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NHL Announces Tentative Key Dates, Notable CBA Changes

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The NHL and NHLPA today released the details on their Memorandum of Understanding regarding the agreed-upon extension of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The memorandum, as detailed by TSN’s Frank Seravalli, reveals a number of potential key dates for the adjusted 2020 postseason and 2020-21 off-season and regular season. The dates are as follows:

July 10 – Beginning of training camp

July 24 – Travel to hub cities

July 25 – Beginning of exhibition games

July 31 – Beginning of qualifying round

Aug. 9 – Beginning of Stanley Cup Playoffs

Aug. 23 – Beginning of Second Round

Sep. 6 – Beginning of Conference Finals

Sep. 20 – Beginning of Stanley Cup Final

Oct. 2 – Last possible day of Stanley Cup Final

Oct. 6 – 2020 NHL Entry Draft

Oct. 9 – Opening of free agency

Nov. 17 – Beginning of training camp for 2020-21 season

Dec. 1 – Beginning of 2020-21 regular season

Not only are these dates of course pending a vote to ratify the CBA extension by the players, but Seravalli also notes that they are subject to change based on logistical delays. This has in fact already occurred, as training camps are listed as opening on Friday, when in reality they will open on Monday, July 13. Regardless, the NHL clearly has a plan to start play within a month and wrap the expanded postseason by early October. This would set the league up to take nearly two months off for the off-season but still begin the next season less than two months later than usual.

Seravalli also noted that there are some proration rules in place with regards to eligibility for player bonuses for this season but that does not extend to trades that were made with conditions for players reaching certain statistical thresholds, such as the James Neal–Milan Lucic trade.  The league will instead allow teams to make arguments and then potentially have it decided by an arbitrator.

Other key CBA notes revealed by Seravalli include:

  • An increase in maximum entry-level contract salaries from the current $925K to $950K from 2022-2024, $975K from 2024 to 2026, and finally $1MM beginning in 2026-27.
  • An increase in the minimum salary from the current $700K to $750K from 2021-2023 and $775K from 2023-2026
  • An agreement that the NHL and NHLPA will discuss abandoning the Return To Play plan if players opting-out on a league-wide or club-wide basis “materially impacts the integrity” of the postseason

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?

[Mobile users vote here]

One Trade The Maple Leafs Would Like To Have Back

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In the summer of 2006, the Toronto Maple Leafs decided not to pick up a contract option on 41-year-old Ed Belfour. Totaling three seasons as resident netminder in Toronto, Belfour spent much of his final season in Toronto hampered by a balky back. He was limited to 49 games in 2005-2006 and a substandard .892 save percentage. GM-at-the-time John Ferguson Jr. probably made the right call moving on from Belfour (though Belfour would bounceback somewhat in his one and only season with the Florida Panthers before retiring) – where Ferguson and the Maple Leafs erred was in choosing Belfour’s successor.

Looking ahead, the Maple Leafs had two goalie prospects to dream on: Tuukka Rask and Justin Pogge. Unfortunately, neither Rask, 19, nor Pogge, 20, were ready to step between the pipes. Thus, Ferguson Jr. moved to deal from a position of future depth to secure a near-term solution. Toronto traded Rask to the Boston Bruins in a straight-up swap for 26-year-old goaltender Andrew Raycroft.

On its face, the deal made some sense for both sides: Rask had been a recent first-round pick, #21 overall of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, while Raycroft came to Toronto decorated as the 2003-2004 Calder Trophy winner as the league’s top rookie. The Bruins were run at the time by interim General Manager Jeff Gorton (now the GM of the New York Rangers), who said this of the deal: “We had an opportunity, with three good, solid goaltenders who are all number one goalies in the NHL, and they couldn’t all play for us. Andrew had some value and we were able to move him for a player we really like, who is along the lines of Hannu Toivonen.” 

Of course, Toivonen would be traded to St. Louis the following season for Carl Soderberg. He’d start 17 games for the Blues in 2007-2008 and never again appear in the NHL. So while the comparison wasn’t as apt as Gorton intended, his point was clear. Nevermind that it’s a little curious for Gorton to trade for a player in Rask whom he would describe as being, essentially, “similar to the other guy we already have,” so it’s possible Gorton knew more about the organization’s future intentions than he let on at the time.

