Can’t Miss Games Of The 2016-17 Season: November and December
The start of the NHL regular season may be a month away with the World Cup of Hockey and preseason still to come, but it’s never too early to get excited for the best slate of games the NHL has to offer this season. Here are the can’t miss-games of the holidays:
November 1st – St. Louis Blues vs. New York Rangers
The trade chatter surrounding a Rick Nash – Kevin Shattenkirk swap has not gone away, and should these two teams get off to a slow start in the first month of the season, this game could act as the final tryout before they pull the trigger. Even if the trade never happens, it’s still a battle between one of the best from each conference to kick off the month.
November 24th – Boston Bruins vs. Ottawa Senators
Hockey may not be able to take Thanksgiving away from football, but they’re doing their best with this match-up. Not only is Boston not far from the location of the first Thanksgiving, but they’re a team on a mission after missing the playoffs in back-to-back years. A rivalry game against the Senators should make for some great holiday hockey.
December 23rd – Los Angeles Kings vs. Dallas Stars
The NHL might freeze trades over the holidays and take a break around Christmas, but a Friday night face-off between two Western Conference titans is a great way to start off the holiday weekend.
Can’t-Miss Games Of The 2016-17 NHL Season: October
The start of the NHL regular season may be a month away with the World Cup of Hockey and preseason still to come, but it’s never too early to get excited for the best slate of games the NHL has to offer this season. Here are the can’t miss-games of October:
Oct. 12th – Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators
The puck drops on a new NHL season at 7pm ET in the Canadian capital, as the Sens host the Leafs in a rivalry match-up. With #1 overall pick Auston Matthews and newly acquired keeper Frederik Andersen expected to be among many new faces in the Toronto lineup, the Leafs will have a clean slate as they start the year off against old friend Dion Phaneuf and an Ottawa team looking to get back to the playoffs.
Oct. 12th – Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers
Later that night, the Oilers will open the brand new Rogers Place for it’s first NHL regular-season game, as they welcome their Alberta rivals. Edmonton will definitely be curious to see if the newly-acquired Adam Larsson can help to slow down the Flames’ dynamic duo of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Leaving behind Rexall Place and the many memories (though few good ones in recent years) they had there, the Oilers will look to start the season off on the right foot in a new building, while Calgary hopes to play spoiler.
October 13th – Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
The home opener for the 2015-16 Stanley Cup champs comes against none other than the 2015-16 President’s Trophy winners, as fans are treated to a battle of talent and intensity between two fierce rivals on just Day 2 of the NHL season. Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin will each look to start off strong and lead their teams to victory, as the Penguins begin a title defense and the Capitals begin another long march toward that elusive Stanley Cup championship.
October 20th – San Jose Sharks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins have another big game a week later, this time against their Stanley Cup competitors, the Sharks. The 2016 Stanley Cup final was one of the best in recent memory, with immense speed and talent on both sides and young goalies Martin Jones and Matt Murray standing on their heads. Though nothing can make up for falling short when it mattered most, you can bet that captain Joe Pavelski and the Sharks will be fired up for some revenge in this game.
October 23rd – Edmonton Oilers vs. Winnipeg Jets
The Jets will get their first taste of outdoor hockey, as they square off against the Oilers in the Heritage Classic. Investors Group Field in Winnipeg, home of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League, will host the game as these two Canadian teams look to battle it out, and at least put on a better show than the much talked-about Alumni Game.
Tavares Unlikely To Leave Islanders
ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that upon his arrival in Toronto for the World Cup of Hockey, the rumors of 2018 free agent John Tavares signing with his home-town Toronto Maple Leafs one day have again some to the surface. As they have so many time before, the rumors of a return are being shot down. As of now, Tavares’ only plans are to remain with the New York Islanders and try to lead the team to Stanley Cup.
A 25-year-old superstar, Tavares can’t help it that he is now the center of attention for hockey’s biggest fan base. The Mississauga, Ontario native grew up in the area as a Maple Leafs fan and acknowledged that there is always pressure for top Canadian players to “come home” and play for the Leafs. As a junior hockey prodigy, whose ascension to the NHL was on a borderline-mythological level with the likes of Sidney Crosby and more recently Connor McDavid, Tavares has heard the buzz before about being Canada’s next big hockey star. He’s lived up to the hype as well, with 471 points in just 501 career NHL games.
