Year In Review 2017

2017 was quite a busy year in the hockey world. There was been several big trades, the first expansion team in over 15 years, and much more. Over the last month, PHR has taken a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. You can find the first 11 installments here: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November. Last up on the list will be December to remember.

Russian Involvement: In an expected but still shocking decision, the International Olympic Committee announced that Russia would be banned from competition at the upcoming Pyeongchang Olympic Games as punishment for their previous doping at the 2014 Games. Any clean athlete that is able to pass stringent testing will be allowed to compete under the “Olympic Athlete from Russia” logo, meaning Team OAR will likely be skating in the hockey tournament.

Veterans Buried: December brought the point at which teams could no longer wait for improved production from their struggling veterans. Several were waived and sent to the minors, including Matt Beleskey of the Boston Bruins and Matt Moulson of the Buffalo Sabres. That pair will earn a combined $9MM this season, but will have to ply their trades in the minor leagues for the time being.

Franchise Futures: Three different cities saw received early Christmas presents, as huge announcements were made by Seattle, Carolina and New York. The Islanders were approved for their new home at Belmont Park, the Hurricanes sold a majority stake to an excited new owner, and Seattle was given the green-light on their arena project and potential expansion. All three are positive steps for the league, and healthy steps for each market.

Salary Cap Increase: Though nothing is official just yet, there were wide reports that the 2018-19 salary cap ceiling will sit somewhere between $78-82MM. That’s good news for the clubs pushing the limit, and means solid growth of league revenues overall. The potential issues will arise for those struggling to reach the cap floor, and will likely result in more dead money being swapped around the league.

Karlsson-Watch: Just ahead of an exciting event for the Ottawa Senators, owner Eugene Melnyk sounded off on the struggling team and potential cuts to player salaries in the future. That put the spotlight on Erik Karlsson, who had recently discussed his upcoming free agency and the fact he wouldn’t be taking a “hometown discount” (which makes sense since Karlsson is from Landsbro, Sweden, not Ottawa, Canada). Karlsson is a free agent in the summer of 2019 and will be the target of rumors no matter how many times GM Pierre Dorion says he won’t deal him.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

2017 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world. There have been several big trades, the first expansion team in over 15 years, and much more. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at the month of November.

Duchene Trade: After months and months of rumors about the destination of Colorado Avalanche’s disgruntled center Matt Duchene and a highly publicized failed trade between the Ottawa Senators and Nashville Predators, a three-way trade with those three teams was finally completed one day later. Ottawa picked up Duchene, while Nashville acquired veteran center Kyle Turris. Colorado picked up a large haul of prospects and picks, adding defenseman Samuel Girard, winger Vladislav Kamenev, 2016 first-rounder Shane Bowers, goaltender Andrew Hammond, Ottawa’s 2018 first-round pick (top 10-protected), Nashville’s 2018 second-round pick and Ottawa’s 2019 third-round pick. If Ottawa finishes among the bottom 10 teams this year (which suddenly seems likely), Ottawa will give Colorado a 2019 first-rounder. While the deal seems to have vaulted Nashville to the top of the Central Division after the trade, the Senators have gone in the opposite direction as they stand in seventh place in the Atlantic Division. Turris has five goals and 13 assists in 23 games since arriving in Nashville, but Duchene has struggled. He has just three goals and three assists in 23 games for the Senators.

Prospects Returned To Junior Teams: With many teams evaluating the play of some of their top draft picks as NHL teams can observe their young players for 10 games before they burn a players’ first year of their entry-level contract, many players found themselves heading back to their junior teams in November. The Edmonton Oilers were the first to send 2017 first-rounder Kailer Yamamoto back to the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL. He had three assists in nine games with the Oilers. Other teams followed suit as Florida sent 2017 first-rounder Owen Tippett back to Mississauga Steelheads after putting up just one goal in seven games for the Panthers. Other players were also sent back including the New Jersey Devils’ Michael McLeod and Los Angeles Kings’ Gabe Vilardi.

