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Loui Eriksson

How Will The Expansion Draft Impact Canadian Teams?

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Continuing our look at different expansion draft angles,  CBC’s Amy Cleveland examines how the draft will affect the seven teams in Canada. Laying out the rules for the draft, Cleveland looks further and prognosticates who she sees as “potentially protected” versus those players who would be “intriguing” in being exposed. She further writes that all seven Canadian teams will be able to protect the bulk of their important players. The Flames sit prettiest without any non-movement clauses in contracts while the Leafs and Senators have only one player with an NMC (Nathan Horton, and Dion Phaneuf respectively).

Below are Cleveland’s picks for each team. Going to CBC’s page with the story includes in depth reasoning behind each of Cleveland’s choices.

Calgary Flames
NMC protected players: None.

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed:

Edmonton Oilers
NMC protected players: Milan Lucic (F), Andrej Sekera (D), Cam Talbot (G)

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed:

Montreal Canadiens
NMC protected players: Carey Price (G), Jeff Petry (D)

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed: 

Ottawa Senators
NMC protected players: Dion Phaneuf (D)

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed: 

Toronto Maple Leafs
NMC protected players: Nathan Horton (F)

Potentially protected: 

Vancouver Canucks
NMC protected players: Loui Eriksson (F), Daniel Sedin (F), Henrik Sedin (F)

Potentially protected: 

​Intriguing exposed: 

Winnipeg Jets
NMC protected players: Dustin Byfuglien (D), Toby Enstrom (D)

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed:

 

Full List Of Mandatory-Protection Players In Expansion Draft

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Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston has published the full list of players who, due to no-movement clauses in their current contracts, must be protected in the upcoming expansion draft for the new Vegas Golden Knights. These are players who will count against the protection limits should they choose not to waive their NMC rights prior to the draft.

Each team has the right to protect either:

A) Seven forwards, three defenders, one goaltender

or

B) Eight skaters, one goaltender

These players will count against those numbers, and as Johnston points out, there are some notable inclusions and omissions from this group. Players like Jordan Staal, Rick Nash and Bobby Ryan all had incorrect information spread about their contracts. The former two will now need protection, while the latter will not, due to his deal only having a no-movement to the minors clause.

The Chicago Blackhawks, with eight players listed, will have little flexibility at the draft, with only four forward spots (or one defenseman) left to use. Many others, according to Johnston, including Toronto’s Nathan Horton, are likely to be made exempt if they are still on LTIR as the draft approaches.

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Jannik Hansen Out 4-6 Weeks With Broken Rib

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The Vancouver Canucks have announced the severity of Jannik Hansen’s injury, and it’s not good. The forward will be out 4-6 weeks with a fractured rib, according to president Trevor Linden. Hansen had been placed on injured reserve on the 7th, a day after the incident with the Maple Leafs.

Hansen had been skating with the Sedin twins, but took a rough open-ice hit from Morgan Rielly before getting in a fight with Nazem Kadri on the same shift. For the Canucks, it meant moving the goalless Loui Eriksson back to the first line – though perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, Eriksson scored his first goal of the season last night – weakening the second group. With the team also sending down Jake Virtanen, it’s starting to run thin on skilled players up front.

Alex Burrows, who had been playing on the fourth line, now must be a huge part of any success the Canucks have over the next few weeks. His ice time has been increased by almost five minutes since the injury, and so far it’s paying off – he scored twice in the Canucks 5-3 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night.

What’s Next For The Vancouver Canucks?

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Last season the Vancouver Canucks reached their lowest point in more than fifteen years. They finished with 75 points, better than only the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers, and missed the playoffs by a mile. As many believed that Daniel and Henrik Sedin were slowing down (as people do when they turn 35), the team looked like they should start a rebuild around some young forwards, and sell off assets for this season. After all, they were likely to get a top-three draft pick and already had Bo Horvat as a potential superstar.

Instead, they dropped to fifth in the draft and missed out on the big forwards, and then had an extremely confusing offseason period. First they traded one of their young prospects, Jared McCann for Erik Gudbranson, a still-young but much more expensive player who many in the analytics community believed was steady but mostly ineffective. McCann is off to a slow start in Florida (no points in eleven games), but still looks like he’ll eventually be a solid NHL centerman.

Next they signed Loui Eriksson, one of the summer’s biggest free agents to a huge six year, $36MM deal that will pay him through his age-36 season. Eriksson is a solid player, but hasn’t found any amount of success in Vancouver; he hasn’t scored a goal in 11 games after notching 30 last year.

