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Jared Cowen

Joffrey Lupul Accuses Maple Leafs Of Cheating System

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Over the last few years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have made a habit out of using the long-term injured reserve list more than almost any other team in the league. Players like David Clarkson, Nathan Horton, Joffrey Lupul, and Stephane Robidas have all spent full seasons away from the team, apparently too injured to continue their career. While there has never been proof that an injury didn’t exist, Lupul has made it clear in the past that he wants to continue his playing career and once again took to social media to call out the Maple Leafs’ salary cap practices.

In an Instagram comment last night (via Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star), Lupul wrote that he was ready and just waiting for a call to play hockey again, and then subsequently said that the Maple Leafs’ “cheat” and “everyone lets them.” Fans and media alike have used the term “Robidas Island” to describe where Toronto sends their injured players, a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that they may just be more unwanted than unhealthy.

All of this has been speculation and rumor, though Jared Cowen leveled similar complaints towards the team after being bought out last summer. Now, Darren Dreger of TSN asked NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly to comment, which he declined:

We aren’t in a position to comment right now. That may or may not change when we know more.

That at least does sound like the league will be looking into it, a stance they also took when similar skepticism was shown at the Chicago Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa situation. Hossa has developed a skin condition because of prolonged exposure to the equipment, one that will prevent him from playing this season. His $5.28MM contract and Lupul’s $5.25MM deal will not count towards the salary cap this season.

Jared Cowen Signs PTO With Colorado Avalanche

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One of the more interesting names to keep an eye on this summer was Jared Cowen, and he’ll now head to camp with the Colorado Avalanche on a professional tryout. If the 26-year old is healthy, he should stand a good chance at making the club as they by no means have depth at the position.

The question of his health does remain though, as Cowen filed a grievance against the Toronto Maple Leafs when the team tried to buy him out last summer. It would ultimately fail, but Cowen would still miss the entire 2016-17 season with hip problems, and hasn’t played in an NHL game in 18 months.

Selected ninth overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2009, Cowen showed all the signs of developing into a premiere shut down defender. His 6’5″ frame allowed him to eliminate attackers and get into passing lanes, but quickly his foot speed started to drag and he found himself chasing the play more often than not. The Senators would eventually include him in the Dion Phaneuf trade, but Cowen would never play a game for the Maple Leafs.

Still young enough to make an impact, if Cowen can show his hip is fully healthy and his skating is to an acceptable level the Avalanche could have a nice third-pairing option for extremely cheap. If not, it could spell the end to a once promising NHL career.

Dead Space: Bought-Out, Buried, And Retained Salaries For Every Team

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It’s something that often goes unnoticed, but with the cap showing minimal growth the last few years, teams are starting to feel the crunch more than ever. Buyouts have become more common, especially with players with under three remaining years on their contracts. And it’s not just the big name busts that have seen the ax lately – we’ve seen lesser names at lesser money take the fall for their respective teams, then needing to scramble for work elsewhere in the league. Additionally, salary retention in trades has become a more utilized tactic as of late. Teams with “unmovable” contracts have offered to retain part of a poor contract in order to entice a team into giving them some relief.

All this said, some teams have been better with foresight than others. Some teams have shown a track record of being entirely unable of handing out poor contracts over the past five or so seasons. Considering many teams showed some progress in being more frugal this off-season, it seems a wise time to review the dead space every team has accumulated, either due to poor management decisions or poor luck.

