Latest On 2020-21 Schedule And Rosters
Nothing is official between the NHL and NHLPA on a format for the 2020-21 season, but progress is being made. As reported earlier today, financial negotiations – including a proposal of compliance buyouts – have been put to rest and the two sides will move forward with the terms agreed upon in the CBA. There is still work to be done on an agreement of numerous other details for the season, but both sides seem optimistic about a January 13 start date and some players, like New Jersey’s Nico Hischier, are already planning their returns to North America in preparation.
As for what comes next in the planning process, TSN’s Frank Seravalli, Darren Dreger, and Pierre LeBrun spoke at length about possible roster changes for the coming year in the latest edition of “Insider Trading”. Given the risks associated with the potential for a Coronavirus breakout in a locker room, as well as the health complications of adding players to the roster via recall, it seems likely that rosters will be expanded and taxi squads may be implemented for this season. Seravalli specifically notes that active rosters could grow to 26 and taxi squads of four could bring the total group of available players for each team to 30. There is also the possibility that the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks could be given an exception for larger taxi squads, as their AHL affiliates play outside of Canada and adding to the roster would be a long and involved process. He mentions that the other Canadian teams do not share this problem, as their AHL teams play in Canada and are expected to have their own division this season. The group did not address the salary cap implications that an expanded roster may have, but expect that taxi squad members will be paid AHL salaries but receive NHL benefits.
Regardless of the safeguards that the league puts in place with rosters as well as travel and gameplay, it seems inevitable that there will be cases of Coronavirus among NHL players and personnel this season. As the NFL season has shown, that can cause quite the confusion when it comes to scheduling. So while many expected the 2020-21 season to be condensed due to the delayed start, TSN’s insiders report that the schedule will actually have numerous off days built in to accommodate make-up games.
For now, each side continues to discuss all options internally – the NHLPA Executive Board met today and the NHL Board of Governors is set to meet later this week – while negotiating with one another. As noted earlier today, the new target date to begin play is January 13 with training camps for all teams likely to begin on January 3 and almost certainly a uniform period of quarantine for all prior to arrival at camp (Dreger believes eight days of isolation will be required). As such, the clock is ticking and the hope is that the two sides can have all the details hammered out sooner rather than later now that their financial debate has been resolved.
Maxim Lapierre Announces Retirement
Maxim Lapierre, who played 614 games over his NHL career for five different teams, has announced his retirement, according to a report from NHL.com.
The 35-year-old forward played 10 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins. He was known as a physical bottom-six player who spent his first five seasons with the Canadiens. His best season was back in 2008-09 when he scored 15 goals. He was a major factor in the playoffs for the 2010-11 Vancouver Canucks team. He was acquired at the trade deadline and produced three goals and 66 penalty minutes to help the Canucks come within one game of winning a Stanley Cup Championship. His last NHL season was with the Penguins during the 2014-15 season. In total, Lapierre scored 65 goals and 139 points and 586 penalty minutes.
After his contract in Pittsburgh ran out, Lapierre, a Montreal native, signed a one-year deal to play for Modo in the SHL overseas. He then followed that up playing four years for Lugano of the NLA. Last season, he joined the Berlin Polar Bears in the DEL. He did help Team Canada to the bronze medal in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
Benning: Canucks Attempted To Trade Loui Eriksson This Offseason, Talks Ongoing For Travis Green Extension
Loui Eriksson’s tenure with the Canucks has certainly been a rocky one through the first four seasons. In an interview with Sportsnet 650 (audio link), GM Jim Benning acknowledged that he did try to move the winger this offseason but they weren’t able to find a taker. With two years left on his deal that carries a $6MM cap hit, that’s not too surprising. As things stand, the veteran will enter training camp hoping to land a spot on the fourth line although he is a candidate to be waived and sent to the minors to free up $1.075MM in cap room.
Benning also acknowledged that talks continue with head coach Travis Green about a contract extension. He has been behind the bench for the Canucks since the 2017-18 season and is entering the final year of his contract.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Vancouver Canucks
Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2020-21 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Vancouver Canucks
Current Cap Hit: $83,001,878 (over the $81.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
D Quinn Hughes (one year, $917K)
F Elias Pettersson (one year, $925K)
Potential Bonuses
Hughes: $850K
Pettersson: $2.85MM
Total: $3.7MM
So far in this series, there haven’t been many star players currently on entry-level deals. That isn’t the case here. Pettersson has quickly established himself as a legitimate front-line player and while he spent most of last season on the wing, shifting to the lesser-valuable position isn’t going to hurt his bargaining position one bit. He has back-to-back 66-point seasons under his belt and is in position to command $7MM or more on his next deal, even in this cap climate.