Making a financial commitment of that level is usually reserved for teams looking to compete for a Stanley Cup in the near future, but Vancouver doesn’t seem like they’re poised to do that.  They’re 4-6-1 this season, and are currently down 2-1 and being out-shot by those same Maple Leafs who finished lower than them last year.  While Ryan Miller is having a solid year splitting time with the younger Jacob Markstrom, he’s a free agent next year (and 37 years old).

So what do the Canucks do now? Tearing down a team a few months after committing tens of millions in free agency isn’t a strong plan, but it may be what they have to do. Unfortunately for him, we’ll probably see the ousting of head coach Willie Desjardins, as is usually the case when things go downhill.

 

Snapshots: Desjardins, Fisher, Gilbert, Chychrun

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Darren Dreger’s been making the radio rounds of late and today, while appearing on Ottawa’s TSN 1200, among many notes the NHL insider discussed was the suggestion that Vancouver bench boss Willie Desjardins could soon find himself on the hot seat if the Canucks can’t right the ship in short order. Dreger was clear that he didn’t believe that was the case as of this moment but the organization believes it has a roster capable of making the playoffs and if the team falls further out of the race, they could decide to make a change behind the bench.

“I’m not suggesting he’s on the hot seat today as we have this conversation. But Jim Benning, the general manager, had a much higher view of where he thought this team was coming out of training camp. He told many that he believed that the Vancouver Canucks are a playoff team and would definitely contend for a playoff spot. And they’re not playing that way right now.”

The Canucks got off to a surprisingly strong start winning their first four games but have since lost five straight to even their record at 4 – 4 – 1. Offense. or rather a lack of, is the biggest issue in Vancouver as the team is last in the league in goal scoring, averaging just 1.78 per contest. Their power play is also among the worst in the NHL converting just 10.7% of their opportunities, which ranks 26th overall.

The team invested heavily in skilled Swedish winger Loui Eriksson, to the tune of a six-year, $36MM contract this offseason but the former Bruin has failed to find the back of the net in nine games with Vancouver. Bo Horvat leads the club in goals with four but only five players have tallied more than once this season. At the other end of the scoring spectrum, the New York Rangers lead the league averaging four goals per contest with 10 players who have at least two markers on the campaign.

Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot relays a quote from Pierre LeBrun indicating the Canucks would like to pull the trigger on a deal for a proven 20-goal scorer, assuming they can find a trade partner. They’ve been rumored to be in that market since the summer but aside from inking Eriksson the Canucks have done little in the way of adding impact offensive talent.

Desjardins is in his third season as coach of the Canucks and owns a career mark of 83 – 71 -19. He guided the team to a 101-point season and a second place finish in the Pacific Division in 2014-15, his first as bench boss. Last season, Vancouver dropped 26 points in the standings and placed sixth in their division. Prior to being hired in Vancouver, Desjardins served as head coach of the Dallas Stars AHL affiliate and guided them to the Calder Cup championship in 2014.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Mike Fisher, who was injured in Tuesday’s 5 – 1 win over Colorado, is being listed as day-to-day with an upper-body-injury, tweets Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. Fisher, who replaced Shea Weber as Nashville’s captain, is tied for second on the club in scoring with five points in eight games. Now in his 17th season in the NHL, Fisher has scored 261 goals with 287 assists in 1,024 contests.
  • According to the NHL Department of Player Safety (Twitter link) Los Angeles Kings defenseman Tom Gilbert will face a hearing for his hit on Nick Ritchie of the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night. No penalty was assessed on the play but the league indicated the hearing is for boarding/charging. Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register provides an update on Ritchie and says the big winger won’t be in Anaheim’s lineup tonight as the Ducks host Pittsburgh. Gilbert has appeared in eight of L.A.’s 10 games this season and has recorded three points. Ritchie, meanwhile, has scored two goals and three points in 10 contests with Anaheim.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have elected to keep rookie defenseman Jakob Chychrun on the roster instead of returning the 18-year-old blue liner to his junior team, according to Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports. As a result, Chychrun will burn the first season of his three-year entry-level contract. The Coyotes made a trade with Detroit during the 2016 entry draft to move up four spots to select Chychrun and so far has rewarded management’s faith. Chychurn has averaged 17:15 of ice time and has three points in eight games so far.

