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Hossa Hopes To Play Out Contract

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In a Chicago Tribune article, released yesterday, Marian Hossa answered the question of whether or not he would play out his days with the Chicago Blackhawks and finish his mammoth contract with an emphatic “yes”. Hossa, who will turn 38 during the upcoming season, is one of very few players whose contracts predate the current NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement. The new CBA put in place an eight-year term limit on contracts, as they looked to eliminate cap-circumventing deals like those of Ilya Kovalchuk and Roberto Luongo, as well as ridiculous offer sheets like the one submitted to Shea Weber. Prior to 2012-13, there was no such limit, and decade-plus deals were being handed out with no regard for the reality of the situation. A then-30-year-old Marian Hossa, fresh off of back-to-back Stanley Cup defeats with and against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings, inked a 12-year deal with the up-and-coming Blackhawks. They’ve since won three Stanley Cups.

However, the story doesn’t end there. Hossa is entering his eighth year with the team, and the last before the bottom falls off of his contract. In the final four years, Hossa is paid just $1MM per season to balance out $7.9MM cap hits in the past seven years and a $4MM salary in 2016-17. If Hossa plays for that amount through the end of his contract, he will be 42 years old when it ends in 2020-21. If he doesn’t? The recapture penalties for Chicago would be steep and Hossa could very well cripple the team for years.

For this reason, the health and commitment of Marian Hossa will be an important story line for Hawks fans over the next five years. Hossa told the Tribune that he evaluates his physical conditioning and talent level before each season and, as of now, he still feels he has enough left in the tank to play for five more years. However, should his skill diminish or injuries pile up, he is not ruling out early retirement. No one would blame him either, as only Jaromir Jagr is currently playing at a high level in his 40’s. Hossa is ready for another big year with the Blackhawks, but it’s two, three, four seasons down the road that are really the focus for Chicago and their Hall of Fame-caliber winger.

Blackhawks Sign Knott To Entry-Level Deal

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The Chicago Blackhawks have announced  that they have signed 2015 second-round pick Graham Knott to an entry-level contract. CapFriendly confirms that it is a standard three-year deal with the $925K maximum entry-level cap hit. The big left wing has looked good in camp, and is coming off of a 42-point season with the OHL’s Niagara Ice Dogs, who he helped lead to the league finals.

Although the 6’3″ 19-year-old is likely headed back to juniors this year, he is an interesting prospect for Hawks fans to keep an eye on. A power forward who plays a complete two-way game, Knott has the skill and hockey sense to be an effective NHLer. However, he may need more development on the finesse of his game before he’s ready for the next level.

With Knott signed on officially, he joins a massive list of young wingers fighting for a spot on the Blackhawks this season. Ryan Hartman, Vinnie Hinostroza, Mark McNeill, Nick Schmaltz, and Tyler Motte are all looking to fill a plethora of holes in Chicago’s bottom-six, and Knott hopes to keep his name in contention for as long as possible.

Blackhawks Notes: Forsling, Pokka, Schmaltz, Darling

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The Chicago Sun-Times Mark Lazerus writes that defenseman Gustav Forsling could be sticking around with the Hawks for a little bit longer.  The 20-year-old was paired with Brian Campbell during the Hawks’ 2-0 loss against Pittsburgh, and might be a great fill-in should Duncan Keith not be able to play when Chicago expects him to. Lazerus notes that head coach Joel Quenneville has carried as many as eight defensemen in the past, so holding onto the “kid” might not be far fetched. Assistant coach Kevin Dineen says that the Blackhawks are a “performance based organization” that will give the job to the most deserving player. Scott Powers argues that Forsling still won’t see the time he could have due to Campbell signing on the cheap, and Michal Kempny choosing the Hawks. Forsling, he writes, is most likely headed back to Sweden, despite the Hawks sounding like they might be making a place for him. Powers adds that Forsling is certainly NHL ready but that sending him back to Sweden to push his next contract off a year might be incentive enough to keep his off the roster.

