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League Notes: NHL Awards, 2020-21, USHL

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While the NHL has already revealed several of their end-of-the-year awards prior to recent playoff games, they will save the remaining awards for one special presentation. The league has announced today that the five remaining awards –  the Hart, Lindsay, Vezina, Norris, and Calder – will be presented virtually in a 30-minute special at 5:30pm CT on Monday, September 21. Since the event is technically being hosted from inside the Edmonton bubble, the awards will also have an “Oilers twist” to them. Wayne Gretzky is set to present the Hart and Calder trophies, with Mark Messier announcing the Lindsay, Grant Fuhr announcing the Vezina, and Paul Coffey announcing the Norris. The winners will then be made available to the media via Zoom for interviews following the awards presentations.

  • As the Stanley Cup Final gets underway in the Edmonton bubble, it is remarkable to look back at hat the NHL has been able to accomplish this postseason in Edmonton and Toronto. However, they face a much more difficult task right around the corner with trying to implement the 2020-21. While the league has held firm on their desire to begin the new season before the end of the calendar year and to play a full 82-game schedule, doubts are starting to creep in about how this can be arranged as COVID-19 continues to be prevalent in North America. Even Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly recently stated that he does not know for sure when and how the league will return to regular season play, though he did that a start date prior to December 1 is more unlikely than not. Speaking with others around the league, The Athletic’s Scott Burnside gets a growing sense of skepticism across all corners of the NHL . While most believe the season will still occur in some form or fashion, his sources believe that a likely start date is not until January at the earliest, which could rule out an 82-game season. Some believe that the league could wait until it is safe for fans to attend games before returning to play, while others believe that early-season schedules could be geographically-influenced to play a more compact schedule and to reduce travel risks. Burnside notes that continued outbreaks of Coronavirus in U.S. cities and the closed border between the U.S. and Canada will make a typical season impossible until they are resolved. In other words, there is still a lot to figure out before teams can return to play for the regular season, so a delayed start beyond what had previously been anticipated is an ever-growing possibility.
  • Two USHL teams have now decided to scrap their seasons altogether in response to the continuing COVID pandemic. The league announced today that the Cedar Rapids Roughriders and Madison Capitols will suspend operations for the 2020-21 season. On top of troubles related to Coronavirus, the Roughriders sustained damage to their arena in a recent storm and are finding it impossible to be prepared for a new season, while the Capitols, who are owned by Minnesota Wild star Ryan Suter, are so overly restricted by local health regulations that they cannot operate this year. The league stated that a dispersal draft will be held to give the teams’ players a new home for the coming season. However, the rights of those players who wish to continue in the USHL beyond this season will revert back to their teams next year.

West Notes: Blues Facilities, Guerin, Juolevi

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As of now, the St. Louis Blues hope to re-open their facilities and allow players to return to the ice on Monday after a report that several Blues’ players tested positive for COVID-19. That report forced the Blues to close their facilities over the weekend. With a similar incident happening to the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 19, forcing the team to close their facilities for five days before re-opening. Regardless, the positive tests isn’t expected to affect the NHL’s plans to start training camps in a week.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly released a statement earlier today (via Fox’s Andy Strickland):

I don’t believe that what we’ve seen to this point is unexpected. We have always anticipated that we were going to encounter positive tests. What we want to avoid is mini-outbreaks. So the focus is taking the necessary precautions to avoid a cluster of positives. We think the enhanced structure and precautions that will be in place once we reach the training camp phase will actually create safer conditions for players and staff. And we think the Hub City Protocol will make it even safer still.

  • In The Athletic’s Michael Russo’s Q&A with Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin (subscription required), the GM made it clear that the team will be fully focused on its series with the Vancouver Canucks and not the potential of landing the No. 1 overall pick, if the team falls in the play-in round next month. All eight teams that lose in the play-in game have a 12.5 percent chance to earn the right to draft super prospect Alexis Lafreniere. “I think everybody thinks about it, but our job is to win hockey games, and not to play for a first overall pick,” said Guerin. “We’re going in to win. You can’t do that. You can’t do that. Like I said, these games are going to come fast and furious. We’ve got to be ready and we’re going in there to win, not play for a pick. You can’t do that. You just don’t do that.”
  • In his mailbag series, Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre writes that defensive prospect Olli Juolevi may have to accept being a third-pairing defenseman down the road. The 2016 fifth-overall pick has yet to make his NHL debut and the only player among the top 17 drafted players that year who has not appeared in an NHL game. The 22-year-old has struggled with both injuries and inconsistency, yet remains close to making his NHL debut and is expected to be on the Canucks roster for the playoffs next month. A third-pairing role might be the most reasonable expectations for Juolevi as it likely isn’t going to get easier to crack the Canucks’ roster over the next few years.

