Year In Review 2020

2020 was certainly a unique year away from the rink.  However, it was also a year that featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, and much more.  We continue our look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is November, a month that saw the UFA activity die down but several notable RFAs got contracts in place.

Bridge For Sergachev: With Tampa Bay’s salary cap issues placing significant limitations on what they do this offseason, it came as little surprise that defenseman Mikhail Sergachev had to settle for a short-term contract, ultimately inking a three-year deal with a $4.8MM AAV.  The 22-year-old has quickly become a key part of the back end for the Lightning, notching at least 32 points in each of his first three full NHL seasons, all with Tampa after they acquired him from Montreal back in 2017.  Sergachev will have one year of RFA eligibility remaining with arbitration rights and will be owed a qualifying offer of $5.76MM in 2023.

Boychuk’s Playing Days Over: While he is sitting on LTIR and technically remains under contract, Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk won’t play again as a result of eye injuries sustained late last season.  He took a skate blade to the eye late in the regular season and while he returned for the playoffs, Boychuk took a high hit and was injured again with the end result being optic nerve damage.  The veteran hangs up his skates with 725 career regular season games under his belt between the Avalanche, Bruins, and Islanders while he won a Stanley Cup with Boston back in 2011.

Mantha Signs Long-Term: While several restricted free agents of note opted to file for arbitration, one who didn’t was Red Wings winger Anthony Mantha.  It turns out the reason for it was that the two sides were nearing an agreement and ultimately settled on a four-year, $22.8MM contract.  The deal covers his final remaining RFA years plus his first two years of UFA eligibility, giving Detroit a front-line winger at a good price.  Mantha, when healthy, has shown continual signs of improvement and wound up near the point-per-game mark last season.  However, he had also missed considerable time the last two seasons which certainly didn’t help his negotiating power.

Nyquist Out Long-Term: Columbus was dealt an early blow on the injury front for their 2020-21 season when it was revealed that winger Gustav Nyquist underwent shoulder surgery with a recovery timeline of five-to-six months.  The 31-year-old finished second on the Blue Jackets in scoring last season so his absence is certainly a notable one.  GM Jarmo Kekalainen indicated that the procedure was done to fix a nagging issue that had been lingering for years.  With the regular season running into May, Columbus should be able to get him back somewhere around the trade deadline which would give them a big boost for the stretch run.

Strome Gets Two: One of the more intriguing cases for a player being qualified or not was Rangers center Ryan Strome.  The decision is believed to have come close to the deadline but they ultimately tendered the offer, making him arbitration-eligible.  It didn’t get that far though as he agreed to a two-year, $9MM pact, buying out one UFA year in the process.  The 27-year-old had a career year last season while showing chemistry with Artemi Panarin and after a slow start to this season, he has a four-game point streak currently going.

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2020 was certainly a unique year away from the rink.  However, it was also a year that featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, and much more.  We continue our look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is October, a month that is typically full of excitement with action picking up on the ice.  Last year, it was one to remember for everything that happened away from it.

The New July 1: Normally, July 1st is when there is a frenzy of free agent signings as the market opens up.  This year, that opening came on October 9th and there was once again a large number of signings.  The full signing recap of the day can be found here but some of the notable deals included Jacob Markstrom going to Calgary to take the spot vacated by Cam Talbot who signed in Minnesota; Braden Holtby signed with Vancouver to take Markstrom’s spot.  While quite a few people expected Torey Krug to remain in Boston, he didn’t, instead signing the biggest deal of the day, a seven-year, $45.5MM pact with St. Louis.

Draft Activity: Just three days before the opening of the free agent market was the draft.  As expected, Alexis Lafreniere went number one to the Rangers and there weren’t too many surprises near the top.  While trade activity has fallen off at the draft in recent years, there were a couple of trades of note.  First, the Senators found their goalie for the future, acquiring Matt Murray from Pittsburgh for a second-round pick and prospect winger Jonathan Gruden and they wasted little time signing Murray to a four-year, $25MM contract.  Meanwhile, the Predators and Wild made a notable swap, as Luke Kunin and a fourth-round pick went to Nashville in exchange for Nick Bonino plus second and third-round selections.  Bonino gives the Wild much-needed depth down the middle while Kunin is a promising winger although he’s off to a slow start with his new team.