More to the point, perhaps, was that the Bruins had made their choice about their starting goalie. A month before the Rask/Raycroft swap, Boston extended Tim Thomas with a three-year deal. The late-blossoming Thomas was primed to take over after 38 games and 2.77 GAA in 2005-2006.

Thomas was the Bruins’ chosen goalie moving forward, and he would take the heft of the timeshare as Rask came of age through the 2011-2012 season. Thomas was a four-time All-Star and two-time Vezina Trophy winner, including in 2011, when he took two-thirds of the timeshare en route to a Stanley Cup. Rask played a key role in getting that Bruins team through the regular season, but it was Thomas who steered the ship to the Cup. He took home the Conny Smythe Trophy as the oldest player ever to win the playoff MVP award. Unfortunately, his political views became a distraction in the following seasons – but Gorton’s trade with the Maple Leafs in the summer of 2006 provided Thomas’ heir apparent.

Rask took over as the primary goalie in 2013-2014, leading the league in shutouts and winning the Vezina Trophy. He’s been one of the top goaltenders in the league ever since. Fourteen years later, Rask and Jaroslav Halak will share the Jennings Trophy this year, combining to allow just 2.24 GAA for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins. Rask has been a huge part of the Bruins’ success over the years in keeping Boston competitive. He put up a .934 save percentage in the postseason last year, helping the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final. Rask has twice gotten the Bruins to the Stanley Cup since taking over as the primary goaltender, losing to the Blackhawks in 2013 and the Blues in 2019.

Back in Toronto, it’s been a long and winding road to current netminder Frederik Andersen. Andersen has settled in for Toronto, making his first all-star team in 2019-2020, his fourth season in Toronto. But even Andersen came at a cost: a 1st and 2nd round pick to Anaheim in the summer of 2016.

Raycroft, meanwhile, served up a league-high 205 goals in the 2006-2007 season for the Maple Leafs. His numbers would only get worse the year after, 3.92 GAA and a .876 save percentage. He left Toronto after a season and a half with a .890 save percentage and a 39-34-14 record. Pogge never developed to take the throne either. Six starts during the 2007-2008 season make up the entirety of his NHL career. He’d bounce around the AHL for a couple of seasons but never make it back to the NHL.

In the interim between Belfour and Andersen, the Leafs cycled through a number of unspectacular puck-stoppers: Jonas Gustavsson, Raycroft, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Vesa Toskala, Garret Sparks, and Ben Scrivens each took a turn, but James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier had the most successful runs. Bernier made 140 mostly forgettable starts with a .915 save percentage from 2013 to 2016, and Reimer – who helped end Toronto’s playoff drought in 2012-2013 – took his office hours in the Toronto net for 196 starts and a .914 save percentage from 2011 to 2016.

But none quite rises to the level of Rask, who has stabilized the Boston goal for an entire era of Bruins’ hockey. For the Bruins, dealing for Rask was one of their better deals of the last twenty years. For the Maple Leafs, they’d probably like to have this one back.

That said, John Ferguson Jr., the GM who made the deal for Toronto, has probably made his peace with the deal: he’s currently the Executive Director of Player Personnel for – you guessed it – the Boston Bruins.

2020 NHL Draft Lottery Results

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Friday, June 26 was originally intended to be the opening night of the NHL Entry Draft.  However, the ongoing pandemic has changed things so instead, the league held its draft lottery on Friday night and given the circumstances, it was a rather unique one.  While 15 teams were involved, eight of them aren’t yet known and were simply classified as Qualifier Team A, Team B, etc.  This is because those slots are reserved for the eight teams that lose in the play-in round which is presently slated to take place in early August.

While it may seem premature to do the lottery now when more than half the specific teams aren’t known, it at least gave the seven teams that aren’t returning this season some clarity on where they will be selecting.

