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Morning Notes: Glendale, Niederreiter, Halverson

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When Gary Bettman wrote a letter to Arizona lawmakers compelling them to pass Bill 1149—which would allow more than $200MM to be allocated from the state budget to build a new arena for the Coyotes closer to downtown Phoenix—he used some very strong wording. “The Coyotes cannot and will not remain in Glendale,” the Commissioner wrote in a thinly veiled threat that would hopefully force the Senate’s hand. He has received much backlash from the letter, including from a former mayor of Glendale herself, Elaine Scruggs (published by AZCentral).

Before the Coyotes moved out of downtown Phoenix they ranked 29th in attendance out of the league of 30 teams. Their first year in the Glendale Arena they ranked 19th in attendance. Attendance stayed in that tier until the floundering team started losing their disappointed fans’ support.

The truth is that the Coyotes have a world-class, taxpayer-funded arena that is designed for hockey and is only 12 years old. They have a City Council and City Manager ready to work with them to achieve an equitable long-term lease.

Scruggs makes a clear point in her letter, saying that it is not the people or city of Glendale’s fault, but the ownership groups the NHL has installed over their 19-year run. As the team struggles in last place in the Pacific Division, it is looking more and more like it won’t matter for the city that once loved their Coyotes. If they don’t get funding for another new arena, they might end up moving further than anyone—fans or the NHL—have ever wanted.

Injury Notes: Stamkos, Borowiecki, Kinkaid

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Steven Stamkos was again skating with teammates this morning, as he inches his way back to the lineup. While there is a good chance the Tampa Bay Lightning captain will return to the ice this season he might not be as effective right away. That’s what Zach Parise told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times a few weeks ago, speaking from experience. Parise had the same surgery on his knee in November of 2010, and though he returned later that year as well, didn’t feel right until the following Christmas.

I’d say it took probably a year and a half to get back to feeling back to normal. That’s what my therapist said, six months to heal, a year you feel better. But to get back to that level for me, I feel like it was almost the following Christmas.

So Stamkos, who may get a chance to help his team in a playoff race—the Lightning are just four points out with 17 games left to play—likely won’t be the elite offensive presence he’s proven to be over the past eight years. Fear not Lightning fans, though Parise says he didn’t feel right until Christmas, he still scored 30 goals and 69 points the year following surgery. It wasn’t all bad.

Gary Bettman Says Coyotes “Cannot And Will Not” Stay In Glendale

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While the Arizona legislature debates and then votes on Bill 1149, which would see public funding for a new arena for the Arizona Coyotes, Gary Bettman sent a strong letter telling the law makers that the team is not financially viable in their current Glendale location. The letter, published by KTAR News in Arizona, details the struggles the league and private ownership have had over the past fifteen years in trying to make the Coyotes work, and gives an ultimatum about their future.

For the past 15 years, a succession of ownership groups and the League have tried everything imaginable to make the Glendale location financially sustainable. Our combined efforts have all yielded the same result—a consistent economic loss. The simple truth? The Arizona Coyotes must have a new arena location to succeed. The Coyotes cannot and will not remain in Glendale.

Bettman goes on to site a study (Elliot D. Pollack & Company) that posits a new arena in downtown Phoenix or the East Valley would create over 2,500 jobs and have an impact of $600MM. Before closing his letter by outlining where exactly the new arena should be built, Bettman does include a sort of veiled-threat about the future of the Coyotes in Arizona at all.

While the Coyotes ownership has consistently promised to explore every possible option to keep the franchise in Arizona, no business can afford to be in financial and marketing limbo.

As the commissioner says, the Coyotes have long needed a new home closer to their fans and the city core. The bill as it currently stands would provide at least $225MM of public funding towards the expected cost of $395MM for a new arena, and would instantly make the Coyotes a more viable option for investors. Unfortunately the bill looks like it will not pass, as Craig Harris of AZCentral reports.

If it doesn’t go through, it doesn’t yet mean the end of the Coyotes in Arizona but it does deal them a vicious blow. With the commissioner coming out so candidly against staying in Glendale, if there is no private investor that comes to their rescue they may end up moving elsewhere. Though relocation rumors have been shot down as quickly as they’ve popped up over the past year, losing another court battle would likely spark them up again. As Harris reports, Bettman was the one who fought to keep the Coyotes in Glendale in 2009 when there was a bid to move them to Ontario—he said at the time that the right owner could make it work in the Phoenix suburb.

