AHL Updates: West Finals, Gulls, Subban
With a win over the San Diego Gulls, the San Jose Barracuda move on to face the Grand Rapids Griffins in the Western final of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Right wingers Ryan Carpenter (25) and Barclay Goodrow (23) have led the Barricuda in scoring, while the Griffins have relied upon Tyler Bertuzzi (22) and rookie Evgeny Svechnikov (19). In the East, the Providence Bruins are tied with the Hershey Bears, and the Syracuse Crunch lead the Toronto Marlies 3-2. This is the first time a San Jose affiliate has gone to the conference finals since 1998, and is a sign of good things to come for their organization. The other teams have consistently been in the mix the last half decade, as they have been supported well by their parent clubs. The Griffins’ success in particular is inspiring for a Detroit Red Wings team that missed the playoffs for the first time in 25 years.
- San Diego Gulls players Sam Carrick and Nic Kerdiles both have assumed roles as black aces for the Anaheim Ducks. Either could easily see time in the event of further injuries. Carrick is a 4th-line energy player who would do best in limited minutes, while Kerdiles has shown flashes of being a future 3rd-line shutdown player. Kerdiles has already played two games in the playoffs for Anaheim, posting no points but not committing any grievous mistakes. He could be a part of their bottom six for years to come, and this playoff experience will only do him well. The former 2nd-rounder is already 23, but has shown positive improvement and growth.
- Malcolm Subban of the Providence Bruins is hoping to prove himself for the Boston franchise, according to the Boston Globe. The highly touted younger brother of P.K. Subban, the first-round goaltender has struggled mightily since hitting the pros. He has only played parts of two games for the NHL affiliate, being pulled in both. At 23 years of age, however, he has lots of time to cement himself and refine his game in net. Goaltenders are generally given more time to work through issues and it takes a while for one to truly be considered a bust. Subban was a rock in junior for the Belleville Bulls, posting a .934 save percentage in his final season there. His .917 save percentage this season in Providence, however, is not likely to catch many eyes in the organization. He also remains backup to Zane McIntyre in the P-Bruins current run, and McIntyre’s 2.02 GAA and .929 playoff save percentage is good enough to keep him in the starting role.
Hindsight Bias: The Best And Worst Of Trade Deadline Day
With the conference championships underway, we’re left with just four teams remaining in the hunt for the Stanley Cup. For the rest, they can take a look at the major trades made up to and on March 1st this year and gauge whether they were a mistake or a success. It’s somewhat of a mixed bag this year, with no deadline acquisition fueling their team to postseason dominance and no scapegoat whose underwhelming performance is to blame for an epic collapse. With that said, over two months later, it is safe to say that there were some clear winner and loser trades at the 2017 NHL Trade Deadline.
Winner: Anaheim Ducks – Patrick Eaves
Eaves has quietly been one of the most consistent contributors in the NHL this season and that did not change when he moved from the Dallas Stars to the Ducks ahead of the deadline. A versatile, two-way winger, Eaves has fit in well in Anaheim as is the lone major deadline addition who is still playing in the conference championships. After scoring 37 points in 59 games with the Stars, about .63 points per game, he registered 14 more in the final 20 regular season games for the Ducks, boosting his scoring to .7 points per game down the stretch in his new home. He even has two goals and two assists in seven playoff games, despite battling injuries. Anaheim may be down 1-0 in their pursuit of the Campbell Bowl and a Stanley Cup berth and their postseason success has bumped the price for Eaves up from a 2017 second-round pick to a first-rounder, but with a one in four chance at a title and a chance to re-sign Eaves, the Ducks cannot be more pleased with how this deal has played out thus far.