Vegas Goaltending Woes Continue: The Vegas Golden Knights surprising on-ice success hit some roadblocks when they lost their starting two goaltenders in Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban. The team instead turned to AHL goaltender Oskar Dansk, who was injured as well, forcing the team to go with Maxime Lagace as their starting goaltender. Even he went down and the Golden Knights were forced to recall 2017 seventh-rounder Dylan Ferguson from his junior team on an emergency basis to play some minutes for the Golden Knights. Little by little, the Vegas netminders began to heal with the eventual return of Subban and Fleury. Only Dansk remains on injured reserve. Despite those woes, the Golden Knights rarely faltered.

Extensions Signed: The Columbus Blue Jackets signed winger Cam Atkinson to a seven-year, $41.125MM ($5.9MM AAV) extension, a big signing for a player who was headed for unrestricted free agency this summer. Atkinson had scored 105 goals in the previous four seasons before this one. Ironically, Atkinson has struggled this year as he’s put up just six goals and has been benched for a game by head coach John Tortorella. The extension makes him the third highest-paid player on Columbus’ roster behind only goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and forward Artemi Panarin. The Golden Knights also got into the act, locking up defenseman Brayden McNabb to a four-year, $10MM extension. That gives Vegas a physical presence on the blueline for years.

Devils-Ducks Swap: The Anaheim Ducks and New Jersey Devils completed a trade as the Ducks sent defenseman Sami Vatanen to the Devils in exchange for center Adam Henrique, Joseph Blandisi and a 2018 conditional third-round pick. The deal is one of those equal moves as the Devils needed help on the blueline, while having an excess of forwards with the impending return of Travis Zajac. Anaheim had excess defense, while desperately needing center help as they had to deal with injuries to Ryan Kesler and Ryan Getzlaf. Henrique started strong, but still has eight points in 14 games for Anaheim. Vatanen has a goal and three assists in 14 games for New Jersey.

 

 

 

2017 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world. There have been several big trades, the first expansion team in over 15 years, and much more. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at the month of October.

Shipachyov Saga: When the Golden Knights signed center Vadim Shipachyov, they were hoping to get a top-six center that could play a big role right away.  Suffice it to say, that didn’t happen.  He was cut in training camp as a waiver-exempt player and was allowed to not report to the minors while waiting to be recalled.  That happened a couple of weeks later but Shipachyov did not make much of an impact in his three games (although he did score a goal).  That resulted in another AHL demotion and this time, Vegas suspended him when he didn’t report.  The team gave him permission to pursue a trade but shortly thereafter, it was announced that he had given up on playing in the NHL and intended to return to the KHL.  It wound up being quite the precipitous drop for Shipachyov in October as he went from a projected key player to effectively out of the league in the span of just a few weeks.

Eichel Extension: While his entry-level contract doesn’t expire until the end of June, the Sabres didn’t waste much time getting their franchise pillar signed to a long-term deal, inking Jack Eichel to an eight-year, $80MM pact.  Although the AAV comes in $2.5MM below Connor McDavid (the first overall in 2015, one spot ahead of Eichel) who set a new standard for post-ELC deals this offseason, the money still came as a surprise to some considering he had yet to reach the 60-point mark in each of his two full NHL seasons.  Although Buffalo continues to struggle mightily, Eichel is rewarding management’s faith in him as he is hovering near the point-per-game mark as we near the midway mark of 2017-18.

Jagr To Calgary: It took a while but 45-year-old winger Jaromir Jagr finally found a home, signing a one-year contract with the Flames.  The deal guarantees him $1MM with an additional $700K in games played bonuses and $300K in postseason bonuses.  While he was coming off a 46-point campaign with the Panthers the year before, the future Hall of Famer has yet to be productive in his new home.  Through 21 games, he has just a single goal along with six assists while his 13:06 average ice time is a career-low by nearly four minutes per night.

Eaves Hospitalized: Ducks winger Patrick Eaves was hospitalized and diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder that affects the nervous system and can cause weakness, numbness in limbs, and eventually paralysis.  Fortunately, this was caught fairly early in the process and doctors believe that he will be able to make a full recovery.  There is no timetable on when (or if) the 33-year-old will eventually be able to return to Anaheim’s lineup.

