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NEWS CLIPPINGS • December 6, 2018

Legislation would pop cap on outdoor NHL game at Carter-Finley

By Chip Alexander

Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon discusses talks with the NHL about a possible outdoor hockey game to be played in Raleigh's Carter-Finley Stadium.

By Luke DeCock

Pending legislation to allow “one-time” alcohol sales at state university athletic facilities would move the Carolina Hurricanes closer to hosting an outdoor hockey game at Carter-Finley Stadium.

While general manager Don Waddell said Wednesday no formal bid has been submitted by the team to the NHL, the Hurricanes clearly want to host an outdoor game and are working through the logistics to help make it happen. He said there is no proposed date as yet although the Canes would like it “sooner rather than later, in the next couple of years for sure.”

The N.C. House was expected Wednesday to take up its amendments to Senate Bill 469, one of which includes a provision to allow the sale of beer, wine and mixed drinks at a “special event” involving “a professional sports organization” in a venue within the University of North Carolina system. Current law prohibits alcohol sales at state-owned athletic facilities with the exception of a specific exemption for the Blue Zone at North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium, although there are workarounds to allow alcohol consumption in N.C. State’s luxury seating at Carter-Finley and N.C. State events at PNC Arena.

The provision stipulates a special event one-time permit “to allow the retail sale of malt beverages, unfortified wine, fortified wine, or mixed beverages for consumption on the premises at a professional sporting event held at stadium with a seating capacity of at least 40,000 people.” If passed by the House, the bill would go back to the Senate for another vote, something that could take place as soon as Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes continue to press the issue with the NHL and N.C. State. Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon said in October that the game would most likely happen outside the NHL’s Stadium Series or Winter Classic marketing umbrella.

“We’ve talked to (NHL officials) about getting on the schedule for a game,” Waddell said. “There’s probably 20 teams trying to get on the same calendar for an outdoor game. They haven’t made any commitment back to us.”

Waddell said the game could attract as many as 57,000 people at Carter-Finley Stadium. It is not known how much revenue would be made -- for the Canes, N.C. State or the league.

“There’s lot of hurdles and (alcohol) is obviously one of them,” Waddell said. “The NHL, at these outdoor games, have big alcohol sponsors. So obviously that was a first step that has been presented.

“We started doing our due diligence and knocking things off the list that we can and alcohol was one that was pretty open-ended, with no time frame on it. It’s if we do get a game we would able to sell alcohol in Carter-Finley.”

Waddell said informal talks were held with athletic officials at N.C. State to “see if they were open to the idea” of using Carter-Finley for an outdoor game.

“It would be good publicity for them, especially it being a national TV game,” Waddell said. “They’d get recognition for N.C. State and the university.”

An N.C. State spokesman said the university was not actively involved in the alcohol legislation but remained supportive of the Hurricanes’ plans to use Carter-Finley and the benefits the event would bring to the commmunity.

Waddell said no formal negotiations on a potential deal will begin until “we get through some of the hurdles we know we have to get over.”

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The top 50 NHL players in 2021-22

By Dom Luszczyszyn

Over the past couple years an exciting new generation of NHL superstars have made names for themselves and collectively taken the league by storm. For a long time it was the usual suspects at the top of every NHL leaderboard, but things are changing quickly in a new era. Some players from the past generation are still hanging around, but their time is coming and they’ve had to make room for the next wave. Eight of the top 10 scorers this season are 25 or under, including the entire top five. Ditto for the top two leaders in goals-per-game as well as the top two highest scoring defencemen. The league belongs to the kids, now and going forward.

When thinking about the future of hockey, my mind immediately went to the players in power on the ice – who’s going to run this league three years from now?

Mostly, it’ll likely be the same superstars who have already begun to take over the NHL before even entering their prime, mixed together with some young guns turning into elite stars, a few stalwarts not yet ready to relinquish their grasp on the league and some very fresh faces who are beginning their ascent into league’s upper echelon.

Figuring out exactly who slots where is a tall order, especially in a sport and league as unpredictable as this one. I gave it my best shot using my model based on Game Score to project each individual component for the remainder of this season and each season after that individually. That meant adjusting for the passage of time using an age curve, regressing to the mean based on sample size and estimating ice-time and power-play usage spikes. The results are purely empirical and algorithmically-based, but there is some guesswork involved when it comes to future opportunity as well as model biases (towards offence, though that may not be a bad thing with the way the league is trending) to consider. (The only subjective decision in the rankings was ordering defencemen amongst the forwards, otherwise the top 50 list would just be a list of forwards due to their larger overall impact and the higher predictiveness of offence, especially at each position).

The league has arguably never had as much talent as it does now and this could’ve easily been a list of 100. That means a lot of great players will be left off as 50 is a tough number to crack, but that doesn’t make those players any less special, nor does it put their path to being an actual top 50 player in 2021-22 in jeopardy – it’s simply where they likely to stand given what they’ve shown to date. Going forward three years leaves a large margin for error.

Going into the 2021-22 season, these are who will likely be the NHL’s top 50 players.

Top 50 NHL players

1. Connor McDavid - Who else? McDavid is the best player in the world now at age 21 and will remain the best player in the world until further notice. He dominates games with his

breakneck speed and puck-handling ability, often at the same time, which sends defenders into a spiral. McDavid is a safe bet for 110 points or more annually, a lofty bar that would take a career year for others, but would likely be regularly within reach for McDavid. That he’s doing it all with little help lends further credence to his dominance. When he’s on the ice he can make a cellar dweller look like a Cup contender, carrying some of the largest on-ice impacts in the league. This is his league. McDavid is the only current player my model projects to be worth over five wins and he’s ahead of the class by a healthy margin. In his prime, he might approach six or seven – the sky’s the limit for him and I’m excited to see him reach it.

2. Nathan MacKinnon - With the league embracing a need for speed it’s no wonder that MacKinnon has emerged as an MVP-candidate, with everything beginning to finally click just one year ago. He’s proving last year was no fluke and that he’s here to stay as one of the league’s best players. He’s arguably the closest to the McDavid’s throne right now and this season could spark some debate, as my current projections have the two neck-and-neck, with MacKinnon having a legitimate chance at winning the scoring title thanks to his current sizeable lead. Whether he does or doesn’t, MacKinnon will likely remain one of McDavid’s biggest challengers over the next few seasons as one of three players where 100 points could be the norm, rather than a peak.

3. Auston Matthews - Before the season started, I suggested it would only be a matter of time before Matthews is considered next in line after McDavid. Early on that prediction looked prescient with an explosive start from the Leafs’ franchise center, but an injury and the further emergence of MacKinnon derailed that slightly (though he’s back with a vengeance since returning from injury). Matthews is very close though and will only keep narrowing the gap further over the next three seasons, sparking many debates along the way. What really puts him behind MacKinnon (and McDavid) is ice time. Over the past two seasons Matthews is fourth in all-strengths points-per-60 and second when looking at primary points – behind MacKinnon and ahead of McDavid in both situations. Those two centers play 22 minutes a night while Matthews sits at 17:40 this season, making up a lot of their perceived difference in value – only McDavid rates higher in projected Game Score per 60 at present time. Despite the lower usage, Matthews has scored at over a goal-per-game rate and is on a 135-point pace, tied with Mikko Rantanen for the league lead. That figure likely regresses this season, but more minutes in the future could make him a serious 100-point threat annually like the two players above him and one of two players who could hit 50 goals regularly.

4. David Pastrnak - Even before he was getting top-line minutes and big role on the power play, it was obvious Pastrnak had superstar potential. He was an efficient scorer in the minutes he did get making it no surprise at what he could do in a bigger role. This year he’s taken that to another

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level, scoring 19 goals in 27 games and playing at a 91-point pace. He likely won’t become as prolific a goal-scorer as Matthews or Patrik Laine, but he’s next in line and one of three players with an over 45-goal projection in 2022. There’s many that will be worthy, but for now Pastrnak looks like he’ll be the game’s best right winger in three year’s time.

5. Nikita Kucherov - If you don’t think Pastrnak is the league’s best right winger, you’re may be arguing a case for Kucherov. For the next two seasons my model still figures Kucherov will be the stronger player, but that changes by 2022 as Pastrnak enters his prime and Kucherov begins to exit his. Kucherov should still be a major player in the year-end scoring race for the next few seasons and by 2022 should still be good for 90-plus points, all while being a winger who can drive play.

6. Mikko Rantanen - The current point-scoring leader sits on the fringe of the top five and that’s a scary proposition for the West as the Avalanche are the only team with two top 10 players and are dangerously close to two top-five players. There’s of course some collinearity involved there with two teammates attached at the hip, but what’s clear is that Rantanen and MacKinnon have an undeniable chemistry, torching the league over the last calendar year. Their on-ice shooting percentage has been high this season, yes, but while I don’t expect Rantanen to finish with 135 points, there’s a decent chance he finishes with over 100 after earning 46 in his first 28 games. After the top three on this list, he’s next in projected 2022 points with around 97. Rantanen’s rise has been meteoric, but he’s the real deal and doesn’t get nearly enough credit for it.

7. Patrik Laine - Laine does one thing well, but that one thing is pretty damn important: he fills the net. His 18 goals in November were the most since March 1993 and he’s currently on a 64-goal pace. For others that number would be a pipe-dream. For Laine I can buy it, especially now that he’s added shot volume to his arsenal with a projected 300-plus total in 2022 to lead the league. Even if he doesn’t hit that mark, a 60-goal season feels doable for him going forward and he’s projected for 59 in 2022. Like Matthews, Laine doesn’t get the same ice-time benefit as his contemporaries and an increase from his current 17:19 (!) to 19 or 20 minutes could do wonders for his totals.

8. Rasmus Dahlin - The first defenceman on the list is a player many figured had the potential to be the league’s best defenceman one day even before he was drafted. That day looks like it could be the 2021-22 season based on what Dahlin has shown so far in his brief NHL career. He’s already tilting the ice at an elite rate with a plus-five percent relative Corsi and that figure is only going to get better as he gets more and more acclimated with the NHL game. He’s on pace for 40 points this season, but could see that number skyrocket once he becomes the top dog on a Sabres power play that has potential to be loaded in the coming years. He has 60-point upside while maintaining a strong two-way game – a Norris trophy feels likely in his future.

9. Aleksander Barkov - A few years ago when the Finns were thinking about their own future of hockey, they recognized a national crisis formed by a blue collar identity; a country made up of grinders that lacked top-tier skill. Now, the country’s high-end talent pool is the healthiest it’s ever been

and by 2022 could feature three top 10 players in the world – more than any other country. Barkov is a workhorse, point-per-game player that sacrifices nothing in his own end, plays big minutes in all situations and does it clean with a projected top five penalty differential. He’s drawn 20 penalties this season to lead the league and hasn’t taken a single one yet. As far as complete players go, he’s the best going forward and a likely perennial Selke contender.

10. Seth Jones - If not for a generational defenceman entering the league this season, top defenceman honours would likely be going to Jones in three years time. He’s already close now, finishing fourth in Norris voting last season and likely becoming a yearly fixture for that award from here on out. He’s incredible in his own end and found offensive flourish to match last season topping 50 points for the first time in his career with a 57-points. He can do it all and should challenge as the league’s best defenceman until Dahlin is ready to take the throne for himself.

11. Mitch Marner - Marner, the hometown kid, has been largely overrated by local media, but that’s created an opposite effect from his detractors that likely don’t give enough credit to his ability. Marner’s game is made in the Patrick Kane mould. Everything runs through him when he’s on the ice and why wouldn’t it? He’s a wizard with the puck. Marner is one of the best power-play quarterbacks in the league due to his elite passing ability and with 27 primary assists in 28 games is well on his way to one of the best play-making seasons in the salary cap era. My model has seven skaters projected for 90-plus points in 2021-22 and Marner is one of them thanks to a terrific start to the season, but it goes back further than that. Over his last 61 games (dating back to when he was put on a line with Nazem Kadri) he has 76 points, a 102-point pace.

12. Mark Scheifele - Imagine somehow being on a team with Laine on it and still being the best sniper. That’s Scheifele who’s been very selective for much of his career and has made goalies pay as a result, scoring on 19.6 percent of his shots over the last three seasons. That leads all players in that time frame, a full percent better than his sharp-shooting teammate. This year he’s upped the ante by taking more shots and yet still managing to finish at an elite rate. There’s more to Scheifele’s game than just scoring too as he’s a gifted playmaker and a responsible 200-foot player, one who’s been tasked with big minutes this season at 22:43 per night. He’ll be 28 by 2022, but still projects to be in the conversation for top five center in the league (though his heavy usage has a lot to do with that).

13. Taylor Hall - Last season’s MVP is a top 10 player right now, but will be a year away from 30 by the time the 2021-22 season rolls around meaning some other younger players will likely push their way past him. At that point of his career Hall should still be in the conversation for the game’s best left winger; a point-per-game threat and one of the best play-drivers in the league. Here’s hoping he finds the team success he’s been desperately looking for his entire career by then though.

14. Jack Eichel - At this point things are already tight with little separating players eight through 16, so don’t take this as a slight at Eichel who was pegged as a future top 10 player when he was drafted. He’s getting there and will likely

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be in the conversation at some point in his career – maybe even over the next three seasons – but there’s still things he needs to iron out. Eichel can put numbers on the board better than most players and has legitimate 90-point upside, but his two-way game has taken a bit of time to progress. Only one other forward on this list, Laine, carries below average play-driving value, though that’s trending up for Eichel who has seen his on-ice shot rates increase in every season. This year he’s finally above 50 percent in Corsi and carries a plus-four percent relative rating, a good sign that 5-on-5 dominance is coming soon.

15. Victor Hedman - Last year’s Norris trophy winner is off to a slower start than usual playing at just a 52-point pace, but he’s still been able to dominate shot rates at a high margin after a brief lull last season. That might have something to do with Ryan McDonagh easing his burden in a shutdown role, but while Hedman might not be the best defensive defender, he’s right up there on offence. His projected 59 points in 2022 ranks second among defenders with 41 of those being primary – the only defender with more than 40. It takes a special talent to be on this list past your 30’s (there are 10 on this list, though six are defencemen) and Hedman is exactly that, a player who will still likely be top five at his position at age 31.

16. Matthew Tkachuk - It’s probably a bit of a surprise to see Tkachuk as the first Flames left winger mentioned, but he has a slight edge when it comes to age over Johnny Gaudreau (he “passes” him in 2020-21) and is projected to be the league’s best play-driving player (not just winger) at 5-on-5. He’s been terrific in that department since his rookie season but now has the boxcars to match thanks to some time on the top power play. More opportunity could do him wonders too as he only gets 17:33 per game, but he’s already cementing himself as an elite player despite that. With his pest-like style, ability to tilt the ice, and scoring to match, it’s pretty easy to see the elder Tkachuk as the heir-apparent to Brad Marchand’s throne as the league’s most annoying(ly good) player.

17. Brayden Point - How long before Point is the top dog up the middle for the Lightning? Not very, and he might already be there with the season he’s having, 37 points in 29 games, top five league-wide. I’m not sure about his 26 percent shooting percentage, but he’s still an excellent goal-scorer and should be a 40-40 guy for years to come, all while playing a strong two-way game. More opportunity on the top power play and with Kucherov at 5-on-5 could help him rise even further too.

18. Sebastian Aho - Aho has been underrated since entering the league, but that’s beginning to change with him putting up a point-per-game season. That’s hard to do on a Carolina team that’s allergic to goals too. Once the team surrounds him with better offensive talent his numbers could rise and he’ll become a household name outside of Raleigh like he should already be.

19. John Klingberg - A 67-point season last year put Klingberg in elite company as one of 11 defenders to eclipse 65 points in the last decade. He’s an incredible offensive force, but that doesn’t mean he’s weak in his own end. Klingberg is a strong two-way player who puts Dallas in a position to succeed with some of the better possession

numbers in the league. It’s no coincidence that the Stars have struggled of late to control the puck without him in the lineup. Only four other defenders are projected to have a stronger 5-on-5 impact.

20. Sidney Crosby - Age comes for everyone and eventually it will come for The Kid too. That he’s still rated as a top-20 player three years from now is a testament to the high bar he’s still playing at in 2018-19, especially with some of his contemporaries like Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Patrick Kane all off the list. At age 34 in 2022, Crosby is the second oldest player on this list and what’s worth remembering about age curves is that it’s generally one size fits all. It’s usually the best way to handle things, but in special cases might not be appropriate. Crosby is likely one of those cases where it’s unlikely he goes away quietly – 20th best player in 2022 might just be a floor in his case as it feels like Crosby will be a top 10 player for as long as he wants to be.

21. Johnny Gaudreau - Smooth, fast, and elusive – Gaudreau is one of the game’s trickiest players to get the puck off of and he’s parlayed that into some gaudy point totals over the past few seasons. He’s become a more complete player in that time and that’s allowed him to move up in a ranking like this that values a player’s ability to drive play on top of his ability to drive production. Also to his benefit is his knack for drawing penalties; only McDavid is projecting to be more proficient than Gaudreau going forward. Tuesday night he had four points, which might’ve helped his standing further here with every player being so close.

22. Mathew Barzal - Before this season Barzal would’ve likely ranked much higher in an exercise like this coming off an 85-point season where he had a boggling plus-eight percent relative Corsi. Only six other players have scored at above a point-per-game rate in an under-20 season in the salary cap era: Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Steven Stamkos and Auston Matthews. It was great company to be in, but he’s having a bit of a sophomore slump this year, producing at just a 66-point pace in a year where scoring is way up. The shot rate numbers are still there and he’s experiencing some bad puck luck offensively, but the slow start is still enough to place him outside the top 20 going forward. For now at least.

23. Elias Pettersson - You know you’re a special player when you’ve got a nickname that isn’t just slapping a “y” at the end of it. Pettersson must be real good because he’s got two: Alien and Dekey Pete, both of which are top tier nicknames. He’s had an electric start to his NHL career with 23 points in 24 games, but it’s the manner at which he gets those points that makes him truly exciting. He’s already a human highlight reel, making an otherwise miserable Canucks season must-see TV. There’s still things to be ironed out in his two-way game for him to be a complete player, but for now he’s wicked offensively. He’s one of 14 players that my model projects to be at point-per-game or higher and one of six above 40 goals.

24. Thomas Chabot - The Senators haven’t missed a beat in life without Erik Karlsson and that’s because Chabot has been up to the task of replacing his offence. In his first season as the team’s top dog, Chabot has 31 points in 28

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games which has driven his value up monumentally by my model. He’s the only defender to be projected for over 60 points in 2022 and he’s well clear of that with 65. Those are big numbers for a defenceman, but they don’t tell the whole story for Chabot who still has a lot of work to do in his own zone and gets most of his production off secondary assists. He’s the only defender on the list whose 5-on-5 on-ice value is projected to be below average.

25. Erik Karlsson - Of the 50 players on this list, no player has fallen off more from his peak than Karlsson. As great as you can argue he still is despite the lower point totals (and his underlying numbers suggest he has been), it’s hard not to agree that he hasn’t lost a step from his peak output. He was a freak in those days, not only the undisputed best defenceman in the world, but one of the best players, period. He’s not that anymore and will likely drift farther away from that as he enters his 30’s. Still, he’s projected to be the sixth best D-man by my model and in a virtual dead heat with 4th and 5th. It’s a bit disappointing given his prior output, but it’s a testament to how good he was that “falling far” still means a player this good.

26. Filip Forsberg - Would score more with bigger minutes and more power play time, but does well regardless. Another strong play-driving winger and the key to Nashville’s offence.

27. Nico Hischier - The former first overall pick hasn’t put it all together yet, but watch out when he does. He has 75-point upside and will form a nasty duo with Hall for years to come. A very gifted penalty-drawer too.

28. Leon Draisaitl - It’s been pretty clear this season that he can’t really drive his own line, but he’s still one of the league’s best players – as long as he’s playing with the best player.

29. Artemi Panarin - Likely won’t be on Columbus when all is said and done, but will provide massive value to whichever team he does end up on. Made it clear he wasn’t just a Kane byproduct with 111 points in 107 games as a member of the Blue Jackets. Also has the second-best projected 5-on-5 value behind Tkachuk.

30. Morgan Rielly - Defence is a concern, but few defenders can tilt the ice offensively the way he does and even fewer do it while facing extremely tough competition with an extremely weak partner. Despite playing some of the toughest minutes in the league, Rielly gets results.

31. John Tavares - He’ll be paid $11-million in 2022 to be arguably the third, fourth, or fifth most important Leaf. Maybe even sixth. And he’ll probably be worth it too.

32. Tyler Seguin - He’s consistently been one of the league’s top scorers since moving to Dallas and that should continue through the remainder of his 20’s. Perhaps not elite, per se, but always in the neighbourhood of the league’s best.

33. Dougie Hamilton - Hamilton has his haters, but no defender influences shot rates better than he does, and that’s on a shutdown pair against the best players other teams can muster. When he’s on the ice, his teams are on the right side of the puck more often than not. Get him on a power play and he could be the next Brent Burns with the shot he has and how often he likes using it.

34. Charlie McAvoy - Won’t put up big numbers until he usurps power play time away from Torey Krug, but makes up for it by being a very effective shutdown defender. Once Zdeno Chara retires, it’ll be McAvoy’s back end to lead and he looks like he has the proper tools to do just that, with the upside to be a top 10 defenceman league-wide.

35. Mark Stone - What Stone has done this year on an awful Senators team is absurd. He has 30 points in 28 games and a 54 percent Corsi on a team that’s below 40 percent otherwise. On a better team, he’d be a superstar.

36. Roman Josi - First Shea Weber, then P.K. Subban – Josi has been overlooked and overshadowed on his own team his whole career, but right now (and in 2022) he might be the best on a stacked Predators’ blueline. Early in his career there were some 5-on-5 concerns, but he’s been arguably Nashville’s best play-driving defender over the past two seasons.

37. Alex Debrincat - The smallest player on the list has shocked literally no one with a brain by being a valuable NHL player after scoring 332 points in 191 games in the OHL, including three straight 50-plus goal seasons. Being 5’7” hasn’t stopped him yet and he’s only getting better. He’s the future of Chicago’s program in a transition period and the only Blackhawk on the list.

38. Patrice Bergeron - The oldest player on the list at 36-years-old by the time 2022 comes around, it’s hard to imagine a future where Bergeron isn’t still the game’s best two-way player. That day is coming eventually, but it doesn’t feel like it’s soon. He’s on the downswing of his career, but Bergeron is at such a high level that there’s a good chance he maintains a level of excellence into his mid-30’s, three seasons from now.

39. Brad Marchand - At 33, Marchand is the third oldest player on this list and is here because of his part on one of the league’s most dominant lines at 5-on-5. All three make the list meaning the rest of the Atlantic division will continue to have those recurring nightmares for years to come.

40. Zach Werenski - With most teams going to a 4F1D power play set-up there isn’t much room for two defenders from the same team to provide big value, but Werenski still makes it as part of what’s likely going to be the best defense pairing over the next decade.

41. John Carlson - The only Capital on the list as the rest of the core mostly ages out. The Capitals made a huge investment on Carlson this summer with an eight-year $64-million contract and he’s been great on his end so far. The 2018-19 season has been his best yet as he’s been excellent at 5-on-5 while putting up a lot of points in the process.

42. Andrei Svechnikov - The second overall pick from the 2018 draft has looked great in limited minutes for Carolina so far, enough to suggest he has a very bright future in the NHL once he gets the opportunity. Svechnikov, one of just three Russians on the list, also represents the future of hockey in the country as most of the last era’s superstars are fading out.

43. P.K. Subban - He’ll be 32 in 2022 so Subban deserves a lot of credit for his staying power as an elite defenceman. He’s perennially one of the league’s best two-way defenders,

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showcasing his defensive acumen last year on an extremely effective shutdown pair with Mattias Ekholm, to go along with an unsurprisingly strong offensive season.

44. Hampus Lindholm - After Hamilton, Lindholm is projected to be the second most impactful 5-on-5 defenceman in 2022. He doesn’t score as much as others, but he’s been an excellent possession driver for his entire career.

45. Brady Tkachuk - Many in the analytics community lamented the Senators for “reaching” on Tkachuk at the 2018 draft considering his mediocre numbers at Boston University, but he’s proved many skeptics wrong early in his short career with 16 points in 17 games and an ever more impressive 53 percent Corsi on a very weak Ottawa team. There’s still reason to be skeptical (byproduct of Stone, high on-ice shooting percentage), but what he’s shown so far has been mighty impressive.

46. Timo Meier - Exploded onto the scene this season with 23 points in 25 games, but the signs were there in his first two seasons that he would be a force in a bigger role. His 11.5 scoring chances per 60 in his first two years ranked third in the league at 5-on-5. No surprise now that a guy who creates a lot of chances is now on pace to eclipse 40 goals.

47. Drew Doughty - The two-time Norris trophy winner might have ranked higher if not for an uncharacteristically weak start to his season, one where the Kings have been outshot with Doughty on the ice for the first time in his career. Being 31 by 2022 doesn’t help matters either, but he should still be one of the game’s best.

48. Sean Monahan - A monstrous night in a 9-6 win pushed Monahan up to a 97-point pace for the season. Not bad for the 48th best player in hockey in 2022. His projected 70-to-75 points (and his place on this list) might be on the low side if he keeps that up.

49. Jesperi Kotkaniemi - The youngest player on the list was drafted third overall in 2018 and while he doesn’t yet have the impact of his draftmates it will come in due time. He was drafted to be Montreal’s number one centre of the future and looks well on his way to getting there. He only gets 14:04 of ice-time, but with a 5-on-5 points-per-60 of 2.05 and a relative Corsi of plus-4.5 percent there’s reason to believe he has star potential in a bigger role.

50. Pierre - Luc Dubois - The Blue Jackets gambled with their third overall pick in 2016, opting for Dubois over Jesse Puljujarvi, the consensus choice at the time. That gamble has paid off handsomely as Dubois already looks like the high end first line center the team envisioned when drafting him, playing at a near point-per-game pace in 2018-19.

