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Snapshots: Mock Draft, Arizona State, Jokinen

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Itching for the NHL Entry Draft already? Several fan bases are, as many teams are beyond a reasonable shot at the postseason as the unofficial second half of the season begins. After a recent rash of mid-season draft rankings were published, NHL.com writers Adam Kimelman, Mike Morreale, and Guillaume Lepage tried their hands at a mock draft of the first round for the upcoming draft. They did not conduct a lottery simulation nor did they try to predict how the playoffs would unfold, so the mock is strictly the current standings inverse. However, each of the trio made their own selections and interesting trends can already be spotted. Of course, all three had the Colorado Avalanche, using the Ottawa Senators’ first-rounder, taking U.S. National Team Development Program phenom Jack Hughes first overall. Regardless of who picks first, Hughes is the unanimous pick to go No. 1 in any scenario. There was also a consensus for Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko going second to the New Jersey Devils and Russian winger Vasili Podkolzin going third to the Los Angeles Kings. However, there was not much agreement the rest of the way. Western Hockey League centers Dylan Cozens and Kirby Dach and USNTDP forwards Alex Turcotte and Trevor Zegras went early for all three writers, but no two agreed on the fit for any one team. There was also dissent over the first defenseman taken and where, as Kimelman placed Swedish rearguard Philip Broberg at No. 6 to the New Jersey Devils, while Morreale and Lepage had Canadian blue liner Bowen Byram going No. 7 to the Florida Panthers or No. 8 to the Edmonton Oilers, respectively. One of the biggest surprises was Morreale’s selection of wunderkind goaltender Spencer Knight to the Panthers. While many consider Knight to be the best draft-eligible goalie prospect in some time, no keeper has been taken in the top ten since Carey Price in 2005. The other two writers had Knight at No. 14 to Colorado and No. 24 to the Vegas Golden Knights. Later in the round, opinions differed greatly on OHL defenseman Thomas Harley and hyped overage forward Brett Leason as well. There is still a lot to be decided about the upcoming draft board, not to mention the draft order and the impact of trades, but it is interesting to get a good look at this point in the season as the picture becomes more clear for both the teams and prospects.

  • Arizona State University continues to make waves this season in college hockey. In just their fourth year of existence as an NCAA program, ASU is currently ranked No. 17 in the country and could push for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. As AZ Central’s Jeff Metcalfe writes, the play of forward Johnny Walker and goalie Joey Daccord is making all of the difference and beginning to draw national attention. After blanking the immensely talented Boston University Terriers 3-0 on Saturday night, Walker’s two tallies put him in the NCAA lead for goal scoring, while Daccord’s shutout was his NCAA-best seventh of the year. Daccord, 22, was a seventh-round pick of the Ottawa Senators back in 2015 out of Cushing Academy and it is beginning to look like the Sens’ late-round waiver on the long-term project could pay off. Daccord is a junior and could be enticed to turn pro this off-season if Ottawa hopes to avoid him becoming a free agent after another year. Walker, 22, went undrafted as a Phoenix native playing in the NAHL and is only a sophomore at ASU. However, that won’t stop NHL teams from trying to pry him away from college to get a look at his near goal-per-game pace at the pro level. A tournament run by Arizona State would only further amplify the status of these unlikely heroes of the collegiate campaign.
  • Veteran forward Jussi Jokinen has been unable to find NHL employment this season. The fact is somewhat amazing considering Jokinen played in 14 or more games with four different NHL teams last season. The well-traveled 35-year-old signed a PTO with the Detroit Red Wings this summer, who would have become his tenth different NHL team, but it did not pan out and no one else has come calling. Finally, Jokinen has decided to move on. Finnish reporter Pasi Tuominen reports that Jokinen is set to sign with Karpat of the Liiga in his native Finland for the remainder of the season. Jokinen will be a valued mentor for top NHL prospects like Rasmus Kupari (LAK) and Aleksi Heponiemi (FLA) while with Karpat and may even lead the first-place team to a championship. Regardless, it is highly likely that Jokinen’s days in the NHL are done. The well-liked and respected forward leaves a great legacy behind him in North America, but will surely continue to play overseas for a few years to come.

