NHL Issues Update On COVID-19 Testing
Every Monday during the NHL’s return to play, the league plans on giving an update of the COVID-19 testing numbers. That update came this afternoon and was quite encouraging by all accounts. The league has announced that only two players tested positive during the first week of Phase 3 (training camp), despite administering 2,618 tests to more than 800 individuals.
That number was expected by many to go up as players came from all around the world to join their club’s training camp, especially given they are not yet in the “bubble” environment that will be used in Phase 4 (games). While this by no means indicates that the league is safe from the virus, it does lead to some hope that the protocols they have put in place are working.
The league will continue to meticulously screen and test their athletes and staff as the playoffs draw near, but we are now just a week away from teams reporting to their “bubble cities” and being isolated from the rest of society. Many analysts have expressed that getting the teams into those bubbles would be the biggest challenge, and if they got there the 24-team tournament would have a chance to be completed.
2020 Frank J. Selke Trophy Finalists Announced
Just moments after releasing the Norris finalists, the NHL moved on to another award, this time announcing the three nominees for the Frank J. Selke Trophy. The award is given out the forward who “demonstrates the most skill in the defensive component of the game.”
The finalists for this season are Ryan O’Reilly from the St. Louis Blues, Sean Couturier from the Philadelphia Flyers and Patrice Bergeron from the Boston Bruins.
It starts with the reigning Selke winner, who happened to also take home the Conn Smythe trophy as he led the Blues to their first Stanley Cup. O’Reilly is also up for the Lady Byng again this year, and part of his defensive prowess relies on that incredible ability to stay out of the penalty box. He averaged more than two minutes of short-handed ice time this season and was once again a lock-down presence in the middle of the ice. O’Reilly also took home the faceoff crown again this season, winning more draws than any other player in the league—even if his percentage wasn’t quite as high as his two fellow finalists.
That percentage crown went to Couturier, who won 59.7% of his draws, more than any other player with even 50 faceoffs taken. The Flyers star has taken over as the heartbeat of his team and becomes a finalist for the second time in three years. There’s no one who doubts Couturier’s ability to shut down opposing players, but he’s going up against two previous winners that both have incredible reputations and Stanley Cup performances to their names. That will make it all the sweeter if he does take it home, but even if he doesn’t you can expect the name Couturier to be part of this group for years to come.
Bergeron is king in these parts, already winning the award four times and being a finalist on four other occasions. In fact, he has finished in the top-5 for Selke voting in each of the past ten years, making him quite the opponent for the younger O’Reilly and Couturier. Bergeron once again was among the league-leaders in faceoff percentage and managed to crack the 30-goal mark for the third straight season. Should he take home the award again he would become the all-time leader, breaking the current tie with Bob Gainey at four.
2020 Norris Trophy Finalists Announced
The NHL continues to release their award finalists, this time announcing the three nominees for the Norris Trophy. The award is given out to the top defenseman “who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.” Last year’s winner was Mark Giordano of the Calgary Flames.
This year’s finalists are John Carlson of the Washington Capitals, Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators, and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Carlson comes with a built-in argument in his favor, given the outstanding offensive performance he put together this season. After scoring 70 points in 80 games last year and finishing fourth in Norris voting, he improved those totals again to lead all defensemen with 75 points in just 69 games. He was 12th in the entire league in scoring when the season shut down, and ten points ahead of the next highest defenseman (Josi). That pure offensive dominance will make him a solid contributor, but as always he comes with questions about his defensive ability. Despite scoring 49 of his points at even-strength, Carlson was still just a +12 on the year and had the worst possession numbers of the three finalists. Given the still relatively subjective nature of judging defensive impact, Carlson’s candidacy is not a sure thing even with his offensive numbers.
Josi meanwhile comes with an even longer history of Norris expectations, receiving votes for the award in each of the last five seasons and coming in the top-7 in four of those. The Predators captain recorded 65 points in 69 games and had extremely strong possession numbers on the year—the best of his career in fact. Among the major individual awards, the Norris, in particular, has a reputation that it is given “eventually” to a player long-deserving. Josi could be that candidate this season after such a strong campaign. That’s not to say he isn’t deserving, as any Predators fan will tell you how much the team relied on him this season to create offense when the rest of the group was struggling.
Hedman meanwhile is the only one of the three finalists with a Norris win already under his belt, taking home the award in 2018. The backbone of the Lightning team, Hedman managed to record 55 points in 66 games and was once again one of the most consistent defensive players in the league. If you were crafting a defenseman in a lab, you might end up with something looking similar to the 6’6″ Swede, who has been a finalist or winner in each of the last three seasons. Hedman may have not had the offensive seasons of Carlson or Josi, but his reputation on the defensive side of the puck will help him secure plenty of votes once again.