Western Conference Snapshots: Eriksson, Baertschi, Stars

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After a solid 4 – 0 start to the campaign, the Canucks fortunes have fallen off as they’ve dropped four straight, including back-to-back shutout losses in their last two starts. While not expected to be an offensive juggernaut, Vancouver’s offense has been worse than advertised averaging a measly 1.75 goals per game. In fact, they are the only team in the NHL that tallies fewer than two per contest. The struggles of prized free agent addition Loui Eriksson and skilled youngster Sven Baertschi have played a big role in Vancouver’s offensive ineptitude. But as Steve Ewen of The Province writes, despite not tallying a single goal between them this season, head coach Willie Desjardins still believes in Eriksson and Baertschi.

Eriksson, who inked a six-year pact with Vancouver worth $36MM this summer, adds much more than simply offense to the team, says Desjardins.

“Loui’s been good. He hasn’t scored, but he’s been good. He gives so many things in so many areas. We’d like to see scoring. But I’m not worried. It will come. He gives us a lot.”

Still, $6MM annually is a lot of money for a player who isn’t contributing much offense. Vancouver will need to him to start putting the puck in the net soon to realize a positive return on their investment.

Baertchi, a former first-round pick, seemed to finally put it together in 2015-16, recording 15 goals and 28 points in 69 contests. The Swiss winger has always had talent but prior to last season had tallied just 8 times prior to joining the Canucks as a result of a 2015 trade with Calgary. But through eight games this season he has just a single point and carries a plus-minus rating of -2.

Desjardins has noted the hard work from Baertschi and envisions good things happening for the 24-year-old winger if he maintains this effort.

“Early, he was methodical. Now, he’s crossed a spot where he’s had enough and he’s pushing harder and things are happening for him.”

Vancouver likely isn’t a playoff-caliber team unless a few things bounce their way. However, they’ll have virtually no chance of staying in the race unless they can start putting the puck in the net. Simply put, Eriksson and Baertschi will need to be much better for Vancouver.

Elsewhere in the Western Conference:

  • From the same piece, Ewen also notes that the Canucks have lost forward Jayson Megna to an upper-body-injury and the forward is expected to miss at least 10 days. Megna was injured during the second period of Friday night’s loss to Edmonton. In his place, the Canucks could insert Michael Zalewski, himself recently recalled from Utica, or use defenseman Alex Biega up front, writes Ewen. Injured forwards Derek Dorsett and Alexandre Burrows have both started skating again and could return to the lineup soon.
  • Earlier today the Dallas Stars activated forward Jiri Hudler from IR. In a related move, the team has reassigned Justin Dowling to the Texas Stars of the AHL. Dowling, 26, made his NHL debut this season and appeared in two games for Dallas, recording an assist and a -1 plus-minus rating. In 264 AHL games across parts of seven seasons, Dowling has netted 67 goals and 187 points.

 

2016-17 Season Preview: Vancouver Canucks

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We’re now less than two weeks away from the start of the 2016-17 regular season. PHR continues with our season preview series, moving on to the Vancouver Canucks.

Last Season: 31 – 38 – 13 (75 points); finished sixth in the Pacific Division and missed the playoffs.

Cap Space Remaining: $2.771MM, via Cap Friendly.

Key Newcomers: Loui Eriksson (free agent – Boston); Erik Gudbrnason (trade – Florida); Philip Larsen (free agent – KHL)

Key Departures: Radim Vrata (free agent – Arizona); Jared McCann (trade – Florida); Matt Bartkowski (free agent)

Player(s) To Watch: Bo Horvat and Ryan Miller: Horvat represents a key building block for the future whereas Miller can help the Canucks compete for a playoff spot and/or become a valuable trade deadline chip.

Horvat may have already established himself as the team’s second best center after Henrik Sedin following a 40-point sophomore season and depending on how Brandon Sutter rebounds from an injury-filled 2015-16 season. While 40 points is strong production for a 20-year-old, second-year player but Horvat still needs to work on his overall game. This past season he finished with a -30 plus-minus rating and he also struggled in the puck possession department ranking 212th out of 234 forwards who played at least 800 minutes at 5v5 in Corsi For % with a 45.8%.

The third-year pivot will not only be a key contributor for the Canucks in 2016-17 campaign but his further development is an instrumental part of the organization’s roster retooling. With many of the team’s best players nearing the end of their careers – either with Vancouver or in the NHL – Horvat will be counted on to help lead the next wave of stars and to help guide the team back to the postseason.