 

Trade Rumors: Duchene, Lightning, Bargains

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Seemingly every year, there is speculation that a prominent impending free agent could be the one to finally bring the “sign and trade” back to the NHL. The sign and trade is relatively self explanatory; a player re-signs with his current team to a contract negotiated with a second team that he is subsequently traded to. In the current structure of the NHL, the sign and trade could hypothetically be used to add an eighth year to a contact, as free agents are limited to a cap of seven years when negotiating with a team other than their current club. This season, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun has reopened the sign and trade discussions, this time in regards to Ottawa Senators forward Matt Duchene. LeBrun speculates that Duchene has approximately two weeks to work out an extension with the Senators before the team will be forced to shop him. Ottawa has reportedly already made an initial offer of eight years and $64MM, but Duchene is likely to be eyeing an AAV closer to $9MM per year instead of $8MM. If that counter is too rich for Senators owner Eugene Melnyk and company, the team could not afford to miss out on a the potential return for Duchene at the trade deadline.

When it comes to a sign-and-trade, things get tricky for the player, which could explain why it remains such an infrequently used device in the NHL. While the eighth year is enticing for Duchene, especially at his desired salary, signing that long-term deal means a) getting another team to first agree to that contract and b) trusting the future plans for that franchise. The last time Duchene was traded, from the Colorado Avalanche to the Senators early last season, it didn’t work out so well. Duchene may be hesitant to sign with a team for eight years simply because they can afford to acquire him this season. A sign and trade also eliminates Duchene’s opportunity to test the free agent market and potentially maximize his market value. Duchene will undoubtedly be the top center on the UFA market this summer and may wish to weigh his options rather as a first-time free agent rather than commit to another team so soon before seeing what else is out there. A sign and trade works out nicely for the Senators, as they would surely receive a better return, but finding a trade partner could be difficult and getting Duchene to go along with the plan may not happen. For these reasons, a sign and trade remains an unlikely result to the ongoing Duchene saga.

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have all the makings of a true trade deadline buyer this season: they are the first-place team in the league by a considerable margin, will have upwards of $8MM in cap space by the deadline, and are facing an impending cap crunch that could begin to dismantle their roster as early as this off-season. The Lightning are in win-now mode and, with excellent odds of winning the Stanley Cup, will look to add the best reinforcements they can ahead of the deadline. However, the Lightning may struggle to make the trades typically seen by a true buyer. Tampa Bay currently has 49 players signed to professional contracts against a cap of 50, per CapFriendly. The team probably doesn’t want to hit that 50-contract mark either, as it would take them out of the college and junior free agent market this spring. This means that the Bolts cannot simply trade picks and prospects for rental players. Instead, GM Julien BriseBois will have to get creative with sending under-contract players the other way. Only two of Tampa’s 49 “pro” players are in juniors, meaning that any trades will likely send current AHL contributors to sellers and the team will effort to do so without hurting their postseason depth. At the end of the day, Tampa Bay’s trades at the deadline may end up looking more like hockey trades – player-for-player talent swaps – than you would typically see from a deadline buyer.
  • Sportsnet’s Andrew Berkshire believes that there is great long-term value to be found in the current buyer’s market. Berkshire writes that the Los Angeles Kings’ Tyler Toffoli, the Chicago Blackhawks’ Brandon Saad, and the Florida Panthers’ Evgeni Dadonov are among the best bargains potentially available on the market due to their recent struggles and/or under-the-radar trade status. Berkshire states that Toffoli’s value is at a career-low given his current 33-point pace for the down-and-out Kings. However, Toffoli notched 47 points just last year and has 20+ goals in three of the past four seasons. The two-way forward also has a palatable $4.6MM cap hit and could be a buy-low candidate that blows up with a change of scenery. Similarly, Berkshire believes that Saad’s value is still low after bottoming out last season. He has rebounded this season, but is still on pace to fall short of the 50+ points that used to come consistently for him. At $6MM AAV for two more years, Saad’s contract isn’t egregious but is a strain for the cap-strapped Blackhawks. They could be enticed to sell low on the power forward and could very well end up on the wrong side of a Saad trade for the third time. Conversely, Berkshire believes that the Panthers are happy with Dadonov and would be reluctant to move him, but may feel pressured to sell at the deadline despite few obvious rental pieces. The play-making winger is quietly on his way to another 65-point season or better and with one year left on his contract at just $4MM, is already a bargain and could be even better elsewhere. Florida won’t give him up easily, but considering the upside that Dadonov has shown, he could still prove to be a steal even with ample trade capital going the other way.

Poll: Which Team Is Under The Most Pressure To Make The Playoffs?