Hughes doesn’t have quite as long of a track record as his lone full NHL season was 2019-20 but it was certainly a good one. He finished second in Calder Trophy voting and immediately jumped into a regular top-four role. There’s still room to grow and if that workload and production increase as expected, he’ll be leading Vancouver blueliners in AAV by this time a year from now.
One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level
F Sven Baertschi ($3.367MM, UFA)
D Jordie Benn ($2MM, UFA)
G Thatcher Demko ($1.05MM, RFA)
D Alexander Edler ($6MM, UFA)
F Adam Gaudette ($950K, RFA)
F Tanner Pearson ($3.75MM, UFA)
F Brandon Sutter ($4.375MM, UFA)
Let’s get the bad contracts out of the way first. Baertschi cleared waivers due to his contract last season and they weren’t able to find a taker for him in a trade this offseason. Barring any surprises, he’s probably heading for a similar fate. He can still be a factor in the NHL and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him sign elsewhere next year but it will be closer to the $1MM mark than his current one. Sutter is another pricey deal for a role player. He can still play on the fourth line and kill penalties but given their cap situation, they could free up $1.075MM by sending him to the AHL as well as there’s no chance he’d be claimed on waivers.
Pearson has rebounded nicely since joining the Canucks and quietly put up a career year offensively last season despite the pandemic shutting things down. In a normal cap environment, a similar showing in 2020-21 would have him in line for a raise but now, even matching his current rate will be difficult. A big drop isn’t likely either but he’s not going to get the contract he normally would in this situation. Gaudette had a good sophomore season but without much leverage (no arbitration rights) and Vancouver’s cap situation, he was basically stuck taking a one-year deal and will hope for better fortunes next time around.
Edler has been a fixture on the back end for the Canucks for parts of 14 seasons and he’s still playing a prominent role. Impact defenders haven’t been hit as hard when it comes to contracts this offseason as some forwards have which should help his cause. However, Edler hasn’t really shown an inclination or desire to test the open market as he has made it clear that he wants to stay in Vancouver. But with Pettersson and Hughes heading for significant raises a year from now, GM Jim Benning is going to need to reallocate a lot of money from their expiring deals to those two. Will they still have enough to keep Edler around? He’ll have to take a big cut for it to happen although it’s worth noting that he will be eligible for performance incentives on a one-year contract next offseason. Benn played a limited role last season and he’s another one that could be shopped to try to clear some money still. Failing that, he’ll play a similar role next year and will be looking at a price tag that’s about half of what he’s getting now next offseason.
Demko could very well be one of the more interesting RFA cases next offseason. Not just in Vancouver but anywhere. Since he was drafted back in 2014, he has been viewed as their goalie of the future and that hasn’t changed, especially since they opted not to hand Jacob Markstrom a long-term contract in October to help pave the way for Demko to ascend to that role. He will almost certainly be their protected goalie in the Seattle expansion draft. And yet he has just 37 career regular season games under his belt (plus a stellar four-game playoff stint from the summer). He’d be lucky to double that number in a shortened season so he’ll still be relatively inexperienced when his deal is up. Could he sign a second bridge deal that’s comparable to Tristan Jarry’s three-year, $10.5MM pact that he recently inked? Sure, but that walks him to UFA eligibility at 28 which isn’t ideal. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot riding on this limited season for Demko.
Two Years Remaining
F Jay Beagle ($3MM, UFA)
F Brock Boeser ($5.875MM, RFA)
F Loui Eriksson ($6MM, UFA)
G Braden Holtby ($4.3MM, UFA)
F Antoine Roussel ($3MM, UFA)
Again, let’s get the bad out of the way first. Eriksson hasn’t come close to living up to his contract and he quite became another addition to the list of ill-fated 2016 UFA deals. He’s another candidate to be buried in the minors if they need to try to free up some cap room. The same can be said for Beagle who can still win faceoffs but is making way too much for someone that’s basically just a specialist on the draw at this stage of his career.
As for Boeser, he has been a capable top-six winger in his three full NHL seasons although staying healthy has been a challenge at times. He’s definitely a part of the core although a $7.5MM qualifying offer is required to retain his RFA rights. That seemed reasonable back at the time but the market being what it is now and the cap flattening out, making room for that deal will be a bit trickier. Roussel could have easily gone in the previous paragraph but he can still play an effective energy role. He’s overpaid in that spot and will be looking at a lot less money two years from now but at least he provides some value.
Holtby was signed to act as a bridge goaltender for Demko to eventually move into the number one slot. He could be appealing in expansion to the Kraken depending on how next season goes but with Demko expected to get the starting role eventually, Holtby may be hard-pressed to find a number one opening two years from now which means his next price tag could be a bit lower.