More Big Extensions: Eichel’s deal with Buffalo wasn’t the only notable long-term extension signed in October.  The Jets inked winger Nikolaj Ehlers to a six-year, $42MM deal, one that will make him the second-highest paid forward on the team behind top scorer Mark Scheifele.  Ehlers is coming off a 64-point season and is on pace to reach the 60-point mark once again this year.  Meanwhile, the Panthers raised some eyebrows with their decision to hand defenseman Mark Matheson an eight-year, $39MM deal.  Matheson had just one full NHL year under his belt when this deal was done but clearly, the team is confident that he’ll be able to hold down a top-four spot for the long-term.

Key Injuries: The injury bug wasn’t kind to Minnesota or Los Angeles in October.  Wild winger Zach Parise underwent back surgery that has kept him out of the lineup to this point in the season (although he’s now on a conditioning assignment).  The veteran has averaged at least 0.6 points per game in each of the last six seasons and his eventual return should be a big boost for Minnesota.  Meanwhile, Kings center Jeff Carter sustained a laceration to his left leg that has kept him out of the lineup since then with no update on when he may be able to return.  Carter led Los Angeles in goals last season with 32 and his loss has been a big blow to their offense.  Brooks Laich was signed to take Carter’s spot in the lineup for the Kings but he has since been waived and released.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2017 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world. There have been several big trades, the first expansion team in over 15 years, and much more. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at the month of September.

Lupul Gets Lippy: After failing his medical early in the month, Joffrey Lupul took to social media to complain about the Toronto Maple Leafs integrity in the process. Lupul claimed the Maple Leafs “cheat” but quickly apologized for his comments and decided not to seek out a secondary medical opinion. The NHL ordered one anyway, which found no wrongdoing on the part of the Maple Leafs. Lupul remains on long-term injured reserve, and isn’t expected to play again in the NHL.

Fabbri Loses The Season: It looked like he might be able to make a comeback after re-injuring his knee in the summer, but in September the St. Louis Blues officially ruled Robby Fabbri out for the year. It was a huge setback for a player who looked ready to breakout, and we’ll have to wait and see what kind of return he can have.

Tallon Continues To Tear Down: When Dale Tallon was given control once again of the Florida Panthers, he seemed driven to undo many of the things that Tom Rowe’s staff had accomplished. First he jettisoned Reilly Smith and Jon Marchessault to the Vegas Golden Knights, and in September traded Jason Demers to the Arizona Coyotes. Demers had signed a five-year deal with the Panthers, but was traded for Jamie McGinn just a few weeks before season two of that contract began. The Panthers are still paying 12.5% of Demers’ salary, while McGinn has 13 points in 35 games.

Seattle Announces Arena Proposal: When Oak View Group announced that they would put forward a deal to put $600MM+ into an arena in order to draw NHL and NBA interest, suddenly Seattle became the darling of expansion enthusiasts everywhere. That deal has subsequently been approved by the city, and the NHL has announced they would accept an application for expansion. With a franchise seeming inevitable at this point, the only question is whether it will be through expansion or relocation.

Calgary Pulls Out Of Arena Talks: In an incredibly public feud with mayor Naheed Nenshi, the Calgary Flames announced they would no longer pursue an arena deal with the city. That suddenly threw the Flames into a relocation conversation, as veiled threats were hurled from both sides that hinted at the team possibly leaving. While that still seems almost impossible, there is no progress towards a new arena for the Flames, and with Nenshi winning re-election talks haven’t even been back on the table.

Boyle’s Diagnosis: Finally, in a shocking announcement, Brian Boyle revealed he had been diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia just before the season began. One of the most well-loved teammates in the league, Boyle and his family received an outpouring of support from the entire hockey world. His diagnosis came early enough that it could be treated with medication, and Boyle returned to game action on November 1st. A week later he scored his first goal of the season, an emotional moment that brought even the 6’6″ behemoth to tears.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

2017 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world. There have been several big trades, the first expansion team in over 15 years, and much more. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at the relatively slow month of August.