Honourable Mentions

Centers: Jack Hughes, Steven Stamkos, Sean Couturier, Evgeni Malkin

Left Wing: Claude Giroux, Jonathan Marchessault, Nikolaj Ehlers, Gabriel Landeskog

Right Wing: Vladimir Tarasenko, William Nylander, Brock Boeser, Travis Konecny

Defence: Kris Letang, Alex Pietrangelo, Brent Burns

As you’ll notice, the top 50 list contained exactly zero goalies. This was not an error, this was by design as even predicting goalie value one year in advance will leave you wrong more often than right. For those that are curious though, here’s the top 10, if they were included.

Goalies: John Gibson, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Frederik Andersen, Sergei Bobrovsky, Connor Hellebuyck, Antti Raanta, Juuse Saros, Pekka Rinne, Linus Ullmark, Philipp Grubauer.

Goals still scarce for Hurricanes in 5-1 loss

Carolina, which outshot San Jose 40-23, has scored just five goals in its past five games, losing four of them

By: Josh Dubow

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Timo Meier’s return to San Jose’s lineup gave the Sharks just the boost they needed after a rough road trip.

Meier had a goal and two assists in his first game back from an injury, Martin Jones made 39 saves and the Sharks responded to a shuffle of duties for their assistant coaches by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 on Wednesday night.

“It felt great,” Meier said. “You don’t want to be sitting out watching games with an injury. For me it was important to get healthy. Obviously I was really excited to keep playing again. I had a lot of energy today and we played a great game overall.”

Barclay Goodrow and Tomas Hertl got San Jose started with goals in the first period, captain Joe Pavelski added his team-leading 18th in the second period and Marcus Sorensen scored in the third to give the Sharks a convincing victory.

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Lucas Wallmark scored on the power play for the Hurricanes, who have scored just five goals in the past five games, losing four of them. Curtis McElhinney made 18 saves.

“We’ve had too many like this, that’s the problem,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We’ve played good enough to win and we don’t get any results. That’s hard on the guys. It’s been a weird year for this. It was a 5-1 game and you think ‘wow, that’s a terrible game,’ I didn’t see it that way. Maybe I’m wrong, I have to look at it again, but it certainly didn’t feel like that.”

The Sharks had been outscored 20-7 in losing the first four games on their recent road trip before salvaging it a bit with a 3-1 win in Montreal. Coach Peter DeBoer shuffled the responsibility of his assistants a bit, moving Dave Barr to the bench to work with the forwards, making Rob Zettler the “eye in the sky,” and having Steve Spott shift from overseeing forwards to the defense.

“After a road trip like that you have to look in the mirror,” defenseman Justin Braun said. “You can’t look at other guys. You have to figure out what you need to do to help the team win.”

They did that as a team and built on that momentum from Montreal against the Hurricanes with Kevin Labanc setting up two goals in the first 10:10 and Jones stopping 17 shots in the first.

Labanc took a bad bounce off the boards to feed Goodrow in front to open the scoring and then made a perfect pass from the boards that deflected off Hertl’s stick for a power-play goal midway through the first.

San Jose blew a 2-0 lead at Carolina earlier this season, losing 4-3 in a shootout. But the Sharks managed to build on this advantage in the second. Meier deflected Radim Simek’s point shot past McElhinney for his 14th goal of the season. Meier had missed the previous three games with an upper-body injury.

“He’s been there for us, he’s been solid for us most of the year,” Pavelski said. “For him to come back in, he brings that speed. He plays a good amount of minutes and fills out certain situations, whether it’s a power play, 5-on-5. So it definitely gave us a little boost.”

Meier added an assist on Pavelski’s goal, which came when a centering pass was deflected by Carolina’s Jordan Staal into his own net.

“It’s tough to sit here and say what we need to do and not sound like I’m bashing us,” defenseman Justin Faulk said. “That’s the way it goes, you look at a few of their goals, they’re just throwing crap at the net, hits a stick, goes off a body. I don’t know.”

The Hurricanes managed the power-play goal late in the second, but it wasn’t enough with Sorensen adding the insurance goal in the third off a pass from Meier.

NOTES: Joe Thornton had three assists for San Jose, leaving him two shy of tying Marcel Dionne for 10th place all-time with 1,040. … Staal left the game in the third with an upper-body injury. … Simek had his first career point with the assist on Meier’s goal. … Hurricanes D Brett Pesce returned after missing nine games with a lower-body injury.

Recap: Sharks Swarm Canes

Wallmark tallies PPG, but Canes fall 5-1

by Michael Smith

SAN JOSE - The Carolina Hurricanes ended their scoring drought but could not work out of a four-goal hole, as they dropped a 5-1 decision to the San Jose Sharks.

Lucas Wallmark tallied on the power play for the Hurricanes, but the Sharks had already built a 4-0 lead with a pair of goals in the first and second periods.

Here are five takeaways from the Shark Tank.

One

When these two teams first met this season in late October, the first period played out very similarly to tonight's opening frame. The Sharks were the better team, and they jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

The Sharks struck first tonight with the game not even four minutes old. The Canes turned the puck over, and the Sharks swarmed. Barclay Goodrow then snapped a shot top-shelf. Just past the midway point of the period on the Sharks' second power play of the game, Tomas Hertl tapped the puck in on the doorstep to double his team's lead.

Two

In that aforementioned last meeting, the Canes counteracted a languid first period with a prolific, three-goal second period. Three goals were again scored in this second period, but two of them belonged to the Sharks, who grew their lead to 4-0 before the Canes were able to get on the board.

Timo Meier redirected Radim Simek's point shot in the slot to put the Sharks up 3-0. Then, on a play that summarized the game's first 35 minutes, Joe Pavelski centered the puck off Jordan Staal and in the net. It was that kind of night, it seemed.

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"I thought it was a pretty good game up until the fourth one," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Then, it was pretty much over."

Three

The Canes finally broke through at the 18:31 mark of the second period, and it was the power play doing so after going 0-for-10 in the last three games. Victor Rask laid the puck off at the point for Jaccob Slavin, who drew a defender and dished off to Dougie Hamilton. Hamilton then went cross-ice to Wallmark, whose wrist shot beat Martin Jones through an excellent screen provided by Justin Williams.

"It gives us some confidence for the future," Wallmark said. "It was a good screen by Willy. That's what we need to score goals. We need some bodies in front."

"The timing of it is what's important on the power play," Brind'Amour said. "They got theirs when they needed it right away. That's what you need."

Down 4-1 in the third period, the Hurricanes needed a goal early to work their way back into the game, but the deficit was too large at that point.

"It's going to be tough if you don't get one early. We didn't generate much in the third to get going. We got a few chances late, but the game is out of hand at that point. It's a tough game. It certainly wasn't a 5-1 game, I don't think," Brind'Amour said. "We definitely had some quality looks and missed the net a lot on the one's in tight. They were opportunistic."

Four

Wallmark's goal, his second of the season, ended a scoreless drought of 140:49 for the Canes, who had last netted a goal late in the first period against Anaheim on Friday. That goal was scored by Andrei Svechnikov 4-on-4. The Canes last 5-on-5 goal came at the 11:59 mark of the second period in Montreal last Tuesday.

"The magic question is 'How do you get goals?' and that's a tough question to answer. I feel like we're pretty much doing everything we can. We're getting enough opportunities," Brind'Amour said. "The hard part for us is to stick together and stick with the game plan. It's easy to go away from it when it's not working at all as far as results. That's the tough part we're going to have to manage."

"We just have to stick to our game plan. We are creating a lot," Wallmark said. "We had some bad bounces and unlucky plays against us."

"You've got to keep competing," Justin Faulk said. "The old saying is you have to work for your chances and work for your bounces. When it's not going your way, you have to dig even deeper. It's not necessarily trying different things, but keep grinding and keep competing. Keep it simple and get to the net."

Five

Brett Pesce returned to the lineup tonight after missing the Canes' last nine games with a lower-body injury. Pesce logged five shot attempts (two on goal), three blocked shots and a takeaway in 15:06 of ice time.

"I thought he was OK," Brind'Amour said. "Faulk was our best defenseman. He was the most competitive. Pesce has been out a long time, so it's hard. I'll give him a little bit of a pass."

In other injury news, Jordan Staal departed the game about midway through the third period with an upper-body injury and did not return.

"We're still looking at that," Brind'Amour said.

Up Next

The Hurricanes complete their three-game tour of California with a Friday night faceoff against the Anaheim Ducks.

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Jones makes 39 saves, Sharks shut down Hurricanes

Meier, Thornton each gets three points for San Jose

by Eric Gilmore

SAN JOSE -- Martin Jones made 39 saves, and Timo Meier had a goal and two assists for the San Jose Sharks in a 5-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at SAP Center on Wednesday.

Meier, who returned to the lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury, scored his 14th goal of the season.

"It felt great," Meier said. "You don't want to be sitting out watching games with an injury. For me it was important to get healthy. I had a lot of energy today and we played a great game overall."

Joe Thornton had three assists for the Sharks (14-10-5) to give him 1,038 NHL assists, two shy of tying Marcel Dionne for 10th place on the all-time list.

Barclay Goodrow, Tomas Hertl, Joe Pavelski and Marcus Sorensen also scored, and Kevin Labanc had two assists for San Jose.

"We're coming off the road, I was a little worried about our energy the first game back," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "But we got off to a quick start, got that first goal, which was huge. I thought we had some bounces tonight which we haven't gotten a lot of lately. And [Jones] was great."

Lucas Wallmark scored for the Hurricanes (12-11-4), who lost their third straight game (0-2-1) and have scored two or fewer goals in five straight. Curtis McElhinney made 18 saves.

"We've played good enough to win and we don't get any results," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "That's hard, it's hard on the guys. It's been a weird year for this. It was a 5-1 game and you think, 'Wow, that's a terrible game.' I didn't see it that way. Maybe I'm wrong, I have to look at it again but it certainly didn't feel like that."

Jones has won back-to-back games, making the save on 79 of 81 shots.

"I feel good in the net," Jones said. "I think when we play like that it's the real Grade-A chances we've limited the last couple games. I thought I made some good saves tonight, but there wasn't too many where I really had to steal any."

Goodrow put the Sharks ahead 1-0 at 3:44 of the first period when he took a pass from Labanc and scored on a wrist shot from the right circle.

Hertl made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 10:10 when he redirected a pass from Labanc into an open net from the crease.

"We've got to show some resilience as a team to kind of stick with it and get it back to even," Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk said.

Meier scored at 8:42 of the second period, increasing San Jose's lead to 3-0. He redirected Radim Simek's shot from the point. It was Simek's first NHL point in his second game.

"You try to be a difference-maker," Meier said. "You try to do whatever you can to help the team win. Obviously I've gained some confidence."

Pavelski made it 4-0 at 15:02 when his shot deflected off the stick of Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal in the slot and past McElhinney.

Wallmark scored a power-play goal at 18:31, cutting San Jose's lead to 4-1.

Sorensen scored his fifth goal of the season at 15:43 of the third to make it 5-1.

They said it

"I feel like we're pretty much doing everything we can. We're getting enough opportunities. The hard part is we're going to have to stick together and stick with the game plan because it's easy to go away when it's not working at all as far as the results. That's the tough part that we're going to have to manage." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour

"He's been phenomenal these last two games. If he keeps that rolling it's huge for us. We gave up a few too many Grade As but he was there when we needed him." -- Sharks defenseman Justin Braun on goaltender Martin Jones

Need to know

Staal left in the third period with an upper-body injury. Brind'Amour did not have an update. … Carolina forward Micheal Ferland missed his third straight game with a concussion. ... Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce returned to the lineup after missing nine games with a lower-body injury. He had two shots and three blocked shots in 15:06. ... Pavelski has seven points (five goals, two assists) in a five-game point streak. … Thornton played his 1,513th NHL

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game and is one shy of tying Steve Yzerman for 18th place on the all-time list. … Sharks forward Logan Couture has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his past nine games.

What's next

Hurricanes: At the Anaheim Ducks on Friday (10 p.m. ET; PRIME, FS-CR, NHL.TV)

Sharks: At the Dallas Stars on Friday (8 p.m. ET; SNE, SNP, TVAS, FS-SW, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)

NHL Power Rankings after Week 9: Potential expansion picks for Seattle

Emily Kaplan

This week, we learned that the NHL will officially welcome Seattle as its 32nd franchise, but not until 2021-22. That's plenty of time for teams to prepare and shape their rosters for yet another expansion draft. What if the draft were this summer, though? For this week's power rankings -- voted, as always, by ESPN's panel of experts -- we considered which player might get plucked if Seattle got to choose this June, using the same rules as Vegas in 2017.

It's all imaginary, of course. But it's also an interesting peek into current roster constructions.

1. Tampa Bay Lightning

Previous ranking: 2

Here's where being one of the deepest teams in the league presents a problem. With so many talented players to protect, important middle-six forwards such as Tyler Johnson or Alex Killorn might have to be exposed.

2. Nashville Predators

Previous ranking: 1

Juuse Saros is supposed to be the goalie of the future in Nashville. But thanks to Pekka Rinne's longevity (and no-movement clause), the 23-year-old Finn could be the goalie of the much-sooner future in Seattle.

3. Toronto Maple Leafs

Previous ranking: 3

The Leafs are strapped by tough future contract decisions. Stocked with forward talent, perhaps it's best for a center such as Frederik Gauthier to leave and see what he can do with a larger opportunity.

4. Colorado Avalanche

Previous ranking: 5

Forward depth is still an issue in Colorado, though the Avalanche must part with one of their grinding third-line wingers: Matt Calvert or Matt Nieto. They aren't known as huge point producers, and neither has cracked double-digit points yet.

5. Washington Capitals

Previous ranking: 6

Michal Kempny revived his career with the Capitals after being an odd man out in Chicago, but he could find himself in a numbers game yet again. Or does pending restricted free-agent Andre Burakovsky get exposed from this deep roster?

6. Winnipeg Jets

Previous ranking: 9

The Jets still have to allocate some big money this summer, which could mean the versatile Mathieu Perreault is on his way out (if only because of his $4.125 million cap hit).

7. Buffalo Sabres

Previous ranking: 4

Buffalo has a ton of young players not yet signed to bad contracts. But the one who might be most attractive to Seattle -- and, unfortunately for the Sabres, available -- is 25-year-old goaltender Linus Ullmark.

8. Calgary Flames

Previous ranking: 11

A deep team without no-movement clauses? The Flames could lose either 22-year-old Sam Bennett, a pending RFA, or defenseman Travis Hamonic.

9. Minnesota Wild

Previous ranking: 7

Over the past two seasons, Charlie Coyle has been struggling to find his game. Being exposed in the expansion draft could be the motivation he needs to find confidence again.

10. San Jose Sharks

Previous ranking: 8

The Sharks lucked out in the 2017 expansion draft, losing only third-pairing defenseman David Schlemko. It might be similar this summer, with perhaps Justin Braun on his way out.

11. Columbus Blue Jackets


These days, Oliver Bjorkstrand is fighting for a third-line winger spot in Columbus. If the expansion draft were this summer, he could contend for a larger role with the new team. And hey, we hear the last struggling Blue Jacket to

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find a new home with an expansion team did OK for himself ...

12. Boston Bruins


With so many players on entry-level contracts in big roles, the Bruins are well-positioned to save cornerstone contributors. But to protect Torey Krug, the ascending Matt Grzelcyk and the affordable John Moore, it might be blueliner Kevin Miller who gets plucked.

13. Dallas Stars


With Ben Bishop's injury issues, the Stars would hate to see their terrific backup goaltender, Anton Khudobin, go. However, Dallas might be forced to do so, thanks, in part, to Bishop's no-movement clause.

14. Vegas Golden Knights


Lucky Vegas, they don't have to give up a player in the expansion draft! They also don't get a cut of the $650 million expansion fee.

15. Anaheim Ducks


Anaheim has a pretty obvious list of keepers, and unfortunately, Andrew Cogliano just misses the cut. His middle-class contract ($3.25 million per year) is expendable for a team in transition.

16. Montreal Canadiens


Matthew Peca has a plucky underdog story. The young center might be available, and he might just fit the mold if the Seattle team is trying to replicate Vegas' "Golden Misfit" profile.

In The Crease

17. New York Rangers


With a pair of no-movement clauses for Marc Staal and Kevin Shattenkirk, the Rangers will have to make tough calls on the blue line. Perhaps Brady Skjei falls so out of favor this season that it culminates with a change of scenery.

18. Carolina Hurricanes


With an abundance of exciting young defensemen, the Canes will likely go for the eight-skater approach and protect most of their blueliners. Just like in the Vegas draft, Trevor van Riemsdyk could be left vulnerable yet again.

19. New York Islanders


Leo Komarov, 31, was a very Lou Lamoriello signing this summer. Thanks to his versatility and experience, he would be a good addition for an expansion team.

20. Arizona Coyotes


There are lots of ELC-exempt players on the Coyotes' list, which leaves Seattle scrambling. Perhaps they pick up an expiring contract, such as Richard Panik's.

21. Pittsburgh Penguins


Despite a lack of depth on the blue line, the Penguins have so many forwards to protect that they might have to part with one of their middle-pairing defensemen: Olli Maatta or Jamie Oleksiak.

22. Edmonton Oilers


In order to save the top four defensemen (Kris Russell has a no-movement clause), the Oilers will have to expose a young forward; Drake Caggiula is the pick.

23. Detroit Red Wings


Our best bet for who might be plucked? It's going to be slim pickings, but grinder Luke Glendening is versatile, rounds out the bottom six and comes cheaply, at $1.8 million per season.

24. Philadelphia Flyers


The Flyers made a surprising move and opted to protect Scott Laughton in the previous expansion draft. The center might get exposed this time around and could be a smarter option for Seattle than the older Dale Weise.

25. Vancouver Canucks


Might the Canucks escape the Antoine Roussel contract via exposure in the expansion draft? We wouldn't rule it out.

26. New Jersey Devils


Mirco Mueller was protected last go-around. However, the 23-year-old defenseman could be exposed this time despite his promise, thanks to his pending RFA status.

27. Florida Panthers


All right, Panthers, don't mess this up again. Without Reilly Smith or Jonathan Marchessault-level talents available, the expansion team could pick up a depth defenseman such as Mark Pysyk.

28. Ottawa Senators


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Seattle might have to use this as a dead pick and select a player with an expiring contract. Which might be OK, considering Ottawa's overall talent level.

29. Chicago Blackhawks


Artem Anisimov is a center who, increasingly, might benefit from a change of scenery. By exposing him in the expansion draft, Chicago could get his $4.55 million contract off the books as it continues to transition.

30. St. Louis Blues


David Perron again? The forward doesn't get to finish his third stint with the Blues after the Seattle team remembers

how well he fit in as a Golden Misfit (including a career-high 66 points).

31. Los Angeles Kings


The Kings are a team hamstrung by bad contracts. Although they might try to expose someone such as Dustin Brown (34 years old and signed through 2021-22), Alec Martinez could be the one heading north.

NHL Power Rankings: The Biggest RFA Questions Edition

Rory Boylen

The restricted free agent market has been the buzz of the NHL these days, with William Nylander holding out until the last few minutes of the Dec. 1 deadline and getting a big-money deal anyway. When he starts playing full seasons again, Nylander will come with a $6.9-million cap hit, which is a pretty good deal when you look at it from the angle of per cent of the overall cap.

But if you thought his contract was too much to hand out, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

The 2019 RFA class is chock full of big names and players who are already stars in the NHL. With the salary cap also rising to a projected $83 million next season, the entire market is about to reset and we may very well look back on Nylander’s deal in awe of its value.

Every team has an RFA to deal with, and most of them have a significant signing ahead.

Welcome to our NHL Power Rankings: The Biggest RFA Question Edition.


Brayden Point: Steven Stamkos makes $8.5 million against the cap and Nikita Kucherov will start counting for $9.5 million next season — so what do you do with a 22-year-old centre who has nearly as many goals as the two of them combined this season? We all know how valuable a productive top-six centre is, but Point also comes with the upside of being strong on defence. We know he won’t keep scoring on 26.3 per cent of his shots, but playing alongside Kucherov should help Point to his third straight season of improved point totals. And he’s not propped up by special teams production: Point is seventh in even-strength points league wide. You can make the case he is Tampa’s best centre right now.


Mitch Marner: While Auston Matthews should come out of next summer the highest-paid Maple Leaf, and perhaps highest-paid in the league, Marner’s ultimate value is what will really set the table for the following years. A magician with the puck and preferred linemate of massive UFA pickup John Tavares, the case has been made for Marner to make everything from Nylander-type money ($6.9 million) to upwards of $10 million. His deal could really put the squeeze on Toronto’s cap, but the question has to be asked of this homegrown talent: Would he consider some level of discount?


Kevin Fiala: The stars seemed to be aligning for a breakout year from the 11th overall pick of the 2014 draft, but at the 28-game mark Fiala is on pace to struggle to finish with even half of the 23 goals he accumulated last season. Injuries have afforded him an opportunity on the top line and he does have six points in his past six games, so maybe things are turning around.

4. Buffalo Sabres

Nathan Beaulieu: When Sabres GM Jason Botterill acquired a then-24-year-old Beaulieu for a third-round pick ahead of the Vegas expansion draft, it was generally viewed as a good bargain deal for Buffalo. At the time, Beaulieu was coming off a 28-point season and had the kind of puck-moving abilities that all teams need nowadays. But he struggled to just nine points last season and has been a healthy scratch multiple times this season as his average ice time has dropped to just 14 minutes per game. The only plus is that with three goals, Beaulieu has already surpassed his

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total from all of last season. Arbitration eligible, no Sabres blue-liner plays less often than Beaulieu.


Mikko Rantanen: With Nathan MacKinnon on one of the best value contracts around the NHL, making just $6.3 million for MVP-calibre performances through 2022-23, you wonder where the NHL’s current scoring leader will slide in. For instance, if you think Marner is worth between $9-10 million, how can you make the case a player from the same draft who has outperformed Marner two years running is worth any less?

6. Calgary Flames

Matthew Tkachuk: Big-time payout or short-term bridge deal? It could be fascinating to watch Tkachuk’s negotiation play out. We already knew he is a major disturber with a lot of sandpaper in his game, but his great value there is that he draws more penalties than he takes. On top of that, Tkachuk’s really breaking out on offence this season, with 32 points in 28 games. The Flames love him, and there’s plenty of speculation he’s the future captain of this team — so will he make more than Johnny Gaudreau? The statement may be less egregious than it seems. First, Gaudreau signed his six-year contract ($6.75 million AAV) under a smaller salary cap. Second, the two are close in point production this season, both overall and at even strength. For now, Gaudreau has the highest cap hit among all RFA-aged left wingers. His teammate could very well eclipse that if he signs for the long-term this summer.

7. Winnipeg Jets

Kyle Connor: Much like the Leafs, the Jets have two massive RFAs — one of whom we know will get paid enough to fill Scrooge McDuck’s vault, while the other has potential to throw cap plans out of whack. In Winnipeg’s case, Patrik Laine will get the big money and could very well be the team’s highest-paid player when he signs, but what should Connor go for? A goal scorer at every level, Connor has gotten recent praise from head coach Paul Maurice, who also was confident enough in the player to move him away from Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler in order to help a second line get its production going. Connor is well on his way to back-to-back 30-goal seasons and is interesting to compare to Nylander. Nik Ehlers is already making $6 million so you have to believe Connor goes above that if everything stays on track – but higher than Scheifele’s value deal at $6.125 million? Winnipeg has approximately $23 million in cap space for next season without Jacob Trouba or Laine under contract, and they’ll still need to fill out nine other roster spots beyond those two.


William Karlsson: One of the more intriguing RFAs this past summer after he broke out with 43 goals on a wholly unrepeatable 23.4 shooting percentage, Karlsson inked a one-year extension that paid $5.25 million with the idea that everyone would have a better sense of his worth after this season. Well, he’s not shooting at the same percentage, but he does have nine goals and 21 points in 29 games, which is about a 25-goal pace. Making it more complicating is that

although Karlsson still has arbitration rights, he’ll only be one year away from becoming UFA eligible.


Andre Burakovsky: On pace for a fourth straight year of declining point totals with seven through 27 games, the 23rd overall pick from 2013 will be hard-pressed to become the goal scorer it looked like he might be when he had 17 tallies in 2015-16. Now playing on the third line, Burakovsky already makes $3 million and needs to be qualified for at least that amount this summer. With fellow pending RFA Jakub Vrana trending up and the Capitals already bumping near the cap, some level of roster turnover will need to happen. Consider, too, that two years from now Nicklas Backstrom will be UFA eligible and due a big pay day at 32 years old.

10. Dallas Stars

Esa Lindell: The Stars have eight players up as RFAs this summer and five UFAs, but none are more important to keep than Lindell. The young defenceman will turn 25 in May and, in John Klingberg’s absence, has been the team’s No. 1 blue-liner, averaging 24:33 per game and leading the back end with five points in the 12 games Klingberg has missed. Currently making $2.2 million, it’s conceivable Lindell becomes the highest-paid defenceman on this team next season with a rising cap and Klingberg on just his second contract.


Zach Werenski: The 24th-highest scoring NHL defencemen over the past three years, Werenski best compares in this measure to Minnesota’s Matt Dumba, who signed a five-year, $30-million extension last summer. It’s early, but like Dumba, Werenski is on his best offensive pace yet, though his defensive play to this point in the season has been a bit of a sore spot. Seth Jones makes $5.4 million against the cap, so perhaps Werenski’s more productive and more-used partner caps his salary there, but Columbus may not be facing much of a crunch anyway, with the futures of UFAs Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky in the air.

