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AHL’s Rampage Sign Pair Of College Free Agents

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The Colorado Avalanche need all the help they can get, and their AHL affiliate may have helped them out by bringing in a couple NCAA free agents for Joe Sakic and his staff to take a look at over the next couple of months. The San Antonio Rampage announced today that they have inked Brady Shaw and Ben Storm to amateur tryout contracts. With their respective teams out of NCAA postseason contention, the pair will now get a chance to show how they fit at the next level in an effort to secure contracts with San Antonio (or possibly even Colorado) for next season or else become free agents again in a few months.

Of the two, the defenseman Storm is likely the better pro prospect. Ironically, Storm was a sixth-round draft pick of the Avalanche in 2013, prior to their affiliation with the Rampage, but has yet to sign an entry-level team with the deal and may never. Storm was a four-year starter at St. Cloud State University, holding down the blue line as a stay-at-home defenseman. Although Storm lacks much offensive upside – just four goals and 13 assists in 121 collegiate contests – he makes up for it with solid defense and checking. The 6’7″, 229-lb. behemoth from Laurium, Michigan is always the most physical presence on the ice and skates surprisingly well for a player his size. Storm may need some time in the minor leagues to refine his puck handling and movement, but as they say “you can’t teach size”, and Storm’s stature alone should keep the 22-year-old employed in pro hockey for a while.

The forward Shaw has a more uphill battle in pursuing his NHL dreams. After an explosive sophomore season at the University of Vermont in 2014-15, during which he recorded 31 points in 38 games and showed a complete game, Shaw’s performance has dropped off in each of the past two seasons. Shaw scored just 16 points in 36 games last year and 19 points in 34 games this season, all whilst struggling with the two-way pressure of playing a larger role on the team. A former star in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), Shaw was a highly-touted prospect who simply didn’t meet expectations at the college level. The 24-year-old may be able to rediscover his game in the AHL, but as of now as a lot of work to do to become more than just a replacement-level minor league player.

College Notes: Hayden, Doherty, Kelleher

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Fresh off inking his entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, former Yale center John Hayden will make his NHL debut tonight when the ’Hawks take on the Ottawa Senators. Hayden, Chicago’s third-round pick in 2013, recorded 21 goals and 13 assists in his 2016-17 senior season. The Blackhawks clearly believe that he is ready to continue scoring, as they’ll throw him into the fire of NHL action less than a week removed from NCAA game play. Regardless of Hayden’s participation level for Chicago down the stretch and in the postseason, playing in just this one game tonight will effectively use up the first of his two-year deal, so the ’Hawks certainly hope that his play will justify their decision.

  • Hayden’s Yale teammate, winger Mike Doherty, has also joined the pro ranks, but not the NHL just yet. Doherty has reportedly agreed to a deal with the AHL’s Providence Bruins. For the Reading, Mass. native, the move gives him the chance to show his ability at the next level for the remainder of this season in hopes of earning a contract with his hometown Boston Bruins as a result. A four-year starter at Yale, Doherty is a two-way forward, capable of contributing modest offense, but in need of further development if he hopes to make it to the NHL one day. He’ll get the chance to continue that growing process in Providence, where Boston youngsters Frank Vatrano, Austin Czarnik, Peter Cehlarik, and more recently found their way.
  • Another New England collegiate prospect is soon to be on his way to the big leagues as well. University of New Hampshire speedster Tyler Kelleher is expected to sign with the New Jersey Devils, who have long been rumored to be the leading suitor for his services. Prior to the 2016-17 season, Kelleher was not on many NHL radars, as his size – just 5’6″, 161 lbs. – limited his potential. However, after scoring 63 points in 40 games this year, his explosive offense is now overshadowing his miniature stature. If the Devils can find a way to work Kelleher into their lineup without his size becoming a liability, they could be the beneficiaries of one of the best offensive skill sets in all of college hockey.

Drew Shore Returns From Europe, Signs With Canucks

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Monday: According to CapFriendly, Shore has cleared waivers and is now eligible to play though it’s not yet clear when he would debut.

