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Andrew Cogliano Out “For Now”

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The Colorado Avalanche have only lost two games so far in their run to the Stanley Cup Final, a feat made even more impressive by the storm of injuries the team has been forced to endure. Defenseman Samuel Girard was knocked out for the rest of the playoffs against St. Louis, and star center Nazem Kadri is not expected to return for the rest of the playoffs either as he recovers from surgery on his thumb. Now, you can add another name to that list. Avalanche forward Andrew Cogliano is out “for now,” according to coach Jared Bednar. (as relayed by The Denver Gazette’s Vinny Benedetto) Bednar adds that Cogliano’s injury is a “similar situation” to Kadri’s.

Cogliano, 34, was traded to the Avalanche at the deadline from the San Jose Sharks and has played a valuable, albeit limited role for the Avalanche. Cogliano has been a bottom-sixer and penalty-killing specialist for the team, and while the Avalanche’s penalty kill hasn’t been great (75.7% through 14 playoff games) he has helped the team rank third in goals against per game in this postseason with 2.86, tied with the Carolina Hurricanes. Cogliano hasn’t produced a ton of offense, with only three points in these playoffs, but when he has produced it’s been at important moments, like when he registered the lone assist on J.T. Compher’s game-winning tally in Game Three against the Oilers.

While Bednar did not reveal the full extent of the injury beyond the comments we previously mentioned, The Athletic’s Eric Stephens did note that Cogliano looked as though he “couldn’t even move his hand” during the presentation of the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl. With Cogliano out, perhaps fellow mid-season trade acquisition Nico Sturm draws back into the lineup. Sturm has played in seven of the Avalanche’s playoff games so far and was a reliable defensive forward during his time with the Minnesota Wild. Overall, while this injury is an unfortunate one for both Cogliano and the Avalanche, it’s also an injury that the team should have the necessary depth to overcome.

Kyle Connor Wins 2022 Lady Byng Trophy

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Winnipeg Jets winger Kyle Connor is the recipient of the 2022 Lady Byng Trophy, given “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.” The other finalists were Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes (who was last year’s winner) and Jared Spurgeon of the Minnesota Wild, who was a finalist last season as well.

Connor, who had just 12 penalty minutes last season, registered only four this year, an incredible number when one considers the fact that Connor played in 79 games and averaged nearly 22 minutes of ice time per game. Picking up a few minor penalties over the course of a season thanks to an errant stick or a lapse of judgment on a clearance that leads to a puck over the glass is something that should be expected of any player. So the fact that Connor only registered four minutes in the box despite playing as much hockey as he did is extremely impressive. Connor received 122 first-place votes, dwarfing Slavin’s second-place mark of 31 and Spurgeon’s six first-place votes, an indication of just how widespread the appreciation for Connor’s game was.

Beyond just on-ice character, the Lady Byng is about combining sportsmanship with high-end play. Connor did just that, smashing his career highs in goals and points to post 47 goals and 93 points, which led the Jets in each category. It can sometimes be a challenge for voters to balance how to value a player’s sportsmanship with their on-ice play, but in the case of Connor there could not have been such difficulty, as he was indisputably brilliant in both respects.

After Connor, Spurgeon, and Slavin, the top-five vote-getters were rounded out by Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner, who got two first-place votes, and New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad, who did not get a first-place vote but got 17 second-place votes. Also of note is Devils star Jack Hughes, who actually placed fourth in terms of first-place voting, landing five such nods despite missing a bulk of the season. Hughes did not register a penalty minute this season, and a Lady Byng win could definitely come his way in the future.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Boston Bruins Fire Bruce Cassidy

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The Boston Bruins have announced tonight that they have relieved Bruce Cassidy of his duties as head coach. Cassidy had been the Bruins’ head coach since 2017-18 and led the team to the playoffs in each season he coached, including a run to Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final in 2019. Bruins GM Don Sweeney issued the following statement as part of the announcement:

Today I informed Bruce Cassidy that I was making a head coaching change. After 14 years working with Bruce, this was an extremely difficult decision. I want to thank and acknowledge Bruce for all his work and success with the Bruins organization. His head coaching record for the Bruins is impressive, and we are appreciative of Bruce both professionally and personally. After taking some time to fully digest everything, I felt that the direction of our team for both this season and beyond would benefit from a new voice. I want to wish Bruce, Julie, Shannon and Cole much success as a family and with their future opportunities.

