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Snapshots: Eller, Panthers, Mikheyev

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Washington Capitals forward Lars Eller has decided against opting out of the return to play tournament, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be there for the whole thing. Eller told reporters including Greg Wyshynski of ESPN that he will leave the “bubble” at some point for the birth of his child. The expected due date is August 8th, right in the middle of the qualification round that the Capitals will not be taking part in.

As Wyshynski explains, leaving the bubble is relatively easy—it requires extenuating circumstances like the birth of a child and a GM’s approval—getting back in is not. Eller will be subject to several tests before being allowed to return, including a potential 14-day quarantine depending on where they have traveled.

Mike Kitchen Opts Out Of Return To Play

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The Florida Panthers will be without assistant coach Mike Kitchen for the return to play program, announcing today that he has opted out. Kitchen released a short statement on his decision:

It was a difficult decision to say the least, but the right decision for me and my family.

Kitchen joined the Panthers this season after spending years alongside head coach Joel Quenneville in previous stops and has the team’s full support in his decision.

A veteran of 474 regular season games as a player, Kitchen has been an NHL assistant coach for most of the last three decades. The Panthers will have to move forward without him as they prepare for their qualification series against the New York Islanders.

Florida To Have Four Or Five Goalies At Camp, Anton Stralman Likely To Play Despite Concerns

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  • The Panthers plan to have four or five goalies attend training camp which begins next week, notes George Richards of Florida Hockey Now. Teams can technically carry as many goalies as they want but knowing they count against the 31 player maximum allowed to go into the bubble, it seems likely that number will be shaved down by the end of the month.  Richards adds that defenseman Anton Stralman, who indicated his concern with coming back to play in June, has reported to Florida’s facilities, suggesting he will play in their play-in series against the Islanders.  However, there will still be a small window to opt out once the new CBA and Return to Play agreement is ratified.

Chris Pronger Leaves Front Office Role With Florida Panthers

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Chris Pronger has left his role with the front office of the Florida Panthers, the team announced. Pronger had been the senior VP of hockey operations, notes Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. He’s been in the role since June of 2017 after three years of working for the NHL in the Department of Player Safety.

Pronger made his NHL debut in 1993-1994, playing for 18 years with the Hartford Whalers, Blues, Oilers, Ducks, and Flyers. The Hall-of-Famer was a four-time All-Star and the winner of the Norris and Hart Trophies after a monster 1999-2000 season with the Blues in which he put up 62 points and a league-leading plus-52 while on the ice. He also averaged a brutal 30 minutes and 14 seconds of ice time that year. Pronger would win his only cup in 2006-2007, the first of a three-year tenure with the Anaheim Ducks. The hulking defenseman retired after the 2011-2012 season.

The decision to leave his role with the Panthers appears to be Pronger’s. He’s leaving to launch Well Inspired Plans, a travel agency he’s heading up with his wife, per Adam Kimelman of NHL.com. The Panthers thanked Pronger for his contributions in their statement, writing: “…Chris approached the role with great passion and provided our team with a fresh and unique perspective…”

Poll: Who Is Most Deserving Of The No. 1 Pick?

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We asked and you voted and the Pittsburgh Penguins are the team that readers least want to see win the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft by means of a second draft lottery. The Penguins were closely followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers and unsurprisingly these are three teams loaded with star power who finished in the top-five among teams in the qualifying round. Yet, the Carolina Hurricanes, who hold the second best record among qualifying round teams, gained just 1% of the vote, while the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks, the worst teams to qualify from each conference, finished fourth and fifth respectively in voting. This begs the question: who do you think is most deserving of the top pick?

Obviously, with the NHL Draft Lottery playing out as it did with each of the league’s bottom seven teams missing out on the top slot, the most deserving teams like the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, or Buffalo Sabres won’t be an option for No. 1 this year. Instead, it will be one of the to-be-determined playoff teams out of the 16 who will play in a “knockout round” to open the expanded 24-team playoff field. All of these teams finished above .500 this season, so a good team will only get better in the form of Alexis Lafreniere, the elite talent at the top of the draft board. All eight losers of the qualifying round will have even odds in a second running of the lottery, but which franchise is most deserving of this boost?

The NHL has no shortage of teams with a history of losing, but the Florida Panthers have a strong argument for the title of unluckiest. Florida, who entered the league in 1993, has just 18 playoff wins in franchise history. A dozen of those wins came in the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996, in which they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche. The remaining six wins have come in just four playoff series over the past 22 season, none of which have been won by the Cats. This series win drought is the longest current streak in the NHL. The team has also struggled with attendance over the years, due both to location and performance. The Panthers finished just 29th in capacity attendance this season and could use a young star player to draw more fans. The current Florida roster is not without talent but is strapped for cap space and set to lose some strong players in free agency. An affordable entry level deal for a top pick would go a long way to keep the Panthers competitive in the Atlantic Division.

