NHL Rosters To Be Frozen During Suspended Season
According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the NHL will implement a league-wide roster freeze this evening after announcing a new directive for players earlier today. Johnston points to this freeze as the reason for several roster moves today, moving players between the NHL and AHL. We’ll list those moves below:
- The New Jersey Devils have moved both Janne Kuokkanen and Matt Tennyson to the AHL. Both players are on two-way contracts, earning less at the minor league level.
- The Minnesota Wild have moved Matt Bartkowski back to the AHL. He hadn’t played in a single NHL game this season and is on a two-way contract.
- The Winnipeg Jets have recalled Mark Letestu from his conditioning loan in the AHL. He is on a two-way deal, but would need to clear waivers in order to be sent to the AHL full-time.
- The Florida Panthers have moved Sam Montembeault back to the AHL. He is on a two-way deal and is still waiver-exempt.
- The Anaheim Ducks have sent both Jani Hakanpaa and Anthony Stolarz to the AHL. Both players are actually on one-way contracts, meaning they don’t earn any less at the minor league level.
- The Colorado Avalanche have sent Logan O’Connor to the AHL. The 23-year old is on a two-way contract.
- The Vegas Golden Knights have sent Keegan Kolesar and Brandon Pirri to the AHL. Pirri is on a one-way contract, while Kolesar is still on his two-way entry-level deal.
Jonas Hiller Announces Retirement
One of the best Swiss goaltenders of all-time has decided to hang up his pads, as ECH Biel-Bienne announced today that Jonas Hiller has retired. The former NHL goaltender has been back in Switzerland for the last four seasons still competing at a high level, but just turned 38 and will now move on to the next chapter in his life.
Undrafted, Hiller was an outstanding performer both in the Swiss NLA and on the world stage for his country, before finally coming over to the NHL in 2007. He quickly took control of the Anaheim Ducks net and posted excellent numbers, recording a .916 save percentage over parts of seven seasons. After three trips to the playoffs with the Ducks he ended up playing two seasons with the Calgary Flames, before returning to Europe to establish himself once again as a star in Switzerland. Perhaps most impressive of all his accomplishments was the performance he put on at the 2018 Olympics, posting a .956 save percentage and 1.14 goals against average, both numbers that led the tournament.
A three-time NLA champion, two-time NLA Goaltender of the Year and three-time participant at the Olympic Games, Hiller has had quite the career. He was even selected to the NHL All-Star game in 2011, though he never did capture the Stanley Cup. The 38-year old goaltender finished his career in the NHL with a .914 save percentage across 404 regular season appearances, posting a 197-140-37 record.
NHL Issues New Directive To Players
After the CDC recommended all gatherings of more than 50 people to be avoided for the next eight weeks, sports leagues around North America quickly realized that their suspended seasons may not be returning as quickly as originally planned. With that in mind the NHL has now issued a new directive to players according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, indicating that they are allowed to go home or leave the country but must stay in self-quarantine until the end of March. As Johnston explains, this comes in stark contrast to the league’s previous plan to keep players in their team cities and ready to return to practice. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman quotes the memo directly:
Our objective will be that, in addition to continuing regular updates, we will be able to provide high-level guidance on potential of opening a training camp period roughly 45 days into the 60-day period covered by the CDC’s directive.
That timeline can obviously change by the minute as we have seen, meaning at this point it’s hard to even speculate on when the NHL will return to action. Players leaving the country will only make restarting the league take even longer once a decision is made, and will very much mean any activation would be dependent on the travel policies of the involved nations.
Jack Rathbone Taking Time On NHL Decision
When the NCAA season was suddenly ended when the Frozen Four tournament was canceled, a whole other group of players became eligible for NHL contracts. The question during this league “pause” becomes how a contract would even be filed and whether a player could negotiate a deal that starts this season to burn the first year of entry-level status. Those uncertainties and many others make it very easy to understand any hesitation on the part of college players, meaning it didn’t come as much of a surprise when Rick Dhaliwal of TSN reported today that Jack Rathbone will take his time deciding whether or not to sign with the Vancouver Canucks.