Sunday: Former-NHLer Drew Shore is a current-NHLer once again. Shore is on entry waivers today and has signed with the Vancouver Canucks for the remainder of the season, per a team announcement. Shore makes his way back from Europe after playing this season with EHC Kloten of the Swiss National League A (NLA).  It is because he played overseas this year while not being on Vancouver’s reserve list that he has to clear waivers before he can join the team.

Rarely does leaving the NHL work out as well for one’s hockey career as it has thus far for Shore. A second-round pick of the Florida Panthers back in 2009 and the brother of the L.A. Kings’ Nick Shore, Kings’ minor-leaguer Quentin Shore, and 2017 draft-eligible Baker Shore, a lot was expected of the eldest of a talented hockey family out of Denver, Colorado. However, Shore struggled to find his footing in the NHL early on, scoring just 20 points in 67 games with the Panthers over the course of his first two pro seasons. In 2014-15, Shore had not played a single NHL game by mid-January, when he was dealt to the Calgary Flames. The trade made matters worse, as Shore was only given 13 games with Flames in a season and a half with the organization and scored only four points in that time. Tired of the minors and his lack of production at the highest level in North America, the 26-year-old center signed with Kloten in Switzerland this summer. In the NLA, Shore seemed to finally find his game, recording 24 goals and 24 assists in 50 games. His 24 goals ranked third in the league, while his 48 total points finished sixth. Shore achieved these numbers on a team that was significantly less talented than most of its competition and featured only one other former NHL forward, James Sheppard. Shore carried the squad and helped them to avoid relegation.

Now that Shore has re-established his game, at least in what many consider the second-best hockey league in Europe, he is going to try his hand at the NHL once more. His signing with Vancouver is yet another shrewd move to add to the recent streak of GM Jim Benning. Shore is still young and spent the last year dominating talented competition and developing the open, offensive European game that the Canucks try to implement. The team is out of playoff contention – though Shore would not have been eligible to compete anyway – but can still take the rest of the season to assess their new asset for his future fit. Gambling on Shore is a low-risk, high-reward investment for Benning as well as something for disheartened Vancouver fans to follow for the remainder of the season. Little downside for the team, fans, or player in this scenario.

Kevin Shattenkirk Suspended Two Games

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2:15 pm: Shattenkirk has been suspended for two games, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced (video link).  He will miss the games against the Ducks and Wild and will be eligible to return to the lineup on Thursday.  Shattenkirk will forfeit a little over $47K in salary as a result of the suspension.

11:59 am: Following last night’s Capitals-Kings contest, NHL Player Safety announced that Washington defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk would have a disciplinary hearing over the phone with league officials following his charge against Los Angeles defender Kevin Gravel. With the Capitals in California on a west coast trip and scheduled to play the Anaheim Ducks tonight, the league acted quickly to schedule the hearing and is expected to make a swift decision prior to puck drop. This is Shattenkirk’s first career disciplinary review and the first for any Capitals player this season.

In the game, a 4-2 Kings win, Shattenkirk was called for a charge late in the third period after a check on Gravel and was given a minor two-minute penalty. Shattenkirk swung around the L.A. net as Gravel played the puck and, after the pass had been made, followed through on his hit, seemingly launching himself shoulder-first at the head area of Gravel. Gravel hit the boards and then fell to the ice, before exiting the ice and heading to the locker room for the short remainder of the game. There has been no word on whether or not Gravel suffered a head injury or other impairment as a result of the impact.

Shattenkirk, the prize of the 2017 NHL Trade Deadline, has played well since he was acquired on February 27th, recording four assists and over 20 minutes of ice time a night in six games. However, the Capitals have not been so lucky in that time. The NHL points-leaders are just .500 with Shattenkirk in the fold, having won their first three games after he was acquired, but then losing their last three. This recent stretch is the first time all season that the team has lost three games in a row in regulation time, and face a significant threat of dropping their fourth straight tonight in Anaheim, especially if Shattenkirk is out of the lineup. The Capitals may wrap up this tough west coast road trip tonight, but that doesn’t necessarily mean things will get right back on track, as they host the Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators upon their return to D.C.. The team would again greatly benefit from having Shattenkirk, a player with knowledge of Central Division competition, in the lineup for those contests. A suspension seems likely based on the visuals of the hit, but anything longer than a game or two may be a stretch. However, we won’t know for sure until the hearing later on today. Stay tuned.

