The hockey world received sad news today, as long-time NBC broadcaster, former coach and player Eddie Olczyk was diagnosed with colon cancer. Olcyzk is perhaps best known for his even-handed color commentary and general good standing league wide. Olczyk played over 1000 NHL contests, splitting time between Chicago, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Winnipeg, and Los Angeles. His short foray into the coaching world for the Penguins in 2003-04 and 2005-06 was relatively unsuccessful, but Olczyk found a home as a broadcaster, first for his local Comcast SportsNet Chicago before taking on a more national role. His legacy within the Blackhawks fanbase is that of a fair, enthusiastic lover of the sport, who provides solid and humor-filled insight.
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Bad Value: The Worst Contracts League-Wide
It’s always interesting to see where teams are spending their money unwisely, especially to the armchair GMs of every fanbase. In a fine article by Satchel Price of SB Nation, he breaks down what he believes is each team’s worst contract currently on the books. After the slew of buyouts that happened early in the off-season, many teams were able to cut ties with some of the worst offenders. Still, some of the worst cap criminals are primed to haunt their teams yet again in 2017-18. Discounting the injured Nathan Horton, David Clarkson, and Dave Bolland, these were some of the names that stuck out on the list.
David Backes – Boston Bruins – 4 yrs x $6 MM
When Backes signed this contract, many were wondering what the Boston management were thinking. Backes already was showing signs of decline his last two seasons in St. Louis, and his tough style of play was always going to take away from his longevity. He still flirts with 40+ points and adds solid two-way ability. But in 2 seasons, if Backes continues to slow and falter possession-wise, this contract may become a brutal obstacle to beefing up the offense.
Brent Seabrook – Chicago Blackhawks – 7 yrs x $6.785 MM
Seabrook was a player who really piggy-backed off the success of the Hawks cup teams. He was a solid player, but by no means a core player. GM Stan Bowman thought differently, and handed out a massive, maximum-term contract, complete with a no-movement clause. Chicago has really struggled to fill their depth forward and bottom defensive positions out with cheap players, largely because of overpayments like this. Seabrook did accumulate a ton of assists last year, but his goal scoring has all but disappeared. Perhaps the worst negative to Seabrook? He’s never been a positive possession player in Corsi relative, in any single season he’s played. For a franchise that pays Jonathan Toews over $10 MM AAV, this contract is absolutely crippling.
Dustin Brown – L.A. Kings – 5 yrs x $5.875 MM
Brown benefited from the same intangibles-related inflation that Toews did. Leading a team to multiple Cups is generally a recipe to have your value balloon immensely. Winners are winners, after all. Brown, though, was never really integral to the team’s on-ice success in 2012 or 2014, and his undisputed leadership abilities didn’t help the team in the past few years when they have struggled to put pucks in the nett. His two-way ability is solid, but not elite, and he hasn’t broken 20 goals since 2011-12. Perhaps Brown can be revitalized under the system of coach John Stevens, but his body has to have taken a toll with the way he’s played the game. One need only look to former King Mike Richards to see what gritty, shot-blocking forwards have in the way of staying power.
Marc Staal – New York Rangers – 4 yrs x $5.75 MM
In all likelihood, the primary reason Staal has not already been bought out is because he had one more year on his contract than the much-maligned Dan Girardi. Staal has been a noticeably bad defender in terms of possession stats for the last three seasons, and showed few (if any) signs of improvement this season. He still logs over 19 minutes of ice a night, so he’s not stapled to the bench. But he’s not a top-four defender at this point, and considering how he’s never been a two-way threat, his one-dimensional game may only deteriorate further.
Andrew MacDonald – Philadelphia Flyers – 3 ys x $5 MM
This is a prime example of an error that most teams have learned to avoid – handing out multi-year deals to wildly inconsistent players. MacDonald had his offensive totals inflated by playing for a very lean New York Islanders team, and Philadelphia pounced on acquiring this player in the midst of a -9.0% Corsi Relative season. MacDonald has since dried up offensively, and while he has cleaned up his possession numbers against weaker competition, he still needs massive sheltering. He also has had a heck of a time staying healthy – he’s missed 93 contests over the last 3 campaigns. MacDonald is now taking valuable playing time from a young defensive core and hindering the team’s ability to acquire top free agents.
