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Milan Lucic

Trade Candidates: Shane Doan

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Shane Doan is in his 21st season in the NHL, every single one spent with the Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix-Arizona Coyotes franchise. During that time he has appeared in more than 1,500 regular season games and potted 400 goals. His resume is certainly impressive, however Doan hasn’t been part of a Stanley Cup championship team and if he has designs on winning one he may have to finally move on from the only organization he has ever known.

Arizona’s season is all but officially over. With just 38 standings points, the Coyotes rank 29th in the league, ahead of only Colorado and are 17 points out of a wild card spot. Essentially, they have no chance to make the playoffs and along with the aforementioned Avalanche are one of the only obvious trade deadline sellers in the NHL. Clubs in this situation generally look to deal proven veterans, particularly ones that are pending free agents, for futures and Doan perfectly fits the mold of player often traded at the deadline. But given his standing within and commitment to the organization, it’s possible Doan remains in the desert.

Contract

As mentioned above, the 40-year-old Doan is on an expiring contract and comes with a cap hit of $3.876MM this year and $1M worth of games-played bonuses which will count against next year’s cap. Presumably a team acquiring Doan would assume a prorated portion of the cap charge resulting from any bonuses met.

2016-17

Doan has struggled this year, netting just four goals a season after finding the back of the net 28 times in 2015-16. A huge decrease in shooting percentage – 3.8% in 2016-17 versus 16.5 the prior season – and less ice time have been factors for his suffering goal scoring production. He tallied 12 man-advantage goals and 17 points in 2015-16 while averaging better than three minutes per game on the power play. That average is down to 1:24 this season and unsurprisingly he has netted one goal and three points with the man-advantage.

Season Stats

50 GP – 4 goals, 12 assists, 16 points, -5 plus-minus rating, 36 PIM, 105 SOG, 15:15 ATOI

Potential Suitors

It might be easier to list the teams who wouldn’t have some level of interest in Doan. Anyone looking for size and bite on the wing and a veteran presence in the room would love to have the longtime Coyotes captain on their roster. A young team like Edmonton could use some additional experience, perhaps, but already boasts plenty of size on the wing in the persons of Milan Lucic, Patrick Maroon and Zack Kassian. The Blackhawks are known to be looking at top-six wingers and while Doan’s lackluster production wouldn’t seem to address that need, the opportunity to play with Jonathan Toews could spark the veteran winger. Montreal is also believed to be interested in adding size to the lineup and have already been linked to Doan’s teammate, Martin Hanzal.

Likelihood of Trade

Doan holds a NMC in his contract and it’s going to be entirely up to him if he wants to leave the desert. In the past he’s resisted overtures from other clubs, both via trade and as a free agent, due to family reasons but this may well be his final NHL season and subsequently his last shot to win a Cup. However, Doan’s role has decreased this season and it’s clear the Coyotes are looking toward the future. It may well be time for Doan to accept a trade to a team with a reasonable chance to win a championship. At this point it’s probably a coin toss whether he is traded or sticks with Arizona.

 

Edmonton Oilers Recall Jordan Oesterle

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After holding their annual skills competition this afternoon, the Edmonton Oilers have recalled defenseman Jordan Oesterle from the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL. The team hosts the struggling Arizona Coyotes tomorrow night.

Oesterle has been up with the Oilers this season, but hasn’t yet to get into a game at the NHL level. In 18 contests for Bakersfield he has 11 points and is proving he should have been drafted years ago. The 24-year old went undrafted but developed into a leader at Western Michigan University in his three years, before signing with the Oilers in 2014.

It’s unclear why Oesterle was brought up, but with the team having an empty roster spot perhaps its he’s just there as insurance for any late injuries tomorrow. The Oilers sit second in the Pacific division at 23-15-7, and are looking more and more like they’ll get back to the playoffs this year.

Connor McDavid easily won the team’s fastest skater competition today, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins taking home most accurate, and Milan Lucic winning the hardest shot.

Snapshots: Crawford, Tavares, Lucic

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The Chicago Blackhawks could be getting a nice early Christmas gift on Friday night.

Despite having an appendectomy just two weeks ago, Corey Crawford has progressed enough in his recovery that he may start on Friday night against the Colorado Avalanche. Coach Joel Quenneville told Chris Hine that he would like to see Crawford get in a full practice before returning to the lineup.

The Blackhawks are off on Monday after playing back-to-back on the weekend, however Crawford will skate on his own. Backup Scott Darling has played the majority of games since Crawford has been out, including both games over the weekend. Darling is 6-2-1 since taking over from Crawford, which includes his current five-game winning streak.