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When the NHL’s unofficial second half kicks off this week, there will be substantially fewer teams with playoff hopes than when the first half began back in October. Of course, no team has been statistically eliminated yet, but a quick look at the standings can help to rule out more than a handful of the league’s bottom-dwellers. In fact, The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn had seven teams with less than a 5% chance of reaching the playoffs in his latest model: the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Chicago Blackhawks, and Philadelphia Flyers.

On the other hand, there are also quite a few teams whose first-half success has given them near certainty of playing beyond the regular season this year. Luszczszyn’s projections give eleven teams an 85% chance or better of qualifying for the postseason: the Tampa Bay Lightning, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New York Islanders.

This leaves 13 clubs remaining – the “fringe” teams – who are vying for a possible five playoff spots. Eight of these teams will miss out. Who least wants to be part of that group?

Well, the team who has been a member of the early off-season club the longest would certainly like to change things up. The Carolina Hurricanes have gone nine seasons since making a postseason appearance and have come close the last few years but fallen short. The team could crack 90 points this season for the first time in eight years, but it might not be enough in the tight Eastern Conference wild card race. The two other teams who are desperate to get back to the playoffs are the Buffalo Sabres, who are on a seven-year drought, and the Arizona Coyotes, who are six years out from a postseason appearance. The Sabres got off to a hot start this season and looked to be a surprise playoff team, but have regressed recently, with three wins in their past then games, and are now tied with Carolina for ninth place in the East. The Coyotes have been resilient in the deep Western Conference wild card race, battling injuries and inconsistency to stay in the mix, but Arizona has their work cut out for them the rest of the way.

Then there are the teams who have made the playoffs recently but not performed. The Blue Jackets – who have never won a playoff series in franchise history – will almost certainly have another shot this year, but what about the Florida Panthers? Many have dismissed the team this season, but the Panthers have plenty of talent and have fallen short of expectations until recently. They face an uphill battle to make the postseason but if they do, the team would have a chance to snap the league’s longest streak without a playoff series win. Florida has not won a round since 1996, a whopping 21 seasons without postseason success and longer than the Blue Jackets have even existed. That’s a substantial mark on the franchise. It’s been a decade now since the Colorado Avalanche have won a postseason series as well and now that they are armed with one of the league’s best forward lines, have a chance against anyone if they can win a spot. The Avs looked like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender early this season and with some trade deadline reinforcements could be a factor this spring. However, recent struggles have plummeted them into the thick of the wild card race in the West and they are in danger of missing the playoffs entirely.

Then, there are teams that simply entered the 2018-19 campaign with high expectations and need to meet them. The defending champion Washington Capitals are of course part of this group. Among the most likely fringe teams to make the postseason, it is nevertheless hard to ignore the disastrous play of the Capitals of late. Three wins in their past ten games, including a number of blowout losses, has begun “Stanley Cup hangover” talk and has legitimately injured Washington’s playoff odds. The team needs to right the ship soon or risk falling out of the current playoff picture. A team on the opposite trajectory are the Minnesota Wild, who have improved their play of late and have pulled away in the race for the final Central Division berth. Minnesota is another team that entered the season with high expectations and are still searching for the franchise’s first ever Stanley Cup final appearance. With hopes reaching new highs this season, a collapse for the Wild would be devastating.

Unlike the Capitals and Wild, there are also teams with high expectations who don’t have promising playoff outlooks right now. The Edmonton Oilers and the league’s best player, Connor McDavid, sit atop that list. Edmonton is currently in 13th in the Western Conference and in danger of dropping out of the playoff conversation sooner than any fringe team. The organization has already fired their head coach and general manager this season amid another year of disappointing results and face slim odds that this campaign will end any differently. McDavid and company maintain that the Oilers are a playoff-caliber team, but something has to change with this team down the stretch for that that hypothesis to be tested this postseason. The St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars certainly look like playoff teams on paper, but both have been mediocre at best this season. The Blues, a popular dark horse Stanley Cup pick before the season, have been disappointing in every regard and there has been talk that the team could blow it up this season. A recent improvement paired with the struggles of others in the Western Conference playoff race have revived postseason hopes, but few expected that making the playoffs would be this difficult for St. Louis this season. The same goes for Dallas, who has had highly-publicized feuds between ownership, coaches, and players alike this year as the team continues to fall short of expectations. The Stars currently hold the top spot in the wild card race, but a recent history of late season collapses casts doubt over their ability to hold on to that spot.

