World Cup Notes: Team USA, Seguin, Olympics
The World Cup of Hockey starts today in Toronto, and Team USA will take on Team Europe in the first game of the revamped tournament. While the American team has one of the strongest teams in their history, head coach John Tortorella has made some interesting decisions going into the opener. As Dan Rosen of NHL.com tweets, the infamous head coach has scratched Kyle Palmieri, Dustin Byfuglien and Cory Schneider for the afternoon matchup.
Byfuglien, part of the team’s original 16 named players, was expected to be a big part of the top pairing on this team and a weapon on the powerplay. As Tom Gulitti adds, Tortorella said just this week that he was excited about the Jets’ blueliner’s big shot. Instead, Erik Johnson will suit up as the team’s sixth defenseman.
- Tyler Seguin, who injured his foot this week in a pre-tournament match, is not expected to miss any training camp, as Mike Leslie of WFAA in Dallas reports. The hairline fracture that the Stars’ forward suffered is not serious enough to warrant him missing much time, and did not come as a surprise to the Dallas medical staff. Seguin was replaced by Ryan O’Reilly on Team Canada’s roster.
- In a new column from Helene Elliott of the LA Times, she examines how any success at the World Cup will give the NHL leverage in any Olympic negotiations down the road. With players and fans getting their international fix from the pre-season tournament, the league is not necessarily obligated to send players to the Winter Games, which usually causes an ugly stoppage mid-season, and prevents the league from hosting their all-star events. With the build up for the tournament being mixed, but overall fairly positive, it seems the league and NHLPA will have a strong bargaining chip to play to try and get a pay structure put in place for any player headed to the Olympics.
Snapshots: Ovechkin, Cleary, World Cup Predictions
If the NHL won’t send players to the 2018 Olympics, it won’t stop Alex Ovechkin from representing Team Russia. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the superstar simply said “I will go there,” and elaborated a bit more on his wording:
“My decision is the same,” Ovechkin said. “So, I don’t know what’s going to happen right now, but we just have to wait what they say and we’ll see. …It’s a situation where you don’t know what’s going to happen. But obviously I said I’m going to play.”
The major hangup over participation is 2018 is insurance costs for players should they play in South Korea. The IOC, according to LeBrun, have expressed hesitancy over covering travel and insurance costs for those playing in the Olympics.
In other hockey news:
- The Detroit Red Wings have offered Dan Cleary a professional tryout tweets Ansar Khan. Cleary spent the season in Grand Rapids, and was not re-signed by the organization. However, this news will certainly rankle many Detroit fans who point to Cleary as one of the many reasons the Red Wings have continued to slide. Cleary had a hand shake deal with general manager Ken Holland to return following the 2013-14 season, a season where his decline began. Since then, he played sparingly and was relegated to the AHL after the emergence of Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou.
- With the World Cup of Hockey beginning its first slate of tournament games today, analysts have started releasing their predictions. NHL.com had a slew of analysts picking their favorites and there were three analysts (Amalie Benjamin, Michael Langr and Dave Stubbs) to reach the championship round. Langr believes that Team USA will win Group A. As for the champions, it was either Team Canada or Team Sweden from the handful of analysts. Puck Daddy’s crew of Greg Wyshynski, Sean Leahy, Josh Cooper and Jen Neale all have Canada being crowned as champions. The runner ups varied from the US (Wyshynski and Neale) to Sweden (Cooper and Leahy). Neale adds that the matchup the NHL desires is USA-Canada, but Sweden–or possibly Team North America, could certainly prevent that.
- Puck Daddy’s writers also conducted a roundtable where they discussed what must happen for the World Cup to be considered a success. Wyshysnki is conflicted because the success of the World Cup–which he calls a negotiating tool against the IOC–may encourage the lack of NHL participation in the Olympics. This is less about national pride, Wyshynski writes, and more about showing the viability of international hockey outside of the Olympics. WCOH gear is selling well and advertisers are aplenty. Josh Cooper writes that North America, USA, and Canada all need to be successful because it was placed in the North America timezone to cement its support. Neale adds that every game needs to be competitive in order to keep the casual fan interested. Ryan Lambert just hopes for more entertainment than an NHL exhibition game, calling that a moral victory for the NHL.
