Snapshots: Team USA Reaction, Prospect Tournaments, Rantanen
It was paramount for the United States to put themselves in a good position heading into its tilt with Team Canada on Tuesday. Instead, they made things even tougher on themselves. Lauding a gritty style that would intimidate opponents, the US looked anything but intimidating in a 3-0 loss to Team Europe. Until the third period, the US seemed to lack any sense of urgency.
USA Today’s Kevin Allen writes that while the US can still hypothetically advance, it would take a number of scenarios for that to happen. Further, Allen reports that giving up three goals in just shots never allowed the US to get control of the game. Puck Daddy’s Jen Neale writes more about how even before the game, Team USA was making odd decisions.
Head coach John Tortorella had defenseman Dustin Byfuglien as a healthy scratch, a befuddling move that had every analyst wondering what was going on. Neale goes on to write that the US team looked “listless” and then more telling, that after scoring its first goal, Team Europe sat back to allow the US to “implode on themselves.”
Frank Seravalli was even more blunt:
Just about everything Team USA had been billed as before the tournament started did not show up on Saturday for the first game of the tournament. They weren’t rugged or tough to play against. In fact, they played most of the game like the environment inside the arena: quiet and without much intensity.
The US will have to find that intensity quickly or else they will have a short stay in the tournament.
In other hockey news:
- Gustav Forsling had an impressive showing for the Blackhawks during a 5-0 whitewashing of the Red Wings prospects at the Rookie Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan. Forsling had three points, with one coming as a goal. Nathan Noel, and Alex DeBrincat each added a goal while Alexandre Fortin scored two. In other action from Traverse City, the Rangers knocked off the Stars 5-4 in overtime. Jimmy Vesey had an assist and a shootout goal in the win.
- It appears that Mikko Rantanen‘s injury is not a serious one. Mike Chambers tweets that the Avs classified it as an ankle sprain and nothing more. It was reported earlier that Rantanen suffered an apparent right leg injury that looked troubling.
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.
Snapshots: McDavid, Team North America, Team USA Preview
Connor McDavid finally knows who his linemates are. The newly minted Team North America captain will center a line with Auston Matthews and Mark Scheifele on his left and right respectively. Team North America coach Todd McLellan, who is also McDavid’s bench boss with the Oilers, finally decided on his the lines after experimenting through the exhibition games. McLellan had this to say:
“We’re still looking for combinations that will give us the best chance to win. Connor, I think, has been getting better. I thought Auston’s been one of our top forwards. Those two complement each other, Auston with his size (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) and his ability to hold onto the puck, and Connor with his speed.”
A top line that features the future superstars of the NHL provides excitement as the World Cup of Hockey begins tomorrow. North America has been tabbed as a team that could possibly push Canada and Sweden for the title of champions as they feature depth, speed, and scoring prowess. A line of Matthews-McDavid-Scheifele only guarantees that. TSN’s Ryan Kennedy continues by writing that the North American squad has gelled quickly and quotes Jack Eichel as saying that his teammates are “awesome” with similar interests. Defenseman Ryan Murray explains:
“Everyone has created some chemistry,” Murray said. “You see guys like Morgan Rielly and Aaron Ekblad, who have never played together before, and they look really good as a pair. That’s pretty rewarding to see.”
That chemistry has translated into success and placed Team North America as a much-watch team for many hockey fans. Kennedy writes that the 23 and under squad is looking forward to the challenge of the tournament as it learned some valuable lessons in just two exhibition games.
In other NHL news:
- Puck Daddy’s Sean Leahy previews Team USA before tournament play begins and a quick take for the Red, White, and Blue is a team strongest in net but weakest up front. Leahy understands the addition of irritant Ryan Kesler but wonders why Justin Abdelkader and Brandon Dubinsky are on the roster in the first place. Though they bring a physical element, goal scoring isn’t expected to come from them. Leahy notes that the United States boasts Patrick Kane, Joe Pavelski, Blake Wheeler and Max Pacioretty, the four Americans to be in the top 50 of goal scorers last season. Yet the obsession with being “tough to play against” may in fact be USA’s undoing. A complete team effort is necessary for the US to win, Leahy writes, but whether that happens is another matter.
