Snapshots: GM Report Cards, Rangers, Nashville’s Defense
Hockey Graphs takes an in-depth look at the 31 general managers in the NHL (including Vegas and those who were recently let go–Dean Lombardi and Tim Murray) using a variety of different metrics. Leading the pack is Nashville’s Dave Poile, while the Canucks’ Jim Benning rounds out the list at number thirty-one. It’s a list that relies heavily on advanced metrics and other measurements, staying in line with Hockey Graph’s dedication to taking the emotion out of hockey analysis and instead, using the quantitative side (with a smattering of qualitative analysis) to create the list. Part one of the article helps make sense of how they came up with their rankings while giving a background to the metrics used.
- Newsday’s Steve Zipay reports that the Rangers aren’t looking too far ahead as they try to even up their series against Ottawa tomorrow night. After drubbing the Sens 4-1, the Rangers have an advantage as Bobby Ryan and Zack Smith are both injured, and the Sens will have to “alter” lines. Several Rangers were adamant that while falling into a 3-1 hole would be difficult to overcome, netminder Henrik Lundqvist said they must take it one game at a time. Zipay adds that though Rick Nash didn’t practice, he will absolutely be playing in Game 4.
- ESPN’s Chuck Gormley writes that its the Nashville blueline is wreaking havoc through these playoffs, pacing the Preds’ strong play and making a case for the organization’s first Stanley Cup. The team’s defenseman has eight goals and fourteen assists in just eight games, and according to Gormley, it’s looking more and more like the trade for P.K. Subban will tilt heavily in Nashville’s favor as the victor of the deal. Gormley highlights each player on the blueline, and writing that should the Predators continue on the path they are, it could be an epic matchup in the next round should Edmonton continue its ascent through the playoffs.
Snapshots: Nightingale, Bass, Schmaltz
The Detroit Red Wings have hired Adam Nightingale as their new assistant video coach, the same role that he held this season with the Buffalo Sabres. Nightingale is currently working with Jeff Blashill at the World Championships for Team USA, likely getting some familiarity before the beginning of next season.
Nightingale joins Blashill as another Michigan native to work in the coaching staff, and previously spent time coaching and playing at Michigan State. The team release doesn’t mention Dave Noel-Bernier who held the video coach position last season for the Red Wings, but he has returned to the University of Nebraska-Omaha as an assistant coach.
- The Nashville Predators have recalled Cody Bass from the Milwaukee Admirals in an interesting move, seeing as he underwent surgery in January that was expected to keep him out the rest of the season. Perhaps Bass has recovered enough for a chance to get into the lineup to add some toughness at some point, but it’s much more likely he’ll just practice with the team and continue to work towards a role next season. The 30-year old is a journeyman enforcer that has more penalty minutes (107) than NHL games (75) in his career and has scored just five points.
- The St. Louis Blues have made a move of their own, sending Jordan Schmaltz back to the Chicago Wolves for their series opener against the Grand Rapids Griffins tonight. Schmaltz is obviously the Blues preferred insurance policy on defense, but want him to stay sharp and help the Wolves in their Calder Cup run. He’s been bounced up and down between AHL game days to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman in morning skates.
Snapshots: KHL, Surgeries, Bjork
Several pieces of news out of the KHL today, including the signing of a three-year contract for Nikita Tryamkin with Yekaterinburg. The news that Tryamkin had left the Vancouver Canucks has been out for a while, but now we know how long the team will have to wait until they get a chance to bring him back to the NHL. The Canucks will hold his rights until 2021-22 season since they plan to qualify him this offseason, meaning that perhaps a reunion is possible after this three-year deal expires in 2020.
Viktor Antipin has officially terminated his deal, meaning he’s allowed to sign with the Buffalo Sabres (or anyone else) as soon as he wishes. Antipin’s teammate and former NHLer Alexander Semin will not be offered a new contract by Magnitogorsk, despite scoring 30 points this season. Semin could potentially return to the NHL should someone want to take a chance on the former 40-goal man, though at 33 his most effective years are likely behind him.