Poll: Who Do You Least Want To See Win The No. 1 Pick?

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If Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly’s face didn’t give it away during Friday night’s NHL Draft Lottery, this result was not what the league was expecting or hoping for. In a season when a decorated Original Six franchise, the Detroit Red Wings, had one of the worst campaigns of all-time and the league’s most downtrodden franchise, the Ottawa Senators, had not one but two high-percentage chances of winning the top pick, the No. 1 overall selection will instead go to a to-be-determined “playoff” team.

With the league expanding the postseason field to 24 teams this season as a result of COVID-19 cutting the regular season short, 16 teams will vie for a chance to move through a “knockout round” onto a more standard version of the NHL playoffs. However, now those same 16 teams, all of whom finished above .500 this season, will also be in the running to win the top overall pick and the right to select a generational talent in forward Alexis Lafreniere. All eight losers of the qualifying round will have even odds in a second running of the lottery and one lucky team will get playoff experience and an elite young player this season. No one is going to be truly happy with the result (apart from the lottery winner and their fans of course) but who would you least like to see win the top overall pick?

The Pittsburgh Penguins might be at the top of many peoples’ lists. The franchise has won three Stanley Cups in the last decade and no one would be surprised to see them win again this year, especially given the fact that they finished  the regular season in seventh league-wide in points percentage. The Penguins are the best team slated to play in the knockout round, but if by some chance they lose to the Montreal Canadiens, Lafreniere could potentially join Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and company in a move that could extend the dynasty for years still to come. The thought of the talented young winger playing beside either of those superstars would be daunting to every other team in the league.

Finishing just behind Pittsburgh with the ninth-best points percentage in the league this year were the Carolina Hurricanes. The club has quietly accumulated a deep, talented roster including a number of elite young players. Carolina is set to contend for titles for many years to come, but Lafreniere would make them truly dangerous. Like the Penguins, the Hurricanes simply do not need the best player in the draft. Keep in mind  that they were also one of just two teams to vote against the expanded postseason model, making it especially twisted if they were to reap the benefits of this one-off lottery structure. As good as the Hurricanes were at times this season, they are a popular upset pick in the qualifying round against the New York Rangers and could wind up in the lottery.

The New York Islanders finished just outside the top-ten in points percentage this season and have a deep, experienced team. They also play a sound defensive system. While it works to win games, it isn’t the most exciting strategy and could limit the upside of an explosive offensive talent like Lafreniere. On top of that, the Isles don’t even know where they will be playing their home games next season and have suffered from poor attendance in recent years. It doesn’t exactly sound like an ideal landing spot for an exciting top prospect. Fortunately, the Islanders drew a plus matchup against the Florida Panthers and should advance past the knockout round if they can stick to their smothering defensive game.

Given their luck in the draft lottery over the past decade, it’s pretty gross to think about the Edmonton Oilers being in the running for another No. 1 pick. Likely soon to be the home of two MVP’s in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers landing Lafreniere as their fifth first overall pick and ninth top-ten pick since 2010 would really be something. With an improved NHL roster and a strong pipeline of talent, the Oilers are finally starting to be self-sufficient and don’t need Lafreniere like they might have in recent year. However, if the team can’t hold off a poor Chicago Blackhawks club in the knockout round, maybe they do need the pick.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are another team that is chock full of young talent and it would be an embarrassment of riches (and embarrassing for the league) to see them land Lafreniere. While the team would be in prime shape to finally snap their Stanley Cup drought with the addition, the Leafs are already well on their way and will be contenders for years and years to come even without the top pick. Additionally, should Toronto win the lottery, there would certainly be those that would cry foul about the whole situation. The Maple Leafs face the Columbus Blue Jackets in the qualifying round in one of the more evenly matched of the upcoming series. Toronto is likely the slight favorite, but could just as easily wind up in the lottery.

The current iteration of the Chicago Blackhawks is not good. However, they are also the most dominant franchise of this decade with three Stanley Cups. It’s not east to find many outside of Chicago who have pity for the current Blackhawks given their sustained success of late. With some of those core players still in place and some exciting young pieces starting to build up, the Blackhawks may already be back on the rebound without the assistance of Lafreniere. If they make it a series with the star-studded Oilers, it will be even more evident that they don’t need a top pick to stay relevant. Like the Maple Leafs, some will also be outraged if the Blackhawks win the lottery due to the perceived favoritism shown by the league on a number of occasions in recent years.