However, dominating at the NHL level brings with it a devoted fan base and deep connection to a team and city. As LeBrun mentions, Steven Stamkos was the most recent player to pass up a role as Toronto’s prodigal son to simply stay with the team that drafted him. An established star in Tampa, Stamkos chose to take less money and continue to lead a strong Lightning squad to further success. Rather than bolting for a new opportunity close to home, Stamkos decided to repay the organization and fan base for their continued support and dedication by working toward bringing the Stanley Cup back to Tampa Bay.
It seems likely that Tavares will follow suit. His comments on the matter have always shown a deep connection to Islanders and their fans and the young star surely would like to do his best to win a Cup with the team he has come to lead. With that said, there are still almost two years remaining before Tavares truly has to make his decision. With a new ownership group, constant concerns over where the team should be playing their games, and even some speculation that the Islanders’ long-term roster outlook is not especially strong, the next two seasons will be very important for New York. They don’t need to convince Tavares to stay, but they certainly need to avoid having reasons to leave pile up. However, as of now, LeBrun and Stamkos seem convinced that Tavares wants to be an “Islander for life” and the man himself has yet to disagree. Toronto Maple Leafs fans can keep hoping, but as it stands John Tavares isn’t going anywhere.
Captaincy Notes: Fisher, Pavelski, Vacancies
Mike Fisher is set to become the next captain of the Nashville Predators, according to recent reports. The team has scheduled an afternoon press conference on Thursday, and Adam Vignan of The Tennessean says he has been told that the “major announcement” is that of the 2016-17 captains, with Fisher atop the list. An alternate with the Ottawa Senators and then immediately with the Predators following his trade, Fisher was always the most likely candidate. Vignan points out that Fisher is one of just four players on the current roster over the age of 30, and as a veteran presence on a young team, it is a natural fit for his locker room presence to translate to his captaincy. A veteran of over 1,000 NHL game and a complete two-way player, Fisher is the perfect example for Nashville’s young, impressionable players to work toward. Shea Weber himself said that he “knew” who his replacement would be at captain, so it seems as though Fisher will be universally accepted in his new role. Although no news has leaked as to who Fisher’s alternates will be, many have suspected that Weber’s true replacement, P.K. Subban, may be a top candidate.
In other captain news:
- John Tortorella has named Joe Pavelski the captain of Team USA for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey. The San Jose Sharks forward will be assisted by alternates Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks and Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild. Pavelski has been on a leadership role of late, taking over as the captain of San Jose last season after a captain-less 2014-15 campaign featured a locker room power struggle between a young core and older veterans, including former Sharks captains Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. For the same reason coach Peter DeBoer named Pavelski captain, Tortorella did as well, and that is his impeccable locker room presence and chemistry with his teammates. Kane will be somewhat new to captaincy, even as an alternate, as Jonathan Toews (a Team Canada alternate), Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook have the official leadership roles locked up in Chicago. Suter meanwhile, has been an alternate captain on Team USA before, at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and serves in the same role with the Wild under Mikko Koivu (the captain of Team Finland).
- With the captain vacancy filled in Nashville, there are now just four openings remaining across the NHL. There has been much speculation that Connor McDavid will take over in Edmonton, but what of Carolina, Florida, and Toronto? It seems likely that alternate Jordan Staal will follow in his brother’s footsteps and take over the leadership role for the Hurricanes, though the dark horse candidate may just be the rare goalie captain in Cam Ward, who has spent his entire career in Carolina. If you don’t think that matters, look around the league. 20 captains and at least 32 alternates are lifelong members of their respective teams. By that logic, young Florida stars Aaron Ekblad and Jonathan Huberdeau, both recently extended long-term, look to be prime candidates. However, Jussi Jokinen and Derek MacKenzie served as alternates last season and may need to make up for the lost leadership of the departed Willie Mitchell, Brian Campbell, and Dave Bolland. Up in Toronto, well, your guess is as good as any. Veterans Brooks Laich and Joffrey Lupul are good veteran leaders, but neither is guaranteed ice time. Auston Matthews is the future, but it’s hard to see anyone being named captain without playing a single game. It could be that the Leafs wait to name a captain, but if they do want one in place prior to puck drop on the 2016-17, James van Riemsdyk seems like the best choice as of now.
