign.
The Predators have done a marvelous job of locking up their core pieces to bargain long-term deals. Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Craig Smith and Mattias Ekholm have all recently inked extensions with Nashville at AAVs below what each player could have received on the open market. The trade-off for higher salaries during RFA years is cost-certainty and buying out free agent years below market value. Expect Nashville to employ the same strategy with Johansen.
Sean Monahan and Nathan MacKinnon have each established themselves as 60-point producers and received extensions with an AAV in excess of $6MM. Aleksander Barkov, coming off a career-best 59-point season, signed a six-year, $35.4MM deal with Florida. All three, however, were coming off their ELCs while Johansen is entering the final season of his second contract. That means any long-term deal would buy out more free agent seasons and typically that tends to be more expensive. Based on the comparable deals and his proximity to free agency, a long-term contract for Johansen could well approach or even reach $7MM annually.
Colton Parayko (St. Louis) – Parayko came out of nowhere to earn a regular job on the Blues blue line and posted a solid scoring line of 9-24=33 in 79 contests as a rookie. He boasts a hard shot from the point and tremendous size at 6-foot-6 and 226 pounds. Currently, Parayko is skating in the World Cup as a member of Team North America, flashing his abilities on the international stage.
With only a single season of NHL experience, gauging Parayko’s potential value is difficult. However, if he approximates his 2015-16 production levels this upcoming season, the four-year, $19.5MM contract awarded to Sami Vatanen by the Ducks could prove to be a reasonable comparable.
Vatanen posted campaigns of 37 and 38 points in 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively before inking his current deal. Like Parayko, Vatanen is also a right-handed defenseman, which is more difficult to find than their counterparts on the left side.
St. Louis could counter with Ryan Ellis as a comparable. Ellis signed a five-year, $12.5MM contract in October of 2014 following a 27-point campaign with the Predators. But most would argue Ellis is worth more than that AAV and consequently Parayko would be too. It’s also possible the Blues would prefer to go with a bridge contract with a lower AAV than Parayko would be able to get on a long-term deal.
Teuvo Teravainen (Carolina) – The Hurricanes took advantage of Chicago’s salary cap woes and in exchange for agreeing to take on the final season of Bryan Bickell‘s $4MM-a-year-deal, were rewarded with the skilled Teravainen. Much was expected from the young Finn following the 2014-15 postseason that saw Teravainen record 10 points in 18 games as the Hawks won their third Stanley Cup in six seasons. While a 35-point campaign as a 21-year-old is solid, Teravainen’s skill suggests there is even more scoring potential.
It makes sense to stick with the Hurricanes when looking for a comparable since doing so offers insight to how the club values their RFAs. Earlier this summer, Carolina agreed to a six-year, $24MM extension with Swedish center Victor Rask. Rask was coming off a breakout campaign which saw the 23-year-old pivot post career-highs in both goals (21) and assists (27). More importantly, his first NHL season mirrored Teravainen’s in terms of production as Rask netted 11 goals and 33 points in 80 games for the Canes in 2014-15. If Teravainen follows the same path and boosts his offensive production into the 45-point range, a contract similar to that of Rask’s would seem a safe bet.
Snapshots: Carlyle, Toronto Captaincy, Kaberle, Kings Centers, Palushaj
The decision to bring back Randy Carlyle to Anaheim as their head coach was one of the bigger surprises of the offseason. As Eric Stephens of the OC Register points out, GM Bob Murray kept coming back to one key trait about Carlyle – the fact that he has won a Stanley Cup (with the Ducks back in 2007). Murray also believes Carlyle has some characteristics that will work well with an older roster looking to win now compared to building for the future:
“First of all, there’s never one thing when it comes to coaching. Job is far too complex. In saying that, we all knew he’s an outstanding bench coach, and we wanted to be sure he still would hold all of his players accountable, which is getting harder every year with the changing times and today’s athlete.”
There are only a handful of players that remain from his first go-round with Anaheim but several veteran players voiced their support to bring Carlyle back including captain Ryan Getzlaf as well as center Ryan Kesler and defenseman Kevin Bieksa, both of whom are familiar with him dating back to their time in Vancouver’s system.