If you really want to hear conspiracy theories though, look no further than the possibility of the Montreal Canadiens winding up with No. 1 overall. Yes, the Canadiens have no business in a playoff series and would have been in the standard draft lottery anyway, but there will be plenty who think that it is far too convenient if the Habs win the top pick when a Francophone and Quebec native is the best player on the board. It used to be that Montreal – who don’t forget have more Stanley Cups than any NHL franchise – was able to claim the best French Canadian players in the draft regardless of draft order. If that opportunity should inadvertently occur once again, plenty of people might get upset at the league despite the fact that Montreal technically is the most deserving (read: worst) of the qualifying round teams. The NHL does not want that drama right now and its most decorated club frankly does not need special treatment, perceived or otherwise.

As for the remaining teams, the Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks were all better than their records implied this season and already have elite young players, the Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes may not have the fan bases to support a young star like Lafreniere, and I’m sure there are reasons to root against the Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, and Minnesota Wild as well. If you can think of a valid reason why the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have one playoff series win in franchise history, don’t deserve a stroke of good luck, that’s fine too.

What do you think? Which team do you absolutely not want to see Lafreniere go to, either because of existing talent or complaints of foul play or for any other reason? The reality is that one of these 16 will end up with the best player on the board, which in many ways is already a loss for the league, but it can get much worse from here.

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Latest On Hub City Announcement

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While there was some hope that the NHL might make a final decision on the two hub cities for Phase 4 and the upcoming 24-team tournament by Friday, that didn’t come to pass. Others have suggested the league might make the announcement on Monday, but a TSN report suggests that the decision might take even longer.

“Every relevant consideration will be fairly evaluated before decisions are made and announced,” said Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly (via Ryan Rishaug).

Those comments came after reports came that the NHL might be considering moving past Las Vegas, previously considered a lock to be one of the two hub cities, due to rising cases of COVID-19. However, Daly made it clear that none of the five remaining city candidates have been ruled out yet. The league is still considering Las Vegas, Toronto, Chicago, Edmonton and Los Angeles. Vancouver recently took themselves out of the running due to the number of positive tests that would delay/end the return and the flow of people inside/outside the bubble.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman notes that Vegas still remains the frontrunner and believes that Toronto and Edmonton are the next two cities likely to win one of the remaining bids. The scribe also notes that it’s likely East teams will stay in the East, while West teams will stay in the West.

Time is running out for a decision, however, as Phase 3 (training camp) is expected to start on July 10.

Snapshots: Hub Announcement Not Coming Today, Draft Lottery, Blackhawks

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NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly put the kibosh on any expectation that the final announcement about the postseason’s hub locations would be revealed today, per TSN’s Pierre LeBrun. There was hope bordering on expectation that the chosen cities would be announced today, but there’s evidently much still to consider. In the meantime, let’s see what else is going on around the NHL…

  • Tonight’s draft lottery will decide who gets the top three picks in next year’s draft – assuming the winners of those picks fall in the bottom seven by record, writes The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe. Otherwise, we might be facing a second lottery once the play-in round decides the other eight teams of the lottery field. The Detroit Red Wings have the night’s best odds, but the top pick has only gone to the team with the best odds 30% of the time over the past decade. After the Red Wings, the Ottawa Senators hold each of the next best slots, one for their own pick, and one for the Sharks pick they acquired in the Erik Karlsson deal.
  • Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman hasn’t engaged with their impending free agents, a list largely comprised of arbitration-eligible restricted free agents, per The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus. Goaltender Corey Crawford is their highest-issue unrestricted free agent, as the 35-year-old netminder held sway between the pipes for two Chicago championships. Restricted free agent Drake Caggiula also presents an interesting case, writes Lazerus, as the speedster expected that his broken hand would be the end of his season. The long layoff and expanded playoff pool has presented Caggiula with an opportunity to build his case ahead of what’s expected to be a rather tepid free agency.

League Still Not Allowing New Contracts For 2019-20

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When Scott Perunovich agreed to terms on two different contracts with the St. Louis Blues back in March, it led to plenty of confusion around the league. The plan was to have Perunovich sign a contract for 2019-20 if the season returned, allowing him to step right into a spot on the Blues roster for the playoffs. Several other top college and international players agreed to similar structures, hoping to burn the first year of their entry-level contracts before the 2020-21 season began.