Pietrangelo To Vegas: While the Golden Knights had been speculatively linked as a suitor for Alex Pietrangelo on the off-chance he’d leave the Blues, the salary cap appeared to be a very steep impediment.  How could a team that’s over the cap ceiling afford the highest-priced free agent on the market?  They found a way by offloading Paul Stastny and his $6.5MM cap hit to Winnipeg and then shipped Nate Schmidt ($5.95MM) to Vancouver, taking below-market returns for both of them in the process.  That freed up just enough money to afford to give Pietrangelo a seven-year, $61.6MM contract and stay in cap compliance (although they’ve often been dressing just five defensemen to accomplish that).  While Vegas has had a strong back end early in their franchise’s history, they now have a legitimate number one to anchor that group for years to come.

More Notable Trades: There were quite a few trades in October with a lot of them centered around freeing up cap room.  However, there were a couple of notable ‘hockey deals’ that were made.  First, Montreal sent center Max Domi along with a third-round pick to Columbus for winger Josh Anderson.  Both teams wasted little time signing their new players to contracts though they took a different approach.  The Blue Jackets gave Domi basically a second bridge contract with a two-year, $10.6MM deal that walks him to UFA eligibility.  On the other hand, Anderson inked a seven-year, $38.5MM pact, a considerable risk considering he had just one goal last year with significant shoulder issues.  Meanwhile, Colorado added winger Brandon Saad with a bit of retention plus defenseman Dennis Gilbert from Chicago for blueliners Nikita Zadorov and Anton Lindholm.  In Saad, the Avalanche get a capable top-six winger on an expiring contract that fits their current financial window while Zadorov gets a change of scenery with the Blackhawks hoping he’ll do well enough to be part of their long-term plans.

Hall To Buffalo: It usually doesn’t take long for top free agents to find a contract with deals typically getting done on the first day.  It wasn’t the case for the top defenseman in Pietrangelo and it wasn’t for the top forward in Taylor Hall who waited until the third day before signing a one-year, $8MM contract with the Sabres.  While Hall had previously indicated an openness to signing a short-term pact, it still came as a bit of a surprise, especially signing with a non-playoff team in Buffalo.  However, pairing him up with Jack Eichel on the top line certainly could be the boost to his numbers that he’s looking for in order to try to cash in with a long-term deal at a similar price tag this coming summer.  However, while he has eight assists so far, he has just one goal through ten games.

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2020 was certainly a unique year away from the rink.  However, it was also a year that featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, and much more.  We continue our look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is September, a month that had many teams entering offseason mode and there was plenty of activity as a result.

Canadiens Strike Early: Rather than wait for free agency to try to fill all of their roster holes, the Canadiens opted to make some early trades to get a head start on their shopping.  First, they acquired Jake Allen from St. Louis for a third-round pick and a swap of seventh-rounders to give Carey Price a reliable backup goaltender to work with.  Then, after picking up the negotiating rights to pending UFA Joel Edmundson, they inked the blueliner to a four-year, $14MM contract.  They then started to work on their early contract extensions, signing defenseman Jeff Petry to a four-year, $25MM extension.  GM Marc Bergevin has long been a believer of building from the net out and these moves certainly continued that trend.

GM Hirings: The two GM vacancies around the league were both filled.  First, Florida hired Columbus assistant GM and former agent Bill Zito as their new general manager, replacing Dale Tallon who had been with the team for more than a decade.  Zito wasted little time making his first big move, acquiring Patric Hornqvist from Pittsburgh for Mike Matheson and Colton Sceviour.  Arizona then found their new GM, bringing in former St. Louis assistant Bill Armstrong for that role.  He took the place of John Chayka who abruptly resigned back in July in what appeared to be an attempt to go elsewhere in one of the more bizarre situations of 2020.  As it turns out, the fallout for that one wasn’t finalized until just yesterday.