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.
Snapshots: Zetterberg, Miller, Brown
With the departure of Pavel Datsyuk to the KHL, Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg assumed the mantle as the team’s longest tenured player. Entering his 14th NHL campaign and soon to turn 36-years-old, the skilled Swedish forward has certainly seen better days as evidenced by his 16-point drop in scoring from 2014-15 to this past season. That being said, Zetterberg is still someone the Wings will lean on if the team wishes to stretch its streak of qualifying for the postseason to 26 years.
Zetterberg acknowledges a drop-off in his play during the second half of each of the previous two seasons and suggests he is looking at different ways to stay fresh throughout the coming season, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.
“That’s what’s gotten me the last two years, I ran out of gas. You can’t play hockey in this level when you run out of gas. So that’s one thing we’re going to play around with.”
Zetterberg tallied 27 points in the season’s first 34 games through December but struggled down the stretch recording just nine points over the final 24 contests. He also chipped in just a single point, a goal in game three, during Detroit’s five-game, first-round playoff loss to Tampa Bay. Zetterberg stated he is at least willing to listen if head coach Jeff Blashill suggests decreased ice time or even taking a game off here and there.
“As a player, as soon as you hear ‘less minutes,’ you’re not happy. I don’t think I will go and tell Coach I need less minutes. But if he decides that I need to play less or get some rest dates, I’m open to listen to that.”
“We want to see the younger guys take steps and kind of take minutes from the older guys. But I won’t give it away, they have to earn it. That’s part of the transition. I went through it when I came in and started to play more. But you have to earn it.”
Zetterberg has five seasons remaining on a long-term deal that took effect in 2009-10. He carries a cap hit just in excess of $6MM annually but the final three seasons of his contract come with actual salaries of $3.35MM, $1MM and $1MM respectively. It will be interesting to see if Zetterberg is both willing and able to finish out the pact with the Red Wings.
Elsewhere around the league:
- After trading away talented young blue liner Dougie Hamilton and steady veteran defender Johnny Boychuk in successive offseasons, the Boston Bruins are still searching for a reliable top-four defenseman, as Joe Haggerty opines. An aging Zdeno Chara is still the club’s top defenseman with Torey Krug likely not far behind but beyond those two, pickings are slim. Haggerty admits the team has the cap space and veteran assets to make a trade if they so choose, though they may already have the top-four option they seek on the roster. While also listing prospect Brandon Carlo and youngster Joe Morrow as possibilities, Haggerty believes Colin Miller might be the Bruins “X-factor” on the blue line. As Haggerty notes, Miller scored 19 goals and 52 points in 70 AHL games with the Manchester Monarchs in 2014-15, suggesting he has the skill to put up points in the big leagues. Miller came to Boston from Los Angeles in the Milan Lucic trade during the 2015 offseason and may be coming into his own as an NHL player after producing 16 points in just 42 games as a rookie. With few quality options available either on the trade market or in free agency, it might be wise for Boston to give Miller a chance before looking outside the organization for a top-four blue liner.
- According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet (via tweet), Mike Brown is the latest veteran player to land a PTO with the tough guy winger signing on in Columbus. Brown, 31, spent time with both San Jose and Montreal last season, scoring two goals and three assists in 58 games with 90 PIMs. For his career, Brown has potted 19 goals and recorded 778 minutes of penalties in 407 NHL games. He has suited up for Vancouver, Anaheim, Toronto and Edmonton in addition to the Sharks and Habs in his nine NHL seasons. The Blue Jackets bought out the contract of veteran enforcer Jared Boll earlier this summer and could see Brown as a possible replacement depending on his play during training camp.
