Pacific Notes: Boeser, Brodie, Schmaltz
While the names of Mitch Marner, Sebastian Aho, Brayden Point and William Karlsson are popular names brought up amongst the multitude of upcoming restricted free agents this summer, one name that often gets missed is Vancouver Canucks winger Brock Boeser. The 22-year-old has been a key figure with the Canucks the past two years as he’s combined for 51 goals and 111 points in the last two seasons, making him quite an interesting figure, considering Vancouver needs to lock him up.
The Athletic’s Harman Dayal (subscription required) analyzes what it might take for the Canucks to sign Boeser this summer. While the Canucks have the cap space to be generous to their young forward, the scribe writes they need to be cautious as both Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes will be watching as they will also be looking for new record-breaking deals in the next two years, but when noting that it took Boeser a couple of years to break into the league before his entry-level deal kicked in, the best comparisons are Filip Forsberg and Jordan Eberle. With those numbers in mind, the scribe says that a rough estimate puts Boeser at approximately $7.25MM with Boeser likely asking for $8MM, while the Canucks hoping to keep it as close to $7MM as possible.
However, with no eligibility for arbitration or a potential offer sheet to use as leverage, Boeser isn’t exactly in the prime situation to force the Canucks to pay $8MM unless he wants to hold out.
- While there has been talk that the Calgary Flames might be ready to move on from defenseman T.J. Brodie with their influx of talented blueliners ready to take bigger roles in the near future, The Athletic’s Kent Wilson (subscription required) does an in-depth look at Mark Giordano as well as his impact on Brodie. The scribe notes that Brodie, who looked to be on the decline a year ago, had an improved year when paired with Giordano, but when he wasn’t playing with the star defenseman, Brodie’s numbers were extremely mediocre, even more suggesting that Calgary might be best served in moving Brodie now before his value slips even more. The 28-year-old will be in a contract-year at $4.65MM, which might make him even more valuable to other NHL teams.
- Craig Morgan of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Arizona Coyotes forward Nick Schmaltz, who the team acquired last November but only appeared in 17 games before going down with a season-ending meniscus injury, is changing his diet in hopes of being in the best shape of his career. With a history of eating burgers and cheese curds, the team has asked him to start eating healthier this summer. “I have never really cooked in my life,” he said. “It was always easier to go out or order something, but learning how to cook healthy food is a big step, and you can really focus on that in the summer.”
Morning Notes: Bruins’ Long Wait, Kapanen, Kakko, Svechnikov
During his press conference on Saturday, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said the team would go outside the organization for advice on how utilize their time correctly considering they don’t play again until May 27, which is still eight days away. The Athletic’s Joe McDonald (subscription required) adds that Sweeney was talking about consulting the New England Patriots of the NFL, a team that has spent quite a bit of time playing in Super Bowl games.
In fact, Boston’s four major franchises have combined for 12 titles this century, but with six Super Bowl Championships, the Patriots may know how to stay sharp more than anyone. The team hopes to take some of Bill Belichick‘s tips to heart. “Hopefully they’ll be able to share some information with us,” Sweeney said.
There was initially some talk of an intra-squad game, but there is no real way to simulate a Stanley Cup Finals game, nor is the team thrilled about opening up their players to possible injury. In the end, rest might be the best course of action.
In the short term, it’s really beneficial for our group. We’ve been pedal to the metal here, mentally and physically, for a while. I do believe in the short term it will help us a lot. Then it’s incumbent upon us to simulate the best we can with what’s going to be required going forward.
- TVA Sports (translation required) suggests that while there are plenty of rumors surrounding the Montreal Canadiens being interested in putting together an offer sheet to pry Mitch Marner away from the Toronto Maple Leafs, the writer suggests instead the team should use an offer sheet instead to get Kasperi Kapanen, which would have a much higher chance of success. If the Canadiens offer Kapanen a deal anywhere from $4.23MM to $6.63MM for at least three years, the compensation would only be a first and a third-round pick, which would likely be worth the acquisition.
- The New York Post’s Joseph Staszewski reports 2019 draft prospect Kaapo Kakko said that his goal is to become the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft to the New Jersey Devils. Kakko is currently expected to be the second-overall pick in the draft, slated to go to the New York Rangers with prospect Jack Hughes expected to end up in New Jersey. However, an impressive showing so far at the World Championships for Finland might be enough to push him one notch higher. “This is a big thing for me for the draft,” Kakko told NHL.com through a translator. “I think I can be the first [pick]. “I’ve played well. I haven’t paid much attention to Jack Hughes and his game, but I’m confident I’ve been able to let everyone see my skills and the level of my game. It’s not going to be an easy choice for the teams.”
- Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press looks back at the Detroit Red Wings’ 2015 NHL draft, analyzing its success. The team drafted Evgeny Svechnikov that year, who lost some valuable development time last season when he was forced to undergo ACL surgery in September. While the team still has a few pending prospects from that draft, the key to the draft will be Svechnikov, who so far has just two goals in 16 games and needs a bounce-back season if they don’t want to look at that draft as a failure.
Snapshots: Boston Black Aces, Bellemare, Luostarinen
With a long layoff coming until their next matchup, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney revealed the team’s Black Aces during a press conference earlier today, according to Boston Globe’s Matt Porter. The 12 players are expected to help the NHL team practice and likely to get some practice games in before the Stanley Cup begins on May 27.
The Black Aces will include forwards Anton Blidh, Paul Carey, Peter Cehlarik, Trent Frederic, Zachary Senyshyn, Jack Studnicka and Jordan Szwarz; defensemen Jeremy Lauzon, Urho Vaakanainen and Jakub Zboril; and goaltenders Kyle Keyser and Zane McIntyre.
- Golden Knights center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare will be seeking a multi-year contract on the open market, reports David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The 34-year-old was an important part of the bottom six group in Vegas over the past two seasons; his faceoff prowess and ability to kill penalties should help him garner some interest for teams looking to upgrade their fourth line. However, with several pricey extensions kicking in for next season, it’s unlikely that Vegas will be able to afford to retain him unless he’s willing to take a pay cut on the $1.45MM he received in each of the last two seasons.
- Hurricanes prospect Eetu Luostarinen will miss the remainder of the World Championships due to a knee injury, the IIHF announced. The 20-year-old was held off the scoresheet in four appearances. Luostarinen has one more left on his current contract with KalPa Kuopio of the Finnish SM-liiga and will likely make the jump to North America following the 2019-20 season.
Western Notes: Dunn, Kampf, Stralman, Brown
The St. Louis Blues will be without defenseman Vince Dunn on Sunday for the ever-important Game 5 as Blues head coach Craig Berube said the 22-year-old won’t travel with the team to San Jose after taking a puck to the face during Game 3 on Wednesday, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann.
Berube added that Dunn will be day-to-day with an upper-body injury and he is believed to be dealing with concussion issues. He was well enough to attend Friday’s Game 4’s 2-1 victory, however.
“It’s great,” Berube said after the game. “Dunner’s back here and he’s around his teammates. … It’s awesome to see him. It’s a day-to-day thing right now. I’m not sure exactly when he’s gonna be available to play. So we’ll have to see how that goes, but it’s good to see him around for sure.”
The team did have some good news as winger Sammy Blais is expected to play in Game 5 despite having to leave Game 4 Friday after taking a Brent Burns‘ shot off his foot.
- The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that the Chicago Blackhawks have begun negotiating with restricted free agent center David Kampf. The 24-year-old was signed to a two-year entry-level contract out of the Czech Republic League and has been a success in Chicago, but after making $925K the past two years, he’s in line for a slight raise. While Kampf’s eight goals and 30 points in 109 NHL games isn’t impressive, the forward has been one of Chicago’s best defensive forwards and is expected to be the team’s third or fourth-line center next season. He is eligible for arbitration if the two sides can’t agree to terms.
- The Province’s Patrick Johnson writes that although Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman will be one of the more interesting defensemen on the free agency market this summer, he doubts that the 33-year-old defenseman would be a good fit for the Vancouver Canucks. Even with a full season of star prospect Quinn Hughes, the team desperately needs to upgrade its defense. However, Johnson writes with the team trying to re-sign Alexander Edler and trying to get one more year out of veteran Chris Tanev, the team likely won’t want to add another veteran defenseman to their lineup.