Before getting to the results and the subsequent fallout from them, here is a quick overview of what the odds were for the top pick heading into the event:

Detroit Red Wings – 18.5%
Ottawa Senators – 13.5%
Ottawa Senators (from San Jose Sharks) – 11.5%
Los Angeles Kings – 9.5%
Anaheim Ducks – 8.5%
New Jersey Devils – 7.5%
Buffalo Sabres – 6.5%
Qualifier Team A – 6.0%
Qualifier Team B – 5.0%
Qualifier Team C – 3.5%
Qualifier Team D – 3.0%
Qualifier Team E – 2.5%
Qualifier Team F – 2.0%
Qualifier Team G – 1.5%
Qualifier Team H – 1.0%

Separate drawings were done for the second and third selection as well with the odds changing based on who won the preceding selection.  The results were as follows:

1) Qualifier
2) Los Angeles
3) Ottawa (via San Jose)
4) Detroit
5) Ottawa
6) Anaheim
7) New Jersey
8) Buffalo

It’s certainly a tough result for the Red Wings as they drop three slots while Ottawa was unable to select him with their top (combined) odds.  Their bad fortune was good news for the Kings and a team-to-be-named later though and with a qualifier team getting one of the picks, there will be a second draft lottery held at a later date.  Each team that loses in the play-in round will have an identical 12.5% odds at the first pick with selections 9-15 being slotted by lowest point percentage during the regular season.  If the play-in round doesn’t occur, the remaining bottom eight teams will have the 12.5% odds in the second lottery, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).

While the league didn’t announce which placeholder team ’won’ the pick, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports (via Twitter) that it was Qualifier Team E.

The grand prize in this lottery is a chance to select Rimouski (QMJHL) winger Alexis Lafreniere, the CHL’s top player in each of the last two seasons.  He has been dominant at the major junior level, compiling 114 goals and 183 assists in just 173 games, one of which came as a 15-year-old underager.  He’s expected to be ready to make the jump to the NHL right away and be an impact player in a hurry.  We’ll be waiting a while yet to find out who gets him though.

Others expected to contend for early spots are Sudbury (OHL) center Quinton Byfield and Mannheim (DEL) forward Tim Stutzle, while Erie (OHL) defenseman Jamie Drysdale and St. Petersburg (VHL) goalie Yaroslav Askarov are believed to be the top players available at their respective positions.

Expert Consensus: What To Expect In Round One Of The 2020 NHL Draft

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While the actual date of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft is still unknown and at the very least still several months away, there is no new data for teams and draft analysts to gather on the draft class. So while the draft may seem like a long ways off, now is as good a time as any to begin dissecting the possibilities. Many draft experts agree, as several have already done their final dive into this class of prospects and released their final draft rankings. While there are a number of draft experts and services out there, here is a look at the upcoming first round based on the consensus of the most recent rankings from some of the most well-known draft analysts out there: Scott Wheeler and Corey Pronman of The Athletic (subscription required), Craig Button and Bob McKenzie of TSN, Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News, Steve Kournianos of The Draft Analyst, Chris Peters of ESPN (subscription required), and Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet:

Alexis Lafreniere Will Go No. 1

No surprise, right? Alexis Lafreniere won the battle for the first overall spot a while ago and it is hard to find anyone who still disagrees. All eight experts ranked Lafreniere at No. 1 and few bothered to even argue the merits of the selection. Lafreniere has a chance to be a generational player given his offensive skill and skating ability. Regardless of who wins Friday’s lottery, they will be selecting the Rimouski superstar with the top pick.

Quinton Byfield Will Go No. 2

Of the eight experts, all but one ranked big center Quinton Byfield as the second overall pick. If that isn’t enough, just look at his numbers, including his height and weight, and you’ll get the idea why he is a can’t-miss prospect. Byfield is the type of top-line pivot that every team needs and, like Lafreniere at No. 1, no team will pass him up regardless of their organizational depth. The Sudbury centerman is the total package and his well-roundness alone will win him this spot.

Tim Stutzle Will Probably Go No. 3

Six of eight experts predict that German sensation Tim Stutzle will be taken third overall, with a seventh ranking him second. Stutzle has come on strong this season and shaken off any doubters with his elite speed and creativity. Thrown in his achievement against men in the DEL and against his peers at the World Juniors and you have a player that has shown that he can rise to the occasion once he arrives in the NHL. If the team picking third has a drastic need for defense or has fallen in love with one of the other consensus top-ten forwards, maybe Stutzle slips past third. However, he is right on the line of being too good to pass up like Lafreniere and Byfield.