- SKA St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow were involved in a trade, swapping the rights to Nail Yakupov and Nikita Kucherov for those of Marcus Johansson and David Musil. While Kucherov and Johansson are both under contract and thus unable to be wooed by the KHL, both Yakupov and Musil are restricted free agents this summer. They could theoretically leave for greener pastures, as neither have been able to make much of an impact at the NHL level recently (or ever, in Musil’s case).
- The Minnesota Wild have announced that both Marco Scandella and Christian Folin have undergone surgery to repair hip and shoulder injuries respectively. Both are expected to be ready for training camp, though it obviously sets some of their offseason work back.
- Joe Haggerty of CSNNE reports that NCAA prospect Anders Bjork has told the Bruins he’ll make a decision on turning pro after the World Championships. Bjork is currently playing with Team USA at the tournament, which starts on May 5th. The 20-year old fifth-round pick blew up at Notre Dame this year, and Boston has made it clear that they want him to turn pro this summer instead of returning for his senior season. If he were to return, he’d be just a few months away from free agency when he graduated with most of the league ready to put his name on a contract.
Snapshots: Sabres, Madden, Stephens
The Buffalo Sabres interview list is up to six names now, after an Associated Press report from John Wawrow. Jason Botterill (PIT), Bill Guerin (PIT), Bill Zito (CBJ), Paul Fenton (NSH), Tom Fitzgerald (NJD), and Mike Futa (LAK) have all sat down with the Sabres leadership though a decision still hasn’t been made.
While Terry Pegula deals with his latest front office firing—this time of Doug Whaley of the Buffalo Bills—he says the Buffalo brain trust is close to making a final decision for the Sabres. One would expect the Sabres to put someone in place before the final decisions are made on the expansion draft protection lists, though they’ve already announced that Jeff Crisp will handle the entry draft. It is interesting to note that despite the expected interest, Julien BriseBois (Tampa Bay) and Norm Maciver (Chicago) don’t appear to have interviewed yet for the position.
- Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch confirms the report about Zito, and adds that AHL coach John Madden is a candidate to join Gerard Gallant behind the bench in Vegas next season. Madden was an assistant coach with Gallant in Florida for two seasons, before taking the job left vacant with the Cleveland Monsters by Jared Bednar when he left for Colorado. Gallant recently said that he’d have his assistants chosen and hired within the next month or so.
- The Washington Capitals have recalled Chandler Stephenson once again after allowing him to play the weekend back-to-back for the Hershey Bears. The AHL team ended up needing both games to eliminate the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and move on to their next matchup with the Providence Bruins, even getting a Stephenson assist on the opening goal Sunday. He’ll serve as insurance for the Capitals this week, as Hershey doesn’t open the next series until Saturday evening.
Snapshots: Holtby, Ritchie, Vrana
Washington’s Braden Holtby will get the start for Game 3 in Pittsburgh. He was yanked after surrendering 3 goals on just 14 shots through 2 periods. Philipp Grubauer didn’t fare much better, however, as he let in 2 of 9 himself in the final period. The decision to pull the reigning Vezina trophy winner was maligned following the game by commentators, such as the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg who believed the move was “a sign of panic”. Holtby has struggled this post-season, not looking particularly strong in the first series against Toronto. His .911 save percentage these playoffs is certainly respectable but also easily his career low. It’s difficult to believe that his massive workload over the course of the season isn’t playing a factor in his drop-off in play. The netminder played an absurd 63 games this past season, which is difficult to defend from a coaching standpoint. His backup in Grubauer performed well above expectations, helping the duo capture the Jennings trophy. Additionally, the Capitals looked to be a lock for the post-season well before April, so why Holtby was subjected to yet another season of heavy lifting seems confusing. At least he didn’t play 73 games, like he did two seasons ago. One has to wonder if Carey Price, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Braden Holtby have all succumbed to fatigue to varying degrees, considering their individual struggles come playoffs. Regardless, Holtby will need to improve if Washington hopes to claw their way back into the series on the road.