- The Athletic’s Allan Mitchell (subscription required) writes that the Edmonton Oilers should consider helping the Toronto Maple Leafs with their salary cap issues by taking forward Connor Brown off their hands. The scribe believes that the 25-year-old Brown, who has seen his offensive numbers drop in each of the last years, might be the perfect addition for a team that is loaded at the center position, but could use plenty of talent at the wing position. Brown was a former junior teammate of Connor McDavid, suggesting he might make the perfect winger for the star center. Brown scored 20 goals in his first full season with the Maple Leafs back in the 2016-17 season, with many believing he could be a consistent 20-goal scorer. However, that number dropped by six in each of the next two years, to 14 in 2017-18 and then to just eight goals this season. Brown will make $2.1MM next season before becoming a restricted free agent, but the scribe believes that if teamed with McDavid, Brown could easily go back to his 20-goal scoring ways and give the Oilers another offensive weapon that they desperately need. Of course, everything depends on what Toronto would be asking for Brown.
Bruins’ Wagner, Miller Could Miss Stanley Cup Final
Even with a 10-day rest, the Boston Bruins injury situation doesn’t look to be changing any time soon. While reports about veteran defenseman Zdeno Chara seem good, the news about Chris Wagner and Kevan Miller weren’t nearly as impressive. According to Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, both players will not be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals and could miss the entire series:
We’ve got some time to evaluate where guys will be. I don’t expect [Miller] to be ready to play. I’ll be really surprised if [Wagner] will be ready to play, but we’ll see where that goes.
Miller, who hasn’t played a game in the playoffs yet and hasn’t appeared in any game since Apr. 4 with a knee injury, suffered a setback while trying to get back. The team had been hoping to bring him back for the Stanley Cup Finals against either the St. Louis Blues or the San Jose Sharks. While Miller has been with the team the entire way, trying to get back on the ice, Wagner’s situation is even worse. The forward suffered an injury to his right arm after blocking a shot from Carolina Hurricanes’ Justin Faulk‘s in Game 3 of their series and was immediately transported back to Boston. Sweeney added he’d be surprised if Wagner returns for the finals. The team will likely have to lean more on each of their replacements as both Connor Clifton and Noel Acciari have played well in their absence.
The news, however, for Chara was better as Sweeney said he expects Chara to be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but the team intends to monitor his progress over the layoff.
Snapshots: WHL, Keefe, Montour
The Prince Albert Raiders have won the WHL Championship, meaning they will be the final entrant into the 2019 Memorial Cup. They’ll face off against the Guelph Storm, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Halifax Mooseheads starting on Friday evening. The Raiders defeated the Vancouver Giants in overtime last night to take home the league title, their second in franchise history. While goaltender Ian Scott and forward Brett Leason were huge parts of the Raiders’ run and deserve praise, special attention should be placed on Vancouver star Bowen Byram, the draft-eligible defenseman who could potentially go third overall this June.
Byram was the first defenseman to ever lead the WHL in playoff scoring, tallying 26 points in 22 games for the Giants. The 17-year old had 71 points in the regular season and is the best available defenseman in this year’s draft class. His quick puck movement and elusiveness at both ends of the rink are stunning for a player of his age, and it will be up to the Chicago Blackhawks to decide whether they want to spend another high pick on a defenseman this year or let him slip to the Colorado Avalanche—who already have some impressive young players on the blue line themselves.
- Sheldon Keefe has been suggested as a potential head coach for the last few seasons as he finds success with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, but as Luke Fox of Sportsnet writes he isn’t necessarily in a hurry to leave his minor league position. Keefe has a long history with Toronto Maple Leafs’ GM Kyle Dubas going back to their days with Sault Ste. Marie of the OHL, and could potentially be the replacement for Mike Babcock if the opportunity ever presents itself. That won’t be this season, as Dubas has already confirmed that Babcock will be back behind the Maple Leafs bench in 2019-20, but Keefe likely won’t wait around in the minor leagues forever.
- Brandon Montour was forced from Canada’s last game at the IIHF World Championship, and Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the defenseman has a lower-body injury. If Montour is unable to continue in the tournament, the Canadians will have just six healthy defensemen—and even that is assuming that Dante Fabbro can play after taking a puck to the face and leaving the game—meaning there very well could be an addition in the coming days. Canada has one additional roster spot available, and Dreger reports that they’ve circled back on some names that may have turned them down initially.
Snapshots: Guelph, Karlsson, Hurricanes
The Guelph Storm are your 2019 OHL champions, defeating the Ottawa 67’s in six games after falling behind in the series 0-2. The Storm came back in three different playoff rounds to punch their ticket to the Memorial Cup, where they’ll take on the QMJHL winner Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, host team (and QMJHL runner-up) Halifax Mooseheads and either the Prince Albert Raiders or Vancouver Giants out of the WHL.