  • Glen Schiller and Jamie McLennan on TSN’s That’s Hockey 2Nite discussed if there is any reason why John Tavares would want to re-sign with the Islanders. The Islanders have been “a mess” this year, following up a 100-point season with a 74-point pace. With the Metropolitan Division being the best division in hockey this year, there’s essentially no way the Islanders can climb back into the playoff picture without a 15-game winning streak. McLennan points to the free agency departure of Kyle Okposo, who had great chemistry with Tavares, and the struggles of his replacement, Andrew Ladd. Both players signed for similar contracts, but the Islanders chose the older player with no history with their superstar over the younger, right-handed player with years of success on Tavares’ wing. Tavares, McLennan argues, must be wondering who he would play with consistently and could look forward to playing with years from now if he signed an eight-year contract.
  • Over at OilersNation, Jonathan Willis wonders why the Oilers have not tried separating Milan Lucic and Connor McDavid to boost McDavid’s scoring. While he’s still leading the NHL in scoring by two points with 39 points in 33 games, he has just one even-strength assist in his last eight games. Lucic has just one goal in nine games this month. Despite Lucic’s struggles, the only changes made on the top line have been on the right side. Jesse Puljujärvi, Drake Caggiula, Jordan Eberle, Tyler Pitlick, and Leon Draisaitl have all had time with Lucic and McDavid, with varying degrees of success. Willis suggests moving Lucic to play with Draisaitl on the second line and bumping one of Benoit Pouliot or Patrick Maroon up to the top line; Willis points to chemistry between Draisaitl and Lucic and the dramatically better scoring numbers of when playing with McDavid as evidence of the merit of his suggestion.

Custance’s Latest: Teams Hurt By Cap Recapture Rules

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In the salary cap era, there is nothing worse than a bloated contract, especially one susceptible to the cap recapture rules. ESPN’s Craig Custance listed a number of teams who suffer from such a fate, and explains as such:

For some teams, that pain has arrived. And it could be worse than originally projected because of cap recapture rules since put in place in the new CBA to punish teams if the player retires early or the contract is traded.

“Teams that did those contracts essentially embarrassed Gary [Bettman]. We found a way to circumvent the CBA legally,” said one executive. “He was incensed, and said ’I’m going to get you back.’ Which he did.”

Now because of decisions made years ago, in the name of winning it all or rewarding players who helped make it happen, there are a group of teams that have legacy costs built into their current salary cap structure.

Two teams who managed to stay in good shape contract wise–while contending– are the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins, with the Pens not having any legacy costs. But the teams below, according to Custance, are the ones who suffered from the wrath of Bettman.

  • Los Angeles Kings

Dustin Brown, Marian Gaborik, and Matt Greene are the contracts that have the Kings on the hook for awhile. Along with Mike Richards’ cap recapture hit of $1.32MM, the Kings have a legacy cost of $8.545MM. Though they won two Stanley Cups since 2012, the cost may have hurt them in terms of losing Milan Lucic and Justin Williams due to a lack of cap room.

  • Chicago Blackhawks

Sure, they’ve won three Cups since 2010, but the Marian Hossa deal will eventually be a “real headache” since it still has four years left. Further, Custance writes that the Hawks could be in for real trouble by the 2019-20 season when the core of the Hawks, namely Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook, and Corey Crawford are all into their 30’s and saddling the payroll with a combined $40MM.

  • Detroit Red Wings

General manager Ken Holland anchored the team with a number of long term, and expensive contracts. Custance’s list doesn’t include the new deals that include a 32-year-old Frans Nielsen, Justin Abdelkader, and Darren Helm. Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard, and Johan Franzen combine for a legacy cost of $9.34MM. Custance believes the Wings could get out of the Howard contract by trade, but Kronwall and Zetterberg’s deals will cripple the Wings for years to come, especially as their play declines. The legacy cost for Detroit: $9.34MM.

  • Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks have a few big contracts, namely the Sedin twins, Alex Burrows, Alexander Edler and Roberto Luongo ($800K retained). Custance notes that while he would take the Sedins on his team any day, their decline is certainly happening.

 

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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Craig Cunningham In Hospital After Collapsing On Ice

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UPDATE 11/21 (1:30pm CT): Coyotes head coach Dave Tippet has issued an update on Cunningham’s condition on behalf of the team. Tippet says that Cunningham is stable, but remains in critical condition. The 26-year-old is believed to have suffered a heart attack and is still dealing with the related cardiac complications. Tippet added that the team will not comment any further, allowing Cunningham and his family their space.

It was a scary scene in Tucson on Saturday night.

Tuscon Roadrunners captain Craig Cunningham suffered a “medical emergency” on the ice prior to Tucson’s game versus the Manitoba Moose. He is currently in hospital receiving treatment, according to Arizona Coyotes GM John Chayka.

Mike Christy of the Arizona Daily Star reported that the 26-year-old Cunningham collapsed just moments before puck drop and appeared to convulse after hitting the ice. Medics cut away his jersey and did chest compressions before removing him from the ice and taking him to a local hospital. The players were sent back to their dressing rooms and the game was postponed to a later date.