The Winnipeg Jets have improved since moving from Atlanta, but the team’s legacy is still one of failure. The Thrashers franchise, which has since become the second iteration of the Jets, entered the league in 1999. In 19 seasons, the club has qualified for the playoffs just four times and has won only 11 games and two series. Like the Panthers, the bulk of those wins came in just one postseason as the Jets won nine games in 2017-18. Unlike Florida, they have never appeared in a Stanley Cup Final. The Jets playoff fortunes have increased since leaving Atlanta, where they failed to win a single postseason game in more than a decade. The club may be able to figure out how to get to their first Cup Final without luck, but playing in a remote city with a passionate but small fan base limits the Jets financially and they could definitely use an affordable superstar like Lafreniere, even though the roster already contains a number of strong young players.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have an identical 11-20 playoff record to the Thrashers/Jets and seeing as how they entered the league one year later in 2000, it would seem they have been slightly more successful. Additionally, all of those wins have come within the past six seasons and the team has qualified in each of the past three years. However, the Blue Jackets have the unfortunate distinction of never coming close to a Stanley Cup in a way that no other NHL team can claim. Columbus has won just one playoff series – just last year in fact – in their existence, the fewest in NHL history, and in that season was eliminated ten wins short of a title, the furthest distance that any team can claim is their best. Columbus also lost three of their best players from the team that finally won a series last season. The Blue Jackets may be improving, but their fans have seen less playoff success than any team in the NHL and their roster is not one that seem likely to produce a Stanley Cup any time soon. Lafreniere would be a boost to the franchise the likes of which have never been seen.

The Blue Jackets’ partners in the 2000 Expansion class, the Minnesota Wild presented a return to the State of Hockey for the NHL and have always had the benefit of immense fan support. Yet, the Wild have struggled to give their fans much to truly root for. While their 26 playoff wins since they entered the league is far better than some of their peers, Minnesota has never made it to the Stanley Cup Final and were swept out of their lone Western Conference Final appearance, which came back in 2002-03. Minnesota has largely been a one-and-done team, winning just four playoff series in their existence. Regular season success can only get you so far and it would be good for the team and the league for Minnesota to see some more results in the postseason. The timing could not be better to land Lafreniere either; the Wild snapped a six-season playoff appearance streak last year and their roster is one of the oldest in the league. The team could desperately use a young centerpiece.

The original Winnipeg Jets, who moved to Phoenix and became the Arizona Coyotes in 1996, also deserve inclusion among teams who could use some luck. The Coyotes franchise is the oldest to have never appeared in a Stanley Cup Final, dating back to the Jets’ birth in 1979-80. In that time, they have just 41 playoff wins overall have qualified for the postseason just three times in the past 16 years. They have one of the longest active postseason droughts in the NHL, dating back seven years. The team also has the very unfortunate distinction of having the highest cap payroll in the league this season while placing just 28th in capacity percentage attendance. While star players have been a part of the franchise from time to time throughout its history, the current roster is lacking a young superstar, which is exactly what they need to increase fan interest as well as affordably improve their roster. Lafreniere would be the perfect fit.

As for other teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs have the longest active Stanley Cup drought at 51 years and are second only two Florida with a playoff series win drought of 14 years, so while they have a young, loaded roster, they may still deserve some sympathy. Similarly, while the Montreal Canadiens are the winningest team in NHL history and don’t need any more titles just yet, they are technically the worst team in the qualifying round and could desperately use the boost, as maintaining relevancy in the 21st century has proved difficult for the once-great franchise. The Vancouver Canucks are the oldest team never to have won the Stanley Cup and got painfully close with a Game Seven loss in the 2011 Final and have not won a series ever since. The Nashville Predators have also never won the Stanley Cup, but have gotten close. Like several other teams, sustained success in Nashville would have a beneficial affect on grassroots hockey. Finally, the New York Islanders are a strong team this year and have staying power in the Metropolitan Division, but their glory days of the 80’s are long gone and they have not made a Cup Final appearance in 35 seasons. Lafreniere landing in the New York market could also be great exposure for the game.

What do you think? Which team is most deserving of the No. 1 pick?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Aleksander Barkov Buys A Stake In Tappara's Hockey Program

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Panthers Prospect Emil Djuse Signs In The KHL

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After a good showing in the SHL the previous two seasons, Emil Djuse decided to try his hand at playing in North America this season and signed with Dallas back in April of 2019.  However, after failing to reach the NHL with them or Florida (who acquired him in February), he has opted to head back overseas as Spartak Moscow of the KHL announced that they’ve signed the pending restricted free agent to a one-year contract.

The 26-year old spent the majority of the season with AHL Texas where he collected a respectable 29 points (4-25-29) in 48 games, more points than he had amassed in a single year over his seven professional seasons in Sweden between the SHL and Allsvenskan levels.  That was enough for the Panthers to move a sixth-round pick (Buffalo’s 2020 selection) at the trade deadline to bring Djuse in for extra depth.  He got into five games with their minor league affiliate in Springfield where he had a goal and two assists before the COVID-19 pandemic shelved the rest of the AHL season.

At 26, Djuse is eligible for restricted free agency this offseason but is only a year away from becoming an unrestricted free agent so a qualifying offer wouldn’t do much from Florida’s perspective.  Meanwhile, with this deal, Djuse gives himself a guaranteed place to play next season with the fate of the AHL schedule in question and a good showing there could get him back on the North American radar in 2021.

