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Schedule Notes: North Division, Future, ECHL

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The NHL has released the start times for the final three games of the North Division schedule, set to be played between the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks. Both teams are out of the playoff race and will now finish the year with a pair of afternoon tilts. The game on May 19 is especially noteworthy, as its 1:30pm MT start leaves the possibility for the North to start its playoffs that evening. Starting the playoffs the same day the regular season concludes is something deputy commissioner Bill Daly hinted at yesterday as the league tries to get through the 2020-21 season without any further delays.

The other three divisions will already be well into their first-round playoff matchups, with things kicking off on Saturday with the Washington Capitals hosting the Boston Bruins. Those two teams will meet tonight as well, though the Bruins aren’t going to risk any injuries; Boston will rest Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Taylor Hall, David Krejci, Craig Smith, Sean Kuraly, Charlie Coyle, Charlie McAvoy, Ondrej Kase, Matt Grzelcyk, Mike Reilly, Brandon Carlo, Jeremy Lauzon, Kevan Miller, and Tuukka Rask this evening.

  • As for the future, the league is expected to go back to the schedule matrix and playoff format that was used during the 2018-19 season, according to Nick Cotsonika of NHL.com, with the exception of course of the Seattle Kraken being added to the Pacific Division and the Arizona Coyotes moving to the Central. Past the 2021-22 season though things may change, as Daly explained they are canvassing clubs to find out what it will look like down the line. The deputy commissioner suggested they may be able to release information on the 2022-23 scheduling format before the 2021-22 season starts.
  • There are other leagues preparing for a more regular 2021-22 campaign as well, including the ECHL which released its schedule today. The minor league will kick things off on October 21 and play 972 games through April 17, 2022. The ECHL will have 27 teams for next season, including new ones from Trois-Rivières, Quebec, and Coralville, Iowa.

Snapshots: Holloway, Corrado, Playoffs

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The Edmonton Oilers won’t have Dylan Holloway in the lineup this season as his entry-level contract starts next year, but that doesn’t mean they won’t get a close look at him in the meantime. The young forward has signed an amateur tryout with the Bakersfield Condors and will finish the season in the AHL.

Holloway is coming back after suffering a thumb injury at the end of his college season and will be getting his first taste of professional hockey. Still just 19, he recorded 11 goals and 35 points at the University of Wisconsin, anchoring the second line behind the Cole Caufield-driven top unit.

  • Frank Corrado won’t be returning to the NHL anytime soon, as the veteran defenseman signed a contract with Dinamo Riga in the KHL. He spent this season with MODO in the Swedish second league, recording 17 points in 34 games. The Vancouver Canucks draft pick played 76 games in the NHL and several seasons in the minor leagues before taking his game overseas.
  • The Stanley Cup Playoffs could start as soon as Saturday, according to NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly. Daly spoke with Nick Cotsonika of NHL.com, explaining that though the North Division doesn’t actually finish their regular season schedule until May 19, the other three divisions could start as early as May 15. In fact, the North could actually start their playoff schedule just hours after the regular season concludes, since the last few games are likely between two non-playoff teams in Calgary and Vancouver.

League Notes: Draft, Alignment, Playoffs

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The 2021 NHL Entry Draft is not expected to be moved, deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed today during his media availability with Gary Bettman. The reported changes concerning the lottery will be put to a full board of governors vote next week after the executive committee approved it recently. The full draft event, which is scheduled for July 23-24, will happen without the benefit of a full year of in-person scouting and could certainly provide some fireworks.

More notes from the availability today:

  • The league is expecting to return to the previous divisional alignment next season, though there will still be the change of the Arizona Coyotes moving to the Central Division and the Seattle Kraken debuting in the Pacific. While there has been some excitement about the new geographic rivalries created this season, the plan has always been to go back to the previous divisions once things got back to normal.
  • On the note of the Kraken, Bettman explained that both the rink in Seattle and the one on Long Island are on schedule to open in time to start the 2021-22 season. Climate Pledge Arena (Kraken) and UBS Arena (Islanders) will give updated homes and new destinations while hopefully providing some stability for the two franchises.
  • When asked about where the winner of the North Division will play once the NHL is down to four teams in the playoffs, Daly explained there is still some time before a decision has to be made. The Conference Finals round is scheduled for some time in mid-June, meaning they won’t have to make a decision on whether the Canadian team will have to come to the U.S. to play for a while yet.

