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Snapshots: COVID-19 Update, Blackhawks

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Let’s check in on the latest from around the NHL…

  • Moments ago, the NHL Pubic Relations Twitter account released their newest statement regarding COVID-19 testing. Per the statement, 396 players have reported to training camp, 2,900 COVID-19 tests have been administered, and there have been 23 confirmed positive tests. Twelve additional players have tested positive among those who have not reported to camp. Names of those 35 total NHL players will not be released by the league. At least for now, it appears as if the number of confirmed coronavirus cases hasn’t spiked, though it’s just a two-week sample, and there are many hurdles yet to clear.
  • The NFL’s Washington Redskins and MLB’s Cleveland Indians have been in the news recently as pressure from corporate sponsors finally pushed the Redskins’ famously-intransigent owner Dan Snyder to consider a name change. The public pressure hasn’t reached that level for the Chicago Blackhawks, but make no mistake the public conversation is happening, per The Athletic’s Scott Powers. Powers’ piece is well worth a read. He lays the groundwork for both sides of the issue while covering the history of the name in this thoughtful and thorough article.

Snapshots: Contract Negotiating, Escrow, Second Draft Lottery

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Trying to negotiate a new contract in the looming new marketplace is going to be tough as the projected salary cap increases aren’t coming for a while like they used to.  Accordingly, how discussions for a new deal occur are likely to change as well.  Speaking with Postmedia’s Jim Matheson, agent Gerry Johansson discussed his approach towards how things may change for a while:

Right now, we’re just giving our players guidance that it could be a tough year. We’re telling them that this is the year to take a deal even if it’s not the one you might want. It’s like musical chairs. There are 100 players and only 75 chairs.

Johansson noted that he doesn’t have many notable players that are slated to become unrestricted free agents in November so his focus will be shifted towards working on extensions for clients like Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf and Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher who will be entering the final year of their contracts next season. PuckPedia has a full listing of Johansson’s client list.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The players have opted to put their final regular season pay into escrow, a decision that had seemed like the probable outcome for a while. Accordingly, the escrow percentage for the season jumped from 14% to 19.55%, notes Gavin Hockey Wealth (Twitter link).  If that seems high, keep in mind that the escrow percentage for the next couple of seasons appears to be slightly higher as the recent CBA talks have that pegged at 20% to help offset the expected drop in league revenues as a result of the pandemic.
  • It doesn’t appear as if we’ll be waiting too long after the completion of the play-in round to know who has the top pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft which is tentatively slated to occur sometime in mid-October. In the latest Insider Trading, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that the second draft lottery is likely to take place immediately following the conclusion of the best-of-five series which would be around August 10th or 11th.  The second lottery is required after the results of the first lottery revealed that one of the teams that loses in that round will get that top selection with each team having identical one-in-eight chances of winning.

Snapshots: Training Camp Start Date, Rask Free Agency, 2020 Young Stars Classic, Lindblom Recovery

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Phase 2 of the NHL’s return to play initiative is well underway, but the rest of the timeline is still being finalized. Phase 3, originally planned for July 10, is being pushed back a couple of days to July 13th, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post. Teams already are looking into cutting the number of exhibition games from 2 to 1 given the shortened timetable and increased risk with each passing day, per Louis Jean of TVA Sports. Phase 3 marks the official start to training camp for the 24-team playoff that will determine the Stanley Cup winner for the 2019-2020 season. Team facilities have largely opened up as players have begun to arrive early to get into game shape. But that’s not all that’s happening in the NHL…