Anaheim has made some notable changes heading into this season which will give Carlyle a different roster composition to work with than ex-coach Bruce Boudreau had. Earlier this week, we took a closer look at the Ducks’ moves and what to watch for this season.
More news and notes around the hockey world:
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have yet to name a captain for the season and GM Lou Lamoriello indicated there is no real timeline for that to happen, notes theScore’s David Alter. Lamoriello announced that it may or may not occur this season and that selecting a captain is “not on the forefront”. The Leafs have been without a captain since trading Dion Phaneuf to Ottawa last season.
- Long-time NHL defenseman Tomas Kaberle has quietly announced his retirement, reports Czech site iDNES (link in Czech). He leaves the game with a total of 984 NHL contests under his belt with Toronto, Boston, Carolina, and Montreal. In his prime, he was a premier playmaking blueliner and put up seven seasons of 40 or more points and wound up with 87 goals and 476 assists in his NHL career.
- Kings coach Darryl Sutter is hoping to see a young center step into the third line spot this season, writes Helene Elliott of the LA Times. Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter are entrenched as their top two while Trevor Lewis best fits in a fourth line role. Candidates to step into that third line spot would be Andy Andreoff, Nick Shore, Nic Dowd, and 2014 first round pick Adrian Kempe, who just completed his first full season in North America.
- Columbus has added UFA winger Aaron Palushaj to their training camp roster on a PTO, reports Rob Mixer from their team site. Palushaj spent last season with Philadelphia’s AHL affiliate, picking up 28 points in 57 games. He last played in the NHL with Carolina in the 2013-14 season.
Atlantic Division Notes: Lupul, Marchand, Galchenyuk
TSN’s Frank Seravelli reports that Joffrey Lupul is rumored to have failed his pre-season physical and expects to start the NHL season on injured reserve. The oft-injured Maple Leafs forward only played in 46 games last year, scoring 11 goals and 3 assists.
Lupul has faced a variety of injuries in his career, but none more severe than his back issues which have sidelined him for significant periods of time. When healthy, Lupul is an excellent contributor, but his repeated injuries often derail successful campaigns.
Lupul began his Maple Leafs career with a bang, netting 45 goals and 105 points in his first 110 contests spread out over parts of three seasons in Toronto after a 2011 deadline trade with Anaheim. His strong play led to a massive five-year contract extension worth $26.25MM in total despite the fact the skilled forward had seen action in no more than 66 games in a single season since 2008-09. Unfortunately for both parties, Lupul has missed nearly a full season’s worth of games (76 in total) since inking that extension and has produced just 0.46 points-per-game during that time.
The Maple Leafs are currently over the cap by $827K, but moving Lupul to LTIR will free up $5.25MM in space. Assuming Stephane Robidas also starts the season on LTIR, the Leafs go from slightly over the cap to over $8MM under the cap. The Leafs will have the option of freeing up additional space by placing Nathan Horton on LTIR as well, which would further lower their overall cap commitment to around $60MM.
Lupul was originally the seventh overall pick in the 2002 NHL entry draft, chosen by the Anaheim Ducks. Ironically, he has twice been included in trades involving Chris Pronger, first going from Anaheim to the Oilers in exchange for the Hall of Fame defenseman, then returning to the Ducks as part of a package that saw Pronger head to Philadelphia. Toronto would acquire Lupul and Jake Gardiner from Anaheim as part of a trade for veteran blue liner Francois Beauchemin.
More from the Atlantic Division:
- Joe Haggerty joined local Boston sports talk show, Toucher and Rich, and discussed Brad Marchand‘s pending free agency. Marchand, of course, ranked 6th in the NHL in goals scored in 2015-16, tallying a career high 37. He is currently playing on what many consider to be the best line in the World Cup, skating on the left of all-world pivot Sidney Crosby with Bruins teammate Patrice Bergeron on the right. Haggerty opines that the Bruins need to lock up the agitating winger before he hits the free agent market, suggesting it will take a seven-year contract with an AAV of $7MM per season. He also listed the Penguins as a potential suitor should Marchand make it to free agency. Haggerty cites the fact both Marchand and Crosby are originally from Nova Scotia and that the success the two players are experiencing at the World Cup might prompt an impassioned plead to Penguins management from their best player to go get Marchand. Of course while Marchand might be getting a glimpse of how fun it might be to play with Crosby every day, he’s also reminded of just how good playing with Bergeron is.