Snapshots: Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Dailey, Trouba
Today is the five-year anniversary of the tragic plane crash of the flight carrying the KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Pilot error and subsequent technical failures caused the plane to crash shortly after take-off from the airport in Yaroslavl, Russia, on its way to their KHL season opener in Mink, Belarus on Wednesday, September 7th, 2011. All of the team’s players and coaches on board the flight perished, along with eight crew members for a total of 44 fatalities. Among the victims were three-time NHL All-Star forward and Lady Byng Award winner Pavol Demitra, 1996 first round pick and long-time Anaheim Mighty Duck Ruslan Salei, 2006 Stanley Cup-winning center Josef Vasicek, bruising NHL defensemen Karel Rachunek and Karlis Skrastins, and Devils prospect Alexander Vasyunov , not to mention Canadian head coach Brad McCrimmon and assistants Igor Korolev and Alexander Karpovtsev, all of whom had successful NHL careers. The team was forced to cancel its KHL season and the country of Russia and the entire hockey world mourned. On this day, the KHL has vowed to never hold another game, in memory of the those lost. Teams, players, and media members around the globe have remembered the tragedy today, and although Lokomotiv has luckily rebuilt their organization into a perennial playoff team, the 2011 team will never be forgotten.
- In other sad news today, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that former defenseman Bob Dailey has passed away at the age of 63 after a battle with cancer. Not one to lose a battle on the boards during his playing days, Dailey was one of the biggest and strongest players around in the 70’s and 80’s. A dominant force with the Vancouver Canucks and later Flyers, Dailey was a a big, talented blue liner who had a knack for finding the back of the net or the stick of an opportune teammate. In 1977-78 with Philly, Dailey had 21 goals and 36 assists for a career-high 57 points, as well as a +45 rating, second only to Bobby Clarke on the Flyers. His loss has been mourned by many throughout the world of hockey today.
- Some happy news may be on its way for Jets fans, as Darren Dreger reported on TSN 1290 in Winnipeg today that rumors of Jacob Trouba‘s displeasure have been greatly exaggerated. While Dreger consented that not much is going on between parties, he refuted all rumors that the young RFA defenseman is unhappy in Winnipeg or unwilling to sign there. In fact, Dreger simply says that both sides want to keep all of the negotiations out of the public eye. It seems as though a resolution will be hammered out eventually, but Jets fans can rest easy if they don’t hear too much about it until the pen meets the paper on an extension.
Canucks Hire Malhotra As Development Coach
If Manny Malhotra wishes it, so it shall be. Just three days after a report that the recently retired Malhotra would like to get into coaching, a former team, the Vancouver Canucks, has made it happen. The team announced today that the veteran of 16 NHL seasons will put that experience to work in his new role as a development coach.
In this capacity, Malhotra will work with the coaching staff at home practices, focusing on specialized skill development, such as face-offs. He will also travel frequently, working on the same development skills with Canucks prospects. Malhotra, a multi-faceted player with strong hockey sense, is likely to develop himself; the higher ranks of coaching don’t seem like too far of a reach. Almost immediately after retiring, it was reported that he had reached out to Vancouver GM Jim Benning, and the team itself reported that Malhotra met with coach Willie Desjardins, who understood the situation, saying that the “only reason you get into coaching is because you can’t play anymore”.
Malhotra has been highly valued by the Canucks organization before. In 2010, the team signed the then-31-year-old to the most expensive deal of his career, a three-year, $7.5MM pact on the first day of free agency. He had a strong first season, with 30 points in 72 games to go along with his trademark two-way game, but his numbers fell off in 2011-12, and injuries limited him to just nine games in 2012-13. After taking one-year deals with the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens in each of the following two seasons with little success, Malhotra instead stepped into a leadership role with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters (now Cleveland) last season, and helped to propel the team to a Calder Cup championship. Prior to his time in Vancouver, Malhotra spent the prime of his career with the Monster’s parent club, the Columbus Blue Jackets. In 344 games over five seasons with the team, he accounted for 145 points and was a face of the franchise. Malhotra’s career started with the New York Rangers, before he was traded to the Dallas Stars, but it really didn’t take off until he got to the Blue Jackets. During his time in Columbus, San Jose and Vancouver, Malhotra became known as one of the best defensive centers in the game, and he will now bring that two-way expertise to his role as a development coach.
