Poll: Who Will Win The Atlantic Division?
After asking our readers to pick the winners of the Central and Pacific Divisions next season, it’s time to turn toward the Eastern Conference. While the Pacific Division vote was split nearly evenly between the Edmonton Oilers (who held the edge) and the Calgary Flames, the Colorado Avalanche dominated the vote counter for the Central, garnering over 62% of the votes. No other team had more than 15%.
The Eastern Conference, like last season, carries a far bit more intrigue, though. With a tumultuous offseason, there’s poised to be a shuffling of the deck, with former titans falling and upstart teams emerging.
No team may exemplify that better than last season’s Presidents’ Trophy winners — the Florida Panthers. Last season’s 58-18-6 record was by far the best in team history, but they bowed out quietly in the Second Round, being swept by the eventual Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
That playoff disappointment beckoned a host of changes, beginning behind the bench. Interim head coach and Jack Adams Award finalist Andrew Brunette was dismissed in favor of veteran coach Paul Maurice, who aims to gel the team’s defensive holes that ultimately doomed them. That will be a tough challenge with a defense core that’s already missing Mackenzie Weegar via trade and whose most notable additions were depth veterans Marc Staal and Michael Del Zotto. A refresh on offense also hit the team’s scoring depth, with breakout star Mason Marchment departing in free agency and franchise cornerstone Jonathan Huberdeau replaced with Matthew Tkachuk. The team will also have to manage the first few months of the season without Anthony Duclair, who’s rehabbing an Achilles tendon injury.
The Toronto Maple Leafs roared to a 115-point season last year for second place in the division, but they too have taken hits to the roster. A new goaltending tandem of Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov begs more questions than it gives answers, and the team will miss Ilya Mikheyev and Ondrej Kase as important depth scoring. They did get some of that depth back in the form of Calle Jarnkrok signing in free agency, but the team will largely be forced to run it back with question marks in net.
2021-22 was a season of threes for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who finished third in the Atlantic en route to their third straight Stanley Cup Final appearance. After losing in the Final, though, they’ll need to figure out how to replace the losses of Ondrej Palat and Ryan McDonagh largely internally. They’ll bet on a big breakout season from forward Brandon Hagel, who they paid a steep price at the Trade Deadline to acquire just for that reason. They’ll also have to get through the start of the year without Selke-caliber center Anthony Cirelli, who’s likely out until December with a shoulder injury.
The Boston Bruins are bringing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci back for one last ride, but they’ll have to do it without Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, Matt Grzelcyk, and Mike Reilly to start the season. With that level of firepower out of the lineup, it could spell trouble in such a competitive division. An apparent downgrade behind the bench as well means the team could struggle to reach the 50-win, 100-point mark again this season.
The Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings both made incredible splashes in free agency, and figure to make it a six-team race for three to five playoff spots in the Atlantic. Ottawa’s additions of Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux give them one of the highest-powered top-sixes in the conference, while Detroit’s additions of David Perron, Andrew Copp, and Ben Chiarot give them high-quality depth to support their growing stars.
The Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens, while likely to be at the bottom of the division again, will both look to take steps forward with significant improvement expected from their young franchise cornerstone. Owen Power‘s rookie performance will be the storyline all season in Buffalo, while Cole Caufield will look to transform his elite skill into the consistency required to be an All-Star.
So, PHR readers, we ask you again — who do you think will win the Atlantic Division next season? Make sure to vote in the poll below and leave a comment below to contribute to the discussion.
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Latest On Laurent Brossoit
When the Vegas Golden Knights acquired Adin Hill late last month via trade, it raised some questions about how long goalie Laurent Brossoit would be out to start the season after having surgery.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy‘s comments added to that uncertainty today. While he did say Brossoit was healing well from his surgery, Cassidy wasn’t sure if Brossoit would return just weeks into the season or closer to the end of the calendar year instead. However, he did still reaffirm that Brossoit is tracking to be a healthy member of the Golden Knights this season.
Brossoit had a tough 2021-22 campaign, as did much of the Golden Knights team, but he’ll need to rebound in his second season in Vegas in the season-long absence of Robin Lehner. Brossoit does have some of the pressure taken off him with Hill’s acquisition, but the’s still the most experienced of Vegas’ now trio of NHL goalies.