Guelph had a huge number of future NHL players on the team, but perhaps none more impressive than Nick Suzuki who took home MVP honors. The 19-year old forward recorded an incredible 42 points in 24 playoff games, while also finishing a +22. Suzuki was the main piece acquired by the Montreal Canadiens in last summer’s Max Pacioretty trade and will try to take another step in his development path next season when he starts his professional career.
- Erik Karlsson is “not at 100%” according to Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet, who noted yesterday that the San Jose Sharks defenseman may find his earning potential limited by his injury history as he heads towards unrestricted free agency this summer. While Kypreos explained that the Sharks do have interest in re-signing their star, he imagines that there may not even be a team willing to give Karlsson a seven-year contract given the injury risk he poses. The 28-year old has dealt with a groin injury for much of this season and previously had major surgery on his ankle. Karlsson has 13 points in 15 games this postseason, but has yet to score a goal.
- Perhaps the Carolina Hurricanes needed to find a way to get Patrick Brown and Jake Bean into the lineup today, but both were technically reassigned to the AHL before the game. The Hurricanes were picked apart by the Boston Bruins in Game Two, and will need to find a way to stop the bleeding as the series transitions back to Raleigh. Brown and Bean had been up on emergency recalls, meaning they have to go back down if the rest of the roster is healthy enough to play. The Charlotte Checkers don’t start their third-round series until Friday, meaning the Brown-Bean shuffle will probably continue all week.
Central Notes: Laine, Predators Prospects, Gunnarsson, Honka
With teams worrying about players’ second contracts more than ever, the Winnipeg Jets may have one of the most challenging tasks this summer when they have to lock up star forward Patrik Laine, who hits restricted free agency on July 1. While many may ask why not offer him what he wants, the Jets have two other serious issues, including an already full salary cap as well as the fact that Laine has proven to be wildly inconsistent so far in his early career.
While Laine still tallied 30 goals this past season (his lowest total of his career), 18 of those goals came in November with Laine scoring no more than four goals in any other month. Regardless, The Athletic’s Murat Ates (subscription required) writes that while a long-term deal could net Laine close to $9MM per season, he might even get more if he opts to take a bridge deal and bank on the potential to get back to 40 goals in the next two years. With the potential to hit his peak within that time, he could really hit payday if he waits. However, that could be an even bigger problem to the team’s long-term salary outlook.
- The Athletic’s John Glennon (subscription required) writes that while the Nashville Predators have been ranked near the bottom when it comes to the franchise’s prospect cupboard, the Nashville Predators have some hope. The team does have a team in the AHL, the Milwaukee Admirals, who have slowly developed players that are ready to compete for spots on the NHL roster such as Eeli Tolvanen, Anthony Richard and Yakov Trenin, while the team has added some college depth to bolster their depleted group of prospects. Much of the team’s problems is that they have traded many picks to add talent over the last few years, but Glennon adds that the team has drafted well with the picks it has had whether they are in college, in juniors or playing overseas.
- The St. Louis Blues will be missing a defenseman Saturday when they open up Game 1 against the Dallas Stars as NHL.com’s Chris Pinkert writes that Carl Gunnarsson will sit out after suffering a lower-body injury in Game 7 against the Dallas Stars in the second round. Veteran Robert Bortuzzo is expected to replace him in the lineup. Gunnarsson, a third-pairing defenseman, saw his playing time decrease somewhat in the second-round series.
- SportsDay’s Matthew DeFranks writes that one offseason task that the Dallas Stars must look at is what to do with defenseman Julius Honka, who has been a healthy scratch for the final four months of the season as he hasn’t played a games since Jan. 15. The former first-round pick in 2014 has fallen down the depth chart as he has slipped behind Jamie Oleksiak, Ben Lovejoy, Taylor Fedun, Joel Hanley, Gavin Bayreuther and Dillon Heatherington. “We’re going to sit down over the summer now and we’re going to decide is he a part of this group or is he an asset to go get something else?” said Dallas general manager Jim Nill. “That’s what we’ve got to figure out.”