Morning Notes: Kovalev, Penguins, Roman
Kunlun Red Star of the KHL has a new head coach for the 2020-21 season, and it is someone NHL fans will recognize immediately. Alexei Kovalev, a veteran of more than 1,300 NHL games, will take over behind the bench in his third year with the organization.
The enigmatic Kovalev was both loved and hated during his time in the NHL depending on which fan base you were a part of, but there was no one who ever doubted his skill. With more than 400 goals and 1,000 points along with a Stanley Cup in 1994, Kovalev was one of the most dominant offensive players of his era. He also famously clashed with coaching staffs, including an incident with Mike Keenan that resulted in Kovalev staying on the ice for more than five straight minutes (before scoring).
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that the nine players held out to start training camp have been cleared and will re-join the team. The group missed a full week of Phase 3 and will need to work even harder to get ready for the start of the playoffs. Unfortunately, the team did not have Sidney Crosby at practice again today when they held a full team scrimmage.
- Calgary Flames draft pick Milos Roman will be spending 2020-21 playing in the Czech Republic according to a Facebook post from the team. Roman was selected 122nd overall in 2018 and has yet to sign with the Flames. He spent the last three seasons playing with the Vancouver Giants of the WHL, but will return to the Czech league where he actually debuted as a teenager back in 2017.
Nikolai Prokhorkin Returns To KHL
After just one season in the NHL, Nikolai Prokhorkin is going home. The Los Angeles Kings forward’s entry-level contract is set to expire, but he won’t be re-signing with the team. Instead, he has inked a two-year deal in the KHL with Magnitogorsk.
The 26-year old forward has had quite an interesting relationship with the Kings over the years, dating back to their selection of him in 2012. Prokhorkin quickly signed with the organization a few months after being drafted and actually came over to play eight games with the Manchester Monarchs at the start of the 2012-13 season. Unfortunately, his contract was then ruled invalid, sending him back to the KHL and starting a long breakup between the two sides.
Prokhorkin would spend the next seven years in the KHL, playing for three different organizations before coming back to the NHL this past season. He signed his new entry-level contract in May of last year and ended up playing 43 games for the Kings. With four goals and 14 points, he at least will get to say that he held his own at the highest level in North America. Whether he ever comes back is a different story.
Normally with restricted free agents that leave for other leagues, the NHL team is able to retain their rights with a qualifying offer and try to sign them again down the road. Unfortunately in this case given his age, those rights will expire before the Kings have a chance to re-sign Prokhorkin, meaning this is ultimately going to leave him an unrestricted free agent in 2022 able to sign with any NHL organization.
Markus Granlund Officially Signs In KHL
When the Edmonton Oilers announced their Phase 3 training camp roster last week, there were several veteran names left off. Mike Green was among them after opting out of the return to play format, while Markus Granlund was another.
It was easy to see why the latter wasn’t included. Granlund had been sent to the minors in March before the season was suspended and didn’t look like he had much of a future with the organization. That idea was furthered when reports surfaced at the end of May that Granlund would be signing in the KHL after his contract with the Oilers expired, but at that time it appeared as though he would still be available for the club should the 2019-20 season resume.
Now that he has been left off of the roster, Granlund has indeed signed a contract with Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the KHL. The deal is for two seasons and may effectively mark the end of the 27-year old’s NHL career.
Granlund at one point actually looked like quite an impressive prospect. A second-round pick of the Calgary Flames in 2011, he put up huge numbers playing in Finland before eventually making the jump to North America. In the minor leagues, Granlund quickly became a star, tallying 25 goals and 46 points in 52 games as a rookie for the Abbotsford Heat. The NHL wasn’t quite as kind however and that promising young prospect was shipped to Vancouver in 2016 for Hunter Shinkaruk.
While he did have a 19-goal campaign for the Canucks, Granlund never has really fulfilled his potential on a consistent basis. In 2019-20 he split the year between the NHL and AHL, recording only four points in his 34 games for the Oilers.
He will be an unrestricted free agent again after this two-year pact expires, but it is hard to believe Granlund will ever be an impact player in the NHL again.
Snapshots: Jones, BCHL, Fleury
Edmonton Oilers defenseman Caleb Jones has confirmed he tested positive for COVID-19, telling reporters today that he did not experience many symptoms and has since recovered. Jones doesn’t know how exactly he contracted the virus. He had been deemed “unfit to play” on the first few days of Oilers training camp but joined his teammates today.