Unfortunately, as Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required) reported, that made the league furious given that they had put a hold on any contracts for 2019-20. Teams were still holding out hope that the league would change their minds and allow players to sign, but yesterday Gary Bettman and Bill Daly dealt another blow to those hopes.

Daly explained that the league’s position was still that new players are not allowed to sign a contract for 2019-20, even going so far as to call them “ringers.” That means players like Perunovich won’t be seeing action this summer and will have to file their contracts for the 2020-21 season instead.

CapFriendly has even tentatively added them to their database in those spots. Along with Perunovich, this includes Alexander Romanov (MTL), Ian Mitchell (CHI), Grigori Denisenko (FLA), John Leonard (SJS), and Brinson Pasichnuk (SJS) though there are countless others like New York Islanders prospect Ilya Sorokin that have been waiting on word from the league as well.

The question now is how that affects their decisions moving forward, especially for the Russian players. The 2020-21 season is not expected to start on time, with the commissioner even suggesting yesterday that it could kick off with the Winter Classic in early January 2021. That would mean a very long wait for players ineligible to join the playoff festivities this summer, and could lead to some returning to the KHL should it open sooner.

League Notes: Bettman, Draft, PWHPA

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Canceling the 2019-20 NHL season without awarding the Stanley Cup is not something commissioner Gary Bettman is “even considering” according to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Bettman was confident in his answers that this season would be completed at some point, even if it does appear more and more likely that any resumption of play would move directly into a playoff.

Other reports have emerged, like the one from Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now, indicating that Arizona could be a hub to host playoff games at some point. That comes after the state’s governor announced that major league sports will be able to operate after Friday, May 15th. That very clearly does not mean that the NHL will be jumping back onto the ice in Arizona this weekend, but it does mean there may be a path forward for the state to host some games in the future—especially considering Bettman’s confidence that the season will resume.

  • As for the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, deputy commissioner Bill Daly had his own update. Daly told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) that they will likely have some news to announce next week on when the draft will be held. A June draft before the completion of the season, which at one point seemed inevitable, has lost momentum recently but is still an option for the league. Of course, the draft will be virtual and is not expected to be held in Montreal as originally planned.
  • Though not exactly a league, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association has announced some changes in its own structure for the upcoming season. After spending a year touring the continent playing showcase tournaments, the PWHPA will now focus on five regional training hubs for their members based in Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, New Hampshire and Minnesota. There will now be try-outs for each training group (which will consist of 25 players) and they will be provided with additional resources.

NHL Releases Memo About Potential June Draft

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The NHL released a memo Friday evening to all 31 teams stating its position on holding the NHL Entry Draft in June, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. While nothing is set in stone, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly wrote that broadcast networks are on board with the plan that is rumored to set a June 5 draft date, giving the league a month to prepare.

One major issue would be the draft lottery. Considering the remainder of the regular season hasn’t been played out or cancelled, the NHL is suggesting using points percentage as the means to determine the order of the draft. The memo also outlined that the lottery format would be adjusted for this season only. There would be only one winner of the lottery with teams only being allowed to move up a maximum of four spots.

Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston notes that would mean that the Detroit Red Wings, who have the best chance to win the lottery, would receive nothing lower than the second-overall pick, while the Ottawa Senators would pick no lower than the third and fourth overall picks (they currently have San Jose’s lottery pick as well via the Erik Karlsson trade in 2018).

That could cause some ire from general managers who are all hoping to get their hands on QMJHL winger Alexis Lafreniere with the No. 1 overall pick. Despite having a greater advantage, Friedman notes that Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman stated on a Fox News Detroit Facebook Live chat on Thursday that he’s opposed to the idea.

My thought is: Why would you do that? Why would you need to do that?” Yzerman said. “There’s a lot of things that are affected, obviously. The draft position hasn’t been established; we don’t know who’s in the playoffs, who’s out of the playoffs, in some cases … But at this time, my own opinion is, I haven’t heard a good reason why we should do it prior to the end of the season, if we do conclude the season over the course of the summer.”

The league is also suggesting that teams would get seven days to deal with conditional trades that might involve draft picks in order that both teams reach a fair agreement. Many have sited the James Neal – Milan Lucic trade, which had Calgary receiving a conditional pick based on Neal scoring 21 goals and at least 10 more than Lucic. Teams would have a chance to renegotiate those deals so both teams are happy with the outcome.

However, the league is making it clear in the memo that they want to move on with the draft despite the uncertainty of the rest of the 2019-20 season. If the league is persuaded against using this format by teams, then the league would have to push it back much later with the best-case scenario being that the Stanley Cup awarded at some point in September with the 2020-21 season beginning in December and the draft being hastily dropped in between.