Cost Per Point: The Best Value Deals In The NHL
When working with a salary cap, especially one that has not been increasing as expected in recent year, it is vital for general managers to get the most production out of their players. Teams with players who meet the expected level of production implied by their contracts and teams that lack wasted dollars in bad, expensive deals are often the same teams that thrive in today’s NHL. Forget market size or free agent appeal, the key to a winning franchise nowadays is getting the best bang for your buck on every player on the roster. While no player can be fully quantified by their scoring, cost per point is an easy way to look at which players are producing at the most team-friendly rate and which have been more of a cap space killer than a positive member of the team. Thanks to CapFriendly, that information is readily available to fans and NHL executives alike.
The benchmark for this metric is about $100K/point, as GM’s expect those big-time forwards and offensive defenseman who they award with $6MM, $7MM, and $8MM per year contracts to be putting up 60, 70, or 80 points respectively. For the second year in a row, St. Louis Blues superstar Vladimir Tarasenko was the poster boy for this standard, coming in at exactly $100K/point with 75 points on a $7.5MM deal. Winnipeg’s Bryan Little and New Jersey’s Adam Henrique are two other notable names that hit the mark exactly, while phenoms like Sidney Crosby and Duncan Keith landing close to the $100K/point mark show that it is an accurate expectation.
However, the exception to the rule is obviously entry-level contracts. It is no secret that drafting and developing well is the best way to improve you team, beginning with affordable scoring from players on their rookie deals. Nowhere is that more apparent than in cost per point, where nine of the top ten and 17 of the top 20 best contracts were rookie deals. To no one surprise, 20-year-old MVP Connor McDavid and his 100 points on a $925K entry-level contract was far and away the best bargain in hockey. McDavid cost the Oilers only $9,250 per point in 2016-17. That will all change soon, as McDavid is set to begin an eight-year, $100MM contract in 2018-19, after which a 100-point campaign will cost Edmonton $125,000/point, closer to the expectations of a standard contract. For now, the Oilers can enjoy one more year of McDavid likely being the best deal in the NHL, as well as the best player. Entry-level deals joining McDavid in the top ten last year (in order) were Viktor Arvidsson, Artemi Panarin, teammate Leon Draisaitl, Conor Sheary, David Pastrnak, Auston Matthews, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Patrik Laine. Not all entry-level deals are created equal, so while Draisaitl and Pastrnak were second and fourth respectively in entry-level scoring, they were also on the ELC maximum deal of $925K and of slightly lesser value to their teams than the likes of Arvidsson ($632K) and Sheary ($667.5K). Panarin had the best contract in the league in 2015-16 and fell only to third with $10,980/point for the Chicago Blackhawks. Now in Columbus and on a two-year, $12MM deal, the Blue Jackets have to hope that they can continue to get 70+ point seasons out of him to maximize the value of that deal.
