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Snapshots: Eller, Panthers, Mikheyev

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Washington Capitals forward Lars Eller has decided against opting out of the return to play tournament, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be there for the whole thing. Eller told reporters including Greg Wyshynski of ESPN that he will leave the “bubble” at some point for the birth of his child. The expected due date is August 8th, right in the middle of the qualification round that the Capitals will not be taking part in.

As Wyshynski explains, leaving the bubble is relatively easy—it requires extenuating circumstances like the birth of a child and a GM’s approval—getting back in is not. Eller will be subject to several tests before being allowed to return, including a potential 14-day quarantine depending on where they have traveled.

Pontus Aberg Signs In KHL

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When the Toronto Maple Leafs recently released their training camp roster for the qualification round, there was a notable absence—at least in terms of depth players. Pontus Aberg, who had been one of the team’s injury recalls during the season, was not found on the list. Perhaps now we know why, as Aberg has signed a one-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL. Earlier this spring there were reports that Aberg had been offered a deal, though it wasn’t clear at that point which organization was trying to bring him overseas.

Though he spent only five games in a Maple Leafs sweater this season, the 26-year old Aberg dominated at the minor league level once again. Scoring 20 goals and 44 points in 55 games for the Toronto Marlies, it was easy to expect his name as a reserve option for the upcoming tournament. Instead, the two sides will part ways for now with Aberg heading overseas to try and get his career back on track.

Originally selected 37th overall by the Nashville Predators, Aberg was once a promising young forward with oodles of offensive potential. His presence was felt in the 2016-17 playoffs when he stepped into a larger role on the injury-riddled Predators and helped them reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Unfortunately, his NHL playing time has wavered ever since, with only 132 regular season games under his belt to this point.

The Maple Leafs can retain Aberg’s rights temporarily by issuing him a qualifying offer this summer, but it’s hard to know if he will ever get another legitimate chance in the NHL.

Snapshots: Anderson, Kaprizov, Pelech, Cizikas, Petan

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have 33 players on their training camp roster, which will force them to cut two players. However, one roster spot may already be claimed by a player not even on the training camp roster in Josh Anderson. The forward has been out with a left shoulder injury since December and had surgery on March 2. While he was deemed to be out for the season in March, that could change if Columbus can make a playoff run, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required).

Anderson was given a four to six-month recovery period after his surgery. It’s already been four months and six months should hit in early September, so there is a chance the 26-year-old could be fully healthy any time before then. The team could use the winger’s grit. He scored 27 goals and recorded 214 hits in 2018-19, but struggled before his injury posting just one goal in 26 games along with 68 hits. Regardless, he could be a valuable addition to a team hoping to pull off more upsets like it did a year ago.

  • The Minnesota Wild are expected to burn the first year of Russian prospect Kirill Kaprizov’s entry-level contract, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. Teams have a 53-hour window, starting tomorrow, to sign their prospects to a 2019-20 deal, which would burn that first year. Russo writes that general manager Bill Guerin indicated the team is willing to agree to that if they can get the 23-year-old to sign on the dotted line. Kaprizov, considered to be one of the top players playing outside the NHL, would not be allowed to play in this year’s playoffs. However, Guerin said that he would want to bring him over and get him acclimated and he would be allowed to practice with the team during Phases 3 & 4.. Kaprizov scored 33 goals in 57 games with CSKA Moscow of the KHL this year. The Athletic’s Arthur Staple followed Russo’s report up with the same sentiments for New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin.
  • The New York Islanders and head coach Barry Trotz are expecting to get back two injured players for the 24-team tournament. NHL.com’s Sasha Kandrach writes that defenseman Adam Pelech and center Casey Cizikas are both expected to be healthy for training camp. “I don’t get to see them a whole lot if at all,” Trotz said. “But I did get a peek or two of them when heading to our meeting site — they seem like they’re in really good shape. With Adam’s injury and the length of time, he might be in the best shape. He’s had to rehab right through the summer and had to be on the ice. Same with Casey in getting back.” Pelech has been recovering from surgery to his Achilles Tendon since Jan. 2, while Cizikas has been out since Feb. 12 after suffering a leg laceration. Pelech averaged heavy minutes on New York’s blueline with 21:01 of ATOI, while Cizikas has been the center for their fourth-line checking line.
  • Not long after the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t include forward Nic Petan on its training camp roster, general manager Kyle Dubas announced that Petan is now fit to play and is expected to be placed on the roster with forward Mac Hollowell being removed, according to NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger. Petan was left off the intitial roster that the Maple Leafs released and should be a solid depth option for Toronto after the 25-year-old appeared in 16 games for the Maple Leafs.