Colorado Avalanche – $4.83 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after current year – Francois Beauchemin buyout; Cody McLeod retained

Arizona Coyotes – $4.61 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Mike Smith retained; Mike Ribeiro, Antoine Vermette buyouts

Columbus Blue Jackets – $4.025 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Fedor Tyutin, Jared Boll, Scott Hartnell buyouts

Carolina Hurricanes – $3.71 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Eddie Lack retained; Alexander Semin, James Wisniewski buyouts

Toronto Maple Leafs – $3.28 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2021-22 – Tim Gleason, Jared Cowen buyouts; Phil Kessel retained

Nashville Predators – $2.83 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19 – Viktor Stalberg, Eric Nystrom, Barret Jackman buyouts

Boston Bruins – $2.73 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved 2019-20 – Dennis Seidenberg, Jimmy Hayes buyouts

New York Rangers – $2.61 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2022-23 – Dan Girardi buyout

Minnesota Wild – $2.5 MM in 2017-17, issues resolved after current year – Thomas Vanek buyout

Los Angeles Kings – $2.4 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2023-24 – Matt Greene buyout; Mike Richards termination/recapture

Edmonton Oilers – $2.33 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Lauri Korpikoski, Benoit Pouliot buyouts

Anaheim Ducks – $2.21 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2023-24 – Mark Fistric, Simon Despres buyouts; Patrick Maroon retained

Vancouver Canucks – $2.13 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2021-22 – Roberto Luongo, Jannik Hansen retained; Chris Higgins buyout

New Jersey Devils – $2.09 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2023-24 – Mike Cammalleri, Devante Smith-Pelly buyouts; Ilya Kovalchuk recapture

Tampa Bay Lightning – $1.83 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2019-20 – Matt Carle buyout

Calgary Flames – $1.82 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19 – Mason Raymond, Lance Bouma, Ryan Murphy buyouts

Detroit Red Wings – $1.67 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Stephen Weiss buyout

Dallas Stars – $1.5 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19- Antti Niemi buyout

Philadelphia Flyers – $1.5 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after current year – R.J. Umberger buyout

Winnipeg Jets – $1.46 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19 – Mark Stuart buyout

Florida Panthers – $1.33 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19 – Jussi Jokinen buyout

Las Vegas Golden Knights – $1.1 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after current year – Alexei Emelin retained

Ottawa Senators – $350,000 in 2017-18, issues resolved after current year – Andrew Hammond buried

Buffalo Sabres – Minimal in 2017-18, increased issues ($791,00) resolved after 2022-23 – Cody Hodgson buyout

 

 

Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, San Jose Sharks,  Montreal Canadiens – No dead cap space

After compiling the list, it became clear that utilizing these options isn’t a complete hindrance to competing in the NHL. In fact, most clubs have between $1 MM and $3 MM in dead space. That said, of the teams that have not needed to utilize the buyout or retention options, there has been a great deal of success. And among the five worst offenders, the Leafs, Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Avalanche, and Coyotes, none has moved past the first-round in multiple years. It’s hard to draw massive conclusions without taking the context of each individual situation into account, but there is something to be said for making every dollar of cap space count. Perhaps this is merely a byproduct of past success rather than an indicator of future success, but considering how amenable many managers have become to the option, it bears consideration.

(All totals courtesy of the fantastic CapFriendly.com)

Remembering The Early Trades From 2015-16

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The month between the All-Star game and the NHL trade deadline is an interesting one. While most of the action happens right at the end, even sometimes extending past the official deadline due to trade calls, sometimes big moves happen early in February.

Last season, 33 trades happened in the last few days (from February 26-29) before the deadline,  but there were also seven deals that happened in the weeks immediately after the All-Star break. Those deals were just as important to the futures of their teams as any made on the day itself. Let’s look back at the seven deals made between February 9th and 25th last season.

February 9th: Toronto trades Dion Phaneuf, Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey, Ryan Rupert and Cody Donaghey to Ottawa for Jared Cowen, Colin Greening, Milan Michalek, Tobias Lindberg and a 2017 2nd-round pick.

Starting with a whopper, the Maple Leafs continued their drastic tear-down by trading their current captain and highest paid player to a cross-province and divisional rival. The Senators had been looking for another big-minute defenseman and thought Phaneuf could become that player for them.