So, entry-level contracts aside, who was the best contract in hockey last season? Another easy answer, former Blue Jacket gamble Sam Gagner. After a horrendous 2015-16 campaign with the Philadelphia Flyers, Gagner struggled to find a new team last summer, eventually settling on a $650K “show me” deal with Columbus. Right away people tagged that contract, for a six-time 40+ point scorer, as an absolute bargain, even if Gagner simply bounced back to normal production. He did one better, posting a career-high 50 points for the Jackets and coming in at $13K/point, good enough for sixth in the NHL. Gagner has since moved on to the Vancouver Canucks, signing a three-year, $9.45MM contract on July 1st. However, if he is able to continue to produce at 40-50 point levels over that deal, his $3.15MM cap hit will remain a great bargain deal. Behind Gagner, another player on the move this summer, former Florida Panther and current Vegas Golden Knight Jonathan Marchessault had the 13th-ranked cost per point last year at $14,706/point. Marchessault had a breakout year, netting 51 points in the first season of a two-year, $1.5MM deal. Rather than take advantage of one more $750K season for a 30-goal scorer, the Panthers allowed Marchessault to be selected in the Expansion Draft and Vegas surely hopes he continues to be one of the best values in hockey in 2017-18. The final contract in the top 20 not belonging to an entry-level player, and the only 35+ veteran contract in the top 50, belongs to Marchessault’s replacement in Florida, Radim Vrbata. Vrbata returned home to Arizona last season after a down year in Vancouver the season prior, and the swift 36-year old proceeded to score 55 points, more than double his previous year’s total. On a one-year deal with a $1MM base salary, that only cost the Coyotes $18,182/point last season. Now at a base salary of $2.5MM in Florida, the Panthers hope that Vrbata isn’t starting to slow down just yet. Other impressive value contracts included Patrick Eaves, whose breakout season in Dallas led to a trade and subsequent extension with the Anaheim Ducks, Derek Ryan, who shocked the hockey world with 29 points for the Carolina Hurricanes in his first full NHL season at age 30, and a quartet of recently re-signed RFAs in Richard Panik, Ryan Dzingel, Ryan Spooner, and Jordan Martinook.
With the good comes the bad, and there were certainly some poor value contracts in the NHL last year. Many of the worst belong to players who were injured or AHL depth players that saw only limited time. With zero points in 13 games with a $1.25MM cap hit, Tampa Bay Lightning winger Erik Condra’s value was not even quantifiable it was so bad, and at the highest salary of any player who went pointless last season. Limited to just 18 games with only four points, another Bolts forward, Ryan Callahan, was one of the worst values due to injury with $1.45MM per point on his $5.8MM cap hit. However, the truly worst contract in the NHL has to belong to a player that player a majority of the season. Sadly for a Detroit fan base that is already feeling pretty down-and-out, that designation belongs to Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser, who began a six-year, $30MM extension by scoring about a third less points for the third season in a row. With 12 points in 82 games at $5MM, DeKeyser’s $416.7K/point is pretty ugly. The Buffalo Sabres struck out twice on the blue line, with both Dmitry Kulikov (five points in 47 games at $4.33MM) and Josh Gorges (six points in 66 games at $3.9MM) coming in at $866.7K/point and $650K/point respectively, though neither is known as a major point producer. The worst forward contract? Andrew Desjardins may not have been relied upon as a full-time player with much ice time last season with the Chicago Blackhawks, but with only one point in 46 games, $800K/point, it’s not difficult to see why he remains an unsigned free agent.
While statistics and analytics in hockey are normally geared toward displaying on-ice production, it is always interesting to look at the game from a business perspective. It is important for teams and fans alike to understand not just the absolute of how a player is producing, but the relative value of that production based on how much money that player is being paid. In a salary cap league, there is nothing more important that production value, and as the game grows the focus will only further tighten on scoring as a function of dollars and the cost per point metric.
Maxim Shalunov Remains In Blackhawks' Plans
The Chicago Blackhawks were disappointed when Maxim Shalunov signed a three-year deal in the KHL, but Scott Powers of The Athletic writes that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be out of their plans for that long. As we’ve seen multiple times over the past year, KHL contracts can be terminated early to allow players to come over to the NHL.
Panthers Notes: Tippett, Tallon
Breathe easy, Panthers fans. Tenth overall pick Owen Tippett was hit hard (gif via Twitter) during today’s game against the United States during the World Junior Summer Showcase. NHL.com’s Mike Morreale tweeted that it didn’t look good after the hit, but Tippett was able to leave the ice under his own power. Morreale tweeted later that he observed Tippett with his teammates, going through exercises and appearing just fine. An injury scare for the high scoring winger would have been a difficult blow for Florida. Tippett has a chance to make the roster right out of training camp, and if the skills transfer over, can be a major contributor in the scoring column. The Sun-Sentinel’s Harvey Fialkov wrote about how general manager Dale Tallon believes Tippett to have the makeup of a player who is mature beyond his years. Today’s hit appears to be just a minor incident, and one that shouldn’t stunt Tippett’s chance at making the NHL roster.