There are still many teams whose playoff futures this season remain in question. These franchises all have varying degrees of desperation based on history and expectations. Of the 13 “fringe” teams, which team is under the most pressure to make the playoffs?

Which NHL Team Is Under The Most Pressure To Make The Playoffs?
Edmonton Oilers 27.24% (671 votes)
Washington Capitals 18.03% (444 votes)
St. Louis Blues 13.24% (326 votes)
Montreal Canadiens 8.53% (210 votes)
Buffalo Sabres 8.00% (197 votes)
Dallas Stars 7.43% (183 votes)
Minnesota Wild 5.40% (133 votes)
Carolina Hurricanes 4.34% (107 votes)
Colorado Avalanche 2.44% (60 votes)
Anaheim Ducks 2.31% (57 votes)
Florida Panthers 1.46% (36 votes)
Arizona Coyotes 0.89% (22 votes)
Vancouver Canucks 0.69% (17 votes)
Total Votes: 2,463

Mobile users, click here to vote.

Minor Transactions: 01/23/19

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Six games will finish up the unofficial first half of the season before teams break for the All-Star game in San Jose this weekend. Among those six is a must-see matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Nashville Predators, two teams battling for position in the Western Conference. It’s never a love affair when these clubs get together, and with a little extra time off after the game you can bet every player will leave it all on the ice tonight.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Trevor Moore under emergency conditions and will insert him into the lineup tonight over Andreas Johnsson. Johnsson suffered a concussion recently and will take the break to try and recover.
  • Christian Wolanin and Rudolfs Balcers have been returned to the minor leagues by the Ottawa Senators in order for them to continue playing over the break. It will also save the Senators some money given they’re on two-way contracts.
  • Similarly, the Calgary Flames have returned Juuso Valimaki and Andrew Mangiapane to the Stockton Heat for at least a few days, giving the young players a chance to stay fresh.
  • The San Jose Sharks have done the same by sending Dylan Gambrell and Jacob Middleton back to the minors, neither of whom are seeing much time in the NHL anyway.
  • The Colorado Avalanche have one more game tonight and have recalled Ryan Graves for it, sending Anton Linholm back down. Graves has impressed during his short stint with the Avalanche and may get a longer look in the second half of the season.
  • Marek Mazanec is on his way back to the minor leagues while Dustin Tokarski has been recalled. This was done in order to have both Mazanec and Alexander Georgiev in the minors over the break, meaning Tokarski will likely be on his way back down in a few days.
  • The Detroit Red Wings announced that defenseman Filip Hronek is headed back to the Grand Rapids Griffins. The rookie blue liner has looked good in 23 NHL games this season and even better in 20 AHL games. He’ll spend some time in the minors while Detroit is on a break to keep the momentum of his season going.
  • Both Devon Toews and Michael Dal Colle are on their way down to the AHL, as the Islanders have opted to give them some work over the bye week. Both players have double-digit games played for the surging Isles this season and have carved out roles for themselves recently, despite having just four NHL games between them prior to this season. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers will be happy to have the two talented player back in the lineup for a short time.

Duchene Camp, Senators Set To Speak Again This Week

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For a player in the final season of his current contract, time is running out to negotiate an extension before the trade deadline. If things aren’t put together over the next few weeks, teams will have to make a decision on whether they should move the expiring asset or risk letting him walk for nothing. Nowhere is that ticking clock louder than in Ottawa, where the Senators are facing tough decisions on a trio of forwards. Matt Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel are all scheduled to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the year, and if they don’t get a deal done soon GM Pierre Dorion might be forced to trade them.

While it’s not clear if the Senators will get a deal done with any of the three, there is at least contact between the camps. Most notably with Duchene’s representation who met with Dorion when they were in Los Angeles and according to Darren Dreger of TSN will speak again this week about a potential extension. Dreger reports that in the discussions earlier this month the two sides spoke about an eight-year contract, and suggests that the Senators are hoping to stay somewhere around $8MM per season. That apparently might not be enough for Duchene’s camp, who Dreger points out might be looking for somewhere between $65-75MM, presumably also over that eight-year term.