Loser: Minnesota Wild – Martin Hanzal
A team that is not so happy with their first-round investment is Minnesota. The Wild had been one of the best teams in the league all season long when they surprised many by acquiring one of the top trade deadline targets in Hanzal. The power forward performed admirably post-trade, putting up half as many points as his season total in Arizona in less than half as many games, 26 in 51 versus 13 in 25. He even added a playoff goal. However, his time in the playoffs, by no fault of his own, was much shorter than expected. The Wild were upset by the St. Louis Blues in five games and just like that they’re Stanley Cup hopes were gone. Falling so short despite high expectations makes the cost of adding a piece that didn’t matter much more difficult to swallow. Minnesota owes the Arizona Coyotes a top pick this season and a second-rounder next season plus another conditional pick and prospect, with little to show for the price.
Winner: New York Rangers – Brendan Smith
While the Rangers were underwhelming in their semi-final series against the Ottawa Senators, one many expected them to win, their exit is still not all that surprising given their status as a wildcard seed. Helping them to upset the Montreal Canadiens in Round One and take the Senators to six games was deadline acquisition Smith. While some initially mocked the deal – a 2018 second-round pick and 2017 third-round pick for a defenseman with just five points – Smith proved to be an excellent fit in New York. He scored four points in 18 games with the Rangers and also played better in his own end, earning him more play time. A disappointing start to the season in Detroit for the career-Red Wing quickly turned into a career revival with impressive play for his new squad. The postseason brought yet another four points and continued high-level play for Smith. Unfortunately, perhaps his worst game as a Ranger came in the elimination loss to the Senators when he was exposed on defense multiple times. Yet, in the big picture he was a success in New York. There is no word yet on whether there is mutual interest between both sides in an extension, especially since the Rangers carry many expensive blue line contract, but regardless this deal has to be considered a win for the Blueshirts.
Loser: Los Angeles Kings – Ben Bishop
Bishop may be happily settling in to his new home in Dallas after signing a nice six-year deal, but his time in Los Angeles did little to help him secure that contact. The Kings and the keeper were strange bedfellows to begin with, as now ex-GM Dean Lombardi traded red-hot backup goalie Peter Budaj, 2015 second-round defenseman Erik Cernak, and a 2017 seventh-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Bishop, just as starter Jonathan Quick was returning to health. The Kings needed scoring, not better goaltending, if they wanted to make the playoffs, but ended up with neither from the Bishop trade as he picked up only two wins in seven appearances with L.A. and posted just a .900 save percentage. The Kings finished 10th in the Western Conference and eight points out of a playoff spot, not even all that close to a berth, and now need to find a new backup goalie for 2017-18. The Bishop trade makes as little sense now as it did then and undoubtedly figured in to Lombardi’s firing.
Winner: Boston Bruins – Drew Stafford
The Bruins may have lost in the first round of the playoffs, but they likely wouldn’t have if four of their six starting defenseman didn’t miss all or most of the series. Even with those major injuries, the Ottawa Senators still had a difficult time eliminating the Bruins and Stafford was a thorn in their side with two goals and consistent two-way contribution. Add in four goals, matching his total earlier in the season with the Winnipeg Jets, and four assists in 18 regular season games as well as an outstanding +8 rating, and Stafford was an excellent addition for Boston. Acquired for just a sixth-round pick, Stafford was easily the steal of the trade deadline and ongoing talks of an extension would only add more value to a shrewd deal by GM Don Sweeney.
Loser: Florida Panthers – Thomas Vanek
Vanek was having a great season for the Detroit Red Wings when the Trade Deadline rolled around. He had 38 points in 48 games and was sniping with accuracy unseen over the past five years. When the Florida Panthers struck a deal to acquire that level of talent for just a 2017 third-round pick and struggling prospect Dylan McIlrath, there was a consensus that they had won the trade considering the affordable cost. Yet, the counter to that argument was that, even if he maintained the same rate of production, Vanek alone was likely not enough for the Panthers to make the playoffs. In the end, that proved to be true. Vanek’s scoring dropped off to just two goals and ten points in 20 games and his shooting percentage fell almost ten points, but even if it hadn’t, the Panthers wouldn’t have qualified for the postseason. They finished 13th in the Eastern Conference, 14 points shy of a playoff spot. At the end of the day, acquiring the impending free agent and missing the playoffs by that much was simply a waste of a third-round pick for a team that is still building.