World Cup Notes: Team USA Cannot Afford A Letdown
It’s now or never for Team USA. ESPN’s Scott Burnside writes that Team USA is in an absolute must win today against Team Europe and can’t afford any sort of letdown. While he explains that every team is in the same boat, it’s the construction of the US team that makes a victory today imperative. Pundits and analysts have all sounded off about the hard nosed, tough style the United States wishes to play while wondering if it can stand up against the speedier, skilled teams like Team Canada, Team Sweden, and Team North America. Beating the Czech Republic and Team Europe then, is “imperative” with Canada looming over the Americans. Burnside reports that Team Europe came back strong against Sweden and will hardly be the pushover that many initially thought. Canada, meanwhile, outplayed the United States in both meetings, despite an American victory in the exhibition opener for both squads. Jonathan Quick will start in the net for the US today while forward Justin Abdelkader appears to be the extra forward.
- The New York Post’s Larry Brooks strikes a similar chord, saying that this may be the USA’s best chance to ease the pressure of the tournament with a win over Team Europe. Otherwise, Brooks writes, they make the contest with Canada a do-or-die affair, something the US can ill afford. Brooks also calls the US team one that is hardly the fastest or most skilled and echoing Burnside, notes that it’s all by design. Forward Max Pacioretty calls his American teammates a “lunch pail” group that will “make life difficult” for other teams. Pacioretty should know well, as Brooks writes that the Canadiens forward irritated coach John Tortorella with an early hesitation to play hard nosed hockey by skating around the perimeter. But changes were made and now Pacioretty is one of many American players altering their game to fit the “blue collar” hockey America was designed to play. Though they have snipers in Patrick Kane and Blake Wheeler, Team USA appears ready to live and die with the blueprint of toughness.
Snapshots: Sedins, Gaudreau, Strome, Dvorak
They may turn 36-years-old later this month and certainly they are in the twilight of their tremendous careers, but that doesn’t mean the Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, are thinking about retiring any time soon. Still with two years remaining on the matching deals they have with the Canucks – at an AAV of $7MM – the Sedins are adamant that there will be one more contract in their shared future, according to Mark Spector of Sportsnet. Whether that contract is with the Canucks or not remains to be seen. As Henrik said:
“If they don’t want us there, then we’ve got to make a decision. We’re not going to retire because we don’t want to play for another team.”
The likelihood the twins retire as Canucks likely depends on a couple of factors. First, how effective will they be at age 38 and two, will Vancouver have embraced a full rebuild by that point. Not many players remain particularly effective into their late 30’s but the Sedins have shown to be an exception. Last year, each twin tallied an average of 0.74 points-per-game, which prorates to roughly 60 over an 82-game schedule. For their careers, Henrik has slightly outproduced his brother, 0.83 to 0.82 points-per-game. The Sedins are still producing reasonably close to their career scoring rates.
Still, in two seasons, Henrik could have more than 1,300 NHL games under his belt and Daniel can reach that plateau if he plays virtually game over the next couple of years. That’s a lot of hockey and doesn’t even count postseason or international contests.
It’s also quite possible the Canucks will have little interest in keeping the Sedins beyond the 2017-18 campaign, as Spector points out. Vancouver doesn’t look to be a playoff team this season and many of their better players are also in the later stages of their careers. The club does have some high-end prospects coming – Brock Boeser and Olli Juolevi, for example – but their system isn’t particularly deep in quality talent. It’s likely their top prospects will just be breaking into the league by 2018-19 and while it’s never a bad thing to have veteran mentors the caliber of the Sedins, the organization may simply want to move in another direction by that point.
The Sedins may well be among the most interesting free agents on the 2018 open market.
More from around the NHL:
- Perhaps the top remaining unsigned restricted free agent, Johnny Gaudreau, is still no closer to a resolution of his status, and as Eric Francis reports, the contract situation has been “painful,” for the Flames young star. “Honestly, throughout the whole summer and contract situation it’s been so painful because every day it’s something that’s on my mind.” Fortunately for Gaudreau, the World Cup has provided the Team North America participant with a distraction from the situation. “So this tourney has helped me not worry about that. I can just play hockey, have fun, be part of the team and hang out with teammates. It’s been the easiest part of my summer without the contract situation there.” It would be shocking if a new accord between the two sides wasn’t reached soon after the World Cup. Both sides clearly want to get a deal done; it’s just a matter of closing the remaining gap and finding common ground. At least playing in the World Cup will help keep Gaudreau sharp and ready for the regular season, assuming he misses all or part of training camp.