The fact of the matter is that whenever we hold the 2020 Draft — in early June or ‘shoehorned’ into a short window in October or November — (it) is not going to be a typical NHL Draft,” said Daly. “It is not going to look the same; it is not going to feel the same; and it is not going to be the same. While we may know more about next year’s landscape in terms of CBA, Salary Cap, Escrow, etc., in November than we will in June, we are still not going to know everything, and there is still going to be a multitude of questions that have no answers. So, any comparison of the 2020 NHL Draft to a typical year’s Draft is not — and cannot be — an ‘apples to apples’ comparison.”

Of course teams have to consent to this proposal, but the NHL is making it clear that this is the direction they would like to go, especially with the league’s financial security at stake. The NFL had a successful draft recently that gave a lot of attention to the league (including a 37 percent increase in viewership on the first night). With the NHL on suspension for more than a month, the league could use some of that attention headed its way until the league feels it can resume the NHL season later in the summer, at the earliest.

 

NHL Willing To Delay 2020-21 Start In Order To Finish 2019-20

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The longer that the NHL remains out of action while continuing to maintain that they want to complete the 2019-20 regular season and have a full postseason, the more likely it becomes that next season will be affected. Boston Bruins president Cam Neely tells NBC Sports that not only is it possible that 2020-21 could be delayed, it’s a widely accepted outcome across the NHL in order to properly finish the current season. Neely states that both players and owners alike feel that it is important to complete the 2019-20 campaign if at all possible:

The feeling is there’s an opportunity to be able to push next season back and still get an 82-game schedule in next year. Everything is on the table to try and get the season completed.

Neely’s stress that a full season next year remains an important part of any plan to continue the current season aligns with what the NHL has already said. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has already confirmed that the NHL would not entertain shortening the 2020-21 season just to accommodate the end of the 2019-20 season. However, that doesn’t seem like it will be necessary. The league is currently exploring using “hub cities” from each of the four divisions to play a condensed schedule that can be more easily safeguarded from the threats of Coronavirus by limiting travel and controlling facilities. Such a plan could allow for the season to re-start sooner rather than later. In fact, there have been whispers that training camps could open within a month with games starting as early as June. What remains to be seen is how much time would be needed one play does resume to wrap up the regular season and play the entire postseason.

Neely’s Bruins are one club especially invested in a continuation of the season. Boston was in first place in the league standings by a fairly wide margin when the season was suspended and many of their core players are in the twilight of their careers and want another shot at the Stanley Cup, especially after missing out on the title by one game last year. In fact, the Bruins may even be in favor of jumping straight to the postseason, though Neely does not believe that the NHLPA would approve of that plan. It seems Boston will have to earn the President’s Trophy with a few more regular season wins before getting their shot a potential delayed playoffs.

NHL Could Still Hold Draft In June, Resume Season Afterward

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As the sports world prepares for the first major event in more than a month with the NFL Draft occurring virtually this Thursday through Saturday, it seems that the NHL could be using the event as a test run for their own entry draft. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun relayed word today from Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly that the league has considered a virtual format for their own draft. This could potentially allow them to keep the event in June as scheduled.

The league had initially postponed this year’s draft, as well as the NHL Combine, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the indefinite nature of the current league year left questions as to when and how the draft would occur and the impact that would have on the rookies, their NHL clubs, and their junior teams. Holding the draft in June as planned would solve a number of these issues, but obviously raises a number of other questions.

First and foremost would be how this would impact the continuation of the 2019-20 season. LeBrun was quick to note that the draft being held in June, which ordinarily follows the end of the postseason, would not preclude the league year from continuing in July or August as many hope. This of course leads to other issues, such as how the draft lottery, draft order, and conditional picks will be sorted out if there are still games to be played. Abandoning the regular season in favor of jumping directly to the playoffs later this year would simplify these matters somewhat but would not entirely answer all questions.

Additionally, a continued season would also mean that teams remain prohibited from making trades, at least in the way that deals are normally made in the off-season. The lack of draft day trades would be another stark difference from how the NHL Draft operates and could frustrate a number of teams looking to leverage picks into players.

Given the lack of hockey during what would typically be the early stages of the postseason is certainly depressing for hockey fans and makes the idea of a June draft sound appealing. However, the league will need to respond to a number of major questions with satisfying answers before they could sign off on a virtual draft before making a decision on if and how the current season will continue.

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