Loser: New York Islanders – No One
The idea that you can’t lose at the Trade Deadline if you don’t make a deal is incorrect. Case in point: the 2016-17 Islanders. New York ended up missing the postseason by just one point and their playoff hopes were alive up to the final day of the season. Had the Isles made a trade, even a small one, that could have won them one more game down the stretch, they might have been a playoff team after all. Given their need to convince star John Tavares to stick around, the Islanders should have been more willing to do something – anything – to transform into a playoff team.
Offseason Keys: Detroit Red Wings
While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Detroit Red Wings.
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and that’s what happened to Detroit this season as their quarter-century playoff streak came to a halt. GM Ken Holland doesn’t appear to be willing to kick off more of a full-scale rebuild just yet but even with that in mind, there are a few key things he should be looking to accomplish this offseason.
Fix The Goalie Logjam
The Wings had one of the priciest goalie tandems in the NHL last season with Jimmy Howard ($5.29MM) and Petr Mrazek ($4MM). Both have shown themselves to be capable of being starters but were basically pushed into a platoon situation when both were healthy last season.
There is likely going to be a large amount of goalie turnover across the league this summer and Holland would be wise to try to capitalize on that. At just 25, Mrazek is the likely keeper which makes Howard and the two years remaining on his contract expendable. The 33 year old saw his value get rebuilt somewhat this season with a strong 2.10 GAA and a .927 SV% in 26 games.
In theory, Detroit could try to incentivize Vegas to select Howard as their expansion choice but if that’s a no-go, there are other teams that will be on the lookout for goalie help. With youngster Jared Coreau waiver eligible beginning next season and seemingly ready for a longer NHL look, Holland may want to try to avoid taking on another goalie in a return but that may not be possible.
Shore Up The Back End
Detroit has over $21MM tied up in their defense corps for next season (with Xavier Ouellet to re-sign as a restricted free agent) but their returns on that money have been diminishing. Niklas Kronwall has lost a couple of steps while Jonathan Ericsson also is starting to break down. That placed a lot more pressure on Mike Green (who only has one year left on his deal) and Danny DeKeyser who isn’t a prototypical number one defender.
With the likes of Ouellet, Ryan Sproul, and Nick Jensen, their depth is decent but Holland needs to find a way to bring in another impact defender to allow the youngsters to develop at more of a steady pace. There aren’t many higher-end blueliners available in free agency which could force them to the trade market in a swap of bigger contracts.
Free Up Cap Space
Another reason why the free agent market isn’t a likely looking spot for the Wings is their salary cap situation. To put it nicely, it’s not particularly pretty. As things stand, they have a little over $67MM committed to just 16 players for next season, per CapFriendly. Restricted free agents Tomas Tatar and Andreas Athanasiou (as well as Ouellet) will take up a decent-sized chunk of the remaining room. They will get a bit of relief through long-term injury once Johan Franzen returns there next season but that’s still not much room to work with if Holland is trying to add parts to win in the short-term.
There are some bloated contracts for the team to try to navigate through including forwards Justin Abdelkader (six years remaining at $4.25MM) and Darren Helm (four years left at $3.85MM) as well as Kronwall (two years at $4.75MM per season) and Ericsson (three years, $4.25MM per year remaining), not to mention Howard’s deal. In a perfect world, they could find a taker for one of these contracts without taking much salary back but with a lot of the higher spending teams projected to be tight to the cap once against next year, that doesn’t seem likely to happen.