Three Years Remaining
F Micheal Ferland ($3.5MM, UFA)
F Bo Horvat ($5.5MM, UFA)
F J.T. Miller ($5.25MM, UFA)
Horvat doesn’t put up the offensive numbers that a true number one center does but when you factor everything else in, he’s a capable number one center. He plays a lot of heavy defensive minutes while being the captain. Assuming he hovers around the 60-point mark (he played above that rate last season), he’ll be highly coveted on the open market and should garner a sizable raise. Miller’s acquisition was questioned at the time but he had the best season of his career in 2019-20, tallying over a point per game while logging more than 20 minutes a game for the first time. If he shows this wasn’t just some good luck, he too will be coveted by many teams in free agency which means a raise would be on the horizon for him as well. Ferland’s future is uncertain due to lingering concussion trouble. He’s hoping to return for next season but hasn’t been cleared yet. If he doesn’t get the green light, he’ll be eligible for LTIR which will at least give the Canucks some short-term breathing room on the cap.
Canucks Still Unsure Of Micheal Ferland's Status For Next Season
The future of Canucks winger Micheal Ferland remains uncertain, notes Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma. The veteran has been plagued by concussion-like symptoms and left the postseason bubble when they resurfaced again although he hasn’t given up on giving it another shot. GM Jim Benning indicated that they’re still trying to evaluate if he’ll be cleared to try to participate in camp:
Ferland has three years left on his contract worth $3.5MM and the Canucks are already very tight to the cap ceiling. If he isn’t cleared to play, they would be eligible to put him on LTIR and get some cap relief until he is given the green light (if it happens) which would give them a bit of extra flexibility as they figure out the last few roster spots on what is a relatively deep group of forwards.
Vancouver Canucks Loan Petrus Palmu To Germany
Unlike many players who have bee shipped overseas in recent months while the NHL waits for their season to begin, Petrus Palmu is no stranger to loans. The Vancouver Canucks prospects has spent parts of each of his three pro seasons on loan in his native Finland. As such, it should come as no surprise that he has again been loaned away. Instead, the surprise is that rather than return to the Liiga, Palmu has been loaned to ERC Ingolstadt of Germany’s DEL.
Ingolstadt announced on Monday that they were pleased to have negotiated a loan with the Canucks to land Palmu. As opposed to many recent loan announcements, the team’s release also did not mention any shortened timeline or return for NHL training camp. Instead, it seems possible that this could be a season-long loan for the young forward.
Palmu, 23, is a skilled and speedy forward, as evidenced by a near 100-point season in the OHL and solid production in the Liiga. However, his size continues to be a concern when it comes to his NHL prospects. At 5’6″ and 170 lbs., Palmu is undersized to be competing against elite competition and to this point the Canucks seem hesitant to even place him in the AHL, beyond just a dozen games two years ago. Perhaps another strong season in Europe, this time in a new league, will convince them to give him a shot .
Poll: Who Would Win An All-Canadian Division?
Earlier today, the Toronto Raptors announced that they will begin the upcoming NBA season in Tampa after their request to play at their home arena was denied by the Canadian government. Because of the travel restrictions between the U.S. and Canada, it always seemed impossible for the Raptors—the league’s lone Canadian franchise—to be hosting American-based teams in Toronto. A long quarantine is still required when you enter the country, meaning the logistics of holding NBA games was going to be incredibly difficult.
In the NHL, however, there may be a way around those difficulties. The league includes seven Canadian-based teams, meaning they could play each other in a realigned divisional structure to start the regular season. The seven teams are based all across the country, but would theoretically not need to quarantine between cities—though this is certainly not a guarantee, especially given Toronto’s increased restrictions today.
The idea of an All-Canadian division has been speculated about since the beginning of the offseason, with the general consensus being it would be necessary to get through the 2020-21 season. Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver would be battling it out to be “King in the North.”
If that division does happen this season, who does it benefit? Which team would be the ultimate winner, and who would face an even more difficult task?
The Canucks, Oilers, and Flames all already play each other in the normal Pacific Division, but none of them were able to top the Vegas Golden Knights this year for the first seed. Perhaps if they get away from the expansion powerhouse, they would be even more successful.
The Maple Leafs, Senators, and Canadiens are in the same boat, battling in a tough Atlantic Division that also included two of the league’s best teams. The Boston Bruins had the best record in the NHL when the season was put on pause, while the Tampa Bay Lightning won it all in the bubble. Getting away from the Bruins especially might be a blessing for the Maple Leafs as they try to finally get over the first-round hump.
Or perhaps it’s the lone Central Division team in Winnipeg who would get the biggest boost. The Jets have been an excellent squad for the last several years, but are in a powerhouse of a division with the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, and Dallas Stars all finishing ahead of them in the standings this year. Sure, the other Canadian teams may not be pushovers, but all seven Central teams were included in the 24-team postseason bubble, with the last-place Blackhawks even upsetting the Oilers in the qualification round.