  • The Boston Bruins and goaltender Tuukka Rask are close to embarking on a classic game of free agent chicken. Both Rask and his partner between the pipes Jaroslav Halak will be free agents at the end of the 2020-2021 season. We chronicled earlier today the deal that brought Task to Boston fourteen years ago, but if the Bruins are going to lock up their 33-year-old goalie, it’s likely going to cost – Rask’s current $7MM price tag makes him the fifth highest-paid goaltender this season, behind Carey Price, Sergei Bobrovsky, Henrik Lundqvist, and Marc-Andre Fleury, writes Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports. Rask has a legitimate shot at winning his second Vezina Trophy, and the tandem of Rask and Halak already secured the Jennings Trophy for the year. On the other hand, depending on how next season goes, Rask could take a pay cut, given that he’ll be entering his age-35 season.
  • The 2020 Young Stars Classic has officially been postponed because of coronavirus, per Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers. The four-team, round-robin tournament would have featured prospects from four of the NHL’s Canadian franchises: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg. The tournament had been scheduled for mid-September, but it’s now officially postponed. There’s no telling at this stage if the tournament will ultimately be canceled or just pushed back.
  • In a bit of good news: Philadelphia Flyers’ winger Oskar Lindblom recently underwent radiation treatments to treat Ewing’s sarcoma, per Dan Gelston of The Associated Press. The rare form of bone cancer ended Lindblom’s season early and put his life in danger, but the treatments went as planned and he appears to be on the road to recovery. Not only that, but he’s already targeting a return to the NHL, tweets The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor. Lindblom, 23, looked to build on his strong rookie season when he posted 33 points with 13:45 ATOI for the Flyers in 2018-2019. He potted 11 goals with 7 assists in just 30 games before his life-threatening diagnosis. There is zero chance that Lindblom returns this season, but that he’s already eyeing a return to the ice at all is a big win for Lindblom and the Flyers. 

Snapshots: Amnesty, Lucic, Game Audio, Hajek

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Despite the hopes and dreams of fans around the NHL, the agreed-upon return-to-play conditions and extended CBA is not likely to include any kind of amnesty clause, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie. The assumption that the salary cap will hold at $81.5MM for the next two seasons gave rise to some speculation that the stagnant cap would be augmented by an amnesty provision, but it appears teams will be stuck with the contracts they’ve got on the books. For the Calgary Flames, that means Milan Lucic, writes Todd Cordell of Hockey Buzz. Lucic has three more years on his deal worth $5.25MM per season. The 32-year-old Lucic hardly set the world on fire in his first season in Calgary, notching just 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists) across 68 games. The Flames acquired Lucic and a conditional 3rd round pick for winger James Neal after one disappointing season in Calgary produced just seven goals. The money owed Lucic isn’t exorbitant, but it’s not an ideal price tag for an aging winger entering his mid-thirties. Lucic still played a role on the Flames’ third line, but his days as a 40-60 point scorer appear behind him. Additionally, it’s unclear right now if the Flames will actually receive the third-round pick. To get the pick in this year’s draft, Neal had to score at least 21 goals and record 10 more goals than Lucic. The second condition was qualified, but Neal scored just 19 goals – in a shortened season. Common sense would look at those numbers and say Neal was going to qualify both conditions, but it’s not entirely clear.

  • When the NHL returns to television, the game may look the same – except for the leagues of empty seats in the background – but the audio experience may provide an even more jarring change, per Kevin McGran of The Star. Without access to players, the play-by-play commentators are likely to call games from a studio instead of the arena, and in terms of sideline reporting, well, there won’t be any. Studios are still working on the best way to pump in ambient sound, whether that’s highlighting sounds from the ice or using some kind of fan track. The most entertaining option would almost certainly be to mic the players, but that would require players to curb their vulgarity, which, in the heat of the moment, might be too great an ask.
  • Libor Hajek of the New York Rangers has hired Octagon as his representation, tweets agent Allan Walsh. The young blueliner appeared in 28 games for the Rangers this season, recording five assists but no goals. Walsh also represents NHL players like Marc-Andre Fleury and Brock Boeser.