- Anaheim forward Nick Ritchie and defenseman Sami Vatanen are both potential options for tonight’s game against Edmonton. Ritchie is out with the flu, and Vatanen has been out with an upper body injury since Game 1 versus Calgary in the last round. Both took the ice for the optional skate this morning, but no further information was provided. Vatanen had been replaced by Korbinian Holzer, who struggled in the season with a very poor 40.4 Corsi For percentage, taking a huge step backwards from the previous season in terms of driving possession. Ritchie had been replaced by Jared Boll, the heavy right-winger who accumulated an abysmal 39.3 CF% on the season – one of the league’s worst – to go along with his 0 goals through 51 games. The re-addition of Ritchie would be huge for a team that has had difficulty penetrating the wall that has been Cam Talbot.
- Washington prospect Jakub Vrana was scratched last night for the Hershey Bears. The 21 year-old left-winger is crafty with the puck and was projected to be an effective offensive force. The Czech has had trouble adjusting his style to the North American game, however. He was drafted 13th overall in 2014 and had a decent sophomore season when he played, earning 21 games up with the Capitals, notching 3 goals and 3 assists in that span. He was held pointless through 3 games in the Bears’ series against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Head coach Troy Mann was displeased with his unwillingness to engage physically and defend on the backcheck. His effort level is remarkably low for a prospect which was considered top-tier. Getting scratched at the AHL level of play doesn’t bode well for his future in the NHL, although stranger things have happened.
Metro Division Snapshots: Connolly, Kovalchuk, Rangers
After dropping the opener of their Eastern Conference semifinal match-up against Pittsburgh, the Washington Capitals have elected to make at least one lineup change in advance of game two. According to a tweet from Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post, Paul Carey will draw into the lineup replacing Brett Connolly. As the scribe noted prior to the start of the series, Connolly had his ATOI cut back drastically in the latter half of their six-game series win over Toronto, averaging less than six minutes per contest in games four through six so perhaps a healthy scratch shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
Limited ice time is nothing new this season for Connolly. The six-year vet averaged just 10:41 per game yet managed to set a career-high in the goal scoring department with 15. In fact, among all NHL players who reached that threshold, Connolly saw the lowest ATOI per game. The lack of playing time, both during the regular season and playoffs, would appear to inject some doubt as to how interested the Capitals will be in renewing their working relationship beyond the current campaign with the former first-round draft pick. Connolly is scheduled to be a RFA and will likely seek a significant bump in pay over his 2016-17 salary of $850K based on his solid goal scoring ouput. With several key regulars – T.J. Oshie, Kevin Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner and Justin Williams among them – approaching unrestricted free agency and with RFA’s Andre Burakovsky and Evgeny Kuznetsov also needing new contracts, the Capitals will have a difficult time re-signing or replacing all the talent they may lose with just $20MM in projected cap space. Salary cap considerations may also prompt the team to move on from Connolly this summer, meaning he might be available via trade for any interested parties.
Elsewhere in the Metro Division:
- It’s been reported that Ilya Kovalchuk may be preparing a return to the NHL after four years of self-exile playing in the KHL. As it stands, he is still property of the New Jersey Devils, unless all 30 NHL GM’s agree to allow Kovy to sign with another team. Of course, while the Devils could certainly use the offensive boost Kovalchuk would bring, they likely aren’t close enough to serious contention to justify committing the necessary salary cap resources to an aging, albeit still skilled winger. In fact, they would benefit more by agreeing with an interested club on a sign-and-trade, which would allow Kovalchuk to go to a contending team of his choice with the Devils picking up assets needed to further their rebuild. Whether or not Kovalchuk ultimately returns to the NHL, one thing is certain; the Russian winger will not be representing Team Russia at the upcoming World Championships. According to a report from the Russian sports site SovSport.ru (link in Russian) – H/T to TSN’s Gord Miller for retweeting the link – Kovalchuk has, or will soon undergo knee surgery and is expected to miss the next month to recover. Evidently the knee was an issue throughout the KHL playoffs though it wasn’t enough to prevent Kovalchuk from helping his SKA St. Petersburg club from winning the Gagarin Cup. While he won’t have another chance to showcase his skills for interested NHL teams, it’s unlikely this injury will do much to stunt his market, should he elect to come back.