Jamie Drysdale Will Be The First Defenseman Selected

Jamie Drysdale began the draft cycle as the top-rated defenseman and he will end it that way as well. All eight experts have the Drysdale as their top-ranked defender, anywhere from No. 4 to No. 9. The draft order will very likely determine where exactly Drysdale falls. However, given his ability and an otherwise weak defense class, especially on the right side, it is hard to imagine him falling outside the top five, as there will be teams looking to trade up if those pick-holders are not interested. The slick, pay-making blue liner out or Erie is a special player with the puck on his stick, but his defensive ability is also worthy of a top selection.

Another Goalie Will Go Early

Last year, the Florida Panthers bucked the trend of goaltenders rarely being taken early in the first round when they selected Spencer Knight at No. 13 overall. Watch for the same thing to happen this year and perhaps even earlier, depending on how the draft order plays out. Russian prodigy Yaroslav Askarov is being regarded even higher than Knight and might have a chance to crack the top ten. All eight experts ranked Askarov in the first half of the first round, but six had him at tenth or earlier. Askarov is truly considered an elite goalie prospect, the likes of which have not been seen in some time, and there will very likely be a team early on who simply can’t resist taking a guaranteed future starter.

A Down Year For The Americans

After a historic American draft class in 2019, the U.S. will very much take a back seat in the first round in 2020. Only one American, USNTDP defenseman Jake Sanderson, was a consensus first-round pick among the experts and none of the eight had more than three Americans slotted in the first round. Even among those few picks there was dissent among the experts, but forwards Brendan Brisson and Thomas Bordeleau look like the most likely names to sneak in.

Forward Depth Will Define The Draft Class

If there is one thing that has been a common refrain about the 2020 draft class, it is the wealth of talented forwards available. A strong sign that this is true is the varied opinions among the experts, with some ranking forwards early in the first round that others think might still be available in the third round. Only 15 forwards were consensus first-round picks among the eight experts. Beyond Lafreniere, Byfield, and Stutzle, there are Swedish standouts Lucas Raymond and Alexander Holtz, CHL stars Marco Rossi, Cole Perfetti, Jack Quinn, Connor Zary, Mavrik Bourque, Seth Jarvis, and Dawson Mercer, Finnish phenom Anton Lundell, Russian prize Rodion Amirov, and NCAA wunderkind Dylan Holloway. Yet, there were 22 other forward prospects who received at least one first-round ranking among the eight experts, not to mention another handful who were consensus second-round picks. There will be an uncommon amount of high-end ability available through at least the first two rounds for those NHL teams with needs up front.

Elite Defense Will Be Hard To Come By

Those teams desperate for help on the blue line will not have the same luck as those in need of forwards. Among the eight experts, only Drysdale and Sanderson were consensus first-round picks and both will be gone in the first half of the first round. Just four defenseman were given first-round grades by the majority of experts – Kaiden Guhle, Braden Schneider, Jeremie Poirier, and Justin Barron – and only Guhle received a top-half ranking by more than one expert. Given the depth of forwards and the inclusion of the goaltender Askarov as a definite first-round pick, it would not be a surprise to see as few as four defensemen selected in the first round this year.

Alexis Lafreniere Wins CHL Player Of The Year For Second Straight Season

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When your name is in the running for the first overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft, it doesn’t hurt to have a bullet point on your resume that only Sidney Crosby shares in hockey history. Forward Alexis Lafreniere of the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic is projected to be the top pick in the 2020 draft almost unanimously. Any doubt that he may not take that title was likely put to rest on Wednesday when the CHL announced that Lafreniere had been named the 2019-20 CHL Player of the Year. As if that wasn’t enough of an accomplishment, this is actually the second straight campaign in which Lafreniere has received the award. He was named the CHL’s best player in 2018-19 as well. The only other player honored in consecutive seasons: Pittsburgh Penguins captain and one of the game’s all-time best, Sidney Crosby.