Ekblad, Malgin Diagnosed With Concussions

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After leaving last night’s game against the rival Tampa Bay Lightning with an apparent head injury, it has now been confirmed that Florida Panthers star defenseman Aaron Ekblad suffered a concussion. To add insult to injury – or really injury to injury – Ekblad’s teammate Denis Malgin also received a concussion diagnosis after missing last night’s game. Speaking with Miami Herald reporter George Richards following their 3-2 loss, Florida head coach and general manager Tom Rowe confirmed the injuries.

While Malgin’s concussion event is harder to pinpoint since he was ruled out prior to the game and thus must have sustained the injury in the Panthers’ prior game against the Minnesota Wild, the origin of Ekblad’s injury is obvious. Ekblad took an elbow to the head from Lightning winger Gabriel Dumont, who drove him into the glass and down to the ice. Ekblad left the game and did not return. Should Ekblad be out long-term, the 20-year-old’s absence will surely be felt in South Florida. Ekblad, the 2015 Calder Trophy winner, has been the Panthers’ most reliable blue liner since he was drafted #1 overall three years ago. This season, Ekblad is averaging the second-most time on ice for Florida, behind only Keith Yandle, and has contributed 10 goals and 11 assists thus far. However, his offensive and defensive play have slipped in 2016-17, but then again, so has the play of the entire team. Meanwhile, Malgin is a big loss in his own right as well. The rookie center has skated in 42 games this season, at just 20 years old. While Malgin has just four goals and four assists, he has been a threat at both ends of the ice in his bottom-six role.

Normally, the loss of two players at once would hurt any team. For Florida at this point in the year though, it could be the death knell on their season. The Panthers have won just once in their last nine games and has not won in regulation since February 20th, the final contest of a five-game win streak. The team is without any sort of win since the NHL Trade Deadline on March 1st. While many applauded the Panthers for acquiring Thomas Vanek from the Detroit Red Wings at the relatively low cost of a third-round pick, others felt that it was a waste, as he alone would not be enough to get Florida to the postseason. Their recent play seems to support this hypothesis. Granted, the Panthers recent stretch of games has included difficult match-ups against the Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, and Ottawa Senators, but Florida also dropped games against the Dallas Stars and Philadelphia Flyers and had to go to a shootout against the Carolina Hurricanes to get their lone win. Things aren’t about to get any easier either. The injuries to Ekblad and Malgin come at an inopportune time, as the Panthers’ next four games are against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, and Pittsburgh Penguins. By this time next week, Florida’s playoff run could already be over.

 

Carl Hagelin Out At Least Four Weeks

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The Pittsburgh Penguins were without Carl Hagelin when they squared off with the Vancouver Canucks last night – a 3-0 shutout for the Pens –  and we now know why. Coach Mike Sullivan confirmed after the game that Hagelin had suffered a lower body injury the previous night -(likely a broken foot), versus the Edmonton Oilers, and the preliminary estimation is that he will be out for a minimum of four weeks. There is nothing on the specifics or extent of the injury just yet, but this timeline already puts Hagelin’s playoff availability in doubt.

Fortunately for Pittsburgh, though Hagelin is a good player, he is putting up only replacement-level numbers in 2016-17. Through 61 games, Hagelin has just six goals and sixteen assists for 22 points. Last season, Hagelin scored 27 points for the Penguins, but that was in only 37 regular season games following a January trade from the Anaheim Ducks. Sullivan has somewhat moved away from the “HBK Line”, which helped to fuel the Penguins’ Stanley Cup run last year, but individually Phil Kessell and Nick Bonino are both having strong seasons, having already matched their 2015-16 production. It seems as though Hagelin is the only one who has struggled, but this could make his absence easier to cope with. Veterans Tom Kostopoulos or Kevin Porter may be replacement options, as could first-year pro Thomas Di Pauli, who just recently returned from injury.