Atlantic Notes: Alzner, Bruins, Petan, Johnsson, Foote

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The Montreal Canadiens announced that defenseman Karl Alzner has chosen to opt out of the Return to Play Plan and will sit out both Phases 3 & 4. The decision isn’t a big surprise, considering that he wasn’t likely to receive much, if any playing time and has young children at home.

Alzner has been quite a disappointment since general manager Marc Bergevin signed the veteran defenseman to a five-year, $23.1MM deal back in 2017. He struggled in his first year with the Canadiens and since then has appeared in just 13 games with the team mostly keeping his contract buried in the AHL. He played 53 games with the Laval Rocket this year, compared to just four NHL games.

  • Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said that he will speak to all of his upcoming restricted and unrestricted free agents throughout the Return to Play and said that if signing someone to an extension makes sense, he will do that, according to Matt Porter of the Boston Globe. The team has a number of unrestricted free agents, including Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, Kevan Miller and Joakim Nordstrom as well as a few key RFA’s, including Jake Debrusk, Anders Bjork, Zachary Senyshyn, Karson Kuhlman, Matt Grzelcyk, Jakub Zboril and Dan Vladar. NBC Sports’ Joe Haggerty adds that Sweeney said he was not going to be aggressive about potential re-signings. While a Krug signing would seem unlikely, especially with the league planning to stick to a $81.5MM flat cap next season, the team may be forced to let some of those players go unless they can get some players to take lesser contracts.
  • With the Toronto Maple Leafs’ training camp roster released, there were few surprises on their list, although The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler noted the absence of forward Nic Petan. The 25-year-old did spend more time with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, but still played 16 games with the Maple Leafs and was having a solid offensive year with the Marlies (10 goals, 31 points in 25 games). NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger also points out that with a six-month timeline for his knee injury, the team will not see forward Andreas Johnsson during the Return to Play until possibly the second round.
  • Perhaps the biggest surprise on the roster for the Tampa Bay Lightning was defenseman Cal Foote. The 21-year-old wrapped up his second pro season with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required) writes that while there is no guarantee that Foote will see any playing time, but with the Lightning’s cap situation for next season, there is a strong chance he makes the team for the 2020-21 season and could use the practice time as a learning experience.

 

Several NHL Teams Release Training Camp Rosters

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With training camps expected to open tomorrow for the upcoming 24-team tournament, teams have been given until Monday at 6 p.m. CT to get their rosters handed into the league. Several teams have released their lists early. The rosters will be updated throughout the day as other teams post their selections. Training camp rosters are limited to 30 players plus an unlimited number of goalies.

Arizona Coyotes (via team tweet):
Forwards: Brayden Burke, Michael Chaput, Lawson Crouse, Christian Dvorak, Hudson Fasching, Christian Fischer, Conor Garland, Michael Grabner, Taylor Hall, Barrett Hayton, Vinnie Hinostroza, Clayton Keller, Phil Kessel, Brad Richardson, Nick Schmaltz, Carl Soderberg, Derek Stepan.
Defensemen: Kyle Capobianco, Jakob Chychrun, Jason Demers, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Alex Goligoski, Jordan Gross, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Ilya Lyubushkin, Aaron Ness, Jordan Oesterle, Victor Soderstrom.
Goalies: Adin Hill, Darcy Kuemper, Ivan Prosvetov, Antti Raanta.

Boston Bruins (via team tweet):
Forwards: Patrice Bergeron, Anders Bjork, Anton Blidh, Paul Carey, Charlie Coyle, Jake Debrusk, Trent Frederic, Ondrej Kase, David Krejci, Sean Kuraly, Karson Kuhlman, Par Lindholm, Brad Marchand, Joakim Nordstrom, David Pastrnak, Nick Ritchie, Zachary Senyshyn, Jack Studnicka, Chris Wagner.
Defensemen: Brandon Carlo, Zdeno Chara, Connor Clifton, Matt Grzelcyk, Torey Krug, Jeremy Lauzon, Charlie McAvoy, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril.
Goalies: Jaroslav Halak, Maxime Lagace, Tuukka Rask, Dan Vladar.

Calgary Flames (via team release):
Forwards: Mikael Backlund, Sam Bennett, Austin Czarnik, Dillon Dube, Byron Froese, Johnny Gaudreau, Glenn Gawdin, Mark Jankowski, Elias Lindholm, Milan Lucic, Andrew Mangiapane, Sean Monahan, Matthew Phillips, Alan Quine, Tobias Rieder, Zac Rinaldo, Buddy Robinson, Adam Ruzicka, Derek Ryan, Matthew Tkachuk.
Defensemen: Rasmus Andersson, T.J. Brodie, Derek Forbort, Mark Giordano, Erik Gustafsson, Noah Hanifin, Oliver Kylington, Connor Mackey, Michael Stone, Juuso Valimaki, Alexander Yelesin.
Goalies: Jon Gillies, David Rittich, Cam Talbot, Artyom Zagidulin.