- Newsday’s Steve Zipay retweeted a report from the Russian Prospects website indicating that coveted young winger Vladimir Tkachyov is slated to attend prospect camp this summer with the New York Rangers. It should be noted that Zipay had yet to independently confirm the report. Tkachyov, an undrafted free agent, spent last season skating with Admiral Vladivostok in the KHL, finishing with 14 goals and 39 points in 49 contests. Prior to returning to Russia, Tkachyov appeared in 66 QMJHL games split between Moncton and Quebec, tallying a combined 26 goals and 79 points. Scouting reports describe the 5-foot-10, 154-pound LW as a dynamic offensive talent and an explosive skater. Tkachyov has been linked to Toronto and Edmonton previously but at this point it looks like the Rangers may have the first chance to convince the skilled winger to join their organization. The Blueshirts interest is understandable as they favor skill and speed in their roster construction and with the lack of high draft choices in recent seasons due to sacrificing futures in pursuit of a Stanley Cup, adding a talent like Tkachyov helps the team keep the prospect pipeline producing NHL-caliber players.
Atlantic Division Snapshots: Pastrnak, Brassard, Red Wings
Despite a first round elimination at the hands of the Ottawa Senators, the 2016-17 campaign has to be considered a success for the Boston Bruins organization. The team returned to the postseason after back-to-back non-playoff seasons and showed tremendous resilience during their six-game series loss, nearly overcoming injuries to key regulars Brandon Carlo, David Krejci, Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid to push Ottawa to OT in game six. Perhaps the silver lining to the season was the development of young Czech winger David Pastnak, who in his third year saw a marked increase across the board in terms of offensive production, setting career-highs in goals (34) assists (36) and points (70). Pastrnak stuggled some in the postseason, finishing with just five shots on goal and regularly turning the puck over, but as Joe Haggerty of CSNNE writes, the 20-year-old will be a better player long term in part because of the playoff experience.
Pastrnak also wrapped up his ELC, making him a RFA this summer. Boston will have a decision to make; do they try to lock up the talented offensive right wing to a long term deal or employ a short term bridge contract to keep the AAV down? Should the team choose the latter, Haggerty speculates a deal similar to that given by Chicago to Artemi Panarin (two years, $12MM) could work for both sides. If Boston chooses the former, they might have to approach the value of the accord signed by Calgary winger Johnny Gaudreau last summer, in Haggerty’s estimation. According to Cap Friendly, the Bruins are projected to have around just $10MM in cap space available with Drew Stafford set to hit unrestricted free agency and Ryan Spooner joining Pastrnak as a RFA. The team should have room as it stands to accommodate a new Pastrnak contract regardless of whether it’s a lucrative long term pact or a shorter term bridge deal. Still, what Boston does will likely have a great impact on what other moves the team can make this summer to fill holes on the roster.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- One of the second round’s more interesting subplots involves Ottawa center Derick Brassard facing his old team, the New York Rangers, and the player for whom he was acquired just last July, fellow pivot Mika Zibanejad. Expecting to contend for the playoffs in 2016-17, Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion wanted to add the more experienced and established Brassard to his lineup. It also didn’t hurt that the skilled center from Hull, Quebec is a proven playoff performer known in some circles as “Big Game Brass.” For their part, the Rangers needed to get bigger and younger and did so by adding the talented Zibanejad to the team. Neither player had the regular season they hoped – Brassard finished with just 14 goals and 39 points while Zibanejad missed time with a broken leg and scored 37 points in 56 contests. With scoring expected to be at a premium in the series between Ottawa and New York, it was widely felt whoever performed better between the two would give their team a significant edge. Well, after one game, Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun has the two players even, though the Senators are up in the series. As Brennan noted, neither player registered a point and both finished with roughly 17 minutes of ice time. Brassard was credited with five shots on goal, Zibanejad with four. While it would be unfair to paint the winner of the series as also the winner of last summer’s trade, it’s evident the two players will be heavily relied upon to help their respective team advance to the Eastern Conference Final and at this point in the season that’s really all that matters.