Hurricanes Bring Back Michael Leighton
One of the few veteran goalies left on the free agent market has found a landing spot, as Michael Leighton has agreed to terms with the Carolina Hurricanes, the team announced. The 35-year-old returns to Raleigh for a second stint with the Canes, after spending parts of three seasons with the team from 2007 to 2010. His new deal is for just one year and is a two-way contract, paying him $700K at the NHL level.
As implied with the two-way stipulation, Leighton is likely to spend a significant portion of the 2016-17 season at the AHL level with Carolina’s affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. Having re-signed Cam Ward this summer to go along with Eddie Lack, the rebuilding Hurricanes perhaps have no greater depth than at goalie. However, another experienced keeper at a cheap price tag has never hurt anyone before, and Leighton will provide welcome veteran guidance and knowledge to two top-end Carolina goalie prospects: returning Checkers goalie Daniel Altshuller and 2014 second-round pick and impending rookie Alex Nedeljkovic.
Should Leighton be called upon to play in the NHL this season, he will certainly bring a long career’s worth of experience with him. The all-time leader in AHL shutouts, as well as ninth in wins, the majority of the journeyman’s pro hockey days have been spent in the minors. A sixth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 1999, Leighton made his pro debut with the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals in 2001-2002, before getting a few games in with the NHL squad the next season. In 2003-04, Leighton actually led the Blackhawks in appearances in net, splitting time with the likes of Craig Anderson and Jocelyn Thibault. However, he was outplayed by the pair and found himself back in the AHL for part of the season as well. The Hawks traded him to the Buffalo Sabres prior to the 2005-06 season, though he never played for the team. He did not see NHL action again until 2006-07, in which he played one game for the Nashville Predators and five for the Philadelphia Flyers, after a mid-season waiver claim. He was put on waivers yet again that season, and ended up in Montreal, another team with which he never got into a game.
Carolina traded for Leighton at the 2007 NHL draft, hoping to add some depth behind their young, breakout goalie Ward. Unable to challenge veteran backups like John Grahame and Manny Legace, nevertheless steal starts from Ward, Leighton played in just 29 games with the Hurricanes in three seasons. He was claimed by the Flyers in 2009, joining the team for the second time, and found his first real taste of NHL success. If not for his early season struggles as backup in Carolina, Leighton would have posted a career-high .918 save percentage and 2.48 goals against average in 27 games with Philadelphia. However, the 2010 emergence of Sergei Bobrovsky forced Leighton back down to the AHL. He stayed with the Flyers organization, but only played in two NHL games in the next three years, before being traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets as part of the deal for Steve Mason, where ironically he was again blocked from NHL play time by Bobrovsky. After a year overseas in the KHL, Leighton returned to North America on a two-way deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, the team that drafted him, in 2014-15. He made the first (and only) start of his second stint with the team this past April, allowing just one goal after relieving Scott Darling in a rout by the Dallas Stars.
While Leighton’s NHL career isn’t exactly Hall of Fame-caliber, he has been unbelievably successful and consistent in the AHL and KHL. If called upon by the Hurricanes, he is a reliable veteran choice, and if not, he will be a value signing simply by what he will be able to impart on Carolina’s future net minders.
The Olympic Qualification Process: What’s Next For Non-Qualifiers?
With Slovenia, Germany, and Norway officially qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea today, some attention should be given to those countries that just missed out on a spot. As much as the IIHF World Championships and the upcoming World Cup of Hockey would like to believe that they are the premier international hockey event, there is no greater stage than the Olympic games. While the debate rages on whether NHL players should be allowed to participate in the event, it is still a matter of national pride to see one’s country represented in the greatest winter sport of all. Pros or not, Olympic hockey will always receive great fanfare, making missing out in qualifications that much more painful for a handful of enthusiastic hockey countries.