This move is a genuinely surprising one, although there have been some hints of simmering unhappiness in the Bruins’ organization that may not have been seen by observers outside of the Boston market. The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa covered the disconnect on offensive philosophy between Cassidy and Sweeney, and further reported that the team’s management had turned up the heat on Cassidy. While at the time some may have looked at Shinzawa’s reports and seen the normal, expected reaction of a team reeling from a difficult playoff exit and not any indication of any looming changes, it’s now clear that his work was foreshadowing the major change that was just announced.

For some, there is a sense of great confusion regarding this firing, and such feelings are definitely reasonable. Cassidy’s ability as one of the league’s top coaches in not up for debate. He led a Bruins team that had stagnated near the end of former coach Claude Julien’s tenure back to the top of the NHL’s pecking order, coming within a single win of capturing the Stanley Cup in 2019. Cassidy took the reigns of a team ready to compete and navigated the challenges of managing a team with such established, veteran stars in order to deliver competitive, playoff hockey year after year.

Cassidy finishes his Bruins tenure with a 245-108 record in the regular season and a 36-37 record in the playoffs. Cassidy had one year remaining on his contract, per TSN’s Chris Johnston.

With this firing, the Bruins enter one of the most competitive coaching markets in recent memory. As part of their announcement, the Bruins stated that they would be beginning their coaching search “immediately,” and that Sweeney would be running the search process. Fellow contending teams such as the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars are among the clubs in search of a new coach, and the number of teams the Bruins will be competing with for any desired candidate is six. It’s still too early to know exactly which direction the Bruins will go with their next head coach, but seeing as the team still intends to compete next season with their core of Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Patrice Bergeron (should he opt to re-sign instead of retire) it’s easy to connect them with the veteran coaches already on the market such as Barry Trotz or Paul Maurice.

For Cassidy, this development is definitely an unfortunate one, of course, but also one that could represent a major opportunity. Cassidy immediately joins Trotz as one of the top names on the coaching market, and he is in a position to join another team at a time when his stock as a coach is sky-high. The 2020 Jack Adams Award winner will definitely have a multitude of suitors this offseason and could even choose to wait until the next cycle if a break is what he desires. As previously mentioned, Cassidy has a year remaining on his contract so, financially speaking, there is no rush for him to accept a new job.

There is a sentiment among some that Cassidy’s firing is proof of his role as the “fall guy” for the Bruins’ front office in the face of the team’s inability to win a second Stanley Cup since 2011. Ty Anderson of The Sports Hub detailed that line of thinking, stating that the Bruins’ problems lay more in their personnel than their coaching. With Cassidy now fired, the blame for any struggles the Bruins face from this point forward will now be more easily targeted at the team’s front office. Sweeney and the rest of the Bruins’ brass seemingly have the full faith of ownership, but with Cassidy gone the heat they face gets turned up.

With a new coach needed and their captain out of a contract, this summer could be one of major changes for the Bruins’ roster and should be one of major consequence for what remains of this era of Bruins hockey.

Free Agent Focus: Vegas Golden Knights

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Free agency is now less than six weeks 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 mid-July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. Next up is a look at the Golden Knights

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Nicolas Roy – After a 2019 trade brought him to Vegas, Roy began showing flashes of skill and higher ability than he had shown in Carolina’s organization. Roy played 20 playoff games for the Golden Knights as they made a run to the 2020 Western Conference Final, scoring eight points, and finally established himself as a regular in 2020-21, getting into 50 regular-season games and 19 playoff games. Roy’s real breakout, though, came this past year, where he flew by his career highs in goals and points to finish with 15 goals and 39 points on the year. Roy was a consistent presence bringing both skill and physicality to a lineup ravaged by injuries, and his development was a major factor in keeping the Golden Knights’ playoff hopes alive until late in the season. Roy played on a $750k cap hit last year and is set to earn a decent raise on that number, although it remains to be seen if he will take a bridge contract or if the Golden Knights will choose to try to lock him up long-term.

