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Expansion

Snapshots: Review Timer, Grundstrom, Vegas

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As the GM Meetings came to a close today, we had several bits of news leak out. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported something that wasn’t touched on earlier, the idea of review timers. Next season, the officials have been instructed to drop the puck immediately after the review process ends. Don’t go to the bench, don’t explain anything to the coaches or let them argue for five minutes.

Friedman also includes that a set time limit is being discussed and could be instituted, though hasn’t been decided on. With reviews periodically taking as many as 8-10 minutes, the league will try to do everything it can to keep them short.

  • John Shannon of Sportsnet is hearing that the Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Carl Grundstrom to an entry-level contract, and will announced the deal soon. The 57th-overall pick in last summer’s draft, Grundstrom has 12 goals and 18 points for Frolunda in the Swedish Elite League this year. Playing at the highest level, the tenacious winger has shown his professional capabilities. The 19-year old should come over to North America soon enough and could make his NHL debut as soon as next year.
  • Kevin Allen of USA Today penned a piece regarding the Vegas Golden Knights and the unique opportunity for GM George McPhee. Only a handful of people have experienced the expansion process, and McPhee has enjoyed it more than he even expected. “I’ve read about analytics for two years,” McPhee said when asked about where the Golden Knights will fall on the scouting-analytics scale. He makes it clear that it will have a big part in the new franchise, but not at the cost of the scouting department. We’ll likely see exactly where they stand on expansion draft day, when there are decisions like Chris Wideman or Mark Borowiecki to be made.

Expansion Draft Issues: Post-Trade Deadline

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Last month, we looked at several teams facing some tough situations in regards to the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft and offered potential solutions to how they could address their needs for forwards, defensemen and goalies at the NHL Trade Deadline. With March 1st over and done with, many of those squads have solved their problems with signings or acquisitions.

Calgary Flames

Problem: Defense

Status: Solved

The Flames solved their problem of otherwise having to expose Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, or Dougie Hamilton with the ingenious signing of Matt Bartkowski, the only defenseman on the planet who was both free to acquire and automatically eligible for exposure in the draft. It’s a good thing they signed him too, since they ended up trading away their best fall-back option, young defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka.

Carolina Hurricanes

Problem: Defense

Status: Unsolved

It was a pretty quiet deadline in Raleigh, as the ’Canes shipped out Ron Hainsey and Viktor Stalberg and then called it a day. What they didn’t do was acquire another body on the blue line to help solve their lack of a defenseman to expose. Carolina is still facing the problem of All-Star Justin Faulk being the only defenseman on the roster currently meeting the criteria for mandated exposure, due to the majority of their defensemen being too young to be eligible altogether. There is no way that Faulk is there for the taking by Vegas, but GM Ron Francis is left with only two choices: extend impending RFA Klas Dahlbeck or extend impending UFA Matt Tennyson and make sure he plays in seven more games this season, as he’s currently short of the 40-game mark.

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Devils-Bruins Notes: Lappin, Prout, Stafford, McPhee

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Ahead of tonight’s road match-up with the Boston Bruins, the New Jersey Devils have recalled rookie winger Nick Lappin on an emergency basis from the AHL’s Albany Devils. Lappin is expected to get the call tonight, as the 24-year-old forward has worked his way back into the lineup. Lappin has four goals and three assists in 35 games with New Jersey this season, but was sent down to the minors on January 12th and had yet to return to the lineup. While in Albany, Lappin was nearly a point-per-game player, with nine goals and eleven assists in 24 contests. Lappin is in just his second pro season since leaving Brown University, and no matter how many games he plays for the Devils down the stretch, he will not be eligible for exposure in the Expansion Draft. GM Ray Shero will have to look elsewhere on the roster for the solution to his coverage problem.