Instead, the more likely outcome may wind up being simply swapping one not-so-good contract for another while trying to save a few bucks in the process while hoping the new player winds up being a better fit. It’s not an ideal situation long-term (especially with Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha among those to need new deals after 2017-18) but that may be the only realistic possibility of player movement in what is looking like will be a fairly quiet offseason for the Red Wings as things currently stand.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Goaltending Decisions Looming For Detroit
Last summer, much of the discussion around the Detroit Red Wings was about how the team would rid themselves of Jimmy Howard and his big cap hit. Petr Mrazek had clearly taken over as the starting goaltender, and earned himself a nice two-year bridge deal that would pay him $4MM per season. Howard on the other hand had put up the worst season of his career, had just turned 32 and clearly didn’t have a future with the organization. 
Now, less than a year later that picture has muddied somewhat. Howard had a bounce-back season that was interrupted by injury, and Mrazek folded in the starter’s role with a weakened Red Wings team in front of him. Mrazek’s .901 save percentage was unacceptable, and the team missed the playoffs for the first time in a quarter century. The question now isn’t whether or not to protect Mrazek in the expansion draft—though it has been discussed—as he’s clearly still the more valuable piece at just 25 and still a restricted free agent following next year.
Instead, it’s what to do with Howard who still comes with a $5.3MM cap-hit but now is coming off an excellent season. His .927 save percentage put him behind only Sergei Bobrovsky, the expected Vezina winner, among goalies who started at least 20 games. He’s also been playing well at the World Championships, though that tournament comes with a large variance in opponent skill level. His season sample is rather small, but 24 games isn’t something to ignore; Scott Darling only started 27 games this season before being signed in Carolina, while other backups being considered for starting gigs Philipp Grubauer and Antti Raanta only played in 19 and 26 respectively.
Howard will be an option for Vegas, though his age and cap-hit make him an unlikely selection. With younger and cheaper options who provide close to as much upside, the Golden Knights likely will look elsewhere for their netminding in their inaugural season. So the Red Wings seem to have two options. Move Howard to a playoff-caliber team in desperate need of a goaltender—Calgary and Winnipeg immediately come to mind—or keep him around hoping a need emerges somewhere closer to the trade deadline. If Howard could duplicate the season he just had, he would likely be sought after as one of the top names on the market for anyone desperate enough for goaltending down the stretch.
One additional note is that Howard does hold a list of ten teams he cannot be traded to, though that clause expires following next season. The Wings could potentially move him anywhere when he has just a single year remaining on his deal. Either way, the Red Wings have some tough decisions to face when it comes to their long-time goaltender. After 401 career games in Motown, perhaps it’s time for him to find another place to play.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Latest On Victor Ejdsell’s NHL Future
After visiting several different teams including Detroit and Chicago, Swedish forward Victor Ejdsell may have made his decision. According to Johan Svensson of Swedish outlet Expressen, Ejdsell will be joining the Nashville Predators organization. If he does sign with the Predators, he likely will be loaned back to HV71 where he has already committed to play next season according to a report from Henrik Sjoberg for the same outlet.
When Ansar Khan of MLive wrote about Detroit’s interest in Ejdsell last month—also including Nashville as a team in pursuit—he quoted a Red Wings official that said he’d turned into a “strong two-way center”. His dominance of the Allsvenskan (Sweden’s second league) was apparent this season, as he turned in 57 points in 50 games for Bofors.
The big center is still just 21, meaning he still has quite a bit of development time left. His huge frame (6’5″ according to Khan) has filled out in recent years, and will be useful as he transitions to the highest level in Sweden and then the professional ranks of North America. Should he indeed sign with Nashville, he’ll have many other Swedish players to mentor him including Victor Arvidsson, Filip Forsberg, Mattias Ekholm and Calle Jarnkrok.
The Predators already inked Emil Pettersson earlier today out of Sweden, and perhaps they are close to bringing another top name over to their organization even as they fight for the Stanley Cup. Good times in Nashville right now, as they look poised to contend for the foreseeable future.