- It appears the Montreal Canadiens have anointed Alex Galchenyuk as the team’s #1 center, with head coach Michel Therrien saying he plans to start the talented American on the top line with Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher, as Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette reports. Galchenyuk, who has moved back-and-forth between wing and center since breaking into the league in 2012-13, may have finally earned the trust of the coaching staff on the heels of a strong 30-goal campaign, which included netting 18 over the team’s final 27 games. Veteran center Tomas Plekanec will then assume the role of #2 pivot and is expected to have new offseason additions Andrew Shaw and Alexander Radulov on his wings.
*Mike Furlano contributed to this post.
2016-17 Season Preview: Anaheim Ducks
As the NHL season is now less than a month away, we continue our look at each team’s offseason and preview the upcoming year. Today, we focus on the Anaheim Ducks.
Last Season: 46-25-11 record (103 points), 1st in the Pacific Division. Lost 4-3 to Nashville in Round 1.
Remaining Cap Space: $7,5MM per CapFriendly.
Key Newcomers: Mason Raymond (LW) – free agent signing (Calgary); Jonathan Bernier (G) – trade (Toronto); Antoine Vermette (C) – free agent (Arizona); Jared Boll (LW) – free agent (Columbus).
Key Departures: Jamie McGinn (LW) – signed with Arizona; David Perron (LW) – signed with St. Louis; Frederik Andersen (G) – traded to Toronto; Brandon Pirri (LW) – signed with NYR; Mike Santorelli (LW) – signed in Switzerland; Chris Stewart (RW) – signed with Minnesota; Anton Khudobin (G) – signed with Boston.
Player to Watch: Hampus Lindholm and Rickard Rakell. The former first round draft picks—and Swedish natives—remain unsigned as of writing. With training camp looming, it is possible that both are on the outside looking in when the puck drops October 12th.
Lindholm has established himself as one of the Ducks’ top defensive prospects, scoring 10G and 18A in 80 games while playing 22 minutes a night. Hampering Hampus’ negotiating power, however, is the presence of other defensive prospects Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen. The Ducks have an embarrassment of riches on defense, and can afford to play hardball with Lindholm’s camp. What is not helping is Lindholm’s scarce playing time at the World Cup of Hockey. Lindholm has not received any significant exposure this fall in a tournament that could’ve showcased his skills and potentially increased his value.
Rickard Rakell is in a similar situation. An unsigned RFA playing for Team Sweden in the World Cup and hoping to increase his value—until complications from a previous appendectomy required additional surgery and a two week recovery period. Rakell broke out last season, scoring 20G and 23A in 72 games, and finished fourth in team scoring. An inability to come to terms with the Ducks most likely stems from whether the production outburst was a fluke, or just Rakell’s natural upward development.
Key Storylines: Can Randy Carlyle do what Boudreau could not, and can John Gibson handle a full starter’s workload?
Bruce Boudreau was let go at the end of last season despite four consecutive first place finishes in the Pacific. The problem in management’s eyes was that Boudreau could not get it done in big playoff games and a new voice was needed. One could debate the existence of ‘clutch’, but losing four straight game sevens gave management enough ammunition to seek out someone new. Or Randy Carlyle, the man Boudreau replaced in 2011-12. Carlyle last coached the Toronto Maple Leafs, missing the playoffs in 2 of 3 seasons, and fired midway through the fourth. The former Ducks coach is an odd choice to replace Boudreau, but the thought is that an old voice may motivate veterans Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.
On the ice, Anaheim shipped out RFA goaltender Frederik Andersen this summer to the Maple Leafs and move forward with John Gibson as their undisputed starter. Gibson appeared to grab the starter’s role from Andersen last season, going 21-13-4 in 38 starts, and posting a .920SV% and 2.07GAA. Those personal stats are slightly better than Andersen’s .919SV% and 2.30GAA. Either way, the Ducks had a decision to make in net, and chose the young netminder over the Danish RFA. Gibson has not played a full season, however, and questions remain as to whether his numbers can remain consistent with a full workload. The Ducks brought in Jonathan Bernier from the Leafs to potentially ease the growing pains, but the starter’s job is clearly Gibson’s to lose.