Atlantic Notes: Toronto’s Penalty Kill, Canadiens, Ristolainen, Acciari
Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas took the blame for many things that went wrong this year at his season-ending press conference, the most interesting of which is the team’s struggle with the penalty kill, which stopped the Boston Bruins’ power play just nine out of 16 times during the playoffs. Dubas admitted he should have had more depth. While the coaching staff should be blamed as well, Sportsnet’s Luke Fox suggests ways to fix that penalty kill for next season.
The top suggestion is that the team must use real centers to take faceoffs during the penalty kill as winger Zach Hyman took the most faceoffs last season, going 69-72, while star John Tavares took just 29 faceoffs on the penalty kill and was the 12th-most used player on the penalty kill. The team must also add some depth to this team that could lose quite a few key penalty killers whether it’s Connor Brown, who is considered trade bait; Ron Hainsey, who will be an unrestricted free agent; or Travis Dermott, who will miss six months after shoulder surgery, the team must add players who can help their penalty kill.
- One Atlantic Division challenger to the Maple Leafs could be in the running for one of their unrestricted free agents, as The Athletic’s Olivier Bouchard (subscription required) believes that the Montreal Canadiens should go after unrestricted free agent Jake Gardiner. The scribe points out that when the dust clears, Montreal general manager Marc Bergevin should have close to $11MM at his disposal and with defense being one of the team’s biggest need, Gardiner might be the perfect addition as the blueliner should be able to force defenseman Brett Kulak to a bottom-pairing role.
- Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News writes that while the Buffalo Sabres have considered the possibility of trading defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen for a top-six forward, he believes that would be a mistake, claiming that rather than hiding his defensive weaknesses, the team keeps placing him in a role that doesn’t suit him, which is attempting to shutdown the opposing team’s players. Ristolainen, who finished the season with a NHL-worst rating of minus-41, has often been paired with defensive deficient players like Marco Scandella and Jake McCabe, while he also struggled inexplicably when paired with Rasmus Dahlin. Regardless, a new coach that can utilize Ristolainen properly might get the most out of him rather than the Sabres watch him flourish with another team.
- Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports writes that Boston Bruins forward Noel Acciari has returned to practice and while he’s not expected to play in Game 2 on Sunday against the Carolina Huricanes, he could be ready for Game 3 in Carolina. Acciari, practiced in a non-contact jersey Saturday for the first time after missing the last three playoff games with an upper-body injury. “[Acciari] won’t play tomorrow,” said Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. “He’s doing well. He should be a full practice [participant] for Monday. We’ll see what we’re doing [as a team] that day, but he’ll be ready whatever the case may be. Hopefully, that allows him to play Tuesday and then we’ll make our decision then.”
John Tavares Out One Month With Oblique Strain
It’s already been a difficult off-season on the injury front for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who will likely not have Zach Hyman and Travis Dermott when the 2019-20 season begins following recent surgeries. So, when it was announced on Thursday that star John Tavares had suffered an injury and was forced to abandon Team Canada and the IIHF World Championships, Toronto fans were understandably worried that the team could be down another man long-term. However, that won’t be the case. The Leafs followed up on the news with an update today that Tavares suffered an oblique injury and will be out approximately one month, after which he is expected to resume his normal off-season training program.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman echoes the Leafs’ announcement, reporting that the he has heard it was an oblique strain that will require a rehab period of about four weeks. However, Friedman adds that after four weeks it is likely that Tavares will have made a “full recovery”. While the injury may cut into his preparation for next season somewhat, Tavares should be back on track by mid-June at the latest and will have more than two full months of his regular training regiment. As such, there is no concern that Tavares will be feeling any ill effects of the oblique strain by the time training camp rolls around and barring another injury will be at full strength to begin the year.
Tavares, who notched a career-high 47 goals this season while playing in every game for Toronto, is obviously a key part of a successful 2019-20 campaign for the team. However, his full health and maximum effort may be even more important next season. Beyond the injuries to Hyman and Dermott, a knee and shoulder respectively, that will keep them out likely through at least the first month of the season, several other departures could be in store for the Maple Leafs this summer. Mitch Marner, the only Leaf to outscore Tavares this season, Kasperi Kapanen, and Andreas Johnsson are all restricted free agents and Toronto will find it next to impossible to re-sign all three without trading away another core forward. The defense is also set to undergo an overhaul this summer, whether it works in their favor or not. One way or another, there will be slack to pick up next season and a healthy Tavares and his elite two-way game will go a long way to getting off to a good start.