Qualification for the Olympics is a much longer process than many realize, beginning a year after the previous Winter Olympic Games. In 2015, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) rankings were calculated and qualification began. A scoring system is used, based on the past five finishes for a country at the annual World Championships (weighted more heavily by the more recent finishes), to rank all 47 countries that compose the IIHF. The top eight countries are given automatic berths into the next Olympics. In 2015, they were Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, United States, Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Slovakia, in that order. From there, three rounds of qualification tournaments are scheduled. The number of groupings in each round varies, depending on how many IIHF countries are participating, as well as how many available spots there are for the next Olympics. If the games are being held in an already-qualified country, then there are four berths up for grabs. However, if the games are being held in a non-qualifier, like the 2018 games in South Korea, that team is also given an automatic berth, leaving just three spots. After each round is complete, the group winners advance to the next round until the three or four Olympic qualifiers are determined. In the first round of these qualifiers, which took place in October and November of 2015, nine teams competed. The two bottom ranked teams had a play-in game for the eighth and final spot in group play. Two groups of four proceeded from their, with Estonia and Serbia advancing. In round two, held in February, three groups of competition made winners of Italy, Poland, and Japan, who moved on to the final round. The final qualification round, which took place over the past four days in Minsk, Riga, and Oslo, consisted of three groups with many common hockey countries and even featured many NHL stars including Anze Kopitar for Slovenia and Mats Zuccarello for Norway. In the end, Slovenia, Norway, and Germany walked away as winners, punching their ticket to Pyeongchang.
[More info on Olympic Qualifying]
And what of the losers? Even in the third and final round, the points gaps and scoring differentials show that there are many teams that are still far from legitimate Olympic contention. Italy, Japan, Austria, and Poland were out of place, and France and Kazakhstan put up a valiant effort, but would have been a huge upset had they qualified. Three teams stick out as falling short, and for these three it will be a long four years before they get to fight for an Olympic spot again at the 2022 games in Beijing, China: Belarus, Latvia, and Denmark.
Belarus came the closest to qualifying this time around. An overtime loss to Slovenia in the final game of group play today sealed their fate. The team was led up front by former NHLers Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn, as well as recent Toronto Maple Leafs PTO-signee Roman Graborenko, UMass alum and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Oleg Yevenko, and American-Belarusian Nick Bailen on defense. On equal footing with Slovenia through each of the teams’ first two games, it came down to a battle for the group today. Unfortunately, they could not find the same magic that they had in the “Salt Lake Miracle” win over Sweden in the 2002 Winter Olympics, despite hosting the tournament in Minsk. Slovenia scored in OT, and that once goal will put Belarusian hopes on hold for a while. The Kostitsyn’s very well might not be around for the next qualification tournament, but with a good young defensive core in place, Belarus will look to bring along some home-grown talent at forward and in net and give it another go in four years.
Latvia too came very close to a trip to Korea in 2018. Going into today’s final game, at home in Riga, Latvia and Germany were both 2-0, creating yet another winner-take-all scenario. Going up against a strong German squad, featuring veteran defenseman Dennis Seidenberg and Christian Ehrhoff and young scorers Tobias Rieder of the Arizona Coyotes and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, the Latvians held their own. However, they just fell short, losing 3-2. The future is bright for Team Latvia though, as next time around they will still have top players like the Buffalo Sabres’ Zemgus Girgenson, Vancouver Canucks prospect Rodrigo Abols, and young Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Kristers Gudlevskis, and all three will be more seasoned, and hopefully joined by more young, talented depth. Expect Latvia to again make a strong push when it comes time for Beijing.
