Bettman Discusses Regional Hub Cities, Reduced Schedule
The NHL is still targeting a January start for the upcoming season, but there is still a lot of work to be done between the league and NHLPA. As reported by Nick Cotsonika of NHL.com, Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke today about some of the things still being discussed, including the idea of hubs where teams would enter a city and “play for 10 to 12 days” without any travel, and then return home. Players have been very clear about the fact that they will not agree to a season-long bubble away from their families, and Bettman confirmed that he will not ask them to.
The idea of realignment has also come up extensively around the hockey world in recent weeks, especially in regard to the seven Canadian teams. Bettman confirmed that it was being discussed, though specifically mentioned how it also wouldn’t make much sense to have teams from Florida travel to California either. A “Canadian Division” is getting plenty of headlines, but it seems likely that there will be other geographical realignments as well given the different restrictions throughout the United States.
Of course one of the most important things for the league to decide will be how many games actually get played in the upcoming regular season. Though they have tried to maintain the goal of fitting in 82, there have been obvious doubts that is practical and Bettman himself suggested that the league is contemplating a reduced schedule.
None of what Bettman said today provides any real answers for hockey fans looking forward to next season, but there are hints to what it might look like. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia also reports that deputy commissioner Bill Daly sent a memo to each NHL team today saying that the league and NHLPA hope to make a recommendation to the board of governors on Thursday on the start date, maintaining that “the objective remains to start as early as January 1.” The memo included that the league is hoping to get back onto a regular calendar for 2021-22.
Poll: Who Are The Best Defensemen In The NHL?
Earlier this month the NHL Network began their reveal of the top players at every position, starting with the 20 best defensemen in the league. Victor Hedman took home the top spot after his outstanding playoff performance, leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to a Stanley Cup victory. If you were to build the perfect theoretical defenseman, he might look a lot like the 6’6″ Swede.
Last year’s top-ranked defenseman, Brent Burns, dropped all the way to 13 on this year’s list after a tough season in San Jose. After an incredible 2018-19 season that saw the Sharks leader score 83 points, his numbers dropped considerably to just 45 points in 70 games.
The reigning Norris Trophy winner, Roman Josi, took the second spot behind Hedman, edging out the points leader John Carlson in another competition.
Of note, Nashville, San Jose, Vegas, Carolina, and Columbus all have multiple players ranked, though none have more than two.
Like last year, when our community disagreed with NHL Network and actually crowned Hedman as top dog, we thought we’d do our own tally here at PHR. In the poll below we’ve listed many options and are asking you to vote for your top group by selecting 10 names. Does Hedman have any real competition for the top spot? Where will young players like Miro Heiskanen, Cale Makar, and Quinn Hughes end up?
[Mobile users click here to vote]
Julian Melchiori Headed To DEL
Earlier this summer after the New Jersey Devils were ruled out of the return to play bubble, Julian Melchiori started seeking out his next job. The minor league defenseman had only been signed to an NHL contract by the Devils in late-February, but had still not actually played anywhere but with the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. Since that deal made him an unrestricted free agent and it wasn’t at all clear when the next NHL season would be, he did what many minor league free agents did, and signed in the KHL.
Melchiori never did actually play in the KHL though and is now on his way to another overseas league. The 28-year-old defenseman has agreed to terms with the Wolfsburg Grizzlys for the upcoming season, getting out of his KHL contract in the process.
Originally a third-round pick of the Atlanta Thrashers in 2010, it’s been mostly the minor leagues for Melchiori over the last decade. He does have 30 games of NHL experience but hasn’t played at that level since the 2016-17 season. Instead, he has spent the last three seasons suiting up for three different AHL teams, scoring 17 points in 61 games for Binghamton in the most recent campaign.
Given his experience at the NHL level and success in the minor leagues—not to mention his 6’5″ frame—it wouldn’t be surprising to see Melchiori back in North America in a year, filling out the depth chart of an organization. For now, he’ll test himself in the German league.
ECHL Announces Training Camp, Season Schedule
For NHL teams looking to get their prospects back on the ice in a competitive situation, the ECHL may soon be an option. The minor league announced today that training camps will open on November 27 for all the teams that are starting their season on December 11. The ECHL has split their league into two groups, with 13 teams beginning on December 11 and the rest waiting until January 15. The training camps for the latter group will open on January 1.