- With their 25-season playoff streak broken, the Detroit Red Wings enter the offseason with a lot of work to do to reshape their roster into a contender, and without the resources (i.e. cap space) to easily tackle the challenge. In all probability, the team will be forced seek roster improvement via the trade market and with limited chips the team can afford to move, it’s likely Detroit will have to deal one of their starting-caliber goalies, if for no other reason than to open up much-needed cap space. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press expressed the same belief in a recent mailbag feature. As the scribe notes, the Wings are currently projected to have less than $6MM in cap space with key forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Tomas Tatar scheduled to be RFA’s. The offseason goalie market is expected to be full of starting options, with Pittsburgh likely to entertain a trade of Marc-Andre Fleury rather than risk losing Matt Murray in the expansion draft. Ben Bishop, Brian Elliott, Jonathan Bernier and Ryan Miller headline the UFA crop of netminders and could represent viable starting options for any team looking for a #1. Those factors will hamstring the Red Wings in their attempt to move either Jimmy Howard or Petr Mrazek in return for fair value. In all likelihood, the team will have to be satisfied primarily with cap relief as opposed to acquiring young assets to further their retooling effort. Although St. James does offer up one intriguing possibility, noting that current Stars GM Jim Nill, formerly an assistant GM in Detroit, knows Mrazek and Howard well from his time with the Wings and could pursue one in an effort to upgrade his options between the pipes.
Snapshots: Futa, Fiala, Vesalainen
The Buffalo Sabres have a confirmed interest in Mike Futa of the Los Angeles Kings as a candidate for their next GM, and were granted permission to talk to him about the position. John Vogl of the Buffalo News clarifies the situation, reporting that they have not asked for any discussion with Dean Lombardi. Futa was just promoted to assistant GM a few weeks ago after working as the team’s director of player personnel under Lombardi. He also was a finalist for the Buffalo job that eventually went to Murray back in 2014, along with Jason Botterill who was also confirmed in the running this time around.
Futa has been rumored to be in the mix for GM openings around the league for the past few years, but had been previously unsuccessful and deemed too important in Los Angeles. While the new regime—Rob Blake and Luc Robitaille—clearly value his position in the front office, they likely wouldn’t stop him from taking the step up to be “the man” in Buffalo.
- Kevin Fiala is on his way home from the hospital according to Cassie Campbell of Hockey Night in Canada. The Predators forward is actually walking already on the advice of doctors, and will now face a four to six month recovery time after fracturing his left femur. That injury is extremely dangerous, and Fiala was rushed into surgery immediately after sustaining it on Wednesday. He’ll be lucky to be ready for the start of training camp, but the Predators will have him back in the lineup next year.
- Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News reports that Kristian Vesalainen, a top prospect in the upcoming entry draft, has signed a one-year contract with HPK of the Finnish Liiga. The last few seasons Vesalainen had been playing in Sweden for Frolunda, but spent some time with HPK on loan near the end of the year. The Finnish winger recently was awarded MVP honors at the U18 Worlds, scoring 13 points in 7 games and leading Finland to a silver medal. He was ranked seventh among European skaters in the latest list from NHL Central Scouting, but may rise as high as the top-10 by draft day. He’ll stay in Finland next season before discussing with whichever team drafts him where he should continue his development.
