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NHL Down To Four Unvaccinated Players

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The NHL expected that 98% or perhaps even 99% of their players would be vaccinated against the Coronavirus before the start of the 2021-22 season. It seems that they have somehow bettered that mark. Commissioner Gary Bettman has revealed that there are currently only four unvaccinated players in the league. This is understood to mean that all but four of the roughly 736 players on NHL rosters as of yesterday’s deadline are vaccinated – 99.5% of all players. Bettman spoke to his appreciation and respect for how the players have handled the pandemic in many ways over the past two years:

Throughout all of this, we had great collaboration and cooperation with the players and Players’ Association. This doesn’t happen to get to this point without that collaboration and cooperation. Yes, the players have stepped up to get vaccinated, but even thinking about how the players had to function the last two years, to go into the bubble… Having to adhere to the protocols last season so we could administer 330,000 tests to keep everybody healthy. The fact that we were in the bubble and I think we did 35,000 tests and didn’t have one positive. Everybody banded together to do the right thing. Maybe that’s why hockey is the ultimate team sport.

Of those four players, two have previously been confirmed as New Jersey Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, who has at least considered receiving the vaccine, and Detroit Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi. While Montreal Canadiens forward Jesse Ylonen is also unvaccinated and veteran Vancouver Canucks defenseman Travis Hamonic has been speculated as such as well, neither are considered to be part of this group of four as they are both currently in the AHL.

Bettman also noted that all team personnel and all officials are vaccinated. As a whole, the NHL is about as close to full protection against COVID-19 as could reasonably be expected, not to mention lightyears ahead of the other top North American pro sports leagues.

And yet, Coronavirus will continue to play a part in this NHL season. The Seattle Kraken have already dealt with numerous players entering the COVID Protocol before they can even play their first game in the league, while individual players like Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Vegas’ Mattias Janmark are also sidelined by positive tests. The league and its players have done their best to this point, but will have to continue to adhere to COVID Protocol policies and procedures as all involved hope to play a full and uninterrupted schedule this season.

Latest On Evander Kane

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Yesterday, the San Jose Sharks left Evander Kane off their opening night roster, noting that he “is considered a non-roster player pending completion of the NHL’s investigation.” There was no clarity on how that affected the team’s cap situation, but CapFriendly reports today that Kane’s $7MM cap hit will not currently count against the Sharks. That leaves them with a little more than $8MM in total cap space going into the season.

The bigger question is how long will the Sharks be without Kane, and there could be an answer coming soon on that front. Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet tweets that the league is leaning toward suspending Kane under the CBA’s “Commissioner Discipline for Off-Ice Conduct” (article 18-A). A suspension like this is entirely determined by the league’s commissioner, in this case Gary Bettman, but does have an appeal process. Technically the article also states that a player’s contract can be canceled by the commissioner, though nothing has indicated that will be the case here. It reads:

18-A.2 Commissioner Authority to Impose Discipline for Off-Ice Conduct.

Whenever the Commissioner determines that a Player has violated a League Rule applicable to Players (other than Playing Rules subjecting the Player to potential Supplementary Discipline for On-Ice Conduct), or has been or is guilty of conduct (whether during or outside the playing season) that is detrimental to or against the welfare of the League or the game of hockey, he may discipline such Player in any or all of the following respects:

  • (a) by expelling or suspending such Player for a definite or indefinite period;
  • (b) by cancelling any SPC that such Player has with any Member Club; or
  • (c) by imposing a fine on the Player not exceeding the maximum permissible fine under Section 18.7(b).

For the purpose of calculating compensation forfeited due to a suspension under this Article, the Player will forfeit all Paragraph 1 NHL Salary and Bonuses, but not Performance Bonuses, commencing on the effective date of the suspension through the completion of the last game or date of the suspension, inclusive of all intervening days.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period tweets that the investigation is ongoing and Kane is currently designated as a non-roster player. How long that designation stands for is unclear, just as the potential length of suspension is still unclear.

When the league announced that Kane had been cleared of the allegations of gambling on NHL games, it also included a note that he was being investigated for other potential wrongdoing. The official release has been changed several times, but now does not include any mention of the “allegation of inappropriate behavior potentially jeopardizing the health and safety of Club members” that it once listed.

Snapshots: Johnson, Price, Lehner

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Jack Johnson is in Colorado Avalanche camp on a professional tryout, but that could be converted to an NHL deal before long. Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports that things are “trending in the direction” of a new contract, though nothing has been filed just yet. An injury to Devon Toews has opened a potential spot for the veteran defenseman, who, according to Baugh’s source, had interest from other teams before deciding to head to Colorado.