While it hasn’t worked out perfectly for the Senators, Phaneuf has logged over 23 minutes a night since coming over and is having a fine if unspectacular season offensively this year. While his massive looks like an albatross on their books – he’ll have a cap-hit of $7MM (more than Erik Karlsson) until 2020-21 – the actual salary is much lower. The team also rid themselves of dead money in Cowen, Greening and Michalek and only had to pay the price of a middling prospect in Lindberg and what looks like a fairly late second-round pick.

Lou Lamoriello and the Maple Leafs worked some accounting magic, and have effectively rid themselves of the cap-hits for all three players, burying Greening and Michalek in the AHL and buying out Cowen after a lengthy dispute. Moving Phaneuf was an integral part of the plan going forward, and both teams are fighting for playoff spots a year later.

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Toronto Wins Jared Cowen Arbitration Case

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have won their arbitration case with defenseman Jared Cowen, according to multiple hockey insiders including Elliotte Friedman and Bob McKenzie.

Cowen will remain an unrestricted free agent, as Toronto’s buyout of his contract was deemed legal. Back in January, Frank Seravalli of TSN reported that a buyout of Cowen’s contract would give a team a $650K cap credit for 2016-17, and count for $750K against the cap in 2017-18.

Shortly thereafter, the Maple Leafs acquired Cowen in the Dion Phaneuf trade. Cowen did not play a single game for Toronto as GM Lou Lamorellio sent him home to home await a buyout in March; Cowen’s agent was given permission to speak with other teams about signing as a UFA. Cowen was sent home because the CBA  stipulates that an injured player cannot be bought out, so the Maple Leafs did not want to risk him re-injuring his hip and being unable to be bought out. However, Cowen and his agent grieved the eventual buyout for that exact reason: they believed he was hurt and therefore ineligible to be bought out.

The two sides met with the arbitrator on October 19, and ultimately the arbitrator ruled that there was no evidence that Cowen was unfit to play when the Maple Leafs bought him out in July.

Prior to this decision, Cowen was a free agent in the eyes of the NHL. He remains free to sign with any team, and the Maple Leafs remain at 48 contracts with the cap credit for this season.

 

Friedman’s Latest: Cap, Islanders, Purcell, Cowen

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In the latest edition of his wonderful 30 Thoughts column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman touched on a wide variety of topics of interest to hockey fans, including where the salary cap is expected to land for the 2017-18 season.

  • At this month’s GM meetings, managers are expecting to receive a preliminary number for the salary cap. Friedman reported that a couple GMs are “hoping for $75MM.”
    That would be an increase of $2MM over the current $73MM ceiling. Last summer, the cap went up by just $1.6MM, which was a smaller increase than what most teams were expecting, and also one of the smaller increases in cap history. The cap has risen by more than $3MM six times since it was implemented in 2005-06.
  • After discussing the New York Islanders management situation, Friedman joked that “one day I’m going to ply GM Garth Snow with enough truth serum to find out how hard he planned to go after Steven Stamkos, what he was going to offer, and how that affected his July 1, 2016 decisions.”
    The off-season did not go as planned for the Islanders, who lost Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen to free agency and replaced them with Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera. Ladd has just three goals and six points this season, and is signed for seven years. He’s a prominent member of Pro Hockey Rumors’ 2016 UFA All-Bust Team.
  • As we speculated when he was placed on waivers, the Los Angeles Kings had tried to trade Teddy Purcell before placing him on waivers. However, they were not willing to take a contract back, as we suggested most teams would offer. Friedman suggested Ottawa could have interest, as Purcell previously played for Senators head coach Guy Boucher when the pair were in Tampa Bay, but it doesn’t work at the moment for budget reasons. Friedman says he “wouldn’t be surprised if someone takes a chance” later in the season
  • Finally, with Jared Cowen’s arbitration result due to come later today, Friedman pointed out that a Cowen win would “wreak havoc” on next year’s cap for the Maple Leafs because of rookie bonus overages. Currently Cowen’s buyout is a $650K cap credit for Toronto, but that could change to a $3.1MM cap hit depending on whether or not the arbitrator deems Cowen was healthy enough to buy-out in the summer (numbers via Cap Friendly).