Snapshots: Berglund, Rangers’ Goalie Battle

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Brynäs IF of the Swedish Hockey League has offered a contract to free agent Patrik Berglund, per Uffe Bodin of hockeysverige.se. Berglund, last seen in the NHL as a member of the 2018-2019 Buffalo Sabres, had his contract terminated after failing to report. Mental health issues led Berglund to forfeit the $10MM contract and return to Europe where he eventually signed a deal with Djurgardens in the SHL. It appears as if Berglund, 32, will stay in the Swedish Hockey League for the foreseeable future, putting an end to any speculation that he might return stateside. Berglund initially joined the Sabres to help match salary as part of the Ryan O’Reilly trade.

  • The New York Rangers are in the enviable position of having not one, not two, but three viable options at goaltender once play resumes, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com. Henrik Lundqvist (.905 save percentage in 26 starts) could be grandfathered into the starting role, but Igor Shesterkin (.932 save percentage in 12 starts)and Alexandar Georgiev (.910 save percentage in 32 starts) each made their case with solid play during the year. As with many of the roster decisions coming out of the long layoff, this may come down to conditioning and readiness. However he decides, coach David Quinn is sure to be second-guessed if their five-game Stanley Cup Qualifier against the Carolina Hurricanes goes poorly. On his thinking, Quinn said this: “You can make a case for all three guys. There’s a lot of reasons to take ’Shesty,’ there’s a lot of reasons to start Hank (Lundqvist), and there’s reasons to start ’Georgie.’ This is such an uncertain time that that will play out over the course of the two and a half weeks that we’re going to have before we drop the puck.”
  • Looking ahead, the Rangers decision could speak to their likely direction this offseason when they’ll need to decide again how to manage the futures of Lundqvist, 38, Shesterkin, 24, and Georgiev, 24. Lundqvist is owed $8.5MM for the 2020-2021 season while Shesterkin has another year at $925K. “Georgie” could be the odd man out, as he will be a restricted free agent at the end of this season. That said, the Rangers’ remain in control of all three, and they’ll likely explore trade avenues to extract value from the deep positional group.

Snapshots: Boudreau, Pilut, Ducks, Graber

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While former Minnesota head coach Bruce Boudreau was planning on his coaching stint with the Wild being his last, he’s still hoping to coach again, notes Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required).  As things stand, there isn’t a real vacancy in the league as several interim coaches remain at the helm (including in New Jersey despite their being a search ongoing, one that Boudreau is not a part of) so the 65-year-old may have to wait for a little while yet for another opportunity to come up.  He sits 22nd on the NHL’s All-Time wins list with 587 while his regular season points percentage (.635) puts him fifth among coaches with at least 200 games of NHL coaching experience.  For a team that’s looking to turn things around quickly, Boudreau should garner some consideration as other vacancies become available.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Lawrence Pilut surprised many when he opted to sign a two-year deal in the KHL over re-signing with the Sabres. It turns out the main issue wasn’t his role with the team but rather the money as Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reports that the team wasn’t willing to offer him a one-way contract until after the deal with Traktor Chelyabinsk was agreed upon.  Pilut only played 13 games with Buffalo this season after suiting up 33 times with the big club during his rookie campaign which is likely why their preference was to give him another two-way pact.  Buffalo will retain his NHL rights by tendering him a qualifying offer this offseason.
  • The Ducks announced that they have signed a multi-year affiliation with Tulsa of the ECHL. The term of the deal was not disclosed.  Anaheim has been without an affiliate at that level for the last two seasons.  Meanwhile, the move means that the Blues, who had previously been affiliated with Tulsa, will be looking for a new partner for next season.
  • The Capitals have signed Will Graber to a minor league contract, their AHL affiliate in Hershey announced.  The 24-year-old recently wrapped up what was a strong career at Dartmouth and ranged between 25 and 27 points in each of his final three seasons with the team.  While his primary position is on defense, he did spend time up front with the Big Green as well and if he’s able to do that successfully in the pros, his value will certainly go up.