Anaheim Ducks Invite Four More Players To Training Camp
The Anaheim Ducks released their training camp roster today, and four more unsigned players received invitations. Antoine Laganiere, Kyle MacKinnon, Scott Sabourin and Nick Tarnasky all received PTOs. The Ducks open camp on Friday September 23rd. The players will join already confirmed David Booth, Yann Danis, and Sean Bergenheim.
Antoine Laganiere is an undrafted forward who played four years for Yale University before spending the next three years with the Norfolk Admirals and San Diego Gulls of the AHL. Last season Laganiere scored 16G and 16A in 57 games for the Gulls, and could crack a roster spot at some point this year with the Ducks.
Kyle MacKinnon is an undrafted American centerman who played four years for Providence College—including captaining the team in 2010-11—before signing with the St. John IceCaps of the AHL. Last year MacKinnon netted 3G and 3A in 11 games for the San Diego Gulls.
Scott Sabourin is an undrafted right winger who scored 30G and 20A in 65 games for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL in 2012-13. Last year he bounced from the Ontario Reign to the Iowa Wild of the AHL with a stop in the ECHL with the Manchester Monarch.
Nick Tarnasky was drafted 287th overall in 2003 by the Tampa Bay Lightning, and has made NHL appearances with the Lightning, Nashville Predators, and Florida Panthers. The Canadian forward last played in the NHL in 2009-10, scoring 1G and 2A in 31 games for the Panthers. Tarnasky has spent the rest of his career in the AHL—and a year in the KHL with Vityaz Chekhov—and is looking for one last shot at the NHL. The 31 year-old netted 15G and 5A in 59 games for the AHL Hartford Wolfpack last season.
Keep track of all the training camp invites with our Training Camp Invite Tracker.
West Notes: Rakell, Nakladal, Fischer, Vegas
Ducks center Rickard Rakell underwent surgery late last week to fix issues that arose from his appendectomy back in March, writes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. The problem first presented itself following Sweden’s first World Cup of Hockey pre-tournament game and he was hospitalized shortly thereafter with his agent noting he was unable to eat at that time.
Rakell has been advised that he will have to rest up for a couple of weeks before he can resume training to get ready for the upcoming season. On top of that, he still finds himself without a contract as one of 14 remaining restricted free agents. At this point, a bridge deal is looking more and more likely. Rakell had 20 goals and 23 assists in 72 games last season and is expected to be a top six forward when he is cleared to return to action and has a contract in hand.
More from the West:
- Unrestricted free agent defenseman Jakub Nakladal is seeking a one-way contract to remain in North America, reports Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun. Nakladal played in 27 games with Calgary last season, his first in the NHL. The 28 year old noted that he would like to return to the Flames but they are hesitant to give him a one-way deal at this point. Nakladal is currently playing for the Czech Republic at the World Cup and is hoping a strong performance could help him land a guaranteed deal, whether it’s with Calgary or somewhere else.
- While most North American-based junior aged prospects have only two options where they can play in a season (the NHL or junior hockey), Coyotes prospect Christian Fischer is one of the few who has a third option, notes the Arizona Republic’s Sarah McLellan. As Fischer was drafted out of the US Development program and not the Canadian Hockey League back in 2015, Arizona has the ability to assign him to their AHL affiliate in Tucson. After a 40 goal, 90 point season with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires (which ranked him in the top ten in goals and points league wide), there is a good chance that the Coyotes will opt to have him play against tougher competition in the AHL instead of repeating the junior circuit, assuming he doesn’t crack Arizona’s opening roster.
- The expansion Las Vegas team that will begin play in 2017-18 has sold out their season tickets with 16,000, the team announced. As a result, only single game tickets will be available in their inaugural season.
Who Could Survive Armageddon In Net?