D Nicolas Hague – Hague was the Golden Knights’ first-ever second-round pick and has developed nicely since he was drafted 34th overall in 2017. Hague’s big six-foot-six frame has always intrigued scouts and has helped him carve out a role in the NHL. Hague made his NHL debut in 2019-20, getting into 38 games and posting a healthy 11 points. Hague was a regular in 2020-21, skating in 52 games and scoring 17 points. While he battled injuries this past season and only featured in 52 out of the team’s 82 games, Hague’s future in Vegas looks bright. Hague played on a $791k cap hit this past season, and does not have arbitration rights. Given the cap constraints of the cup-or-bust Golden Knights, it seems like a bridge deal makes the most sense for both parties, although after the team signed fellow young blueliner Zach Whitecloud to an extension through 2027-2028, a similar long-term deal for Hague cannot be ruled out.

F Keegan Kolesar – Kolesar has been a great story for the Golden Knights. Kolesar was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a second-rounder in the 2017 draft, and disappointed in his first season in their system, spending 20 games playing for the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL. But since that point Kolesar has developed his game year after year and grown to be a regular bottom-sixer in Vegas. This past year was Kolesar’s second as an NHL regular, and he got into 77 games and posted 24 points. Kolesar was a dependable physical force in former coach Peter DeBoer’s lineup, but didn’t reach the offensive heights some may have expected. Kolesar is arbitration-eligible so it will be interesting to see which direction the team goes with his extension. The value true value of players like Kolesar can be sometimes difficult to quantify, so the raise Kolesar receives from his $725k cap hit will say a lot about his standing in Vegas’ organization.

Other RFA’s: F Brett Howden, F Jack Dugan, F Benjamin Jones, F Jake Leschyshyn, F Jonas Rondbjerg, D Daniil Miromanov, D Brayden Pachal, G Dylan Ferguson

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Reilly Smith – One of the Golden Knights’ original “misfits,” Smith has been a top-six staple in Vegas since the team first took the ice. Smith was originally acquired from the Florida Panthers at the team’s expansion draft and has 230 points in 321 games in Vegas. Smith’s best play has come in the playoffs, where he has 52 points in 66 games, including a phenomenal 22-point performance in the team’s 2018 run to the Stanley Cup Final. Smith had a difficult 2020-21, scoring only 25 points in 53 games, but he bounced back this year to post 38 points in his injury-limited 56-game season. That’s a 55-point pace, which is what can normally be expected from Smith, who posted between 53 and 60 points in his first three seasons in Vegas. Smith’s inability to stay healthy last year, when combined with his age (31), could be a potential threat to his free agent market. But ultimately his play on the ice will be the most important determining factor deciding what sort of contract he receives. Given his overall profile, a similar contract to the one Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust signed could be a reasonable landing spot for both camps. The only question then, is whether or not the Golden Knights are in a position to afford Smith on that sort of deal.

F Mattias Janmark – Janmark was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2021 trade deadline, and has fit decently well as a bottom-sixer in Vegas. He had some big performances, including a game-seven hat trick against the Minnesota Wild in 2021, but like many Golden Knights struggled with injuries and inconsistent play in 2021-22. Janmark’s average time on ice declined from around 17 minutes per game last season to under 14:21 in 2021-22. Janmark cost $2.25MM against the cap this season, and it’s fair to wonder if Vegas will be able to pay Janmark that sort of figure next season should they be interested in a reunion. Although it’s definitely possible he re-signs, Janmark will probably be able to receive more lucrative offers from other teams compared to what Vegas is in a position to offer.