Whether the Senators want to sign Duchene or not, a contract of that magnitude is one that takes a lot of consideration for a budget team. In fact, a $64MM deal like Dreger suggests would be three times as big as any contract Dorion has handed out in the past. His previous high water mark was the four-year, $20.75MM deal handed out to Mike Hoffman in 2016, one that obviously didn’t work out perfectly for the Senators. Even Dorion’s predecessor Bryan Murray only signed a single player to a deal eclipsing $50MM, and that was the seven-year $50.75MM deal for Bobby Ryan that is haunting the Senators’ salary structure to this day.

Obviously the team has paid out big contracts before, but it’s hard to imagine them forking over more than $125MM in the next few weeks to Duchene and Stone. Both players are undeniable talents, but may just be too pricey for the Senators to keep around. If that’s the case, the team will need some time to work out the best trade for the organization, meaning a decision will have to come in the next few weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Edmonton Oilers Place Ty Rattie, Ryan Spooner On Waivers

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Tuesday: All three players have cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Monday: With the Edmonton Oilers continuing to slip out of playoff contention, the team has placed forwards Ty Rattie and Ryan Spooner on waivers. They’ll be joined by Justin Falk of the Ottawa Senators, who is finally healthy enough to resume playing but will be sent to the minor leagues if he clears.

Spooner’s placement on waivers will be the one that dominates headlines for the next 24 hours, given how he came to be part of the Oilers organization. The 26-year old forward was acquired from the New York Rangers for Ryan Strome earlier this season, who in turn had been the entire return for Jordan Eberle when the Oilers felt they needed to shed some salary up front. The idea that Spooner could now be gone for nothing will enrage Edmonton fans that have watched Eberle find success with the New York Islanders while their team struggles to find anyone who can put the puck in the net outside of their top three. The Oilers have even been described as desperate to add offensive touch on the wings, something that basically describes Eberle (not to mention Taylor Hall, another traded winger) perfectly.

Still, it’s not really surprising that Spooner finds himself in this position. The forward has recorded just three points in 24 games since being acquired by the Oilers and has recently spent time in the press box as a healthy scratch. His perimeter game has not gelled with head coach Ken Hitchcock’s system at all, and without regular powerplay time his offensive production has almost completely dried up.

There may be some reason to believe Spooner will be claimed though, given his history as a 40-50 point center in the league. In 2015-16 with the Boston Bruins Spooner recorded 49 points in 80 games while playing more than 15 minutes a night, before settling for 39 and 41 points the next two years while playing on the wing more often. That kind of production is exactly what the Oilers were hoping for when the acquired him, and what another team could take a chance on. With one more year on his contract at $3.1MM though, Edmonton may be forced to try and bury him in the minor leagues for the time being to open up some cap space.

Rattie meanwhile was likely one of the people most upset when Hitchcock was given the Edmonton job, given their history with the St. Louis Blues. The 32nd-overall pick from 2011 was never really able to get into the lineup under Hitchcock, and eventually found himself claimed off waivers by the Carolina Hurricanes. In 30 games with the Blues, Rattie recorded eight points, the same number he has in 29 contests with Edmonton this year.

Senators Make Long-Term Offer To Matt Duchene

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The word out of Ottawa in recent years was that owner Eugene Melnyk was hesitant to pay the market price for top talent and did not want his team approaching the salary cap ceiling. Unfortunately, if the Senators have any chance of improving next season after back-to-back bottom-dwelling campaigns, they need to re-sign Mark Stone and Matt Duchene and doing so will certainly not be cheap. While serious extension talks with the former began weeks ago, there is now a promising update on the latter as well. Several sources report that Senators GM Pierre Dorion recently met with Duchene’s agent, Pat Brisson, and began negotiations on an eight-year contract extension.

The first report on this topic came from Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos late last night, who stated that the initial offer is eight years and $64MM for an AAV of $8MM. While Kypreos feels this is a fair valuation for the the 28-year-old forward, it presents only a $2MM boost from Duchene’s current $6MM cap hit from a contract he signed six years ago with a substantially smaller salary cap limit in place. Duchene is also scoring at a career-high clip of 1.18 points per game and, if he stays healthy, is on pace for 85 points in 73 games this season, also a career best. That could be enough to make Duchene the top-scoring forward on the free agent market or at least among the top three with Stone and Artemi Panarin. Regardless, he will be the most highly sought-after center this summer if he does reach free agency and that knowledge will add a premium to extension talks. Thus, it comes as little surprise that TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the “ballpark” numbers on an eight-year deal for Duchene are actually $65-75MM total, for an AAV above $8MM and ranging to nearly $9.4MM.