Miller has long been regarded as one of the better goalies in the league, even if his average numbers don’t necessarily concur with that reputation. Of the 28 netminders who have seen 5,000 5v5 minutes combined over the last three seasons, Miller ranks just 22nd in Save % at 92.2%. He rated better when facing high danger chances at same strength situations, placing 15th with a HDSv% of 81.05%.

Regardless, excellent goaltending can help overcome a roster devoid of prime talent and if Miller turns in one of his better career performances in 2016-17, he may be able to keep the Canucks playoff chances alive late into the campaign.

It’s also quite likely that the team will shop Miller, who is entering the final year of his contract, ahead of the trade deadline in an effort to add futures to help speed up the rebuild. Even if no playoff contenders are in dire need of a starting goalie, an experienced option like Miller would still carry value as a backup. Since the Canucks probably would have little interest in re-signing the 13-year veteran, they might consider trading him – even for a second-round pick or less – a better option than losing him for nothing after the season.

Key Storyline: Will the Canucks fully buy in to a rebuild or continue to pretend they can be a playoff team at the same time they inject youth into the lineup? The harsh reality is the Canucks would need too many things to go right for them to make the postseason in 2016-17. Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom would have to provide top-notch play between the pipes. The Sedin twins will have to continue to stave off Father Time and perform at an elite level. Several of the team’s younger players – like Horvat – will need to improve further. And even if all of that goes their way it still probably wouldn’t be enough in a division that sent three teams to the postseason in 2015-16 and saw every other non-playoff squad make significant moves to improve their rosters.

Vancouver probably should have embraced the rebuild last year when they potentially could have moved some veteran assets for futures. But they shouldn’t be afraid to do so now, particularly if they don’t get off to a hot start to the season. It’s important that the organization adopts and implements a strategy that’s going to ensure on-ice success for the organization in the future as opposed to simply treading in the waters of mediocrity as they seem to be doing now.

Canucks Depth Chart

Canucks Notes: Horvat, Gaunce, Gudbranson, Hutton

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Based on the composition of their roster it would seem the Vancouver Canucks are approaching a transition year. Many of the players they will rely on for production – specifically Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Loui Eriksson, Alexandre Burrows, Jannik Hansen, Alexander Edler and Ryan Miller are in or nearing the twilight of their careers. Others, such as Bo Horvat, Jake Virtanen, Sven Baertschi and Ben Hutton have either little experience or have yet to reach their potential in the NHL. With so few players comfortably in their respective primes the Canucks will need a few of their younger players to take the next step in their development if they want to push for a playoff spot.

One who will be given an opportunity to take that next step is Horvat, who, as Jason Botchford writes, is slated to center the top line in the Canucks opening exhibition game tonight against San Jose and whom head coach Willie Desjardins expects to spark the offense. Brandon Sutter is currently listed as the team’s second-line pivot, but he tallied just nine points in an injury-shortened first campaign in Vancouver and has only reached the 40-point plateau once in his eight-year NHL career. Horvat scored 40 points in his second season in the league last year and at 21 should be capable of more.

Henrik Sedin just turned 36 and his days as a #1 center are likely numbered. In fact, it would behoove the Canucks to try to keep Sedin away from the opposition’s top defensive players night-in-and-night-out in order to maximize his effectiveness. Sutter has yet to demonstrate he can consistently produce in a top-six role but perhaps Horvat can, if allowed the opportunity. Chances are he’ll get his chance this season.

On to other Canucks notes:

  • Within the same piece, Botchford mentions Brendan Gaunce, who the Canucks drafted in the first round of the 2012 draft, as another young player who could grow into an important role this season. Scouts originally were skeptical of Gaunce’s quickness and foot speed but as Botchford notes, the young winger has made great strides in those areas since coming to the Canucks organization. Surprisingly, Gaunce believes what hindered his skating had more to do with his brain rather than his legs. “I was never slow, I just tried to read the game too much. You don’t really have time to read NHL defencemen. It was in my head. It was not necessarily changing my footspeed, it was being more instinctual. Before I would try to read the play before it happened and now, it’s move the feet first and then react.” Gaunce made his NHL debut in 2015-16 but scored only a single goal in 20 appearances. His performance with Utica, the Canucks AHL affiliate, was strong as the 22-year-old winger netted 17 goals and 38 points in 46 games for the Comets.
  • Although noted more for being a strong, stay-at-home defenseman, Erik Gudbranson bested every other Canucks blue liner in a skating drill conducted during a recent four-day camp, writes Iain MacIntyre of The Province. Gudbranson’s speed caught teammate and potential defense partner Ben Hutton off guard. Hutton was beaten by Gudbranson three times and afterwards said: “I saw that. Three times. One time I had a little bit of a stumble, but the other two I was thinking he must have been cheating or something. He was bugging me about that. Honestly, I think he’s a great skater for a guy that size.” Gudbranson is expected to fill a spot in the team’s top-four and with the league becoming more of a speed and quickness game, it bodes well for the Canucks that the 6-foot-5, 216 pound blue liner is showing he can more than keep up.