League Notes: COVID Safety Measures, Draft Lottery, Draft Date

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As alluded to earlier, the NHL and NHLPA have revealed a joint release describing several new Coronavirus safety measures in response to the growing list of players in the COVID Protocol and game postponements. Included in the list of new strategies to mitigate the spread of the virus are a “work/home quarantine”, a ban on non-virtual team meetings and social interactions, removal of the glass behind the penalty box, KN95 face masks, and even revised seating assignments in the locker room and during travel to use previous positive-test players as “buffers”. There will also be rapid testing for all U.S. teams on game days, with a similar system in the works for Canadians clubs, genome sequencing tests, greater testing availability for household members, and a greater emphasis on COVID education. Will all of this change the current COVID calamity across the league? It certainly won’t hurt.

  • As rumored this off-season, the NHL is going to take a closer look at changing the structure of the NHL Draft Lottery. On Thursday’s edition of TSN’s “Insider Trading”, Pierre LeBrun reported that NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has revealed to him that a review of the lottery process is officially underway. He believes that a pitch will be made to the Board of Governors soon as to a proposed new format. The assumption of course is that the new structure will give increased odds of winning the lottery to the teams finishing at the bottom of standings. The talk this off-season centered around the Detroit Red Wings, who failed to win even one of the lottery draws for the 2020 NHL Draft and fell to fourth in a season in which they were historically bad and well below even the 30th-ranked team in the NHL. Many owners and GM’s felt that this shifted the status quo and placed importance on avoiding such poor teams missing out on top picks in the future, or at least offering them a better chance of landing those picks. Whether or not these lottery changes will be approved, and if so in time for the next entry draft, remain to be seen.
  • The question still remains of when the 2021 NHL Draft will actually be held. Given the lack of opportunity for a number of prospects this season, there have been considerable talks about postponing the draft. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that NHL’s general managers plan to meet soon to discuss options for the coming draft. Dreger believes there are three possible options for the draft. The first, of course, is to leave the draft as is in June. With the CHL leagues working toward a return and the American junior and collegiate levels and European leagues well underway, there will likely have been a chance for every team to see every prospect, even if only in a limited sample size. This will put teams on an even playing field, however those drafting later in the first round may wind up benefiting from the lack of complete information allowing some superior prospects to slide. The other two possibilities involve postponing the draft. The first is to schedule the draft for the winter, either December of January, to allow teams to gather more data over the remainder of this season, in summer tournaments, and early next season. The second, and to Dreger the one likely to be most supported by GM’s, is to hold the 2021 and 2022 drafts back-to-back next summer, allowing for another complete season to replace the current campaign before teams are asked to select players. All three options hold merit and there are likely still many factors to consider over the next few months before a formal decision can be made.

Evening Notes: Canucks, Stars, Reign

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The Vancouver Canucks entered Monday over the NHL’s salary cap upper limit. Yet, when waivers are completed tomorrow, the team will be in near-perfect shape regardless of the results. Spotted among the many names on waivers today were two veteran forwards from Vancouver: Loui Eriksson and Sven Baertschi. While any Canucks fan would like to see both claimed off waivers, there is almost no chance that either one will be moving elsewhere. Eriksson and his $6MM cap hit have failed to live up to expectations for four years now and no other team is likely to be willing to take a chance on the former All-Star. Baertschi and his own $3.37MM price tag were up for grabs on waivers multiple times last season and no one took a chance, leaving him buried in the AHL for much of the year. However, neither player needs to be claimed for the Canucks to benefit. Once both wingers clear waivers, they can be moved to the AHL or – more likely – the taxi squad. Their cap hits will thus be reduced by $1.075MM apiece for a total savings of $2.15MM. As CapFriendly points out, that is not only enough to get Vancouver back in the black relative to the cap ceiling; it will also leave them enough room to add a player on a minimum $700K salary back to the active roster. This is important, as it will bring the cap payroll as close to the upper limit as possible, allowing the team to take close to full advantage of Micheal Ferland’s Long-Term Injured Reserve placement. The savings of nearly $3.5MM will be used to sign defenseman Travis Hamonic and to replace one or two of the forward slots abandoned by Eriksson and Baertschi. Whether anticipated or not, it’s some impressive salary cap magic by GM Jim Benning and company.