Snapshots: Patrick, Kalynuk, Panthers, Granlund

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The Philadelphia Flyers are expected to be quite healthy whenever the league begins their 24-team tournament. The team is expected to get back James van Riemsdyk (fractured right index finger) and Philippe Myers (fractured right kneecap). However, the news remains grim for young center Nolan Patrick, who has missed the entire 2019-20 season with migraine issues.

Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi notes that the second-overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft hasn’t seen much improvement and seriously doubts the team would be willing to put the 21-year-old out on the ice if he could re-injure himself during the 24-team playoffs. It’s much more likely the Flyers will allow him to heal throughout the summer and hope that he is ready to go whenever training camp gets underway for the 2020-21 season, which could be anywhere between November to January.

Even if Philadelphia believed Patrick was ready to contribute, Carchidi points out that it doesn’t make much sense to break up the team’s chemistry that led them to a first-round bye in the playoffs. Throwing a player who hasn’t played since Apr. 2, 2019 isn’t necessarily a good way to hold onto that chemistry.

  • In a separate article, Carchidi writes that the Philadelphia Flyers are in negotiations with their 2017 seventh-round pick, Wyatt Kalynuk, who decided to forego his senior season at Wisconsin and can become a free agent later this summer. The 23-year-old offensive defenseman was an all-Big Ten selection after scoring seven goals and 28 points.
  • NHL.com’s Jameson Olive interviewed Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon, who states that along with regular players on the team’s roster, the Panthers expect to add several prospects to the playoff roster, including forwards Owen Tippett, Henrik Borgstrom and defenseman Brady Keeper. Tippett could be an interesting player, who was a first-round pick back in 2017 and appeared in seven games back in the 2017-18 season, but was returned to junior. He scored 19 goals in 46 games with Springfield this year in the AHL. Borgstrom struggled this year, mainly playing in the AHL after playing 50 games with Florida in 2018-19, but still has the potential to become a solid NHL forward, while Keeper finished out his rookie season in the AHL, faring well. “I’m sure we’ll have a few of our top prospects there,” Tallon said. “We’ll narrow it down to see how many [Joel Quenneville] wants. We still have to wait for the league [to give] an exact number.”
  • Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins reports that while forward Markus Granlund has already signed a contract with Ufa Salavat Yulaev in the KHL for next season, expect the forward to be part of the Edmonton Oilers’ “Black Aces” taxi squad when the 24-team playoffs begin later this summer. Granlund remains under contract with the Oilers until the season is over and should be able to provide veteran depth for the team in case of injuries. Granlund played in 34 games with the Oilers this season with three goals and four points, but did spend quite a bit of time in the AHL this year, something he hadn’t been forced to do in years.

Henrik Borgstrom Linked To Jokerit Of The KHL

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Henrik Borgstrom’s stock has certainly fallen over the last couple of years.  When he left the University of Denver in 2018 after a stellar sophomore season, he looked like a can’t-miss prospect that was ready to step in and play a regular role for the Panthers in the immediate future.  Fast forward to today and he has yet to lock down a full-time spot.  His next move may be heading overseas as a report from Jatkoaika’s Antti Parnanen notes that Borgstrom is in talks with Jokerit of the KHL for a contract for next season.

The 22-year-old played in 50 games with Florida in 2018-19 but saw that number dip to just four this season.  Instead, he spent most of the year with AHL Springfield and his numbers there didn’t exactly jump off the charts with 23 points in 49 games.  For context, he had 22 points in just 24 AHL contests a year ago.  Accordingly, it’s fair to suggest that he has dropped a little bit on Florida’s depth chart along the way.

Borgstrom will be eligible for waivers starting next season and given his upside, it’s a fairly safe bet that he wouldn’t be back in the AHL next season as someone would undoubtedly take a chance on him if Florida was to put him on the wire.  However, while he could hold his own as a 12th or 13th forward on a roster, that may not be the best for him from a long-term perspective.

A season overseas back home with Jokerit – the program he developed in before coming to North America – could certainly help get him back on track.  There, he’d have an opportunity to play in an offensive role and boost his stock.  It would be a similar approach to what Edmonton winger Jesse Puljujarvi did this season where he went back home and was among the top scorers in the SM-liiga.

Of course, the ongoing pandemic could certainly play a role here as well.  At this stage, it certainly seems possible that the2020-21 campaign is unlikely to start as scheduled whereas the KHL is currently planning to start around their usual time in September.  Going there would ensure that he’s playing next season and still open up the possibility to come back to North America partway through the next NHL campaign.  Parnanen adds that if Borgstrom and Jokerit do indeed reach an agreement, it likely wouldn’t be signed until the fate of the current NHL season is determined.

If Borgstrom does go overseas, the Panthers would be able to retain his rights as a restricted free agent by tendering him a qualifying offer this offseason.  He’s not eligible for salary arbitration and wouldn’t be after a season in the KHL either but a strong season with them could certainly bolster his negotiating position, one that will be rather low after the year he just had.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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