In other Hawks news:

  • Powers continues his defensive analysis by writing that Ville Pokka is also not too far away from being a mainstay on the blue line. Though he’s a bit slower in stride and not as gifted athletically as other d-men, Powers believes that his acumen and hockey IQ will more than compensate for an eventual shot with the Hawks. He will have a chance in Chicago–it’s just a matter of when.
  • Chicago is high on Nick Schmaltz for obvious reasons, and Powers writes that his work with fellow rookie Vinnie Hinostroza and Richard Panik certainly garnered attention. The three drove possession and were the “best line” on the ice during the Hawks’ preseason loss. He continues by writing that Schmaltz and Hinostroza stand the best chance of making the roster among bubble players.
  • According to Powers, Scott Darling could be a #1 goalie in the NHL when he’s “at his best.” Where Darling needs to improve, writes Powers, is his consistency. Darling is set for free agency after this season, and if he is interested in playing the role of a starter, Powers notes that he will have to be better between the pipes after having considerable time between starts. During Wednesday’s game, Darling had 33 saves on 35 shots and dazzled during the second period with 23 saves. Should his game continue to be as impressive, Darling could expect a lot of phone calls next summer.

Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Seventh Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?

Here are the results of our redraft so far:

1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
5th Overall: Kris Letang (Montreal Canadiens)
6th Overall: Tuukka Rask (Columbus Blue Jackets)

Now we move forward to the seventh pick, which was held by the Chicago Blackhawks.

To recap how this works:

  • We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
  • The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.

Back in 2005, Chicago selected college-bound winger Jack Skille out of the US National Development Team Program.  However, he failed to live up to his draft billing with the Hawks, as he played in just 79 games with the team over four seasons before being dealt to Florida in a package that netted them Michael Frolik.  Over the past several years, he has spent time with the Panthers, Blue Jackets, and Avalanche and is currently on a tryout deal with Vancouver.  For his career, Skille has 75 points in 313 NHL games, which is far from good production from a top ten selection.

With the seventh pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the Chicago Blackhawks select? Cast your vote below!

With the 7th overall pick, the Chicago Blackhawks select...
Bobby Ryan 17.47% (112 votes)
Marc-Edouard Vlasic 16.22% (104 votes)
T.J. Oshie 15.60% (100 votes)
James Neal 13.10% (84 votes)
Ben Bishop 13.10% (84 votes)
Keith Yandle 7.18% (46 votes)
Paul Stastny 4.21% (27 votes)
Niklas Hjalmarsson 4.21% (27 votes)
Jack Johnson 1.87% (12 votes)
Marc Staal 1.87% (12 votes)
Anton Stralman 0.94% (6 votes)
Patric Hornqvist 0.94% (6 votes)
Justin Abdelkader 0.62% (4 votes)
Jack Skille 0.47% (3 votes)
Matt Niskanen 0.47% (3 votes)
Vladimir Sobotka 0.31% (2 votes)
Benoit Pouliot 0.16% (1 votes)
Gilbert Brule 0.16% (1 votes)
Devin Setoguchi 0.16% (1 votes)
Martin Hanzal 0.16% (1 votes)
Steve Downie 0.16% (1 votes)
Ondrej Pavelec 0.16% (1 votes)
Darren Helm 0.16% (1 votes)
Nathan Gerbe 0.16% (1 votes)
Sergei Kostitsyn 0.16% (1 votes)
Jakub Kindl 0.00% (0 votes)
Andrew Cogliano 0.00% (0 votes)
Mason Raymond 0.00% (0 votes)
Kris Russell 0.00% (0 votes)
Cody Franson 0.00% (0 votes)
Jared Boll 0.00% (0 votes)
Total Votes: 641

For Trade Rumors app users on iOS, click here to vote.

Snapshots: Fortin, Flames, Team Europe

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When the Chicago Blackhawks invited Alexandre Fortin to prospect camp this summer, even they didn’t expect to sign him to a three-year entry level contract just a few weeks later. It’s a huge step for the twice-undrafted forward from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the QMJHL.

The 19-year old is the nephew of former NHL goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere and never did really blow away scouts during his junior years.  But now, in Hawks rookie camp he turned enough heads to be kept around when the pro camp started, and then enough for the Hawks to invest in him.  As assistant coach Kevin Dineen says in Chris Kuc’s latest Chicago Tribune article:

He’s a smart, cerebral kid who has a nice offensive skill set that he’s been able to show here early. He’s off to a real good start and he’s working his way in to trying to find a way into one of our exhibition games.

The Hawks have found overlooked players before, most notably with last year’s Calder trophy winner Artemi Panarin, who, while on the hockey world’s radar, was never believed to be able to step into a top-line, all-star role right away. With Fortin, perhaps they found another late-bloomer who they can shape into an offensive dynamo.

