Snapshots: Chara, Hurricanes, Jagr
Even at the age of 40, Zdeno Chara figures to be a big (pardon the pun) part of the Boston Bruins’ defense this season. While he’s lost a step and isn’t as punishing in his own end, his experience and size still allows him to be a capable player at both ends. He registered 29 points last season, and feels like he can continue even past the upcoming year. Talking to Joe Haggerty of CSNNE, Chara expressed his want to stay in Boston.
I definitely want to play beyond this season. It’s really hard to put a number on it. Some people do and some people don’t. I just obviously want to keep playing beyond this season. I love this game too much. I have made no secrets about it. I want to stay here [in Boston] and continue to play.
As he enters the third decade of his playing career, Chara is going to be able to start passing on some of the responsibility to younger Bruins defenders like Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo. Along with Chara, Torey Krug and the rest of the veteran options in Boston, the youngsters could make this one of the most dependable groups in the NHL. They’ll need it if they want to get back to the playoffs and make a run for the Stanley Cup before Chara finishes his career.
- Carolina Hurricanes’ GM Ron Francis spoke with media today including Chip Alexander of the News & Observer, dropping some interesting tidbits about the team’s next few weeks. Francis says that there will be no players signed to professional tryouts, and that the team will indeed name a captain after training camp is over. The Hurricanes played last season without a captain, and haven’t had one since they traded Eric Staal at the 2016 deadline. Eric’s younger brother Jordan Staal is a candidate, but could so are several of the defensemen including Justin Faulk. An interesting option might be giving it to recently returned forward Justin Williams, who has raised the Stanley Cup three times including one with the Canes in 2006.
- Jaromir Jagr once again has said that he could start the season in Europe and play in the Olympics for the Czech Republic, something that would obviously add a lot of intrigue to the Winter Games. The US and Canada will be struggling to find high caliber players while teams like Russia and the Czech Republic could ice Hall of Fame talent. While that could result in a quick defeat, it also will allow us to see college and AHL-level players against some of the best in the world.
Snapshots: Rasmussen, Avalanche, Werbik
Detroit’s decision to select Michael Rasmussen with the ninth overall selection back in June over Gabriel Vilardi raised some eyebrows. However, a big part of the decision to do so stemmed from the fact that Rasmussen spent most of last year at center (a position they were targeting) while Vilardi was primarily a winger, Red Wings Assistant to the GM Kris Draper told Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required). Vilardi wound up going two spots later to the Kings.
While many teams will say they’ll simply look for the best player available, there’s a good case to make that the Red Wings needed a center back at the draft. Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou have both played the position in the past but have had more success in the NHL on the wing which has resulted in them not having a lot of prospect depth down the middle. Although he has pro size already, Rasmussen is likely still a couple of years away from seeing action in Detroit but should complement a good group of young wingers when he does make it.
More notes from around the game:
- After mostly ignoring the college ranks, the Avalanche have been a lot more active in the NCAA over the past couple of years, BSN Denver’s Cole Hamilton details. Over the past two drafts, they’ve picked college-bound players four times in the first two rounds including Tyson Jost and Cale Makar as well as signing a pair of college free agents last month. Going this route often requires more patience though as many of those players often wait longer to turn pro than their counterparts in junior (although Jost is an exception). Accordingly, if that continues in the years to come, Colorado’s rebuilding timeline may wind up being extended a bit longer.
- The Rangers have invited Czech prospect center Nicolas Werbik to their upcoming rookie camp, his former Czech team in Zlin announced. Werbik spent last season with Youngstown of the USHL, collecting 39 points (18-21-39) in 54 games after spending the previous year with Rimouski of the QMJHL. Werbik and New York first rounder Filip Chytil both played in the Zlin U-18 program back in 2014-15.
Snapshots: Duchene, Malone, Vanek, Kennedy
As the calendar has turned to September, TSN’s Darren Dreger suggested to WGR 550 in Buffalo (audio link) that there may be some heat on Avalanche GM Joe Sakic to get something done regarding Matt Duchene’s situation over the next two weeks. Doing so would avoid any concerns about Duchene having to report to training camp with the team which could make for an awkward situation given how long this process has dragged out.
Dreger noted that he hasn’t heard any suggestions that Duchene or his agent Pat Brisson have told Sakic that he wouldn’t report to Avalanche training camp if he isn’t dealt by then. However, that could change over the next couple of weeks if there is no traction made on a trade by then if Duchene feels that could help to expedite the process.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- Ryan Malone’s PTO deal with the Wild came as somewhat of a surprise considering he hasn’t played professionally since 2014-15. However, it doesn’t appear as if the focus is on landing a spot with Minnesota but rather an AHL deal in the hopes of earning an Olympic spot. Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune notes that Malone has been in contact with USA Hockey officials about that in recent days and that Pittsburgh and New Jersey had also expressed an interest in inking him to a minor league deal.