Other UFA’s: D Jake Bischoff, F Gage Quinney

Projected Cap Space

The great lengths the Golden Knights have gone to stay under the salary cap have often made headlines, whether it be through their aggressive use of long-term injured reserve or attempt to trade a highly-paid player to a destination he had previously listed on his no-trade clause. This offseason figures to feature similar challenges for Vegas’ front office. The team has been built around a core of high-end, highly-paid veteran players, with Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo, Mark Stone, and Max Pacioretty all commanding salaries at or above the $7MM mark. The Golden Knights enter the offseason with just $200K in cap space, meaning the team will likely need to get creative in order to have enough room to make their desired moves this summer.

The team could pursue a trade involving Evgenii Dadonov as they did in the past, or could choose to make a trade including a contract they can place on long-term injured reserve in order to create cap space, similar to what Tampa Bay’s front office did with the Tyler Johnson trade. Either way, they will need to do something, and how the Golden Knights’ offseason goes will largely be determined by what route they choose in order to create cap space. Could they trade bigger names such as Dadonov or even a William Karlsson? Or could they work around the margins, moving a player like Laurent Brossoit who, while still a solid backup option, is suboptimal on Vegas’ roster since he costs $2.325MM and Logan Thompson is waiting in the wings with a $766k cap hit.

Whatever route the Golden Knights ultimately choose to take, it’s their pursuit of cap space that will be the defining theme of their offseason.

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

Nazem Kadri Undergoes Thumb Surgery

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Today we previously covered how Colorado Avalanche star Nazem Kadri would be returning to Colorado for further evaluation, and now the extent of Kadri’s absence is becoming more clear. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Kadri had surgery to repair the broken thumb he sustained in a hit by Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane, and that Kadri is “unlikely to be available for the remainder of the postseason.” Dreger notes that while Avalanche won’t rule Kadri out officially, he is still not likely to be seen back on the ice for the rest of the team’s playoff run.

For the Avalanche, this comes as a major blow right when the team is on the cusp of reaching the Stanley Cup Final. The Avalanche hold a commanding 3-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final against the Oilers, and have thus far had little trouble getting to that point. The Avalanche have taken these playoffs by storm, and have only lost two games in their entire run so far. A big reason for that success has been Kadri, who has made a major impact on both ends of the ice. Kadri has 14 points in 13 playoff games and has also brought his trademark defense to the table.

This news comes as yet another major injury for the Avalanche, who have already lost Samuel Girard for the playoffs and have their current starting goalie, Darcy Kuemper, out with his own injury as well, although it is not believed to be a serious one. That hasn’t stopped the team from tearing through the Western Conference’s playoff field, though, and it’s definitely possible that this juggernaut team continues its roll even without Kadri.

With that being said, the loss of what Kadri brings to the Avalanche lineup should is still significant. Kadri is an extremely important player for Colorado and his absence makes their task of winning the Stanley Cup far more difficult. So, while the Avalanche are still an immensely talented team, the challenge ahead of them just got a bit steeper.

Latest On Montreal Canadiens Draft Strategy

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The Montreal Canadiens had a miserable season in 2021-22, a campaign where they finished last in the NHL and saw their longtime general manager lose his job. The main benefit of that poor performance was revealed last month when the Canadiens won the draft lottery and the right to pick first overall. For years now, many have assumed that Ontario native Shane Wright, a center for the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs and one of the rare players to be granted exceptional player status by the Canadian Hockey League, was a lock to be selected first overall regardless of who held the pick.

Apparently, though, that assumption may have been premature. According to Arpon Basu and Marc Antoine Godin of The Athletic, (subscription link) it is “not a slam dunk” that the Canadiens will select Wright first overall. Additionally, Basu and Godin state that the rapid rise of Slovakian winger Juraj Slafkovsky has “left the Canadiens quite impressed.” So, despite Wright being the consensus top talent in the draft for several years now, (although that consensus has gotten a bit weaker in recent months) both Basu and Godin believe that it “wouldn’t be very surprising” if the Canadiens passed on Wright in favor of Slafkovsky.