Atlantic Notes: Cowen, Larkin, Bergeron, Koekkoek

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The Maple Leafs and Jared Cowen held their arbitration hearing on Wednesday regarding the contested buy out of his contract back in June, notes Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star.  Toronto opted to pay Cowen $750K in each of the next two seasons over carrying his $3.1MM cap hit (and $4.5MM salary) for 2016-17.  Doing so created a $650K cap credit for this year and a charge of $750K next season.

However, the CBA stipulates that an injured player cannot be bought out and Cowen and his representatives are contending that he remained injured with long-term hip problems at the time the Leafs executed the buyout.  Cowen was acquired late last season as part of the Dion Phaneuf trade but Toronto allowed him to go home early to work on rehabbing his hip.

If Cowen wins and has his contract reinstated, the Leafs will technically be over the salary cap.  However, given that Cowen isn’t healthy enough to play, he would be eligible to be placed on long-term injury reserve which would get them back under.  There is no timetable for the arbitrator to make his decision.

More from the Atlantic:

  • Detroit’s Dylan Larkin is off to a slow start this season but as Ansar Khan of MLive writes, part of his struggles could be attributed to his conversion back to center. Last season – in his rookie campaign – the team often played him on the left wing to take some of the pressure off of him.  With long-time Red Wing Pavel Datsyuk now retired from the NHL, the team needs Larkin to step into his vacated position at center.  Through four games, the 20 year old has a single assist and a -5 rating although he has been a bit better at the faceoff dot, winning 44.4% of his draws which is above his 41% mark from last season.
  • Boston center Patrice Bergeron is on track to make his season debut tonight against New Jersey, Joe Haggerty of CSN New England reports. He has missed the first three games of the season so far and should step back into his top line role assuming there are no setbacks.  Boston coach Claude Julien also noted that defenseman Adam McQuaid won’t play against the Devils but he believes the blueliner is only a few days away from returning to the lineup.
  • The Lightning re-assigned defenseman Slater Koekkoek to the minors yesterday but Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times believes that the demotion will be a short-lived one. Koekkoek has yet to play this season despite making the opening night roster and with him being waiver exempt, he’s expected to get into a couple of AHL games to stay in game shape before being recalled sometime next week.

Snapshots: Cowen, Werenski, Heatherington

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The long and contentious Jared Cowen saga seems to finally have an end date put in place, as the arbitration hearing has been set to determine whether the Toronto Maple Leafs were actually able to buy out the defenseman. Toronto successfully bought Cowen out earlier this summer, but the NHLPA has filed a grievance and contends that they were not allowed to do so, due to Cowen’s continuing injured status.

On October 19th, according to Bob McKenzie, an arbitrator will decide whether to uphold or reverse the buyout. If Cowen wins, he would be due his $4.5MM salary, where as if the buyout was upheld, he’d earn just $750K this season and next.

For the Maple Leafs, that $3.75MM in savings would help the rebuild even further, as they’ve used their financial power to gain assets (or, usually, rid themselves of burdens) over the past few seasons. Cowen underwent hip surgery this summer and won’t be ready for any kind of hockey until February at the earliest.

  • For the Blue Jackets, this season holds a lot of promise. One of the biggest stories will be the debut of Zach Werenski, the team’s top prospect (outside of perhaps Pierre-Luc Dubois). As Werenski gets ready to make his preseason debut on Thursday, he wrote a piece for NHL.com describing the journey he’s taken so far. “I’m trying to make the NHL. It’s a little nerve-wracking, I won’t lie, but I feel confident that I can make it happen,” he writes, being honest with himself and the reader instead of spouting bravado. Werenski certainly seems ready; he joined the Lake Erie Monsters late last season, and led them with 14 points in the playoffs en route to a Calder Cup victory.
  • Still with Columbus, Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch reports that Dillon Heatherington has suffered a fractured wrist and will be out 6-8 weeks. A second-round pick in 2013, he was set to continue his development at the AHL level this season.  Aaron Portzline, also of the Dispatch, adds that fellow prospect Keegan Kolesar has undergone hernia surgery and will be out at least six weeks. Kolesar scored 61 points in 64 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL last season, and will head back for one more year.