- Thomas Vanek’s one-year, $2MM contract with the Canucks does not contain any no-trade protection, reports Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston (Twitter link). With many expecting Vancouver to be on the outside looking in at a playoff position, there’s a good chance that he could be on the move once again by the trade deadline. At the deadline last season, Detroit landed a third round pick and defenseman Dylan McIlrath from Florida in exchange for Vanek.
- After spending part of last season with AHL Rochester, winger Tim Kennedy is looking for a new place to play. He told Bill Hoppe of the Buffalo Hockey Beat that he was hoping to remain in Buffalo’s organization but that the removal of Tim Murray as GM ended that idea. Kennedy added that he is in talks with three different teams about a contract for the upcoming season.
Snapshots: Pastrnak, Dahlen, Patrick
David Pastrnak leads a group of intriguing restricted free agents into September with no contract, and it doesn’t sound like much progress has been made between his camp and the Boston Bruins of late. Joe McDonald of the Boston Sports Journal reports that the team hasn’t even gotten a response on their $6MM offer for either six or seven years.
Agent J.P. Barry is set to meet with the Bruins on September 1st, meaning a contract could follow in short order, but there does seem to still be a gap between the two sides. After a huge breakout by Pastrnak last season, handing an $8MM salary out still may be a bit worrisome for the Boston front office.
- Jonathan Dahlen, the Vancouver Canucks prospect acquired from Ottawa in last season’s Alex Burrows deal, still hasn’t decided on a European team to play for this season, according to Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130. Though Dahlen will be attending the Canucks’ rookie camp in Penticton, it doesn’t seem like he’s destined for the Utica Comets this season after all. Instead, he’ll likely play in the SHL, a step up after dominating Sweden’s second-league last season.
- In what may be just a bit of bluster from the GM in order to motivate a young player, Ron Hextall of the Flyers told Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer that Nolan Patrick will have to earn his way onto the team and that he’s perfectly fine with sending him back to the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL. It’s unlikely that Patrick doesn’t crack the squad, but Hextall was clear that they will do whatever they think is right for the long-term development of their prized center. Patrick’s game is arguably more ready for the NHL than fellow top prospect Nico Hischier, and he should be in the opening lineup for the Flyers in game one.
Snapshots: Ovechkin, Air Canada Centre, Predators
Alex Ovechkin is coming off another disappointing playoff exit at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and earlier this offseason GM Brian MacLellan said that his superstar forward would need to train differently this offseason to make sure the speed of the game didn’t leave him behind. Ovechkin scored fewer than 50 goals in a full season for the first time since 2011-12, posting just 33 markers all year. It seems he’s taken it to heart, as a report from Tom Gulitti of NHL.com has Ovechkin showing up to optional workouts in Washington markedly thinner.
Ovechkin played last season at 239, but teammates are saying he’s definitely leaner this year which hopefully will translate into more success on the ice. It’s important to note that even though Ovechkin’s goal total dropped, he still posted 69 points due to a big jump in assists. The Capitals will begin the season on Thursday, October 5th when they take on the Ottawa Senators.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have reached a landmark agreement with Scotiabank for the naming rights to their arena. According to Rick Westhead of TSN the bank will pay $800MM (CAD) for the 20-year agreement that will change the name from the Air Canada Centre to Scotiabank Arena on July 1, 2018. The deal is the biggest naming sponsorship in North American sports history, and will make the incredibly wealthy Maple Leafs franchise worth even more. It marks the second NHL building named after the Canadian bank, following Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome. The Ottawa Senators’ Scotiabank Place was renamed the Canadian Tire Centre in 2013.
- Any fans who bought a Viktor Arvidsson jersey during his breakout season last year will be disappointed today, as the team announced that he’ll be changing to #33 for next season. Frederick Gaudreau and Vladislav Kamenev will also change, claiming #89 and #91 respectively. Kamanev’s change is the most interesting, after he played just two games with the Predators last season. Though he was expected to press for a roster spot after another big AHL season, this actually may be more evidence that he’ll be given a chance with the NHL club at some point this year.