Carolina Hurricanes (via team tweet):
Forwards: Sebastian Aho, Ryan Dzingel, Warren Foegele, Morgan Geekie, Steven Lorentz, Jordan Martinook, Max McCormick, Brock McGinn, Martin Necas, Nino Niederreiter, Jordan Staal, Ryan Suzuki, Andrei Svechnikov, Teuvo Teravainen, Vincent Trocheck, Justin Williams.
Defensemen: Jake Bean, Joel Edmundson, Haydn Fleury, Jake Gardiner, Dougie Hamilton, Brady Skjei, Jaccob Slavin, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Sami Vatanen.
Goalies: Anton Forsberg, Petr Mrazek, Alex Nedeljkovic, James Reimer.
Injured: Brett Pesce.

Columbus Blue Jackets (via team release):
Forwards: Cam Atkinson, Emil Bemstrom, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Nick Foligno, Liam Foudy, Nathan Gerbe, Boone Jenner, Ryan MacInnis, Stefan Matteau, Riley Nash, Gustav Nyquist, Eric Robinson, Kole Sherwood, Devin Shore, Kevin Stenlund, Alexandre Texier, Alexander Wennberg.
Defensemen: Gabriel Carlsson, Adam Clendening, Vladislav Gavrikov, Scott Harrington, Seth Jones, Dean Kukan, Ryan Murray, Markus Nutivaara, Andrew Peeke, David Savard, Zach Werenski.
Goalies: Matiss Kivlenieks, Joonas Korpisalo, Elvis Merzlikins, Veini Vehvilainen.

Dallas Stars (via team release):
Forwards: Jamie Benn, Nicholas Caamano, Andrew Cogliano, Blake Comeau, Ty Dellandrea, Jason Dickinson, Justin Dowling, Radek Faksa, Rhett Gardner, Denis Gurianov, Roope Hintz, Mattias Janmark, Joel Kiviranta, Joel L’Esperance, Joe Pavelski, Corey Perry, Alexander Radulov, Jason Robertson, Tyler Seguin.
Defensemen: Gavin Bayreuther, Taylor Fedun, Joel Hanley, Thomas Harley, Dillon Heatherington, Miro Heiskanen, Stephen Johns, John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Jamie Oleksiak, Andrej Sekera.
Goalies: Ben Bishop, Landon Bow, Anton Khudobin, Jake Oettinger, Colton Point.

Edmonton Oilers (via team release):
Forwards: Josh Archibald, Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Benson, Alex Chiasson, Leon Draisaitl, Gaetan Haas, Tyler Ennis, Zack Kassian, Jujhar Khaira, Cooper Marody, Connor McDavid, Ryan McLeod, James Neal, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Joakim Nygard, Patrick Russell, Riley Sheahan, Kailer Yamamoto.
Defensemen: Ethan Bear, Matt Benning, Evan Bouchard, Philip Broberg, Caleb Jones, Oscar Klefbom, William Lagesson, Adam Larsson, Darnell Nurse, Kris Russell.
Goalies: Mikko Koskinen, Olivier Rodrigue, Stuart Skinner, Mike Smith, Dylan Wells.

Minnesota Wild (via team release):
Forwards: Sam Anas, J.T. Brown, Ryan Donato, Joel Eriksson Ek, Kevin Fiala, Marcus Foligno, Alex Galchenyuk, Jordan Greenway, Ryan Hartman, Luke Johnson, Mikko Koivu, Luke Kunin, Gerald Mayhew, Zach Parise, Victor Rask, Kyle Rau, Eric Staal, Nico Sturm, Mats Zuccarello.
Defensemen: Calen Addison, Matt Bartkowski, Louis Belpedio, Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba, Brad Hunt, Brennan Menell, Carson Soucy, Jared Spurgeon, Ryan Suter.
Goalies: Devan Dubnyk, Kaapo Kahkonen, Mat Robson, Alex Stalock. Injured: Greg Pateryn.

Pittsburgh Penguins (via team release):
Forwards: Anthony Angello, Zach Aston-Reese, Teddy Blueger, Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Patric Hornqvist, Adam Johnson, Sam Lafferty, Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Marleau, Jared McCann, Sam Miletic, Samuel Poulin, Evan Rodrigues, Bryan Rust, Conor Sheary, Brandon Tanev, Phil Varone, Jason Zucker.
Defensemen: Kevin Czuczman, Brian Dumoulin, Jack Johnson, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Kris Letang, John Marino, Marcus Pettersson, Juuso Riikola, Chad Ruhwedel, Justin Schultz.
Goalies: Casey DeSmith, Alex D’Orio, Tristan Jarry, Emil Larmi, Matt Murray.

