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Bankruptcy Filing Warns Evander Kane May Opt Out Of 2020-21 Season

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Tuesday: Obviously without commenting on any of his player’s personal financial issues, San Jose Sharks head coach Bob Boughner tells Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports “I don’t think we’re worried” about Kane’s availability this season, nor his ongoing bankruptcy case becoming a distraction. Boughner stated that Kane “seems ready to go” and that “I am assured that he will be here for the whole season.” Of course, the status quo could still change given the ongoing proceedings, but as of right now there does not appear be any risk of missed time. This would lend itself to the idea that Kane’s inclusion of his contractual rights in his bankruptcy filing was a required or otherwise strategic move and less of an actual threat.

Monday: In the middle of a wild and seemingly unrelated story pertaining to San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane, a small note in a legal document could have a major impact on the Sharks’ season. As detailed by The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan, Kane filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in federal court in San Jose on Monday, citing $26.8MM in dept. In detailing his income, a current seven-year, $49MM contact signed with San Jose in 2018, Kane issues this warning:

Debtor may terminate his contract and he may opt out of the season, as allowed under current rules, because of health concerns given the recent birth of his first child. Should he terminate his contract or opt out at a point in the season, Debtor will not receive his salary.

Now, Kane is not going to terminate his contract with the Sharks. The deadline to opt out of the season, which begins in just two days, was this past Saturday, January 9. However, if Kane’s decision to opt out is motivated by health concerns related to his family, there is already precedent that he will be allowed to do so. Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask opted out of the 2020 postseason after it had already began due to concerns over his own daughter’s health. Kane would not need to terminate his deal to get out of playing this season and that’s unlikely the outcome the Sharks would pursure anyway.

That of course does little to comfort Sharks fans. After a season in which San Jose struggled greatly despite a strong roster on paper, there was hope for a rebound this year. They now face the possibility that the player who was arguably their very best in 2019-20 could miss the new campaign. Kane led the Sharks with 26 goals and was second in total scoring with 47 points, all while missing six games due to injury. He was also the only effective trigger man on the power play, notching 14 power play goals of San Jose’s 33 total. Replacing that offense would be next to impossible for the Sharks. The physical Kane was also expected to pick up some of the slack in the checking game left behind by the departures of Brenden Dillon and Barclay Goodrow. 

Kane clearly has more on his mind than the Sharks’ hopes for the season, what with a newborn daughter as well as a a bankruptcy case that cites gambling debts, civil lawsuits, and claims from upwards of 47 creditors. However, missing the season certainly won’t help the latter and in the long run won’t help the former. All involved are definitely hoping that the resolution to this whole situation involves Kane suiting up for the San Jose this season. His full participation in training camp as well as the unknown intricacies of what he was required to disclose in the bankruptcy filing lend hope that this will be the outcome, but the end result remains to be seen.

Free Agency Notes: Krejci, Andersen, Jensen

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While some attention has been on the future of teammate Tuukka Rask of late, the Boston Bruins have another major impending free agent in center David Krejci. Like Rask, Krejci is reaching the end of a long-term, big-money contract and while he won’t get another at 35 years old by next season, Krejci does not appear to be done. The career Bruin matched a career-high 73 points in 2018-19 and last season was a top-five scorer for Boston and trailed only David Pastrnak in shooting efficiency. He capped off the campaign by reminding everyone of his career-long knack for playoff success with a team-best 12 points in 13 games. Krejci looks poised to extend his career beyond this season, likely in Boston, but there has been little public talk of an extension thus far. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta provides an explanation, reporting that Krejci’s camp opted not to open talks this off-season. Krejci’s preference was to hold off on negotiations through the brief off-season as well as through training camp. However, the two sides are expected to begin talks once the season begins. If and when a resolution is reached, the extension could also remain as a handshake agreement, as many might this season given the Expansion Draft ramifications of signing would-be UFA’s. With that in mind, Boston fans should not be discouraged that Krejci is entering his fifteenth Bruins season without a new contract, nor should they worry if a deal is not done during the season; talks will be ongoing and the likelihood of an extension is strong.