The problem in Pittsburgh is not Hagelin’s individual issue, but rather the sheer amount of players who are sidelined right now. Hagelin joins defensemen Kris Letang, Olli Maatta, and Trevor Daley and forwards Patric Hornqvist, Matt Cullen, and Bryan Rust as Penguins that currently have clipped wings. That makes for a total of seven opening day starters who are out of the lineup with injury, with only so many options to replace them. However, the Penguins have been able to deal with the problem so far; they’re 7-3 in their last ten. Yet, in that stretch Pittsburgh has only beaten one team who is currently in playoff position. In their next ten games, they face three such teams: the red-hot Calgary Flames, the Chicago Blackhawks, who they just recently lost to, and the division-rival New York Rangers, so they will truly be tested in the next few weeks.

Perhaps fortunately for Pittsburgh, Hagelin is the latest (and least important) in a recent rash of Metropolitan injuries, with the Rangers losing Henrik Lundqvist and the Columbus Blue Jackets losing Ryan Murray over the past few days, as both teams try to close gap with the Penguins in the division.

Ryan Murray Suffers Broken Hand

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After recently missing two games with a back injury, it appears that Columbus defenseman Ryan Murray is set to miss some more time, perhaps even a substantial amount. Columbus Dispatch beat writer Aaron Portzline revealed late last night that the Blue Jackets’ blue liner broke his hand while blocking a shot in the first period of a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Murray did not return and the prognosis was confirmed following the game. While there is still no word on the severity of the break or a timeline for his return, Murray continues to have bad luck on the injury front in his young career.

Until last week, it appeared that Murray was well on his way to another full season, after skating in 82 games with Columbus last year. This is a change of pace for the young defenseman, whose injuries have hindered his development early on in his NHL career. Drafted second overall in 2012, Murray was expected to step in and have an impact right away in 2012-13, but a serious shoulder injury at the junior level with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips eliminated that possibility and held Murray to just 23 junior games that season. Nonetheless, Murray was able to make the team in 2013-14 and played in 66 games his rookie year. However, he did miss almost the entire month of March that year with a knee injury. In 2014-15, Murray was held to just 12 games all season long due to setbacks regarding his knee and other injury concerns. In his first three seasons since being drafted, Murray skated in just 101 hockey games. That all finally changed last season, when Murray played in all 82 games for the Blue Jackets. Yet, Murray managed to score only 25 points, less than his rookie season pace. Tabbed as a puck-moving, point-scoring defenseman out of juniors, there is some question as to whether or not injuries have played a part in the former top pick’s lack of production. Through 60 games this year, Murray has just 11 points, and depending on the extent of this injury, that could be all he gets.

Regardless of the development and offensive effectiveness of Murray, he is a capable defenseman whose loss leaves a hole in the Blue Jackets’ lineup. As Portzline points out, the trade deadline swap of physical Dalton Prout for puck-moving veteran Kyle Quincey is now even more vital, as Quincey can more accurately replace Murray’s play. Columbus continues to win, with 13 points in their last 10 games, and are holding tight to the final Metropolitan Division playoff spot, fending off the New York Rangers and chasing the Pittsburgh Penguins. The pressure is now on Quincey and the rest of the Blue Jackets defensemen to pick up the slack of losing Murray and keep the team moving forward.

July 1st Free Agent Frenzy Reflection

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The National Football League officially opened the 2017-18 league year yesterday at 4:00pm ET, and the annual onslaught of massive free agent signings has been ongoing ever since, keeping our friends over at Pro Football Rumors pretty busy. The NHL has a similar ritual, as flurry of free agent activity is common each and every July 1st, when a new hockey season officially begins. Last summer, a handful of huge contracts were handed out on July 1st. With the season winding down, how have those players performed in their first seasons? (Hint: mostly really bad)

Milan Lucic

Signed: Seven-year, $42MM deal with the Edmonton Oilers

2016-17 stats: 66 games, 14 goals, 22 assists, 36 points, -7 rating, 134 shots, 17:13 ATOI

Of all six players who received the biggest contracts on July 1st, Lucic is the only one on a team that appears to be a lock for the postseason in 2016-17. Now, that may say more about the effectiveness of hastily giving out money to the best players on the market, but Lucic at least deserves some credit. His offensive production doesn’t quite match up with his $6MM yearly price tag, but Lucic has added the same degree of grit and toughness that made him a fan favorite and Stanley Cup champion with the Boston Bruins. Lucic is always a physical threat on the ice and can make plays through his ability to crash the net and win battles along the boards. He’s never been able to score much more than 60 points per season, with just one 30-goal campaign in his career, but he earns his money through protecting the talented players on the ice while also having the ability to skate alongside them. Lucic is also spending an abnormal amount of time not in the penalty box, with just 41 penalty minutes as opposed to a career average closer to one hundred. Lucic is spending more time on the ice, most recently with his new line of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle, than he is in the box, and as long as that continues, this contract will pay off for the Edmonton Oilers.