End Of An Era: While it had been expected for a while especially following the emergence of Igor Shesterkin between the pipes, it was still notable that the Rangers bought out the final year of Henrik Lundqvist’s contract, ending his tenure with New York after 15 seasons.  The veteran is their all-time leader in games played, wins, saves, and shutouts but his $8.5MM AAV was simply too rich for the Rangers considering he was likely to be their third-stringer in 2020-21.  Instead, they opted for the buyout which saved them $3MM in cap room for this season though it also increased their dead money on the books to nearly $13MM, a number that doesn’t even consider their bonus cushion limitations.

Brodin Extension: Minnesota decided that defenseman Jonas Brodin is very much in their long-term plans, signing the veteran to a seven-year contract extension that carries a $6MM AAV.  The 27-year-old has never been an offensive dynamo – he had a career-best 28 points last year – but he remains one of the more unheralded defensive defensemen in the league.  Notably, Brodin also received a no-move clause which ensures that he’ll be protected from Seattle in this summer’s expansion draft.  Considering teams typically only opt to protect three defenders and Brodin joins Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Suter as guaranteed protectees due to their NMCs, this contract also calls Mathew Dumba’s long-term future with the Wild into question.

Coaching Hires: It wasn’t just GM positions getting filled in September.  Calgary lifted the interim tag off of Geoff Ward, promoting him to the full-time role while San Jose did the same with Bob Boughner with neither move coming as much of a surprise.  Meanwhile, Washington found their new bench boss, hiring veteran Peter Laviolette as their new head coach, replacing Todd Reirden who was let go after two seasons (he subsequently went back to Pittsburgh as an assistant).  After going with a first-time head coach with Reirden, Laviolette falls in the veteran category with more than 1,200 games of head coaching experience in the NHL with the Islanders, Hurricanes, Flyers, and Predators.

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2020 was certainly a unique year away from the rink.  However, it was also a year that featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, and much more.  We continue our look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is August which saw the playoffs begin which featured some fireworks on the ice and on Twitter.

Firings: Following a quick exit in the bubble, the Panthers parted ways with long-time executive Dale Tallon.  He originally joined Florida in 2010 after being let go by Chicago but was suddenly pushed out of the GM chair in 2016 before re-assuming the position two years later.  While the team has made some big-name additions (including head coach Joel Quenneville and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky), they haven’t had any sort of postseason success.  Florida made the playoffs three times since Tallon joined them and didn’t win a series in any of them, continuing a long trend; the Panthers have only ever won a playoff series in just one year, back in 1996 when they made it to the Stanley Cup Final.

Meanwhile, the Capitals also decided to make a change after being ousted quite quickly, firing head coach Todd Reirden.  They were eliminated quite quickly at the hands of the Islanders in the first round, coincidentally coached by Washington’s former bench boss in Barry Trotz.  Reirden spent two years as the bench boss for the Caps and while he had a good regular season record of 89-46-16, it didn’t turn into success in the postseason.

Postseason Departures: While the opt-out deadline had technically passed, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask left the bubble for the remainder of the postseason to tend to what was later revealed to be a family emergency.  Jaroslav Halak assumed the starting role for the rest of their playoffs, one that lasted until the second round when they were eliminated by Tampa Bay.  Meanwhile, Canadiens head coach Claude Julien had to leave the bubble due to a medical emergency, one that resulted in the stenting of a coronary artery.  While the procedure went well, he returned home to recover with Kirk Muller serving as acting head coach for the rest of their playoff run.