  • The Canucks were also back at practice today after a COVID-19 scare on Sunday. Vancouver canceled all team activities yesterday in response to a possible exposure, but fortunately no players or staff have tested positive, per Sportsnet. The team is back on track and there are no further issues expected from this specific case of potential exposure.
  • Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars are still dealing with their Coronavirus issue. After six players and two staff members tested positive before Friday’s practice, the team shut down their facilities over the weekend and were not able to open back up today.  Their first three games of the season, on the road against the Florida Panthers twice and the first of two against the Tampa Bay Lightning, have already been postponed but the hopes is that their new opener, set for January 19 in Tampa, will go on as scheduled. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly tells Matthew DeFranks of The Dallas News that the league is prepared to do what needs to be done, but that they do feel the Stars are “at the end of that outbreak” and are now focused on how it occured initially. Daly added that medical personnel would decide when it is safe to re-open the facility and that all parties feel the 19th remains a fair goal for Dallas to be both healthy and well-prepared. DeFranks has since reported that Dallas will indeed return to practice on Tuesday, though all further camp sessions will be closed to the media.
  • The Ontario Reign, AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, have announced the hiring of Craig Johnson as an assistant coach for the club. The Reign already have a new head coach in John Wroblewski and now add another new face in Johnson, who is actually a familiar name to Kings fans who remember him from his seven season playing with the team in the late 90’s and early 00’s.  Johnson’s coaching experience is somewhat limited, serving as a head coach for local youth and high school teams in Southern California. However, he has also served as a development coach for the Kings over the past two seasons and briefly worked for the Reign previously in the ECHL back in 2010-11.

San Jose Sharks Expected To Open Season In Arizona

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With the NHL and NHLPA inching closer to a resolution on the 2020-21 season, teams are beginning to prepare for the reality of a forthcoming campaign. While the Canadian clubs have issues to work out before the season can begin, the San Jose Sharks are another team facing questions. Santa Clara County has banned contact sports locally through at least January 8, a policy that was recently extended and could be extended again as Coronavirus numbers remain high. This proves problematic for the Sharks, who as a reigning non-playoff team would be eligible to begin training camp on December 31 and may need to host games as early as January 13.

The Sharks’ solution appears to lie in following a fellow Bay Area team south. An anonymous source tells the Associated Press that San Jose will open their season in Arizona, much like how the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers have moved to Arizona to conclude their own season. While there is no word on whether the Sharks will share a facility with the Arizona Coyotes as the 49ers have done with the Arizona Cardinals, that is the expectation. Fortunately, this move will not disrupt the NHL’s current plan for realigned divisions and exclusive inter-division play this season, as both teams have been slotted for a new-look Pacific Division.

The AP source remained anonymous on this issue as details both on the league’s return to play and on the Sharks’ move have not been finalized nor have they been made public. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly took the same approach, telling the AP that he would not discuss details related to the Sharks’ plans as details of the restart still need to be papered and voted upon by the NHL Board of Governors and NHLPA both. The Sharks have additionally declined to comment on the relocation proposal. However, given the lack of any contrary reports, the restrictions facing San Jose, and the path already paved by the 49ers, it is a safe bet that the Sharks are Arizona-bound at least to open training camp and to begin their 2020-21 season.

Latest On Mid-January Season Start

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The NHL and NHLPA have resolved their financial issues that were a potential hold up for the 2020-21 season. Now, both sides are moving forward to work out a season that could start as early as January 13, according to Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun of TSN. Dreger adds that NHL training camps will likely be ten days long and not include any exhibition play. The seven teams that did not qualify for this summer’s postseason bubble are now unlikely to receive any additional training camp time.

In his piece for The Athletic, LeBrun includes a quote from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly:

We are moving forward with the process of working through all of the issues that need to be addressed and agreed to, and that are obviously unique to playing a season during a pandemic.

That doesn’t spark a ton of confidence, but LeBrun explains that both sides have agreed to leave the financial terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, signed this summer as part of a CBA extension, as they currently are. That “renegotiation” was one of the things that the players’ union would not budge on, believing they signed a fair deal a few months ago. With the NHL presumably backing down on any changes, things can now start to move forward on planning and protocols for the upcoming season.

There is no guarantee that the two sides can work through everything, but the focus now is on a January 13 start of a 56-game schedule. Today’s news has brought plenty of optimism among the hockey community, but LeBrun cautions that the COVID-19 situation all across North America and the world could still potentially delay or derail the season completely.

Outdoor Games Being Discussed By Several NHL Teams

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It’s about that time in an NHL/NHLPA negotiation (or, not negotiation) where things start to get weird. With the league still trying to figure out a way through the upcoming season, with the financial climate so dire for many teams and with players refusing to budge on the agreement they made a few months ago, all kinds of revenue streams are being discussed.