Kyle Okposo

Signed: Seven-year, $42MM deal with the Buffalo Sabres

2016-17 stats: 63 games, 19 goals, 24 assists, 43 points, -6 rating, 151 shots, 19:04 ATOI

Okposo may have been named an All-Star in his first season in Buffalo, but the Sabres were likely expecting more from their major 2016 investment. The Sabres were likely expecting more from the 2016-17 season overall, but Okposo’s lack of production doesn’t help the matter. As it stands, Okposo is on pace to have his worst scoring season since 2012-13 unless he picks up the pace over Buffalo’s final 15 games. At $6MM a year for six more seasons to come, the Sabres can only hope that Okposo hasn’t already begun his decline at just 28 years old. Okposo has looked good alongside Ryan O’Reilly for stretches this season, but there hasn’t been enough consistency. He is still a safer asset than many of the other older players on this list, but we’ll have to wait until next year to know for sure whether this was a bad call by Buffalo.

Andrew Ladd

Signed: Seven-year, $38.5MM deal with the New York Islanders

2016-17 stats: 62 games, 19 goals, 6 assists, 25 points, -11 rating, 112 shots, 15:56 ATOI

The Islanders have made an impressive comeback from a dismal beginning to 2016-17, but even if they find a way into the playoffs, that won’t be enough to make them feel good about the deal they gave Ladd this summer. At just 31 years old, no one could have predicted that the veteran winger would fall off a cliff this quickly. After scoring 46 or more points in each of the past six seasons, Ladd will be lucky to reach 3o this year. His $5.5MM cap hit over six more seasons could be yet another big mistake by a team with a long history of issues with long-term contracts. John Tavares and the Islanders can only hope that 2016-17 was a fluke and that they’ll get the real Ladd next season, but don’t count on it.

Loui Eriksson

Signed: Six-year, $36MM deal with the Vancouver Canucks

2016-17 stats: 65 games, 11 goals, 13 assists, 24 points, -9 rating, 132 shots, 18:41 ATOI

From bad to worse, we move from Ladd to Eriksson, who may be the worst signing of the summer at this point in time. After a stellar 63-point season with the Bruins in 2015-16, Eriksson signed a long-term deal worth $6MM annually in Vancouver, and the Canucks brass expected that his addition would keep the championship window opened a bit longer. Instead, the team has faltered and appears headed toward a rebuild. One of the main factors to this collapse has been an utter lack of production out of Eriksson. The Swedish winger supposed to put up huge numbers alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin, but with a month to go, he has been off the top line for a while now has has less than half the points as he did at this time last year. Whether it is a poor fit or simply poor play, this signing could end up being a long-term headache for the Canucks if Eriksson can’t turn it around in 2017-18.

Frans Nielsen

Signed: Six-year, $31.5MM deal with the Detroit Red Wings

2016-17 stats: 62 games, 13 goals, 17 assists, 30 points, -17 rating, 125 shots, 17:09 ATOI

Though the streak of failures was over? Not yet. Nielsen left the Islanders this summer, like Okposo, to help keep the postseason hopes of the Detroit Red Wings alive, like Eriksson in Vancouver, and like Okposo and Eriksson he has struggled. Because of this, the Red Wings’ historic playoff streak is all but snapped and they are left scratching their heads with a roster full of veterans on long-term contracts who didn’t perform up to snuff in 2016-17. Nielsen may be the worst of the bunch, as his 30 points teeters on the edge of being the worst full season of his career. Beyond just the lack of production, Nielsen’s -17 rating is atrocious, especially compared with his numbers in New York, where he was considered a good two-way center. No one on the Red Wings has exceeded expectations this season – now that Thomas Vanek has been traded – but that’s no excuse for Nielsen. He finally got the big pay day he had always wanted, but if really wants to earn that yearly $5.25MM and stay in Detroit for the remaining five years, his play will need to pick up next season.