Rangers Lose, Then Win: The bad news for the Rangers is that they didn’t make it past the Qualifying Round.  In fact, they were swept by Carolina and managed just four goals in the three-game series.  But there was a silver lining.  Their elimination made them one of the eight teams eligible to land the top pick as part of the NHL’s draft lottery, one that required a second drawing.  Each squad had identical odds and it was New York that came out victorious, allowing them to select highly-touted winger Alexis Lafreniere with that selection.  As expected, Lafreniere made the opening night roster and has logged nearly 15 minutes per night in their first three games this season but is still awaiting his first NHL point.

Kapanen To Pittsburgh: It’s abnormal that a notable trade is made during the playoffs but this was 2020 where things were anywhere but normal and the Penguins opted to make an early splash, acquiring Kasperi Kapanen from Toronto.  While the trade involved seven different pieces, the key elements of the return for the Maple Leafs was the 15th overall pick (used on Rodion Amirov) and prospect center Filip Hallander.  Kapanen was a first-round pick of the Penguins back in 2014 but was moved as part of the Phil Kessel trade one year later.  After putting up 80 points in total in his two full NHL campaigns, Pittsburgh is hoping he’ll become a key top-six winger while Toronto received a quality return in a move that needed to be made for salary cap purposes.

Hawerchuk Passes Away: Jets legend Dale Hawerchuk passed away at the age 57 after a lengthy battle with cancer.  He spent 16 years in the NHL with the majority of his 1,188 games coming with the Jets. He also had a very successful run with Buffalo, averaging more than a point per game over five seasons with the Sabres.  Overall, his 1,409 points have him 20th in all-time NHL scoring.  Hawerchuk had been enjoying his post-playing career behind the bench and had been the head coach of the OHL’s Barrie Colts for a decade before his passing.

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2020 was certainly a unique year away from the rink.  However, it was also a year that featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, and much more.  We continue our look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is July which saw activity begin to pick up around the hockey world, including some final rulings coming down on conditional pick trades.

Labor Peace: Things on the CBA front was already somewhat encouraging with neither side exercising the right to re-open the agreement prior to the start of the season but there was more good news on that front as the NHL and NHLPA reached a four-year extension, meaning there is an agreement that will run through September 15, 2026.  The extension was announced as part of the finalized Return to Play plans that saw training camps for the postseason beginning just one week later.  Key elements of the deal included a commitment to returning to the Olympics, escrow caps, increases to minimum salaries, and a second method of determining qualifying offers.

Opt-Outs: While not a CBA element, part of the agreement in the above note was that players could opt out of playing in the postseason without any penalty.  Flames defenseman Travis Hamonic was the first to do so and the most prominent of the six as it took a 20-plus minute blueliner out of their lineup.  Edmonton rearguard Mike Green also opted out which meant that the Oilers only got two games out of him following his acquisition from Detroit.  The others to opt out prior to play resuming were Karl Alzner (Montreal), Sven Baertschi (Vancouver), Steven Kampfer (Boston), and Roman Polak (Dallas).

Samsonov Out: Washington had the most points in the Metropolitan Division before the rest of the regular season and expectations were high heading into training camp.  Then came the news that goaltender Ilya Samsonov failed his physical and had been ruled out for the entire postseason.  While he was the backup to Braden Holtby for the regular season, he was expected to see more action in the playoffs considering he outperformed the veteran during the year.  It also could have been an opportunity to see how he’d fare in the number one role knowing that they weren’t likely to retain Holtby in free agency (and they didn’t).  Instead, that didn’t get to happen and while Holtby didn’t play poorly in the playoffs, the Capitals went out with a whimper, winning just one of three seeding games and then only one of five in the opening round against the Islanders.

Coaching Hires: The Devils found their new bench boss as now-former Rangers assistant Lindy Ruff was named as their new head coach, replacing Alain Nasreddine who was in the role on an interim basis following the firing of John Hynes.  The decision was made by GM Tom Fitzgerald who had his interim title removed at the same time.  Meanwhile, Minnesota (who was taking part in the bubble playoffs unlike New Jersey) also made a decision regarding Dean Evason’s fate as they promoted him to the full-time head coaching spot after wrapping up the regular season in the interim role after they let Bruce Boudreau go.  While the team was 8-4 under Evason in the regular season, they struggled in the bubble, falling to Vancouver in four games in the qualifying round.