  • Unlike Krejci, Toronto Maple Leafs starting goaltender Frederik Andersen does not appear likely to negotiate an extension during this season. The impending free agent, likely to be one of the best names available in the 2021 goalie market, did not have any extension talks with Toronto this off-season, reports TSN’s Pierre LeBrun. And now that the season is about to begin, LeBrun does not expect those talks to finally occur until next off-season. LeBrun notes that Andersen’s agent, Claude Lemieux, prefers not to discuss contracts in-season due to the distraction it may cause his clients. Obviously, any number of factors could shift the status quo and force the two sides to come together during the year, but it is unlikely. As such, Andersen is expected to head into the summer without a new contract and the Maple Leafs will have a small window of time to review the season and work out an extension before their starter becomes a free agent.
  • Andersen’s fellow countryman and former NHLer Nicklas Jensen was set to be a free agent this off-season but no more. The skilled Danish forward has signed a two-year extension with the KHL’s Jokerit, the club announced. The move comes as a bit of a surprise, as Jensen has re-signed with his current club in-season for the second year in a row, never allowing for NHL teams to make an offer during the off-season. Jensen has shown that he is worthy of a second chance in North America, too. The 27-year-old power forward, a 2011 first-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks, may not have found much success in the NHL last time around, but now a more mature player, Jensen has been a prolific scorer in the KHL. Jensen led Jokerit and finished fourth in the league in points per game in an injury-shortened 2019-20 with 25 points in 27 games and has never scored below .69 points per game through four KHL seasons, including his current campaign. A capable scorer with size and speed who has established himself in the KHL and previously flashed immense potential in the AHL, Jensen would seemingly be an intriguing target for an NHL team. A two-year extension taking him into his thirties does not completely eliminate the chance of an NHL comeback for Jensen, but makes it all the more unlikely.

East Notes: Rask, Kapanen, Komarov

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Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask spoke with reporters yesterday, including Boston Hockey Now’s Joe Haggerty, for the first time since leaving the bubble to tend to a family emergency.  During the discussion, he was asked about the potential of playing elsewhere as the 33-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July.  While there is no extension in place, Rask didn’t mince words about his preference:

I have no intentions of playing anywhere else except for with the Bruins. If I’m good enough to play one, two or three more years then so be it and if not then so be it. That’s where my head is at.

Rask has been a fixture in Boston’s lineup since the 2009-10 season and has suited up in 536 NHL games, all for the Bruins who acquired him from Toronto back in 2006.  His playing time has been more limited recently though so he should be expecting to take a dip from his current $7MM AAV in order to stick around.

Elsewhere in the East Division:

  • Penguins winger Kasperi Kapanen is expected to have his work visa in hand by Friday, notes Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. That’s an important hurdle to clear as he looks to join his new team after being dealt during the postseason but it still seems quite unlikely at this point that he’ll be available on opening night.  Kapanen will still have to go through a mandatory quarantine period of seven days so unless there is some sort of exception granted which seems extremely unlikely at this point, he will have to miss the first two games of the year against Philadelphia.
  • The Islanders are trying to trade winger Leo Komarov, reports David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). GM Lou Lamoriello is trying to free up some extra cap room with Mathew Barzal still needing a new deal and with Komarov underachieving since joining them, he’s a logical player to try to move.  Of course, in this cap environment, an underachieving fourth-liner with two years left on his contract at $3MM is going to be a tough sell and will likely require some sort of incentive to get another team to take the 33-year-old on.  Komarov had just four goals and ten assists in 48 games last season.

Goalie Notes: Rask, Talbot, Darling

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Cross off one option from the list of potentially available goaltenders. Vezina Trophy runner-up Tuukka Rask isn’t going anywhere. Although Rask opting out of the 2020 postseason raised some questions about his future in Boston, especially with just one year remaining on his current contract, the Bruins reiterated that they expected the elite goaltender to be back with the team next season. Rask himself has now taken control of the narrative, telling Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald that he does not want to play for any team but the Bruins. This would seemingly back up recent rumors that Rask had stated to the Bruins that he would retire if traded. It seems unlikely that the Bruins were pushing too hard to trade Rask anyhow, given that he was statistically the best starting goalie in the NHL this season and the team would struggle to replace him. It’s doubtful that the team would be able to get fair value in any deal for Rask as well. Rask will be back in Boston this year, but beyond 2020-21 remains a mystery.

  • One goalie who will be available is Cam Talbot. Despite an impressive comeback season with the Calgary Flames, the two sides have been unable to agree on terms for an extension. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that talks have broken off for now with the salary gap too far apart. Talbot will test the market and may very well end up elsewhere. Calgary is still in need of a goaltender and could circle back to Talbot if they miss out on bigger free agent or trade targets.
  • An available name getting some surprise attention is Scott Darling. Once one of the top backups in the NHL, Darling’s stint as a starter with the Carolina Hurricanes was an unmitigated disaster and led to a buyout last season and a complete lack of NHL interest. Darling went overseas and joined Austria’s HC Innsbruck of the EBEL. Although his numbers were not all that impressive, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that there are teams who might be willing to give Darling a second chance. Given the increased importance of goaltending depth in what is expected to be a condensed 2020-21 schedule, an experienced No. 3 like Darling could be valuable.