Snapshots: Offsides, Chayka, Eriksson

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As we reported yesterday, the GM Meetings have begun in Florida with many things on the agenda. One of them, the definition of an offside play, is one of the most splintering. While some believe that you shouldn’t mess with a rule that has existed for a long time, others realize that if video review is going to continue to take upwards of five minutes just to result in an inconclusive call, something needs to be done. Yesterday, we wrote that there may be a solution changing the definition of possession, but as Dan Rosen of NHL.com writes it may be a different change on the table.

The league is considering going to an NFL-like blue line “plane” which the player just has to have a part of his body in to be considered onside. Currently, because the rule limits a player to having a skate blade on it, it’s often impossible for the referees to determine during the review. If it was just a part of his body—like the ball crossing the goal-line—it would be much easier to tell, and hopefully reduce the review times.

  • John Chayka has been doing things a bit differently than his peers, but doesn’t want to be called a trailblazer. As Rosen writes in another fantastic piece for NHL.com, the league’s youngest GM thinks leaning towards his analytical approach is just the next step in the pursuit of reliable information. He knew, Rosen writes, that young forward Christian Dvorak would turn it around at some point because of the amount of time he had the puck on his stick even when he was struggling. After scoring just 13 points in the first half, Dvorak has 11 in his past 16 games. At just 27-years old, Chayka definitely has a concrete plan when rebuilding the Coyotes, and believes the team can compete in just two years.
  • Loui Eriksson left last night’s Vancouver Canuck game with a lower-body injury, but head coach Willie Desjardins liked the way his players stepped up. If Eriksson is held out for a few games, it will be another great chance for the young Nikolay Goldobin to move up in the lineup and make an impact right away. While Mikael Granlund has shown all season he’s deserved of his role on the top line, Goldobin could potentially stake a claim to the top-six as early as next season.
  • The Minnesota Wild have assigned Tyler Graovac to the AHL today as they get completely healthy. The young forward has played 49 games for the club this season, registering eight points. Though just 23-years old, Graovac has already far surpassed his expectations as a seventh-round pick. While he’s likely never going to be a key contributor to Minnesota’s forward group, he could play a role as they look for a deep playoff run this season.

Snapshots: Konecny, Duclair, Oilers-Red Wings

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After missing nine games with an injured knee and ankle, Philadelphia Flyers rookie Travis Konecny will return to the lineup on Saturday night. That’s according to Tim Panaccio of CSN Philly.

It’s an early-than-expected return for Konecny, who was expected to miss 4-6 weeks when he was placed on IR three weeks ago. The rookie has seven goals and 22 points in 51 games so far this season, while averaging almost 15 minutes per night with solid possession numbers. His 22 points were good for fourteenth in rookie scoring when he was injured back in February. He’s now dropped to twentieth, having been passed by fellow Flyers rookie Ivan Provorov among others.

It’s not yet known who Konecny will line up with in Washington this evening. Forward Jordan Weal was called up to replace Konecny, and though he has just one goal in six games, he’s been lining up on the Flyers’ top line with Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds. The Flyers also added center Valtteri Filppula at the trade deadline, so the forward core looks slightly different than the one Konecny left last month.

  • Much-maligned sophomore Anthony Duclair played his first NHL game in six weeks last night. He had been sent to the AHL in mid-January to find his scoring touch, which had been missing all season. Duclair scored 20 goals and 44 points in his rookie year, but has just three goals and nine points in 42 games this season. The main culprit appears to be his shooting percentage, which has gone from 19% down to 5.2%. It’s not as if Duclair lit up the AHL either, with just one goal and eight points in 16 games. However, it appears he’s back with the NHL club for the rest of the season. Sarah McLellan of AZ Central quoted Coyotes bench boss Dave Tippett as saying the rest of this season is Duclair’s chance to “re-establish himself as an NHL player.” The Coyotes clearly want to take a closer look at Duclair before making a decision on him this summer when he’s an RFA.
  • It will be a tale of two teams heading in completely different directions when the Detroit Red Wings visit the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. The Oilers are comfortably in a playoff spot for the first time in a very long time, and the Red Wings are about to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1989-90. The last time the Oilers finished ahead of the Red Wings was the following year; twelve members of tonight’s Oilers were not yet born. In addition, this will be David Desharnais’ first appearance in blue and orange since being acquired before the trade deadline, and he’ll line up Anton Slepyshev and Zack Kassian.