In the meantime, Vegas hopes that Thompson’s strong end to the 2021-22 season, nearly miraculously getting them back into the playoffs despite anemic offensive play, carries over through training camp into the start of this season. They’ll also hope for Hill’s strong start to last season before going down with injury repeats itself as well.
Brossoit is entering the second season of a two-year deal worth $2.325MM per season. He finished last year with a 10-9-3 record in 24 games, just the second time in his career that he’s played more than 20 games in a season. He struggled statistically with a .895 save percentage and a 2.90 goals-against average, both worse than his career average numbers.
Brett Connolly Signs In Switzerland
Another NHL veteran has opted to sign in Europe to continue his professional career. Swiss club HC Lugano announced today that the team has signed winger Brett Connolly to a one-year contract for the 2022-23 season.
Connolly spent the last season and a half in the Chicago Blackhawks organization, where he ended up playing just 19 NHL games compared to 37 AHL games for the Rockford IceHogs. Connolly had just a goal and two assists in those 19 games across the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, while faring much better in the AHL with 35 points in 37 games in 2021-22 for Rockford.
This past season, Connolly’s NHL time was limited in part due to a four-game suspension for interfering with Dallas Stars forward Tanner Kero. With his bloated seven-figure cap hit, Connolly also cleared waivers multiple times. Connolly was bought out this summer with one season remaining on a four-year, $3.5MM AAV deal signed prior to the 2019-20 season.
At the age of 30, this could very well be the last we’ve seen of Connolly in the NHL. The sixth overall pick in 2010 currently has a career total of 101 goals, 94 assists, and 195 points in 536 games.
He’ll be strong offensive reinforcement for Lugano, who also fortified their goaltending by bringing former Edmonton Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen back to Europe. They’ll look to make it out of the National League quarterfinals for the first time since losing the championship series in 2018.
Taylor Heise Named 2022 Women’s World Championship MVP
Despite losing 2-1 in the gold medal game to Canada today, a breakout member for Team USA has taken home the MVP award for the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship. Taylor Heise, a collegiate player from the University of Minnesota, won the award after leading the tournament in scoring with 18 points in seven games.
Heise is returning to Minnesota next season for her fifth and final year in the program. As an alternate captain last season, Heise exploded for 29 goals, 37 assists, and 66 points in just 39 games. Minnesota was the number 2 ranked program in the country at season’s end but lost in the NCAA quarterfinals to state rival Duluth.
Heise also won the Directorate Award for best forward at the tournament. USA goaltender Nicole Hensley and Czech defender Daniela Pejsova won their respective positional awards. Hensley finished the tournament with a 4-1-0 record, .930 save percentage, and 1.08 goals-against average in five games, while Pesjova finished with five goals, four assists, and nine points in six games en route to Czechia earning their first medal at the tournament.
Team Canada Wins Gold At 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championships
Team Canada has completed their run at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championships, culminating today in a 2-1 win against the United States to take home the gold medal for the second straight season.
For the national Canadian women’s team, it’s a sweep of the three major international events — they won gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and at the U18 Women’s Worlds in June, also against the United States.
This year’s edition of the Women’s World Championships also saw Czechia take home the bronze, marking the first time that they’ve medalled at the tournament. It’s the first time there’s been a new medalist at the Women’s Worlds in over a decade, a hallmark of the constantly increasing parity in the game.
Canada was led in scoring by youngster Sarah Fillier, who tallied five goals and six assists for 11 points in seven games. Team captain and international legend Marie-Philip Poulin finished second in team scoring with ten points. Overall in the tournament, American Taylor Heise led the pack with seven goals, 11 assists, and 18 points in seven games.
The Women’s Worlds was the last major event of the 2022 IIHF season.
Examining The Buffalo Sabres’ Financial Future
When Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams signed center Tage Thompson to an admittedly massive seven-year contract extension earlier this week, it raised some eyebrows considering the lack of consistency from Thompson in his career. Speaking after the fact a few days ago, Adams told The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski that “we’re also being strategic a little bit, to be honest, about the timeline knowing that there’s other guys potentially next summer where we’re going to be in this situation. We want to make sure we’re being strategic on when and how we put these deals together.”