Snapshots: Vegas Name, Concussion Protocol, Cowen Hearing

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The Las Vegas something Knights.

What that something will be has yet to be announced, but owner Bill Foley confirmed on Friday that will be the basis for the team’s name. Foley appeared on Brian Blessing’s Sportsbook Radio show on Friday. According to Blessing, the team and league are still fine-tuning the logo, but the name and colors have been chosen.

Throughout the last couple weeks, Foley has trademarked several team nicknames, though he admitted they were a “ruse” to “irritate” people. It’s been long speculated that Foley wanted the team to be nicknamed the Knights, but trademark issues with the OHL’s London Knights will likely squash that.

The Las Vegas something Knights will make their NHL debut for the 2017-18 season.

Elsewhere in the hockey world:

  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has an new piece up on sportsnet.ca about some changes coming to the NHL’s concussion protocol. Currently, team-affiliated “spotters” are responsible for noting if players have sustained a traumatic injury and are supposed to pull the player off the bench to a quiet room for further evaluation. However, there has been some debate that the spotters aren’t always doing their jobs properly. Now, Friedman reports, there will be four independent spotters watching all games on television. Should they see any visible signs of a concussion, they will notify the team that their player must be pulled from the game for observation. The in-house spotters will remain in each arena. According to Friedman, the full protocol will be revealed shortly before the start of the regular season.
  • Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun reported that a resolution between the Maple Leafs and Jared Cowen won’t come for another month. Horby tweeted that the hearing will not take place until early or mid October. The Leafs acquired Cowen in the Dion Phaneuf trade back in February, mainly because of a quirk in his contract that would give the Leafs a salary cap credit if he’s bought out. Cowen underwent surgery after the season on doctor’s orders, and claims he is still injured and therefore ineligible to be bought out. Cowen is entering the final year of his contract, which pays him $3.1MM per season.

Snapshots: Tavares; Goalie Equipment; Cowen

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News and notes from around the NHL

  • New York Islanders captain John Tavares spoke to Newsday’s Arthur Staple on Monday, stating that he has no reason to leave Long Island when his contract expires. Tavares is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2017-18 season, and rumors are already swirling that he may leave. The comments Tavares made are an attempt to quell the media attention Tampa Bay Lighting Steven Stamkos endured this offseason on whether he would re-sign with the Lightning. Many media members speculated that he would join his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, and the same media attention looks to descend upon Toronto-native Tavares as well. Proving further speculation was this offseason’s UFA exodus. Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, and Matt Martin all signed elsewhere within the first day of free agency.
  • TSN’s Jason Gregor tweeted that goaltender equipment may not be streamlined this season, a move widely expected by the NHL. The new equipment standards would shrink the chest protector, upper pads, and pants, making everything more streamlined and less bulky. Gregor noted that he trained with five NHL goaltenders who said that no new equipment has been ordered yet. The NHL wants to decrease goaltender bulk in an effort to increase scoring, but the league may have to wait another year to implement.
  • Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jared Cowen will have a grievance hearing sometime in the future regarding his buyout. The Maple Leafs waived Cowen this offseason with the intention of buying him out, but Cowen states that he was injured. A team cannot buy out an injured player, and the Leafs say that he is not injured—hence the grievance proceeding. A date has not been set yet, but the Leafs ideally want this situation resolved before the season starts as they are currently have only $500K in cap space. Buying Cowen out would not only free up his $3.1MM salary, but will actually create an additional cap credit of $650K for the upcoming season. Next year Cowen’s buyout cap hit would be $750K. So by buying out Cowen, the Leafs instantly go from sub-$500K in cap space to over $4MM.

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