Red Wings Notes: Draft Targets, Svechnikov
Since the Red Wings will be picking in the top ten for the first time since taking Martin Lapointe in 1991, there are a number of theories as to who they might take. MLive’s Brendan Savage pencils in Russian Klim Kostin via a Bleacher Report article conducting mock drafts. Kostin is an 18-year-old winger who was limited this season due to a shoulder injury, but spent time with the KHL’s Dynamo Moscow. NHL Central Scouting has Kostin as its #1 skater while last July, the Hockey News’ Ryan Kennedy had a write up on Kostin, who opted to stay in Russia instead of playing in North America after being taken in the CHL Import Draft. Kennedy pegged Kostin as a top pick in this year’s draft, and though injury has kept Kostin down this season, the Red Wings seem to be line for a player who scouts peg as a strong scorer down the road.
- Fan Rag’s Franklin Steele penned a draft target piece about the Red Wings as well, listing defensemen Cale Makar, Jusso Valimaki, and forward Elias Pettersson as possible choices. Makar and Valimaki both fill a major need for Detroit which is a top defenseman, one they can grow into a desperately needed one or two d-man. Makar brings elite skating and skill. Valimaki scored at a point-per-game pace with the Tri-City Americans in the WHL, revealing another skill defenseman the Wings desperately crave. Should defensemen not be there, Steele believes Pettersson makes the most sense, should Owen Tippett or Gabe Vilardi not be available. A two way forward, Pettersson has what Steele calls the “fastest hands” of the prospects, but some red flags, including struggling during international play, could be a liability.
- Evgeny Svechnikov leads AHL affiliate Grand Rapids into its second round matchup against the Chicago Wolves in the Calder Cup playoffs writes the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. The Griffins made quick work of Milwaukee, sweeping them en route to its tilt with the Wolves. Svechnikov, who many believe could crack the Red Wings roster out of training camp next season, is tied with four points in just three games. Fellow prospect Tyler Bertuzzi, also has four points. This builds on Svechnikov’s torrid second half, where he notched 34 points in 36 games, scoring 10 goals and adding 24 assists. St. James reports that head coach Todd Nelson calls Svechnikov a “great success story,” adding that the youngster spent a lot of time watching video to cut down on turnovers. The result, Nelson says, is a more complete game.
Snapshots: Nightingale, Bass, Schmaltz
The Detroit Red Wings have hired Adam Nightingale as their new assistant video coach, the same role that he held this season with the Buffalo Sabres. Nightingale is currently working with Jeff Blashill at the World Championships for Team USA, likely getting some familiarity before the beginning of next season.
Nightingale joins Blashill as another Michigan native to work in the coaching staff, and previously spent time coaching and playing at Michigan State. The team release doesn’t mention Dave Noel-Bernier who held the video coach position last season for the Red Wings, but he has returned to the University of Nebraska-Omaha as an assistant coach.
- The Nashville Predators have recalled Cody Bass from the Milwaukee Admirals in an interesting move, seeing as he underwent surgery in January that was expected to keep him out the rest of the season. Perhaps Bass has recovered enough for a chance to get into the lineup to add some toughness at some point, but it’s much more likely he’ll just practice with the team and continue to work towards a role next season. The 30-year old is a journeyman enforcer that has more penalty minutes (107) than NHL games (75) in his career and has scored just five points.
- The St. Louis Blues have made a move of their own, sending Jordan Schmaltz back to the Chicago Wolves for their series opener against the Grand Rapids Griffins tonight. Schmaltz is obviously the Blues preferred insurance policy on defense, but want him to stay sharp and help the Wolves in their Calder Cup run. He’s been bounced up and down between AHL game days to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman in morning skates.
Detroit Red Wings Sign Goaltender Matej Machovsky
The Detroit Red Wings have gotten into the European free agent act, inking Matej Machovsky to a one-year contract. The Czech goaltender returned home in 2013 after going undrafted out of the OHL. He also had attended Detroit development camp last summer. The entry-level deal is for the 2017-18 season, after which Machovsky will become a restricted free agent. No details were released by the team on the financials.