  • The Flames have decided to send four players back to their individual WHL teams today; the group includes Brayden Burke, Aaron Hyman, Matthew Phillips and Nick Schneider. Only Phillips was actually drafted by the club (166th overall this year).  The team has also cut Dennis Kravchenko from the NHL camp, and invited him to their AHL camp (which he accepted).  Kravchenko has scored 61 points in 68 games the past two seasons while playing for UMass-Amherst in the NCAA. An undersized winger, he’s trying to follow the path of Johnny Gaudreau and prove offense is more important than stature.
  • Team Europe, the overwhelming underdogs of the World Cup, have now advanced to the final series following an overtime win against Team Sweden. Tomas Tatar, the young flashy Red Wings forward scored twice, including the winner, to send home the defensive powerhouse.  The makeshift squad will take on Canada in the best-of-three final series, starting Tuesday night.

Duncan Keith Practices But Sits Out Scrimmage

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Scott Powers reports that defenseman Duncan Keith participated in practice today during the Blackhawks first day of training camp. Keith did not take part in the scrimmage, however. Powers also writes that Keith is not expected to take part in the scrimmage on Saturday at the United Center.

Keith is still recovering from surgery last October to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. Keith has been rehabbing since and did not participate in the World Cup of Hockey. Further, Powers adds that Keith said his knee didn’t feel right a month ago, but that the extra time off allowed him the opportunity to take his time to recovery.

According to the Chicago Tribune’s Scott King, Keith was disappointed he couldn’t take part in the international tournament. King writes that Keith wouldn’t commit to being ready for the Blackhawks’ home opener on October 12, but assistant coach Mike Kitchen said there is no rush to bring Keith along. From Powers:

“We want him to come along at his own pace, so we don’t want him scrimmaging or anything like that. We’ll just have him practice and then he’ll let us know when he’s ready to step in on a scrimmage. We can kind of rev it up a little bit with him in practice doing some individual drills with him if he gets to that point. But I think we just bring him along day by day.”

Keith had 9 goals and 34 assists last season in 67 games.

Snapshots: Canes, Hertl, Fleischmann, Gagne

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The Carolina Hurricanes have not qualified for the playoffs since the 2008-09 season but hope to change that this year. As Chip Alexander of The News & Observer reports, the team’s chances of breaking their seven year playoff drought will rely heavily on a talented, albeit young, group of players. Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Teuvo Teravainen, Justin Faulk, Brett Pesce, Noah Hanifin and Ryan Murphy are set to see a lot of ice for the Canes and none are over the age of 24.

One of the squad’s few experienced players, Lee Stempniak, a veteran of 11 NHL seasons, says he has never been part of a team with so many youngsters expected to fill important roles:

“Not really, not with young guys playing this prominent of a role, especially the defensemen. It’s young. I think it’s a team with a lot of potential. I think a lot of the success for our team is going to be harnessing our potential. Guys need to take the next step individually and the new guys coming in need to fit in and complement the players who are here and find a role.”

If anyone would know, it would be Stempniak, who has suited up for 10 different clubs during his career, including four over the last two campaigns. He hopes his stay in Carolina is a bit longer after singing a two-year deal worth $5MM this summer.

Of course young teams are inherently inexperienced and some might feel that factor could derail Carolina’s chances of a successful campaign. Not so, says another of the team’s elders, defenseman Ron Hainsey, who at 35 will is 11 years the senior of the second oldest regular blue liner, Justin Faulk:

“This is a young man’s league. I don’t think it’s a danger. Speed, skill is the name of the game.”

Despite the talent and skill, Carolina’s path to a playoff berth will not be an easy one. The Metro Division fielded five postseason qualifiers in 2015-16 while the Hurricanes finished 10 points behind the eighth-seeded Philadelphia Flyers.

Another factor which may work against the Canes is their goaltending. Carolina ranked 29th among 30 teams in save percentage but did nothing this offseason to upgrade the position. In fact, the team elected to re-sign longtime netminder Cam Ward to a new, two-year contract; a deal many pundits thought was curious.