  • A pair of deadline day acquisitions will make their debuts tonight. With Andy Greene out of the lineup for personal reasons, Dalton Prout will get a chance to show the Devils what he brings to the table. The 26-year-old tough guy had only played in 15 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets this season before being traded for Kyle Quincey at the deadline, but brings a physical game and hard-nosed presence to any game that he is a part of. With another year left on his contract, Prout is looking to impress his new team and carve out a role for himself in the future. In the short-term, he is likely trying to play well enough tonight to get into the Devils’ lineup tomorrow, against his former Blue Jackets team.
  • On the other side of the ice, Drew Stafford will get into his first game with the Bruins since being acquired on Wednesday. It has been a tough season for Stafford with the Winnipeg Jets, as injuries have limited him to just 40 games, and he has managed to score just 13 points in that sample size. However, Boston knows all too well how dangerous Stafford can be when he’s on his game. As a member of the Buffalo Sabres, Stafford was a consistent goal-scoring threat and tended to have some of his best games against the Bruins. Coach Bruce Cassidy hopes that Stafford can get back to his productive ways skating on a line with Ryan Spooner and Frank Vatrano, who have both been on fire since the coaching change.
  • With the trade deadline over with, Vegas Golden Knights GM George McPhee is out scouting with a clearer picture of who might be available to his team on June 21st when the new expansion team will be picked. Tonight, he’ll be taking in the Devils vs. Bruins in Boston, likely with an eye on defenseman. Although Boston and New Jersey are not exactly known for their blue line depth, neither team looks to have many attractive options up front to be exposed in the Expansion Draft. Instead, the Devils will have to pick four of Greene, Prout, Damon Severson, John Moore, Ben Lovejoy, and Jon Merrill to expose, while the Bruins can only protect one of Adam McQuaid, Colin Miller, and Kevan Miller to go along with Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug.  

Vegas Allowed To Not Disclose Expansion Side Deals

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Cue the rampant speculation. When the Vegas Golden Knights were announced as an official NHL team on Wednesday, many expressed a belief that they already had several side deals completed. However, we may not know until after the Expansion Draft on June 21st.

In issuing the rules regarding transactions for the NHL’s newest squad, the league made note that Vegas and the teams with which they are doing business are not required to publicly disclose any moves. The Knights are free to agree to “bona fide transactions” with other clubs regarding compensation for selecting or not selecting players in the Expansion Draft. They’re welcome to make agreements to acquire picks, prospects, or players for their actions on June 21st. As always, they must report such transactions to the league, but they don’t owe the same information to the fans, the media, and most importantly, other teams. Vegas and it’s trade partners will be allowed to keep these deals private and reveal any information at their discretion.

No trades with the Knights can be official any time soon, since the team cannot acquire players until the end of their 2016-17 season, whether that be the end of the regular season or when their current team is eliminated from the playoffs. However, that won’t stop GM George McPhee from striking deals with several teams well before that point. By not having to disclose these moves, McPhee and the Knights’ front office will hold all of the cards. The team can make agreements with teams not to select players that they may have no intention of taking. They can negotiate with impending free agents with the knowledge that they’ve already agreed to acquire a different player from that team. There is a multitude of advantages to being able to keep their moves private, yet another loophole that the NHL has provided to it’s newest venture.

What it means for fans is that expansion news may not be as free-flowing as expected. While information leaks are still sure to occur, don’t expect many major press releases during April and May announcing agreements with Vegas. This is likely to make the Expansion Draft a much more exciting event, but it also means that a lot of guesswork and speculation is coming down the pipeline. Stay tuned for our coverage of the Expansion Draft process and previews of team protection plans coming soon.

Snapshots: Coyotes, Glass, Nestrasil

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The Arizona Coyotes are in a fight in the standings of their own. Even though the players aren’t giving up, they front office is likely desperately hoping they finish in the bottom two once again and get the chance to select a top prospect. They got some bad (or good, I’m unsure at this point) news today when Dave Vest of NHL.com reported that Kevin Connauton should be considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered last night.

  • Vest also passed along a few choice quotes from Dave Tippett on the future of Anthony Duclair, who will get back into the NHL lineup tonight. “We want him to play to his potential. He set a standard for his play last year that he has to get back to,” said Tippett who is not alone in hoping Duclair gets back to his 2015-16 form. Coyotes fans everywhere were hoping to see more of the 20-goal man that was around last season, instead of the 9-point Duclair they’ve seen this year. Despite being rumored in trades all year, the Coyotes will hang onto the former New York Ranger for at least the rest of the season, hoping he can regain his form. Expect his name to be thrown around plenty at the expansion and entry drafts.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled recently signed goaltender Jeff Glass from the Rockford IceHogs today, and will be the backup tonight against the New York Islanders. Both Corey Crawford and Scott Darling took part in practice today and seemed fine, though apparently Darling will be held out with an upper-body injury of some sort.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have some goalie news of their own, as Ansar Khan of MLive reports that Jimmy Howard will be loaned to Grand Rapids Griffins on a conditioning stint and will start Saturday for the AHL squad. The netminder is trying to work his way back from an injury that has kept him out of NHL action since late December due to multiple setbacks.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have assigned forward Andrej Nestrasil to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL today, after using him in Wednesday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 26-year old forward has played 19 games for the Hurricanes this year, registering five points.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers may have Travis Konecny back sooner than expected, as Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post reports. Konecny says he’s ready to go and that he’s hoping to get back into the lineup on Saturday against the Washington Capitals. Out since February 6th, the 19-year old Konecny has been a revelation for the Flyers this season with 22 points in a 51 games. In any normal year, that would be extremely impressive from a teenager in the NHL.