Burning Years: Some teams were hoping to be able to use their previously-unsigned international prospects in the playoffs.  While they weren’t able to do so, they were still allowed to sign the players and use up the first year of their entry-level deal.  That would allow them to at least practice with the team to get acclimated to the system.  A few teams took advantage of that as winger Kirill Kaprizov (Wild), goalie Ilya Sorokin (Islanders), and defenseman Alexander Romanov (Canadiens) all signed deals.  In Sorokin’s case, as his entry-level pact was only for one year, he subsequently signed a one-year, $2MM extension.  All three highly-touted prospects are on their respective NHL rosters to start this season.

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2020 was certainly a unique year away from the rink.  However, it was also a year that featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, 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 June which saw a notable front office change get made.

Botterill Fired: After going through more than a decade and a half with some stability at GM with Darcy Regier, his successors in Buffalo haven’t lasted anywhere near as long.  Tim Murray was on the job for 39 months before being let go and Jason Botterill, his replacement, only made it 37 months before being fired by the Sabres.  The team didn’t make any playoff appearances under his tenure and had a couple of different coaches in Phil Housley and current bench boss Ralph Krueger.  Botterill was far from the only one let go as the team eventually slashed a significant chunk of their hockey operations department and have rebuilt their structure under new GM Kevyn Adams, formerly their Vice President of Business Administration, taking over the role in his first managerial position.

Hall Of Fame Class: While there was no formal induction ceremony due to the pandemic, the Hockey Hall of Fame still announced its class of inductees with Marian Hossa, Jarome Iginla, Kevin Lowe, Kim St-Pierre, and Doug Wilson receiving the honor in the player category as well as Ken Holland in the builder category.  Technically speaking, Hossa’s still an active player (he’s entering the final year of his contract with Arizona) which may have made his presence somewhat of a surprise but with his career being ruled over medically back in 2017, he was deemed to have served his mandatory three-year waiting period.

Extension For Reaves: A fan favorite since joining the team in their inaugural season, Ryan Reaves decided to forego the UFA market, instead signing a two-year, $3.5MM contract.  The 33-year-old isn’t known for his offensive prowess (although he has reached at least 10 points in four straight years) but he adds a level of toughness found in few others across the league.  The deal actually represents a pay cut by more than $1MM per year but the $1.75MM AAV is still considerably higher than most of the deals that fourth liners signed over the course of free agency.  In this case, it was the best of both worlds for Reaves – he got to stay with Vegas and may very well have received more than he would have had he waited to hit the open market.

Overseas Signings: A pair of defensemen opted to head overseas, raising some eyebrows along the way.  Stars blueliner Roman Polak signed with HC Vitkovice in the Czech Republic and in doing so, also indicated that he had no desire to return to Dallas for their playoff run, one that wound up taking them to the Stanley Cup Final.  Meanwhile, Sabres rearguard Lawrence Pilut inked a two-year pact with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL.  He played just 13 games with Buffalo last season but was quite productive in the minors to the point where he would have been a contender for a full-time spot on their roster.  Instead, he’ll bide his time overseas and has 21 points in 42 games so far this season.

Mystery Team Wins: The NHL opted to go through with their usual draft lottery even though only seven teams instead of 15 didn’t qualify for the playoffs.  The end result was an unidentified ‘qualifier’ team winning the draft lottery while Detroit, who entered the proceedings with the top odds for the number one pick, dropped the maximum three spots down to fourth.  Ottawa went in with two potential top-three selections based on the odds but had to settle for one as Los Angeles moved up two spots into the second slot with the Sens (with their pick acquired for Erik Karlsson), staying at third.

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2020 was certainly a unique year away from the rink.  However, it was also a year that featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, 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 May where the format for the NHL’s return started to take shape.