Tampa Bay Lightning (via team release):
Forwards: Alex Barre-Boulet, Anthony Cirelli, Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow, Yanni Gourde, Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, Pat Maroon, Ondrej Palat, Cedric Paquette, Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos, Mitchell Stephens, Carter Verhaeghe, Alexander Volkov, Mathieu Joseph, Gemel Smith, Luke Witkowski.
Defensemen: Zach Bogosian, Erik Cernak, Braydon Coburn, Cal Foote, Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Jan Rutta, Luke Schenn, Mikhail Sergachev, Kevin Shattenkirk.
Goalies: Spencer Martin, Curtis McElhinney, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Scott Wedgewood.

Toronto Maple Leafs (via team tweet):
Forwards: Kenny Agostino, Adam Brooks, Kyle Clifford, Pierre Engvall, Tyler Gaudet, Frederik Gauthier, Zach Hyman, Kasperi Kapanen, Alexander Kerfoot, Egor Korshkov, Denis Malgin, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, Ilya Mikheyev, William Nylander, Nic Petan, Nicholas Robertson, Jason Spezza, John Tavares.
Defensemen: Tyson Barrie, Cody Ceci, Travis Dermott, Justin Holl, Teemu Kivihalme, Timothy Liljegren, Martin Marincin, Jake Muzzin, Morgan Rielly, Calle Rosen, Rasmus Sandin.
Goalies: Frederik Andersen, Jack Campbell, Kasimir Kaskisuo, Joseph Woll.

Vancouver Canucks (via team release):
Forwards: Justin Bailey, Jay Beagle, Brock Boeser, Loui Eriksson, Micheal Ferland, Adam Gaudette, Tyler Graovac, Bo Horvat, Kole Lind, Zack MacEwen, J.T. Miller, Tyler Motte, Tanner Pearson, Elias Pettersson, Antoine Roussel, Brandon Sutter, Tyler Toffoli, Jake Virtanen.
Defensemen: Jordie Benn, Guillaume Brisebois, Jalen Chatfield, Alexander Edler, Oscar Fantenberg, Quinn Hughes, Olli Juolevi, Tyler Myers, Brogan Rafferty, Ashton Sautner, Troy Stecher, Chris Tanev.
Goalies: Thatcher Demko, Micheal DiPietro; Louis Domingue, Jacob Markstrom.

Vegas Golden Knights (via team release):
Forwards: Patrick Brown, William Carrier, Nick Cousins, Reid Duke, William Karlsson, Keegan Kolesar, Peyton Krebs, Jonathan Marchessault, Tomas Nosek, Gage Quinney, Max Pacioretty, Ryan Reaves, Nicolas Roy, Reilly Smith, Paul Stastny, Chandler Stephenson, Mark Stone, Alex Tuch.
Defensemen: Jake Bischoff, Dylan Coghlan, Deryk Engelland, Nicolas Hague, Nick Holden, Alec Martinez, Brayden McNabb, Jonathon Merrill, Nate Schmidt, Jimmy Schuldt, Shea Theodore, Zach Whitecloud.
Goalies: Oscar Dansk, Marc-Andre Fleury, Robin Lehner.

 

Minor Transactions: 07/09/20

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The NHL off-season may not be starting until October this year, but AHL free agency is alive and well. While the league has not yet shared their plans for the 2020-21 season, that hasn’t stopped teams from extending players, signing new ones, and even importing players from overseas. Here are some recent notable minor league deals:

  • Defenseman Keaton Middleton has signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Eagles, the team announced, but the Avalanche and GM Joe Sakic definitely had a hand in this signing. A former captain of the Saginaw Spirit and OHL All-Star, Middleton has the makings of a future NHLer. At 6’5” and 234 lbs., Middleton is a true shutdown defenseman who plays a strong defensive game. His size and strength earned him a fourth-round selection by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016, but the club opted not to sign him. However, his past two seasons with the San Jose Barracuda has shown that he has pro chops. Middleton was a +18 and added 26 points in 102 AHL games. The 22-year-old now moves to Colorado where he can continue to refine his two-way game in hopes of landing an NHL contract next summer.
  • Nathanael Halbert is getting another go with the Laval Rocket. The former QMJHL defenseman who spent the past four years at McGill University played in five games at the end of the season with Laval and apparently did enough to impress the club into extending him for one year, according to a team release. The 24-year-old has never been known for his regular season production, but his playoff numbers at the college and junior level show that he has that valuable clutch gene. A native of Nottingham, England, Halbert hopes to be an unlikely hero for Laval this season and possibly beyond.
  • Making his way back to North America is journeyman forward Jesse Mychan. The 28-year-old winger has signed a one-year deal with the Iowa Wild, as reported by his agency. Mychan is no stranger to the AHL, having suited up for ten games over three separate stints and nearly 200 more games in the ECHL. However, he has spent time in Wales, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and most recently Denmark over the past few years. An experienced pro who has found great success in the ECHL in the past and starred for Denmark’s Esbjerg Energy for the past two year, Mychan hopes he is finally ready for an extended AHL stay in 2020-21.