Snapshots: Vegas No Longer Hub Frontrunner, Wild, Soucy, Coyotes, Kessel

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Hold onto your hats: the NHL’s hub cities saga is taking yet another turn. Las Vegas is no longer a presumed selection for one of the NHL’s hub cities, per Frank Seravalli of TSN Sports. Veteran NHL Reporter John Shannon notes that increasing cases of COVID-19 in 36 states across the United States – including Nevada – are among the reasons the NHL has started to look more seriously at letting Canada host both the Eastern and Western Conference playoff bubbles. Toronto and Edmonton would be the presumed frontrunners now, though still, nothing is official. It’s surprising that it took the NHL this long to move off Vegas as their top choice, but if the delay amounts to the league doing their due diligence, the process is working as intended. Still, we continue to wait for the final word from the league. In the meantime, let’s check in on some player health notes…

  • Minnesota Wild defenseman Carson Soucy has recovered from a mid-season upper-body injury and he’s ready to participate in the Stanley Cup Qualifier, per Pete Jensen of NHL.com. Soucy, 26, missed the final nine games of the season after scoring 14 points in the first 55 games. Soucy averaged over 15 minutes of ice time per game when he was healthy. He’ll be an option in the third pairing for Minnesota if indeed he’s back to full strength. Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Mathew Dumba, and Jonas Brodin figure to make up the top two defensive pairings for the Wild.
  • Mercurial forward Phil Kessel told reporters today that he’d never been more banged up in a season than this year, his first with the Arizona Coyotes, tweets Coyotes’ beat reporter Craig Morgan. In 70 games with Arizona, Kessel managed just 14 goals, the lowest total since his rookie season in 2006-2007. His 24 assists somewhat salvaged the campaign for the 32-year-old Kessel, but it’s still a far cry from the 75 points per season he racked up in four years with the Penguins. Kessel is a typically strong postseason performer, but he’ll have to come out the gate hot to push the Coyotes past the qualifier stage. This very well might be a case of a player putting a positive spin on a down year, but Kessel at full-speed is a big enough difference-maker that it’s worth tracking.

Snapshots: Dave Andrews Retirement, Hub Elimination, Flames, Gritty

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Dave Andrews is serving his final day as President and CEO of the AHL. Congratulations have filtered in throughout the day. Former player and current TV analyst Mike McKenna wrote via Twitter, “…You always had time for the players and considered us in league decisions when possible…then you’d beat us on the tennis court and share a drink after. Enjoy retirement, you’ve earned it!” It’s unfortunate that Andrews has to end his tenure with a season cut short, but it’s a testament to his impact on the game that many people thought first of him when the season was canceled, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. Andrews has served as the President of the AHL since 1994. The longtime executive will remain involved in helping the AHL forge a return-to-play plan. Patrick Williams, AHL beat writer for NHL.com, will be tracking congratulations to Andrews throughout the day. Let’s check-in elsewhere around the hockey world…

  • Los Angeles appears to be out of the running for the NHL’s hub cities, tweets TSN’s Bob McKenzie. It’s unclear if this decision was inspired by the recent uptick of coronavirus cases in Los Angeles and California, though it’s safe to assume it was a factor. Vegas, Chicago, Edmonton, and Toronto are the four remaining options to host the NHL’s 2020 postseason.
  • There will be a new face in camp as the Calgary Flames prepare for their potential Stanley Cup Qualifier with the 9-seeded Winnipeg Jets. The Flames extended an invitation to prospect Adam Ruzicka, who plans to join the club next week, per The Athletic’s Scott Cruickshank. The 21-year-old Slovak was a fourth-round pick of the Flames in 2017. Ruzicka notched 27 points (10 goals) for the Stockton Heat in 2019-2020.
  • In undoubtedly the most important NHL news of the day, Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty has a new look. The notoriously unkempt Philly native received the Queer Eye treatment, per NHL.com. Given the level of global fear amid health concerns and civil unrest, Gritty will perhaps face some criticism for leaning into this public pampering – but with the Queer Eye crew in Philadelphia for their fifth season on Netflix, Gritty found himself nominated for a makeover by none other than his close confidant and mentor, the Philly Phanatic. Luckily, Gritty took the nomination in stride, a testament to his character, given that the 43-year-old Phanatic started dying his hair last year –  a rather embarrassing display of public vanity from the Hall of Fame mascot.