The teams that will begin things later this month are Allen Americans, Florida Everblades, Greenville Swamp Rabbits, Indy Fuel, Jacksonville Icemen, Kansas City Mavericks, Orlando Solar Bears, Rapid City Rush, South Carolina Stingrays, Tulsa Oilers, Utah Grizzlies, Wheeling Nailers and Wichita Thunder. They will play a 72-game season.
Still, there is some discussion on which prospects would actually be eligible to play. Michael Russo of The Athletic tweets that the NHL was discussing a change that would make only players on entry-level contracts eligible to play in the low minors. For many organizations though, getting any of their young players into a game situation will be imperative for their development.
Long List Of RFAs Still To Sign In Tampa Bay
You can forgive the Tampa Bay Lightning for taking their time this offseason. The team is celebrating the second Stanley Cup championship in franchise history and first for this super-talented core that has been so dominant for the last several years. Since Jon Cooper‘s first full season as head coach of the team in 2013-14, the Lightning have put up a record of 343-172-47, reached the playoffs in six of seven years, and made it to at least the Eastern Conference Finals in four of those. Now, after finally getting over the hump and raising that silver chalice over their heads, GM Julien BriseBois and his front office staff have a ton of work to do.
In fact, there is no one with more restricted free agents still to get under contract in the entire league. And it’s not just quantity over quality in Tampa Bay, the players still without contracts are key members of the team now and for the future.
Anthony Cirelli, the unheralded third-round pick that has turned himself into one of the best two-way centers in the league, just finished fourth in Selke Trophy voting for a season played at age-22. He scored 44 points in 68 games and saw his minutes skyrocket, becoming the most important forward on Tampa Bay’s penalty kill. While he may not get the fanfare of some of the other superstars on the roster, BriseBois and his staff know exactly how important Cirelli is to the team’s future. It is likely why they were trying to move Tyler Johnson and his $5MM cap hit early in the offseason, even waiving the veteran forward at one point.
But it’s not just Cirelli that will command a substantial raise if the Lightning want to sign multi-year contracts with their young free agents. Mikhail Sergachev also sits waiting for a new contract after his best year in the NHL, one which saw him turn from sheltered offensive piece to full-fledged top-four powerhouse. Sergachev, acquired from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Jonathan Drouin in 2017, has seen his average time on ice increase dramatically each of his three seasons in Tampa Bay. In 2019-20 he averaged more than 20 minutes a night, seeing more than anyone not named Victor Hedman at even-strength. In a season completed while he was still 21, Sergachev still put up excellent offensive numbers—ten goals and 34 points in 70 games—but became a player the team can rely on much more heavily and in many more situations.
It doesn’t end there. Erik Cernak and his nearly three minutes of nightly short-handed ice time is also an RFA. For two seasons the 23-year-old has been a versatile, physical presence that counterbalances some of the team’s more skilled defenders, and was a fearless shot-blocker in the playoffs. In 25 games he recorded 52 blocks, a total that beat out even veteran warrior Ryan McDonagh for the team lead. Even though Cernak doesn’t have the offensive chops of Sergachev, he’ll still need a considerable raise after his early-career performance.
Even past those three, several other depth options are still waiting on new deals. Mathieu Joseph and Alexander Volkov, who each suited up at various times this season and will likely be asked to do the same in 2020-21, are RFAs with no arbitration rights. Neither one has a lot of leverage in talks, but their negotiations are still work to be done before the start of training camp. Dominik Masin was also issued a qualifying offer, but the 24-year-old defenseman is currently playing in the KHL.
Sure, these contracts could come together quickly and at any moment, but the Lightning can’t just sign them all and call it a day. By CapFriendly’s count, the team has less than $3MM in cap space with a roster of 18 players, meaning substantial raises for the three big names isn’t possible without moving other players out. Johnson has been the name thrown around most, but even if his $5MM cap hit is shed completely that still may not give them enough room to sign everyone.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Dallas Stars Re-Sign Roope Hintz
The Dallas Stars can cross the last name off of their restricted free agent list after reaching a new agreement with Roope Hintz. The Stars have re-signed Hintz to a three-year deal that carries an average annual value of $3.15MM and keeps him under contract through the 2022-23 season. PuckPedia reports that the deal breaks down as follows:
2020-21: $2MM
2021-22: $3MM
2022-23: $4.45MM
In most cases, the salary in the final year of the contract represents the qualifying offer. However, the most recent CBA put in a clause stating that the qualifying offer is the lower of the salary in the final year or 120% of the AAV of the deal. In this case, 120% of the AAV is $3.78MM which means that will be what Dallas must offer to retain his rights in 2023.