Regardless of the exact numbers, Senators fans will be happy to hear that the team is at least laying the ground work for an extension with Duchene, as well as Stone. With that said, with the NHL Trade Deadline coming up next month, Ottawa will need to work quickly to get the pair re-signed or otherwise need to begin shopping them for the best offer. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman expects that there will be deadlines attached to any extension offers so as to allow the team the time needed to have trade talks if contract talks aren’t going as well. The next few weeks will decide which option comes out on top, but for the sake of the Senators franchise, one would hope that at least one of Duchene or Stone re-up with the club. It is a promising step to hear that they are actually discussing reasonable figures in these initial extension talks and maybe Ottawa fans will have the stroke of good luck they so desperately need with new deals for both players.

Josh Norris To Miss Remainder Of College Season

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Though just nominated for the Hobey Baker yesterday, Ottawa Senators prospect Josh Norris will not play again this season for the University of Michigan. According to Brad Galli of WXYZ Detroit, Norris suffered an injury at the World Juniors that will keep him out for the remainder of the season. The 19-year old was in his sophomore season with the Wolverines, and had 19 points in 17 games.

The question now becomes whether the Senators will try to convince Norris to leave college and sign his first pro contract, given his apparent readiness to contribute next season. Acquired from the San Jose Sharks as part of the Erik Karlsson trade, Norris was first selected as the 19th overall pick in the 2017 draft. After a solid freshman season he had been arguably the best forward on the Michigan roster for the first part of the season and looked ready to make the jump to professional hockey. Whether that will be in Ottawa next season is likely a big selling point, as he very well could choose to stay in college instead of playing in the minor leagues.

Ottawa though will likely have plenty of opportunity in 2019-20 for a player like Norris. A two-way center with enough size and strength to compete all over the ice, he has grown into his playmaking potential over the last year and could look extremely dangerous next to offensive wingers like Brady Tkachuk or Mark Stone. Given the uncertainty around the future of center Matt Duchene, the team could have a young replacement ready to step into some of those minutes if they can convince Norris to leave school.

Colin White Won't Return Until After The All-Star Break

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  • The Senators will be without center Colin White until after the All-Star break, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. He’s dealing with a shoulder injury sustained back on Thursday against Los Angeles.  White very quietly sits second in rookie scoring this season with 26 points in 44 games.  Meanwhile, Garrioch adds that defenseman Justin Falk is also nearing a return from a concussion sustained late last month while fellow blueliner Ben Harpur is taking contact in practice and should be able to return in the near future as well.

Schedule For Upcoming NHL “Bye Weeks”

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For the third year in a row, the NHL has scheduled a mandated multi-day break for each team in the middle part of the season. Meant to give each team a rest, much like the bye week in the National Football League, this break also includes limits on practice, including several days in which all team activities are prohibited. A seven-day break this season, on paper an increase from the original five-day break, the “bye week” is actually less intrusive this season than it has been in the past despite the longer length. All 31 teams will take their break either right before or right after the upcoming All-Star Weekend, with those two days counting toward the seven and simply extending what has always been a short break for non-participants. Below are the lists of teams who will take leave on one side of All-Star festivities or the other:

Before All-Star Weekend (January 20 – 24)

Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
New Jersey Devils
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tampa Bay Lightning
Winnipeg Jets

After All-Star Weekend (January 27 – 31)

Anaheim Ducks
Arizona Coyotes
Calgary Flames
Carolina Hurricanes
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Detroit Red Wings
Edmonton Oilers
Florida Panthers
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota Wild
Montreal Canadiens
Nashville Predators
New York Islanders
Ottawa Senators
San Jose Sharks
St. Louis Blues
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
Washington Capitals

How each team feels about taking an extended break in the middle of the season generally varies based on situational factors. While many players would enjoy getting to spend some time away with their families, others would rather keep the pedal to the metal mid-season. More specifically, a team that is playing well and stringing together wins would rather keep playing and not lose out on that momentum. Another team may be in a slump or struggling with injuries and desperately in need of a break. Either way, not every team will be in favor of the bye week each season.

There also remains some scheduling flaws with the mandated break, as most teams will only get the actual seven days or an eighth day off for travel, but others are set to go ten or eleven days without a contest. The “bye week” seems to be a move by the NHL that has enough support to continue in future seasons, but the league could work on sharpening the schedule so as to give teams as close to an even break as their competition as possible.

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