12. Anaheim Ducks

Jake Dotchin: Without any stud RFAs up for contract the Ducks aren’t facing any pressing questions, but after Dotchin was released by the Tampa Bay Lightning in training camp due to poor conditioning it will be interesting to see how his new team handles him. It’s believed the Lightning sent Nikita Gusev to Vegas ahead of the expansion draft to keep the Golden Knights from picking Dotchin (and Slater Koekkoek) so he’s not far removed from being a valued defender. Now on the third line, Dotchin is working his way back up the depth chart.

13. Boston Bruins

Charlie McAvoy: The future top guy on Boston’s back end, McAvoy is injured without a timetable to return. Boston has roughly $13 million in cap space for next season with 18 players under contract, but a few key names who aren’t: on top of McAvoy, UFA Zdeno Chara needs to be extended for a year if he wishes to continue, while fellow big-minute blue-liner Brandon Carlo is an RFA as well.

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14. San Jose Sharks

Timo Meier: Starting on Joe Thornton’s top line and getting out to a quick start with nine goals in 12 October games, a breakout season appeared to be on the way for Meier. While it’s hard to imagine he won’t finish with career-best totals across the board, he has slowed considerably with just two goals in his past 11 games. The ninth overall pick from 2015 has a goal scorer’s background with 78 in his last 113 QMJHL games and he’s already just eight shy of tying his total of 21 from a year ago. Fresh off re-signing winger Evander Kane to a $7-million cap hit, and with pending UFAs Erik Karlsson and Joe Pavelski also seeking big pay days, the Sharks have $24.1 million in projected cap space this summer with just 12 players under contract. Meier doesn’t have arbitration rights, which could make his negotiations interesting to keep an eye on.

15. Minnesota Wild

Joel Eriksson Ek: With the Wild’s top two centres, Eric Staal and Mikko Koivu, set to be 34 and 36 years old respectively at season’s end, it’s time to start thinking about what the future brings at the position in Minnesota. Now, Eriksson Ek is not yet an offensive force and the jury is out on whether or not he’ll hit a level of production he teased in the AHL last season (eight points in eight games), but he is being used more on the penalty kill than most expected. That should help him with the two-way demands that come with playing centre in the NHL, whether his offence fully comes around or not. Eriksson Ek is the only RFA on the Wild’s roster and since his contract shouldn’t come in too expensive, it’ll help this team maintain its Cup hopes a bit longer.

16. Edmonton Oilers

Jesse Puljujarvi: Just what do they have in this player, picked fourth overall in 2016 with just two goals this season and already demoted to the AHL? Ken Hitchcock wants to work with him, which is what was behind his recall, but he has just one goal in five games under the new coach. This situation seems to have bridge deal written all over it.

17. Arizona Coyotes

Nick Schmaltz: Picked up in a trade from Chicago last week, reports out of the Windy City indicated the cap-strapped team moved him because they were uncomfortable with where his contract negotiations were headed. Prior to the move, Schmaltz looked set to be the productive No. 2 centre the ‘Hawks needed, and in Arizona he’s off to a fast start with five points in four games. Now playing on the Coyotes’ top line, will he become their highest-paid forward already?


Sebastian Aho: A second-rounder in 2015, you may not think of Aho’s name along with some of the headliners of the 2019 RFA class, but his impact on the game is right up there. His 5-on-5 goals differential of plus-3 is second among forwards on the ‘Canes, as are his 1.45 primary points per 60 minutes. But with 26 points in 26 games, he’s far and away the primary offence driver and has seen his year-over-year point totals rise from 49 in Year 1 to 65 in Year 2. He could get paid a hefty amount, and if you aren’t familiar with Aho the forward already, get used to him now.


Artturi Lehkonen: If you want to bet on a Canadiens player to improve and recover from a slow start, Lehkonen may be a decent gamble. Not only does he have the motivation that comes with a contract year, but he’s already been an 18-goal player in the NHL before — two years ago as a rookie. That season his shooting percentage was up at 11.4, but he’s been below eight ever since. If he can get back to that acceptable level of efficiency, it’s entirely possible Lehkonen could still hit the 20-goal mark. On top of that, he’s the second-most used forward on the penalty kill, so the team values his two-way presence.


Jake Guentzel: With similar goal totals to Nylander over the past two seasons in 41 fewer games played, just what is the winger riding shotgun with Sidney Crosby worth on his own? Looking at just this season, Guentzel is tracking for a career year, which should increase his contract demands further. If the cap rises to $83 million as reported, the Penguins will have $14 million in space with about 10 players to sign. Guentzel should come in over Tanner Pearson’s $3.75 million – the question is how will his final number stack up to Patric Hornqvist’s $5.3 million?


Martin Frk: As far as tough, expensive decisions go, this one will rank near the bottom of the NHL in the summer as the Wings don’t really have any RFA issues right now. Frk plays less than nine minutes a night on average and has only gotten into 13 games. This is a low-cost, low-priority keep.


Anthony Beauvillier: The only RFA up for contract this summer, Beauvillier is still finding his way as a top-six forward on this team, but has eight points in his past eight games after a slow start. The 21-year-old, picked 28th overall in 2015, is on track to surpass his 21 goals from last season, but has just two assists in 2018-19 so far that is slowing his pace. He shouldn’t be a big contract that throws the Islanders’ cap structure off track.

23. Ottawa Senators

Cody Ceci: The worst CF% and worst 5-on-5 shot differential among all Senators blue-liners, Ceci is already making $4.3 million, so where do he and the team go from here? Ceci will be 25 years old next month and the 2019-20 season will be his seventh, making him UFA eligible in the summer of 2020. Ceci plays north of 22 minutes a night so the team needs him, but a bigger defence contract is surely on the way a year from now when Thomas Chabot becomes an RFA.


Ivan Provorov: A big, solid and puck-moving defenceman picked seventh overall and coming off a 17-goal season? Provorov was tracking towards a monster 2018-19 season. While that still may happen, his two-goal start is a bit of a letdown. But he’s still a high-value defenceman with Norris hopes in his future and the Flyers rely on him to the tune of 24:43 of ice per game, the 14th-most among all NHL defencemen. With Travis Konecny producing on the top line

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and also an RFA, new GM Chuck Fletcher has some expensive decisions ahead.


Neal Pionk: If you had to guess the member of the Rangers with the most average minutes per game, would Pionk be your first choice? It’s true. Undrafted and coming off a 28-game rookie season, Pionk has quickly ascended under head coach Dan Quinn, who also recently moved on from the NCAA ranks. Pionk is putting up solid offensive numbers with 16 points in 26 games and is heavily used in all situations. Brady Skjei was just given a six-year, $31.5-million extension this past summer, but it appears 23-year-old Pionk has passed him on the depth chart.


Frank Vatrano: Since being acquired from Boston for a third-rounder a year ago, Vatrano has 13 goals in 41 games, a pretty good pace over a full season. Another good start to this season has him on track for a pay increase, though it won’t be a big one. Still, he’s effectively a second-line winger with Vincent Trocheck on the sidelines and has quietly turned into a pretty productive depth play for Florida who can play on just about any line.


Will Butcher: Drafted by Colorado but signed by New Jersey a few years later as a free agent, Butcher got a couple Calder votes last season for his 44-point performance but this year he’s slowed a bit to eight points in 25 games. Still, his average time on ice has risen by nearly two minutes per game and he has the best CF% and 5-on-5 goal differential on the struggling Devils.

28. St. Louis Blues

Joel Edmundson: Already nearly halfway to his career-high point total, the defensive defenceman is a key part of St. Louis’s collection of young defencemen they’ll surely move into the future with. Edmundson actually leads all Blues blue-liners in primary points per 60 minutes despite not being a power-play asset. His value is as a shutdown defender, he plays more than 20 minutes a night and is a key penalty-killer.


Brock Boeser: Boeser may have won the Calder Trophy had he stayed healthy until the end of last season. An elite goal scorer in the making, Boeser could get to 30 this season if he’s able to stay healthy enough – that would put him in line for a significant pay increase. He’s not on the level of Winnipeg’s Laine, but Boeser is in a tougher situation than most of the other big RFAs this summer and should be considered a candidate for big money.


Gustav Forsling: Averaging more than 20 minutes a night, Forsling is the kind of guy Chicago needs more of these days – a young, cheap and productive talent. He gets some exposure on the second power-play unit, but has never played more than 41 games in a season.


Alex Iafallo: Here is the main issue with the Kings. Although they sit at the bottom of the standings and our Power Rankings, there aren’t any high-end prospects in need of contracts this year or next. For now, Iafallo is the most interesting because he plays alongside Anze Kopitar on the top line and has 11 points in 28 games.

NHL Power Rankings: Maple Leafs are the early Stanley Cup favorite, but they're not the best team in hockey

Tampa Bay keeps its No. 1 spot just above soaring contenders Toronto and Nashville

by Cody Benjamin

Two months into the 2018-19 NHL season, the Toronto Maple Leafs are your favorites to win the Stanley Cup.

But they're not the best team in hockey.

The standings will tell you that, and so will we. The Tampa Bay Lightning, after all, are coming off a winning streak of their own, and their 41 points through 28 games is unmatched. But to suggest the top of the NHL isn't a little crowded and admit that Toronto isn't far off at No. 2 is to suggest, well, that you haven't been paying close attention to hockey these last two months.

We probably sound like a broken record by now, but this can't be overstated: There really isn't a true favorite atop the

NHL even as we glide deeper into December. The Lightning are awesome. The Maple Leafs are dangerous. The Nashville Predators are deep. The Buffalo Sabres are promising. The Winnipeg Jets are rounding into form. The Boston Bruins are capable when healthy. And the list goes on. Only those first three might be legitimate Cup contenders at this point, but they alone are about as close as can be.

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Down the standings, things are just as muddy in some places. (Are you for real or are you not, Minnesota Wild?) But they're clearer in others, like the bottom of the entire league, where in this week's NHL Power Rankings we find the poorly streaking Chicago Blackhawks:

Biggest Movers

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9 Coyotes

6 Wild

Rk Teams Chg Rcrd

1

Lightning

They're averaging almost four goals per game. Enough said.

-- 21-7

2

Maple Leafs

Welcome back, William Nylander. And look out, NHL.

-- 20-8

3

Predators

It's not necessarily that they're falling off. It's that everyone else is tearing it up.

-- 19-8

4

Avalanche

No regulation losses in their last 10 games. Oh, and try stopping Nathan MacKinnon.

1 16-7

5

Sabres

If they can clean things up on the road, they'll be golden. It's a plus that one of their few losses of late came against Nashville, of all teams.

1 17-8

6

Jets

If the Patrik Laine of November lives on, so, too, will the Jets' rise up the Central.

2 17-8

7

Flames

Catch them on the power play at home and, well, good luck.

2 17-9

8

Capitals

The depth has sure chipped in this season. But let's not make a habit of blowing four-goal leads, OK?

1 15-9

Rk Teams Chg Rcrd

9

Blue Jackets

Pierre-Luc Dubois is worth watching right now. They just need to stay steady on defense.

2 15-10

10

Stars

They seem very overlooked for a team that's 9-3-1 at home, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Their top line is still something to marvel at as long as it does its job.

4 15-10

11

Bruins

Catching up to Tampa and Toronto isn't going to be easy even when they do get healthy. But they've weathered the storm fairly.

1 14-9

12

Wild

They just don't like being hailed as a contender, do they? Toronto is tough, but they're looking a lot more vulnerable than a few weeks ago.

6 15-10

13

Sharks

It's still early, but maybe this team is just OK. We're two months in, and the big-name blue line has yet to translate to anything other than .500 play.

1 14-10

14

Islanders

Robin Lehner's absence doesn't exactly kill their goalie situation, but it doesn't make it ideal, either. Credit to them for staying relevant regardless.

1 13-10

15

Golden Knights

Marc-Andre Fleury staying upright will be key down the stretch. Things seem to be working in Las Vegas, too.

3 15-13

16

Rangers

The disparity between their home and away marks is pretty wild. The team touting its minor-league prospects more than NHL happenings tells you what they're focused on anyway.

3 13-12

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Rk Teams Chg Rcrd

17

Canadiens

And now they can't score with any kind of regularity. That hot start is way in the rear-view mirror.

1 13-10

18

Hurricanes

We're just going to say it: They are not that good. At least they're never at the very bottom, but this middle-of-the-road stuff gets old. They have to get creative.

1 12-11

19

Ducks

John Gibson deserves so, so much from this team.

7 15-10

20

Coyotes

They picked a good week to showcase some of their better stuff with the announcement they'll be headed to the Central once Seattle's team arrives.

9 13-11

21

Penguins

At least they're making some changes, right? They're still going to need some help at goalie down the stretch.

2 11-10

22

Red Wings

Tough week ahead with Tampa and Toronto on the docket. If they just put up a fight, that'll be a win.

2 12-12

23

Oilers

Get better soon, Connor McDavid. If they want any chance of scrapping their way back into it, he needs to be on his A game.

1 14-12

24

Senators

Somehow they've stayed competent during what's otherwise looked like an embarrassing start to a rebuild.

6 12-13

Rk Teams Chg Rcrd

25

Panthers

Their big rest should help. The offense is at least showing signs of life despite the mediocre record of the last few weeks.

4 11-10

26

Flyers

It looks like Dave Hakstol is safe. Should he be?

2 11-12

27

Devils

If you want a win in the NHL these days, all you have to do is host the Devils.

4 9-12

28

Canucks

It's getting rougher and rougher in Vancouver, and no one except for the Blackhawks and Senators is giving up more goals.

3 11-16

29

Blues

Three more to Injured Reserve. An unofficial white flag for a season gone awry in a hurry?

1 9-13

30

Kings

Suddenly, there is life. And Jonathan Quick is mostly responsible! How long until he gets dealt for prospects?

1 10-17

31

Blackhawks

Yep. They've hit the cellar. A four-game losing streak and minus-27 goal differential ensures it's where they belong.

4 9-15

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Sharks Cruise Past Canes 5-1

Canes halt scoring drought in shaky effort in San Jose

By Andy House

The Carolina Hurricanes scoring drought ended, but the frustration created by a third consecutive defeat, this time at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, again left the Canes with a sour taste in their mouth. Falling behind early, and buried into a 4-0 hole near the midpoint of the game, the Canes were never able to settle into the game and now they will head to their last stop in California on Friday in Anaheim in hopes of salvaging at least one win on this road trip.

From the start, the Canes faced an uphill battle. Less than 20 seconds in, Jordan Staal lofted the puck into the seats for a Delay of Game penalty and Carolina was on to the Penalty Kill. The Canes continued their good work on that initial PK, but the Sharks capitalized on a bad bounce shortly after as Jaccob Slavin rimmed the puck around the boards and the puck popped out into the slot for Barclay Goodrow who sniped one past Curtis McElhinney for the first tally. Carolina was able to create a few decent chances, mostly with the combo of Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal, but were unable to capitalize, and once Carolina returned to the PK near the halfway mark of the period, the Sharks criss-crossed the puck in the offensive zone and eventually found Tomas Hertl in front of the net for a tap-in to push the advantage to 2-0.

For his part, McElhinney fought and made a handful of fabulous saves in the beginning of the second period to continue to keep his team in the game while the Canes offense continued to search for some scoring punch. Alas, after a key save from Martin Jones on a Lucas Wallmark, Timo Meier tipped home a point shot to extend the lead to 3-0, equivalent to the number of goals the Canes scored in their previous 3+ games combined. After a Carolina

Powerplay, which resulted in two odd-man opportunities in the other direction, the Sharks struck again, this time with Joe Pavelski firing one that landed on the tape of Staal in front of his own net, and ended in the back of the net. Finally, after more than 140 minutes of action, the Canes struck again as Lucas Wallmark fired one past Jones with Justin Williams providing a solid screen in front on the Powerplay. At 4-1, the Canes at least began the steep climb as the end of the second period arrived.

The third period brought a more energized Canes attack, but the finish that has been so desperately needed still remained elusive. The Sharks provided the final marker, as Marcus Sorensen slipped one past McElhinney at 15:43 of the third period. As the game concluded with the Sharks maintaining their 5-1 lead, the Canes held a decided edge in shots. But don’t be fooled by that tally (Carolina outshot San Jose 40-23), as San Jose controlled the action almost exclusively, and were the better and more physical team for the entirety of the evening. Despite the score, McElhinney provided numerous high-end saves to keep the score from getting completely out of hand. Jones played back into his typical form for the Sharks, as he attempts to re-establish his position as one of the better netminders in the Western Conference. While Carolina was able to score for the first time out west on Wednesday, Rod Brind’Amour will have some tough decisions to make regarding his forward lines, as he attempts to find combinations that can generate not only shots, but scoring chances and ultimately goals. But with the results the Canes have been getting, perhaps it is becoming clear that the solutions may not be on the current roster.

The Canes will finish their trip in Anaheim on Friday as they wrap up their season series with the Ducks.

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The Most Important Hurricanes of All Time

By Carter Fricano

Twenty one years ago, the Hartford Whalers franchise packed their bags and shipped out to an unproven hockey market in Raleigh, North Carolina to become the Hurricanes. Since then, the Hurricanes and the city of Raleigh have proven that hockey can not only work in the Old North State, but it can thrive under the right circumstances.

Many NHL greats have donned the Hurricanes’ red and black over the years, as well as many players that have been instrumental to creating a culture of success and an identity of hard work and devotion. In discussing who were/are the most important players to the Hurricanes franchise, it is not only the top scorers or most skilled players that will be considered, but also the most influential to team culture and identity.

Arturs Irbe

A personal favorite of mine, Arturs Irbe was a fan favorite everywhere he went during his NHL career. From his quirky goalie mask, to his ability to give his team a chance to win most nights, it’s easy to see why Irbe was a popular figure in professional hockey. The Latvian-native joined the Hurricanes in 1998 following their first season in Raleigh, and it was with the ‘Canes that Irbe had the best years of his career.

While his stellar performance with the 1994 San Jose Sharks that helped them upset the powerhouse Detroit Red Wings was a notable moment in his career, he stole the show when he came onto the Raleigh scene in 1998. First he took the starting job from a 25-year old Trevor Kidd, and then helped the Hurricanes reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2002, only five years after they moved to Raleigh.

Irbe never saw prolonged NHL success, but he helped put the Hurricanes on the map of relevancy very soon after their move from Hartford, and for that, the city is forever grateful for the man known as “The Wall.”

Erik Cole

An original Hurricanes draft pick in 1998, Erik Cole was both tremendously skilled and dedicated to winning. Even though he had a top-end quality shot and incredible skating ability, he was never afraid to get into the corners and battle or stand in front or near the net to bang away and cause havoc for opposing netminders.

Cole spent his best years with the ‘Canes, playing nine of his first 10 seasons in the NHL in Raleigh and enjoying the most success there in the process. As a rookie in 2001-02, Cole played all 82 games and helped Carolina reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Four years later, Cole had a great regular season campaign that helped the ‘Canes win the Southeast

Division, and ultimately capturing the Stanley Cup, despite Cole missing most of the playoffs due to injury.

After spending the back nine of his career with three other NHL clubs, Cole signed a one-day contract with the Hurricanes last September to retire as a ‘Cane. Cole now serves as a club ambassador.

Ron Francis

Wherever Ron Francis went, winning followed him, as he played playoff hockey in 17 of his 22 NHL seasons and was a part of three Stanley Cup Finals, winning two championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Francis was not only a leader on and off the ice, he was one of the most prolific hockey players to ever lace them up, putting up 1,798 points in 1,731 NHL regular season games.

While Francis didn’t join the Hurricanes until he was 35-years old, he left an indelible mark on the franchise. His veteran wisdom and high level of skill were instrumental in helping the Hurricanes franchise prove their worth in North Carolina. He helped the team reach the postseason in three of his first four seasons with them, during which they reached the Finals in 2002. Even in his relatively short time with the ‘Canes as a player, Francis was still essential for developing a culture of winning in Raleigh.

Upon retirement, Francis held a role with the Raleigh Youth Hockey Organization in their efforts to help develop young hockey players in the area and, more recently, he served as associate coach of the ‘Canes, president of hockey operations, and as general manager. You can say what you want about the quality of his tenure as a front office executive, but Ron Francis gave his heart, soul, and body to the Hurricanes organization, and that will go down in history.

Eric Staal

As the Hurricanes’ highest-ever draft pick before Andrei Svechnikov, Eric Staal had massive expectations on him before he ever even played an NHL game — and he lived up to them.

As a large man with incredible ability, Staal’s ceiling of potential was seemingly limitless upon entering the NHL. He had an average rookie campaign, but following an AHL stint during the 2004-05 lockout, Staal returned as a man possessed. He led the ‘Canes in scoring in 2005-06 with 100 points, following that up with 28 points in 25 playoff games en route to the Hurricanes’ first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Staal not only delivered on the playoff stage during the Cup run, he scored one of the most iconic goals in Hurricanes’ history when he scored on Martin Brodeur with 32 seconds left in Game 7 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, giving the Hurricanes a 4-3 lead and, ultimately, sinking the

CAROLINA HURRICANES


New Jersey Devils en route to an improbable run to the Eastern Conference Final. Staal was not only a leader, captaining the team for more than six years, but he was a clutch performer and the face of the franchise until his departure in 2016.

Cam Ward

An obvious choice here, Cam Ward will live on as the greatest goalie in franchise history for a long time.

A Hurricanes first round draft pick in 2002, Ward sought to solidify the team’s goaltending situation when he broke into the league in 2005, but that was not initially apparent. Ward struggled in a backup role behind Martin Gerber, but issues were largely masked by a high-powered ‘Canes offense.

During the playoffs, though, when they fell into a 0-2 hole against the Montreal Canadiens in the opening series, head coach Peter Laviolette turned to Ward, and the rest is history. Carolina captured the Stanley Cup, and Cam Ward earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, quelling any doubts that he was the right man for the job.

Ward was the Hurricanes’ goaltender for more than a decade, and while the team only made the playoffs one other time during that stretch, Ward often gave his team a chance to win no matter the circumstances. He was an all star in 2011 when the All Star Game made its way to Raleigh and he played a total of 668 NHL games in a Hurricanes sweater. This summer, upon his departure via free agency, he officially passes the torch to the next generation of ‘Canes goaltenders.

Rod Brind’Amour

As if there was any doubt.

Brind’Amour wasn’t a Hurricanes draft pick, but he made the Hurricanes organization his tribe. Acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in 2000, Brind’Amour quickly became a fan favorite and franchise legend with his stellar on-ice performance, as well as his unparalleled leadership. This was a man who could not only dominate the scoresheet, but could also rally his troops and dive headfirst into battle ahead of those he led.

Every championship team needs a Rod Brind’Amour. He was a player that is the perfect center of a franchise and the perfect captain to lead a great team. Brind’Amour was vital to the Hurricanes’ appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals, their championship in 2006, and he helped usher in the new era of Hurricanes hockey, playing until age 39. He even recovered from an ACL tear as a 37 year-old in 2008, and came back to play 80 games the following season. He was simply as tough as nails.

Only about a year after his retirement, Brind’Amour was brought on as an assistant coach for Carolina, where he remained at that position until he took the head coach position in May of 2018. Even after he finished his playing years, Brind’Amour continued to be involved in the development and identity of the Hurricanes organization, and he looks to make an even bigger impact as head coach in the upcoming 2018-19 season. Brind’Amour will bring that same work ethic and drive into the locker room on a nightly basis this season, and hopefully for ‘Canes fans it will pay dividends on the ice.

*All statistics from HockeyDB.com – originally published in July 2018

Shaya's 10 Thoughts: Dec. 5, 2018

Written by Nicholas Niedzielski

1. After the Checkers won the last game of the three-in-three set this past weekend, players couldn't even muster the energy to celebrate in the room. One player told me they just sat in their chairs quietly once it was all over. Playing that many games in less than 72 hours is physically and mentally exhausting. Head coach Mike Vellucci responded with a much needed two days off for his team. 2. Because the Checkers sent their video crew on the road to document the trip, a camera was placed near the bench. The reaction after the overtime win was great. A big fist pump from Vellucci and assistant coach Ryan Warsofksy was exactly how everyone felt because it turned a weekend from disaster to acceptable with another comeback victory.

3. I read an article in The Athletic which discussed how games will be broadcast in the future. One point that struck me was that it is almost a certainty that after a commercial timeout, viewership dips. Even when games are tied going into the final minutes of regulation, some viewers turn away and don't return to see the finality. I've said this plenty of times before, hockey is the worst sport when it comes to keeping people watching. Three TV timeouts coupled by two long intermissions. This is analog thinking in a digital age. It has to be altered and the sooner the better. Games shouldn't take over two and a half hours to conclude. 4. Here is a relevant quote from Bruins TV broadcaster Jack Edwards: "No one will admit it, but there's audience erosion

CAROLINA HURRICANES


on every single break. Even it it's a 1-1 game and there's 90 seconds to go in regulation, we still lose audience. You don't pick up audience during ads." The newest technology should still allow for advertisements, which are a vital component for any sports franchise, without the need of stepping away for over a minute and stopping the action. 5. I read a story recently about former Checkers goaltender Ryan Munce opening up about the hazing he received as a rookie in Sarnia in the OHL. Other players on his team confirmed the abuse from teammates. One player said it destroyed him emotionally. This is absolutely tragic and if there is a coach out there that knows this kind of behavior is going on and doesn't say anything, they should lose their job immediately. 6. The Checkers sorely miss Josiah Didier on defense. The sooner he is back, the better for Charlotte. 7. Lots of credit is due this past weekend to the Checkers hockey staff. They moved the gear from Charlotte to Providence to Hartford and back to Providence. They are the first to wake up in the morning and the last people to get to bed. All of that is accomplished with a smile on their faces....except for Don White, he doesn't ever smile! Steve Latin, the aforementioned Don White, Bryn-Marc Conaway, Ryan Wysocki and unsung hero Nick "Trips" Roy always earn the respect of the players because of their continual hard work.