- Tallon was featured in an Athletic article by Scott Powers, who wrote how Tallon holds a special place in his heart for Chicago. Tallon was responsible for the bulk of the drafting and free agent signings that turned the Blackhawks into a model franchise after being a league doormat for nearly a decade. Powers asked Tallon about his thoughts on the Panthers offseason, and he responded as such:
We had to rework it a little bit. We’re going younger, we’re going faster. We like what we’ve done. We’ve gotten quicker and faster, a little more depth. We added some grit, we added some speed and we added some skill. We got a lot of good young players that we still have coming in our organization that we really like, and we have a real strong core of young players that were injured last year. I think our team is going to be faster and younger and play with a little more energy than we did last year. The new coaches to our coaching staff are really good. I’m excited to work with them and get rolling here.
Tallon admitted that he wasn’t happy about last season and that it was a difficult decision not bringing Jaromir Jagr back, noting that he was great for leadership and exemplifying a strong work ethic. But like many executives in the NHL, Tallon felt it was time to get younger and faster.
Chicago Blackhawks Latest To Be Linked To Will Butcher
Scott Powers of The Athletic reports that the Chicago Blackhawks are expected to be one of the teams chasing Will Butcher this summer, the Colorado draft pick who will become a free agent in two weeks. Already Detroit and Pittsburgh have been linked to the young defenseman, who will have his choice of teams after winning the Hobey Baker and dominating the college circuit last season.
It’s still unclear if Butcher, 22, is ready to step into an NHL role. His offensive production was excellent in college and he’s dominated his competition for some time, but he’s still an undersized defenseman without a standout skill. That can translate into struggles in the league, though Butcher is going to choose his landing spot carefully to provide the best situation for success. He’s said in the past that an immediate role isn’t necessary and that the long-term outlook for a franchise may be more important, but you’d have to think a chance to play with a team just a couple of hours south of his hometown could weigh on his decision.
There will be stiff competition for his services, and a decision won’t have to be made right away. Butcher could wait a few weeks and still be under contract before camp starts. Remember last season, when Jimmy Vesey was in a similar situation that he didn’t sign until August 19th.
Early Look At Some 2017-18 Impact Rookies: Part II
Last week we took a look at some of the most interesting rookie names around the league, profiling Clayton Keller, Dylan Strome, Tyson Jost, Brock Boeser, Charlie McAvoy and Julius Honka. Each of those names have a chance at making a real impact for their respective clubs in 2017-18, and at least a few could be in the running for a Calder trophy as Rookie of the Year. Again, this series is avoiding the 2017 draftees as they’ll be profiled individually as we get closer to camp and have a better idea of who will be staying in the NHL right away.
For this part, we’ll take a look at some other young players who may not have the same draft pedigree of Strome, or early impact that Boeser, McAvoy and Honka have shown.
Josh Ho-Sang – New York Islanders
One of the most mentioned names in comments after releasing the first group of players was Ho-Sang (along with Mathew Barzal). While part one was certainly not meant to rank any of the upcoming young players, Ho-Sang’s exclusion was certainly noticeable. After making his NHL debut this season under some (silly) controversy, Ho-Sang is ready to take the next step and be a full-time contributor to the Islanders this year. Regardless of the number on his back, he showed during his 21 game stint that he can compete at the highest level and registered 10 points. No one would be shocked by a 40-point season from the young forward, and if given a full-time opportunity in New York’s top six he could push even higher than that.