Latest On Coyotes Arena Search

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The seemingly never ending arena saga for the Arizona Coyotes continues as they look for another spot within the area to move to after their deal in Tempe with a partnership with Arizona State University fell through earlier this month.  Their search has taken them to the City of Mesa where ownership has met with city representatives about a possible arena site, reports Jessica Boehm of The Arizona Republic.

In particular, the team is eyeing an area in Sloan Park which also hosts the spring training facility for the MLB’s Chicago Cubs.  Mesa Mayor John Giles acknowledged that there have been talks with the Coyotes but that it would be premature to call them serious at this time.

As things stand, the Coyotes are obligated to stay in their current home in Glendale through 2017-18.  At the time that the Tempe deal was agreed upon, it was reported then that they were likely to negotiate a short-term extension to stay there while their new arena was being built.  Presumably, that will be the case whenever they reach a new deal, whether it’s in Mesa or elsewhere.

While their original plan fell through, the team got some potentially good news earlier this month from proposed legislation that calls for public financing to cover 57% of the cost of a new arena – $170MM through sales taxes while the host city would kick in an additional $55M.  Previously, the Coyotes were set to cover half of the cost of any new facility.  That bill still has to get through a Senate vote to become official, however.

While some are hoping that the team will eventually wind up moving, that still does not appear to be a viable option for a while yet until all of these other local alternatives are exhausted.

East Notes: Jokinen, Elias, Cammalleri

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Today in things you didn’t realize: Olli Jokinen hasn’t officially retired. After last playing in the NHL in 2014-15 for the St. Louis Blues—after stints in Nashville and Toronto earlier that season—the former Florida Panthers captain will officially retire prior to the Panthers game on Tuesday against the New York Rangers. A third-overall pick by the Los Angeles Kings back in 1997, Jokinen suited up for the Kings, Islanders, Panthers, Coyotes, Flames, Rangers, Jets, Predators, Maple Leafs and Blues during his 18 year NHL career.

Now 38, Jokinen scored 750 points in 1231 games and was one of the most consistent producers in the game during his prime. Involved in a handful of huge trades over the year, he and Roberto Luongo were the package sent from New York to Florida after the Islanders drafted Rick DiPietro first overall in 2000. The two would help shape the next decade of Panthers hockey, while DiPietro would suffer multiple injuries and become a cautionary “what if” story.

  • Staying with the old guard, Tom Gulitti of NHL.com reports that Patrik Elias has been skating on and off this season and will talk to Devils GM Ray Shero next week about the possibility of playing at some point this season. Elias is currently unsigned by the Devils, but would return to the only team he’s ever known in the NHL should he want to hit the ice this season. The 40-year old has 1025 points in 1240 games over his long and successful career.
  • Maybe the Devils could use him right now, as Andrew Gross of The Record reports that Mike Cammalleri will be out at least a week with an upper-body injury. The forward will be re-evaluated next week at some point to see when he’ll be able to return. In a down season for the 34-year old Cammalleri, he has just 10 goals in 55 games and is starting to show his age on the ice. With two more years on his contract at $5MM per season, he certainly isn’t performing up to his current deal.

Snapshots: Coyotes, Glass, Nestrasil

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The Arizona Coyotes are in a fight in the standings of their own. Even though the players aren’t giving up, they front office is likely desperately hoping they finish in the bottom two once again and get the chance to select a top prospect. They got some bad (or good, I’m unsure at this point) news today when Dave Vest of NHL.com reported that Kevin Connauton should be considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered last night.

  • Vest also passed along a few choice quotes from Dave Tippett on the future of Anthony Duclair, who will get back into the NHL lineup tonight. “We want him to play to his potential. He set a standard for his play last year that he has to get back to,” said Tippett who is not alone in hoping Duclair gets back to his 2015-16 form. Coyotes fans everywhere were hoping to see more of the 20-goal man that was around last season, instead of the 9-point Duclair they’ve seen this year. Despite being rumored in trades all year, the Coyotes will hang onto the former New York Ranger for at least the rest of the season, hoping he can regain his form. Expect his name to be thrown around plenty at the expansion and entry drafts.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled recently signed goaltender Jeff Glass from the Rockford IceHogs today, and will be the backup tonight against the New York Islanders. Both Corey Crawford and Scott Darling took part in practice today and seemed fine, though apparently Darling will be held out with an upper-body injury of some sort.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have some goalie news of their own, as Ansar Khan of MLive reports that Jimmy Howard will be loaned to Grand Rapids Griffins on a conditioning stint and will start Saturday for the AHL squad. The netminder is trying to work his way back from an injury that has kept him out of NHL action since late December due to multiple setbacks.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have assigned forward Andrej Nestrasil to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL today, after using him in Wednesday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 26-year old forward has played 19 games for the Hurricanes this year, registering five points.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers may have Travis Konecny back sooner than expected, as Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post reports. Konecny says he’s ready to go and that he’s hoping to get back into the lineup on Saturday against the Washington Capitals. Out since February 6th, the 19-year old Konecny has been a revelation for the Flyers this season with 22 points in a 51 games. In any normal year, that would be extremely impressive from a teenager in the NHL.