8. According to Senior Hockey VP, Derek Wilkinson, Aleksi Saarela is questionable for this weekend's two games against Hartford and Springfield. 9. If there has been one breakout star for the Checkers this year, it's Dan Renouf. The coaching staff has spoke very highly of his contributions lately and he continues to be the rock that Warsofsky relies on every game at crucial times. The former Calder Cup Champion with Grand Rapids is making the right kind of strides at the moment. 10. After going four games without a point, which is unlike him, Andrew Poturalski answered back with three points (2g, 1a) in the last three games. In the most important game of the weekend on Sunday, Poturalski had an assist and the game-winning goal in overtime on a nice pass from Gregg McKegg. When things are going poorly, every team needs their best players to step up and take the reins and that's what Andrew did when it mattered most. The Checkers have two games coming up this weekend against divisional opponents. They were very unhappy losing Saturday against Hartford. I'm guessing it will be a much better performance and outcome this Friday night. On Saturday the team takes on their former assistant coach Geordie Kinnear in Springfield. 7 p.m. pregame show on Friday and a 6:50pm pregame show on Saturday. Puck drops 15 minutes after the broadcast begins. Join us then.

Checkers Recall Steven Lorentz From Florida

Written by Nicholas Niedzielski

With a pair of road games on the horizon, the Checkers have recalled forward Steven Lorentz from Florida.

The move comes as a result of Charlotte’s corps of forwards taking a hit heading into the weekend. “Saarela’s out for the weekend,” said head coach Mike Vellucci. “He’s banged up so we’ll evaluate him next week.” Lorentz, in his second year as a pro, logged three games with the Checkers earlier this season and picked up an assist for his first career AHL point. In the ECHL with Florida this

season the 22-year-old has racked up 21 points (8g, 13a) in 17 games, good for second on the Everblades. “He’s been playing really well down in Florida and the last time he was here he played well. So he’ll meet us in Hartford and he’ll be in the lineup tomorrow.” A seventh-round pick for Carolina in 2015, Lorentz has a total of six AHL games under his belt.

TODAY’S LINKS https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/canes-now/article222654960.html

https://theathletic.com/695092/2018/12/06/the-top-50-nhl-players-in-2021-22/ http://nsjonline.com/article/2018/12/goals-still-scarce-for-hurricanes-in-5-1-loss/ https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/recap-sharks-swarm-canes/c-302647644

https://www.nhl.com/news/carolina-hurricanes-san-jose-sharks-game-recap/c-302634634 http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25464108/nhl-power-rankings-week-9-potential-expansion-picks-seattle

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-power-rankings-biggest-rfa-questions-edition/ https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/nhl-power-rankings-maple-leafs-are-the-early-stanley-cup-favorite-but-theyre-not-the-best-team-in-hockey/

https://www.canescountry.com/2018/12/6/18128502/sharks-cruise-past-canes-5-1 https://thehockeywriters.com/carolina-hurricanes-most-important/

http://gocheckers.com/articles/features/shaya-s-10-thoughts-dec-5-2018 http://gocheckers.com/articles/transactions/checkers-recall-steven-lorentz-from-florida-2

CAROLINA HURRICANES


1119465 Carolina Hurricanes

Legislation would pop cap on outdoor NHL game at Carter-Finley

BY CHIP ALEXANDER

Pending legislation to allow “one-time” alcohol sales at state university athletic facilities would move the Carolina Hurricanes closer to hosting an outdoor hockey game at Carter-Finley Stadium.

While general manager Don Waddell said Wednesday no formal bid has been submitted by the team to the NHL, the Hurricanes clearly want to host an outdoor game and are working through the logistics to help make it happen. He said there is no proposed date as yet although the Canes would like it “sooner rather than later, in the next couple of years for sure.”

The N.C. House was expected Wednesday to take up its amendments to Senate Bill 469, one of which includes a provision to allow the sale of beer, wine and mixed drinks at a “special event” involving “a professional sports organization” in a venue within the University of North Carolina system. Current law prohibits alcohol sales at state-owned athletic facilities with the exception of a specific exemption for the Blue Zone at North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium, although there are workarounds to allow alcohol consumption in N.C. State’s luxury seating at Carter-Finley and N.C. State events at PNC Arena.

The provision stipulates a special event one-time permit “to allow the retail sale of malt beverages, unfortified wine, fortified wine, or mixed beverages for consumption on the premises at a professional sporting event held at stadium with a seating capacity of at least 40,000 people.” If passed by the House, the bill would go back to the Senate for another vote, something that could take place as soon as Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes continue to press the issue with the NHL and N.C. State. Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon said in October that the game would most likely happen outside the NHL’s Stadium Series or Winter Classic marketing umbrella.

“We’ve talked to (NHL officials) about getting on the schedule for a game,” Waddell said. “There’s probably 20 teams trying to get on the same calendar for an outdoor game. They haven’t made any commitment back to us.”

Waddell said the game could attract as many as 57,000 people at Carter-Finley Stadium. It is not known how much revenue would be made -- for the Canes, N.C. State or the league.

“There’s lot of hurdles and (alcohol) is obviously one of them,” Waddell said. “The NHL, at these outdoor games, have big alcohol sponsors. So obviously that was a first step that has been presented.

“We started doing our due diligence and knocking things off the list that we can and alcohol was one that was pretty open-ended, with

no time frame on it. It’s if we do get a game we would able to sell alcohol in Carter-Finley.”

Waddell said informal talks were held with athletic officials at N.C. State to “see if they were open to the idea” of using Carter-Finley for an outdoor game.

“It would be good publicity for them, especially it being a national TV game,” Waddell said. “They’d get recognition for N.C. State and the university.”

An N.C. State spokesman said the university was not actively involved in the alcohol legislation but remained supportive of the Hurricanes’ plans to use Carter-Finley and the benefits the event would bring to the commmunity.

Waddell said no formal negotiations on a potential deal will begin until “we get through some of the hurdles we know we have to get over.”

News Observer LOADED: 12.06.2018

1119521 NHL

Next step in Seattle’s NHL journey kicks off with KeyArena renovation groundbreaking

Staff Report

Originally published December 5, 2018 at 6:20 PM

Mayor Jenny Durkan and NHL Seattle CEO Tod Leiweke spoke at the ceremonial start of KeyArena's renovation, slated for a 2021 reopening.

Step 1: Acquire franchise. Step 2: Begin renovating arena.

That’s a simplified version of the plan that started with Tuesday’s awarding of a new NHL expansion franchise in Seattle and continued Wednesday with a KeyArena renovation groundbreaking ceremony. Speakers at the Seattle Center ceremony included Mayor Jenny Durkan, Tod Leiweke, Seattle Hockey Partners President and CEO; and Tim Leiweke, Oak View Group CEO.

This construction, which will cost $800 million, NHL Seattle owner Tod Leiweke said Tuesday, will preserve the building’s iconic roof while expanding its seating capacity and square footage.

The planned seating capacity will jump by several hundred to 17,400 for NHL and 18,600 for NBA, while the venue will contain separate permanent locker rooms for teams in both leagues and the WNBA’s Storm. The project will dig an additional 15 feet — 58 feet total — below the arena’s current floor and expand the walls further outward below its existing roof to maximize the square footage.

The newly renovated arena is slated to open by March or April of 2021, with the NHL team starting play in October of that year.

Built in 1962 for the Seattle World’s Fair, Century 21 officials broke ground May 12, 1960, on what was then called Washington State Pavilion. After the fair, Seattle renovated the arena and it was

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renamed the Seattle Center Coliseum, commonly called the Coliseum.

By June 1994, renovation work started on the Coliseum after the Sonics signed a 15-year lease in exchange for the city of Seattle issuing 20-year bonds to pay for the $100 million, 16-month renovation.

The building reopened as KeyArena on Oct. 26, 1995, with a concert featuring tenor Jose Carreras and the Seattle Symphony, with an audience of 14,000.

The Sonics played their last game in front of a Seattle crowd on April 13, 2008, after the team was sold to a group of Oklahoma City businessmen.

In 2017, the city of Seattle requested new proposals for the redevelopment of KeyArena. Demolition of the current interior would begin once Seattle was awarded a hockey team by the NHL Board of Governors.

Seattle Times staff members Geoff Baker and Colin Diltz contributed to this report.

Seattle Times LOADED: 12.06.2018

1119522 NHL

Seattle-area amateur hockey leaders gearing for membership explosion with NHL team’s arrival

Originally published December 5, 2018 at 7:00 am

By Geoff Baker

Seattle Times staff reporter

Jamie Huscroft sounds more like a guy preparing for a tsunami or hurricane than the arrival of an NHL expansion team.

Having played 10 seasons with seven NHL teams and now serving as director of facilities operations for the Eastside-based Sno-King Amateur Hockey Association, Huscroft, 51, knows what’s about to happen locally on the sport’s youth and recreational front. He’s seen it before in cities that land new NHL teams and says Seattle will undergo a transformation it’s never before seen and isn’t close to being completely ready for.

“You had Vegas going from 700 kids to 5,000 kids in a year or two,’’ Huscroft said of youth participation levels. “That’s substantial growth that you would never see unless it was an NHL city.

“And here, all of the hockey associations around the state, they’re bracing for the influx of kids and adults that will be signing up for these ‘Learn to play’ classes. Most of the skaters coming in will be first-timers. So, you have to set up these classes for them … but it’s hard because rinks are busy as it is. It’s going to be interesting to see where to put all these kids.’’

USA Hockey’s most recent membership report for the 2017-18 season counted 9,883 participants in this state, up 25 percent from five years ago.

Sno-King, the region’s largest amateur hockey association with more than 1,200 participants, operates two of only about a half-dozen indoor ice surfaces in the Greater Seattle area. The new NHL team will add three more ice surfaces for public use within city limits at a

$70 million NHL practice facility at Northgate Mall, something Huscroft said will help accommodate the influx for now.

In making that announcement, NHL Seattle CEO Tod Lewieke said one of the goals of the practice facility was to grow the game at the grass roots level.

“We have an incredible opportunity to make Seattle the epicenter of hockey in the Pacific Northwest and our ownership has given us the ability to take a big, big step,” Leiweke said. “This is a major commitment. We’re investing lots of money in KeyArena, we’re acquiring a team we hope, and this is another major financial commitment that our owners are making to try and grow the game, build the game and have impact.”

Huscroft agreed the facility will help get hockey newcomers on the ice quicker.

“You’re going to be able to put a lot of new skaters on these three (ice) sheets for the near future,’’ Huscroft said. “But if you see the growth like you did in Vegas, you’re going to have to continue to build arenas that will fulfill these (hockey) classes. You can’t just offer classes and say ‘OK, well now we’ve got nothing for you.’ They’ll have to continue to build rinks to sustain the growth.’’

Huscroft is excited to see the sport about to take off in Seattle like never before. Professional hockey dates back more than a century in Seattle, but we haven’t had a pro team since the minor league Seattle Totems folded in 1975.

And while Huscroft played major junior hockey in the 1980s for the Seattle Breakers and Thunderbirds franchise, he said the exposure to fans on a mass scale just isn’t the same.

“A lot of it’s just the media,’’ Huscroft said. “Right now, we just don’t get hockey news here in Seattle. There aren’t a lot of rinks around here, there’s no hockey news. So, you’re not going to put your kid into hockey as a parent if you don’t even know hockey exists around here.

“You throw in an NHL team, with their marketing and the professionalism of this (Seattle) ownership and management group … with that is going to come huge interest from local parents.’’

Kelly Goscinski, president of the Western Washington Female Hockey Association, the state’s only all-girls program for ages 4 to 19, also expects a major influx of registrations. There were 1,308 female hockey players registered in Washington as of this year — up 54 percent from five years ago.

Fueling that growth is an explosive 137 percent increase since 2013 in girls aged 12-and-under playing the sport, now numbering 557 statewide.

“Having a pro team here will give these players something to aspire to and keep them playing longer,’’ she said. “Whether it’s men or women playing, they’ll get to see the game played at its highest levels.’’

Former NHL and Thunderbirds player Turner Stevenson agrees. Stevenson coaches a 16-and-under “Jr. Tips’’ selects team for the WHL Everett Silvertips and has two sons playing for their 18-and-under and 15-and-under sides. He expects the NHL team to foster more elite players from this area.

“That’s where it’s going to be felt the greatest,’’ Stevenson said. “If you look at Dallas, from the year they came into the league (in 1993) and then won the Stanley Cup (1999), there are a lot of kids that in the 10 or 15 years after that went on to play for D-1 schools and even in the Western Hockey League.’’

There were 5,932 registered USA Hockey players in Dallas when the Stars won the Cup in 1998-99. Twenty years later, there are 15,026 players — nearly as many as the 15,222 in snowy Colorado.

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Of the nine Texas-born players in NHL history, eight of them came of age after the Stars’ relocation from Minnesota in 1993. That includes defenseman Seth Jones from Arlington, a fourth overall pick of the Nashville Predators in 2013 and now with the Columbus Blue Jackets in his sixth NHL season.

When the Arizona Coyotes relocated to Phoenix in 1996, that state had 2,184 registered. Today, there are 8,617 players and the state’s handful of NHL graduates includes Scottsdale product Auston Matthews, drafted first overall by Toronto in 2016.

Arizona also had only three ice surfaces when the Coyotes came to town. Today, there are 10.

Stevenson expects that as youth hockey continues to grow, private investors here will build new rinks to keep up with the demand.

“If they’re like the Vegas team and they’re successful right away, then I think the popularity will take off here.’’


1119523 NHL

Renovations are nothing new to KeyArena, evolving since 1962 and home to new NHL team

Colin Diltz

This afternoon begins the newest renovation of KeyArena as officials from the National Hockey League and Oak View Group plan to break ground for a new hockey team to play there in the 2021-22 season.

This construction will preserve the building’s iconic roof while expanding its seating capacity and square footage.

KeyArena has been through many renovations in its 56 years.

Built in 1962 for the Seattle World’s Fair, Century 21 officials broke ground May 12, 1960, on what was then called Washington State Pavilion.

The building hosted an exhibit called the “World of Tomorrow” and the infamous Bubbleator. (That spherical elevator was moved after the fair to the Armory building, scene of the Food Circus). It was planned from the start to be converted to a 15,000-seat sports arena after the fair, according to a Seattle Times story the day of the groundbreaking. The pavilion was designed by architect Paul Thiry.

After the fair, Seattle renovated the arena and it was renamed the Seattle Center Coliseum, commonly called the Coliseum. Renovations were made so the venue could host events, concerts and sports. The initial renovation made the Coliseum able to easily convert from an ice arena to a basketball court.

The last batch of concrete for the seating bowl of the Seattle Center Coliseum was poured high in the southwest corner of the building on March 27, 1964. A crane lifted the concrete bucket to the upper tiers where workers spread it through the wooden forms. (Seattle Times archive)

Workers are dwarfed in an upper-level seating section of the Seattle Center Coliseum on Nov. 3, 1963. (Seattle Times archive)

Shortly after the the renovations, the Coliseum would become a venue for concerts and sports.

In 1963, a Seattle Daily Times story reported that the roof had developed a pair of leaks, foreshadowing future problems.

On Aug. 21, 1964, the Beatles performed at the Coliseum for 14,000 screaming fans. The band would come back in 1966.

The Seattle SuperSonics had their first home game at the Coliseum on Oct. 20, 1967. The Sonics lost to fellow expansion team the San Diego Rockets, 114-121.

Roof leaks at the Coliseum on Jan. 5, 1986, caused the first-ever NBA rain-out. The leaks were temporarily fixed with a tarp on the roof, according to a Seattle Times article headlined “ROOF REIGNS IN FIRST NBA ‘RAINOUT’ – SUNS WILL LEAD BY 11 WHEN PLAY RESUMES.” Kathy Scanlan, deputy director of the Seattle Center, told the Times that roof had been resealed and said, “Essentially, it’s like a new roof.”

By June 1994, renovation work started on the Coliseum after the Sonics signed a 15-year lease in exchange for the city of Seattle issuing 20-year bonds to pay for the $100 million, 16-month renovation.

The building reopened as KeyArena on Oct. 26, 1995, with a concert featuring tenor Jose Carreras and the Seattle Symphony, with an audience of 14,000.

On June 1, 2000, the WNBA’s Seattle Storm played their first home game at KeyArena.

The Sonics played their last game in front of a Seattle crowd on April 13, 2008, after the team was sold to a group of Oklahoma City businessmen.

In 2017, the city of Seattle requested new proposals for the redevelopment of KeyArena. Demolition of the current interior would begin once Seattle was awarded a hockey team by the NHL Board of Governors.

The future name of KeyArena is uncertain, but the latest renderings show what the new look might be.


1119524 NHL

Can the Seattle area’s two WHL major junior teams coexist with the new NHL franchise?

Staff Report


This region's two major junior WHL teams, the Kent-based Seattle Thunderbirds and the Everett Silvertips, have never faced direct pro hockey competition for fans and sponsors. But they will once Seattle's new NHL franchise begins play in 2020 or 2021.

It’s been three decades since longtime NHL forward Turner Stevenson was part of a golden era for a Seattle Thunderbirds junior team that routinely filled what’s now KeyArena with more than 10,000 fans.

Those Thunderbirds, led by scoring legend Glen Goodall, won a franchise record 52 games in the 1989-90 season before losing the Western Hockey League (WHL) division final to the eventual champion Kamloops Blazers. Stevenson scored 36 goals that year and went on to a decadelong NHL career with Montreal, Philadelphia and a New Jersey Devils squad he won the Stanley Cup with in 2002-03.

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Now living in Snohomish and coaching a 16-and-under elite prospect team run by the WHL Everett Silvertips, British Columbia native Stevenson, 46, is curious about how the NHL’s arrival here will impact the local major junior scene. Those teams have never faced direct professional hockey competition, the Seattle Totems minor league squad having folded two years before the Thunderbirds franchise came into being as the “Breakers” in 1977.

“It will be interesting because this is not a Canadian market where, like in Vancouver, they have the (major junior) Giants and many Junior A teams playing in the BCHL,’’ Stevenson said. “You have that in Canada, but not really here in the States. So, I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it pans out.’’

The major junior WHL system — comprised of top prospects ages 16-to-20 — plays an NHL type of schedule under the Canadian Hockey League umbrella to ready players for the pro ranks. Unlike other junior and youth leagues, major junior players are paid stipends that make them ineligible for the NCAA and the teams themselves — some of which are highly profitable — have a pro-like dependency on paying fans and corporate deals to sustain operations.

But Stevenson added that the customer base for the NHL and junior teams “are two different clienteles’’ and that the high cost of attending an NHL game will preclude many fans from abandoning junior squads.

“A lot of people do enjoy that level of hockey and seeing those kids progress rather than a professional game,’’ Stevenson said. “And they’re two totally different games. They obviously watch the professionals play, but the kids at the junior level aren’t capable of playing at that style of hockey at that age yet. That’s something they strive to be.’’

Stevenson’s comments echo those of longtime Thunderbirds GM and current senior adviser Russ Farwell, who was GM of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1990s. Farwell has often said it will cost more to park at a single NHL game at KeyArena than to buy a lower end Thunderbirds season ticket and park for free at their ShoWare Center home in Kent.

“It’s such a different price point,’’ Farwell said. “I don’t know how many of our fans that would be an option for — to stop coming to our games and buy NHL tickets instead.’’

The same, he said, goes for corporate sponsorship and support. While Farwell said the Thunderbirds have lost the odd sponsor to the Mariners over the years, it doesn’t happen very often.

“I don’t think there will be a lot of loss that way,’’ Farwell said. “The NHL team, they’re competing with the Mariners and Seahawks as far as more national campaigns and a higher profile. Whereas ours is a little different buy. We’re selling specifically to people who live and work in the areas south of Seattle. So, I don’t think we’re expecting a big loss sponsorship-wise.’’

Farwell said his team, like the Silvertips, hopes the NHL squad can boost local hockey awareness and earn them more fans.

Locally, the major junior game has changed from Stevenson’s playing days, when the Thunderbirds were the lone Seattle team and one of only two in Washington, with the Spokane Chiefs.

Nowadays, there are four Washington teams — the Thunderbirds, Silvertips, Chiefs and Tri-City Americans — with two in the Seattle region, and the overall level of play has never been this good. The Silvertips went to the WHL final last season and are again atop the league’s U.S. Division, while the Thunderbirds won the league championship two seasons ago and were finalists the year before that.

Everett last season averaged 5,129 fans per game at Angel of the Winds Arena — their highest total in six years. Things were similar for the T-Birds last season, when, coming off their WHL title, they

averaged 4,950 fans per game — a 10 percent jump from the 2014-15 season before the team began a string of playoff runs.

Both teams have declined in average attendance this season, though their numbers to this point remain roughly even with what they’d drawn over the same period a year ago. Local junior hockey attendance tends to spike come February once the Seahawks season ends and hockey playoffs draw closer. Still, that raises the question of whether similar late spikes will continue once the junior squads face ongoing pro competition beyond the NFL season from the new NHL team.

Canadian major junior teams have had mixed success playing in NHL cities. Overall, they’ve fared better in Western cities like Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary than in Montreal or Toronto.

There aren’t many comparables in the U.S., where Detroit is the only city to have had both NHL and major junior squads simultaneously. A Detroit-based franchise existed in the major junior Ontario Hockey League from 1990-97 using the name Compuware Ambassadors, Junior Red Wings and Whalers at various times and sharing the Joe Louis Arena with the NHL team.

But the franchise’s owner, Peter Karmanos, had a falling out with the NHL squad and eventually moved his team in 1997 to a new 3,800-seat arena in suburban Plymouth, 28 miles from downtown Detroit.

Despite some strong showings during an ensuing 18-year run there, producing players like Dallas Stars alternate captain Tyler Seguin and Stanley Cup champion Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals, the Plymouth Whalers never took hold. After 25 seasons in the Detroit metro area, the franchise was sold in 2015 and moved to Flint, Mich.

“Well, to be frank about it, it’s tough running an OHL team in a major league city,” Karmanos had told reporters a year before the sale. “Our attendance has been good, but it’s not great.’’

The Whalers were actually bottom third in OHL attendance for several years before the move. Karmanos blamed some of that on the team’s inability to get better media coverage in Red Wings dominated “Hockeytown.’’

Everett is an identical 28 miles from Seattle as Plymouth was from Detroit, while Kent is 21 miles away.

The difference here is, the new NHL team won’t be as ingrained as the nine-decades-old Red Wings in their city, while the junior squads are already established in their communities. Local junior hockey proponents hope the Everett-and-Kent-based squads are far enough from Seattle’s core to maintain their local identities apart from the NHL team.

For retired T-Birds star and NHL pro Stevenson, the incoming expansion franchise presents an opportunity.

“I think interest in hockey is just going to erupt here the next few years,’’ he said. “And if that happens, you’d hope that all of the teams will benefit.’’


1119525 NHL

Mixed results: A half-century of trial and error with NHL expansion franchises

Staff Report


CAROLINA HURRICANES


A largely "sink-or-swim'' approach by the NHL to its expansion and merger franchises since 1967 has seen nearly a third relocated from their original cities. But new draft rules and stricter arena requirements are there to provide fledgling teams a greater shelf life.

Tom McVei didn’t actually coach the Washington Capitals during their horrific debut season 44 years ago, but nonetheless got a firsthand view of their expansion turmoil.

They’d already gone through three head coaches and a general manager when owner Abe Polin asked McVei for help partway through their second season in 1975-76. After a franchise-worst 8-67-5 record the prior year, they were in the midst of 37 consecutive road defeats when McVie took over behind the bench.

“It was awful, believe me,’’ said McVie, 83, the former Seattle Totems minor-leaguer and a longtime resident of Camas, Wash. “It was just brutal to get pounded every night.’’

The Capitals won only 11 times that second season, providing a future showcase for why National Hockey League expansion rules eventually changed. The Vegas Golden Knights making the Stanley Cup final last season came after a half-century of a mostly sink-or-swim approach to expansion franchises.

“To see what happened with Vegas is just unbelievable,’’ McVei said. “They gave them some players that can play. They didn’t give us any. We didn’t have any players that could play for a good team like Montreal back then.’’

McVie said Polin was prepared to give the franchise back to the league until the Caps improved slightly, winning 41 games the next two seasons combined before McVie was fired.

He became a coach of the Winnipeg Jets and GM of the New Jersey Devils and continues to scout for the Boston Bruins, earning his first Stanley Cup ring with them in 2011 — seven years before the Capitals won their first championship.

NHL fans typically view expansion as what happened following the “Original Six’’ era — which began when the 1942 demise of the Brooklyn Americans left the league with just the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Bruins the next 25 years.

Finally, in 1967-68, NHL owners undertook the biggest expansion in pro sports, doubling to 12 teams. It vaulted professional hockey to new prominence and the league will grow to 32 teams when Seattle launches in 2021.

But expansion hasn’t always gone smoothly.

Of 22 expansion franchises since 1967, five relocated and one of those later folded. Four teams also were added through a 1979-80 “merger’’ with the now-defunct World Hockey Association — the Hartford Whalers, Edmonton Oilers, Jets and Quebec Nordiques — and only the Oilers haven’t relocated.

With nearly a third of NHL expansion and merger franchises failing in their original markets, prospective owners now demand more favorable rules to compete faster. After all, they’ve had 50 years of trial and error to learn from.

1967-68

Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, California Seals and Minnesota North Stars added

Upon this first expansion foray, the NHL split the league into two divisions — allowing one to consist entirely of first-year teams — and had the winners of each meet for the Stanley Cup. This created the dubious scenario of an expansion team, the Blues, coached by up-and-comer Scotty Bowman and featuring ex-Seattle Totems star Noel Picard on defense, reaching the final their first three years.

But the Blues went 0-12 in finals games, were outscored 43-17 and caused the NHL to change its Cup qualifying format.

The Flyers were this expansion’s success. With former Seattle Ironmen defenseman Fred Shero as coach and ex-Totems coach Keith Allen as GM, the brawling “Broad Street Bullies’’ won two Stanley Cup titles in the mid-1970s and have since made the finals six more times.