Far and away, the most disappointing team in qualifying was Denmark. Playing in the same group as Slovenia and Belarus, Team Denmark had tough competition, but was still the favorite to win. Instead, the team came out flat, losing 5-2 to Belarus and 3-0 to Slovenia. A team featuring new Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen, Canucks defenseman Philip Larsen, and a plethora of forward talent including big free agent signings Frans Nielsen of the Detroit Red Wings and Mikkel Boedker of the San Jose Sharks, top prospects Nikolaj Ehlers of the Winnipeg Jets and Oliver Bjorkstrand of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and reliable veteran Jannik Hansen of the Canucks, surely should have performed better. Had the groups been aligned differently, perhaps the results would also be different, but there is no excuse. Denmark not only should be in Pyeongchang in 2018, but also had the chance to make a splash. Instead, the team will have to try again in four years and hope that they continue to produce talent like they have right now.
Under The Cap Floor: New Jersey Devils
Technically, the New Jersey Devils are not under the NHL’s salary cap floor of $54MM. At least not yet. CapFriendly currently calculates the Devils’ roster as being at about $60.7MM. However, that includes both the $4.85MM salary of Ryane Clowe and the $4MM salary of Marc Savard. With that duo, whose playing days are over, hitting the injured reserve and their cap hits leaving with them, New Jersey’s true salary number could very well drop below the cap floor, perhaps by several million dollars.
CapFriendly’s numbers are not totally accurate, though. The current Devils roster is listed as having 16 forwards and five defenseman, whereas the final lineup will of course feature at least seven defenseman and a few less forwards. The reason that the current projection is so disjointed is simply because the Devils depth is severely lacking. Roster Resource gives us a look at all of the possible roster players, and there are many clear holes. Behind a strong first line, there is a lack of dependable forwards up front, especially on the wing. The oft-injured Mike Cammalleri and Devante Smith-Pelley, who was good in 2015-16, but in very limited action, are the best of the rest. Many of the bottom six spots are right now being occupied by young, inexperienced players or low-upside veterans. On defense, the situation is even worse. After losing their top two defenseman from last season, Adam Larsson and David Schlemko, the Devils have failed to bring in enough talent to replace them. Newcomer Ben Lovejoy and youngsters Damon Severson and Jon Merrill will be asked to take more responsibility on the back-end than they are likely ready for.
With ample cap space and many needs, the question becomes: Are the Devils really done? With September upon us, it is easy to be underwhelmed by what New Jersey has done this off-season. That is an unusual statement to make when a team completed one of the biggest trades in recent hockey history, acquiring Taylor Hall from the Edmonton Oilers. Hall is going to continue to be one of the NHL’s best scorers on his new team, but even a strong first line of Hall and Kyle Palmieri with either Adam Henrique or Travis Zajac leaves the Devils top-heavy and exposed up front. Additionally, losing Larsson in the trade has created a gaping hole where the Devils would like a top-pair right-shot defenseman to be. In fact, if no further moves are made, it is likely that there will be only two right-handed blue liners on the roster this season.
The Devils have tried to make some moves this summer. They were of course one of the biggest suitors for college super-free agent Jimmy Vesey, but watched as he signed with the cross-town rival New York Rangers. They were also reportedly interested in winger Jiri Hudler, who would have been a good fit on the team, but failed to come to terms with him before he signed with the Dallas Stars recently.
Missing out on talent doesn’t excuse sitting on a lot of cap space with moves to be made though. The Devils are not in the same position as the Carolina Hurricanes, the only other team this off-season who faced legitimate concerns about reaching the cap floor. Carolina is currently in a rebuilding process, which may come as ironic considering they finished the season with a better record than the Devils in 2015-16. While they brought in a few key veterans this summer, the focus has been on young talent, such as the acquistion of Teuvo Teravainen and top prospects looking to earn a spot on the roster like Haydn Fleury, Sebastian Aho, and Aleksi Saarela. Aside from Pavel Zacha, the Devils do not have the same influx of young, NHL-ready talent to keep spots open for. The New Jersey roster contains many players who are in their prime, and the best move for New Jersey likely would have been to bring in more veteran talent in an effort to make the playoffs this season. As currently constituted, that seems like a long shot.