Post-Graduate Studies: After the frenzy that is the beginning of July, by August the free agent market had slowed down considerably. There were a few interesting names left over, but the real intrigue surrounded expiring draft rights for NCAA graduates. Will Butcher and Alex Kerfoot led the way, with near daily visits and rumors around the league. Butcher would eventually sign with the New Jersey Devils, while Kerfoot would head to Denver for some Avalanche action. The Devils are certainly happy with Butcher’s choice, as he’s recorded 23 points in 36 games to easily pace their defense corps.

Captains Say Goodbye: Though it may not have been completely their decision, both Shane Doan and Mike Fisher hung up their skates in August. The two combined for 1,728 regular season games without winning a Stanley Cup, but were both beloved in their respective “non-traditional markets.”

AHL Expansion: The AHL announced that it would follow in the NHL’s footsteps and expand to 31 teams in 2018-19, bringing the Colorado Eagles into the fold. The Eagles, who are still currently an ECHL team, will be the affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche after some reshuffling next season. It could be a pretty smooth exit for them, who are looking like a real contender to win a second consecutive Kelly Cup. After sweeping South Carolina in the finals last season, the Eagles are sitting at 21-5-4 and first place in the entire league this time around.

Murray Passes At 74: The hockey world suffered quite a loss on August 12th, when long-time coach and executive Bryan Murray died following a long battle with cancer. Part of quite a successful hockey family that also includes former head coach Terry Murray (brother) and former Buffalo GM Tim Murray (nephew), Bryan had a long list of accomplishments in the NHL. He won the Jack Adams trophy as Coach of the Year in 1983-84, and Executive of the Year 1996. He was instrumental in building winning franchises in Detroit, Florida, Anaheim and Ottawa, and was one of the most well respected men among NHL front offices.

$68MM For #29: After locking up Connor McDavid for another eight seasons, the Edmonton Oilers quickly went to work on a new contract for Leon Draisaitl. Though he was only just hitting restricted free agency, the team decided to offer an eight-year deal worth $68MM to ensure Draisaitl would be there for all of his prime years. Combined, the pair will carry a $21MM cap hit for nearly a decade, a number that is difficult to work around—though not impossible, as the Chicago Blackhawks have proven.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

2017 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world. There have been several big trades, the first expansion team in over 15 years, and much more. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at July.

Free Agent Frenzy: As always, July started with a firestorm of free agent contracts. Even with a relatively weak free agent class, some big contracts were signed. Montreal inked Karl Alzner to a five-year deal, Dallas brought Alexander Radulov south  for five years, Kevin Shattenkirk left money on the table to sign in New York, and the Sharks ageless duo of Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau were finally split up.

Exciting Extensions: Not just free agents got paid in the early days of July. Huge extensions were also signed as soon as teams were allowed, with Carey Price inking his market-changing eight-year deal. Price will earn $15MM in 2018-19 and carry a $10.5MM cap hit, by far the largest numbers by any goaltender in the league. Two Western Conference teams were eager to lock up defenders, with Cam Fowler and Marc-Edouard Vlasic both re-upping for eight more seasons.

Capital Gains: After re-signing T.J. Oshie to a huge contract just before he hit free agency, the Washington Capitals locked up Evgeny Kuznetsov for another eight-years at a $7.8MM cap hit. Those numbers seemed high for the already cash-strapped Capitals, and basically forced the team to move Marcus Johansson. The New Jersey Devils jumped on the opportunity to bring another talented forward aboard, and added Johansson for a pair of draft picks (which didn’t include a first-rounder).

Kovalchuk Forced To Wait: After dominating the headlines for some time, Ilya Kovalchuk finally made the decision to stay in the KHL for another year. The Devils, who still held his NHL rights, weren’t able to find a sign-and-trade deal that worked for them and effectively blocked his return. Kovalchuk announced that he still wanted to return to the NHL, but will have to wait for the summer of 2018 when he is a completely unrestricted free agent.