The 34-year-old is coming off a one-year, $1.15MM deal with the New York Rangers, but is still earning a little more than $916K from the Pittsburgh Penguins in each of the next five seasons, thanks to a buyout in 2020. It’s been a brutal few years for Johnson, who has played in 950 regular season games over a long career but has posted terrible analytics for many of them. In a depth role perhaps he can be effective for the Avalanche, but there’s little chance of him being a real impact player for them at this point.

  • The Montreal Canadiens were hoping that Carey Price would be ready for the start of the regular season after undergoing knee surgery earlier this offseason, but that may not be the case. Head coach Dominique Ducharme told reporters including John Lu of TSN that Price is currently dealing with a non-COVID illness that is keeping him off the ice and the team is “less confident now” that he’ll be ready for the first game. The fact that the Canadiens claimed Sam Montembeault off waivers this weekend makes sense if that’s the case, though Price is still not expected to miss a huge chunk of the regular season schedule.
  • Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner stirred up hockey Twitter this weekend with a series of tweets alleging various wrongdoings across the league and tagged both the NHLPA and NHL to offer to speak directly to them. League commissioner Gary Bettman joined Jeff Marek on Sportsnet radio this afternoon and commented on the situation, explaining that the league will soon speak directly to Lehner to “hear his concerns directly” and then “follow up to see what merit there may be.” So far, the league has not announced any official investigations into any of the concerns raised by the veteran goaltender, which included allegations of team personnel providing benzodiazepines and Ambien to players.

Montreal To Host 2022 NHL Draft

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The 2022 NHL Draft will be held in Montreal at the Bell Centre, home of the Montreal Canadiens. The event will be held over two days, starting on July 7. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman released a statement:

We are proud to announce that, once again, we are conducting our Draft in front of the great fans of the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal, the site of the first NHL Draft in 1963, is a wonderful place to bring the NHL family together and to focus on the future of our game as our Clubs call the names of top prospects from around the world. We also thank Geoff Molson and the entire Canadiens organization for their cooperation and support while we needed to conduct the Draft remotely the past two years.

The Canadiens had been set to host the 2020 draft before the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to be held virtually. The expectation since has always been that the league would return to Montreal as soon as it could, and now that is official.

The most interesting part about this announcement is that NHL free agency will not open on July 1, as it did prior to the COVID-shifted calendars. Agent Allan Walsh of Octagon Hockey tweets that the frenzy will be pushed back to mid-July, meaning once again it will be a condensed offseason. This is likely in part due to the extended season, as this year’s schedule is made up of 200 days thanks to an Olympic break in February.

It also means as PuckPedia points out, that the majority of players with signing bonuses will have them paid before the draft and free agency. That could drastically affect teams’ plans and player movement heading into the draft, as huge chunks of salary will have already been paid out.

Hamilton To Host 2022 NHL Heritage Classic

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Jim Balsillie finally gets his wish, the NHL is headed to Hamilton. No, a franchise isn’t relocating, but the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres will take part in the 2022 Heritage Classic at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario on March 13 of next year. The field is home to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman released this statement.

We are excited to announce that we will be presenting another Tim Hortons Heritage Classic this season. When the Toronto Maple Leafs meet the Buffalo Sabres at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, we again will honor Canada’s preeminent role in the history of our game while renewing a great and longstanding NHL rivalry. In addition, by inviting the first U.S.-based team to a Heritage Classic, we will celebrate the greater Golden Horseshoe region as the home of so many fans of both the Leafs and Sabres.

The event had previously been held in NHL cities, but in 2019, the league branched out and held the Heritage Classic in Regina, Saskatchewan, where it was a huge success. This will be a similarly neutral-feeling location with the Sabres as the first U.S.-based team taking part. It will be Toronto’s fourth regular season outdoor game and first since the 2018 Stadium Series. The Sabres have been involved in two previous outdoor games, including the 2018 Winter Classic.

Tim Hortons Field is a multi-purpose stadium that hosts the Tiger-Cats and Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League, and will be the venue for the 2021 Grey Cup in December. It has a normal capacity of close to 24,000 but that can be expanded to nearly 40,000 for special events, according to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, who reported last month that this game was in the works.