Poll: Who Is Most Deserving Of The No. 1 Pick?

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We asked and you voted and the Pittsburgh Penguins are the team that readers least want to see win the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft by means of a second draft lottery. The Penguins were closely followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers and unsurprisingly these are three teams loaded with star power who finished in the top-five among teams in the qualifying round. Yet, the Carolina Hurricanes, who hold the second best record among qualifying round teams, gained just 1% of the vote, while the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks, the worst teams to qualify from each conference, finished fourth and fifth respectively in voting. This begs the question: who do you think is most deserving of the top pick?

Obviously, with the NHL Draft Lottery playing out as it did with each of the league’s bottom seven teams missing out on the top slot, the most deserving teams like the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, or Buffalo Sabres won’t be an option for No. 1 this year. Instead, it will be one of the to-be-determined playoff teams out of the 16 who will play in a “knockout round” to open the expanded 24-team playoff field. All of these teams finished above .500 this season, so a good team will only get better in the form of Alexis Lafreniere, the elite talent at the top of the draft board. All eight losers of the qualifying round will have even odds in a second running of the lottery, but which franchise is most deserving of this boost?

The NHL has no shortage of teams with a history of losing, but the Florida Panthers have a strong argument for the title of unluckiest. Florida, who entered the league in 1993, has just 18 playoff wins in franchise history. A dozen of those wins came in the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996, in which they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche. The remaining six wins have come in just four playoff series over the past 22 season, none of which have been won by the Cats. This series win drought is the longest current streak in the NHL. The team has also struggled with attendance over the years, due both to location and performance. The Panthers finished just 29th in capacity attendance this season and could use a young star player to draw more fans. The current Florida roster is not without talent but is strapped for cap space and set to lose some strong players in free agency. An affordable entry level deal for a top pick would go a long way to keep the Panthers competitive in the Atlantic Division.

The Winnipeg Jets have improved since moving from Atlanta, but the team’s legacy is still one of failure. The Thrashers franchise, which has since become the second iteration of the Jets, entered the league in 1999. In 19 seasons, the club has qualified for the playoffs just four times and has won only 11 games and two series. Like the Panthers, the bulk of those wins came in just one postseason as the Jets won nine games in 2017-18. Unlike Florida, they have never appeared in a Stanley Cup Final. The Jets playoff fortunes have increased since leaving Atlanta, where they failed to win a single postseason game in more than a decade. The club may be able to figure out how to get to their first Cup Final without luck, but playing in a remote city with a passionate but small fan base limits the Jets financially and they could definitely use an affordable superstar like Lafreniere, even though the roster already contains a number of strong young players.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have an identical 11-20 playoff record to the Thrashers/Jets and seeing as how they entered the league one year later in 2000, it would seem they have been slightly more successful. Additionally, all of those wins have come within the past six seasons and the team has qualified in each of the past three years. However, the Blue Jackets have the unfortunate distinction of never coming close to a Stanley Cup in a way that no other NHL team can claim. Columbus has won just one playoff series – just last year in fact – in their existence, the fewest in NHL history, and in that season was eliminated ten wins short of a title, the furthest distance that any team can claim is their best. Columbus also lost three of their best players from the team that finally won a series last season. The Blue Jackets may be improving, but their fans have seen less playoff success than any team in the NHL and their roster is not one that seem likely to produce a Stanley Cup any time soon. Lafreniere would be a boost to the franchise the likes of which have never been seen.

The Blue Jackets’ partners in the 2000 Expansion class, the Minnesota Wild presented a return to the State of Hockey for the NHL and have always had the benefit of immense fan support. Yet, the Wild have struggled to give their fans much to truly root for. While their 26 playoff wins since they entered the league is far better than some of their peers, Minnesota has never made it to the Stanley Cup Final and were swept out of their lone Western Conference Final appearance, which came back in 2002-03. Minnesota has largely been a one-and-done team, winning just four playoff series in their existence. Regular season success can only get you so far and it would be good for the team and the league for Minnesota to see some more results in the postseason. The timing could not be better to land Lafreniere either; the Wild snapped a six-season playoff appearance streak last year and their roster is one of the oldest in the league. The team could desperately use a young centerpiece.