Snapshots: Ratelle, Butcher, Lehner
After the Philadelphia Flyers announced this morning that Eric Lindros would see his number retired to the rafters this season, the New York Rangers are also making plans to honor one of their greatest players. Jean Ratelle‘s #19 will be retired in February, joining Ed Giacomin (#1), Brian Leetch (#2), Harry Howell (#3), Rod Gilbert (#7), Adam Graves and Andy Bathgate (#9), Mark Messier (#11), and Mike Richter (#35) in the rafters of Madison Square Garden.
Ratelle played 16 seasons for the Rangers during his career, scoring 817 points in 862 games for the franchise. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985 and has been waiting a long time to see his number retired in New York. Jesper Fast, who wore the number last season, will have to change for 2017-18. The ceremony is scheduled for February 25th, before a game against the Detroit Red Wings that will be deemed “Jean Ratelle Night.”
- Will Butcher held a conference call with reporters today to explain why he chose the New Jersey Devils, and spoke mostly about his new head coach John Hynes and the effect he had even in just a short meeting. Butcher explained that his final four teams were indeed Vegas, Los Angeles, Buffalo and New Jersey, before eventually settling on the Devils. Butcher could step right into an NHL role in New Jersey, and he has the confidence if nothing else; he compared himself to Duncan Keith in terms of style of play.
- Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat has a great piece on the thought process of Robin Lehner in this summer’s contract negotiations with the Sabres, writing that Lehner wanted a long-term deal even though his agents disagreed. Even though his representatives explained that with a one-year deal he could set himself up for a big raise in what will be his final summer of restricted free agency, Lehner wanted to sign long-term in Buffalo. Hoppe writes that former Sabres GM Tim Murray may have been open to that, but the new regime wasn’t. Lehner has had extreme ups and downs since coming to Buffalo, but clearly has the talent to be one of the very best goaltenders in the league. In a year where almost everything went wrong for the Sabres, Lehner made a career-high 58 starts and maintained an excellent .920 save percentage. Next summer any long-term contract will be buying out almost exclusively UFA seasons, and will push much higher than the $4MM salary he’ll earn this season.
Snapshots: McClement, Sabres, Garteig, Campbell
As part of their quest to replenish their center depth following the departures of Nick Bonino and Matt Cullen via free agency, the Penguins announced that they have brought in veteran Jay McClement on a professional tryout deal.
McClement has spent the past three seasons with Carolina but has seen his role dip in recent years. In 2016-17, he collected just five goals and three assists in 65 games while his 48.2% success rate at the faceoff dot was well below the 55% marks he put up the previous two seasons. McClement will likely battle Carter Rowney for a spot on Pittsburgh’s fourth line but the Penguins will undoubtedly continue their search for someone to play behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on their third trio.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- The Sabres had expressed interest in college free agent center Blaine Byron, notes Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. However, Byron ultimately chose to take a minor league deal with Florida in the hopes of earning a spot on Canada’s Olympic team. Had he signed a two-way NHL pact, he wouldn’t have been eligible. Buffalo only has 43 committed contracts out of the limit of 50 at the moment so it’s not surprising to see them active in this segment of free agency.
- After spending last season on an entry-level deal with Vancouver, the Canucks have brought back goalie Michael Garteig on a minor league deal, their affiliate in Utica announced. Garteig wasn’t able to build on his strong numbers over four years with Quinnipiac in the NCAA and spent the bulk of last season with ECHL Alaska, posting a 3.11 GAA and a .906 SV% over 22 appearances.
- The Red Wings have retained some depth at the minor league level as their farm team in Grand Rapids announced the re-signing of center Colin Campbell to a two-year deal. He signed an entry-level deal back with Detroit back in 2014 out of college but has been kept around on minor league deals since that ELC expired a year later. Last season, he had a career best 20 points in 56 games.
Snapshots: Vanek, Duchene, Kerfoot, Tolvanen
We saw Drew Stafford go off the board earlier today in a late-summer free agent signing, and now Darren Dreger of TSN told The Instigators on WGR 550 in Buffalo that he believes the Detroit Red Wings still have interest in bringing back Thomas Vanek.
Vanek’s name is at the top of the page. I think that Detroit legitimately does have interest in Vanek. Between Florida and the Red Wings he scored what, 17 goals last year? I think they’d like to add him, but at what cost—they don’t have a lot of cap space.
We’ve discussed many times the cap trouble that the Red Wings are in as they start their rebuild, but there remains this underlying hope that the team can get back to the playoffs this year. Vanek could legitimately help that cause, and be a potential trade deadline flip should the Red Wings fall out of it again. The team would likely need to make a subsequent move in order to fit him in.