“Playing there was the biggest honor of my career,’’ said Aberdeen, Wash., native Wayne Hicks, 81, a member of the debut-year expansion Flyers coached by Allen and the franchise’s first U.S.-born player. “You felt like a pioneer at times. Everything we did was about selling the game, and the fans really responded well.’’

The Penguins have four Stanley Cup titles — two more than the Flyers — and lost another final. But it took them 23 years to win a championship after staving off bankruptcy and relocation rumors.

The terrible Seals relocated to Cleveland as the “Barons’’ in 1976 before folding and merging players into the North Stars. Minnesota’s franchise nearly folded before the 1978 merger, then made the final in 1980-81 and 1990-91, before relocating to Dallas in 1993 when it couldn’t secure a new arena.

Finally, the Los Angeles Kings saw ex-Seattle Totems winger and current Washington resident Howie Hughes score their first goal at The “Fabulous” Forum in January 1968. But they didn’t reach the Cup final until their 25th season in 1992-93 after importing Wayne Gretzky in 1988 in the biggest trade in NHL history. They finally won the Cup in 2011-12 and in 2013-14.

“It’s one of my proudest moments,’’ said Tim Leiweke, the Kings president for their first championship and now heading the Oak View Group company conducting the KeyArena renovation for Seattle’s incoming team. “That one was a long time in coming.’’

1970-71

Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks added

This expansion worked well, though neither team has a championship in nearly 50 years of play. Buffalo made the final in Year 5 in 1974-75 behind its “French Connection” line of Gilbert Perrault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert. The Sabres lost the 1998-99 final to Dallas on a Brett Hull “in-the-crease’’ triple-overtime winner in Game 6 — the most controversial non-penalty-call in NHL history.

The Canucks picked ex-Seattle Totems stalwart Orland Kurtenbach as their first captain and weren’t known for much until surprisingly making the final against the dynastic Islanders in 1981-82. They’ve since participated in two memorable seven-game championship series against the Rangers in 1993-94 and Boston in 2010-11.

1972-73

New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames added

The Islanders under GM Bill Torrey reached the playoffs their third year and won four consecutive Stanley Cup titles starting in 1979-80 with six future Hall of Fame players and coach Al Arbour. After reaching their fifth consecutive final in 1984, they’ve never been back. Beset by financial woes, they left Long Island, N.Y., for Brooklyn in 2015. They plan a 2021 move into a Belmont Park Arena project in Elmont, N.Y., that Leiweke’s Oak View Group is partnering on.

Flames’ fans gave a standing ovation for the first icing call of the team’s 1972 home opener. It was all downhill from there support-wise despite the Flames making the playoffs in their second season and six of eight campaigns. They relocated to Calgary in 1980.

1974-75

Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts added

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Their years-long expansion woes well-documented, the Capitals became a perennial playoff team by the 1980s. They reached their first Stanley Cup final in 1997-98 and two decades later captured their first championship over the Golden Knights.

Kansas City relocated to Colorado after two seasons. The Rockies, equally disastrous, moved to New Jersey after the 1981-82 season and became the Devils.

1991-92

San Jose Sharks added

Bolstered by 15 players from the Minnesota North Stars after an owner swap, they still won an abysmal 28 games their first two seasons. But they made the playoffs their third and fourth campaigns under future Everett Silvertips junior coach Kevin Constantine and have missed the playoffs only four times the past 24 years — albeit making the Cup final just once in 2015-16.

Among the franchise’s greats is former Seattle Thunderbirds junior star Patrick Marleau.

1992-93

Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning added

Ottawa adopted the name of the city’s perennial Stanley Cup team from decades earlier, but went 10-70-4 their debut season and won just 33 games its first three years — 10 fewer than the expansion Caps that same time frame. The Senators made the Stanley Cup final in 2006-07, but are an ongoing small-market concern in terms of competitiveness.

Tampa Bay missed the playoffs nine of its first 10 seasons, but won a championship in 2004 before teetering financially. New owner Jeff Vinik and CEO Tod Leiweke turned the business around and got the squad back to the final in 2015.

1993-94

Florida Panthers and Anaheim Mighty Ducks added

The Panthers had the best first season ever at the time, going 33-34-17, and made the Stanley Cup final their third year. But they’ve made the playoffs only four times in 22 years since and have been an ongoing relocation candidate.

Anaheim’s franchise, built off a popular Walt Disney Co. movie starring Emilio Estevez, was considered a gimmick team after making the playoffs just twice their first nine seasons. But they reached the Stanley Cup final in 2002-03. After a sale of the team by Disney to Henry and Susan Samueli, the “Mighty” part of its name was dropped ahead of 2006-07 and the Ducks beat Ottawa for their first Cup title that season.

1998-99

Nashville Predators added

The Predators missed the playoffs their first five seasons, but took off as the city of Nashville exploded business-wise. The Predators missed the playoffs only three times the next 14 years and reached their first Cup final in 2016-17.

1999-00

Atlanta Thrashers added

The Atlanta expansion mistake from the 1970s was repeated, with the Thrashers again playing to empty seats. Went just 14-57-7 their inaugural season and reached the playoffs once in 11 seasons before relocating to Winnipeg in 2011.

2000-01

Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets added

Current Seattle team CEO Tod Leiweke was president of the Wild its expansion year when GM Doug Risebrough hired former Montreal teammate Jacques Lemaire as coach. “We knew we were going to end up with a team that’s not what we would consider the best, so we needed a fantastic and experienced coach,’’ Leiweke said of Lemaire, who’d coached New Jersey to a title in 1995.

Lemaire got the Wild into the conference championship his third season, helping fans reconnect with the NHL, though the team has yet to go that deep again.

Columbus didn’t make the playoffs until its eighth season, going to the conference final. The Blue Jackets have had only three playoff appearances since, though they did have two in the past two years and a 50-victory campaign in 2016-17.

2017-18

Vegas Golden Knights added

With a favorable expansion draft and shrewd trades by GM George McPhee, the Knights stunned the sports world by reaching the Cup final before losing to Washington. Their off-ice exploits saw them play to packed houses at their main arena and practice facility.


1119526 NHL

When the NHL comes to Seattle, don’t expect Vegas Golden Knights-level success immediately

Matt Calkins / Columnist

Seattle's NHL team very well could be competitive — the league's rules help ensure expansion teams now have some talent on their rosters — but it could be foolish to assume our city's team will make the Stanley Cup final in Year 1 like Vegas did.

If there was a better sports story this year than the Vegas Golden Knights, nobody told me about it. A first-year expansion team wins 51 games before soaring to the Stanley Cup Finals? Unheard of.

They helped rally a city still reeling from the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. They captivated a country as an island of misfits morphed into a tropical storm.

It was shocking. It was uplifting. It was endlessly exciting.

And it was almost certainly a one-off.

This isn’t a column ghostwritten by Debbie Downer. It is a cry for patience in what could be a trying few years when the NHL comes to Seattle.

The expansion-draft rules will be the same as they were for Vegas, meaning Seattle’s team could still be competitive. But to expect anything resembling what the Golden Knights achieved is just plain greedy.

As far as the draft rules go, the other 30 NHL teams (Vegas will be exempt) have two options for whom they want to protect. They can shield seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender, or they can shield eight skaters (forwards and defensemen) and one goaltender.

But Seattle can poach anybody the other teams don’t designate for protection, which might make the Director of Scouting the most important person on the payroll.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


It may not seem feasible to build something competitive with what are third- and fourth-stringers. Imagine putting together a quality basketball team with nothing but benchwarmers — or a quality baseball team with nothing but Mariners.

It’s almost impossible. But the Knights figured it out.

They were able to get three-time Stanley Cup winning goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft. The Penguins had a younger, cheaper goaltender in Matt Murray, so they gave up a two-time All-Star (three after his season with Vegas) and looked to the future.

They were able to get third-liner William Karlsson, who scored six goals with the Columbus Blue Jackets two seasons ago but 43 with the Golden Knights — good for the third most in the league. They were able to get Erik Haula, a fourth-line center who scored 15 goals with Minnesota two seasons ago, but 29 with Vegas.

Part of this shows you just how competitive the NHL is, where it’s not unusual for eight seeds to knock out top seeds in the first round (the 2012 Kings won the Stanley Cup as an eight seed). But two other factors were in play when it came to the Golden Knights’ success: 1) A-plus talent evaluation. 2) Luck.

Even the most gifted general managers have a slew of whiffs on their resumes. Just look at the number of top overall picks in baseball who never even made the big leagues.

Hockey might not be quite as a random, but for the Knights to work out as well as they did? It’s like well-researched gambler hitting on a 10-game parlay.

This doesn’t mean that Seattle can’t be good in its initial year. The expansion-draft rules were put in place so that new teams had the potential to compete right away.

Nothing squashes a city-wide buzz quite like 60 losses and a last-place standing.

But “competitive” could mean posting the 20th-best record in the league and missing the playoffs with a week to go in the season. It could mean sneaking into the playoffs by year three, advancing to the second-round by year five and third round by year seven.

That’s still compelling hockey. That should still satisfy the tens of thousands of Puget Sounders who signed up for hypothetical tickets the first day they were made available.

But it wouldn’t be anything resembling the Golden Knights first-year explosion. And that’s OK.

Who knows? Maybe Tod Leiweke — the CEO of the Seattle NHL franchise — will hire a brilliant GM who blows the league away. Maybe he’ll help bring the Stanley Cup back to Seattle almost instantaneously.

The more likely scenario, though, is that this thing will take time. The good news? That will make success that much sweeter.


1119527 NHL

Seattle’s NHL team will get same favorable expansion draft rules as Vegas Golden Knights. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

Staff Report


Seattle's new NHL team will benefit from the same favorable draft rules the Vegas Golden Knights leveraged to reach the Stanley Cup final their first season. But whether the front office here can work the system like the Knights did remains to be seen.

Plenty of eyebrows were raised last year when the Florida Panthers left forward Jonathan Marchessault unprotected in the NHL expansion draft for the Vegas Golden Knights to snatch up.

A 30-goal scorer the prior season on a cost-effective contract, his surprise availability was a combination of a Florida regime change, the Panthers’ desire to protect several young defensemen instead and the fact Marchessault is only 5 feet 9 in a league that often prioritizes size. But then, fearful of losing other exposed youngsters, the Panthers got too cute for their own good in a predraft deal by offering the Knights underproducing forward Reilly Smith for just a fourth-round entry draft choice if Vegas guaranteed it would select Marchessault instead of any of their other players.

Bottom line: Marchessault and Smith went on to form two of the Knights’ top four scorers last season for next to no cost. It was but one example of how Vegas general manager George McPhee shrewdly leveraged new expansion draft rules to yield a larger haul than anyone envisioned.

Those same favorable expansion draft rules will be in play for the new Seattle franchise ahead of its launch in 2021. But the ability to replicate the Knights, who made the Stanley Cup final their first season, might not be possible given how badly some teams were fleeced by them.

“I’m sure, to a certain extent, the other teams will see us coming and be better prepared,’’ NHL Seattle CEO Tod Leiweke said. “That just means we have to work harder and be better prepared ourselves.’’

The reason opposing GMs tied themselves in knots with ill-conceived predraft agreements is they knew the new rules guaranteed they’d lose a good player. For decades, prior NHL expansion drafts allowed teams to protect anywhere from 15 to 18 players, resulting in the new squads settling for back-end castoffs and then struggling for years.

Since 1970-71, when the NHL ended its “expansion division’’ format, the 15 first-year franchises to come along have needed an average of five seasons just to make the playoffs. The Columbus Blue Jackets needed eight seasons, the Washington Capitals took nine and the Tampa Bay Lightning made it just once in their first 10 years.

That changed when Knights owner Bill Foley paid a then-record $500 million expansion fee, with the understanding he couldn’t wait that long to be competitive. Seattle’s ownership group run by David Bonderman and Jerry Bruckheimer is paying $650 million for the franchise under the same favorable conditions.

Under the new rules, the Knights got to pick one player from each of the 30 teams. And those teams had two options in which players to protect: Seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender, or eight skaters (forwards or defensemen) and a goalie.

Both represent a huge reduction in the total players teams can protect. Additional rules forced teams to expose more quality players with a minimum of 40 games played the prior season, or 70 the previous two and without long-term injury issues.

With NHL active rosters at 23 players, the Knights were guaranteed a top-half performer from each squad. Contrast that with the prior expansion draft for the Minnesota Wild and Blue Jackets in 2000, when teams could protect one goalie, five defensemen and nine forwards, or two goalies, three defensemen and seven forwards.

The newer rules gave Vegas a crack at players who could actually score, finishing fourth best of 31 teams in goals. Scoring had been

CAROLINA HURRICANES


the bane of expansion teams, it being easier for bad squads to retreat into defensive shells than generate offense.

The Wild was dead last of 30 teams in its debut 2000-01 season, while the Blue Jackets were 26th. Of the 15 expansion teams since 1970-71, six finished last in goals, two were second-last and all but one ranked among the bottom 15 percent of the league.

Throw in the defensive side — with the Knights eighth-best of 31 teams in goals allowed — and the makings of a contender were there. It helped that the Pittsburgh Penguins left three-time Stanley Cup winning netminder Marc-Andre Fleury unprotected and that the new draft rules pretty much guaranteed Vegas a choice from among most teams’ top four defensemen.

Still, McPhee and Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant didn’t always go for the obvious star picks they knew teams coveted. They had an idea of a certain, hungry-player type that fit Gallant’s system and covertly went about acquiring them from teams in exchange for agreeing not to take other players.

The Marchessault and Smith acquisitions were a prime example. Sure, the Panthers probably suspected the 30-goal season for Marchessault — playing for his third team in three years — was an aberration, just as they’d thought it good economics to jettison Smith and his $25 million contract extension after he’d managed just 37 points in 2016-17.

But the Knights saw a fit and watched Smith notch a career-high 60 points while Marchessault put up a personal-best 75.

Likewise, the Blue Jackets wanted to get rid of William Karlsson, who had just 15 goals in two full seasons. To make sure the Knights chose Karlsson and not a more-coveted player, they made a predraft deal to send Vegas their first-round choice in the 2017 entry draft and second-round selection in 2019 — in exchange for the Knights also taking on the $5.25 million contract of injured winger David Clarkson.

McPhee happily obliged.

Karlsson stunned everyone by leading the Knights with 43 goals and adding another 35 assists. Clarkson has since unofficially retired and is coaching a high school team in Ohio, but the Knights still had the draft choices.

The first-rounder for 2017 was 24th overall, but that was dealt to the Winnipeg Jets for a No. 13 selection used on Ontario Hockey League junior center Nick Suzuki. They also got a third-rounder from the Jets in 2019 in exchange for agreeing to select enforcer Chris Thorburn in the expansion draft and not any of their better players.

The Knights knew Thorburn was an unrestricted free agent, but they were more interested in the draft choice and let him sign with St. Louis. As for Suzuki, the Knights packaged him along with Tomas Tatar and a 2019 second-round choice in a trade this fall to Montreal for Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty.

Sure, it’s dizzying keeping up with what the Knights have done, which is why it’s uncertain Seattle’s franchise can replicate it. In fact, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said giving teams adequate time to prepare for the expansion draft is one reason Seattle’s launch was delayed by a year.

“We need to make sure that the existing clubs have an ample opportunity to make sure that they’re planned appropriately for the expansion draft,’’ Bettman said after an October meeting with the NHL Seattle group in New York. “The expansion draft would be the same rules as Las Vegas. … So, we want to make sure that there’s enough notice for the existing teams to do the appropriate planning that they have to do to comply with the requirements of the expansion draft.’’

The key here is, regardless of how those other owners prepare, their teams still have to lose a good player off their roster when Seattle

comes calling. Whether they’ll simply swallow that pill and move on, or try to come out ahead with a fancier predraft deal could very well determine how quickly the Seattle team gets to a Stanley Cup final of its own.


1119528 NHL

Matt Calkins: When the NHL comes to Seattle, don’t expect Vegas Golden Knights-level success immediately

BY MATT CALKINS THE SEATTLE TIMES

DECEMBER 06, 2018 12:00 AM,

UPDATED 1 HOUR 33 MINUTES AGO

SEATTLE

If there was a better sports story this year than the Vegas Golden Knights, nobody told me about it. A first-year expansion team wins 51 games before soaring to the Stanley Cup Finals? Unheard of.

They helped rally a city still reeling from the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. They captivated a country as an island of misfits morphed into a tropical storm.

It was shocking. It was uplifting. It was endlessly exciting.

And it was almost certainly a one-off.

This isn't a column ghostwritten by Debbie Downer. It is a cry for patience in what could be a trying few years when the NHL comes to Seattle.

The expansion-draft rules will be the same as they were for Vegas, meaning Seattle's team could still be competitive. But to expect anything resembling what the Golden Knights achieved is just plain greedy.

As far as the draft rules go, the other 30 NHL teams (Vegas will be exempt) have two options for whom they want to protect. They can shield seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender, or they can shield eight skaters (forwards and defensemen) and one goaltender.

But Seattle can poach anybody the other teams don't designate for protection, which might make the Director of Scouting the most important person on the payroll.

It may not seem feasible to build something competitive with what are third- and fourth-stringers. Imagine putting together a quality basketball team with nothing but benchwarmers – or a quality baseball team with nothing but Mariners.

It's almost impossible. But the Knights figured it out.

They were able to get three-time Stanley Cup winning goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft. The Penguins had a younger, cheaper goaltender in Matt Murray, so they gave up a two-time All-Star (three after his season with Vegas) and looked to the future.

They were able to get third-liner William Karlsson, who scored six goals with the Columbus Blue Jackets two seasons ago but 43 with the Golden Knights – good for the third most in the league. They were able to get Erik Haula, a fourth-line center who scored 15 goals with Minnesota two seasons ago, but 29 with Vegas.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Part of this shows you just how competitive the NHL is, where it's not unusual for eight seeds to knock out top seeds in the first round (the 2012 Kings won the Stanley Cup as an eight seed). But two other factors were in play when it came to the Golden Knights' success: 1) A-plus talent evaluation. 2) Luck.

Even the most gifted general managers have a slew of whiffs on their resumes. Just look at the number of top overall picks in baseball who never even made the big leagues.

Hockey might not be quite as a random, but for the Knights to work out as well as they did? It's like well-researched gambler hitting on a 10-game parlay.

This doesn't mean that Seattle can't be good in its initial year. The expansion-draft rules were put in place so that new teams had the potential to compete right away.

Nothing squashes a city-wide buzz quite like 60 losses and a last-place standing.

But "competitive" could mean posting the 20th-best record in the league and missing the playoffs with a week to go in the season. It could mean sneaking into the playoffs by year three, advancing to the second-round by year five and third round by year seven.

That's still compelling hockey. That should still satisfy the tens of thousands of Puget Sounders who signed up for hypothetical tickets the first day they were made available.

But it wouldn't be anything resembling the Golden Knights first-year explosion. And that's OK.

Who knows? Maybe Tod Leiweke – the CEO of the Seattle NHL franchise – will hire a brilliant GM who blows the league away. Maybe he'll help bring the Stanley Cup back to Seattle almost instantaneously.

The more likely scenario, though, is that this thing will take time. The good news? That will make success that much sweeter.

News Tribune LOADED: 12.06.2018

1119529 NHL

Team on its way, arena construction now begins in Seattle | The News Tribune

By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer

The celebration outside the building Seattle's NHL team will eventually call home Wednesday came with all the formality of a groundbreaking event with the principals taking turns giving remarks and ceremonially shoveling dirt.

It also came with a new price tag even higher than what was stated a day earlier when Seattle was awarded the NHL's 32nd franchise.

The cost now is $850 million for the new arena at Seattle Center, according to Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke, with construction expected to get started almost immediately. That's an increase of $200 million from the initial projections for the privately financed project, but the principals involved believe the increased investment is part of making the new building one of the top arenas in the country.

"We never value engineered. That to me was an amazing commitment on behalf of ownership," Leiweke said. "We did not do

any value ownership on this project. Everything we dreamed about and more we have kept in this building and will write the check."

The ceremonial event — complete with heavy construction equipment sitting nearby the stage waiting — concluded a whirlwind 36 hours for hockey fans in the region. While it seemed a foregone conclusion, the unanimous vote from the NHL Board of Governors on Tuesday ended a lengthy dance between the league and the city and solved Seattle's winter sports void created when the SuperSonics departed in 2008.

The franchise will begin with the 2021-22 season after the league and ownership group decided not to risk an already tight arena construction schedule. Rather than having the franchise start for the 2020 season with the potential of delays possibly creating adverse conditions for the new team, the launch was delayed by a year.

That does provide a cushion in the construction timeline, but it's not a complete year. Leiweke noted the start of the hockey franchise will be pushed back a year to October 2021, the extra time on getting the arena finished is only a few months. The goal is to have the building open by March or April of 2021 so that the WNBA Seattle Storm can play the 2021 season in the building and other events can be scheduled to start recouping the investment on the project.

Tod Lewieke, the CEO and president of NHL Seattle, said the additional time should allow the team to have its three-rink practice facility completed in time for the team's first training camp in 2021. The team also intends to have its expansion draft in the new arena in the summer of 2021.

And the extended time frame should reduce some of the construction disruptions in a neighborhood that is dense with condos and apartments.

"We've always wanted to build in a very responsible way so we're going got have a little more time to do that," Tod Leiweke said.

By the time the entirety of all the projects and investments in the franchise is realized with the team's first game — arena, expansion fee, practice facility and other costs — bringing the franchise to Seattle could end up running in the neighborhood of $2 billion.

"This marketplace is brilliant," Tim Leiweke said. "This marketplace is the fastest growing marketplace in North America. So it demands brilliance and we're going to answer it so we make sure we don't sit here five years after it opens and say 'we could have done better.' We're going to be great day one and that's what Seattle deserves."


1119530 NHL

Seattle moves into next phase after NHL expansion approval | The News Tribune

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer

Seattle's NHL expansion team has its roots in Dave Tippett's computer.

That's where the longtime coach-turned-senior adviser keeps a running list of players around the league who might be available in an expansion draft that is still 2½ years off. It is just an exercise for now but will become a key building block when Seattle picks its first players in June 2021.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


"Every year it'll change a little bit," Tippett said. "By the time it gets here, you'll have a pretty good idea of where you think teams are going to fall."

Long months are ahead before the as-yet-unnamed team plays its first game, but work is already underway and the effort can begin in earnest now that the NHL Board of Governors has officially awarded Seattle a franchise. Groundbreaking on a total overhaul of KeyArena is Wednesday, and Seattle's front office will spend the rest of this season plotting the course for an organization that has a tough act to follow after the Vegas Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.

"Part of the DNA of this ownership group is we're extremely competitive," said Tod Leiweke, a minority partner, president and CEO of Seattle Hockey Partners. "We're here to win. And we want to win. So we're going to look at these timelines and how it can be put to our advantage."

That means Tippett will watch the rest of this season with an eye on the new team's future and he will sketch out the beginnings of a hockey operations department. He will likely be senior vice president of hockey operations and have a big say in choosing the first general manager of the league's 32nd team.

Tippett will likely hire some scouts this summer and move forward on the GM search.

"When you're a year or two out, everything continues to evolve," Tippett said. "You continue to monitor things. It's an ever-changing world out there right now in the hockey world between coaches and GMs."

Veteran Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland is considered a potential candidate, and Vegas assistant Kelly McCrimmon would know the recipe for a successful expansion draft after helping George McPhee put the Golden Knights together. The same rules will be in place that allow teams to protect only seven forwards, three defensemen and a goaltender, or eight skaters at any position and a goaltender.

That means that for $850 million, Seattle will have an opportunity to win right away.

"It gives you an excitement that you can have a team that's not your expansion teams of the past with the NHL rules," Tippett said. "You can have a competitive team like Vegas. Nobody expected that from them. But it's not as if you're in a five-year rebuild or five-year starting point. You actually can get some good players because of the rules."

Leiweke is friends with McPhee and Golden Knights president Kerry Bubolz and said his new team will build "brick by brick" like Vegas did.

First, there are real bricks. Majority owner David Bonderman said the immediate focus is on getting arena renovations and three-rink practice facility construction completed. Leiweke expects the 17,000-seat downtown arena to open in March or April 2021 and host the expansion draft.

Tippett has a hand in all those projects and is also working to settle Seattle's American Hockey League affiliate.

And he and the ownership group will, at some point, go on a hiring spree to try to replicate Vegas' success.

"We have momentum, and this is a business of recruitment," Leiweke said. "We now really feel confident that we'll be able to recruit a top-flight staff. And we need to, because this is the most competitive league in the world, and parity is the trademark of the National Hockey League today. So we're going to have to be really, really good at recruiting, but our owners are going to give us everything we need."


1119531 NHL

Key Arena Renovations NHL Seattle | The News Tribune

By Andrew Hammond

Seattle has its hockey team and now, they officially begin the process of renovating Key Arena.

And we can stop calling it a renovation, at least Tim Leiweke isn’t calling the project that.

“We made sure that this arena, this brand new arena, is the finest in the country and it will be,” said Leiweke, the CEO of the Oak View Group, who are overseeing the project.

On a cold, almost hockey-like weather day, the heart of Seattle Center brought many dignitaries together for the groundbreaking for what will be the new home of the Seattle NHL team. The franchise will begin play at the start of the 2021-22 season.

“There’s a lot of great things going on in the state of Washington,” Governor Jay Inslee said. “But I’m happy to say this is the happiest place right here in Washington.”

The renovations will include upgrades throughout the arena but will keep the iconic roof that sits at the heart of the Seattle Center neighborhood. The cost, paid by Oak View Group and private equity, will cost around $850 million dollars.

“This shows what we can do when we come together,” Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkin said. “We do not have to use taxpayer funds. Thanks to the Leiwekes and others who were committed to this and they said we will build this, we will commit to this city for the long term.”