Snapshots: Lovejoy, Bennett, Canucks, Lombardi

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It’s not uncommon for players to reunite with former coaches and/or a general manager who has previously acquired that player at a previous stop. There is familiarity between coach and player and in the case of GMs, a belief in the abilities, sometimes untapped, of the player. That scenario played out this summer when the New Jersey Devils brought in two former Penguins, defenseman Ben Lovejoy in free agency and winger Beau Bennett via trade, reuniting them with general manager Ray Shero and head coach John Hynes. As Andrew Gross writes in his Fire and Ice blog, those additions should have come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the situation.

Shero spent eight seasons at the helm in Pittsburgh, selecting Bennett in the first-round of the 2010 entry draft. Clearly Shero still believes in Bennett’s upside as evidenced by the Devils giving up a third-round pick – a substantial asset – to Pittsburgh in exchange for the winger. Bennett scored six goals and 12 points in 33 regular season games in Pittsburgh in 2015-16 but appeared in just one postseason game as rookies Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust passed him on the team’s depth chart.

The Devils finished last in the NHL in goals scored during the 2015-16 season, and even after adding LW Taylor Hall in the summer, the team could use more scoring depth. Bennett hopes to be able to provide that and reward Shero’s faith in him.

Lovejoy cited the presence of Hynes as instrumental in his decision to sign with the Devils in the offseason.

“(Hynes) was my defense coach when I played in Wilkes-Barre. I played for him for a full season. He knows my game. It’s not going to be a surprise here. He knows exactly what he’s getting. That’s the reason I’m here. I know the coaching staff through Wilkes-Barre when Ray and (assistant GM) Tom (Fitzgerald) were running the organization the first time I was in Pittsburgh. Those are guys I trust and know. I’m here because they trust me.”

The veteran of eight NHL seasons will be asked to add leadership and experience to a young-ish defense corps that only has one other defender – Andy Greene – over the age of 26. Lovejoy doesn’t bring much of an offensive game to the table but has generally been a responsible blue liner and has posted a negative plus-minus rating just once in his career.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • GM Jim Benning and head coach Willie Desjardins are well aware the team has some ground to cover if they want to make the playoffs in 2016-17 after missing the postseason by 12 points this past season. But as Derek Jory of the Canucks official team site reports, both manager and coach are cautiously optimistic about the upcoming campaign. Desjardins: “We have more depth at every position and I feel we’re stronger at every position.” Benning, for his part, believes adding Loui Eriksson and Erik Gudbranson this summer along with a return to health for center Brandon Sutter will bring needed leadership as well as depth to the club: “We’ve added more depth to our group and adding Loui Eriksson, who I feel is a good player, a healthy Brandon Sutter, adding Erik Gudbranson; we’ve added some leadership in that room to help our young players along, so I’m real excited.” 
  • Two days after watching Team USA elimination from medal contention at the World Cup of Hockey, the man ultimately responsible for assembling the team, Kings GM Dean Lombardi, defended his roster construction strategy: “We’ve got some darn good players, but the reality is that matchup on a skill basis, if you want to go head-to-head and play a skill game, your odds of winning that game when you look at those matchups is not very good.” While Lombardi is likely correct in his assertion that Team USA wouldn’t have been able to match the skill and talent of the Canadiens no matter who they brought to the tournament, the choice to emphasize grit and heart ignores the NHL’s recent shift to a quicker game that values speed over other traits. Of course we’ll never know whether a Team USA roster including Tyler Johnson, Kyle Okposo, Kevin Shattenkirk and Phil Kessel – for example – would have been better equipped to beat Canada, but it’s clear they couldn’t have done any worse.