So, given that Adams is envisioning more breakout campaigns from his young stars in 2022-23, how does the Sabres’ financial picture line up with their rise out of their years-long rebuild and the expected salary cap increases?
There are two players next summer who, depending on their campaigns, could demand significant pay raises over their sub-$1MM deals. Both Dylan Cozens and Rasmus Asplund are restricted free agents in 2023, although Cozens does not have arbitration rights.
Cozens is projected to slot right behind Thompson on the team’s depth chart, battling with Casey Mittelstadt for a spot centering their second line. If he wins that battle and sees increased playing time, Cozens’ offensive production is bound to take a step forward from his 38 points last season.
In any event, Cozens’ ceiling likely isn’t the 35+ goal season Thompson is coming off of, either. His development has been more linear, something that tracks well for the Sabres, at least in terms of certainty in contract negotiations. The team still currently has nearly $40MM in cap space to play with next offseason with the projected salary cap increase to $83.5MM, so any major contract the Sabres hand out now really doesn’t force their hand in the slightest.
It’s later on when things would get tricky, when the team is contending and their breakout stars want to capitalize on what should be a rapidly increasing salary cap at that point. From that point of view, betting on their players is a smart move from Adams at the moment. With the team still so far away from the salary cap, it can’t hurt to take a risk on what could be a team-friendly deal in five seasons. Even if the players don’t quite pan out as projected, those are deals that won’t be taking up nearly as much of their salary cap as they are now when they do become an issue.
Though Adams should be careful not to play with too much fire. Recent reports suggest that the first large salary cap jump could come in the 2024 offseason instead of 2025. That would be a boon to the Sabres, who have four major expiring contracts that offseason: Mittelstadt, Peyton Krebs, Rasmus Dahlin, and Owen Power. If everything goes as expected in terms of their development, that could very well be upwards of $30MM handed out just between those four players. If the Sabres put themselves in a position to give those contracts and still have some breathing room, they could finally construct a roster with the required depth to remain at the top of the Eastern Conference.
Latest On Zach Aston-Reese, Evan Rodrigues
The calendar has now turned to September, only turning up the heat on both free agents looking for contracts and teams looking to fill roster holes ahead of training camp. A marginal salary cap increase over the past few seasons has made late-offseason moves tougher to make work, though, and it’s becoming more and more common to see situations get resolved at the last minute due to a lack of other options.
Two players who could be in that boat are a pair of former Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Zach Aston-Reese and Evan Rodrigues. Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s Dan Kingerski reported today that sources tell him both Aston-Reese and Rodrigues have interest and multiple offers from NHL teams but are “holding out for better situations.” Kingerski named both the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks specifically as teams that have kicked tires on Rodrigues, which had been previously reported. He noted that Aston-Reese had interest from two or three NHL teams, but that the bottom-six utility player is looking for more offensive opportunities on his next team.
Kingerski also mentioned to a lesser degree, that veteran center Brian Boyle has an interest in returning to Pittsburgh, although there isn’t much space for him on the organizational depth chart.
Whichever team does sign Aston-Reese will be getting one of the most valuable bottom-six threats (if not the most valuable) still on the market. His career-high of 17 points may not jump off the page, but he’s made a name for himself as one of the top defensive players, at least analytically speaking, in recent years. The 28-year-old product of Staten Island was dealt to the Anaheim Ducks at this year’s trade deadline in the Rickard Rakell trade and had four points in 17 games during his brief stint as a Duck.
An obvious fit for Aston-Reese would be the Winnipeg Jets, who still have some cap space to burn after signing Sam Gagner earlier this week. The Jets have some weak bottom-six depth that would allow Aston-Reese to see some more offensive looks, and his services could help solidify a historically defensively inept team.
Anaheim Ducks Acquire Dmitry Kulikov
According to an NHL.com report, the Minnesota Wild dealt defenseman Dmitry Kulikov to the Anaheim Ducks today in exchange for future considerations.
Kulikov, a veteran of 13 NHL seasons and 805 NHL games, brings some much-needed veteran stability to the Anaheim defense corps. In 2021-22, Kulikov had his best season in quite some time, notching more than 20 points for the first time in 10 years and also staying healthy, playing in 80 games. Injuries have been a consistent issue for Kulikov throughout his time in the league.