Spending the last four years in the Czech professional league, Machovsky has recorded .936, .916, .920, .925 save percentages and generally been one of the more dominating goaltenders. He was selected back in 2010 in the OHL import draft by the Guelph Storm, but was quickly traded to the Brampton Battalion where he would play three seasons. Considered a big netminder who wasn’t athletic enough, Machovsky went undrafted despite being ranked 11th among North American goaltenders in 2011, and 14th in 2012 (and even as high as third on a mid-term ranking).
His game has matured through the years, after spending time at development camps for Los Angeles and Ottawa in addition to Detroit. It will be interesting to see where he goes for the Red Wings, who still have Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek in the NHL and Jared Coreau in the AHL. Ridding themselves of Howard’s contract has been an option for the Red Wings, who seemed to be ready to trust Mrazek with the net last summer. It’s a little less clear now, after a down season from Mrazek and an overall struggle for the Red Wings as a team.
NHL Draft Lottery Notes: Odds, History, Viewing
For the fourteen teams that missed the playoffs and the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, they have one thing in common: they’re hoping Bill Daly is holding a card with their logo on it, announcing that they have the first overall pick.
At 7pm central, NBC, CBC, and Sportsnet will show the NHL Draft Lottery as the Colorado Avalanche lead all teams in terms of percentage for receiving the #1 pick. Below are the odds:
Colorado Avalanche — 18.0%
Vancouver Canucks — 12.1%
Vegas Golden Knights — 10.3%
Arizona Coyotes — 10.3%
New Jersey Devils — 8.5%
Buffalo Sabres — 7.6%
Detroit Red Wings — 6.7%
Dallas Stars — 5.8%
Florida Panthers — 5.4%
Los Angeles Kings — 4.5%
Carolina Hurricanes — 3.2%
Winnipeg Jets — 2.7%
Philadelphia Flyers — 2.2%
Tampa Bay Lightning 1.8%
New York Islanders — 0.9%
TSN has a lengthy writeup on the history of the lottery and how the current format differs from other versions. The biggest change for the draft is that instead of the worst team being guaranteed, at worst, a second overall pick, they are only promised a top four pick. This was placed to discourage teams from “tanking” to draft top-end talent, which hasn’t completely negated the idea of tanking as Toronto won the right to draft Auston Matthews last season with the #1 pick while securing the worst record in the NHL.
What’s new to 2017? From Sportsnet:
For just the second time in NHL draft lottery history, the top three picks are in play. This rule was implemented by the league in 2016 to dull incentive for any team to finish lower in the standings (i.e., tanking).
The odds of winning the second and third draws increases on a proportional basis depending on which team claimed the previous draw.
The addition of a 15th lottery team, Vegas, into the mix also affects the winning percentages.
This draft is different too, since the top two picks for the first time in three seasons are not considered the “generational talent” that Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Matthews or Patrik Laine were when looking back at the one and two overall picks respectively.
This isn’t to besmirch the top two candidates, Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier. After all, “can’t miss” prospects have fooled scouts and analysts before while prospects that scouts didn’t think were as good sometimes exceeded expectations.
But before the talent can be chosen, there needs to be an order. Tonight will determine that.
Specifics:
Time: 7pm CST
Where to watch: CBC, Sportsnet, NBC
Atlantic Division Snapshots: Pastrnak, Brassard, Red Wings
Despite a first round elimination at the hands of the Ottawa Senators, the 2016-17 campaign has to be considered a success for the Boston Bruins organization. The team returned to the postseason after back-to-back non-playoff seasons and showed tremendous resilience during their six-game series loss, nearly overcoming injuries to key regulars Brandon Carlo, David Krejci, Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid to push Ottawa to OT in game six. Perhaps the silver lining to the season was the development of young Czech winger David Pastnak, who in his third year saw a marked increase across the board in terms of offensive production, setting career-highs in goals (34) assists (36) and points (70). Pastrnak stuggled some in the postseason, finishing with just five shots on goal and regularly turning the puck over, but as Joe Haggerty of CSNNE writes, the 20-year-old will be a better player long term in part because of the playoff experience.