Thomas Chabot – Ottawa Senators
One of the most impressive players in junior hockey last year, Chabot spent a single game with the Senators and is just about ready to take the NHL by storm. It’s hard for a defenseman to step right into a big role in the NHL, but with Erik Karlsson and Cody Ceci still around Chabot can easily be sheltered to start his career. It’s unclear where exactly he’d fit though as the team still has Chris Wideman, but if given the opportunity Chabot could provide a dynamic option on the right side. The Senators also brought in Johnny Oduya and have at least eight names that could take up six spots, so that opportunity may have to wait for an injury.
Anders Bjork – Boston Bruins
The Bruins team bus will be a rowdy place this year given how many rookies and young players could be on the roster, and Bjork isn’t one to overlook. The fifth-round pick dominated for Notre Dame as a junior before signing this spring, and looks ready to jump right into a top-six role with the NHL club. There seems to be a natural fit for him across from David Pastrnak to make a dynamic second unit for the Bruins, but how it all shakes out still isn’t clear. It’s not even set that he’ll start the year in the NHL, but after 52 points on a Fighting Irish club that relied almost solely on his production and Cal Petersen’s outstanding goaltending he sure seemed ready to take the next step.
Zach Aston-Reese – Pittsburgh Penguins
Another college name, this time of the free agent variety continues to impress in Aston-Reese. A finalist for the Hobey Baker trophy, Aston-Reese has done nothing but score since being passed over in the draft several times. The 22-year old put up 63 points in 38 games for Northeastern, before jumping right into the AHL and showing off with eight points in 10 games. He’s big enough to play in Pittsburgh’s bottom-six right away, and there is a glaring hole at center that the team still needs to address. Pittsburgh is notorious for turning college players into immediate producers, and it could be no different for the bang-and-crash two-way player in Aston-Reese. The forward depth of the Penguins could lead to big minutes with players like Phil Kessel or Patric Hornqvist, a situation no young player would pass up.
Alex DeBrincat – Chicago Blackhawks
78 goals, 165 points and the disappointment of being cut from the US World Junior team and losing the Memorial Cup should be more than enough motivation for DeBrincat coming into Blackhawks camp, who will try to crack the squad at 19 and show that his small stature doesn’t hold him back on the ice. In junior he was almost always the most skilled player in the game and has showed it by scoring more than 100 points in three straight years. There are doubts about his durability and even some about his top-end speed—though his first-step acceleration and quickness was among the best in the OHL—but it’s clear that he knows how to score. For a team desperate for cheap forward options that can play up with their top names, DeBrincat could come into a perfect scenario and compete for the rookie scoring title.
*Note: There are many other rookies that have impact potential that will be profiled throughout the summer as we approach the season. These are in no particular order or ranking.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Performance Bonuses Around The League
In the NHL, there are only a few ways you are allowed to have performance bonuses included in your contract. One way is to be on an entry-level contract, of which almost every one contains some sort of incentive. Young players can earn either Schedule A or B bonuses for various performance markers, though the really big numbers are only usually given out to the very highest of draft picks. Even Mitch Marner for instance, drafted fourth overall in 2015 can only earn up to $850K each season and doesn’t have any Schedule B bonuses in his deal.
The other contracts that can include bonuses are more rare, and they’ll be the focus of this article. These can be given out to players who sign a one-year contract after they turn 35, or a one-year deal coming off a substantial injury (the qualifications for such an injury are that they have already played at least 400 games in their career, and spent at least 100 days on injured reserve in the final year of their previous contract). Many of these have been given out, and we’ll detail them here.
Radim Vrbata – Florida Panthers 
Vrbata was given a one-year deal with the Panthers this summer after a solid season with the Arizona Coyotes, and will earn $2.5MM in guaranteed salary. He also can earn a total of $1.25MM more through performance bonuses:
- $250K for 10th goal
- $250K for 15th goal
- $250K for 20th goal
- $250K for 45th point
- $250K for making playoffs
Mark Streit – Montreal Canadiens
Streit was given a $700K contract from the Montreal Canadiens just this week to add some extra depth to a defense corps that was losing Andrei Markov. His deal includes $300K of unknown performance bonuses, that could take the total contract to $1MM.