- Dreger also speaks on the potential of a Matt Duchene trade, saying that the Avalanche still want a top young defenseman in return. Dreger has said in the past that it would be awkward for Duchene and Colorado to start the season together, but makes it clear that the forward is a professional and would not make a public show of his frustration. Nashville and Montreal are mentioned as possible destinations, but not as anything more than speculation from the insider.
- CapFriendly sorted out the details on Alex Kerfoot‘s entry-level contract with the Colorado Avalanche, reporting that it will be for the maximum $925K each season (salary+signing bonuses) while it also carries $212.5K in performance bonuses. With Kerfoot likely to jump right to the NHL, many of the bonuses will be in his reach, which could cause his cap hit to creep over $1MM.
- Eeli Tolvanen got off to a great start with his KHL team, and the Nashville Predators’ prospect spoke about where his future lies as he continues to develop. Tolvanen was denied admission to Boston College just before the draft, likely causing him to fall to the Predators at 30th-overall. Tolvanen says that Boston College told him he could join the university after Christmas, but he’s now dedicated to Jokerit where he’s playing against other professionals. Tolvanen has one of the most remarkable wrist shot releases in this year’s draft class, but he won’t compare himself to the best just yet: “When I was young, I dreamt about shooting like [Alex] Ovechkin. Hope that one day I can be at his level.”
Snapshots: Demers, Upshall, McDavid
Various players were in Toronto today for the BioSteel Camp, which gave savvy media members a chance to talk to them individually and away from the normal post-game scrum. One of them, Luke Fox of Sportsnet, caught up with Florida Panthers defenseman Jason Demers and asked about the report from earlier this summer that he blocked a trade to the Vancouver Canucks. Demers definitely didn’t deny the report, saying that Pierre LeBrun of TSN has “got his sources.”
Regardless, Demers is still playing in Florida this season and is getting ready to try and bounce back from what was a disappointing year. The right-handed defenseman was one of the best two-way options on the open market in 2016 when the Panthers snatched him up for five years and $22.5MM but scored just 28 points and wasn’t as effective in his own end. It will be interesting to see if he becomes available once again if the Panthers get off to a bad start, or if the right deal comes along to pry him out of Florida. His no-trade clause covers just eight teams around the league.
- Scottie Upshall is waiting for another NHL opportunity after scoring 18 points last season for the St. Louis Blues, and he told John Matisz of Postmedia that he already has offers from the KHL and Europe in hand. Upshall, like James Wisniewski earlier today, still believes he can help an NHL team, but is also excited about the possibility of playing in the Olympics should he be playing in a European league come February. Upshall never did reach the high potential he showed to be selected sixth overall, but has been a solid contributor and fan favorite for nearly 700 games. Only 33-years old, he could be in for a professional tryout like in 2015 when he ended up signing with the Blues on October 5th.
- Of course, no media day would be complete without talking to the reigning league MVP Connor McDavid, and Kristen Shilton of TSN asked him several questions at the BioSteel camp. When asked about being called the best player in the league, McDavid immediately deflected the praise to Sidney Crosby, saying that “at the end of the day everyone knows who the best player in the league is, and it’s not me.” Many fans would disagree with that, but McDavid went on to say that he wants to work on the things that make Crosby so dangerous, namely scoring from in tight and on deflections. Edmonton Oilers fans will be happy to hear that the $100MM contract he signed hasn’t made McDavid rest on his laurels, and that he’s working to come back even stronger next season.
Snapshots: Jagr, Keenan, Team USA
Jaromir Jagr remains unsigned now deep into August, and though the second all-time leading NHL scorer wants to play again this year there hasn’t been a ton of interest just yet. Elliotte Friedman joined NHL Network yesterday and said that a few teams have reached out, including the Calgary Flames. The Flames are led by a former Jagr coach in Glen Gulutzan, but nothing sounds imminent with any team so far.
Jagr has joked about playing for his own Czech club to start the year, and that would allow him to play in the Olympics. The Czech Republic have several players in this situation, but could see some late-summer signings rob them of Olympic talent.
- Kunlun Red Star of the KHL have fired their General Manager just a few months after installing him in March, and have given the reins to Mike Keenan who will remain on as head coach as well. Keenan is a legendary NHL and KHL coach who made big waves after going to China, and will now have full control of the organization.
- Andy Strickland of Fox Sports reports that USA Hockey is considering Troy Terry, Jordan Greenway, Ryan Donato and Adam Fox for their Olympic team, which comes as little surprise. The quartet of college players are all outstanding options that could likely find great success on the international circuit. Greenway already represented the US at the recent World Championships, while Donato, Fox and Terry were among the best college players in the country last season.