Lafreniere, 18, recorded an eye-popping 112 points in just 52 games this season with Rimouski. His 2.15 per-game scoring rate was the CHL’s best since another NHL mega star, Connor McDavid, was playing juniors. It also marks a sharp increase from Lafreniere’s 2018-19 production of 105 points in 61 games, which was still good enough to take home the CHL’s Player of the Year honors last season. Altogether, Lafreniere registered 72 goals and 217 points in 113 games across his two MVP campaigns and nearly 300 points total in his three junior seasons combined. As a result, there is approximately a 0% chance that he will ever play in the juniors again.

Instead, the presumptive top pick will simply sit and wait to see where his first pro destination will be. The NHL answer could arrive as early as later this month, as the NHL Draft Lottery is scheduled for Friday, June 26th. However, if the nearby Ottawa Senators or the historically bad Detroit Red Wings or one of the other non-playoff teams does not win the first to select first overall, Lafreniere will have to wait even longer. A second lottery later this summer would determine which playoff team eliminated in the knockout round of the NHL’s adapted playoff format would have the first pick. On top of that, there is still some concern that with a possible delayed start to the 2020-21 NHL season that Lafreniere’s pro career may actually begin in Europe. The young star has entertained the thought of getting his first pro season started on time, even if that isn’t with his NHL club. He would of course be expected to return to North America once the new season does begin.

Regardless of where Lafreniere ends up, any team that has him in their lineup will receive a major boost. Lafreniere has shown for several years now that he is a special prospect and his second straight CHL Player of the Year Award puts him in elite company. Is it too early to proclaim him the next Crosby? Of course. That won’t stop the winners of this year’s draft lottery from keeping their hopes up though.

Cameron MacDonald Headed To QMJHL

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The 2020 NHL Entry Draft still doesn’t have a date, but some are already looking forward to next year and the crop of talent that will be eligible in 2021. One of those names, Cameron MacDonald, will be showcasing his skills in a different league than expected this season.

The 17-year old forward played the 2019-20 season in the USHL, given his commitment to Boston College for 2021. Those plans have changed dramatically today, as the Saint John Sea Dogs announced they have signed MacDonald and will have him in their lineup for the 2020-21 season. Given the NCAA eligibility rules, that means MacDonald won’t be able to head to BC either.

Already standing “nearly 6’2″ and 190-lbs” despite having turned 17 just last month, MacDonald is an exciting prospect for the Sea Dogs and hockey in general. He absolutely dominated the competition at the midget level (72 goals and 126 points in 52 games) and held his own in the USHL this season despite being much younger than the competition.

The QMJHL is hoping to start a full season at the beginning of October.

NHL Rules On Conditional Draft Picks

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With both the regular season and playoffs up in the air for quite some time, there had been many questions about conditional draft picks and how they might be conveyed. However, now with the establishment of a 24-team playoff format, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun (subscription required) reports that the league has also clarified how conditional picks will change hands, meaning teams will have to reach the round of 16 in order to be considered a ’playoff team.’ The NHL doesn’t view the qualifying round as playoff hockey.

“More specifically, for Trade condition purposes, a Club will not be deemed to have qualified for the Playoffs unless or until they have progressed into the Round of 16, and ‘Playoff Games/Rounds’ will only include the games/rounds played in the Round of 16 or later. We believe this interpretation will best reflect the intentions of the parties at the time of the Trade,” the league stipulated.

There are several trades that fall into this category with the Vancouver Canucks pick being at the heart of the issue. The Canucks traded their 2020 first-round pick to Tampa Bay for J.T. Miller, conditional on the Canucks making the playoffs. That pick, in the meantime, was traded to New Jersey for Blake Coleman. With Vancouver in the 24-team playoff format, many believed that the Devils already had the Canucks’ first-round pick. However, this ruling indicates that the Canucks would have to win their play-in game against the Minnesota Wild first and reach the round of 16 before that picks transfers. If Vancouver loses in the first round, then they keep the lottery pick and will send a unconditional first-rounder in 2021 to New Jersey.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild are in a similar situation with the first-round pick that was sent from Pittsburgh to Minnesota for Jason Zucker (assuming the Penguins got into the playoffs). However, while that pick looked to be a lock, a play-in loss to the Montreal Canadiens would allow the Penguins to keep the pick and send an unconditional one in 2021, which Pittsburgh would be likely to do if they can get a lottery pick in a strong draft.