Johnny Oduya – Ottawa Senators
Oduya earned a one-year $1MM contract from the Ottawa Senators, and while it’s not clear where he fits in exactly on the blueline he could earn much more should he find a prominent role. The deal includes $1.25MM of performance bonuses:
- $250K for 41st game played
- $250K for 65th game played
- $250K if ranked in top-5 TOI for Ottawa defensemen
- $250K if ranked in top-3 TOI for Ottawa defensemen
- $250K for making playoffs
Chris Kunitz – Tampa Bay Lightning
Kunitz is looking for his fifth Stanley Cup this season with the Lightning, who gave him a one-year $2MM contract. The former Penguin can earn another $1MM in various unknown ice-time bonuses, likely tied to where he ends up among Lightning forwards.
Patrick Sharp – Chicago Blackhawks
Sharp is returning to his old stomping ground this year after the Blackhawks signed him to a one-year $800K contract, but there is no guarantee he plays much of the season. Sharp’s been hurt by several injuries the last few seasons, and because of it Chicago included a $200K bonus for playing just ten games this year.
Mike Cammalleri – Los Angeles Kings
Cammalleri was bought out by the New Jersey Devils this spring, only to immediately find a new home with the Kings on the west coast. His $1MM contract has an additional $200K in performance bonuses, though the exact details are still unknown.
Deryk Engelland – Vegas Golden Knights
When the Golden Knights signed Engelland after the expansion draft, they were bringing back someone who knew the city and could help their young players get acclimated to their new surroundings. They signed him to a one-year deal worth $1MM, but it also includes another $1MM in unknown performance bonuses.
Thanks to CapFriendly for many of the performance bonus details.
Chicago Blackhawks Sign Collin Delia
The Chicago Blackhawks have dipped into the college free agent market, signing goaltender Collin Delia out of their development camp to a two-year entry-level contract. Delia attended the 2016 camp as well, and as Scott Powers of The Athletic writes, the team was impressed with him even then.
The 23-year old goaltender has played the last three seasons for Merrimack College, and had a huge junior season as the 1A in the team’s tandem. A .927 save percentage kept his goals against average way down at 2.15, apparently impressive enough for the Blackhawks to bring him in on a professional contract this summer. He’ll head to the minors, but whether that stop is Rockford (likely) or Indianapolis is still to be determined. The Blackhawks already have Jeff Glass, Anton Forsberg and Jean-Francois Berube under NHL contracts, at least one of which was poised to take the starting role in the AHL.
Delia though may hold more potential than either Glass or Berube, and should get his fair share of starts somewhere in the system. Though the Blackhawks lost Scott Darling this summer to the Carolina Hurricanes, they’ve built some solid depth behind starter Corey Crawford in recent weeks.
What Is The Best Way To Build A Champion?
At the Chicago Blackhawks convention, winger Patrick Kane was noted for saying that the Pittsburgh Penguins were the measuring stick for championship teams in the NHL. The sentiment is a fair one, after the Pens were the first team in the Cap Era to repeat and the first to go back-to-back since the ’96-97 and ’97-98 Detroit Red Wings.
Back in April, Sportsnet did a fascinating piece on how every Stanley Cup playoff participant was built and a quick glance at each team realizes that a healthy mix of good drafting, smart trades, and keen signings from the free agent pool lead to stability. Is there a metric of perfection? Hardly. The Blackhawks are saddled with huge contracts to players with a lot of miles on them. They developed well, they drafted well under Dale Tallon (Bowman has been a mixed bag), and Bowman made some shrewd trades to keep the band together. The official metric (at that time) was a mix of their roster being 40% drafted; 20% acquired through trade and another 40% picked up as free agents. Two months later, the Hawks violently shook up their roster after a stunning four-game sweep to the Nashville Predators.