While there was much celebration regarding the new beginnings for the arena and a hockey team returning to the city, the focus briefly shifted to basketball and bringing an NBA team back to Seattle.

“They (Seattle Hockey ownership group) have made it very clear that they are willing to write a big check,” Tim Leiweke said. “This ownership group has made a commitment to the city, sports fans of the Northwest, to the mayor and all of the basketball fans that we’re ready for the next one and we’re going to be working diligently as well.”

The Seattle SuperSonics called Key Arena home from 1967-2008. Leiweke explains that this ownership group is motivated and ready to welcome the best in music, entertainment and quite possibly the NBA.

“It will host the Storm, it will host the NHL and we’ll be prepared to host the NBA when they’re ready to talk to us,” Leiweke said.


1119437 Anaheim Ducks

Ducks' offense shows signs of life in victory over Blackhawks for their fifth consecutive victory

By MIKE COPPINGER

CAROLINA HURRICANES


The Ducks’ slog through November is a distant memory. So too are the calls for coach Randy Carlyle’s ouster.

He’s going nowhere, and neither is this team after yet another victory. With a 4-2 triumph over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday before 15,596 at Honda Center, the Ducks notched a season-best fifth consecutive win. The streak is almost inconceivable given the squad’s dispirited showings last month.

The Ducks entered a five-game road swing shortly after Thanksgiving with just five victories in 17 outings. They ended the trip with four straight wins, and now that they’re back in Southern California for a four-game homestand, they have another W and somehow, sit just one point behind the Calgary Flames for first place in the Pacific Division.

“This was a really good game for us … we played with a lot of speed,” said Jakob Silfverberg, who delivered an empty-net goal. “Our first period today was really good, we were playing with a lot of confidence and I think that obviously comes from building off earlier games.

“We’re playing really good right now and that’s obviously a big boost for the whole team. We gotta keep it going.”

Daniel Sprong, the Ducks’ newest acquisition, showed just what he’s capable of on the offensive end in his debut with the club. He streaked down the right boards and unleashed a dazzling short-side shot from the goalline that found the top of the net.

It was the Ducks’ second goal in 21 seconds; Brandon Montour opened the scoring with a wrist shot from the point that goalie Corey Crawford couldn’t see behind Rickard Rakell’s screen.

The Ducks entered the contest with the 30th-ranked offense, but they’ve shown signs of breaking out recently. They erased a four-goal deficit Sunday to defeat the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals. With Sprong in the mix — they dealt rookie defenseman Marcus Pettersson to the Pittsburgh Penguins to land the 21-year-old — they might have another scoring threat.

The Netherlands native skated alongside Adam Henrique and Nick Ritchie; all Sprong did was lead the squad in five-on-five scoring chances in 13:29 of ice time.

“I’m really excited for the new opportunity,” said Sprong, a second-round draft pick in 2015. “This whole team is a great team.”

The Ducks are finally showing it. They once seemed in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Now, they’re playing team hockey. John Gibson was his usual self in goal: two goals allowed on 27 shots. And finally, the Ducks are winning the possession game.

After the Chicago Blackhawks’ push in the second period with two goals, Ondrej Kase put the Ducks ahead for good in the third period with a short-side wrister after an outlet pass from Carter Rowney.

The Ducks’ fourth-line center missed 20 games this season with an upper-body injury; he now has points in three of his last five games.

Kase’s goal gave him seven points in his last nine games.

LA Times: LOADED: 12.06.2018


Ducks turn up speed, defeat Blackhawks, extend streak to 5 in a row

By ELLIOTT TEAFORD

ANAHEIM — The Ducks continued to win the battles they lost as recently as a few weeks ago. They continued to generate the sort of sustained pressure that was missing earlier in the season. They continued to move the puck into the attacking zone with a crispness that was absent last month.

Have they finally found the pace at which they’d like to play?

Well, not quite, but they approached it at times during their 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night at Honda Center, their fifth consecutive win and their seventh in their past eight games. Above all, they played under control at a higher tempo and they produced results.

There was still room for improvement, as Coach Randy Carlyle reminded reporters at game’s end, but he acknowledged the Ducks’ game was in a better place than it was earlier in the season. They’ve learned to play their new speed game better. They’re faster, but not frantic, as they once were.

“Just finding ways, finding ways,” Carlyle said of what stands out about the Ducks’ play during their winning streak. “We feel good about ourselves and we’re just finding ways. We’re not proclaiming anything more than we’re a work in progress.”

The Ducks still haven’t played the sort of consistent 60-minute game that would please Carlyle, but they took more strides during Wednesday’s victory, when they jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and then stuck to their game plan after they squandered it in the second.

Ondrej Kase scored the tiebreaking goal 4:03 into the third and Jakob Silfverberg sealed it with an empty-net goal with 1:31 remaining. Brandon Montour and Daniel Sprong scored first-period goals, and John Gibson made 25 saves for the Ducks (15-10-5).

Erik Gustafsson and Alex DeBrincat scored for the Blackhawks, who made a strong push after falling behind early but lost their fifth in a row. Corey Crawford made 28 saves, including several difficult ones that prevented the game from turning into a runaway.

“Definitely the first period was one of our better periods,” Silfverberg said. “We came out right away, on our first shift, and I think we had them in the D-zone for about a minute and a half and we created some chances. … Overall, this was a really good game for us.

“We played with a lot of speed and we were moving the puck pretty well.”

The Ducks built a two-goal lead during an electric 20-second stretch in the first period.

Montour gave them a 1-0 lead with a shot from the perimeter, getting an assist via a screen from teammate Rickard Rakell. Sprong then made a dash down the right wing and whipped a shot from a sharp angle into the back of Crawford’s net to make it 2-0.

Sprong’s goal was his first since the Ducks acquired him from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Marcus Pettersson on Monday. It was just the sort of play General Manager Bob Murray envisioned when he decided to deal for Sprong, a big scorer in the AHL and in juniors.

The Penguins were willing to part with Sprong after he scored four points, all assists, in 16 games while playing mostly on their fourth line this season. He had started training camp practicing with Sidney Crosby, but he fell out of favor quickly with Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan.

Sprong’s speed and skill with the puck were evident from his first shift with the Ducks, though.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


“I felt confident,” he said of his Ducks debut. “I’m a shooter. I wanted to start early putting pucks on net. … I try to play an offensive game and play with speed and find open ice. (Nick) Ritchie and ‘Rico’ (Adam Henrique) really helped me out. The whole team made me feel comfortable.”

Making a good first impression was important to Sprong.

“It’s a new opportunity,” he said of joining a new team. “I was excited for it. I wanted to come out hot and if I had a good shot I wanted to shoot it and not give up any of those opportunities. Lucky for me, the first shot was a good opportunity and it went in.”

A goal so nice it had everyone but @sprong97 fooled.

�� NBCSN: https://t.co/HNd7iOx9hm #WNH pic.twitter.com/dMY3AOc3Zz

— NHL (@NHL) December 6, 2018

Don't blink, or you'll miss this beauty from Ondrej!#LetsGoDucks | #WNH pic.twitter.com/uGo4qt7i5S

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) December 6, 2018

�: "I'm really excited for the new opportunity. When I found out I got traded to Anaheim, I was really excited. I'm really excited to be here and help the team win."@sprong97 on his #NHLDucks debut and more following the win!#LetsGoDucks | #WNH pic.twitter.com/LqiksluHpt

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) December 6, 2018

Orange County Register: LOADED: 12.06.2018


Forbes ranks Ducks as 18th most-valuable NHL franchise

Anaheim franchise, celebrating its 25th anniversary, is valued at $460 million

By ELLIOTT TEAFORD PUBLISHED: December 5, 2018

ANAHEIM — The Ducks awoke Wednesday to find themselves in 10th place in the NHL’s overall standings with a 14-10-5 record. They also learned they were the league’s 18th-ranked franchise with a value of $460 million, unchanged from last season, according to Forbes’ annual listings.

The franchise, celebrating its 25th anniversary in the NHL, ranked just behind the St. Louis Blues (17th, $465 million) and just ahead of the New Jersey Devils (19th, $455 million) for 2017-18. The New York Rangers were Forbes’ most-valuable franchise at $1.55 billion.

Three other teams were valued at $1 billion or more: The Toronto Maple Leafs ($1.45 billion), the Montreal Canadiens ($1.3 billion) and the Chicago Blackhawks ($1.05 billion). The Kings were the top-ranked team not among the league’s so-called original-six clubs, coming in sixth at $810 million.

The NHL’s average team value was $630 million.

The Arizona Coyotes ranked last in the 31-team league at $290 million.

Henry and Susan Samueli purchased the Ducks from the Walt Disney Company for $75 million in 2005. The club’s revenue was $134 million and it lost $2.3 million, according to Forbes’ latest rankings. Neither the Ducks nor the NHL assisted Forbes in compiling its figures, however.

It’s believed the Ducks’ losses were closer to $10 million.

A team spokesman declined to comment on the Forbes report.

TRADING PLACES

Ducks center Adam Henrique knows what it’s like to be in right wing Daniel Sprong’s skates. Henrique was traded to the Ducks last season from the New Jersey Devils, joining the team a little more than a year ago. Sprong was sent to Anaheim from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.

In the end, it was an easy transition for Henrique.

“The group in here made it easy for me,” Henrique said. “We started playing well and that helped just as much. When you’re winning and it’s fun and with the group in here, all of that combined made the adjustment easy for me, which was big.”

Henrique had only a few words of advice for Sprong, his new linemate.

“Score a bunch of points and have fun,” Henrique said. “It makes it easy. You don’t want to overthink anything. You just want to go out and play hockey. That’s kind of how I looked at it, coming here and meeting the guys. When you’re out there playing, everything else disappears.

“All the distractions, you just leave them at the door. You come in and play. We’re creatures of habit. We have our routines on a daily basis. Obviously, that changes a little bit going to a new team and trying to adjust and trying to figure out where you fit in and what your role is.”

QUESTION OF CONSISTENCY

The Ducks took a four-game winning streak into their game Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks. They defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals with a series of strong third periods after lackluster starts.

They were exceptional while rallying from a 5-1 deficit to take a 6-5 victory Sunday from the Capitals, a dominating showing in the game’s final 30 minutes after a nightmarish first 30. The question is, why can’t they play as well to start the game as in the second half of the contest?

“Well, I mean, I know why we can’t do it all the time or why we haven’t done it all the time,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said. “The only reason we can’t, it’s a matter of getting that consistency in our game, where we’re playing period in and period out.

“Everything is a grind right now. We’re definitely not where we want to be, but we’re better than when we left (on a five-game trip). It’s a long year. As long as we can hang around and put together stretches, we’ve just go to grind away and get our lineup going the way we want it to all the time.”

Orange County Register: LOADED: 12.06.2018

1119568 Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews is a sniper extraordinaire | The Star

By Bruce Arthur Sports Columnist

The TV camera caught it: Travis Dermott on the celebratory Leafs bench just after Auston Matthews scored in overtime to win in Buffalo. Most everyone clambers over, but the 21-year-old defenceman is looking around like he just saw a real-life dragon rise up into the sky. Dermott pushes Igor Ozhiganov — like Elaine on

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Seinfeld when she can’t believe someone, except with only one arm — and looks behind him, wide-eyed, mouth open. He swings his head back and looks at Ron Hainsey and exclaims, “HOLY F—!” before heading out on the ice.

“Yeah, just how quick he pulled it back,” said Dermott, before the Leafs’ annual visit to Sick Kids children’s hospital, which remains one of the best things the franchise does. “I was thinking like, from a defensive standpoint, looking at that, I don’t even know what I would do. Like, if you can pull it that fast around my stick, there’s no way I can block it.

“Honestly, I haven’t seen anything like it.”

Not to overreact, but Auston Matthews is probably the best goal-scorer in the world. This isn’t a hot take; it’s maybe a take that you left in the microwave for like 15 seconds, long enough to soften butter but not melt it.

Matthews has 15 goals in 14 games this season despite being 99th among NHL forwards in ice time per game going into Wednesday night. You can’t judge a hockey player on 14 games, of course, even if the 14th featured two circus goals: the first, where Matthews located a puck in the air while skating fast, gloved it and in one motion set it down and wrapped it around the net for a goal. Whoosh.

And the second one, the game-winner, the HOLY F—!, came in overtime when Kasperi Kapanen drove the Buffalo defenders back, and Matthews, gassed and at the end of a shift, did what only he can do. He starts with the puck out wide to his left, sweeps it in front of his left skate as he lifts the foot and lifts the puck like a rocket, all one smooth motion, top corner. Absurd.

“He’s pretty lethal; it’s hard to think of anyone more dangerous in that spot,” John Tavares told reporters in Buffalo after Tuesday’s game. “It’s obviously extremely hard to defend. You envy it a little bit, in a way. People basically (put him) in a telephone booth, and the way he’s able to release it and be as accurate — it’s just on top of the goalie so fast, and he puts it where he wants it, just extremely hard to stop. It’s hard to feel there’s anyone as lethal as him right now.”

There probably isn’t. The only reasonable competitor in the league these days is the Amish-bearded Finn who was taken one spot later in the 2016 draft, and Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine has a case. Over their careers, Laine has scored slightly more goals per 60 minutes of play: 1.94 to Matthews’s 1.9. At even strength, though, Matthews has scored 1.65 5-on-5 goals per 60 minutes of play, which blows everyone else away. Laine is second among qualifiers at 1.28.

And now Matthews is on a killer first-unit power play for the first time, where six of his first eight shots have gone in. Now, Matthews is not going to shoot 30 per cent all year, because that is another galaxy. There has been one 25-goal season at more than 25 per cent shooting since 1994: Mike Ribeiro, in a fluke year. Matthews is just 17th in the NHL in shots on goal per game, and has nearly doubled his career-shooting mark so far. You can’t shoot a high volume and shoot 30 per cent unless you’re God.

But he might be the best shooter and scorer in the game because of the ability to get to dangerous spots, and then to vary and release that shot. Craig Custance of The Athletic talked to Leafs skills consultant Darryl Belfry before the season started, after which the Leafs clamped down on Belfry’s media requests. Belfry noted Matthews has rebuilt his shot more than once, and can lift either foot and move the puck within the shot and still whip it, because he’s so strong — he is listed at 223 pounds — and his balance and hand-eye coordination are exceptional.

The kick point on his stick — the part of the stick built to bend and create force — is low, adding control, but Matthews still generates exceptional power off the release. And he can do it with that moving fencer’s flourish, which is all but unique.

What’s clear is this: for all the attention showered on him in Toronto, Matthews’s true level was somewhat camouflaged to some by a relative lack of power-play production, by some injuries, and by his relative lack of ice time. Since Matthews entered the league, Connor McDavid has played 21.5 minutes per game. Matthews? 17:50. He’s even more of a world-beater than he looks, hiding in plain sight.

Now, he gets his best linemate back, after William Nylander signed. TSN’s Ray Ferraro recently wondered if Matthews will score less with Nylander, “because when Nylander gets a chance he’s not going to miss it.”

Nylander said he would make his season debut Thursday against Detroit, so we’ll see. But either way, Auston Matthews is at worst the second-best goal-scorer in the world, and likely one better. And he’s never been better than this.

Toronto Star LOADED: 12.06.2018


Thursday game preview: Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings | The Star

By Mark Zwolinski Sports Reporter

KEY PLAYERS

Frans Nielsen and John Tavares

The two were teammates on the New York Islanders and will be familiar with each other on the ice. Nielsen notched a hat trick earlier this week in Detroit’s overtime loss to Tampa. He started the season with a 21-game goal drought, the longest of his career.

Detroit has run into injury woes: the team lost D Danny DeKeyser to an upper body injury (he was struck on the hand off a slap shot) during the Tampa game. More bad news came with word that forward Anthony Mantha will be out 4-6 weeks after undergoing hand surgery this week. In addition, forward Tyler Bertuzzi will serve the second game of a two-game suspension. The team has called up Wade Megan from the AHL … With holes in the lineup, Detroit bumped Gustav Nyquist to the top line, joining Dylan Larkin and Justin Abdelkader. Nyquist responded with a pair of goals against Tampa … The Wings have just two players — Andreas Athanasiou and Larkin — in double figures in goals scored … A veteran-laden club, Detroit has not lost a game by more than a goal since the start of November …G Jimmy Howard has nine wins in 20 starts, with a solid 2.77 GAA and .926 save percentage; former Leaf Jonathan Bernier is the backup.

Toronto Star LOADED: 12.06.2018


NHL power rankings: Leafs jump to the top of the pack

Michael Traikos

December 5, 2018 8:58 PM EST

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1. Toronto Maple Leafs (3)

Auston Matthews has five goals since returning. And now William Nylander’s back too.

2. Tampa Bay Lightning (2)

Have won seven of their last eight games.

3. Nashville Predators (1)

Are 2-0 since Filip Forsberg got hurt.

4. Calgary Flames (5)

Smith has won his last three games and allowed just six goals.

5. Winnipeg Jets (6)

Wheeler is on a six-game point streak, with 10 points during that span.

6. Buffalo Sabres (4)

Followed up 10-game winning streak with four straight losses.

7. Washington Capitals (9)

Braden Holtby gave up 10 goals in back-to-back losses.

8. Columbus Blue Jackets (7)

Sergei Bobrovsky allowed eight goals on 26 shots to the Flames on Tuesday.

9. Boston Bruins (8)

Have managed to score just five goals in the last four games.

10. Montreal Canadiens (11)

Carey Price (nine goals allowed in last four games) is looking more like his old self.

11. Colorado Avalanche (13)

Mikko Rantanen, the NHL’s leading scorer, is on pace for 135 points.

12. Vegas Golden Knights (15)

Knocking on the door of a playoff spot after winning six of last seven.

13. San Jose Sharks (10)

Went 1-3-1 on recent road trip.

14. New York Islanders (17)

It’s Dec. 5 and the Islanders are the third-best team in the Metro.

15. Dallas Stars (19)

Three-game winning streak has Stars back in a playoff spot.

16. Minnesota Wild (16)

Matt Dumba is a minus-4 in his last four games.

17. New York Rangers (12)

Out of a playoff spot after losing five of the last six.

18. Anaheim Ducks (20)

Have a minus-13 goal-differential — and are still the second-best team in the Pacific.

19. Pittsburgh Penguins (14)

Phil Kessel, who’s gone seven games without a goal, is reportedly on the trading blocks.

20. Vancouver Canucks (18)

Josh Leivo scored a goal in his Canucks debut. Take that, Toronto.

21. Detroit Red Wings (22)

Frans Nielsen had a hat trick on Tuesday night. He’s got four goals all season.

22. Arizona Coyotes (28)

Four-game winning streak has Coyotes ahead of the Oilers.

23. Edmonton Oilers (23)

Mikko Koskinen has won three of his last four starts since taking over from Cam Talbot.

24. Carolina Hurricanes (21)

Scored just four goals in the past four games.

25. Ottawa Senators (26)

Winning three of four has put Sens four points back of a playoff spot.

26. Florida Panthers (27)

Roberto Luongo shutout the Bruins in his return from injury — now can he stay healthy?

27. Philadelphia Flyers (24)

The goalie carousel continues, with Anthony Stolarz the fifth to step between the pipes.

28. Chicago Blackhawks (25)

Haven’t won in regulation since Nov. 18.

29. New Jersey Devils (29)

One win in their last nine games.

30. St. Louis Blues (30)

Tyler Bozak has gone eight games without a point — and 14 without a goal.

31. Los Angeles Kings (31)

Jonathan Quick is back, though he probably wishes he wasn’t.

Toronto Sun LOADED: 12.06.2018


Red Wings-Maple Leafs Game Day

Lance Hornby

THE BIG MATCHUP

C Frans Nielsen vs. G Frederik Andersen

Believe it or not, Andersen isn’t the only hot player from Herning, Denmark in this game. Nielsen, who didn’t get his first goal of the year until the weekend, bagged three on Tuesday in a 6-5 shootout loss to the Lightning. Andersen was hoping to avoid a fifth straight game of facing 40 or more shots and there is a chance Mike Babcock rests him anyway to play Garret Sparks and keep the Dane rested for Boston.

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KEYS TO THE GAME

1. AUSTON’S POWERS

That was a huge step forward in his recovery from a shoulder injury Tuesday in Buffalo when he had two goals, three points and the game winner over Buffalo with less than three seconds to play. Matthews had two power play goals versus Detroit in the first meeting, a 5-3 Toronto win.

2. KEEP WILLY IN CHECK

This goes for both teams. While William Nylander will have an urge to show fans just what they’re getting for $41 million US, he can’t be caught trying to do too much freelancing in his first game. Regardless, he’ll be a handful for Detroit.

3. LONG AND WING DING ROAD

The past three seasons have seen the tide in this old rivalry shift in Toronto’s favour, a record of 8-1 as the Detroit machine Babcock once ran is now in rebuild mode. Inability to sustain focus in a winnable regulation game over the conference leaders on Tuesday shows they still have some growing to do.

4. SHORT TEMPERS

Detroit’s next penalty killing situation will be its 100th of the year, one of the highest totals in the circuit. Toronto, with a potent power play, has had to kill a league-low 69.

5. KEEP PUCKS ON A STRING

At last, the Leafs meet a team more prone to giveaways than themselves. The Wings are league leaders, which makes life hard on goalies Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Bernier, though Andersen might have thrown some shade at Nazem Kadri in Buffalo after his freebie allowed Buffalo to take the lead.



Nylander, Matthews ready to roll vs. Wings

Lance Hornby

William Nylander helped his Maple Leafs mates spread some joy around the Hospital for Sick Children on Wednesday.

And he had some happy news to share with reporters covering the annual team visit to the world renowned medical facility.

“Yeah, I’ll be playing tomorrow,” he said of rejoining the lineup Thursday at home against Detroit.

His return — after the Leafs won 20 of their first 28 without him and a bunch minus he and injured Auston Matthews — is a bit ahead of schedule, without a full practice with yet-to-be-confirmed linemates. But after a protracted battle to get a six-year, $41.4 million US contract, he wanted back in the lineup ASAP.

It’s expected coach Mike Babcock reunites the right winger with Matthews and Patrick Marleau as was the summer plan, which would mean leaving Zach Hyman, John Tavares and Mitch Marner intact.

Some third- or fourth-line shuffling will result, possibly leaving centre Frederick Gauthier in the press box as the spare forward.

Nylander, who was third in team scoring last season with 61 points in 82 games, tried to keep in shape by skating with an Austrian club team and a Swedish junior squad. Many people did not figure the Leafs could maintain such a strong clip through October and November with two-thirds of a No. 1 line absent.

“It goes to show, you play hard and play the right system, you have a good chance at winning,” Marleau said after Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime win in Buffalo. “Then it can only help when you get a player like Auston back in the lineup.

“Hopefully, Willy can do what Auston does, just jump right in like he hasn’t missed a beat. It will be good to have him back.”

Babcock and the entire team were at Sick Kids, meeting with patients, parents and staff in a recreation room, where several players tried cookie decorating for the live in-house TV station to all rooms. Later, the players fanned out to different wards to chat and sign pictures.

“Just seeing the excitement on the kids’ faces to meet the players, it makes your day,” Matthews said. “(NHLers) have some days when you complain and everything. Life could obviously be a lot worse. We’re like heroes to them and it’s pretty special to come here.”

Defenceman Jake Gardiner just became a father for the first time, so this annual visit meant more.

“We love doing this,” Gardiner said. “If we can come and brighten their day a little bit, it’s nice to give them a break.”

After Matthews scored two picture goals against the Sabres, including the winner with 2.7 seconds remaining in overtime, mates were running out of superlatives.

“It’s pretty usual for him,” said Marleau. “It’s pretty amazing what he can do on a nightly basis and coming back from a 14-game (injury) absence.”

Matthews’ 15 goals in 14 games include a 30% shooting percentage, second in the league.

“He keeps working at his game — shooting, skating, passing — anything,” added goalie Frederik Andersen.

“That’s what great players do, try and get better and reach their level in all areas. He’s not satisfied.”

On his first goal, Matthews was the only one tracking a deflected airborne puck behind Buffalo’s net, that he gloved to the ice while beating a Sabre defender on the same move and spun a backhand wraparound before defenceman Zach Bogosian and goalie Linus Ullmark could move.

While Matthews now has more goals through his first 158 games than anyone except Alex Ovechkin since the start of 2005-06, Marleau reached a significant milestone Tuesday, as well. He hit 542 goals, one more than Stan Mikita to take sole possession of 31st place in league history, and two back of Rocket Richard.

“That’s pretty cool,” Marleau said. “You see those names and Mikita was one of my dad’s favourite players growing up (in Saskatchewan).

“We were playing in Chicago when they had the ceremony for his (recent passing) to see how great of a player he was. But that night you saw what a great person he was, too.

“Norm Ullman, I remember my dad saying a lot, too. We went to an oldtimers game in Swift Current when I was 12 or 13 and Ullman was playing in that.”

Andersen on facing 40 or more shots four consecutive games. “I let the stats guys (track) that. I just play” … Josh Leivo was a hit in his first game with the Canucks. The traded winger had a first-period goal and finished with three shots, five attempts, two hits and some first-unit power-play shifts in a total of 16:53 of ice time. But

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Vancouver lost 3-2 to Minnesota … More countries have posted their preliminary world junior championship rosters. The Leafs will have their two first-round Swedish defenecmen, Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin, as well as late 2018 pick, Pontus Holmberg. Filip Kral, a Czech defenceman picked behind Holmberg, will be on his country’s list as well as previously announced Canadian goalie Ian Scott … Matthews and Mitch Marner are scheduled to be the celebrity ‘Cannon Dolls’ for the Nutcracker Ballet in Toronto on Dec. 19. For years, special guests have portrayed the colourfully costumed Russian Petrouchka dolls who shoot a cannon into the audience to begin the battle scene in Act I … Marleau, who played two years of junior in Seattle, likes the proposed ‘Kracken’ nickname for the city’s new NHL franchise … The 1934-35 Leafs, whom this year’s team emulated by winning 20 of its first 28, earned their 20th against the St. Louis Eagles, who folded at the end of that year. Moving on, the ’34-35 Leafs won 10 of their final 20 and beat Boston in the first round, but were swept in the best-of-five Stanley Cup final by the Montreal Maroons.