Elsewhere in the NHL:

  • Positive news in San Jose where Tomas Hertl skated today at the Sharks first training camp workout and showed no lingering ill effects from the MCL injury he suffered during the Stanley Cup Finals, reports Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Hertl finished fifth on the club in scoring with 46 points during the regular season and contributed another 11 in the postseason. According to Pashelka, Hertl is preparing to play either center or wing though today he skated as the pivot between Joel Ward and Nikolay Goldobin. Hertl skipped the World Cup, electing not to represent the Czech Republic in the tournament in order to further rehab his knee injury. It appears the extra rest may have helped as Hertl looks to be on track to open the season at 100%.
  • Tomas Fleischmann, who was set to appear at camp with the Minnesota Wild, has apparently failed his physical, according to Mike Russo via Twitter. Russo is unsure if that would be the end of Fleischmann’s brief time with Minnesota or not. Fleischmann was again attempting to catch on with a club after being forced to accept a PTO offer rather than a guaranteed contract. Last year he earned a one-year deal with Montreal in training camp and would record 10 goals and 20 points in 57 games with the Canadiens. He was dealt to Chicago at the trade deadline with Dale Weise and would tally another four goals and five points for the Blackhawks.
  • The Ottawa Senators announced via their team Twitter account that they have signed forward Gabriel Gagne to an ELC. Gagne was the Sens second-round pick in 2015, going 36th overall. He split last season between Victoria and Shawinigan of the QMJHL and combined to register 36 points in 42 regular season contests. Gagne was even better in the postseason, tallying 22 points in 21 games.

 

2016-17 NHL Over/Unders

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After giving us their opening Stanley Cup odds last week, Las Vegas odds-maker Bovada was back at it again today, releasing their over/under for each NHL team’s total points in the upcoming season. Not included on the list (below) are the Dallas Stars, who were left off the board by the odds-makers until more information is available regarding the injury to Tyler Seguin. The Stars are an unpredictable pick at this point regardless, as both Seguin and Jamie Benn are banged up, Valeri Nichushkin is suddenly gone, and the defense is still a risk following the departure of three starters.

While the points projections generally mirror the Stanley Cup odds, Bovada has certainly predicted some interesting scenarios. Despite having the highest Cup odds in the East, the Penguins are again expected to finish behind the Capitals in the Metropolitan Division. On second thought though, a slow start to the regular season for the defending champs would not be much of a surprise, nor would another postseason collapse for Washington. Elsewhere in the division, the Islanders and Rangers are projected to be in a dead heat for that final divisional seed, with the loser slipping into a wild card spot. Staying in the East, they see the Canadiens and a healthy Carey Price skyrocketing from their 82 point finish a year ago to 96.5 points in 2016-17, with the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators taking a corresponding dip in the standings. Out West, the battles atop each division promise to be similarly tight as they were last season, but the projected jump by Calgary and Edmonton of 10+ points from bottom dwellers to playoff contenders may be a story to watch. The good news for Vancouver Canucks fans is that they’re expected to finish with more points this season than last. The bad news? It will be good enough for last place in the league.

The easiest over to take out of this group is likely the St. Louis Blues. Although they lost captain David Backes and have to see if Jake Allen can handle his bigger workload in net, the Blues are set at 101.5 points, a mark they have beaten easily in each of the past three seasons. The Ottawa Senators are another good over, as they have hardly changed their roster this summer and finished with 85 points last year and more than that the two years prior. Their 80.5 line seems unwarranted unless you believe the rest of the Atlantic Division is in for a big year. That seems unlikely, especially when it comes to the aforementioned Canadiens, who are an easy under. Yes, the loss of Price for much of 2015-16 hurt the Canadiens, but they also had a lot of trouble scoring goals as well. The effects of the trade-off between P.K. Subban and Lars Eller for Shea Weber, Andrew Shaw, and Alexander Radulov have yet to be seen, but one would think that it’s not enough to justify a 14 or 15 point increase in points. The Oilers, somewhat obviously, are also a good choice for an under. If this many seasons of “this is the year” followed by a lottery pick haven’t tempered your expectations of Edmonton yet, nothing will. Even if they do finally improve in 2016-17, will it really be to a high-80’s point total? Doubtful.