The NHL’s neighbors on turf, the NFL, came very close to seeing a rare nightmare scenario today. The New England Patriots, already down future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady to suspension, lost backup Jimmy Garoppolo to a shoulder injury and were forced to put third-string QB Jacoby Brissett in to finish the game. In the short term, had Brissett been injured as well, the Patriots would have been hard-pressed to find a suitable replacement on the spot. However, the more important factor is the long-term, as the Patriots play again on Thursday night, and are now down to an inexperienced rookie quarterback and no other available QB’s on the roster.
The equivalent to this scenario on the ice is the loss of multiple goalies. The most crucial part of any successful hockey team, losing both the starting and backup goalie is a rare, but when it occurs it is a death knell for the majority of organizations. It has of course occurred in the short-term before, with the wacky stories of goalie coaches and nearby minor-league washouts or former college players getting an emergency call to duty. But just like the NFL and it’s quarterbacks, the long-term health and availability of goalie depth is a much more important situation than scrambling to find an option for just one game. So just how many NHL teams could survive a stretch without their starter and backup in net?
Ironically, the Patriots’ friends to the north, the Boston Bruins, are one such team. Former Vezina winner Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin, who returns to Boston where he first found NHL success, form a strong tandem in goal for the Bruins, but they are not without options beyond the pair. Top prospect Malcolm Subban has made just one NHL start in his pro career, but has been pushing for big league minutes for years and is considered by many to be one of the best goalies not in the NHL. Called into backup duty would be Zane McIntyre, who has not seen NHL action and was sub-par in his first AHL season, but was unbelievable in the college ranks, with three years of dominant play and a Hobey Baker campaign for the University of North Dakota. The young duo would at least provide Boston with more raw talent and potential than most teams could provide that far down the depth chart.
However, the best team to handle such an apocalyptic event in net is likely the Columbus Blue Jackets. With two promising young goalies with NHL experience in Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg behind incumbents Sergei Bobrovsky and Curtis McElhinney, the transition from one pair to another would not be seamless, but has more long-term potential than nearly any other situation in the NHL. In fact, don’t be surprised if either guy slated for the AHL this year finds themself supplanting McElhinney with the Jackets instead. Another team who could substitute one dynamic duo with another is the Florida Panthers. Many were surprised when Florida went out and traded for Reto Berra and signed James Reimer to a long-term deal this summer, with all-world starter Roberto Luongo already in the fold. It is expected that Berra will join veteran Mike McKenna at the AHL level to start the season, where the pair would provide more experience than nearly any other minor league combo in hockey. Should one or both goalies go down for the Panthers this season, they are well-suited to handle the loss.
The best third-string option in the league? That title belongs to Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets will likely try to find a way to give the young stalwart starts in the NHL this season, though he is buried on the depth chart, alongside fellow high-end prospect Eric Comrie, behind Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson. Should either goalie struggle, which would not be a big surprise, or get injured, Winnipeg will not hesitate to put Hellebuyck in a position of responsibility. Should both goalies get hurt in a rare coincidence, Hellebuyck could carry the team with the young Comrie giving him some rest occasionally.
Other teams with ample depth to survive Armageddon in goal: the Montreal Canadiens, who very well may need it considering recent history, with Mike Condon and top prospect Zach Fucale behind franchise cornerstone Carey Price and veteran addition Al Montoya, and the Carolina Hurricanes, who signed journeyman Michael Leighton in part to mentor the high-potential Alex Nedeljkovic while Cam Ward and Eddie Lack handle NHL duties. Perhaps the only team that could take this hypothetical scenario a step further and handle three hurt keepers is the Anaheim Ducks, who sported even more impressive depth before the trade of Frederik Andersen to Toronto, but still have experienced backups Dustin Tokarski and Matt Hackett as well as former UMass-Lowell star Kevin Boyle behind John Gibson and Jonathan Bernier.
No one likes to see any player get injured, nevertheless a goalie and certainly not both goalies. However, these teams have the depth and talent needed to handle such a nightmare scenario and it sure would be interesting to watch them try. As the New England Patriots prepare to tackle their quarterback depth conundrum, keep these goalies in mind should such an event occur during the 2016-17 NHL season.