Hintz, 23, broke out in the 2019 playoffs for the Stars, showing off his blazing speed and offensive upside by scoring five goals and eight points in 13 games. That performance continued when the 2019-20 season began, with the young forward tying Jamie Benn for second in the team in goals with 19. That total came in just 60 games and Hintz was effective again in the playoffs, this time tallying 13 points in 25 games while the Stars went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Moving forward, the team will need even more from their young star, given Tyler Seguin‘s injury and lack of any real improvements in free agency. Seguin is expected to be out for the first few months of the season, meaning Hintz and fellow youngster Denis Gurianov will have to carry a huge amount of the offensive burden.
If he does get more powerplay opportunity and increased minutes, this three-year contract could quickly look like quite the bargain. A $3.15MM cap hit makes Hintz the seventh-highest paid forward on the roster, just behind Radek Faksa who signed a five-year extension last month. Though Faksa is one of the league’s top defensive forwards, Hintz holds quite a bit more offensive potential and could easily push toward the 30-goal mark next season. If he does, a three-year term may seem like a mistake from his camp.
That said, a deal like this is quite a bit of stability for a second-round pick that still has just 118 regular season games under his belt. It also leaves him a restricted free agent in 2023 with the possibility of an arbitration hearing that could walk him directly onto the open market a year later. If his development continues, he could be in line for an expensive long-term extension at that point.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Cole Perfetti Signs Entry-Level Contract
The Winnipeg Jets have signed their top draft choice, inking Cole Perfetti to a three-year entry-level contract. Selected tenth overall in last month’s draft, the release indicates Perfetti will carry an average annual value of $1,658,333, though that includes the potential performance bonuses that have been included in his entry-level deal. CapFriendly provides the full breakdown, reporting that the contract includes up to $500K in performance bonuses in year one and up to $850K in each of the other two years.
Perfetti should be one of the first few players to make an impact out of this year’s draft class. After a rookie season in the OHL that saw him score 37 goals and 74 points, leading all first-year players in both categories, he returned to the Saginaw Spirit in 2019-20 with even higher expectations. He followed through, scoring 111 points in 61 games to finish second in league scoring and took home the CHL Scholastic Player of the Year award for his combination of athletic and academic achievements.
There’s not much that Perfetti struggles with at the offensive end of the rink. An elite playmaker, he can easily weave through traffic to set up his teammates, but also possesses one of the most lethal scoring touches in the CHL. Given that he will turn 19 on January 1, he’s quite a bit older than many of his draft contemporaries and should quickly work his way up the Winnipeg depth chart.
Teams will have to carefully decide what is best for top end OHL prospects, given the debate over body checking that is still ongoing in Ontario, and Perfetti is no different. For now, he’ll be attending Hockey Canada’s World Junior selection camp which starts in just a few days. The month-long camp gives players a chance to compete with and against some of the best from their country and Perfetti should have a good chance of making the final squad.
Florida Panthers Hire Ulf Samuelsson
Joel Quenneville and the Florida Panthers have hired a familiar face, bringing in Ulf Samuelsson as an assistant coach for the upcoming season. The longtime NHL defenseman was an assistant for Quenneville in Chicago during the 2018-19 season but was let go when the team made the switch to Jeremy Colliton. Earlier this year, Samuelsson had been hired as a scout by the Seattle Kraken and then as head coach of Leksands IF in the SHL, both roles that are now behind him as he moves to his new job in Florida.
Bill Zito, the Panthers’ new GM, released a short statement:
Ulf is a knowledgeable and experienced coach who will be a great addition to the Panthers. We are excited for him to join Joel’s coaching staff and look forward to his competitive mentality and the impact that he can have on our team.