Jones is looking to continue on an impressive season with the team, where he made the leap full-time from the minor leagues and recorded nine points in 43 games. The 23-year old has steadily improved since his selection in the 2015 draft (117th overall) and looks poised to be a part of the Oilers blueline for years to come.
- The BCHL, one of the top leagues for junior-aged players in Canada who wish to keep their NCAA eligibility, is planning on starting its season on December 1. Training camps will actually be permitted to start as early as September 8, but the regular season will be delayed considerably. Jay O’Brien, a Philadelphia Flyers first-round pick from 2018, was one of the highest-profile players in the BCHL last season after leaving Providence College. O’Brien was waiting out a transfer year before joining Boston University for the 2020-21 season, and recorded 66 points in 46 games for the Trail Smoke Eaters.
- Marc-Andre Fleury was back on the ice for the Vegas Golden Knights today after missing the first three days of camp due to “maintenance.” Head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters that the absence did not have to do with a positive COVID-19 test. Fleury, 35, is one of the most experienced goaltenders in the league and has played in 142 playoff contests (winning the Stanley Cup three times) but will have to battle Robin Lehner for the chance to play this summer.
Philadelphia Flyers Loan Maksim Sushko To KHL
Like the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers before them, the Philadelphia Flyers have decided to send one of their prospects over to the KHL. Maksim Sushko has been loaned to Dynamo Minsk, giving him the chance to play right away instead of waiting for the eventual 2020-21 season here in North America.
Sushko, 21, was a fourth-round pick of the Flyers in 2017 and spent the 2019-20 season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Belarussian winger recorded 11 goals an 21 points in those 53 AHL contests and will now continue his development overseas.
This option, of sending a player to the KHL to get him into game action, will likely be taken by several teams around the league as they try to figure out how to best serve their prospects. Sushko will still be under contract with the Flyers through the end of the 2021-22 season and can be recalled if the AHL season does get underway. In fact, this may actually give him a leg up on the rest of the AHL competition whenever that training camp does get underway.
2020 Vezina Trophy Finalists Announced
The NHL continues to release the finalists for the major regular season awards, this time announcing the nominees for the Vezina Trophy. The award is given to the best goaltender in the NHL and is voted on by the league’s general managers.
The finalists are Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets and Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins.
Vasilevskiy took home the award last season after putting up a .925 save percentage in 53 games, but couldn’t maintain quite the same level this time around. His save percentage dropped to .917, though he led the league in wins for the third consecutive season with 35. The Russian goaltender has had just about as much success as anyone to start his career, recording 159 regular season wins in his first 260 games. Amazingly, that already puts him 118th all-time despite not turning 26 for another week. A three-time Vezina finalist, he’ll likely be in the conversation for a while longer.
Hellebuyck meanwhile is only a little over a year older than Vasilevskiy and has experienced his own prolonged success to start his career. He led the NHL in starts this season with 58, putting the Jets on his back for long stretches when they were trying to patch a defensive corps together with spare parts. His .922 may not lead the league, but his 1,656 saves do as did his six shutouts. Hellebuyck could potentially be a candidate for the Hart Trophy as one of the most valuable players in the league given where the Jets would be without him.
Rask, 33, is an aging veteran compared to the two other finalists, but he is not slowing down in terms of performance. The Bruins netminder has benefited from having a strong backup the last few years and played just 41 games this season, but posted an incredible .929 save percentage in those appearances. After raising his career save percentage to .922, Rask is now third all-time behind only Dominik Hasek and Johnny Bower (among goaltenders with recorded shot totals). He already won the Jennings Trophy as part of the goaltending duo with the lowest goals against average, and took home the Vezina in 2014.
Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Sean Day
The “exceptional” star that has been anything but in professional hockey, will get another chance. Sean Day has signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2020-21 season.
Now 22, Day is infamously one of the few players that was granted exceptional status to play in the CHL a year early. While the ones who came before him—John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad and Connor McDavid—were all selected first overall in their respective NHL drafts, Day slipped to the third round after a less-than-dominant OHL career. The 6’3″ defenseman was picked by the Rangers in 2016, but ended up going back to the OHL for two more seasons and then ending up in the minor leagues.
Since turning pro in 2018, Day has played nearly as many games in the ECHL as in the AHL and still hasn’t cracked an NHL roster. This season he split his time between the Hartford Wolf Pack and Maine Mariners, performing much better at the lower level. His contract was terminated at the end of May after clearing unconditional waivers, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Even without much success, there is a reason why teams will continue to believe in Day. There is obvious raw talent, with the size and offensive ability to be a difference-maker at the highest level. The Tampa Bay front office must believe their development system can do what the Rangers’ couldn’t, as even an NHL contract is a surprise at this point.