Is it too late for the Devils to improve their roster before the puck drops on the 2016-17 season? They certainly have the cap space, and depending on the exact numbers, they may be forced to sign a player or two. The big question is whether there is value left on the market. The big names remaining in free agency are Kris Russell and Alex Tanguay. Russell was expected to cash in this summer, but his old-fashioned playing style is not being valued as highly as he had hoped. Russell still is a serviceable defenseman, and one of the offers that he is reportedly mulling could be from the Devils. Still likely worth at least $1.5-2MM per season, Russell could help the Devils remain over the cap floor, while also providing great value as a top-four defenseman on their team. His signing would not solve the right-shot defenseman problem, however. Jakub Nakladal, a dark horse who has gained little attention on the market until recently, may be the perfect fit for New Jersey. His contract would be inexpensive, but would add some much needed depth and a high ceiling player. Up front, Tanguay is best available skater right now. The veteran is also currently considering offers, and New Jersey could use his locker room prescence and play-making ability, especially if a return for lifelong Devil Patrik Elias is no longer in the works. A reunion with Tuomo Ruutu, Jiri Tlusty, or Steve Bernier seems extremely unlikely, but the team might be willing to take a chance on a veteran forward like David Jones or R.J. Umberger or a young player like Cody Hodgson, all of which would likely contribute about a $1MM to their cap deficiency. Additionally, the Devils will get a good look at winger Lauri Korpikoski and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and Dennis Seidenberg at the upcoming World Cup.
None of the players listed has the ability to change the playoff odds of the New Jersey Devils in 2o16-17. If the team wishes only to meet the cap floor, try their luck with the current roster, and likely play for a lottery pick next season, then they should look to free agency or potentially do nothing at all. For a game-changer, they need to peruse the trade market. The Detroit Red Wings are having the opposite kind of cap trouble right now, and may be forced to trade a valuable, high-salary player. The Devils could potentially look into prying Gustav Nyquist out of Detroit. The Philadelphia Flyers have too many men on the blue line, an issue that New Jersey wishes they had, and cap problems and defensive depth issues could be wiped out by trading for Mark Streit, Andrew MacDonald, or maybe even Michael Del Zotto. The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a similar position up front, and could be willing to ship out any number of quality forwards. Finally, the Devils could look at pulling off their second blockbuster deal of the summer, if they could meet the price for disgruntled Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba. The 22-year-old stalwart has reportedly priced himself out of what the Jets are comfortable paying him, but a team with plenty of cap space and not enough defenseman, like the Devils, is the perfect fit to swoop in and either make a trade or sign the young blue liner to an offer sheet.
One way or another, if the Devils want to really compete in 2016-17, and also want to be comfortably over the salary cap floor, moves must be made. It’s been a quiet summer since the Hall-Larsson trade, and the Devils are the most likely candidate for some late summer fireworks before the season is underway.
Jeff Carter Injured, Questionable For World Cup
UPDATE: Rosen reports that Carter’s injury is not considered to be severe, but that he is currently thought to be “week-to-week”, a prognosis that likely means the World Cup is not a realistic option for the L.A. playmaker.
According to Los Angeles Kings beat writer Jon Rosen, Kings forward Jeff Carter suffered a lower-body injury while training for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey. Rosen added that the severity of the injury remains unknown, but that there are already doubts about his participation. Elliotte Friedman also chimed in on the news, acknowledging that Carter’s World Cup status is in question, but that there should be more clarity to the situation when Team Canada players report on Sunday.
Luckily for Kings fans, there has yet to be a report that puts Carter’s NHL season debut in doubt. While the exact type and extent of the lower-body injury has not been revealed, both Rosen and Friedman only questioned Carter’s availability for this month’s World Cup, with no mention of puck-drop on the new season in late October. L.A. has not been subjected to many injury concerns when it comes to Carter’s tenure with the team, as he has played in at least 70 games in each of the last three seasons and played in every regular season game in 2012-13 and 2014-15. Second only to Anze Kopitar in team scoring last season, Carter is an invaluable member of the Kings. If the injury is anything but minor, LA supporters would likely rather have their star forward sit out the World Cup and prepare for the season.
For those worried about Team Canada at the World Cup, don’t fret. The Canadian roster is loaded with talent and center depth. In fact, Brad Marchand is the only one of 13 forwards on the roster who isn’t a natural centerman. Should Carter not be able to go, expect another winger like Corey Perry or Taylor Hall to get the first look.