Rathbone, 20, was a fourth-round pick in 2017 by the Canucks and has had two excellent seasons at Harvard. Registering 31 points in 28 games this season he was the highest-scoring defenseman on his team, ahead of lauded New Jersey Devils draft pick Reilly Walsh.
With Quinn Hughes making such an impact in his first season in the NHL, the Canucks’ defensive group already has huge upside for the next decade. Adding in players like Rathbone will only provide some depth behind that star power, especially if they happen to lose Chris Tanev in free agency.
To be sure, it would be hard to expect Rathbone stepping directly into the NHL. But after two excellent seasons at a top program like Harvard, he’d certainly be on a strong development path.
Trade Conditions Hinging On Regular Season Games
There’s little doubt that the NHL would prefer to resume the season and play out the remaining regular season games, but speculation still swirls that it may need to move directly into the playoffs depending on how long this “pause” lasts. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) spoke with deputy commissioner Bill Daly who made it clear that nothing has been decided yet, but that next year’s season will not be shortened even if the playoffs leak into the summer.
If the final dozen or so games are cancelled and the league decides to move directly into the playoffs it would certainly ruffle some feathers given the standings and points percentages right now, but there are other things to consider if a chunk of the season is lopped off.
Perhaps most notably (other than the drastic financial impact it might have on next year’s cap) are how a shortened season would affect trade conditions. This is probably the last thing on the minds of league officers, but fans have already started wondering about some of the deals their teams have made in the past. Below, we’ll look at a couple of those conditions that might be influenced by a loss of the remaining games.
Toronto acquires Jack Campbell (link)
When the Maple Leafs went out a few weeks before the trade deadline and acquired their backup goaltender, an interesting condition was attached to one of the third-round selections heading back to the Los Angeles Kings. Should the Maple Leafs make the playoffs in 2019-20 and Campbell wins six regular season games, the 2021 third would upgrade to a second-round pick.
Through six appearances for Toronto Campbell already had three wins, and was likely going to get a few more opportunities down the stretch. If the season ends without any more regular season games, the Kings will have to hope that Toronto decides to re-sign Kyle Clifford if they want that second rounder.
Carolina acquires Sami Vatanen (link)
The Hurricanes went out at the deadline and bought, acquiring three impact players in the process. While Vincent Trocheck and Brady Skjei immediately made an impact, Vatanen suffered a setback in his recovery and looked like he might miss the majority of Carolina’s remaining games. The fact that he hadn’t played for them yet made it look like the conditions on a 2020 fourth-round pick wouldn’t be met, but this break actually may result in a positive for the New Jersey Devils (at least in this case).
There are two games played thresholds involved in the deal for Vatanen at five and 12, which suddenly don’t seem that difficult to meet if the pause allows him to recover. Of course that would require the regular season games to be played in this scenario.
Edmonton, Calgary swap Milan Lucic, James Neal (link)
This is the one you’ve been waiting for, given how ridiculous the condition seemed at the time of the trade. To refresh your memory, the Flames will receive a 2020 third-round selection if Neal scores 21 goals and outscores Lucic by at least 10. Neal is currently 11 goals ahead of Lucic on the season, but has just 19 total. If those regular season games never get played, it would seem that the condition has not been met. Perhaps there is a prorated version in the fine print, but as of now the deal looks to be “one-for-one.”
Department Of Player Safety Suspends Brendan Lemieux
Even though the NHL season is temporarily suspended, the league is still operating. The Department of Player Safety has decided to suspend New York Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux for his hit on Colorado Avalanche forward Joonas Donskoi earlier this week, though they have not yet settled on the severity of the punishment. In a release, the DoPS explained:
The precise parameters of the suspension will be determined and announced once resumption of play guidelines have been established.
There is an easy explanation for why the department can’t decide on a penalty at this point. In the past, missing playoff games has been held as a much more severe punishment (with each game usually the equivalent of two regular season contests). With the uncertainty around how the league will move forward out of this suspended season, it’s hard to know exactly what Lemieux will be missing.