Boedker Goes Overseas: After seeing his role whittled down to just limited minutes in the few games he got to suit up for, veteran winger Mikkel Boedker decided to eschew the NHL free agent market, instead signing a two-year deal with Lugano of the Swiss NLA.  The 31-year-old was a capable secondary scorer in the NHL for several years with Arizona and San Jose (plus a brief stint with Colorado) but after joining Ottawa in 2018, his production dipped sharply and he had just nine goals in 91 games in his two seasons with the Sens, hardly ideal production for someone with a $4MM cap hit.  So far this season, Boedker has four goals and nine assists in 19 games, a level of production that won’t help get him back on the NHL radar.

Zub To Ottawa: One of the more sought-after international free agents this year was defenseman Artem Zub.  He had offers from several teams but ultimately chose to sign with Ottawa, inking a one-year deal for the entry-level max of $925K plus another $850K in bonuses.  Zub has been a quality defenseman on a strong KHL team in St. Petersburg and is expected to contend for a roster spot with Ottawa in training camp.

Extension For Halak: Veteran goaltender Jaroslav Halak decided that he didn’t need to test the UFA market again and instead opted to stick around with Boston, signing a one-year deal.  The contract actually carries a lower AAV than his previous one at $2.25MM but it also contains a $1.25MM bonus if he plays in ten games, a likely outcome even with the shortened schedule as long as he stays healthy.  The 35-year-old has been quite effective since joining Boston two years ago, posting a 2.36 GAA with a .921 SV% in 71 games to help form one of the top goaltending tandems in the league with Tuukka Rask.  Both netminders are slated to become unrestricted free agents in July but for now, the duo remains intact.

Playoff Format: While it took a bit longer before we actually got to see it, the 24-team postseason format was agreed to as both the NHL and NHLPA continued to work their way through negotiating their eventual return.  The one-time provision yielded some notable upsets with Pittsburgh and Edmonton being among the teams that were sent home in the Qualifying Round.  While the format for the 2020-21 season is also different than usual, it will instead feature in-division playoffs only for the first two rounds and then re-seed from there.

Lehtonen To Toronto: One of the bigger surprises of the month was Finnish defenseman Mikko Lehtonen’s sudden termination of his KHL contract with a note that he was heading to the NHL.  It turns out that Toronto was his destination as the 26-year-old signed a one-year, entry-level deal worth $925K.  While he didn’t receive any bonuses like Zub, Lehtonen will have a shot at testing the open market once again next summer without any entry-level restrictions this time and a good showing with Toronto would certainly give him an opportunity to land a considerably richer deal this coming summer.

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2020 was certainly a unique year away from the rink.  However, it was also a year that featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, 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 where some teams tried to take care of some contractual business while waiting out the pandemic.

Goalie Deals For Columbus: The inexperienced tandem of Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins wound up playing rather well for the Blue Jackets and they were awarded sizable raises as a result.  Korpisalo signed a two-year, $5.6MM deal with his $2.8MM AAV more than doubling his previous $1.15MM price tag.  Merzlikins, meanwhile, fared even better, inking a two-year, $8MM pact with his $4MM AAV being more than four times higher than his $874K salary from last season.  The contracts give Columbus a pretty good goalie tandem for a fairly low cost.  However, the moves also walk both goaltenders to UFA eligibility in the 2022 offseason and at that time, they will almost certainly have to pick which one to keep and which one will go elsewhere.

Cave Passes Away: Oilers forward Colby Cave passed away at the age of 25.  Days before his passing, he had been placed in a medically-induced coma after suffering a brain bleed and underwent emergency surgery to remove a colloid cyst that was causing pressure on his brain and while that procedure was successful, he remained in the coma until his death.  He played in 67 career NHL games over parts of three seasons between Boston who signed him back in 2015 and Edmonton who claimed him off waivers in January of 2019.