So how about the Pittsburgh Penguins? The back-to-back champs clocked in at 44% drafted, 41% traded, and just 15% signed. Remember, it wasn’t too long ago that many analysts and pundits were wondering if Sidney Crosby should be dealt to rebuild, whereas ESPN’s Matthew Coller eerily wrote this:
Barring a miracle turnaround under coach Mike Sullivan, it appears the Pittsburgh Penguins’ run as an elite team is over, whether they make the playoffs this season or not. Recently fired coach Mike Johnston might be at fault for some of their struggles, but the Penguins’ big picture is clear: They have fading superstars, a broken-down prospect system and bandages covering up giant gashes in the team’s depth.
Obviously, the miracle turnaround happened and the Pens have two more Stanley Cups to show for it. This isn’t to slag Coller at all—in fact, if you can remember back to December 2015 the Penguins were playing listless hockey and appeared to truly need a reshaping. But sometimes different voices—and players—can make all the difference.
So what does it take for a franchise to win a Cup? Here are a few thoughts:
Sometimes, It Takes A Fresh Pair Of Eyes
The Penguins did just that. Ray Shero was the general manager from 2006-2014, and was fired following a bitter first round exit. Head coach Dan Bylsma followed soon after, once Jim Rutherford was hired. Rutherford’s arrival was hardly celebrated at the time, and the Penguins were bounced in five games just a year later. Rutherford then turned around and acquired Phil Kessel, booted Johnston for Sullivan in December of 2015, and snagged Trevor Daley from Chicago in a steal (Rob Scuderi, who was flipped later to Los Angeles).
Rutherford didn’t build the roster. He didn’t have a history with the franchise. Instead, he came in with a different perspective than those who were around to construct it. The one metric that advanced or conventional statistics don’t capture are the human elements that lead to winning. They’re not measurable. Statistics are important as is robust scouting. But a fresh perspective, where biases are not entrenched, go a long way. Sometimes, a front office reboot is just what the doctor ordered. Staying the course for too long can bring down a franchise. The Detroit Red Wings certainly seem to be an example of that, currently in cap hell, with contracts bloated in money, years, and no-trade clauses. Many think that Ken Holland, who’s had a dismal eight years since the Wings’ last Finals appearance, has simply been there too long to make any sizable changes. Loyalty, after all, is a powerful agent.
This isn’t to say that full-scale change is always the way to go. Patience is a virtue. But sometimes, a different look at things can go a long way.
Draft Well
This is the no-brainer. You can’t whiff on your top picks. The Penguins built a foundation when the ping pong ball bounced their way three times, allowing them to draft Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, and Crosby in three straight drafts. From there, it’s finding the right complimentary pieces and then developing that talent through the minors. Of those 16 playoff participants examined in the Sportsnet piece, only one team didn’t have a roster that was composed of over 33% drafted players (Boston Bruins – 25%). That’s a third of the roster contributing to a playoff appearance—an obvious necessity to prolonged success.
Trading Is Risk/Reward Based On Who’s Pulling The Trigger
Trades certainly put the Penguins over the top but they don’t always work out. Just ask George McPhee and David Poile about that Filip Forsberg deal. But it goes without saying that teams can’t be afraid to make a deal here and there. Poile is proof positive of that. He swung the trade that netted P.K. Subban, and has swindled other teams to acquire both core and supplemental talent. Trading can’t be relied upon solely to build a winner, but adding the right pieces at opportune times can be the difference between a deep playoff run and just missing the playoffs.
Free agency, especially in the salary cap era, has become akin to navigating a field full of land mines. Long terms and big dollars are spent on players and only seasons later, buyouts used to purge the mistake. There are certainly cases of it working well, but it seems like it’s best to tread lightly during the free agent signing period.
There will never be a perfect science to building a team. Sometimes it’s just a little luck that propels a team on the bubble to a Stanley Cup Final appearance or even just qualifying for the playoffs. Regardless, it’s interesting to note that as the Penguins head into a season trying to capture a third consecutive Cup, smart drafting, trading and a fresh perspective can go a long way in winning.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images