Still, the Rangers will be without one of their young forwards whenever the season does resume, or potentially even at the start of next season. It will also go on Lemieux’s record, another incident with head contact that will only increase any supplementary discipline in the future.
More International Tournaments, Leagues Canceled
The sport event cancelations continue to pour in from around the globe. Today Finland’s Liiga decided to shut down for the rest of the season, announcing that there will be no champion this year. The United Kingdom’s EIHL has done the same. The IIHF has also officially canceled the Men’s Division II and III World Championships, after previously shutting down the U18 event that was scheduled for later this month.
The last standing event is still the Division I World Championship, which is normally attended by NHL players eliminated from postseason contention. Though it has not been formally canceled, the expectation is that it will be in the coming days.
For Liiga, it means that their Champions League and Spengler Cup seeding will come from the current regular season standings. It also means that Jokerit is the last professional club operating in Finland, as they are part of the KHL which has not yet suspended their playoffs.
These announcements should come as no surprise at this point.
League Outlines Next Steps For NHL Players
There is still a lot of confusion and uncertainty around the NHL on how long this “pause” will last, what to do in the meantime and how to best stay ready for the return of the season. Today, deputy commissioner Bill Daly released a statement to reporters including Ryan Rishaug of TSN outlining the next steps for players:
The general expectation is that players will remain in their club’s home cities absent unusual circumstances. Obviously, where a player is separated from his family because his club city residence is only temporary at this point, those players should be permitted to go home to their families in this initial phase of the pause period.
We envision there coming a time where we transition direction from “stay at home” to opening club facilities to players to work out and to skate on a voluntary basis in small groups–similar to what we generally see prior to the beginning of team training camps. At this point, I’m not in a position to say when that will be. We will see how the next week or so plays out.
No mandatory testing. If a player exhibits symptoms or becomes sick he will be tested, as appropriate.
We are recommending against informal skates during this initial phase of the pause. Once we move into the next phase and player is “training” for resumption of play, his activities will be subject to the protections afforded in his SPC.
The lack of even informal skates at this point makes sense, but also will delay any return to the ice. Not only will this pause last as long as players, staff and fans are at risk of contracting and spreading the coronavirus, but there will also be a period of “ramping up” to make sure that players are ready to return to action. Just like training camp is there to get teams ready for the regular season, a break of this length will need to be followed by a training period before full activity can resume, else injury risk may be increased.
Nikita Nesterov Expected To Re-Sign In KHL
Even as the NHL season takes a pause to try and prevent the spread of coronavirus, front offices will still be active looking for the best way to help their teams. One way to do that is review their reports on players from different leagues around the globe and decide whether they want to pursue them. Nikita Nesterov is one of those players who was drawing interest after another strong season with CSKA Moscow in the KHL. The former NHL defenseman has been gone for three seasons now, but is still just 26-years old.
Today, Igor Eronko of Sport-Express reports that though the Los Angeles Kings had actually offered Nesterov a two-year deal worth $6MM to return, he’ll instead be staying in Russia. Nesterov reportedly has an agreement with CSKA on a five-year extension, one that effectively ends any NHL pursuit for the time being.
During his time in the NHL Nesterov was a frustrating player to watch, as his obvious talent rarely produced positive results. There was always an impact player there, but too rarely did he actually show it on the ice. In 132 regular season games he had 33 points, but even in such a short time he also added 28 postseason contests (scoring seven points). No doubt the Kings were not the only team with renewed interest in Nesterov this spring, but that will no longer matter when he signs his new extension.
Instead, the focus will shift to some of his Moscow teammates. Kirill Kaprizov is obviously the most intriguing name, a Minnesota Wild prospect that seems destined to finally come to North America. But other former NHL players like Anton Slepyshev, Mikhail Grigorenko and Alexey Marchenko have also drawn some interest and could potentially sign new deals in the coming weeks. Each of them will become unrestricted free agents when their KHL contracts expire at the end of April.
PHR Live Chat Transcript: 03/12/20
Click here to read a transcript of this week’s live chat with PHR’s Gavin Lee.