Perhaps who gets the biggest boost is too tough to answer, given the changing rosters all around the league. But if an All-Canadian division does happen, who will come out on top? Make your prediction below and jump into the comment section to explain your thoughts!
Who would win an All-Canadian division?
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Toronto Maple Leafs 25% (782)
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Montreal Canadiens 22% (716)
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Vancouver Canucks 15% (488)
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Edmonton Oilers 14% (435)
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Winnipeg Jets 11% (366)
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Calgary Flames 10% (306)
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Ottawa Senators 3% (90)
Total votes: 3,183
[Mobile users click here to vote!]
Snapshots: CBA Talks, Juolevi, QMJHL
After yesterday’s discussions with the NHL, the NHLPA is not happy. The league asked for further financial concessions in the form of payment deferrals and increased escrow, just a few months after negotiating a new CBA, and things are now a little more heated between the two sides. Both Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic have now released columns explaining the situation, using terms like “angry” and “betrayed” when describing how the players feel.
Both insiders finish their columns with messages of hope, however, with the idea that the two sides will eventually come together on a deal for the sake of the sport. But with December coming quickly and players needing time to return to North America, quarantine (in some cases), and prepare for the season, work will have to be done quickly on a new arrangement.
- One player hoping to get things going so he can continue some of the momentum he built this summer is Olli Juolevi, who Iain MacIntyre profiled yesterday for Sportsnet. Juolevi, the fifth-overall pick in 2016, is finally healthy after years of dealing with various injuries and surgeries. The 22-year-old defenseman made his NHL debut in the bubble when he played one postseason game for the Vancouver Canucks, but certainly has ground to make up to catch some of his draft contemporaries. Several defensemen selected after him have already established themselves as full-time NHL options (if not stars), while the name selected directly after him—Matthew Tkachuk—is arguably the most important player on their division rival Calgary Flames.
- The Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL have had a staff member test positive for COVID-19, meaning their upcoming games have been postponed and team in-person activities have been suspended. The Cape Breton Eagles, who played the Sea Dogs yesterday, will also have their games postponed until an investigation is complete.
Snapshots: Reverse Retro, Holtby, Tomasino
The NHL may have lost a lot of revenue when they were forced to hold the playoffs in empty buildings, but they’re about to make a heck of a lot in merchandise sales. The league and Adidas revealed their designs for the Reverse Retro jerseys today to plenty of excitement (and disgust) from fans all over the world. Early favorites online seem to be the Colorado Avalanche’s Nordiques-based throwback, a return to green for the New Jersey Devils, and an homage to the North Stars by the Minnesota Wild.
Feelings seem a bit more mixed on the return of Wildwing for the Anaheim Ducks and for many of the other throwback uniforms. A healthy debate is surely what the league was hoping for with the new threads as they try to recoup some financial losses.
- Who will be in net for the Vancouver Canucks when they first slip on their new alternate jersey? Speculation on who will be Vancouver’s starter this season continues after the team signed Braden Holtby in the offseason. Satiar Shah of Sportsnet believes that it will be Holtby over Thatcher Demko to start the year at least, given the team invested $8.6MM over two seasons in the veteran netminder. It is important to remember though that the Canucks back-loaded Holtby’s contract heavily, meaning he’ll make only $2.9MM in 2020-21. With the Seattle Kraken looming and their expansion draft scheduled for next summer, Holtby could end up only playing a single year in Vancouver. Whether he’s the starter on opening day remains to be seen, but Demko will certainly be battling for the spot after posting an .985 save percentage in four playoff appearances.
- Philip Tomasino doesn’t want to just play for Team Canada at the upcoming World Juniors and then return to junior, he wants to play for the Nashville Predators this season. The 19-year-old forward spoke with Adam Vingan of The Athletic recently and stated quite clearly that he feels he is ready to take that next step to play professionally at the highest level. Tomasino, the 24th-overall pick in 2019, scored 100 points in just 62 games this season in the OHL and is off to the WJC selection camp for the next month where he’ll battle a loaded forward group for a final roster spot.
Canucks Were In Talks For A Cap-Saving Trade Before Tyler Toffoli Signed With Montreal
- The Canucks were in the process of trying to make a cap-clearing trade before Tyler Toffoli decided to sign with Montreal, reports Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. While they were still able to make an addition of note when they brought in Nate Schmidt from Vegas, it’s fair to wonder if GM Jim Benning may be willing to try to free up some cap room again to try to add one of the notable free agents that are still available. Vancouver could get some in-season relief if winger Micheal Ferland is unable to return and winds up back on LTIR but at the moment, he is hoping to return for next season which would take that option off the table.