Pastrnak also wrapped up his ELC, making him a RFA this summer. Boston will have a decision to make; do they try to lock up the talented offensive right wing to a long term deal or employ a short term bridge contract to keep the AAV down? Should the team choose the latter, Haggerty speculates a deal similar to that given by Chicago to Artemi Panarin (two years, $12MM) could work for both sides. If Boston chooses the former, they might have to approach the value of the accord signed by Calgary winger Johnny Gaudreau last summer, in Haggerty’s estimation. According to Cap Friendly, the Bruins are projected to have around just $10MM in cap space available with Drew Stafford set to hit unrestricted free agency and Ryan Spooner joining Pastrnak as a RFA. The team should have room as it stands to accommodate a new Pastrnak contract regardless of whether it’s a lucrative long term pact or a shorter term bridge deal. Still, what Boston does will likely have a great impact on what other moves the team can make this summer to fill holes on the roster.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- One of the second round’s more interesting subplots involves Ottawa center Derick Brassard facing his old team, the New York Rangers, and the player for whom he was acquired just last July, fellow pivot Mika Zibanejad. Expecting to contend for the playoffs in 2016-17, Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion wanted to add the more experienced and established Brassard to his lineup. It also didn’t hurt that the skilled center from Hull, Quebec is a proven playoff performer known in some circles as “Big Game Brass.” For their part, the Rangers needed to get bigger and younger and did so by adding the talented Zibanejad to the team. Neither player had the regular season they hoped – Brassard finished with just 14 goals and 39 points while Zibanejad missed time with a broken leg and scored 37 points in 56 contests. With scoring expected to be at a premium in the series between Ottawa and New York, it was widely felt whoever performed better between the two would give their team a significant edge. Well, after one game, Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun has the two players even, though the Senators are up in the series. As Brennan noted, neither player registered a point and both finished with roughly 17 minutes of ice time. Brassard was credited with five shots on goal, Zibanejad with four. While it would be unfair to paint the winner of the series as also the winner of last summer’s trade, it’s evident the two players will be heavily relied upon to help their respective team advance to the Eastern Conference Final and at this point in the season that’s really all that matters.
- With their 25-season playoff streak broken, the Detroit Red Wings enter the offseason with a lot of work to do to reshape their roster into a contender, and without the resources (i.e. cap space) to easily tackle the challenge. In all probability, the team will be forced seek roster improvement via the trade market and with limited chips the team can afford to move, it’s likely Detroit will have to deal one of their starting-caliber goalies, if for no other reason than to open up much-needed cap space. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press expressed the same belief in a recent mailbag feature. As the scribe notes, the Wings are currently projected to have less than $6MM in cap space with key forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Tomas Tatar scheduled to be RFA’s. The offseason goalie market is expected to be full of starting options, with Pittsburgh likely to entertain a trade of Marc-Andre Fleury rather than risk losing Matt Murray in the expansion draft. Ben Bishop, Brian Elliott, Jonathan Bernier and Ryan Miller headline the UFA crop of netminders and could represent viable starting options for any team looking for a #1. Those factors will hamstring the Red Wings in their attempt to move either Jimmy Howard or Petr Mrazek in return for fair value. In all likelihood, the team will have to be satisfied primarily with cap relief as opposed to acquiring young assets to further their retooling effort. Although St. James does offer up one intriguing possibility, noting that current Stars GM Jim Nill, formerly an assistant GM in Detroit, knows Mrazek and Howard well from his time with the Wings and could pursue one in an effort to upgrade his options between the pipes.