Byfuglien Termination Official: After Winnipeg was unable to find a taker in a trade for Dustin Byfuglien, they agreed on a mutual contract termination, putting an end to one of the more bizarre situations in recent memory.  The veteran reported for camp, then left abruptly and ultimately underwent ankle surgery in October without consulting the team.  He then filed a grievance to try to recover his pay, citing it was a hockey-related injury.  That grievance was settled as part of the termination with the Jets not owing any of his $14MM that was remaining on his contract.  Byfuglien immediately became an unrestricted free agent and spurned overtures from teams in free agency this offseason, including Minnesota.

Veteran Retirements: A pair of long-time NHL veterans decided to call it a career.  Defenseman Andrei Markov hung up his skates after spending the last three seasons in the KHL.  Before that time, he was a fixture on Montreal’s back end, playing in 990 games over parts of 16 NHL seasons which ranks him sixth in franchise history in that regard while he potted 119 goals and 453 assists.  Meanwhile, winger Kris Versteeg also announced his retirement.  He split last season between the minors and a brief stint in Slovakia where he got to play with his brother Mitch.  Versteeg played with seven different NHL teams over parts of 11 seasons, amassing 149 goals and 209 assists in 643 contests.

St. Louis Extensions: The Blues took care of a pair of pending free agents by signing them to new deals.  First, winger Sammy Blais signed a two-year, $3MM deal after averaging nearly four hits per game last season while chipping in with 13 points in 40 games.  The team then reached an agreement on a four-year, $13.1MM extension with defenseman Marco Scandella the next day.  He was acquired from Montreal in advance of the trade deadline and looked good in 11 regular season games before the pandemic hit while logging over 20 minutes a night.  In extending him, the Blues sent their 2021 fourth-round pick to the Canadiens as part of the trade, something that has since been ruled illegal as part of the new CBA.

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2020 was certainly a unique year away from the rink.  However, it was also a year that featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, 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 March where things began to change in a hurry.

NHL Suspends The Season: Following the first confirmed COVID-19 case in the NBA, the NHL joined other leagues in suspending their season.  It was intended to be a short-term measure but wound up lasting several months due to the pandemic.  In the end, the regular season never resumed with the league opting for a playoff qualification round with training camps for that getting underway in July.  The effects are of course still being felt and the pandemic will continue to play a big impact for years to come.

Offside Amendment Begins: Back in December, the league announced a rule change to modify the offside rule that would no longer require a skate to be touching the line to be onside but rather over the plane of the blueline.  That was the end result of a process that actually began in March at the GM meetings where they voted in favor of changing the rule.  It had to go to the Competition Committee as well as the Board of Governors for approval following the recommendation from this vote.

Stamkos Injury: Lightning captain Steven Stamkos underwent successful surgery to repair a core muscle injury that was expected to cause him to miss the remainder of the regular season and maybe the first few games of the playoffs.  Of course, things didn’t happen that way.  Although the postseason didn’t get underway until August, he wound up reaggravating the issue while practicing which held him out until the Stanley Cup Final.  He suited up just once (playing less than three minutes before the injury crept up again – although he scored on his lone shot before exiting the game) and wound up having to undergo a second surgery to fully repair the injury in October.

Richard Passes Away: Longtime Canadiens winger Henri Richard passed away at the age of 84.  The ‘Pocket Rocket’ is the franchise leader in games played (1,258) and spent 20 years with the Canadiens, winning an unprecedented 11 Stanley Cup titles, a record that seems unlikely to be broken.  (It doesn’t include his time as an ambassador for the team either where they won more titles.)  His 1,046 career points are the third-most in franchise history which helped him get into the Hall of Fame back in 1979.

Gorton/Drury Extensions: Satisfied with the progress of their rebuild, the Rangers rewarded the architects of their roster in GM Jeff Gorton and assistant GM Chris Drury with contract extensions.  Gorton has been at the helm of the team since 2015 and had served in a variety of front office roles before getting the promotion.  Drury, meanwhile, has frequently been speculated as a candidate for any managerial vacancies that have opened up and has been with New York since Gorton was given the GM role.  In that time, he has also served as GM of the Hartford Wolf Pack as well as Team USA for their last entry at the World Championships.

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