David Backes

Signed: Five-year, $30MM deal with the Boston Bruins

2016-17 stats: 59 games, 13 goals, 18 assists, 31 points, even rating, 140 shots, 17:21 ATOI

Finally we get to Backes, who despite scoring less than Okposo and not much more than the other two, can count his first season in Boston as a success. Backes has taken his fair share of criticism in 2016-17, but at the end of the day he has always been a two-way threat more than an offensive threat and has done well in that role this season. Backes’ 31 points is well behind his 45 points in St. Louis last year and 58 the year before, but the 32-year-old has also been asked to move from his old first-line center role to a top-six winger role this season, on a team that hasn’t been great at scoring goals. Despite all that, Backes may still end up with about 40 points, as he has been playing his best hockey of the year of late, now a member of the team’s top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand since the Bruins’ coaching change. Like the role Lucic once played in Boston, Backes has provided a dominant physical presence wherever he has played in the lineup this season and has contributed some offense along the way. Might the Bruins regret this contract in year four or five? Possibly, but for now Backes is a good fit and will continue to be this season, postseason, and beyond.

Tom Sestito Suspended Four Games

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Last night, Pittsburgh Penguins enforcer Tom Sestito was given a five-minute major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct after a hard hit from behind on Winnipeg Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom. The league announced this morning that Sestito would have a phone hearing today on supplemental punishment for the incident. Well, that hearing has come and gone and NHL Player Safety has decided to hand down a four-game suspension for the veteran winger.

As Player Safety acknowledges, Enstrom did see Sestito coming and turned away from the check. However, they continue that Enstrom slowed and made his move earlier enough that Sestito had “sufficient time to minimize the force of the hit”. Instead, Sestito continued at full-force and caused injury to Enstrom because of it. The suspension will hopefully work toward teaching Sestito that hitting someone right on the numbers from behind is the exact kind of dangerous play that the NHL is looking to eliminate.

Sestito has only played in nine games this season -while racking up 44 penalty minutes in that time – with the Penguins and his presence will hardly be missed. However, the hope is that the missed games and subsequent loss of pay will impart some knowledge and sense of responsibility on Sestito in the future, if and when he gets back on the ice. Sestito is one of the few pure enforcers remaining in the NHL as the league moves away from violence for violence’s sake.

Senators Considering Logo Change

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In an article today by the Ottawa Citizen’s Ken Warren, he reports that the Ottawa Senators may soon be donning a new jersey. Warren reveals that new Senators President and CEO, Tom Anselmi, is in favor of making the Sens’ current alternate logo, the stylized “O”, their primary logo. Anselmi feels that fans have embraced the “O” logo, and he personally believes that the alternate design is a better-looking jersey. With the Senators enjoying their 25th anniversary in 2017, Anselmi stated that the time is now for a re-branding.

This would be the second logo change for Ottawa in less than a decade. The team moved from their old two-dimensional profile Senator logo to their current three-dimensional Senator logo in 2008, and the new logo was met with high regard from fans as opposed the very old-fashioned logo they previously used. However, the change that Anselmi is describing is a much larger transition, going from a logo with the team’s actual mascot to a simple letter. Several NHL teams have a single letter as their primary logo: the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens, and now Vegas Golden Knights. However, the Flames, Avalanche, Stars, and Knights use a stylized design that relates to the team mascot and the Bruins and Habs have two of the most iconic logos in all of sports. The Ottawa “O” is just that, the letter “O”. Would fans embrace that simplistic logo as the primary brand of their franchise?

Many might be questioning why the Senators need to choose one logo or the other when the “O” is already the alternate jersey logo. However, the announcement earlier this year that there will be no alternate jerseys next year complicates the situation. With Adidas taking over the production of NHL jerseys in 2017-18, teams have agreed to drop their third jerseys to make the switch easier. As part of the change, several teams have announced jersey makeovers, and Ottawa could be next. If Anselmi wants the “O” logo to celebrate the Senators anniversary in the first half of next season, his only choice is to make a total switch in his primary logo.

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