One of those, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, is the possibility of holding games outdoors where fans could potentially attend. Friedman writes today that at least four teams are “investigating the possibility” of outdoor games, listing the Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Kings were apparently the first to consider the idea, though it’s important to note that NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told James Mirtle of The Athletic last month that holding more outdoor games was unlikely.

Still, following Friedman’s report came one from Pierre LeBrun, who writes that it’s not just those four teams considering the idea of holding multiple outdoor events. The Penguins, Bruins, and Kings are on his list of teams that would be open to hosting or taking part in outdoor games, but so too are the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, and Nashville Predators.

It’s important to remember that even if the NHL caves and doesn’t amend the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed a few months ago, the players still would have to eventually pay back any salary that brings them over 50% of the hockey-related revenue. With no fans and very little revenue to be made, it seems likely that both sides would be open to out-of-the-box ideas like outdoor contests if it brought in ticket sales.

Still, those outdoor games also have a substantially increased cost, which is what Daly pointed out to Mirtle last month. As LeBrun writes, commissioner Gary Bettman is also worried that holding so many outdoor games could hurt the Winter Classic brand, which has been a success for the league in previous years. Those negatives may eventually win out in the end, but there is nothing stopping teams from exploring the option at this point.

Bettman Discusses Regional Hub Cities, Reduced Schedule

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The NHL is still targeting a January start for the upcoming season, but there is still a lot of work to be done between the league and NHLPA. As reported by Nick Cotsonika of NHL.com, Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke today about some of the things still being discussed, including the idea of hubs where teams would enter a city and “play for 10 to 12 days” without any travel, and then return home. Players have been very clear about the fact that they will not agree to a season-long bubble away from their families, and Bettman confirmed that he will not ask them to.

The idea of realignment has also come up extensively around the hockey world in recent weeks, especially in regard to the seven Canadian teams. Bettman confirmed that it was being discussed, though specifically mentioned how it also wouldn’t make much sense to have teams from Florida travel to California either. A “Canadian Division” is getting plenty of headlines, but it seems likely that there will be other geographical realignments as well given the different restrictions throughout the United States.

Of course one of the most important things for the league to decide will be how many games actually get played in the upcoming regular season. Though they have tried to maintain the goal of fitting in 82, there have been obvious doubts that is practical and Bettman himself suggested that the league is contemplating a reduced schedule.

None of what Bettman said today provides any real answers for hockey fans looking forward to next season, but there are hints to what it might look like. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia also reports that deputy commissioner Bill Daly sent a memo to each NHL team today saying that the league and NHLPA hope to make a recommendation to the board of governors on Thursday on the start date, maintaining that “the objective remains to start as early as January 1.” The memo included that the league is hoping to get back onto a regular calendar for 2021-22.

East Notes: Tampa Bay, Weegar, Islanders Arena

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Back in the summer, Tampa Bay was ruled out as a possible host for one of the hub cities as the NHL worked to return to hold their playoffs.  That may not be the case when it comes to next season, however, as Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times that the city will garner consideration this time around if the NHL opts to use bubble cities for at least part of next season:

In terms of the boxes that need to be checked and the things that we’re looking for, certainly Tampa is an attractive possibility on a host of levels, including the fact that I think players would enjoy Tampa as a base for operations as opposed to some other cities.

Certainly, if we went that direction — and I’m not suggesting that we’re going that direction — but if we end up deciding to go that direction, certainly Tampa would be strongly considered.

As things stand, there are no firm plans in place for next season’s schedule but the possibility of using short-term hubs where a team plays several games in a short stretch before returning home for a little while has been discussed.  It certainly seems like Tampa Bay will be looked at more favorably than it was for the playoff hubs.

More from the East:

  • While the Panthers were able to avoid arbitration with defenseman MacKenzie Weegar last week, things weren’t always headed in that direction. Speaking with reporters today including David Dwork of WPLG (Twitter link), the blueliner acknowledged that he had heard from his agent a couple of times to advise that a trade may be in the works.  Weegar had acknowledged his frustration with the status of talks although in the end, they were able to agree on a three-year deal worth $9.75MM in total that bought out two years of UFA eligibility.
  • The new arena for the Islanders remains on track to open for the 2021-22 season despite a two-month delay due to the pandemic, notes Allan Kreda of the New York Times. Despite everything going on and the fact that puck drop is at least another year away, the facility has already sold roughly half of its inventory for club seats and suites.

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