League Notes: Realignment, Canceled Events, ESPN

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Though the NHL approved the plan all the way back in December 2018, not long after accepting Seattle’s expansion bid, it has been a long time since realignment plans have been reiterated. In fact, since the last update on the league’s post-expansion structure, there was a complete overhaul of the league’s conferences and divisions for the 2020-21 season. However, everything will return to normal next year with the unchanged Atlantic and Metropolitan Divisions making up the Eastern Conference and finally an equal 16 teams in the Western Conference with the Central and Pacific Divisions. Commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed today that the plan remains for the only team to move to be the Arizona Coyotes. Although Phoenix is more closely located to four Pacific cities than any Central cities, it is also closer to those Central cities than any other Pacific city, including newcomer Seattle. The Coyotes may be the odd man out, but a change of scenery can’t hurt for a team that has struggled to make the playoffs out of the Pacific for the better part of a decade.

  • When the NHL announced a number of events for the 2021-22 season earlier today, there were a couple of curious absences. The league revealed a Stadium Series game in Nashville and that All-Star Weekend will belong to Vegas, thereby skipping over the hosts for those canceled 2020-21 events. The Carolina Hurricanes were set to host an outdoor game this year, but now have no such event planned. However, Bettman did specifically mention that Raleigh will get it’s Stadium Series (or perhaps Winter Classic) game in the near future. There is not as much clarity for the Florida Panthers. The 2021 All-Star Game was supposed to take place in Sunrise, but now it will be on the other side of the country and there has been no explanation by the league as to why nor as to future plans for the Panthers to host. George Richards of Florida Hockey Now surmises that the potential for the All-Star Game to lead into the Olympic break, if the NHL attends, made a move west, where flights to China would be far shorter than from Florida, a sensible move. However, he also notes that Florida team president Matt Caldwell was certain the All-Star game would belong to the Panthers, so there is some confusion. In all likelihood, Florida will play host to the All-Star game in the near future, just as Carolina will host an outdoor game, but until there is an official announcement that is only speculation.
  • Another surprise reveal this evening is that NBC’s contract with the NHL will officially come to an end following the Stanley Cup Final. The network was expected to host the NHL Entry Draft, if not also the NHL Expansion Draft, later this month. However, ESPN has now been announced as the host of both. TSN’s Bob McKenzie, an NBC contributor, notes that this has less to do with the new television rights agreement and more to do with unfortunate timing. McKenzie believes that NBC informed the NHL well before the new TV deal that they would be unable to host the Entry Draft due to conflicts with the Summer Olympics. As a result, ESPN will begin its NHL coverage with two major events in the span of just three days – the Expansion Draft on Wednesday, July 21 and the first round of the Entry Draft on Friday, July 23. Although, McKenzie believes they will use the Sportsnet feed for the latter, if not both. With Mark Messier and most recently Chris Chelios joining ESPN, the network will have more than enough talent to start producing their own material sooner rather than later.

NHL Announces Multiple Events For 2021-22

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During NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s state of the league address today, ahead of game one of the Stanley Cup Finals, the league officially announced several events for the 2021-22 season.

First is the 2022 Winter Classic, which will feature the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild at Target Field, Minneapolis. The event will be held on January 1, 2022, a year after it was originally scheduled. The Wild were set to hold the 2021 Winter Classic, but it was eventually canceled due to the COVID restrictions present all season long. This is the second outdoor game for both organizations.

The 2022 Stadium Series is headed to Nashville, where the Predators will welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning at Nissan Stadium. This will be the second outdoor game for the Predators, who took part in the 2020 Winter Classic against the Dallas Stars. For the Lightning, this will be the first outdoor game in the franchise history. The Carolina Hurricanes, who were supposed to hold the Stadium Series game in 2021, will not be involved next season but Bettman confirmed that the league will schedule an event in Raleigh at some point in the near future.

Perhaps most notable however is the 2022 All-Star Weekend, which is officially scheduled to take place in Las Vegas next year. The Vegas Golden Knights will host the league’s best players, though the actual dates have not been able to be announced yet. That’s because the league’s schedule isn’t confirmed yet and could still include an Olympic break, though deputy commissioner Bill Daly did explain today that “time is running short” on those negotiations. Bettman explained that if at all possible, they want to fulfill their promise to the players that they would go, but that there are serious concerns at this point over whether this is even “the most ideal Olympics to go to.”

Though not included in the official announcement, the 2022 NHL Entry Draft is expected to be held in Montreal, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The 2020 draft was originally scheduled to be held in Montreal but was eventually moved to a virtual setting. At the time, the league suggested that they would go back to the city as soon as possible, which now seems like it will be in 2022.