Global BC’s Jay Janower tweeted that the Trail, BC-native Cunningham had a heart attack and is in critical condition, with his mom at his side. Janower added that Cunningham’s blood pressure has increased, which is a good sign. In the team’s statement, Chayka did not confirm any specifics, but promised to “provide a medical update once we receive more information.”

Cunningham is a very good AHL forward, with 203 points in 319 games. His 13 points in 11 games lead his team in scoring this season. Cunningham has eight points in 63 NHL games with Boston and Arizona over the past three seasons. He is also considered a good leader and teammate; he’s served as captain of the Providence Bruins and Springfield Falcons before Arizona moved the Falcons to Tucson this past summer.

John Buccigross of ESPN SportsCenter tweeted a link to a story he wrote on Cunningham’s incredible journey to the NHL back in 2014 when he first cracked the Bruins lineup. Get-well messages have come in from around North America, including Landon Ferraro, who grew up with Cunningham, and Milan Lucic, who called Cunningham “one of [his] best friends.”

Lucic was quoted in Buccigross’ article as saying Cunningham was “a great fit” on the Bruins, before comparing him, somewhat ominously, to Rich Peverley. Peverley was a solid two-way player, before he suffered a cardiac event on the bench during a March 2014 game, which forced him to retire.

We here at Pro Hockey Rumors wish Cunningham and his family all the best during this difficult time.

Kings Notes: Gaborik, Andreoff, Kopitar, Lucic

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Kings winger Marian Gaborik is progressing well in his recovery from a broken foot and is hoping to get back into the lineup somewhat soon, he told Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider.  He has missed the entire regular season so far after suffering the injury while blocking a shot back in September at the World Cup of Hockey.

Gaborik has been skating lightly over the last week but pushed his workout a bit harder on Wednesday and was pleased with how it went:

“I think I’m right on track.  It’s just like I said, a matter of getting the strength back on the ice and skating. I haven’t skated for several weeks or something like that so it’s just a matter of getting those practices in so I can jump in to games ready to go.”

Despite the progress, there remains no timetable for his return to the lineup.  When he does get back, he’ll be a welcome addition to a lineup that is scuffling in the goal scoring department as the Kings have just 39 goals in 17 games so far this season.

[Related: Kings Depth Chart]

More news from Los Angeles:

  • Left winger Andy Andreoff is nearing a return to the lineup after thumb surgery, Rosen notes in a separate piece.  He also appears to be well ahead of schedule as two weeks ago, head coach Darryl Sutter estimated that Andreoff would be out another four to seven weeks.  However, the 25 year old is targeting Wednesday’s game against the Islanders as his return date, using the practices between then to work on his conditioning.  Andreoff has played in nine games for Los Angeles this season, being held off the scoresheet but is averaging a career high in ice time at 10:02 per game.
  • Center Anze Kopitar skated on Wednesday but is not expected to play against the Oilers tonight, reports Curtis Zupke of the LA Times. The captain remains day-to-day with either a hand or arm injury.  Kopitar says progress is being made but not enough to return to the lineup: “It’s been feeling better and better but just not quite to where it needs to be and not quite good enough, obviously, to play.”  He is off to a bit of a slow start this season with just two goals and six assists in 15 games.
  • Milan Lucic is set to face his old Kings squad tonight for the first time since signing in Edmonton in free agency but reiterated to Elliott Teaford of the LA Daily News that he had intentions on re-signing there over the offseason: “I tried everything I could to make it work. I think both sides tried to do everything they could do to make it work. With a cap system, it just didn’t work out in the end.” Lucic spent just one year with the Kings and while he had a strong year (55 points in 81 games), the end result from the trade with Boston didn’t work out too well for LA when you consider that on top of Lucic essentially being a one year rental, one of the players they gave up for him – Martin Jones – is now the starting goalie for a division rival.

Snapshots: Russell, Lucic, Ducks, Pardy, Rangers

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Following yet another disappointing campaign for Edmonton in 2015-16, GM Peter Chiarelli orchestrated several changes to his team’s roster this offseason in an effort to build a playoff contender. Chiarelli dealt away two former first overall draft picks, Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov (receiving Adam Larsson, a marginal prospect and a conditional draft choice in return), while signing free agents Milan Lucic and Kris Russell in free agency. Many in the hockey community at large weren’t particularly fond of Chiarelli’s moves and while it’s far too early to make any definitive judgement, through two games Lucic and Russell have done exactly what the Oilers and Chiarelli hoped for, as David Staples of the Edmonton Journal writes.