- John Chayka made a number of moves this summer designed to help the Coyotes get back to the playoffs after a four year absence. However, two players drafted before the league’s youngest GM assumed his position may play critical roles if the team is to qualify for the postseason tournament. Writing for the Coyotes team website, Dave Vest reports that while Chayka is pleased with the overall depth of the team’s prospect pool, expectations are specifically high for 2015 first-round pick Dylan Strome and 2014 second-round choice Christian Dvorak. Strome could position himself to earn one of the team’s top two center positions with a good training camp. In fact, their current depth chart on Roster Resource already lists him as the top center, although he’d likely be best suited playing more protected minutes. Still, Chayka has made it clear to Strome and the other prospects what he expects to see at the team’s prospect camp. “He’s just a real smart, cerebral player who does a lot of good things. It’s not like he has to be hitting the scoresheet every night to make an impact. We want him to play a 200-foot game and look after all the details that we know he learned from last year’s camp. We’re looking for consistency. It’s one thing to have one good game but you have to come in each day and follow that up consistently. For Dylan, and for all of our players, it’s a matter of making an impact in the game consistently. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Snapshots: Robidas, Bartkowski, Zuccarello
It appears the playing career of defenseman Stephane Robidas is over but that doesn’t mean he’s leaving the sport of hockey altogether, according to Lance Hornby in the Toronto Sun. The veteran of 15 NHL seasons injured his leg during training camp last year and is still unable to resume any hockey-related activities. But while he can’t suit up for the Maple Leafs, Robidas will still be able to contribute to the organization in his new role as a consultant.
Robidas, in the final year of a three-year 35+ deal with an AAV of $3MM, says he will be based in Montreal and work with the Toronto Marlies and scout some NCAA games. While not technically retiring – he will be placed on IR by the team thus negating his cap charge – Robidas concludes his NHL career with 258 point and 713 penalty minutes in 937 NHL games.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Ottawa Senators announced via the team’s website that they have signed defenseman Matt Bartkowski to a PTO agreement. Bartkowski, who has appeared in parts of six NHL campaigns, five with the Bruins, saw action in a career-high 80 games last season with Vancouver. He tallied a career-best six goals – ironically the first goals of his NHL career – and tied his career-high with 18 points. Bartkowski, a left defender, will likely compete with Mark Borowiecki for a spot on the third pair. Borowiecki, coming off he season in which he netted just two points and averaged just 14:38 of ice time, could be vulnerable to a challenge for his job.
- Due to cap restrictions and the desire to get younger, the New York Rangers have had to make some difficult roster decisions the last two summers. Among them were the decisions to deal winger Carl Hagelin and pivot Derick Brassard in back-to-back offseasons. Those trades were particularly tough on the team’s leading scorer in 2015-16, Mats Zuccarello, who saw both of his best friends shipped off to other organizations. While he understands that’s the nature of the business, he did have some advice for his teammates: “Don’t be friends with me. Or else you might be traded,” as Larry Brooks of the New York Post writes. All kidding aside, Zuccarello already feels in mid-season form due to his participation in both the Olympic qualifying tournament and the World Cup of Hockey. As Brooks notes, Zuccarello has already seen action in 10 games, helping Norway qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics and skating with Team Europe in the World Cup. He is also looking forward to the new NHL season getting started and is excited by what management has done this summer.
Snapshots: Fleury, McDavid, Oilers Training Camp Battles
If he had it his way, Marc-Andre Fleury would spend the rest of his career in Pittsburgh.
The first overall pick in 2003 has been with the Penguins his whole career, winning two Stanley Cups. However, there are two major roadblocks to Fleury’s wish: next summer’s expansion draft and teammate/ heir apparent Matt Murray.
The 31-year-old Fleury had an unbelievable season in 2015-16, winning 35 games and posting a 0.921 SV%. Unfortunately, he suffered a concussion towards the end of the season, which allowed Murray to take over the starters role on his way to the Penguins’ Stanley Cup victory.
In an interview with Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Fleury said both he and Murray give the Penguins a chance to win games, and “bottom line, that’s what matters. It doesn’t matter who’s in the net.”
Fleury said he met with management after last season and knows where he stands.
When asked if he would request a trade to get more starts, Fleury was emphatic, “No. No. No. I’ve always said this is like my home. I wish I could play here my whole career.”
With next summer’s expansion draft looming, the Penguins will only be able to protect one goaltender. It seems unlikely they would chose Fleury at the expense of the 22-year-old Murray. Fleury has a no-move clause and will need to be protected by his team, unless he chooses to waive it. The Penguins may ask him to move before then, to avoid losing him for nothing, but Fleury isn’t thinking about that, telling Bombulie he plans on going with the flow, and that he’ll “see what happens”
In other news from around the hockey world:
- Team North America coach Todd McLellan isn’t worried about Connor McDavid going pointless in the World Cup preliminaries. According to TSN’s Frank Seravelli, McLellan thinks McDavid needs to be more selfish, comparing it to McDavid’s first three games in the NHL, where he was “asking for permission” while he was feeling out the style of play.