Washington Capitals      107.5 points

Tampa Bay Lightning     106.5 points

Pittsburgh Penguins       103.5 points

Chicago Blackhawks       102.5 points

St. Louis Blues                 101.5 points

San Jose Sharks              100.5 points

Los Angeles Kings            99.5 points

Anaheim Ducks                98.5 points

Florida Panthers              98.5 points

Nashville Predators         98.5 points

Montreal Canadiens        96.5 points

New York Islanders         95.5 points

New York Rangers           95.5 points

Minnesota Wild                94.5 points

Boston Bruins                   92.5 points

Detroit Red Wings           90.5 points

Philadelphia Flyers         89.5 points

Calgary Flames                87.5 points

Edmonton Oilers             87.5 points

Winnipeg Jets                  87.5 points

Colorado Avalanche        86.5 points

Columbus Blue Jackets   84.5 points

Buffalo Sabres                  83.5 points

New Jersey Devils           82.5 points

Ottawa Senators              80.5 points

Toronto Maple Leafs      80.5 points

Carolina Hurricanes       78.5 points

Arizona Coyotes              76.5 points 

Vancouver Canucks        76.5 points

Traverse City NHL Prospects Tournament Round-Up

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The 18th annual NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan took place this weekend, with games kicking off on Friday afternoon and finishing up tonight. The tourney featured eight teams, split into two divisions of four teams each playing in a round robin, followed by a series of  games today between corresponding finishers in each division.

The field included the Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, and host Detroit Red Wings in the “Gordie Howe Division” and the Carolina Hurricanes, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, and New York Rangers in the “Ted Lindsay Division”. Each team came in locked and loaded with their top prospects, as teams got the opportunity to evaluate their young talent and the players looked to impress and make a push for a shot at an NHL role.

Playing in the 7th-place game this afternoon were the Wild and Blackhawks. Minnesota went 0-3 in divisional play, while Chicago was able to pick up one win en route to a 1-2 record. However, when the teams met head-to-head, the Wild were able to finally get a “W” with a 2-1 result. The 5th-place game featured the Blues and Stars, with Dallas taking it by a convincing 5-3 score. The Stars just missed out on finishing second in their division, losing earlier in the tournament in overtime to the Rangers to fall to 1-1-1. They proved to be too much for the 1-2 St. Louis squad though and can be satisfied with a 5th-place finish.

The 3rd-place game that ended earlier tonight was between the top prospects for the Rangers and Blue Jackets, two teams who played well in the divisional round with 2-0-1 and 2-1 records respectively. The Jackets came out on top in the end, with a 6-4 win, continuing a strong offensive performance in the tournament. However, they did see their two-year championship run in Traverse City come to an end. While the Rangers couldn’t find victory, they have to be happy with the strong play of free agent phenomenon Jimmy Vesey. Finally, the tournament finale came down to the hometown Red Wings and a stacked Hurricanes team. Carolina had dominated their opponents all weekend and came into the 1st-place game undefeated and nearly unstoppable, and their luck did not change. Led by 2016 1st-rounders Julien Gauthier and Jake Bean, the Hurricanes took the title by a score of 6-4 over the 2-1 Detroit team and the best efforts of Tyler Bertuzzi.

The teams will all now head home and re-group, as they get ready for training camp and a handful of the tournament’s best players prepare for their first taste of NHL action.

Blackhawks Discussing Extension With Artemi Panarin

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The Chicago Blackhawks and Artemi Panarin’s agent Tom Lynn have been in discussions regarding a contract extension, reports the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Kuc.  The 24 year old left winger is entering the second and final year of his entry-level contract signed last offseason with an AAV of $3.5MM including bonuses (which he hit last season).

Panarin is coming off a very strong rookie campaign, posting 30 goals and 47 assists in 80 games, ranking him second on the team in scoring behind Hart Trophy (league MVP) winner Patrick Kane.  He also finished tied for ninth overall in league-wide scoring which helped earn him the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.

Speaking through an interpreter, Panarin commented on talks and the thought of staying with Chicago long-term:

“I came to play on the NHL level not because of money and contracts,” Panarin said via an interpreter. “My agent will deal with the rest. As of right now, I like everything and … I’m very content.”

Scott Powers of The Athletic reports that Panarin is seeking a 6-7 year contract with a cap hit between $6MM – $7MM.  Last week, our Glen Miller took a look at what the market might be, offering up Filip Forsberg and Vladimir Tarasenko as potential comparable players depending on how Panarin’s sophomore season goes.

Chicago GM Stan Bowman will have to get creative with his roster to find a way to fit Panarin in on an extension.  The team currently has 11 players signed for 2017-18 with a cap hit just shy of $58MM according to Cap Friendly.  While the salary cap for next season won’t be set until June, based on recent years the increase won’t be that dramatic which means they will likely have to move someone out to make the money work.

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