Anaheim Ducks Announce One-Year Extension For Logan Shaw

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After rumors of the deal yesterday, the Anaheim Ducks have announced the signing of a one-year extension for young winger Logan Shaw. Though the team has not released the details, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports that the deal is one-way and will see Shaw earn $650,000 next season. Logan Shaw

Shaw was the return for Michael Sgarbossa earlier this season from Florida, and has turned into an effective bottom-six penalty killer for the Ducks. In 43 games, he has just five points and has never been much of a scoring threat even going back to his junior hockey days. Instead, he is a big body who can skate well enough to effectively defend and give the team a bit of energy.

He also gives Anaheim another body to expose in the upcoming expansion draft, not unlike Chris Terry for Montreal. While the Ducks will likely have to go the eight skaters route leaving them perfectly covered in the 70/40 expansion requirements up front, if they can work out a deal with Vegas or move one of their defensemen prior to the draft, they may have been stuck with just Jared Boll meeting the requirements up front. They now have options as Shaw and Boll will definitely be left exposed.

Poll: Which Team Had The Best Trade Deadline?

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The trade deadline came and went with something of a whimper yesterday, with most of the heavy lifting done in the days prior. Martin Hanzal, Kevin Shattenkirk, Brian Boyle and Patrick Eaves were all among players moved days ahead of the deadline, and Pierre LeBrun of TSN believes that may have actually been a mistake. In his latest column, he discusses the low prices teams paid on deadline day as very few big names entered the market. Obviously, it may have been a completely different story had those names made it to the last few minutes, but we’ll never know.

Our own Zach Leach broke down the deadlines for each of the different divisions (Atlantic, Metropolitan, Pacific and Central), but who was the biggest winner of them all?

Vancouver finally decided to move out some aging veterans and received two fairly well established prospects, something the team has seemed to lack for years. Tampa Bay moved out Valtteri Filppula’s contract to save them a huge headache at the expansion draft and when re-signing their restricted free agents. Washington added the best player available to an already dominant squad, and perhaps more importantly blocked their rivals from doing the same.

So which team did have the best trade deadline overall? For this question we’ll include the moves made prior to the day itself. Make sure to leave us a comment down below explaining your choice.

(Mobile users click here to vote!)

Vegas Golden Knights Might Already Have Deals In Place

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The newest NHL franchise gained official standing in the league yesterday and with it the power to sign free agents, make deals and move draft picks. They likely were already talking to teams about possible expansion draft scenarios, and one former GM who has been through a similar situation thinks they’ve already agreed to a handful of moves. Doug McLean on Sportsnet radio today was talking about the Vegas Golden Knights and said that he thinks the team has already locked up at least part of their roster.

I would bet dollars to donuts on this. Their number one goaltender is done. Guaranteed that.

That’s the one position that I’m sure, you’ll have that locked up. Maybe it’s not signed or whatever the legality is, because George [McPhee] would go by the book. I think that position is done.

While McLean doesn’t sound like he has a source that’s telling him that the Golden Knights have completed a deal, he does have plenty of experience in this area. He was the general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets when they and the Minnesota Wild went through the expansion process in 2000. He later says that he had at least half a dozen deals done by the draft, and it was more difficult then because two teams were coming in at the same time.

McLean has an idea of who that goaltender might be, and it’s not Ben Bishop. Many have wondered whether the Golden Knights will go after Bishop on the free agent market, as his deal expires this summer. The former Vezina runner-up is now with the Los Angeles Kings as they try to make the playoffs. Ben Bishop

The panel—which includes Nick Kypreos and Jeff Marek—also ponder the idea that Eric Fehr is destined for Vegas as well, and that Lou Lamoriello may have acquired him with a deal already agreed to with McPhee. Fehr did play for McPhee for many years in Washington and could be part of a leadership group in what will be a rag-tag bunch of players in the Golden Knights’ first season. The expansion team will need to come to the cap floor, and players with one or two years remaining with a moderate cap hit might be solid targets to get them there in the first season.

While there isn’t—and likely won’t be—any proof that the Golden Knights have made deals before the expansion draft, it’s something to think about if you’re still wondering why your favorite team did one thing or another at the trade deadline. There are often explanations behind the scenes, and with the varying rules that go along with the draft different scenarios can arise that aren’t clear at the moment.