Averaging 18:12 per game, Kulikov played a bottom-pair but still an important role for the Wild last season. Along with his health, he’s maintained his calling card as a quality defensive defenseman. With the Ducks having some serious question marks at left defense behind Cam Fowler, Kulikov immediately helps fortify a growing team and could provide a solid defensive partner for Jamie Drysdale.
It’s a good trade for the Wild, too, even though they’re losing him for nothing. Minnesota may have managed the salary cap better than most expected considering the massive Zach Parise/Ryan Suter buyout cap hits they face, but they still had a logjam on the blueline with multiple prospects getting closer to NHL readiness. With Calen Addison poised to make the jump to the NHL full-time next season, the Wild simply had one too many NHL defensemen. Considering Alex Goligoski just received an extension and Jonathon Merrill won’t be ready to start the season, Kulikov was the logical trade choice.
Buffalo Sabres Sign Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
The Buffalo Sabres have signed goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to a two-year deal with a cap hit of $837,500, the team announced via Twitter on Wednesday. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that the second year of the deal is one-way, when Luukkonen also becomes eligible for waivers.
Luukkonen split the 2021-22 season between the Sabres and their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, coming up to Buffalo when injuries decimated their goaltending depth this season. Luukkonen battled through some injuries himself, something that’s unfortunately becoming a common theme, but still managed to get into 35 games for Rochester last season. There, he compiled a 15-14-8 record, .900 save percentage, and one shutout.
Those numbers don’t seem that impressive — and they aren’t — but he did have a much better NHL showing, albeit in a brief amount of appearances. Luukkonen actually had a .917 save percentage mark in nine NHL games, recording his second and third career NHL wins in the process.
After the Sabres retained both Craig Anderson and Malcolm Subban while also signing free agent Eric Comrie, Luukkonen is destined for another year in Rochester in 2022-23. It’s not the worst place for him, though, as he needs to show more consistency and solid improvement in the AHL before he’s ready to get a real full-time look in the NHL. With this likely being the last season of Anderson’s NHL career, Luukkonen could very well be ready for that full-time NHL job in 2023-24 during the second season of this new contract.
Buffalo Sabres Extend Tage Thompson
The Buffalo Sabres have signed forward Tage Thompson to a seven-year, $50MM extension beginning in the 2023-24 season. The contract has a cap hit of $7.143MM and runs through 2030-2031.
General manager Kevyn Adams spoke on the deal:
Tage Thompson embodies the pride we expect from every player who wears the Buffalo Sabres sweater. His success last season is a testament to his unrelenting dedication to his craft and commitment to bettering the team both on and off the ice, which we believe will help us reach even greater heights moving forward. We are thrilled to extend Tage, keeping him and his family in Buffalo for many years to come.
Thompson, who will turn 25 in October, exploded for a breakout campaign in 2021-22. Playing in 78 games, Thompson shattered his previous single-digit career-highs in goals and assists, tallying 38 goals and 30 assists for 68 points. Widely credited due to the coaching of Don Granato and moving Thompson to center, he flourished in what was a promising year for him and the team overall.
He’ll need to keep up that pace now, though. More than $7MM per season is a massive commitment for one season of more than 15 points, but it could end up being a bargain just the same if he improves on those numbers. Any opinion of the deal will solely rely on one’s opinion of Thompson’s ceiling and how much development one thinks he has left.
In any event, Thompson is the team’s number one center for the long haul now. He heads up a deep group of young centers that includes Dylan Cozens, Peyton Krebs, Casey Mittelstadt, and Matthew Savoie, who all have the potential to be long-term, high-end top-nine fixtures for Buffalo.
It also gives the Sabres a degree of financial certainty that they’ve lacked in recent years. Forced to take on contracts purely to get to the salary cap’s spending floor, deals like Thompson’s given to young players instead of bloated free agent deals are a smarter way of managing money as Buffalo exits their rebuild.
Thompson will be 33 when the deal expires, meaning this will take Thompson all the way through his prime, in all likelihood.
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was first to report Thompson and the Sabres were close on an extension.