Snapshots: Canucks, Avalanche, Nielsen, Donskoi

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Many pundits feel the Vancouver Canucks are a team lacking direction. On the one hand, they introduced some much-needed youth to their aging core last season with young forwards Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann given their first extended NHL looks and joining second-year pro Bo Horvat as possible future building blocks. On the other hand, Vancouver failed to advance their rebuild by dealing expiring assets at the trade deadline for draft picks and/or prospects. Trading Dan Hamhuis and/or Radim Vrbata would have netted the Canucks multiple futures to further the team’s roster reconstruction.

Instead, the Canucks surprised many this spring by parting with the aforementioned McCann as part of a package to acquire veteran defenseman Erik Gudbranson in what was clearly a move designed to help the team win now. The free agent addition of winger Loui Eriksson also signals that Vancouver is not committed to a rebuild and will rather try to slowly integrate younger players onto the roster while at the same time attempting to remain in the mix for a playoff spot.

It’s with this mentality that GM Jim Benning continues his search for an impact offensive LW, as Ben Kuzma of The Province writes. Daniel Sedin remains the team’s top port side winger and the team expects young Sven Baertschi – currently listed as the team’s #2 LW – to improve upon his 15-goal output in 2015-16. Beyond those two the Canucks have a few wingers who can line up on either side of center – including Eriksson – but don’t have enough depth to switch a player to the left without creating another hole on the right side.

Kuzma lists several candidates who could fill the role of impact LW, both internal and external. The most interesting might be Anton Rodin, the team’s second-round pick in 2009 and whom the Canucks signed to a one-year deal worth just $950K. Rodin enjoyed an excellent 2015-16 campaign, netting 16 goals and 37 points in 33 contests with Brynas IF of the Swedish Elite League while capturing the league’s MVP award.

As for possibilities currently outside the Canucks organization, Kuzma lists Evander Kane as a potential trade option – a notion we’ve reported on in the past –  though he also brings up the off-ice issues surrounding Buffalo’s talented winger and suggests that might limit Vancouver’s interest. Kuzma also opines that the cost to acquire an established player like Kane would likely start with one of Chris Tanev or Horvat, and that’s simply a price the Canucks are unwilling to pay.

Surprisingly, Kuzma writes that the Canucks didn’t view Jiri Hudler as a short-term answer even though the Czech winger is just two seasons removed from a 76-point campaign and ultimately signed a one-year pact with Dallas worth $2MM. Hudler would have been a perfectly reasonable buy-low add for the Canucks. He’s capable of producing at a rate more than acceptable for a top-six forward and would have been a potentially valuable asset to possess at the 2017 deadline with contending teams always looking to augment their scoring depth.

Elsewhere in the NHL on this Labor Day:

  • At his introductory news conference last week, new Colorado head coach Jared Bednar confirmed he would be keeping all three assistant coaches – Tim Army, Dave Farrish and Nolan Pratt – from the previous regime, according to Terry Frei of the Denver Post. It’s not much of a surprise given the late hiring of Bednar meant that many coaches he may have considered for positions were already committed elsewhere. Additionally, Pratt worked under Bednar as an assistant with Lake Erie in 2015-16 so there was already a comfort level between the two coaches. After talking with each of his assistants, Bednar is satisfied he has the right mix of experience and knowledge among his staff.
  • An unheralded free agent signing by the Sharks in May of 2015, Joonas Donskoi would end up playing a key role for the Western Conference champions in 2015-16, scoring 11 goals and 36 points in 76 regular season games. He would ramp up his performance in the playoffs tallying six goals and 12 points in 24 contests. Now that Donskoi has established himself as an NHL regular, the expectations have been raised going into year two of his career, as Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area writes. After establishing solid chemistry with C Logan Couture, both down the stretch of the regular campaign and in the postseason, Donskoi is again likely to slot in on the right side of the skilled pivot. If he takes advantage of his opportunity to play with Couture, it’s conceivable Donskoi could approach 50 points in a full season.
  • After losing superstar center Pavel Datsyuk, who chose to return home to Russia to be closer to his family, the Detroit Red Wings were left with a gaping hole down the middle of their lineup. They attempted to address that loss in part by signing solid two-way pivot Frans Nielsen to a lucrative six-year, $31.5MM free agent deal this summer. While he won’t be expected to replace Datsyuk’s offense, he will be counted on to play a responsible game and appear in all situations for the Wings, says Ansar Khan of MLive.com. Nielsen has only ever tallied 20 goals or 50 points on two occasions but is known as an excellent playmaker and someone who should help improve both the Wings PP and PK units. He is also an elite shootout performer who might be worth an extra few standings points a year to Detroit in that area alone.

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