The implications of the Canadiens’ decision are relatively far-reaching. The New Jersey Devils hold the number-two selection in the draft, and have in the past flirted with the idea of trading their pick for more immediate help. The Devils already have previous number-one picks Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes locked in as their top-two centers for a long time, so if a top center like Wright is available with their pick, could we see a bidding war for the pick unlike anything we have seen at drafts in the past?

If the Canadiens pass on Wright, could that heighten any potential desire they may have to trade up with their second first-round pick (acquired from the Calgary Flames for Tyler Toffoli) in order to still come out of the first round having drafted a center? The Canadiens’ front office is led by former New York Rangers GM Jeff Gorton, who has in the past shown an eagerness to trade up in the first round to acquire his scouts’ desired player, as he did in 2018 and 2020, in order to draft K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider, respectively.

With Wright seen as such a clear number-one pick for so long, the Canadiens possibly going in a different direction could lead to one of the more entertaining drafts in recent memory. That idea is perhaps emphasized by the fact that the draft is being held in Montreal. Based on the information gathered by Basu and Godin at the NHL Combine, the potentially chaotic scenario of the Canadiens passing on Wright to take Slafkovsky may be likelier than most people believe it to be.

Snapshots: Jets Offseason, Armia, Pokka

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After winning a playoff round last season, the Winnipeg Jets were among the league’s most disappointing teams this season, going 39-32-11, good for 89 points and sixth in the Central division. It was a season full of problems, but one problem the Jets didn’t have was a lack of scorers. Led by Kyle Connor’s 93 points, the Jets had four players hit the 60-point mark. One of those players, Pierre-Luc Dubois, hit the 60-point plateau for the second time in his career and has become the focal point of the Jets offseason. Dubois, 23, was part of the Patrik Laine trade and is now a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. The Jets have to decide if they want to commit to a long-term contract with Dubois as well as how much to pay him, and Dubois has to decide if Winnipeg is the place he wants to spend the bulk of his prime years. It looks to be a very interesting contract negotiation, but according to Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff (via Jeff Marek of Sportsnet) that negotiation process has not begun yet. There’s no major rush as we’re still in early June, but with a potential arbitration date looming, it’s likely that both parties would rather get this done before then.

Beyond that update on Dubois, Cheveldayoff also spoke to Marek about the priorities for this offseason, noting a “need to replenish their prospect pool.” The Jets do have two blue-chip center prospects in Cole Perfetti and Chaz Lucius, but that is seemingly not enough for Cheveldayoff and the Jets. The team’s prospect pool was ranked 11th in the NHL by the Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, (subscription link) and based on these comments it seems Cheveldayoff would like to raise his farm’s ranking into the top-10.

Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:

  • Like many Montreal Canadiens, Joel Armia had a season to forget this past year. Armia, who had scored at a 22-goal pace as recently as 2019-20, scored only six goals in 60 games last season and finished with 14 points. Armia’s contract has made him a potential candidate to be traded this offseason, as the Canadiens would clear $3.4MM off their books if they move him. That contract and Armia’s performance was generally believed to be working against Montreal if they chose to shop him, but one thing that could be working in their favor is Armia’s performance at the recent IIHF World Championships. Armia scored five goals and added three assists in ten games and captured the gold medal as a member of Finland’s team. Armia looked rejuvenated after taking a personal leave at the end of the NHL season, and a league source told Jimmy Murphy of Montreal Hockey Now that Armia’s performance at the World Championships has gotten him noticed. That’s far from an indication that a trade is near, but it does indicate that the Canadiens could have an easier time finding a trading partner than they would have had a few months ago.
  • Former top prospect Ville Pokka, who was the focal point of the Blackhawks’ return for trading Nick Leddy to the Islanders, never quite made it to the NHL despite being reasonably successful at the AHL level. Pokka played four seasons of North American hockey, scoring 138 points in 289 AHL games. The defenseman looked to be on the cusp of making the NHL in 2015-16, when he scored 45 points as an under-22 AHLer. But that success didn’t translate into an NHL job, and after being traded to the Senators organization Pokka left for the KHL. Now, it seems Pokka’s stint as a starting-caliber KHL defenseman is over. According to Swedish outlet SportExpressen, Pokka will spend next year playing for Farjestad of the SHL, the reigning champions. Pokka is still just 28 years old, so perhaps with success on one of the best teams in the SHL Pokka can earn another crack at making an NHL roster.