Connor Hellebuyck Wins 2020 Vezina Trophy

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The Vezina Trophy has been announced and the 2019-20 winner is the Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck. Presented to the best goaltender each season, the award is voted on by the NHL’s general managers. Hellebuyck was selected as the recipient over the Boston Bruins’ Tuukka Rask and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy.

While quality is often a stronger argument than quantity when it comes to goaltending performance, Hellebuyck’s impressive campaign was an exception. While Rask led all starters in both save percentage and goals against average by a wide margin this season, he did so in just 41 games. Hellebuyck meanwhile played in 58 games, more than 80% of the Jets’ games. He led the league in total shots against and saves, as well as shutouts, and finished second in wins and total time on ice. Yet most impressively given his heavy workload, Hellebuyck finished second to Rask in save percentage among starters and sixth among starters in goals against average. Of the 31 NHL GM’s, 19 cast a first-place vote for Hellebuyck versus ten for Rask, allowing the Jets keeper to edge out the victory.

Hellebuyck, a former college standout at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, has had an up-and-down NHL career, but finally put everything together this year. While he has previously led the league before in wins and saves, he has also had seasons where he has struggled immensely. Winnipeg can likely put those worries to rest after the 27-year-old established himself as one of the best in the game with an outstanding 2019-20 season.

Tuukka Rask Opts Out Of The Remainder Of The Postseason

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The Bruins are now without their starting goaltender as the team announced (Twitter link) that Tuukka Rask has opted out of the rest of the playoffs.  His statement is as follows:

I want to be with my teammates competing, but at this moment there are things more important than hockey in my life, and that is being with my family.

I want to thank the Bruins and my teammates for their support and wish them success.

The decision comes just days after Rask commented about the atmosphere in the bubble following Game Two against Carolina when he told reporters, including Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston, that it doesn’t feel like playoff hockey and with there being no fans, he equated the situation to that of an exhibition atmosphere.  On a Zoom call with the media, including Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, before today’s game, GM Don Sweeney suggested that these comments weren’t a factor in his decision to leave.  Instead, he indicated that Rask has a newborn child and two other young children at home and that being away from them proved to be too much of a mental strain on him though he also noted that Rask’s family is safe and healthy.  Sweeney also stated that the organization is fully supportive of this decision.

Rask made both starts in the series against the Hurricanes as well as two appearances in the Round Robin and wasn’t at his sharpest, posting just a .904 SV% in those four contests.  However, he was coming off one of the best regular seasons of his career, one that saw him with a .929 SV% and a 2.12 GAA in 41 games in the shortened campaign.  Rask was also a key part of Boston’s run to the Stanley Cup Final last year as he won all 15 of their games while compiling a 2.02 GAA with a .934 SV%.

With Rask gone, Jaroslav Halak becomes Boston’s undisputed starter for the rest of their postseason run.  He’s certainly a strong backup option to have and has been a big part of their regular season success over the past couple of seasons where he appeared in over 45% of their games.  Accordingly, it wasn’t unreasonable to think that he’d be making an appearance or two in the playoffs even if Rask remained with the team.

Halak is no stranger to the playoffs as he has appeared in five different postseasons before this year.  His best showing came back in 2010 when he helped lead Montreal to two significant upsets before they bowed out.  It was his performance there that helped get him an opportunity as a starting goalie, a role he has held for several seasons over his career so he shouldn’t have too much of an issue adjusting to the higher workload.  Including his round robin appearance which counts in playoff stats this season, Halak has a .922 SV% with a 2.45 GAA in 31 games.

Boston’s goaltending depth has certainly taken a hit as the other two goalies they have in the bubble with them have limited experience.  Maxime Lagace made a name for himself in Vegas during their inaugural season by getting the starting role by default for a while due to injuries but since then, he has almost played exclusively in the minors.  Meanwhile, the other goalie on their roster is Dan Vladar, a 22-year-old who posted a stellar 1.79 GAA and a .936 SV% in 25 games with AHL Providence this season but does not have any NHL experience under his belt.

This will be Halak’s net for the rest of the way and he’ll be thrown into the fire quickly with the third game of their series against the Hurricanes less than two hours away.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Injury Notes: Stamkos, Schmaltz, Rask

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According to Joe Smith of The Athletic, the Tampa Bay Lightning will still be without captain Steven Stamkos for their round-robin game tomorrow, but he was back on the ice at practice today. The 30-year old continues to deal with a lower-body issue and missed yesterday’s game against the Washington Capitals (which Tampa Bay won anyway).