Snapshots: Gudas, Maatta, Monahan, Byfuglien
The wrist problem that caused Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas to withdraw from the Czech Republic’s entry into the World Cup of Hockey is one that lingered during last season, reports Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Gudas didn’t get into specifics about the injury but noted that there was ligament damage and that a small issue could have turned into a bigger one.
Gudas believes that he is still 1-3 weeks away from the wrist being back to 100% (he is currently unable to shoot the puck) but expects to be ready to start the season.
Earlier this summer, Gudas inked a four year contract with a cap hit of $3.35MM. He played in 76 regular season games with the Flyers, collecting 14 points while adding 116 PIMS, 304 hits, and 157 blocked shots.
[Related: Flyers Depth Chart]
Other news and notes from around the NHL:
- Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta still has to fulfill his mandatory military obligations to Finland but has an agreement to delay that for at least another three years, tweets Sports Illustrated’s Alex Prewitt. Maatta had a challenging postseason, one where he suffered a concussion and was also a healthy scratch at times, but still picked up seven assists in 18 games. He’s expected to be a key cog on Pittsburgh’s blueline this season.
- Flames center Sean Monahan is expected to be ready for the start of Calgary’s training camp, writes Postmedia’s Kristen Odland. Monahan withdrew from the World Cup of Hockey earlier this month after straining his back in training. Fresh off a seven year deal he signed in August, Monahan decided to take a pass on the tournament to make sure he’s 100% ready to start the season with the Flames.
- Winnipeg defenseman Dustin Byfuglien is expected to play on the wing for Team USA in their final World Cup tune-up game against Finland tonight, reports Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. Whyno adds that Brandon Dubinsky and Kyle Palmieri will be healthy scratches for the Americans. Byfuglien is no stranger to playing the wing, seeing time there with the Jets off and on in recent years.
Snapshots: Dubois, Crosby, Team NA
After being selected as the surprise third overall pick in the latest NHL Entry Draft, Pierre-Luc Dubois is trying to prove to everyone that he derserved to be picked above Jesse Puljujarvi and Matthew Tkachuk. In a piece by James O’Brien at NBCSports, Dubois is clear what his goal is this fall.
(The Blue Jackets) drafted me third in front of the guy everybody thought they were going to draft, but I think they made the right decision. I want to prove that to everybody.
For at least the first few years of his career, he’ll be compared to Puljujarvi constantly which is probably more unfair than anything. The Finnish winger has already been playing against men for parts of two seasons, while Dubois will head back for his final year of junior hockey (that is if he doesn’t surprise everyone to make the Blue Jackets out of camp). It may take him a while, but as GM Jarmo Kekalainen comments when talking about what will set Dubois apart, “I keep coming back to his character and hockey sense.”
- Team Canada has often found trouble pairing players with Sidney Crosby at international competitions, with many high level talents moving on and off of his wing throughout past tournaments. That said, head coach Mike Babcock may have found a group that he’ll stick with this time. As TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron look like the set wingers for the Team Canada captain. It’s a plan Babcock had way back in May, when he was first envisioning what his lineup might look like. The interesting part, is that Marchand is one of Team Canada’s only natural wingers, and Bergeron is highly regarded for his all-around ability and hockey IQ. Perhaps it’s centers that don’t find a home on Crosby’s wing, similar to the way Pittsburgh has never been able to consistently pair Crosby with Evgeni Malkin for any length of time.
- The top two picks of the 2015 NHL draft will be linked once again, as Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel will skate on a line in their second pre-tournament game against Europe tonight. The third musketeer will be Johnny Gaudreau, still unsigned as he’s entered his negotiation freeze during the tournament. With three of the strongest skaters in the NHL on the ice at once, team North America will surely be interesting to watch, the plan all along of the NHL and commissioner Gary Bettman when he introduced the slightly off-the-board format.