- Back in Edmonton, the Oilers expect college free agent Drake Caggiula to contend for a forward position to start the season, according to Bob McKenzie (via Chris Nichols). The smaller Caggiula models his game after Bruins star Brad Marchand: pesky, fast, and skilled.
- The Edmonton Journal’s David Staples has a new article on Oilers camp invite Kris Versteeg. Staples praised Versteeg as “the kind [of player] the team needs and has sorely lacked”, calling him an “excellent bet”. Versteeg has played with Milan Lucic, trained with Brandon Davidson, and played for GM Peter Chiarelli. He cited McDavid, Rogers Place, and playing close to home as reasons for picking the Oilers over other teams who offered PTOs.
Snapshots: Steen, Ristolainen, Sobotka, Halak, Bobrovsky
Although he withdrew from the World Cup of Hockey last month, Blues forward Alex Steen is hoping he will be ready to suit up for St. Louis in their season opener on October 12th, reports Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Steen stops short of saying he’ll definitely be ready to play against Chicago on opening night but hopes to be ready by then or shortly thereafter:
“(The opener) seems like a realistic target, but we’ll see how it reacts. I haven’t done much. These (practice) skates, there’s not a lot of contact, so we’ll see once we get a little bit of contact. But I think for sure I see myself playing in October.”
Although he won’t be able to play for his native Sweden in the tournament, Steen noted that the goal of being able to play there actually forced him to accelerate his rehab process from his shoulder surgery back in early June. Without doing so, the chances of him being available to start the season would have been lower.
Steen also denied the speculation that he has given the team an ultimatum to re-sign him before the end of the preseason:
“I don’t know where that surfaced, that’s not something that’s come from me. I want to be in St. Louis and the organization knows that. I’m sure we’ll get to it when we get to it, so we’re not stressed about it. Right now, the whole focus has been on the shoulder, getting that ready and getting the group back together again.”
Steen is entering the final year of his contract, one that carries a cap hit of $5.8MM and a salary of $6.5MM. He has been in St. Louis since late 2008 when he was acquired from Toronto along with defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo in exchange for right winger Lee Stempniak.
Elsewhere around the league:
- Buffalo blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen isn’t yet worried that he doesn’t have a new deal with the Sabres, writes Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. Ristolainen is coming off his entry-level pact which carried a guaranteed salary of just $925K. He was one of the bigger bargains on the back end last season, one where he had a career high 41 points in 82 games. Harrington suggests that Ristolainen, who will suit up for Team Finland at the World Cup of Hockey, is seeking a five or six year deal which would cover his remaining restricted free agent years.
- There is still no deal in place yet to officially allow Vladimir Sobotka to return to St. Louis for the upcoming season, notes ESPN’s Joe MacDonald. The Blues and his KHL team Avangard Omsk as well as his agent are expected to talk during the World Cup to try to come to a resolution. Sobotka has one year on his deal remaining in Russia but also owes St. Louis one year with a salary of $2.725MM, an arbitration award from back in July of 2014.
- New York Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak has earned the #1 job for Team Europe at the World Cup, head coach Ralph Krueger announced. He beat out Islanders teammate Thomas Greiss and Washington’s Phillip Grubauer for the job. Team Europe plays their first game of the tournament on Saturday afternoon against Team USA.
- Columbus Blue Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky will start Team Russia’s first game on Sunday afternoon, reports NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika. He beat out Colorado’s Semyon Varlamov and Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy for the start in the opener. Head coach Oleg Znarok wouldn’t say who he plans to start beyond that and noted that no decisions have been made on what their lineup against Sweden will be.