 

Evander Kane To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Edmonton Oilers already need to reverse-sweep the Colorado Avalanche in order to keep their season alive, and they now might have to accomplish that feat without one of their best wingers. The NHL Department of Player Safety announced today that Evander Kane, the mid-season signing who has fit so well in Edmonton since his arrival, will have a hearing regarding his hit on Nazem Kadri, a boarding penalty that has knocked out Kadri for the rest of the Western Conference Final and perhaps even longer.

The hit in question happened only a minute into last night’s game. Kadri was chasing a loose puck into the Edmonton corner, and Kane was pursuing him. As Kadri began to stop to retrieve the puck which had bounced to his left, Kane shoved Kadri and Kadri went tumbling into the boards. A nearby official immediately called for a penalty, and Kane was assessed a five-minute major for boarding.

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar referred to the play as “the most dangerous play in hockey,” and Kadri’s agent, Darren Ferris, took his comments a step further, calling on the league to “address the targeted hit” on his client, one that he deemed “serious and dangerously callous.” ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski highlighted a different line of thinking regarding the hit, relaying a sentiment from league sources that the hit was “reckless and unfortunate but not intentional.”

Kane has a prior disciplinary history, racking up fines for elbowing and kneeing in the past as well as suspensions for things such as elbowing, cross-checking, and abuse of officials. Kane has also previously criticized the Department of Player Safety for its decisions, and it remains to be seen the effect Kane’s prior actions will have on this upcoming decision.

If Kane is suspended, the Oilers will find the prospect of scoring goals on Colorado to be even harder than it has been for the past two games. The typically lethal Oilers offense has been limited to just two goals in that time frame. Without Kane, who has been nearly goal-per-game in these playoffs with 13 in 15 games, getting back on track should be even harder.

Should the Oilers lose on Monday, this hit and likely suspension could cast a shadow on Kane’s upcoming unrestricted free agency. As mentioned, Kane has been extremely productive in these playoffs and was nearly a point-per-game player in the regular season. Interested teams will have to balance Kane’s undeniable offensive talent with his controversial off-ice reputation when considering pursuing him as a free agent. This hit and a potential upcoming suspension could end Kane’s season on a decidedly sour note before a very important summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Update On Ottawa Senators Goalies

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The Ottawa Senators enter next season with the intention of competing for a playoff spot. Pierre Dorion referred to this past season as a “big step in the right direction” during his end-of-season media availability, and is reportedly even considering dealing the seventh-overall pick for more immediate help.

But perhaps the biggest reason the Senators can be optimistic about their playoff odds for next season is the emergence of goaltender Anton Forsberg as a legitimate number-one option. Forsberg, 29, played in 46 games last season, going 22-17-4 with a .917 save percentage and 2.82 goals-against average. Forsberg had been a third goalie and backup for most of his career to that point and had been claimed off of waivers three times en route to his Ottawa breakout. The Senators rewarded Forsberg for his strong play, signing him to a three-year $2.75MM AAV contract.

The emergence of Forsberg as the Senators’ starting goaltender could not have come at a better time given the decline of the previous starter, Matt Murray. Murray has had a nightmarish time as a Senator since signing a four-year, $25MM extension. He has gotten into only 47 games and has posted a combined .899 save percentage and 3.46 goals-against average over two seasons in Ottawa. Murray also cleared waivers with the Senators, indicating how far his value has fallen since he won back-to-back Stanley Cups as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

But despite Forsberg clearly displacing Murray as the Senators’ starter, the Senators’ goaltending situation does not figure to be a simple one going into next season. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that there is a “strong possibility” that the Senators will take the unorthodox route of carrying three goaltenders on their active roster next season. The three goaltenders would presumably be Forsberg, Murray, and the young Filip Gustavsson, who is still only 23 years old but is set to be waiver-eligible next season.