Injury Updates: Ellis, Connauton, Okposo

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Injury updates from around NHL games this evening:

  • Tennessean reporter Adam Vingan noted that Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis left tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens after suffering an apparent leg injury. Ellis had to be helped off the ice by teammate Vernon Fiddler. An extended injury to Ryan Ellis would dampen Nashville’s playoff chances. Ellis is second in playing time for the Predators, and has 10G and 18A in 55 games.
  • Arizona Coyotes defenseman Kevin Connauton suffered an injury tonight against the Buffalo Sabres, reports the Arizona Coyotes PR rep Dave Vest. Connauton has hit by Sabres forward Marcus Foligno and fell hard onto his left arm. As of writing, Connauton has not returned. The 27 year-old has one assist in 19 games for the Coyotes.
  • Buffalo News columnist Mike Harrington reports that Buffalo Sabres forward Kyle Okposo did not start the third period after being hit by the above-mentioned Kevin Connauton. Okposo appeared to have skated off the injury and played the remainder of the second period, but as of writing has not returned to the game. The Sabres’ star free agent signing has 19G and 22A in 62 games so far this year and leads the team in scoring. The Sabres have now announced that Okposo suffered an upper-body injury and will not return tonight.

The Day After: Racing To The Bottom

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The NHL trade deadline came and went yesterday with little excitement. Yes, some (but not all) of the rentals that were expected to move went to interesting destinations, but we didn’t have a single blockbuster move or real hockey trade. So now the quest begins for the Stanley Cup with much of the teams and players that we had a week ago, with a Steve Ott here and a Lauri Korpikoski there.

Now for many fans of teams who have been holding out hope for a late playoff push; those who sold many of their assets yesterday in a waving of the white flag for the 2016-17 season, a new journey begins. The quest for the first overall draft pick.

There is no fight, some might say, because of the Colorado Avalanche’s death-grip on last place in the NHL. They have just 37 points through 61 games and have a legitimate shot at becoming the first team to compile fewer than 50 points in a full season since the 1999-00 Atlanta Thrashers, an expansion team that won just 14 games. Colorado will finish last in the league, of that there is no doubt. But that by no means guarantees them the first overall pick

This year, with the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights the last place team will have just a 17.9% chance to select first, not a very good chance at all. The Arizona Coyotes are likely going to finish with the second worst record. With just 51 points they have an eight point “lead” on the Vancouver Canucks and have traded away several pieces. Auston Matthews

But that’s where it gets interesting. From the current third last team—those Canucks, who may have had the best deadline out of anyone—to the tenth worst is just six points. Beyond that the playoffs are just another handful of points away. The race for that third last spot is alive and well, and it could come with a big prize.

The 2017 draft class has been called weak, shallow and lacking impact talent. While it does in comparison to the past two—which featured generational talents not just first overall but second as well—it may be. But to think that it doesn’t house some incredible future NHL talent is ludicrous. It’s not like there are only third-line players available this season, and the battle for the top five should be as fierce as ever.

For teams that lack center depth (which is most of the NHL), this year gives you a choice of at least three phenomenal talents at the top of the board. Nolan Patrick, Nico Hischier and Gabe Vilardi all play very different styles, but will all likely have long and prosperous NHL careers. The rest of the first round is littered with talent down the middle: Michael Rasmussen, Casey Middelstadt, Cody Glass and Ryan Poehling all will likely go somewhere in the top half of the draft and all play mostly center.

While Vegas has thinned the odds slightly for everyone after that top pick, coming 28th in the league would still give you a 10% chance at drafting first, and even better odds at landing in that top three. Make no mistake, all the teams that sold yesterday—Vancouver, Detroit, and New Jersey in particular—are after that spot. They’ll say the right things, and the players won’t take a single second of any shift off, but in the back of the GMs mind he’s hoping that Bill Daly opens that card on lottery day and they see their logo emblazoned in gold.

The day after the deadline, and the race for the bottom has begun.

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