Samuelsson, 56, first came to the NHL in 1984 as a player for the Hartford Whalers and has been involved in the league basically ever since. He played more than 1,000 games in the league, raising the Stanley Cup twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins, even scoring the Cup-winning goal in 1991. In 2006 he was hired for his first coaching job in the NHL, starting as an associate coach with the Phoenix Coyotes. He has served in a similar role with the Rangers and Blackhawks since, while also serving as head coach of the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers for one season.
He will bring a huge wealth of knowledge to the Panthers, a group that has underperformed compared to expectations the last several years. Armed with top-end talents like Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad, and Sergei Bobrovsky, the Panthers should be competing for the playoffs. Unless you count the qualification round in this year’s bubble, they haven’t suited up for a playoff game since 2016 (when they lost in the first round). Zito is working hard to change that, with Samuelsson just being the latest in a long list of moves made by the organization this offseason.
Nashville Predators Sign Luke Evangelista
The Nashville Predators have inked one of their new prospects, signing 2020 draft pick Luke Evangelista to a three-year, entry-level contract. The young forward played last season for the London Knights of the OHL and was selected 42nd overall last month.
A pure playmaker, Evangelista climbed up draft boards after exploding from two points in his first year of junior to 61 last season for the Knights, even if he was still considerably behind the team’s other young stars. He finished with a ranking of 39th among North American skaters from NHL Central Scouting but ended up going to the Predators early on in the second round after the team had snatched up top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov in the first. Evangelista gives the Predators program another top-end forward prospect to build around as they continue their chase for more offense.
Of course, as with any prospect from the OHL, it’s unclear when Evangelista will get back on the ice. The league is targeting a February start but is still debating the idea of playing without body checking, leading some to believe that their prospects would be better off developing overseas. Now that he’s signed, the Predators could potentially send Evangelista to Europe on a loan, but it would seem extremely difficult for a player of his stature and experience to jump into a professional league right now.
Expansion Draft Signing Coming For Anaheim Ducks
This offseason, not only are teams navigating a flat salary cap, reduced revenues, and the uncertainty of when next season will even begin, they also have to consider the upcoming expansion draft when the Seattle Kraken select 30 players and become the league’s 32nd franchise. The Vegas Golden Knights will not be forced to lose a player, but also don’t get a piece of the expansion fee, which could be very beneficial to teams at the moment.
In that expansion draft, there are various rules and requirements that must be met. One of them is that the team must expose at least one eligible goaltender who is signed through the 2021-22 season or a restricted free agent in the 2021 offseason. At least partly because of this rule, you’ve seen goaltenders like Dan Vladar, Dustin Tokarski, Kevin Lankinen, Hunter Miska, Keith Kinkaid, Michael Hutchinson, and several others receive multi-year contracts in an offseason where veteran NHL skaters can’t even find a job. It’s not that these goalies can’t be valuable additions to their organizations, it’s that the leverage required to land a multi-year agreement was a little tilted this fall.
With that rule in mind, it’s easy to see that the Anaheim Ducks will have to make a move at some point in the next few months to secure a depth option of their own. Currently, the only two goaltenders in their organization eligible for selection in the expansion draft are Anthony Stolarz, whose contract expires after this season, and John Gibson, their star netminder who will undoubtedly need protection.
Stolarz doesn’t fill the requirement at the moment, meaning a contract of some sort will have to come down the pipeline. For the 26-year-old, that might mean some added job security in the form of an extension given it might be hard to bring in another goaltender at this point. Not because they aren’t on the market, but because the Ducks may not want to clog up their minor leagues with bodies, taking away playing time from prospects like Lukas Dostal should he come to North America this season. An extension for Stolarz would get the job done and given how well he played at the AHL level last season it also may be well deserved.
Another interesting situation to keep an eye on with regards to the expansion draft is the New York Islanders, who currently only have one goaltender even eligible for selection. Since Ilya Sorokin can’t even be picked because of his lack of experience, the Islanders will also need another netminder if they want to protect Semyon Varlamov. Of course, they could also just leave him unprotected and decide not to protect any goaltender at all (don’t put anything past Lou Lamoriello) if they felt he might draw some attention away from the interesting forwards that may be available in New York.
At any rate, there are sure to be another few goaltending signings that raise some eyebrows over the next few months, if only for the length of the contract being handed out.