While carrying three goalies on their roster is by no means illegal or against any rules for the Senators to do, it is unconventional. It is generally believed to be an arrangement that most goaltenders find uncomfortable, and since goaltenders develop best when they see consistent game action, one has to wonder if fighting two other goalies for starts is the best developmental environment for Gustavsson.

Those concerns won’t be nearly as loud, though, if the Senators can find a way to deliver on the team’s promise of returning to contention. Winning can be the ultimate cure for awkward roster situations, so with that in mind, the Senators have to hope that Forsberg repeats last season’s performance and Murray can repeat his early 2022 form that saw him post a .924 save percentage in January and a .943 in February.

Looking at it optimistically, if the Senators do indeed carry three goalies and the trio can manage to play well, perhaps the arrangement can help keep each goalie rested and consistent throughout the 82-game grind that is the regular season. Regardless of what the Senators choose to do with their goalies at the start of the season, though, the deciding factor on whether the team will carry three goalies for a full 82-game slate will be the performances of the goalies themselves.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest On Chicago Blackhawks Offseason

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The Chicago Blackhawks have been clear about the direction of their franchise under GM Kyle Davidson, both through words and actions. Davidson himself has not been shy about using the term “rebuild” to describe the state of the organization, and it became completely clear that the team was in fact rebuilding when they traded Brandon Hagel, a young, cheap, productive player to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a package of picks and young players.

Hagel, who doesn’t turn 24 until late August, is the sort of player most tend to believe that a rebuilding club should be building around, rather than trading. But by trading him, it became obvious that the Blackhawks were taking an extremely long-term approach to maximizing their eventual window of contention. The team’s front office seems to be operating with the intention of stockpiling as many draft picks and high-upside young players as possible, and they enter the offseason with a clean slate of possibilities to help them further that goal.

According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, there could be even more Hagel-type trades this summer. Friedman states that Davidson and the Blackhawks are “testing the value” of any and all of their players “other than Seth Jones, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Toews,” the three players on the team with full no-move clauses. Per his report, the Blackhawks will listen to offers for any player that other teams want to inquire about, and  the possibility of making a trade comes down to whether another team can “make an offer that makes [the Blackhawks] want to seriously think about it.”

While it remains to be seen if the Blackhawks’ testing the trade market for most of their players actually ends up materializing in any trades, it’s clear from this report that the Blackhawks will continue to fully embrace the rebuild without any major reservation. Notable names including star winger Alex DeBrincat, former third overall pick Kirby Dach, and reliable defenseman Connor Murphy were not mentioned along with Toews, Kane, and Jones as being off the table, highlighting just how deep the team’s apparent commitment to a rebuild could be.

For contending teams, having such high-quality names available for trade is a unique opportunity. For any team willing to pay the significant asset cost it will likely take to acquire any of these names, they could get a player in return that they would not typically have the chance to acquire. Teams like the Ottawa Senators and New Jersey Devils, owners of the seventh and second picks, respectively, at next month’s entry draft have flirted with the possibility of dealing their number-one picks for a difference-making star player, so could they be in hot pursuit of a player like DeBrincat, who scored 41 goals and is only 24 years old? Moreover, are the Blackhawks more motivated to add one of those picks due to the fact that their 2022 first-rounder belongs to the Blue Jackets as part of last summer’s Jones trade?

Those are all questions that could be answered by the Blackhawks this summer. It’s possible that the Blackhawks may not ultimately receive the”Hagel-like” offers on their players that would lead them to finalizing a deal, but it’s also possible that they might receive transformational offers with the potential to considerably speed up their rebuilding process. While we don’t at this moment know what will end up happening with the Blackhawks and their crop of on-the-market veteran players, we do know that the status of the team and those players will be one of the top storylines to follow this summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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