Hundred-Million Man: Even with all the huge extensions and contracts signed around the league, nothing came close to the deal signed on July 5th. That day, Peter Chiarelli confidently strode to the podium in Edmonton to introduce Connor McDavid as the league’s newest $100MM man. McDavid signed an eight-year extension that carries a $12.5MM cap hit, the largest in league history. McDavid’s deal will kick in for the 2018-19 season, and will immediately put pressure on the Oilers to creatively fill out the rest of the roster.

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We’ve been looking at 2017 in a month-by-month series over the past few days, but we’ll take a detour to look at something a little different. 2017 saw some incredible individual performances, and with just a few games left before the calendar turns over it’s interesting to inspect who has been the most productive players.

Here are your statistical leaders for the calendar year of 2017:

Goals:

Nikita Kucherov – 51
Brad Marchand – 44
Anders Lee – 42
Alex Ovechkin – 39
Four players tied at 38

Perhaps the most interesting name in the top five is Lee, who few would put on the same level as his goal-scoring contemporaries this year. Lee ranks third in the NHL this season with 22, and set a career-high with 34 in 2016-17. At just 27 years old and carrying a $3.75MM cap hit for one more season, it will be interesting to see if he starts getting mentioned among the “Superclass” of free agents set to hit the open market in the summer of 2019.

Assists:

Connor McDavid – 70
Nicklas Backstrom – 63
Blake Wheeler – 62
Josh Bailey – 60
Johnny Gaudreau – 55

When you look at the 6’5″, 225-lbs freight train on skates that is Wheeler, it’s hard to imagine that he’d be among the other speed demons and playmakers on this list. His ranking among the league’s best shows just how efficient he has been over the last year in Winnipeg, and proves what Mark Scheifele has been trying to tell people for some time—Wheeler is simply one of the best passers in the game.

Points:

Nikita Kucherov – 101
Connor McDavid – 100
Patrick Kane – 87
Three tied at 86

You have to wonder how far ahead Kucherov could be had Steven Stamkos not been injured last season. In the first month of the 2016-17 season while they were together, Kucherov was on an 108-point pace, but only finished the season with 85. Now that they’re back together, he has 51 in 35 games and looks like he’ll easily be the next 100-point player in the NHL. It’s hard to believe he’s just 24 years old.

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2017 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world. There have been several big trades, the first expansion team in over 15 years, and much more. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at the incredibly busy month of June.

Penguins Repeat: On June 11th, 2017 the Pittsburgh Penguins once again hoisted the Stanley Cup as NHL Champions, becoming the only team to win back-to-back titles in the salary cap era and first since the Detroit Red Wings of 1997-98. Sidney Crosby took home his second consecutive Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP, and solidified his legacy even further as one of the greatest players in the history of the game. Matt Murray took home his second title despite technically being a rookie, starting off his career in incredible fashion.

McDavid MVP: The NHL Awards were handed out, with young Connor McDavid taking home his first Hart Trophy as league MVP. McDavid was also voted the Most Outstanding Player by his peers, and took home the Art Ross as league scoring leader. Sergei Bobrovsky would take home the Vezina as the league’s best goaltender, Brent Burns would win the Norris as the top defenseman, and Auston Matthews was almost unanimously crowned Rookie of the Year.

Expansion Intrigue: The league held the first expansion draft in many years, and the Vegas Golden Knights were brought into existence. Though many of the selections were leaked ahead of the actual ceremony, GM George McPhee kept us guessing with several trades over the coming days. The group that did stay in Sin City has found immediate success, while the future is bright after accumulating so many draft picks.

Change Comes To The Desert: After years of mediocrity or failure, the Arizona Coyotes went through an entire restructuring. Andrew Barroway bought out minority owners and the franchise immediately went about changing their core. Long-time captain Shane Doan was told he would not be re-signed, goaltender Mike Smith was shipped off to Calgary, head coach Dave Tippett was let go, and several trades were made to re-shape the look of the roster. Arizona sacrificed the seventh overall pick in the draft to try and bring some immediate success to the team, and once again have failed to do so. The team sits in last place in the entire NHL with just eight wins.