The original Winnipeg Jets, who moved to Phoenix and became the Arizona Coyotes in 1996, also deserve inclusion among teams who could use some luck. The Coyotes franchise is the oldest to have never appeared in a Stanley Cup Final, dating back to the Jets’ birth in 1979-80. In that time, they have just 41 playoff wins overall have qualified for the postseason just three times in the past 16 years. They have one of the longest active postseason droughts in the NHL, dating back seven years. The team also has the very unfortunate distinction of having the highest cap payroll in the league this season while placing just 28th in capacity percentage attendance. While star players have been a part of the franchise from time to time throughout its history, the current roster is lacking a young superstar, which is exactly what they need to increase fan interest as well as affordably improve their roster. Lafreniere would be the perfect fit.

As for other teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs have the longest active Stanley Cup drought at 51 years and are second only two Florida with a playoff series win drought of 14 years, so while they have a young, loaded roster, they may still deserve some sympathy. Similarly, while the Montreal Canadiens are the winningest team in NHL history and don’t need any more titles just yet, they are technically the worst team in the qualifying round and could desperately use the boost, as maintaining relevancy in the 21st century has proved difficult for the once-great franchise. The Vancouver Canucks are the oldest team never to have won the Stanley Cup and got painfully close with a Game Seven loss in the 2011 Final and have not won a series ever since. The Nashville Predators have also never won the Stanley Cup, but have gotten close. Like several other teams, sustained success in Nashville would have a beneficial affect on grassroots hockey. Finally, the New York Islanders are a strong team this year and have staying power in the Metropolitan Division, but their glory days of the 80’s are long gone and they have not made a Cup Final appearance in 35 seasons. Lafreniere landing in the New York market could also be great exposure for the game.

What do you think? Which team is most deserving of the No. 1 pick?

[Mobile users vote here]

One Trade The Maple Leafs Would Like To Have Back

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In the summer of 2006, the Toronto Maple Leafs decided not to pick up a contract option on 41-year-old Ed Belfour. Totaling three seasons as resident netminder in Toronto, Belfour spent much of his final season in Toronto hampered by a balky back. He was limited to 49 games in 2005-2006 and a substandard .892 save percentage. GM-at-the-time John Ferguson Jr. probably made the right call moving on from Belfour (though Belfour would bounceback somewhat in his one and only season with the Florida Panthers before retiring) – where Ferguson and the Maple Leafs erred was in choosing Belfour’s successor.

Looking ahead, the Maple Leafs had two goalie prospects to dream on: Tuukka Rask and Justin Pogge. Unfortunately, neither Rask, 19, nor Pogge, 20, were ready to step between the pipes. Thus, Ferguson Jr. moved to deal from a position of future depth to secure a near-term solution. Toronto traded Rask to the Boston Bruins in a straight-up swap for 26-year-old goaltender Andrew Raycroft.

On its face, the deal made some sense for both sides: Rask had been a recent first-round pick, #21 overall of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, while Raycroft came to Toronto decorated as the 2003-2004 Calder Trophy winner as the league’s top rookie. The Bruins were run at the time by interim General Manager Jeff Gorton (now the GM of the New York Rangers), who said this of the deal: “We had an opportunity, with three good, solid goaltenders who are all number one goalies in the NHL, and they couldn’t all play for us. Andrew had some value and we were able to move him for a player we really like, who is along the lines of Hannu Toivonen.” 

Of course, Toivonen would be traded to St. Louis the following season for Carl Soderberg. He’d start 17 games for the Blues in 2007-2008 and never again appear in the NHL. So while the comparison wasn’t as apt as Gorton intended, his point was clear. Nevermind that it’s a little curious for Gorton to trade for a player in Rask whom he would describe as being, essentially, “similar to the other guy we already have,” so it’s possible Gorton knew more about the organization’s future intentions than he let on at the time.

More to the point, perhaps, was that the Bruins had made their choice about their starting goalie. A month before the Rask/Raycroft swap, Boston extended Tim Thomas with a three-year deal. The late-blossoming Thomas was primed to take over after 38 games and 2.77 GAA in 2005-2006.

Thomas was the Bruins’ chosen goalie moving forward, and he would take the heft of the timeshare as Rask came of age through the 2011-2012 season. Thomas was a four-time All-Star and two-time Vezina Trophy winner, including in 2011, when he took two-thirds of the timeshare en route to a Stanley Cup. Rask played a key role in getting that Bruins team through the regular season, but it was Thomas who steered the ship to the Cup. He took home the Conny Smythe Trophy as the oldest player ever to win the playoff MVP award. Unfortunately, his political views became a distraction in the following seasons – but Gorton’s trade with the Maple Leafs in the summer of 2006 provided Thomas’ heir apparent.