2016 World Cup Of Hockey: Final Rosters
The World Cup of Hockey makes it’s triumphant return this Saturday in what should be a competitive and exciting tournament and a great way to kick off the hockey season. The first World Cup since 2004, the tournament will take place in Toronto, Ontario at the Air Canada Centre, unlike its predecessors which featured many venues. The host nation of Canada is one of eight competing teams, which also include the United States, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Team Europe (composed of players from all other European countries), and Team North America (composed of Canadian and American skaters under the age of 24). The tournament will have two groups of teams competing in a round robin format, with two teams advancing to a semi-final knockout round, followed by a best-of-three final series. The groups are divided up as follows:
Group A – Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Europe, Team U.S.A
Group B – Team Finland, Team North America, Team Russia, Team Sweden
With the pre-tournament wrapping up and the schedule set, the World Cup is about to get underway. Pending any unexpected, last-minute changes, below are the final rosters for each team:
Canada (A)
G Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks
G Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
G Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
D Jay Bouwmeester, St. Louis Blues
D Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks
D Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
D Jake Muzzin, Los Angeles Kings
D Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
D Marc-Edouard Vlasic, San Jose Sharks
D Shea Weber (A), Montreal Canadiens
F Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
F Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks
F Sidney Crosby (C), Pittsburgh Penguins
F Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche
F Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
F Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers
F Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
F Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks
F Ryan O’Reilly, Buffalo Sabres
F Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning
F John Tavares, New York Islanders
F Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks
F Jonathan Toews (A), Chicago Blackhawks
2016 World Cup Of Hockey: Schedule
The World Cup of Hockey makes it’s triumphant return this Saturday in what should be a competitive and exciting tournament and a great way to kick off the hockey season. The first World Cup since 2004, the tournament will take place in Toronto, Ontario at the Air Canada Centre, unlike its predecessors which featured many venues. The host nation of Canada is one of eight competing teams, which also include the United States, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Team Europe (composed of players from all other European countries), and Team North America (composed of Canadian and American skaters under the age of 24). The tournament will have two groups of teams competing in a round robin format, with two teams advancing to a semi-final knockout round, followed by a best-of-three final series. The groups are divided up as follows:
Group A – Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Europe, Team U.S.A
Group B – Team Finland, Team North America, Team Russia, Team Sweden
With the pre-tournament wrapping up and final rosters set, the World Cup is about to get underway. Below is the schedule for the tournament:
Group Stage (Round Robin)
Saturday, September 17th
Group A: United States at Europe (3:30pm EST)
Group A: Czech Republic at Canada (8pm EST)
Sunday, September 18th
Group B: Sweden at Russia (3pm EST)
Group B: North America at Finland (8pm EST)
Monday, September 19th
Group A: Europe at Czech Republic (3pm EST)
Group B: Russia at North America (8pm EST)
Tuesday, September 20th
Group B: Finland at Sweden (3pm EST)
Group A: Canada at United States (8pm EST)
Wednesday, September 21st
Group B: North America at Sweden (3pm EST)
Group A: Europe at Canada (8pm EST)
Thursday, September 22nd
Group B: Finland at Russia (3pm EST)
Group A: United States at Czech Republic (8pm EST)
Semi-Final Round
Saturday, September 24th
Group B 2nd-place at Group A winner (7pm EST)
Sunday, September 25th
Group A 2nd-place at Group B winner (1pm EST)
Final Round
Tuesday, September 27th
Game One (8pm EST)
Thursday, September 29th
Game Two (8pm EST)
Saturday, October 1st
Game Three* (7pm EST)
*if neccessary
Seguin Expected To Miss World Cup With Injury
UPDATE (8:20pm CT): Buffalo Sabres forward Ryan O’Reilly will replace Seguin on Team Canada, the league announced in a press release tonight. Although O’Reilly was not considered one of the most likely replacement candidates (the Hall omission continues to puzzle many), he brings a strong all-around game and two-way ability, adding some versatility and defensive presence to the Canadian forward corp. Seguin has officially been ruled out of the World Cup.
It seems as though another Team Canada forward has fallen victim to the injury bug. Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos first reported that Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin sustained an injury during the pre-tournament for the World Cup of Hockey and is now likely to miss the actual event. Kypreos added that the injury, believed to be concerning his right knee, is not deemed to be serious. However, Seguin likely needs a week or more to recover, which is time that Team Canada does not have. They are likely to leave Seguin off of the roster, meaning he will miss the entirety of the World Cup. Elliotte Friedman has corroborated the story, and reports that an official announcement is expected tomorrow.
This injury comes after fellow Team Canada forward, Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter, was hurt while training for the World Cup. As they did when Carter went down and was replaced by Corey Perry, it seems likely that Canada will add another winger to a center-heavy roster. The team has 24 hours to make an addition before the tournament officially begins. The top candidate is likely to be the newest New Jersey Devil, Taylor Hall, who would be a fitting replacement for Seguin, as the top two 2010 draft picks will forever have their careers compared to one another. Depth is hardly an issue for the Canadian side though, and there are any number of options should they choose to add another body to the roster.
Seguin meanwhile will look toward getting healthy for the start of the NHL season. With line mate and fellow NHL star Jamie Benn also on the shelf, recovering from injury, the Stars hope that the pair can rest up and be ready for puck drop on the 2016-17 campaign. The team is hopeful that Benn will be at 100% by game time, and Seguin’s injury is not considered serious, so he too is likely to be ready for action when the new season begins next month.