Stamkos’ return will be a huge boost for the Lightning, given how successful he was when healthy this season. The superstar forward had 29 goals and 66 points in 57 games, a pace that would have had him over 40 goals and 90 points once again had it been a full season.

  • The rest of the Lightning will have to try and carry the offense against the Boston Bruins tomorrow, and it’ll be against that team’s top goaltender. Tuukka Rask is back in the net for Boston after spending a few days away from the team with a cough. He has tested negative for COVID-19 multiple times and will be back leading the Bruins on their quest for a top seed. In his absence, Jaroslav Halak allowed four goals to the Philadelphia Flyers.
  • Nick Schmaltz is still out of the Arizona Coyotes lineup as he recovers from a hit in the exhibition game. The team’s top scorer in the regular season, Schmaltz didn’t seem to be missed in their first game against the Nashville Predators as the Coyotes scored four goals. They’ll try to turn on the goal light behind Juuse Saros again today as the Predators will stick with their young goaltender for the time being.

Goaltending Notes: Halak, Korpisalo, Holtby

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The Boston Bruins will be without their top option in goal tonight when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers in the round-robin. Tuukka Rask has been ruled unfit to play by head coach Bruce Cassidy, meaning Jaroslav Halak will be in net for the Bruins.

Perhaps more than any other team in the playoffs, the Bruins have prepared for a situation like this all season. Halak is much more than a backup for Boston, playing in 31 games during the shortened regular season and posting a .919 save percentage. That’s a number most teams would be happy to get from their starter, but it still is a step down from Rask’s .929. One of the advantages of being a top seed in each conference is this round-robin structure, which will allow the team to get healthy without the risk of elimination for the first week.

  • One team not in quite as strong a situation is the Columbus Blue Jackets, who start a best-of-five series against the Toronto Maple Leafs later today. The Blue Jackets have two young excellent goaltenders of their own, but head coach John Tortorella has decided to go with Joonas Korpisalo in game one. While Elvis Merzlikins may have received more press this season due to it being his first in North America, it was easy to forget that Korpisalo was actually named to the All-Star game before suffering an injury. He posted a .911 save percentage on the season but has a strong history against the Maple Leafs and much more experience at the NHL level.
  • It may not come as much of a surprise, but Braden Holtby will be in net when the Washington Capitals start their own round-robin tomorrow afternoon. Holtby will start over Vitek Vanacek according to Samantha Pell of the Washington Post when the Capitals take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Once Ilya Samsonov was ruled out due to injury the obvious choice was Holtby given his experience, but it is also important to remember that he was far from his dominant self this season. In fact, Holtby posted an .897 save percentage on the season, putting him 52nd among NHL goaltenders who appeared in at least 20 games.

2020 Vezina Trophy Finalists Announced

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The NHL continues to release the finalists for the major regular season awards, this time announcing the nominees for the Vezina Trophy. The award is given to the best goaltender in the NHL and is voted on by the league’s general managers.

The finalists are Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets and Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins.

Vasilevskiy took home the award last season after putting up a .925 save percentage in 53 games, but couldn’t maintain quite the same level this time around. His save percentage dropped to .917, though he led the league in wins for the third consecutive season with 35. The Russian goaltender has had just about as much success as anyone to start his career, recording 159 regular season wins in his first 260 games. Amazingly, that already puts him 118th all-time despite not turning 26 for another week. A three-time Vezina finalist, he’ll likely be in the conversation for a while longer.

Hellebuyck meanwhile is only a little over a year older than Vasilevskiy and has experienced his own prolonged success to start his career. He led the NHL in starts this season with 58, putting the Jets on his back for long stretches when they were trying to patch a defensive corps together with spare parts. His .922 may not lead the league, but his 1,656 saves do as did his six shutouts. Hellebuyck could potentially be a candidate for the Hart Trophy as one of the most valuable players in the league given where the Jets would be without him.

Rask, 33, is an aging veteran compared to the two other finalists, but he is not slowing down in terms of performance. The Bruins netminder has benefited from having a strong backup the last few years and played just 41 games this season, but posted an incredible .929 save percentage in those appearances. After raising his career save percentage to .922, Rask is now third all-time behind only Dominik Hasek and Johnny Bower (among goaltenders with recorded shot totals). He already won the Jennings Trophy as part of the goaltending duo with the lowest goals against average, and took home the Vezina in 2014.

One Trade The Maple Leafs Would Like To Have Back

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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