Rask took over as the primary goalie in 2013-2014, leading the league in shutouts and winning the Vezina Trophy. He’s been one of the top goaltenders in the league ever since. Fourteen years later, Rask and Jaroslav Halak will share the Jennings Trophy this year, combining to allow just 2.24 GAA for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins. Rask has been a huge part of the Bruins’ success over the years in keeping Boston competitive. He put up a .934 save percentage in the postseason last year, helping the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final. Rask has twice gotten the Bruins to the Stanley Cup since taking over as the primary goaltender, losing to the Blackhawks in 2013 and the Blues in 2019.

Back in Toronto, it’s been a long and winding road to current netminder Frederik Andersen. Andersen has settled in for Toronto, making his first all-star team in 2019-2020, his fourth season in Toronto. But even Andersen came at a cost: a 1st and 2nd round pick to Anaheim in the summer of 2016.

Raycroft, meanwhile, served up a league-high 205 goals in the 2006-2007 season for the Maple Leafs. His numbers would only get worse the year after, 3.92 GAA and a .876 save percentage. He left Toronto after a season and a half with a .890 save percentage and a 39-34-14 record. Pogge never developed to take the throne either. Six starts during the 2007-2008 season make up the entirety of his NHL career. He’d bounce around the AHL for a couple of seasons but never make it back to the NHL.

In the interim between Belfour and Andersen, the Leafs cycled through a number of unspectacular puck-stoppers: Jonas Gustavsson, Raycroft, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Vesa Toskala, Garret Sparks, and Ben Scrivens each took a turn, but James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier had the most successful runs. Bernier made 140 mostly forgettable starts with a .915 save percentage from 2013 to 2016, and Reimer – who helped end Toronto’s playoff drought in 2012-2013 – took his office hours in the Toronto net for 196 starts and a .914 save percentage from 2011 to 2016.

But none quite rises to the level of Rask, who has stabilized the Boston goal for an entire era of Bruins’ hockey. For the Bruins, dealing for Rask was one of their better deals of the last twenty years. For the Maple Leafs, they’d probably like to have this one back.

That said, John Ferguson Jr., the GM who made the deal for Toronto, has probably made his peace with the deal: he’s currently the Executive Director of Player Personnel for – you guessed it – the Boston Bruins.

Next Steps To Finalizing Toronto and Edmonton As Hub Cities

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It’s been a long and arduous journey, and there’s plenty more road left to clear, but it appears as if the NHL and NHLPA have a framework in place to settle all their outstanding issues, writes TSN’s Frank Seravalli. The deal has yet to be finalized, but when it is, it’s expected to include an extension of the current CBA, some of which we went over here, as well as the final details of the return-to-play initiative. Plus, of course, there’s the final announcement about the hub cities.

Multiple sources at the Athletic, however, confirm Bob McKenzie of TSN’s initial report that marked Toronto and Edmonton as the NHL’s chosen locations for hub play, per The Athletic’s Michael Russo. The 12 participating teams from the Western Conference would play in Edmonton, with the 12 Eastern Conference clubs headed to Toronto. Of course, that means that both the Maple Leafs and Oilers will have the “advantage” of playing in their home city. The NHL doesn’t view this as much of an advantage, however, given that fans won’t be in attendance. Besides, there’s at least a chance that neither the Oilers nor the Maple Leafs would advance past the Qualifier round.

Not to mention, there remain obstacles to finalizing the plan as currently constituted. Seravalli kindly laid out the next steps: “Once a deal is finalized, it will require ratification votes from both the NHLPA’s full membership and the NHL’s Board of Governors, which could come as soon as this weekend. A simple majority vote is needed from the NHLPA; a two-thirds vote is required from the BOG.”

Still, after hemming and hawing for weeks to finalize these details, it does appear as if the NHL and NHLPA are close to pulling off the monumental task of coming to an accord in just a manner of days.

Poll: Who Do You Least Want To See Win The No. 1 Pick?

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If Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly’s face didn’t give it away during Friday night’s NHL Draft Lottery, this result was not what the league was expecting or hoping for. In a season when a decorated Original Six franchise, the Detroit Red Wings, had one of the worst campaigns of all-time and the league’s most downtrodden franchise, the Ottawa Senators, had not one but two high-percentage chances of winning the top pick, the No. 1 overall selection will instead go to a to-be-determined “playoff” team.

With the league expanding the postseason field to 24 teams this season as a result of COVID-19 cutting the regular season short, 16 teams will vie for a chance to move through a “knockout round” onto a more standard version of the NHL playoffs. However, now those same 16 teams, all of whom finished above .500 this season, will also be in the running to win the top overall pick and the right to select a generational talent in forward Alexis Lafreniere. All eight losers of the qualifying round will have even odds in a second running of the lottery and one lucky team will get playoff experience and an elite young player this season. No one is going to be truly happy with the result (apart from the lottery winner and their fans of course) but who would you least like to see win the top overall pick?