Nico Or Nolan: The 2017 NHL Entry Draft came about near the end of the month, with many wondering whether the New Jersey Devils would select Nico Hischier or Nolan Patrick. They picked the former, which would start an exciting night of movement all around the league. The draft floor saw several high profile trades, including one that worked out so well for St. Louis it might have earned Doug Armstrong a four-year extension.

Buyout Bonanza: Many teams in the league took the opportunity to rid themselves of burdensome contracts, with buyouts for many players including Mike Cammalleri, Jussi Jokinen, Jimmy Hayes, Antti Niemi, Dan Girardi, Francois Beauchemin, Simon Despres, Scott Hartnell, and Benoit Pouliot among others. While the 2018 buyout season might not be as busy, there are likely several more big names that will hit the waiver wire in late June.

Greatness Enshrined: The Hockey Hall of Fame announced their 2017 inductee list, which included Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya, Dave Andreychuk, Mark Recchi, Danielle Goyette, Clare Drake and Jeremy Jacobs. Of particular note was Kariya, who had rarely surfaced in the years since he was forced out of the game by concussion issues. The former Mighty Ducks captain would get to go into the Hall with one of his best friends and inexorably linked teammate in Selanne, a duo that will always be remembered together.

Photo of McDavid courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

2017 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world. There have been several big trades, the first expansion team in over 15 years, and much more. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at April.

Coaching Firings: As is often the case following the end of the season, quite a few teams decided it was time for a change behind the bench.  Those teams were: Los Angeles (Darryl Sutter as well as GM Dean Lombardi), Vancouver (Willie Desjardins), Florida (Tom Rowe – reassigned to advisor while Dale Tallon retook his GM duties), Buffalo (Dan Bylsma plus GM Tim Murray), and Dallas (Lindy Ruff).  As much as there were plenty of changes after the season, the same can’t be said for the early going this year.  This is the first time since 1998 that no head coach was let go between the start of the season and the holiday break.

Coaching Hirings: Not surprisingly, several of the teams who relieved the coaches of their duties hired replacements throughout the month.  Those included John Stevens being promoted to the top job with the Kings, the Canucks bringing up Travis Green from their AHL affiliate, and Ken Hitchcock returning for another go-around with Dallas.  In addition to those, a pair of interim head coaches got their jobs on a full-time basis with Bruce Cassidy in Boston plus Doug Weight with the Islanders.  Plus, the Golden Knights hired their inaugural bench boss in Gerard Gallant, a decision that is certainly paying early dividends.

Draft Lottery Yields Big Changes: There are some years where the Draft Lottery results in very little changes to the draft order for June.  This was not one of those years.  The Devils jumped up four spots to pick first overall, the Flyers vaulted up 11 spots to select second, while Dallas got to pick five picks earlier than they anticipated with the third overall selection.  This was certainly frustrating for Colorado who went from first to fourth while the Canucks (second to fifth) and Golden Knights (third to sixth) also dropped three places.  The Devils selected center Nico Hischier with the top selection and he is certainly off to a nice start to his rookie campaign with 21 points (5-16-21) through his first 35 games.

Darling To Carolina: After the tandem of Cam Ward and Eddie Lack struggled last season, the Hurricanes made a move to try to shore up their goalie duo with the acquisition of Scott Darling from Chicago. The early returns haven’t been particularly promising, however.  He has posted a 2.89 GAA with a .896 SV% through 24 appearances, numbers that are below the league average.  As a result, he has started to cede playing time to Ward in recent weeks which basically has Carolina back where they were a year ago.

NHL Won’t Participate In The Olympics: Although this had been speculated on for a while already, the NHL made it official that they would not be stopping their schedule in order to allow players to participate in the upcoming Olympics.  This will be the first time that NHL players won’t be suiting up for their respective countries since the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway.  Unsurprisingly, many players voiced their displeasure about the decision and it’s bound to come up in the next round of CBA talks.  In the meantime, each federation is awaiting a final call from the KHL to see if their players will be allowed to participate as planned on the heels of Russia being barred from the Olympics for doping violations or if they will be rejigging their schedule to eliminate (or reduce) the month-long break that is currently in place.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.