Nazem Kadri’s Eight-Game Suspension Upheld

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For the second time, the eight-game suspension of Nazem Kadri has been upheld. This time by neutral arbitrator Shyam Das, the final appeal Kadri can make after the suspension was already upheld by commissioner Gary Bettman. The decision was first reported by Darren Dreger of TSN.

Kadri has already served six of the eight games, meaning he will be eligible to return for the Colorado Avalanche in game seven of their current series, should it go that far.

In the decision, Das explains that the “key factor” in Department of Player Safety head George Parros’ decision to issue and Bettman’s decision to uphold an eight-game suspension was Kadri’s history of supplementary discipline.

It is true that in this case, unlike his two most recent suspensions in the 2018 and 2019 playoffs, respectively, Kadri did not act in an emotional, hotheaded or retaliatory manner, but in this instance, unlike those two prior ones, there was an injury — a significant one — to the opposing player. Parros testified that the DPS believed that Kadri’s history showed the message was not getting through, and that the discipline needed to go up from the most recent five-playoff game suspension issued to Kadri — without doubling that suspension as had been done in some other cases — in order to send a strong message. The Commissioner came to the same conclusion as the DPS, after also taking into account the comparisons with other players that the NHLPA presented to him.

Das had previously reduced the lengthy suspensions for Tom Wilson and Austin Watson, but Kadri was not so lucky. His appeal has been denied and he will serve the full eight games before being eligible to return to action.

NHL Upholds Nazem Kadri’s Eight-Game Suspension

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June 2: Greg Wyshynski of ESPN reports that Kadri’s hearing with the neutral arbitrator is set for Friday.

May 31: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has upheld the eight-game suspension that the Department of Player Safety assessed to Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri. Kadri had appealed the decision looking for a reduction, but Bettman concluded that the discipline handed out was warranted.

In the decision, Bettman notes that the NHLPA attempted to compare Kadri’s disciplinary history to that of Tom Wilson, Radko Gudas, Brad Marchand, and Zac Rinaldo, arguing that recent decisions regarding those players “illustrate the concept that if a Player plays clean for a given amount of time,” he should not be considered a player who repeatedly violates the league rules. The commissioner did not agree with this assertion, even directly examining the records of each player and comparing them to Kadri. While the NHLPA asserted that a four-game suspension would have been the correct discipline, Bettman disagreed.

The Avalanche forward can now appeal to a neutral arbitrator, though that process only examines the methodology used by the league to determine the length of the suspension and does not make a ruling on the actual incident itself. Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey now reports that Kadri will indeed pursue this route as Wilson did in 2018. In that case, the 20-game suspension that Wilson received was reduced to 14 by the neutral arbitrator Shyam Das, the same one that Kadri will have hear his case.

Kadri has already served three games of the suspension, all Colorado wins.

New York Rangers Issued $250,000 Fine

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The New York Rangers have received a $250,000 fine from the NHL for their public comments on Tuesday, following the decision from the Department of Player Safety to not suspend Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson. The team called for the dismissal of DoPS head George Parros and will now pay a fine 50 times greater than the one they issued to Wilson in the first place.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman released this statement:

Public comments of the nature issued by the Rangers that were personal in nature and demeaning of a League executive will not be tolerated. While we don’t expect our Clubs to agree with every decision rendered by the Department of Player Safety, the extent to which the Rangers expressed their disagreement was unacceptable. It is terribly unfair to question George Parros’ professionalism and dedication to his role and the Department of Player Safety.

The Rangers have been a whirlwind of chaos since Wilson punched Pavel Buchnevich and threw Artemi Panarin to the ground on Monday night. They followed the statement by firing president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton, though senior advisor Glenn Sather told reporters again today that the two incidents had nothing to do with each other. Last night, the Rangers tried to take matters into their own hands by responding physically in a rematch with the Capitals, taking more than 80 minutes in penalties. Buchnevich also is expected to receive a suspension after high-sticking Capitals forward Anthony Mantha.

The league has issued fines like this in the past. During the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs the San Jose Sharks were fined $100,000 for GM Doug Wilson’s comments on the suspension given to Raffi Torres. In that case, it was a manager defending the actions of one of his players, but the two situations are still very similar when it comes to the punishment handed down by the league.

At the very least, this indicates that the league is standing behind Parros and his department leadership (though that should come as no surprise).

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