Snapshots: Hurricanes’ Roster Decisions, Avalanche’s Rantanen

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The Carolina Hurricanes are going to be deeper and healthier than they’ve been all season for the Stanley Cup Qualifier matchup with the New York Rangers, assuming the NHL reboot kicks off on time. In particular, the Canes should be well-positioned to defend the goal. Coach Rod Brind’Amour, however, isn’t sure which particular bodies he’ll position in front of the net, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com. Petr Mrazek will most likely be in goal, but Brind’Amour needs eyes-on before he can set the lineups. Per Rosen, Brind’Amour said of starting Mrazek, “He may be in rough shape. I don’t know until I get to see them and see what they’re like.” 

  • The Hurricanes will also get the benefit of a beefed-up defensive unit. Dougie Hamilton was expected to be out for the year, prompting the acquisitions of Brady Skjei and Sami Vatanen. Thanks to the extended layoff, Hamilton will have the chance to play alongside his replacements. Rosen notes that Brett Pesce, who was also out for the season, is also expected to be ready for camp. Carolina has upwards of nine viable blueliners to deploy across three lines, per Rosen. Vatanen has yet to appear with the Hurricanes, and given their depth, it may be late to break him into the rotation. That said, the entire process will be an exercise in on-ice chemistry in fast-forward, so roster decisions could very well come down to who looks game-ready when the time comes. As our own Brian La Rose wrote recently, “When you add them to a back end that also features veterans Jaccob Slavin, Joel Edmundson, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Jake Gardiner, you get a very deep back end. “
  • Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche took to the ice today with teammates for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury on February 17th against the Tampa Bay Lightning, per NHL.com. Rantanen, 23, was well on his way to another 30-goal season when he was placed on IR. The Finish winger ended the year with 19 goals and 22 assists across 42 games. The Avalanche will return to the ice via a round-robin tournament to determine playoff seeding with other Western Conference stalwarts the St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights, and Dallas Stars.

Snapshots: CBA, Little, Fossier

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Extended labor peace may be at hand, reports ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. Wyshynski has been told by sources that the NHL and NHLPA are closing in on an agreement to extend the collective bargaining agreement. This new deal would also answer questions as to how the losses incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pause will be remedied. The players are expected to vote soon on both the new CBA and the league’s return-to-play proposal, with both requiring a majority vote from all players. Wyshynski writes that some believe that this vote could occur this weekend, but that other believe that is too optimistic. Regardless, the current CBA’s September 2022 expiration date no longer seems to be much of an issue and the new agreement is expected to be six years in length, maintaining labor peace through the 2025-26 season.

  • Bryan Little will not be back with the Winnipeg Jets this season, writes Paul Friesen of The Winnipeg Sun. The Jets have stated that Little will not return to action even after the league’s pause comes to an end and the postseason tournament begins. Little has been out since November with a concussion and punctured eardrum suffered from a shot to the head. Concussion symptoms had lingered and Little underwent surgery on his ear in March, so under normal conditions he was unlikely to play again this season. However, any hope that this extended pause in the season would allow him to return for the playoffs has been shot down. The good news is that Little tells Friesen that he is “feeling pretty good” and the veteran Jet should be ready to return for the start of next season.
  • The AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs have made a notable splash, signing University of Maine star Mitchell Fossier to a one-year contract. Fossier, 23, was expected to have some NHL interest but apparently will have to do some more work to get to the top level. At Maine this season, Fossier led the team and set a personal best with 42 points in 34 games as the Black Bears pushed for NCAA Tournament inclusion before the season was shut down. Fossier showed ample scoring ability in his four collegiate seasons and should be able to translate that ability to the pros.

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