Staples has been tracking scoring chances for and against for every Oilers skater through two games. His research shows that Connor McDavid, who has simply been phenomenal already with six points on the young season, has been Edmonton’s best player by far, helping to generate better than six more scoring chances for than against, per 15 minutes of ice time. Lucic is second in that category with a differential of 4.82. Russell leads the defense corps with a 2.34 differential per 15 minutes of ice time. Incredibly, Russell has yet to make a single error leading to an opposition scoring chance through two games, based on Staples’ tracking.

Again, it’s too early to conclude anything for certain but the early returns on Lucic and Russell have to be encouraging for Chiarelli and Co. Obviously this team will only go as far as their superstar captain McDavid will lead, but should his two prized free agent acquisitions continue to perform at this level, Edmonton might yet prove the pundits wrong and compete for a playoff spot in 2016-17.

Elsewhere in the NHL:

  • Could the Anaheim Ducks soon find themselves at a crossroads with a roster core too old to compete for a Stanley Cup? Eric Stepens, who covers the team, asks that question in a post that appears in the Los Angeles Daily News. Stephens notes that the team’s three best forwards, Ryan Getzlaf (31), Corey Perry (31) and Ryan Kesler (32) are all on the wrong side of 30. At the same time, many of the league’s top stars – Johnny Gaudreau (23), McDavid (19), Auston Matthews (19) – are in their early-20’s or even younger. Getzlaf, Perry and Kesler also account for $23.75MM, or nearly one-third of this year’s salary cap, now that Kesler’s massive extension kicked in. These commitments leaves less space for the Ducks to flesh out the rest of their roster with quality talent as evidenced by their struggles to reach agreements with restricted free agents Rickard Rakell and Hampus Lindholm.
  • After being released from his PTO with Florida, Adam Pardy has agreed to sign an AHL deal with the Panthers organization, tweets Harvey Fialkov. Pardy will report to Springfield and provide an experienced blue line depth option for Florida. He has appeared in 338 NHL games over parts of eight seasons. Pardy previously has seen action in the league with Calgary, Buffalo, Edmonton, Dallas and Winnipeg.
  • New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault was quite specific in how he put his forward lines together to start the 2016-17 campaign. By design, the team would ice three lines capable of scoring while the fourth line was to be comprised of “penalty killers and defensive specialists.” But after introducing rookies Pavel Buchnevich and Jimmy Vesey to the lineup, a couple of skilled veterans slid down the depth chart and onto the team’s fourth line. As Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post writes, the presence of Brandon Pirri and Michael Grabner at the bottom of the Rangers lineup has already paid dividends for the Blue Shirts. Grabner, a once tallied 34 goals as a member of the Islanders, netted the first marker of the season for the Rangers. Pirri, meanwhile, assisted on Grabner’s goal and potted his first as a New York Ranger on the power play. As long as the duo remain defensively-responsible, their ability to put the puck in the net will be welcome on the teams fourth line.

Snapshots: Top Rookies, Tougher Oilers, McKeown

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It’s been a good start to the season for rookies in the NHL. Auston Matthews scored a stunning four goals in his debut and Finnish top picks Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujärvi also scored in their debuts. William Nylander had two assists.

However, two of the more impressive rookies to TSN’s Bob McKenzie are the Flyers’ Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov. McKenzie appeared on TSN 1260 in Edmonton, saying it’s “ridiculous how good [Provorov] is” and saying Konecny was their “maybe their best player” in their first game.

Despite their early success, McKenzie didn’t see either of them being in the Calder Trophy conversation, because neither will post the offensive numbers. He also joked that “everybody knows they already awarded the Calder the other night after the first game. People didn’t see that presentation afterwards, but Auston Matthews was presented with it after the game.”

McKenzie compared the style of play over the first two nights to Team North America in the World Cup, saying hopefully “the kids … will triumph because the first two nights of this season have been a joy to watch.”

In other new from around the hockey world:

  • David Staples of the Edmonton Journal took a look at how GM Peter Chiarelli turned the formerly soft Oilers into a much tougher team. The Oilers have added four tough and dependable NHLers in Eric Gryba, Zack Kassian, Patrick Maroon, and Milan Lucic for a total cost of two fourth round picks and three players who had no future in Edmonton: former starter Ben Scrivens who was toiling in the AHL, and fringe minor leaguers Travis Ewanyk and Martin Gernat. Scrivens and Gernat are now overseas, and Ewanyk signed with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. Staples writes that the new-look Oilers are able to “[answer] the bell if it comes to clobberin’ time, as it surely will.”
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have assigned defenseman Roland McKeown to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. McKeown was a healthy scratch in the Hurricanes season opening loss in Winnipeg. McKeown is a former second round pick of the Los Angeles Kings, acquired in the Andrej Sekera trade back at the 2015 trade deadline. The Raleigh News & Observer Chip Alexander believes the team is expecting newly-acquired defenseman Jakub Nakladal to be available for Sunday night’s game in Vancouver.

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