The Pittsburgh Penguins might be at the top of many peoples’ lists. The franchise has won three Stanley Cups in the last decade and no one would be surprised to see them win again this year, especially given the fact that they finished  the regular season in seventh league-wide in points percentage. The Penguins are the best team slated to play in the knockout round, but if by some chance they lose to the Montreal Canadiens, Lafreniere could potentially join Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and company in a move that could extend the dynasty for years still to come. The thought of the talented young winger playing beside either of those superstars would be daunting to every other team in the league.

Finishing just behind Pittsburgh with the ninth-best points percentage in the league this year were the Carolina Hurricanes. The club has quietly accumulated a deep, talented roster including a number of elite young players. Carolina is set to contend for titles for many years to come, but Lafreniere would make them truly dangerous. Like the Penguins, the Hurricanes simply do not need the best player in the draft. Keep in mind  that they were also one of just two teams to vote against the expanded postseason model, making it especially twisted if they were to reap the benefits of this one-off lottery structure. As good as the Hurricanes were at times this season, they are a popular upset pick in the qualifying round against the New York Rangers and could wind up in the lottery.

The New York Islanders finished just outside the top-ten in points percentage this season and have a deep, experienced team. They also play a sound defensive system. While it works to win games, it isn’t the most exciting strategy and could limit the upside of an explosive offensive talent like Lafreniere. On top of that, the Isles don’t even know where they will be playing their home games next season and have suffered from poor attendance in recent years. It doesn’t exactly sound like an ideal landing spot for an exciting top prospect. Fortunately, the Islanders drew a plus matchup against the Florida Panthers and should advance past the knockout round if they can stick to their smothering defensive game.

Given their luck in the draft lottery over the past decade, it’s pretty gross to think about the Edmonton Oilers being in the running for another No. 1 pick. Likely soon to be the home of two MVP’s in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers landing Lafreniere as their fifth first overall pick and ninth top-ten pick since 2010 would really be something. With an improved NHL roster and a strong pipeline of talent, the Oilers are finally starting to be self-sufficient and don’t need Lafreniere like they might have in recent year. However, if the team can’t hold off a poor Chicago Blackhawks club in the knockout round, maybe they do need the pick.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are another team that is chock full of young talent and it would be an embarrassment of riches (and embarrassing for the league) to see them land Lafreniere. While the team would be in prime shape to finally snap their Stanley Cup drought with the addition, the Leafs are already well on their way and will be contenders for years and years to come even without the top pick. Additionally, should Toronto win the lottery, there would certainly be those that would cry foul about the whole situation. The Maple Leafs face the Columbus Blue Jackets in the qualifying round in one of the more evenly matched of the upcoming series. Toronto is likely the slight favorite, but could just as easily wind up in the lottery.

The current iteration of the Chicago Blackhawks is not good. However, they are also the most dominant franchise of this decade with three Stanley Cups. It’s not east to find many outside of Chicago who have pity for the current Blackhawks given their sustained success of late. With some of those core players still in place and some exciting young pieces starting to build up, the Blackhawks may already be back on the rebound without the assistance of Lafreniere. If they make it a series with the star-studded Oilers, it will be even more evident that they don’t need a top pick to stay relevant. Like the Maple Leafs, some will also be outraged if the Blackhawks win the lottery due to the perceived favoritism shown by the league on a number of occasions in recent years.

If you really want to hear conspiracy theories though, look no further than the possibility of the Montreal Canadiens winding up with No. 1 overall. Yes, the Canadiens have no business in a playoff series and would have been in the standard draft lottery anyway, but there will be plenty who think that it is far too convenient if the Habs win the top pick when a Francophone and Quebec native is the best player on the board. It used to be that Montreal – who don’t forget have more Stanley Cups than any NHL franchise – was able to claim the best French Canadian players in the draft regardless of draft order. If that opportunity should inadvertently occur once again, plenty of people might get upset at the league despite the fact that Montreal technically is the most deserving (read: worst) of the qualifying round teams. The NHL does not want that drama right now and its most decorated club frankly does not need special treatment, perceived or otherwise.

As for the remaining teams, the Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks were all better than their records implied this season and already have elite young players, the Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes may not have the fan bases to support a young star like Lafreniere, and I’m sure there are reasons to root against the Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, and Minnesota Wild as well. If you can think of a valid reason why the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have one playoff series win in franchise history, don’t deserve a stroke of good luck, that’s fine too.

What do you think? Which team do you absolutely not want to see Lafreniere go to, either because of existing talent or complaints of foul play or for any other reason? The reality is that one of these 16 will end up with the best player on the board, which in many ways is already a loss for the league, but it can get much worse from here.

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