Maple Leafs second most valuable NHL franchise: Forbes

Staff Report

Canadian Press

The New York Rangers are the NHL’s most valuable franchise for a fourth consecutive year, according to the latest estimate by Forbes.

The Rangers top the annual list of franchise valuations at US$1.55 billion, up three per cent over last year.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are second at $1.35 billion and Montreal Canadiens third at $1.3 billion, a four-per-cent increase for both clubs.

Original Six clubs make up the top five of the list, with the Chicago Blackhawks fourth at $1.05 billion and the Boston Bruins fifth at $925 million. The Detroit Red Wings are not far behind their Original Six cousins in eighth ($775 million) and have seen an 11-per-cent increase in value thanks to a new downtown arena.

Los Angeles (sixth, $810 million), Philadelphia (seventh, $800 million), Vancouver (ninth, $735 million) and Washington (10th, $725 million) round out the top 10. The Capitals enjoyed a league-best 16-per-cent boost in valuation over last year thanks to a run to its first ever Stanley Cup title.

The Vegas Golden Knights had a 15-per-cent boost in value to $575 million, good for 12th in the league, after becoming the first expansion team to advance to the Cup final.

At the other end of the list are the Florida Panthers (30th, $295 million) and Arizona Coyotes (31st, $290 million). The clubs were the only two to lose value according to Forbes, down three per cent each.

The Canadian teams are rounded out by Edmonton (13th, $540 million), Calgary (20th, $450 million), Ottawa (23rd, $435 million) and Winnipeg (27th, $415 million). The Jets’ value jumped 11 per cent thanks to the team’s run to the Western Conference final.

According to the list, the value of the average NHL team rose six per cent during the past year, to a record $630 million.

The release of the list comes on the heels of the NHL approving a 32nd team in Seattle for a hefty expansion fee of $650 million.



Maple Leafs' Matthews, Marner to make 'The Nutcracker' cameos

Staff Report

Canadian Press

December 5, 2018 1:52 PM EST

Toronto Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews and Mitchell Marner are trading in their jerseys for doll costumes in “The Nutcracker.”

The two are among the Canadian celebrities set to make cameos as Cannon Dolls in the National Ballet of Canada’s production this holiday season.

The ballet company recruits notable personalities every winter to perform the comical roles in each show at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

The characters appear onstage as a cannon goes off to begin the battle scene in the first act, which is set in a winter wonderland in 19th-century Russia.

Other notable personalities making guest roles as Cannon Dolls this year include “Come From Away” co-writers Irene Sankoff and David Hein.

The list also includes Max Kerman and Anthony Carone of the rock group Arkells, author Emma Donoghue, Olympic figure skaters Eric Radford and Dylan Moscovitch, design duo Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan, and pastry chef Anna Olson.

Past Cannon Dolls have included Chris Hadfield, Tessa Virtue, Mats Sundin, and Doug Gilmour.



Mirtle: Reflecting on an amazing two years with The Athletic

By James Mirtle

Dec 6, 2018

Apparently, this is my 360th byline for The Athletic. If you click here, you can read the first one I ever wrote.

It’s really hard to believe it’s been two years, to the day, since writing that because I remember my thought process back then so well.

I was terrified.

Terrified that readers wouldn’t buy in. Terrified that The Athletic was ahead of its time – or just too niche an idea to truly succeed.

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Terrified that I had a one-year-old son and a mortgage and I’d left a safe union job for a startup that had few subscribers and a limited supply of capital behind it.

I’ve said some of this before and I don’t want to repeat myself. But what I will say is that this has been the most rewarding experience of my career, watching this company go from a crazy idea that two young American entrepreneurs put in front of me back in the fall of 2016, to a runaway success story in an industry that badly needed one.

Today, in Canada alone, The Athletic has 29 full-time employees, making us one of the largest sportswriting operations in the country. It’s a group of people I’m extremely proud to call colleagues, folks that have been through the media wars, experienced layoffs and long years as overworked, underpaid freelancers. It includes veteran writers and editors with families who now have job security and benefits. It includes young, new hires who otherwise would have been very hard pressed to break into a broken industry.

It really is a dream opportunity, building this company in this country. With what’s happening to our newspapers, Canada needed this.

None of us take it for granted. And we know there’s still a long way to go.

All of us owe a debt of gratitude to our subscribers. Many days I can’t believe the support we get. I’m buying diapers and I see people wearing our T-shirts at Shoppers Drug Mart on the weekend. I get stopped at restaurants. I receive nice messages on my personal Facebook account all the time. I feel like we’ve been given a wide berth by many of you, given how little content we had in the early days. Along the way, there have been technical issues, editing mistakes and all kinds of growing pains that come with a company going from 10 employees to 300-plus in under 24 months.

What I hope people realize is that there is a heartbeat behind this company. Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann, the founders, are good people and – by far – the best bosses I’ve ever worked for. They didn’t come into this endeavour blessed with a deep media background, but what they brought was perhaps more important in these changing times: a never-ending curiosity about this industry and a willingness to listen, learn and adapt as we’ve grown.

They want to succeed. They, in turn, give us everything we need to do so.

The incredible staff they’ve built at our San Francisco headquarters consistently goes above and beyond expectations. They’ve become the unsung heroes of our early success. Akhil Nambiar, Jacob Lee and Jay Higginbotham on operations, Tim Nguyen and Max Tcheyan in growth and marketing, Taylor Patterson in PR, Balen Gore in engineering, Pavle Stojkovic and the HR team – and on and on. I’m forgetting people, but the point is this company is more than just the writers. Having that kind of back-end talent supporting the product is something more media companies need to invest in.

This group has taken an analytical, tech and startup mindset to tackling the complex issues behind how to properly build and monetize sportswriting – with tremendous results. Every time I visit that office, I come away (a) having learned something and (b) with a renewed sense that we’re going to succeed.

But what encourages me the most is how readers continue to buy in. You have become our greatest resource, spreading the word better than any billboard or television ad could. (Which is a good thing given we have neither.) Three of our four best months for subscription sales in Canada were these past three, including huge signups over Black Friday a couple weeks back.

It’s not uncommon at this point for us to sell more than 1,000 subscriptions in a single week in this country. A lot of that, in my opinion, is plain old word of mouth, with one satisfied subscriber telling a friend or family member to check out this new little app full

of interesting articles. (Care to send a gift subscription for the holidays? Right here.)

There are still areas we need to improve. We need to be better at finding up-and-coming young talent and at telling different stories. We need to be less afraid to take chances and to fail, branching out beyond mainstream content. We need to invest more in investigations and features and the kind of important sports journalism that has been abandoned due to cost cutting at many other outlets. I’m confident we can begin to fill that void here in 2019, with the addition of Dan Robson and more staff yet to be named.

But for the first time in a long time, I’m bullish on this industry – and even more so on our future within it. With Alex and Adam committed for the long haul, I believe we can continue to build something that not only the staff, but also our readers are proud of, a media company that strives to rise above the daily bickering and hot takes and offers something of substance.

Canada has become a huge, huge part of that. You, reading this, helped this happen.

That push for better, substantive content was something we talked about on Day 1, two years ago, when we launched in Toronto, becoming The Athletic’s second market. We’re now in 47 cities in North America, with coverage of every team in the four big sports. But our focus on content remains the same, even as we branch out into podcasts and docs and who knows what else. What I love is that you hold us accountable when we don’t stick to those principles.

I don’t really know what else to say other than what a journey this has been. Thank you for your support. Keep spreading the word about us, keep rocking those T-shirts and we’ll work hard to continue getting bigger and better as a result.

The Athletic LOADED: 12.06.2018


The Leaf Report podcast: The rise of Auston Matthews. The return of William Nylander

By James Mirtle

Dec 5, 2018

It’s been a busy week in Leaf land. Lots to talk about.

We focus this time around on Auston Matthews’ incredible return from injury, with five goals and seven points in his first three games. We also dig into what we learned about William Nylander and Kyle Dubas throughout the contract saga, after their meeting with the media on Monday.

Plus Josh Leivo got traded to Vancouver, fulfilling a promise from the Leafs GM that we’ve talked about on the podcast the past few months.



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Mike Babcock will finally have a full deck to play with now that William Nylander is back

By Jonas Siegel

Dec 5, 2018

Zach Hyman arrived at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul well before the 6 p.m. local start time this past Saturday — far enough in advance of the game against the Minnesota Wild to anxiously sweat the final hour of the William Nylander contract standoff.

Finally, with almost no time to spare, Mike Babcock popped by the dressing room to deliver the good news — that Nylander had signed for six years and $41 million with only five minutes to spare. Hyman and the other players on hand scurried to their phones and flooded Nylander’s phone with congratulatory text messages.

It was a close call and Hyman told Nylander as much in his text. “We’ll give him shit, for sure,” Hyman said with a laugh.

The Leafs will definitely welcome the 22-year-old back into their lineup though as they chase the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in more than five decades. Babcock, in particular, will finally get a full deck to play with for the first time all season — a chance, with more than a third of the regular season already in the books, to unleash the full potential of a lineup with Nylander, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares.

His team has nonetheless raced to the second-best record in the league after another Nylander-less win in Buffalo on Tuesday night, but it’s yet to be fully weaponized.

Babcock said it often enough over the first couple months this season and it was true — that the Leafs would be dangerous on two power-play units, instead of one, when Nylander finally returned.

The Leafs have gotten only four goals from their second group to this point without Nylander: a pair each from Patrick Marleau (who also scored one with the first unit) and the now-traded Josh Leivo. Tavares, Matthews, Marner, Nazem Kadri, and Morgan Rielly, meanwhile, have combined for 16 on the other wildly more devastating first unit.

It’s not as if the Leafs weren’t using the second group — which typically included Leivo, Marleau, Tyler Ennis, Andreas Johnsson, and Jake Gardiner — either. Babcock isn’t one of those coaches who gives everything to one unit and leaves only scraps for the backups. Quite the opposite, with Tavares and Marner leading the team in PP ice-time (2:29 per game) and second-unit types like Johnsson (1:36) and Ennis (1:29) not all that far behind.

Part of that is Babcock preferring a fresh group to start the advantage, what with so many of the first unit crew members drawing the penalties that lead to power plays:

The second unit will look a lot more formidable with Nylander. And make no mistake, the whole thing will revolve around Nylander on the right flank — or the same spot that Leivo held until he was dealt to Vancouver.

Nylander was one of the better power-play operators in the league as a rookie (his unit cooled last season) and he should play the same sort of maestro role there moving forward as Marner on the first unit — only as chief distributor and shooter.

“He’s good at making plays, going through the seam (with a pass) or shooting,” Gardiner said, “so you’ve gotta respect his shot but then he can make other plays as well.”

Nylander set a franchise rookie record with nine power-play goals during that historic rookie season and ranked just outside the top-20 forwards in the league in power-play goals per 60.

His shot was sort of hard to stop:

“Every time he has the puck, he can beat a goalie,” Gardiner said.

Nylander should be shooting even more now that his primary passing target (Matthews) is humming on the first unit. The Swede fired 18 shots per 60 minutes on the power play during that big rookie year (which included a franchise rookie record 26 PP points), but dropped to around 13 per 60 last season, or about the same as Matthews. That number should spike again now that he’s got his own unit to dominate.

“I think Willy’s a threat every time he has the puck,” Ennis said of his new power-play partner. “He’s got a really hard shot. He’s got great vision. He’s a threat when he has it. It just adds another weapon to a pretty dynamic team.”

Not just a threat to score himself, Nylander also set up 17 power-play goals as a rookie — a top-20 mark league-wide and one that equaled Marner.

He was particularly effective at spotting a seam to zip the puck over to Matthews in the opposite circle. Nylander was the No. 1 forward in primary assists per 60 on the power play during that 2016-17 season and seventh in overall assists per 60 with the man advantage.

This helper from last season was basically text-book for him and Matthews:

Matthews won’t be lurking in the weeds any longer for Nylander, but the threat of his own quick-fire shot should open up opportunities for Johnsson, playing the middle, Marleau beside the net, and potentially, Ennis in that same left flank position as Matthews.

Nylander, always with his head up scanning the ice, will be just the sort of creative force the unit has lacked so far this season.

With Matthews’ absurd shooting (six goals on nine shots!), the Leafs are already scoring at a crazy clip so far on the power play — fourth in the league at 10.4 goals per 60 — but they stand to brighten up even more with Nylander in the fold once more.

Matthews has been pretty OK anytime he’s played this season, but he might kick it another notch even with Nylander back on his right side.

“I just remember thinking they play at a very fast pace, a lot of skill plays,” Ennis said of facing the Matthews-Nylander combo with the Wild last season.

The memories were more harsh for Tavares. He remembers Matthews and Nylander shredding his Islanders, to tune of three goals and five points for Matthews and a pair of assists for Nylander — all in three wins for the Leafs.

“Well, it’s not easy,” Tavares said of combating the twosome. “They’re so good with the puck and I think it’s when they don’t have it, (it’s) their ability to get it back. Being in the right spots at the right time — they’re just great at stripping pucks and knocking pucks out of the air.

“You can’t take it for granted you’ve got an open passing lane or you’re able to get it by one of them,” he said. “And once they’re able to cause a turnover or get the puck back, right away they’re looking to make a play and create an opportunity. It happens that fast, that all of a sudden you can be in control and you find yourself chasing them and making a play. We went through some of that against them last year.”

Tavares may have been thinking back to Mar. 30.

Notice Tavares, still the captain of the Islanders, strip Matthews before Nylander swipes it right back. Tavares steals it again. Then it’s back to the Leafs and from there, Matthews and Nylander put on their usual show.

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Because it’s been a while, it’s easy to forget the wicked chemistry the two shared. Match high-end skill with high-end skill and you’re bound to get results.

Here’s another reminder:

Kasperi Kapanen obviously showed well as a stand-in, but Nylander is in a different ballpark when it comes to making offensive magic. Matthews made Kapanen better. Nylander can make Matthews better, pumping him up for scoring opportunities with that vision, creativity, and dazzling stickwork.

Tavares said part of the reason he chose Toronto in free agency last summer was the likely effect of all that extra talent around him. He wouldn’t be the de facto top draw for opponents with the Leafs. That part would go to Matthews, who’s been luring first pairs and top lines even without Nylander and even as Tavares and Marner pop off most nights — including a beauty combo play to set up Gardiner in the win over Buffalo.

Now that Nylander is back, the Leafs will really cause headaches for opposing coaches, especially in Toronto. With home-ice advantage and last change, Babcock will be able to foist the Matthews-Nylander twosome on weaker competition, as he did when both were rookies and playing with Hyman. The Leafs coach dialed up their competition last season and their production still spiked.

Matthews jumped from 2.2 5-on-5 points per 60 as a rookie to 2.9 as a sophomore; Nylander went from 1.8 to 2.4.

What kind of damage can they do if Babcock opts to use Tavares and Kadri for the tougher matchups at SBA? How will opponents handle a pair of all-star-calibre combos otherwise in Marner-Tavares and Matthews-Nylander?

“Well, that’s the decision they gotta make,” said Kadri. “Normally, teams aren’t as deep as we are so we’re gonna try to take full advantage of that.”

“We have a lot of flexibility to do a lot of different things as a team, and obviously the coaching staff, in the short-term, and for myself in the long-term, flexibility for guys to move around and play different roles and be in different spots — being able to throw different looks all the time, and just always knowing we have such good threats every time three guys step over the board,” Tavares said.

The Leafs have been one of the highest scoring 5-on-5 teams in the league without Nylander, and without Matthews for 14 games — hovering around the top-5 with 68 goals. Now, they’re reincorporating not only their best player in Matthews, but Nylander, who ranked 19th in the league in points per 60 — just behind Taylor Hall, Alex Ovechkin, and Evgeni Malkin.

It’s possible that Nylander debuts lower in the lineup, with Kapanen remaining alongside Matthews, but eventually, the two are getting back together. Fireworks should ensue.

With Nylander set to debut Thursday against Detroit, Babcock will finally get to assemble a lineup popping with speed and skill all the over place.

Consider the forward group that finished the regular season last spring:

And now the one with Nylander on it:

Tavares obviously punches up line two, and with Kapanen and one of Johnsson or Connor Brown playing alongside Kadri (with Brown moving to left wing), the Leafs are considerably quicker on line three and still feisty and fast on their fourth unit.

“That’s essentially what it takes, especially down the stretch,” Kadri said of increased depth with Nylander again in the fold. “I think it becomes more and more important through the later months of the regular season and the playoffs. It just means more depth, tougher matchups for opposing teams — it’s good for us.”

The most important development for the Leafs in Nylander’s absence was the emergence of Kapanen, his best friend on the team. His speed and increasingly accurate shot (10 goals on 55 shots) offers Babcock another speedy, scary threat on the right side and one who may have remained in fourth line duty had Nylander not missed the first couple months.

“It was really good for our team in that Kapanen got such an opportunity — he earned it, he started on the fourth line, he earned it,” Babcock said this week. “We end up with a better player because of it to be honest with you, because another guy got to be important so that’s great.”

With Kapanen exposed as a more viable part, the Leafs get an unexpected boost in their top nine.

Middle of the pack in terms of possession to this point, the Leafs should tick upward with Nylander onboard. He might be the best the Leafs have got when it comes to entries and exits with the puck.

Matthews, notably, was around 51 per cent possession with Nylander last season, and about 48 per cent without him.

Nylander also offers Babcock another viable right-shooting faceoff option. All four Leaf centres are lefties, meaning a persistent disadvantage for draws in the right circle or Babcock otherwise opting for someone like Hyman, who’s won only 47 percent of his 83 faceoffs this season. The Leafs got burned on the Sabres first goal Tuesday night in just this fashion with Par Lindholm, a leftie, dropping a defensive zone draw on his weak-side.

Nylander won 51 percent of his draws last season — typically on his strong side in place of Matthews.

One more bi-product of Nylander coming back: Overtime.

Matthews kept the Leafs perfect at 4-0 in OT with his unfathomable shot past Linus Ullmark on Tuesday, but if the Leafs face more bonus time in the next few months, and more opportunity thus to stack up bonus points as they chase the Atlantic division crown, Babcock will be able to toss out at least three potent combos:


1119502 Montreal Canadiens

Forbes ranks Leafs and Habs as second- and third-most valuable teams in NHL

Staff Report

THE CANADIAN PRESS

PUBLISHED DECEMBER 5, 2018

UPDATED DECEMBER 5, 2018

The New York Rangers are the NHL’s most valuable franchise for a fourth consecutive year, according to the latest estimate by Forbes.

The Rangers top the annual list of franchise valuations at US$1.55-billion, up 3 per cent over last year.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are second at US$1.35-billion and Montreal Canadiens third at US$1.3-billion, a 4-per-cent increase for both clubs.

Original Six clubs make up the top five of the list, with the Chicago Blackhawks fourth at US$1.05-billion and the Boston Bruins fifth at US$925-million. The Detroit Red Wings are not far behind their

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Original Six cousins in eighth (US$775-million) and have seen an 11-per-cent increase in value thanks to a new downtown arena.

Los Angeles (sixth, US$810-million), Philadelphia (seventh, US$800-million), Vancouver (ninth, US$735-million) and Washington (10th, US$725-million) round out the top 10. The Capitals enjoyed a league-best 16-per-cent boost in valuation over last year thanks to a run to its first ever Stanley Cup title.

The Vegas Golden Knights had a 15-per-cent boost in value to US$575-million, good for 12th in the league, after becoming the first expansion team to advance to the Cup final.

At the other end of the list are the Florida Panthers (30th, US$295-million) and Arizona Coyotes (31st, US$290-million). The clubs were the only two to lose value according to Forbes, down 3 per cent each.

The Canadian teams are rounded out by Edmonton (13th, US$540-million), Calgary (20th, US$450-million), Ottawa (23rd, US$435-million) and Winnipeg (27th, US$415-million). The Jets’ value jumped 11 per cent thanks to the team’s run to the Western Conference final.

According to the list, the value of the average NHL team rose 6 per cent during the past year, to a record US$630-million.

The release of the list comes on the heels of the NHL approving a 32nd team in Seattle for a hefty expansion fee of US$650-million.

Globe And Mail LOADED: 12.06.2018


Canadiens find a dynamic duo in Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin

STU COWAN, MONTREAL GAZETTE

Updated: December 5, 2018

It has been a long time since the Canadiens had a dynamic duo when it comes to offence.

The last time the Canadiens had a player average over a point-per-game for a full season was 2007-08 when Alex Kovalev had 35-49-84 totals in 82 games. The last time they had two players do that was 1995-96 when Pierre Turgeon posted 38-58-96 totals and Vincent Damphousse had 38-56-94.

We’re only 28 games into this season, but the Canadiens have one player averaging over a point per game and another one who is close. Heading into Thursday night’s game against the Senators in Ottawa (7:30 p.m., TSN2, TSN5, RDS, TSN 690 Radio) Max Domi has 13-17-30 totals in 28 games and Jonathan Drouin has 10-15-25 totals.

This new dynamic duo has been fun to watch, especially in Tuesday night’s 5-2 win over the Senators at the Bell Centre when they both had three points, with Domi scoring twice and Drouin once, while they assisted on each other’s goals.

“Both of them are smart players,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said after practice Wednesday in Brossard. “Both of them are good playmakers and they see the ice well. Right from the get-go, I said to them: ‘You guys can make great plays, but my only thing for them is it’s going to be important that you guys find ways to get on the inside because you’re going to make great plays all night long, but if it’s on the perimeter you’ll get nothing out of it.’ They’ve done a good job.

You look at where Max is scoring from, right from the middle of the ice. He’s driving through the middle and those plays are happening.”

After Tuesday’s game, Domi said one of the main reasons for his chemistry with Drouin on the ice is the fact they are great friends off it. Julien said the two linemates have been able to help each other.

“Not only are they both smart players, but they also enjoy playing with each other,” Julien said. “That’s more important than people think.”

The coach added that having the scrappy Andrew Shaw on their line has also helped.

“I think Shawsy’s been a good addition to their line because he’s always in front of the net and he’s always going to get his nose dirty,” Julien said. “I think those two guys certainly can use a player like that on their line because it just gives them more room to be creative. So it’s a good mix.”

Drouin struggled last season with the Canadiens after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defenceman Mikhail Sergachev. In 77 games, Drouin had 13-33-46 totals and was minus-28. He’s plus-2 this season.

“Jonathan Drouin came here last year really excited about playing in his home town, in his home province,” Julien said. “Having grown up in the Montreal area and being a Habs fan, he thought it was great. As a young player, you realize how much attention is being paid to the hockey club here. Maybe when you compare to Tampa it’s a lot different. I don’t think as a young player that he was mentally ready for that. I don’t think he expected it to be that hard. But what he did is that he realized what he had to do and he did that this summer and he came in here a much better-prepared player, a much better-educated player as far as expectations. And also for his game, he grew from: ‘Wow! There’s no nights off around here without people talking about it.’ So he’s become a better player because of that.”

Julien noted there’s still lots of room for improvement from both 23-year-old players. Domi has been a pleasant surprise for the Canadiens after scoring only nine goals in each of his last two season in Arizona. Last season, four of his nine goals were empty-netters. All 13 of Domi’s goals this season have come with a goalie in the net. The Canadiens acquired Domi during the off-season in exchange for Alex Galchenyuk, who has 3-7-10 totals in 19 games with the Coyotes.

“He came into a big market,” Julien said about Domi. “Who knows? I know Max and Drou are friends. Did he get the information that maybe Drou gave him over the summer to say: ‘You better be ready. This is a fun place to play, but it’s also very demanding.’ I think right from the get-go we knew that Max was loving the fact that he was coming to a hockey market. He was excited about it and he’s handled it the right way. Both of them together I think it’s turned into a good mix. They both meshed well together and they’re both so far having a pretty good season.”

Now the question is whether this dynamic duo can keep it up for a full season.

Montreal Gazette LOADED: 12.06.2018


Stu Cowan: Canadiens' Shea Weber proving he's still a Man Mountain


CAROLINA HURRICANES



The statistics are there for everyone to see when it comes to Shea Weber.

Since returning to the lineup after missing almost a full year following foot and knee surgeries, the Canadiens defenceman has played four games, averaging a team-high 24:56 of ice time with two goals, one assist, a plus-4 and a team-high average of 3.3 hits per game.

But there’s a lot more the Canadiens’ captain brings to his team that fans and the media don’t get to see.

“How he handles himself,” coach Claude Julien said after practice Wednesday in Brossard as the Canadiens prepared to face the Senators Thursday night in Ottawa (7:30 p.m., TSN2, TSN5, RDS, TSN 690 Radio). “He’s here early in the morning and he does all the things he has to do to prepare for work and all that stuff. He’ll be here early, getting a good breakfast. Preparing, working out and making sure that he’s doing all the right things. So he’s a great example. Most teams have at least one or two players who can do that. So we’re lucky we got one of the best.”

There’s a reason why Weber’s teammates call him Dad.

The question is how much longer can the 33-year-old be a Man Mountain on the blue line — especially coming off surgeries for tendon damage in his left foot and a meniscal tear in his right knee. Weber has seven more seasons after this one remaining on his 14-year, US$110-million contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $7.857 million.

For the remainder of his career, Weber will be compared with P.K. Subban, the player the Canadiens dealt to Nashville in order to get him. Subban, 29, has 2-10-12 totals in 18 games this season with the Predators and is plus-8 while averaging 22:43 of ice time. Subban has been on the injured-reserve list since Nov. 15 with an upper-body injury and has three more seasons after this remaining on his eight-year, US$72-million contract.