There are still a few conditional trades that the NHL will have to look deeper into, including the Edmonton/Calgary swap of Milan Lucic and James Neal as well as the New Jersey-Carolina swap of Sami Vatanen, which deals with a conditional fourth-round pick if Vatanen played in five regular season games for Carolina, which he didn’t do. However, the play-in games could constitute regular season games, depending on how the league rules on it.

NHL Announces Details On Return To Play Format

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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman today explained how exactly the 24-team return to play format will work, a proposal that was submitted to and approved by the NHLPA executive board over the weekend.

First and foremost was the announcement that the 2019-20 regular season is officially over. There will be no more regular season games, meaning that Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl is the 2020 Art Ross winner as leading scorer.

Should the league return this summer, there will be 24-team postseason held in two hub cities. In early June, the league hopes to move to Phase 2 of small group workouts. Phase 3, which is a three-week training camp, is expected to start in early July.

The hub locations that are still in consideration are Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver. The final determination will come later.

The top four teams in each conference will play a round-robin to determine seeding for the playoffs. The other teams in each conference will be matched up in a qualifying round. Neither of these rounds are technically considered the playoffs, but are also not the regular season. The qualifying matchups are as follows:

  • 5. Pittsburgh vs. 12. Montreal
    6. Carolina vs. 11. Rangers 
    7. Islanders vs. 10. Florida
    8. Toronto vs. 9. Columbus 
  • 5. Edmonton vs. 12. Chicago
    6. Nashville vs. 11. Arizona 
    7. Vancouver vs. 10. Minnesota
    8. Calgary vs. 9. Winnipeg 

The league has not yet determined whether or not they will reseed after each round or use a bracket system throughout the playoffs.

The NHL Draft Lottery will be held in one or two phases and is quite a bit more complicated than in year’s past. It will be held on June 26th and include the seven eliminated teams—Detroit, Ottawa, San Jose (owned by Ottawa), Los Angeles, Anaheim, New Jersey and Buffalo—along with eight placeholders for the teams who will be eliminated in the qualifying round. Those 15 slots will have the same odds as previous years.

Should one of the bottom seven teams win the first, second or third pick, they will be awarded it. If those any of those picks are won by a placeholder, there will be a second lottery held after the qualifying round is over to determine which eliminated team is awarded it. Once those two lotteries are completed, the remaining 12 spots will be assigned in inverse order of their regular season points percentage.

The 2020 NHL Entry Draft will take place after the conclusion of the 2019-20 playoffs.

It is important to note that though this will be the format should the NHL resume, that is not yet a guarantee. As Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild explained recently to Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required), there are still plenty of hurdles to overcome just to get teams into their hub cities.

League Notes: Bettman, Draft, PWHPA

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Canceling the 2019-20 NHL season without awarding the Stanley Cup is not something commissioner Gary Bettman is “even considering” according to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Bettman was confident in his answers that this season would be completed at some point, even if it does appear more and more likely that any resumption of play would move directly into a playoff.

Other reports have emerged, like the one from Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now, indicating that Arizona could be a hub to host playoff games at some point. That comes after the state’s governor announced that major league sports will be able to operate after Friday, May 15th. That very clearly does not mean that the NHL will be jumping back onto the ice in Arizona this weekend, but it does mean there may be a path forward for the state to host some games in the future—especially considering Bettman’s confidence that the season will resume.

  • As for the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, deputy commissioner Bill Daly had his own update. Daly told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) that they will likely have some news to announce next week on when the draft will be held. A June draft before the completion of the season, which at one point seemed inevitable, has lost momentum recently but is still an option for the league. Of course, the draft will be virtual and is not expected to be held in Montreal as originally planned.
  • Though not exactly a league, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association has announced some changes in its own structure for the upcoming season. After spending a year touring the continent playing showcase tournaments, the PWHPA will now focus on five regional training hubs for their members based in Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, New Hampshire and Minnesota. There will now be try-outs for each training group (which will consist of 25 players) and they will be provided with additional resources.

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