One that was posed in one of our recent live chats, is the idea that a team would keep a pending unrestricted free agent as bait for Vegas, since if they sign them in the window before the expansion draft, they won’t select a player from that team’s roster. Bishop was the example used, but perhaps there have been discussions about Radim Vrbata heading to Las Vegas when the season is done, protecting the Coyotes from any selection. In any case, one should not dismiss McLean’s opinion on the matter so quickly, as he’s one of a handful of people in the world who have been in a similar situation in the past.

The Day After: Racing To The Bottom

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The NHL trade deadline came and went yesterday with little excitement. Yes, some (but not all) of the rentals that were expected to move went to interesting destinations, but we didn’t have a single blockbuster move or real hockey trade. So now the quest begins for the Stanley Cup with much of the teams and players that we had a week ago, with a Steve Ott here and a Lauri Korpikoski there.

Now for many fans of teams who have been holding out hope for a late playoff push; those who sold many of their assets yesterday in a waving of the white flag for the 2016-17 season, a new journey begins. The quest for the first overall draft pick.

There is no fight, some might say, because of the Colorado Avalanche’s death-grip on last place in the NHL. They have just 37 points through 61 games and have a legitimate shot at becoming the first team to compile fewer than 50 points in a full season since the 1999-00 Atlanta Thrashers, an expansion team that won just 14 games. Colorado will finish last in the league, of that there is no doubt. But that by no means guarantees them the first overall pick

This year, with the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights the last place team will have just a 17.9% chance to select first, not a very good chance at all. The Arizona Coyotes are likely going to finish with the second worst record. With just 51 points they have an eight point “lead” on the Vancouver Canucks and have traded away several pieces. Auston Matthews

But that’s where it gets interesting. From the current third last team—those Canucks, who may have had the best deadline out of anyone—to the tenth worst is just six points. Beyond that the playoffs are just another handful of points away. The race for that third last spot is alive and well, and it could come with a big prize.

The 2017 draft class has been called weak, shallow and lacking impact talent. While it does in comparison to the past two—which featured generational talents not just first overall but second as well—it may be. But to think that it doesn’t house some incredible future NHL talent is ludicrous. It’s not like there are only third-line players available this season, and the battle for the top five should be as fierce as ever.

For teams that lack center depth (which is most of the NHL), this year gives you a choice of at least three phenomenal talents at the top of the board. Nolan Patrick, Nico Hischier and Gabe Vilardi all play very different styles, but will all likely have long and prosperous NHL careers. The rest of the first round is littered with talent down the middle: Michael Rasmussen, Casey Middelstadt, Cody Glass and Ryan Poehling all will likely go somewhere in the top half of the draft and all play mostly center.

While Vegas has thinned the odds slightly for everyone after that top pick, coming 28th in the league would still give you a 10% chance at drafting first, and even better odds at landing in that top three. Make no mistake, all the teams that sold yesterday—Vancouver, Detroit, and New Jersey in particular—are after that spot. They’ll say the right things, and the players won’t take a single second of any shift off, but in the back of the GMs mind he’s hoping that Bill Daly opens that card on lottery day and they see their logo emblazoned in gold.

The day after the deadline, and the race for the bottom has begun.

Trade Deadline Summary: Winners & Losers Of The Pacific Division

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The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and while it wasn’t the most exciting deadline day in recent memory, there were quite a few notable moves. Here are the winners and losers of the upstart Pacific Division:

Winners

Anaheim Ducks:

The Ducks had one real need at the deadline and that was another top six winger. By getting ahead of the market and making the deal for Eaves earlier this week, Anaheim was already a winner at the deadline. The conditional second-rounder, which can become a first, is a steep price. However, given that Eaves is having a career year, the market value had yet to be set, and the Ducks desperation had grown due to the Antoine Vermette suspension, they were right to swing a deal when they had the chance. It was a quiet deadline day in Anaheim, but this is still a team that could make a lot of noise down the stretch.

Arizona Coyotes:

The Coyotes messed up by not trading Radim Vrbata (and might have been able to get more for Stone), but put that aside and what they were able to get from the Minnesota Wild is pretty extraordinary. The team wanted to re-sign Hanzal, but when talks fell apart, it became a foregone conclusion that he would be moved. Yet, that inevitability never drove the prices down and the Wild ended up offering an amazing deal for the career Coyote. The Avalanche should take note because this is how you work the trade deadline as one the league’s worst teams. In exchange for impending free agents who were not coming back in Hanzal and Stone, Arizona ends up with five picks and two prospects (assuming, as it often does, that “future considerations” means nothing) and the team has suffered almost no loss. If GM John Chayka has decided to deal Vrbata, he likely would have added another pair of good picks to that mix, but as it stands, the Coyotes still did pretty well.

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