Snapshots: Bieksa, Stamkos, Pyatt
Anaheim defenseman Kevin Bieksa is not expected to take the ice in Game 2 against Edmonton. Bieksa had not been logging major minutes lately, averaging just over 16 minutes on the backend, good for 6th best on his squad. However, his nasty, physical edge was felt everytime he took the ice. The defenseman had an awkward looking collision early in Wednesday’s game with teammate Shea Theodore. He left the game, briefly returned, and exited again for good. Further information is unknown at this time.
Bieksa is perhaps best remembered for being a pivotal part of the defense that led the Vancouver Canucks to Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final in 2010-11. He has played 82 career NHL playoff games, with a solid 30 points over that span. He had already potted 4 assists for the Ducks through 5 games. Replacing such a force will be difficult for Anaheim, especially since they struggled to deter the high-flying Edmonton forwards from creating offense and crashing the net. Sami Vatanen would be a safe bet to re-enter the lineup in his place, in an attempt to recoup some of that experience.
- Steven Stamkos should be ready to go at the beginning of next season for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He had undergone intensive surgery on his knee, after tearing his meniscus. Although his return was expected, the reassuring news should bring a sigh of relief for Bolts’ fans. Stamkos’ absence was sorely felt this season as his squad was kept afloat largely due to the individual efforts of Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman. Scoring depth was harder to come by and the team was noticeably less effective at line-matching. Stamkos is the sort of offensive superstar that is nearly impossible to replace, even with a roster that had been as well constructed as GM Steve Yzerman‘s. Stamkos has won two Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophies for top goal scorer in a season, including an absurd 60 goals in 2011-12. He had posted 9 goals and 20 points through 17 games this season before succumbing to injury.
- Tom Pyatt did not play in Game 1 between the Senators and Rangers. The Ottawa forward was hopeful to be slotted in the lineup tonight, but was a late scratch. Pyatt had also missed the deciding Game 6 against Boston in the first round. The undersized fourth-liner had been held pointless through 4 games, and posted a -2. Although his veteran status and feistiness would have been welcome attributes in what is sure to be a tough series, his contributions this season were minimal. His advanced stats show that he is a net negative in terms of scoring opportunities and shots (CF% of 43.6), and his versatility isn’t even much of a bonus, as he only took 49 draws this season, losing the bulk of them.
Snapshots: OHL Lawsuit, Sutter, Alzner
In the second piece of legal hockey news today, an Ontario judge has certified the former players’ lawsuit against the OHL as class action. Rick Westhead of TSN provides the specifics on the news, explaining that it now makes every player who played in the OHL from 2012 to the present an automatic plaintiff in the lawsuit, though they can opt-out if they so choose.
The lawsuit could apparently cost the league as much as $30MM, something that according to the league would “bring on the even of destruction for the players.” Similar lawsuits are being brought before the courts for both the WHL and QMJHL, with the decision on whether the WHL case will be certified as class action coming down within the next month.
- Darryl Sutter isn’t done just yet, as he told Gary Lawless of TSN. The former Los Angeles Kings coach who was fired earlier this month will be “picky” about his next situation, but won’t rule out heading to a re-building squad. Sutter has coached over 1200 games in the NHL and won two Stanley Cups, giving credence to the idea that he can be picky and wait for the perfect opportunity.
- The Chicago Blackhawks have signed Nathan Noel to a three-year entry-level deal. Noel, 19, played this season for the Saint John’s Sea Dogs of the QMJHL, scoring 50 points in 52 games. Turning 20 in June, Noel will likely head to the AHL next season and try to continue his development for the Rockford IceHogs.
- Karl Alzner won’t be available again tonight for the Washington Capitals, his fifth straight game out of the lineup with an upper-body injury. As Tom Gulitti of NHL.com writes, Alzner had skated in 599 consecutive games before missing game 3 against the Maple Leafs, and is an important part of the Capitals defense. Alzner is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Capitals will have a tough time affording him while also giving raises to their many RFAs, meaning this is likely his last run with the team for a while. Even though he may not get another chance to play in the postseason with the Capitals, he makes his team-first attitude clear: “I’d sit out the rest of the playoffs if we can win the Cup.”