After Tuesday’s morning skate, Julien was asked if Weber reminds him of Zdeno Chara or Andrei Markov, two veteran defencemen he coached in the past with the Boston Bruins and Canadiens, respectively. The name Julien brought up instead was former Detroit Red Wing Nicklas Lidstrom, who retired six years ago at age 42, one year after winning his seventh Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenceman.

“He was such a good player, but made the game look so simple and I think that’s where Shea is a lot like that,” Julien said. “You see him, as soon as he sees somebody open he moves the puck. It may look simple, it may look boring to the player himself, but to everybody’s eyes it’s effective and it’s what keeps players the kind of players that they are through their whole career. I think that’s where you go back to Lidstrom and Chara, that was one of his idols. Those are guys that you can use as good examples and that’s what Shea does. He can play lots of minutes because he doesn’t put himself in positions where he’s got to exhaust himself. He keeps the game simple. So as long as you keep it simple, you don’t have to overwork yourself and you’re able to play 25 or maybe even 27 minutes at times per night.”

Julien added that apart from having the hardest shot in the NHL, Weber still defends well, killing plays quickly and moving the puck up out of the defensive zone. There also aren’t many players who want to go into the corner with the 6-foot-4, 229-pounder or stand in front of the Canadiens net when he’s there.

Speed has never been Weber’s strong point and age catches up to every player, especially in today’s fast-paced NHL. But Weber says he hasn’t really had to change his game in recent years.

“I don’t think so,” he said after practice Wednesday. “I haven’t noticeably. Maybe just subconsciously change stuff, but nothing that I’ve said: I got to do this instead.”

Weber has shown he is still able to handle a huge workload, even after missing almost a full year.

“He plays the game in a way that those 25 minutes, they don’t really even seem hard to him,” Julien said. “I know that probably about a month ago (former Edmonton Oilers coach) Todd McLellan talked about (Connor) McDavid’s game and how he doesn’t seem like a guy who ever gets tired. I think Shea seems to be the same way as a defenceman. With that kind of ice time and the kind of game he plays, I’m not saying he plays like McDavid. It’s more about how he manages his ice time. By the end of the game, he’s given a real good effort, but he doesn’t look tired. He can still log a lot of more minutes. So you have to give him credit for how he’s come back and been able to do that right from the get-go.”

He is still a Man Mountain.



Canadiens Notebook: Habs franchise now valued at US$1.3 billion by Forbes



Forbes came out Wednesday with its annual list of valuations for NHL franchises and for the third straight year the New York Rangers are deemed the most valuable franchise, worth US$1.5 billion.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were ranked second at US$1.45 billion, followed by the Canadiens ($1.3 billion), the Chicago Blackhawks ($1.05 billion) and the Boston Bruins ($925 million) with Original Six franchises taking the top five spots. Rounding out the top 10 were the Los Angeles Kings ($810 million), the Philadelphia Flyers ($800 million), the Detroit Red Wings (the sixth Original Six team at $775 million), the Vancouver Canucks ($735 million) and the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals ($725 million). The Arizona Coyotes are at the bottom of the list of 31 NHL teams with a value of $290 million.

Forbes reports that NHL team values went up 15 per cent over last year to an average of $594 million. Last year, Forbes had the Canadiens valued at US$1.25 billion.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced Tuesday that Seattle will join the league as an expansion team for the 2021-22 season with the new ownership group paying US$650 million for the franchise. That’s $150 million more than the Vegas Golden Knights owners paid to enter the league last season.

When a group led by Geoff Molson purchased the Canadiens from George Gillett Jr. in 2009 the pricetag for the team and the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) was $575 million. Gillett had purchased 80.1 per cent of the Canadiens and the arena in 2001 for $275 million. It had cost $265 million to build the arena alone, which opened in 1996.

Juulsen almost ready to return

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Canadiens defenceman Noah Juulsen, who has missed the last seven games with a facial fracture, practised with the team Wednesday morning in Brossard and has been cleared for contact.

Juulsen won’t be in the lineup Thursday night, when the Canadiens play the Senators in Ottawa (7:30 p.m., TSN2, TSN5, RDS, TSN 690 Radio), but could be back on Sunday night in Chicago against the Blackhawks (6 p.m., SN, SN1, RDS, TSN 690 Radio). Juulsen suffered the injury when he got hit in the face with a puck that deflected up off his stick during the first period of a game against the Washington Capitals on Nov. 19. It was the second time Juulsen got hit in the same spot on the face by a puck in that game.

“I fractured my cheekbone pretty much,” Juulsen said. “So that’s the damage that’s done. Yeah, so it’s going to take a little bit to heal, but I can play with a cage (to protect his face), so that’s good.

“I feel ready to go,” he added. “I got good skates in with our medical staff and training staff, so I feel good to go.”

In 17 games this season, Juulsen has 1-4-5 totals and is plus-3, while averaging 17:32 of ice time.

“I want to get back in the lineup,” Juulsen said. “It’s an injury and that happens in the game that we play. So for me, just getting back in there and playing the way I was is what I’m going to have to do.”

Lines back in place

Canadiens coach Claude Julien made changes to two lines during the second period of Tuesday night’s 5-2 win over the Senators at the Bell Centre, replacing Andrew Shaw with Paul Byron on the No. 1 line with Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin and dropping Shaw to the third line with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Artturi Lehkonen.

It worked very well, with both lines producing the rest of the way. Domi (2-1-3) and Drouin (1-2-3) both finished the game with three points, while Shaw and Kotkaniemi earned assists on a goal by Lehkonen. But at practice Wednesday, Julien had switched back to his original lines.

“I think they just needed to shake things up and get things going last night,” Shaw said after practice about changing lines Tuesday night. “I think we’ve been playing well as a line, so I think they see that as well.

“I think being versatile is a huge attribute in my game,” Shaw added. “It’s something that a lot of players in the NHL have and that’s why they’re in the NHL. You’re going to go through parts of seasons where things are going to need to be shaken up and to be able to be flipped on different lines I think it’s very important.”

Julien said he’s thankful to have a player like Shaw in the lineup who can be used in different roles.

“You can put him anywhere,” the coach said. “If you want him to just grind, put him on the fourth line, he’ll just grind. You want him to give some guys some space and also make plays like he did yesterday on Lehkonen’s goal … he can make plays as well. So he becomes a valuable player.”

Shaw said he enjoyed playing on a line with youngsters Lehkonen and Kotkaniemi while filling a big-brother role.

“It’s fun,” Shaw said. “The excitement they have for the game. For Lehky to score a big goal and KK to set it up, you just see the joy on their faces.”

As for playing with Domi and Drouin, Shaw said: “The speed and how they’re both capable to make such great plays or handle pucks at such high speed. When they have the puck and they’re going they’re great at making quick, little plays or beating guys one-on-one. Their compete level is pretty cool, too.”

Carey Price will get his sixth straight start Thursday night in Ottawa against the Senators.

Price made 28 saves in Tuesday night’s win over the Senators and has a 2-3-0 record in the last five games. For the season, Price has a 9-8-4 record with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage.

Tough decisions

The Canadiens have had to make some tough roster decisions this season and as a result have already lost two young players on waivers: Jacob de la Rose to the Detroit Red Wings and Nikita Scherbak to the Los Angeles Kings.

There will be other tough decisions to make moving forward once Juulsen is ready to return to the lineup and if defenceman Victor Mete eventually gets called back up from the AHL’s Laval Rocket.

“You try and develop a young player and when do you turn the page on him and when do you say this is what we have?” Julien said after Wednesday’s practice. “We’ve seen it before. I think there was a guy by the name of John LeClair who left here and scored 50 (for the Philadelphia Flyers). Those things are going to happen. You win some, you lose some. At some point as an organization you make a decision based on … I’m going to tell you it’s a little bit of a player’s potential, but also you look at what players are going to make your team the best team possible.

“As we all know, if you have all skill and no grit, who’s going to kill penalties, who’s going to block shots, who’s going throw checks, who’s going to stand up for your teammates?” the coach added. “So you need a good mixture and sometimes that’s where you have to make decisions based on what you need and what you have. You make those decisions based on that.

“As an organization, we’ve lost two players to waivers. If we would have kept him and put someone else we probably would have lost that guy on waivers as well. It can sound a bit like a negative because for us we would have preferred keeping both players that we lost. But that’s the name of the game. At the same time, you give credit to the people that bring the players in to say that we have that many good players that when it comes to waivers they get picked up. Other teams are able to slide certain players down. It just means maybe people just don’t see potential in them. That’s where we’re at. The part that I’m going to use the word sucks is that yeah, we don’t want to give up on players, but we have to make decisions for the present and you hope that the future follows as well.”

Kulak making most of his chance

Brett Kulak has now played three consecutive games as Shea Weber’s partner on the No. 1 defence pair with the Canadiens and has not looked out of place.

In Tuesday night’s win over the Senators, Kulak logged 16:31 of ice time and was plus-2 with three shots, two hits, two blocked shots and only one giveaway. Kulak is pointless in six games with the Canadiens since getting called up from the AHL’s Laval Rocket, but is also plus-3 while averaging 18:55 of ice time.

“I think it’s a good chance for me to get some good minutes at this level and to play with a guy like Shea it’s awesome,” Kulak said after Tuesday’s morning skate in Brossard. “It makes the game easier on me and my job is to help him out and make it as easy on him as possible. I think for us, obviously, we prefer to play in the O zone. So I think our focus is shortening up things in the D zone, closing hard on guys and getting pucks and moving them up to our forwards and getting it going offensively.

“He’s so smart positionally,” Kulak added about Weber. “He’s always in a good spot to give me an out when I get the puck in our own zone. So he’s always there to give me an option and he’s always supporting me whether it’s in the neutral zone or whatever. He does a really good job at just positioning himself for me and it gives me a little more time — an extra half a second with the puck. If I don’t have any other option, he always seems to be open for me.”

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When asked if he felt more pressure playing beside Weber, Kulak said: “I think so. More so the pressure is when I’m playing with him I’m playing against top lines on the other team. So I think that’s something I’m not too, too familiar with at this level yet. But all other levels I’ve played it’s always been against the top players on the other team. So I think that’s where a little bit of the pressure comes in. But I felt in our first couple of games we did a pretty good job and we’re just looking to keep going and getting better.”

Weber was asked after practice if had given any advice to his new defence partner.

“I just told him not to change anything,” the captain said. “We talked right before the first game and I think the biggest thing was just communicating with him that we need to talk, learn from each other and for him just to continue to play the way he’s been playing. He’s been solid. He’s here for a reason and just to keep doing the things that he’s done so far.”

Setting sights on world juniors

Four more Canadiens prospects have been invited to selection camps for their respective teams for the World Junior Hockey Championship, which begins Dec. 26 in Victoria and Vancouver.

On Wednesday, Team USA invited centre Ryan Poehling and goalie Cayden Primeau to its camp, while Russia invited defenceman Alexander Romanov and Sweden invited centre Jacob Olofsson.

Earlier in the week, Team Canada invited forward Nick Suzuki and defenceman Josh Brook, while Finland invited forward Jesse Ylonen.

Poehling was selected by the Canadiens in the first round (25th overall) at the 2017 NHL Draft and has 3-12-15 totals this season in 14 games with St. Cloud State University. Primeau, selected in the seventh round (199th overall at the 2017 draft), has a 9-3-1 record with a 2.43 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage with Northeastern University.

Romanov, who was selected by the Canadiens in the second round (38th overall) at this year’s draft, is pointless and plus-11 in 27 games this season with CSKA Moscow in the KHL. Olofsson, also drafted in the second round this year (56th overall), has 2-4-6 totals in 20 games with Timra IK in Sweden.



Analyze This: Andrew Shaw lights fire on Canadiens' top line

MARC DUMONT, SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE


The Montreal Canadiens’ excellent duo of Jonathan Drouin and Max Domi has received a lot of praise recently, and rightfully so, because they’ve been producing at an impressive rate and have been the team’s main source of offence in most games.

They have speed, creativity and talent to burn. But they were missing one key element on the line to really propel them among the NHL’s elite. We simply can’t ignore the contributions by the most recent addition the duo, Andrew Shaw. He’s turned a line that was overachieving into a trio that is creating a sustainable impact for the Canadiens.

Prior to joining that line on Nov. 8 against the Buffalo Sabres, Domi and Drouin were getting outshot and out-chanced during their shifts, indicating that despite their offensive flair, they were due for a major regression in production. They were scoring a decent amount of goals, but the underlying numbers didn’t indicate they could keep up their torrid pace.

But since Shaw’s arrival, the line has started controlling the majority of the shots, goals and high-danger goals. They’ve also improved their share of the high-danger shots.

Shaw’s role on the line shouldn’t be underestimated. Beyond the numbers, he provides a physical presence that is actually conducive to scoring goals. What I mean by that is Shaw has the pace to not only keep up with Drouin and Domi, but he can actually hit players while they’re still in control of the puck, which creates turnovers in key areas.

In most cases, hitting a player results in little to no immediate advantages for the team doing the hitting, because the player getting hit has already moved the puck. That’s not always the case when Shaw hits. He’s fast enough to get there prior to the puck leaving the zone.

Shaw is also channelling his inner Brendan Gallagher by providing screens during most shifts, making life hell on opposing defenders and goaltenders. Not only does this frustrate his opponents, it also opens up ice for his teammates.

Simply put, the Domi-Drouin combination had potential, but was on a downward trend and headed for a major regression before Shaw joined their line. And since his arrival on the top line, all three players have increased their production by a significant margin.

Shaw and Domi have seen a healthy uptick in their production, but it’s Drouin who has enjoyed the most significant increase, scoring nearly two additional points per 60 since the line was changed in November. As it stands, all three players are on pace for career seasons.

Domi’s best statistics came during his rookie season with the Arizona Coyotes in 2015-16, when he had 18 goals and 34 assists for 52 points. He’s on pace this season for 38 goals and 50 assists.

Drouin’s best season was with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2016-17, when he had 21 goals and 32 assists for 53 points. He’s on pace this season for 29 goals and 44 assists.

Shaw is on pace to surpass his previous season-high of 20 goals, 19 assists and 39 points (set with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013-14), with a pace of 23 goals and 26 assists. And if he keeps up his pace alongside Domi and Drouin, he should be able to crack the 60-point mark.

Of course, it’s a long season and these numbers can change quickly. Injuries, scoring slumps, roster changes and other factors are inevitable.

There’s also the issue of Domi and Drouin’s even-strength shooting percentage, which has predictably fallen in recent weeks, but still remains somewhat higher than their career average.

But for the time being, that line is not only scoring, but they’re doing it with sustainable underlying numbers, which puts the fear of inevitable regression on the back burner.

And they owe a lot of their success to their new linemate, Andrew Shaw.



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Melnick’s GBU: Julien pushes the perfect button at the perfect time for the Canadiens

By Mitch Melnick

Dec 5, 2018

It was during the second period, shortly after a weird looking shot by Ottawa defenceman Dylan DeMelo (a name that brings to mind an Expos reliever in the 70s) ended up sailing over Jordie Benn and Bobby Ryan and past Carey Price to tie up the game 1-1.

Claude Julien sensed a momentum shift and a feeling inside the rink that after a good start, his team was flat. The Habs were playing low energy hockey against a visiting team that entered the game with a goals against average on the road of 5.00. The Bell Centre had come alive after Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin combined on a perfectly executed 2-on-1 when Domi’s saucer pass hit Drouin in stride and the left winger made a slick move on Craig Anderson to open the scoring about 15 minutes into the game. But instead of building on the lead, the Canadiens, for whatever reason, held back.

Maybe it was about having to start the second period killing off a 4-on-3 Ottawa power play. Or perhaps it was their inability to regain the lead when they got a power play a few minutes later. But there was no flow to their game and it was very much up for grabs.

That’s when Julien dropped Andrew Shaw from his line with Domi and Drouin and replaced him with the much speedier Paul Byron. Shaw found himself on the third line, next to Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Artturi Lehkonen.

Presto.

Drouin and Domi morphed into Lafleur and Shutt, Shaw became Mario Tremblay to Lehkonen’s Yvon Lambert and the Habs scored three goals in less than four minutes late in the period to take control of the game.

And just for a moment some of us were transported back to the heady days of the 70s when there was a dynasty and a Dryden. And briefly, a pitcher named Don DeMola.

THE GOOD

· Claude Julien: He likes to say it’s just “coaching” but that was uncanny. It’s the second time he’s moved Shaw around, with success, since the winger returned to the lineup following an injury rehab “time out” early in the season. Byron, still rounding back into shape after missing 14 games, won’t grab the spotlight but he always seems to be (in today’s lexicon) lit whenever he plays against his hometown team. Julien also wisely scratched Nicolas Deslauriers for the much quicker Matthew Peca, who seized the moment with one of his better games.

· Jonathan Drouin: No flash in the pan moment here. Drouin’s been bringing it for a while, as he entered the night on a point-per-game pace since game 13. His three-point night moved him into the top 50 in scoring in the NHL. And prompted this Tweet from former Hab Mike Johnson who knows his way around a rink and a dictionary.

· Max Domi: A great night for Domi to break out of a slump. An even better night for Marc Bergevin. While some saw another small player who couldn’t score, the Habs GM saw a player who could skate and create and do so from the middle of the ice. It should be noted that in Arizona, the Coyotes acquired Nick Schmaltz from Chicago to play center. Alex Galchenyuk is back on the wing.

· Carey Price: Forget the tying goal by DeMelo, a shot that curved around his glove like a baseball around the Pesky Pole at Fenway Park. Price was very sharp again.

· Shea Weber: It sure is comforting for Price and the Habs to know that Weber is on the ice for almost half the game. Since his return last week against Carolina, the Canadiens have outshot their opponents 172-103. Or look at it this way game by game: 49-22; 41-22; 41-29 and 41-30. Sheer coincidence? What do you think?

· Brett Kulak: If not Price then the biggest beneficiary of Weber’s return is Kulak who just played his best game as a Hab.

· Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Desperately needed something good to happen, especially after he lost the faceoff that led directly to Ottawa’s first goal. There just wasn’t much going on with his game. Enter Andrew Shaw. After taking a pass from Kulak inside his own zone, Shaw skated down the right side while Kotkaniemi headed to the net. Shaw timed his pass perfectly while the Habs’ rookie used his long reach to corral the puck and, in the same motion, slide a backhanded pass over to a streaking Lehkonen who tapped in his third goal in three games. Kotkaniemi played 11:22 (8:53 at even strength). It’s only the fourth time this season he’s seen less than 12 minutes of ice time. He had gone six games without a point.

THE BAD

· Phillip Danault: While his linemates got back onto the score sheet (Tomas Tatar made like Brendan Gallagher when he knocked a clearing pass out of mid-air then stole the puck in a board battle to set up Gallagher for his 12th goal of the season), the offensive woes continue for Danault. After Ottawa had tied the game Danault was perfectly set up in the slot by Gallagher. But he fanned on his shot. In the third period, with Kotkaniemi serving his first penalty since the home opener, Danault carried the puck into Ottawa territory on a 2-on-1 with Lehkonen. But his shot never made it to the net. We know he’s a terrific defender. But if Kotkaniemi’s game was just a little stronger right now would Julien at least spot him with Gallagher and Tatar? Maybe that’s in the works.

· Jordie Benn: Habs seem to be in trouble in their own end when Benn is on the ice. The second defence pair of Jeff Petry and David Schlemko looks good. But Benn and Mike Reilly are still iffy. Benn with the puck on his stick in his own end is what my hands look like at noon after my fourth cup of coffee.

THE UGLY

· Thursday in Ottawa?: Just a feeling but there is the potential for some nastiness. Six minutes into the game, rookie Drake Batherson pulled a Jaromir Jagr-like cold shoulder on Shaw who was chasing him down. Domi went right after the Senators rookie and took an extra minor for throwing punches. Just prior to the Habs busting the game open late in the second period, Gallagher got away with a high stick that clipped Batherson in the face. The veteran hulking defenceman Justin Falk, just recalled from the American Hockey League, spent much of the third period going after Domi and Shaw and anyone else willing to engage him physically. Later in the period, Kulak and Ryan Dzingel were unlikely dance partners. Throw in an early Mark Stone kneeing penalty on Drouin in the neutral zone, and a very late attempt by Brady Tkachuk to stir things up with Gallagher inside the Ottawa zone (that ended quickly when Tkachuk looked up and was cross checked back to the ice by Weber) and perhaps the game takes on a rougher tone back in Ottawa. Especially if it’s another one-sided affair.



Coming to Los Angeles a ‘dream’ for Kings waiver pickup Nikita Scherbak

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By Lisa Dillman

Dec 5, 2018

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – They should just rename the NHL waiver wire – the second-chance wire, sponsored by Allied Van Lines.

The new kid in town, Nikita Scherbak, was embracing the shot with another team – happily, with both arms on Tuesday – in his first day of practice with the Kings after they claimed him off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens.

If he started humming the Randy Newman tune, “I Love L.A.,” it would have nicely completed the picture. There was something appealing about his palpable excitement in joining a last-place team.

Scherbak said he was “stunned,” when Montreal general manager Marc Bergevin called to tell him the news on Sunday. And Scherbak’s fiancée started jumping around the kitchen in excitement, he said.

“I was just like, ‘No way,’” Scherbak said. “It’s been my dream. I’ve been here when I was 10 years old. I have such great memories with the city. I was like, I cannot wait to come back.

“I guess God gave me opportunity, and I’m happy to be here. I cannot be more excited to be part of the Los Angeles Kings.”

His Southern California impressions (hello, Disneyland) were formed when his parents, Sergey and Evgeniya, took a leap of faith, letting the 10-year-old leave home to travel from Russia to Southern California with his hockey team for a tournament. Scherbak was the youngest player on the team and it was no small thing for the kid to take a 14-hour plane flight.

He managed to work in an indirect reference to the famous song by the Mamas & the Papas, released in 1965, a good 30 years before Scherbak was born.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God. This is a dream. California Dreaming,’” he said. “Since then, I’ve never been in LA. I’m really excited.”

It takes a certain strength of character to move to a foreign land to pursue a career but Scherbak did just that when he relocated to Saskatoon to play for the Western Hockey League junior team as a 17-year-old, speaking almost no English.

Five years later, his English is excellent, tinged with a slight accent, a byproduct of his time in Montreal. Scherbak said French has proved to be more difficult than English.

“I learned it a little bit because my fiancée is from there,” he said. “She’s trying to get me to learn French, but not anymore. Now I have an excuse that nobody speaks French in Los Angeles. I’ve got to learn Spanish now, I guess.”

The Canadiens had high hopes for him, taking him in the first round (No. 26) of the 2014 NHL Draft. Late last season, they called him up because of a series of injuries and Scherbak made an impression with six points (four goals, two assists) in 26 games.

This raised expectations for him, internally, but Scherbak lacked urgency in training camp and didn’t exactly set the AHL on fire when he was sent to Laval on a conditioning assignment and later became expendable when the Canadiens needed a roster spot to activate Paul Byron.

“I have a lot of thoughts maybe why or what happened,” Scherbak said. “I’m never going to know exactly what was the main reason why. Everybody was nice. I’m never going to complain. They treat me well.

“But I guess I wasn’t in their plans for the future. I think they just moved on, on me. Just things didn’t go well. I’m not exactly sure why exactly I wasn’t playing and why I wasn’t making the lineup.

“It’s a fresh start – a completely fresh start – and I’m excited because I have so many people to prove wrong again.”

The Kings were in a position to utilize their waiver position and did so, twice in two days, becoming younger and faster. A day after claiming Scherbak, they plucked small speedy forward Brendan Leipsic off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks.

This will be the fourth time Leipsic has changed teams. Previously, he was traded twice and was left unprotected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the expansion draft.

As it turned out, his mother, Kathleen, was visiting him in Vancouver when he was put on waivers.

“She helped me pack up most of my apartment, and took some of my stuff back to Winnipeg,” Leipsic said. “A bit of a blessing in disguise, I guess.”

One NHL executive said Leipsic’s skill and playmaking skill are undeniable, adding: “Sees the ice and is creative. Has to play up the lineup, otherwise there are better guys.”

He is only 24, and Scherbak turns 23 on December 23. The Kings are hoping the new venue will trigger a change in both players.

Leipsic played 11:51 and had four shots on goal in L.A.’s Tuesday loss to the Coyotes and the Kings activated Scherbak off injured reserve before the game. He did not play against Arizona and said he was eager to see Staples Center and one of its most famous occupants.

“I’ve seen all these posters in the streets with LeBron James and all that,” Scherbak said. “Like I said, dream. For me, I’m living the dream right now. It’s unbelievable. I’m enjoying every second.”

If LeBron James was a larger-than-life figure to him, then the Kings’ Ilya Kovalchuk (who is out because of an injury) was the hockey version.

“It’s going to be awesome to talk to the guy I’ve been watching since I was young,” Scherbak said. “I want to become same guy, same player.”

One fond childhood memory was attending a charity game in Moscow featuring the likes of Kovalchuk, Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin. For a Russian child, it was like seeing the rock stars of hockey.

“I remember I got somebody’s stick but it was Ovechkin model at that time, CCM,” Scherbak said. “And I was freaking out. The first couple of days I was sleeping with it. I worshipped him growing up a lot.”


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The Athletic / The next generation of data will drastically change our perception of players and how organizations operate

By Tyler Dellow Dec 5, 2018

One of the best sports books I’ve read in the past decade was Travis Sawchik’s Big Data Baseball: Math, Miracles, and the End of a 20-Year Losing Streak. It tells the story of the 2013-14 Pittsburgh Pirates and how they used the reams of data that baseball started generating in the middle of the last decade to end a 20 year run of losing seasons, despite the not insignificant issue of the Pirates not having much in the way of money.

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Baseball’s always had an advantage over hockey when it comes to using data to analyze the sport due the nature of the game. It’s not just the way that baseball starts and stops, although that’s part of it. The nature of the game permitted baseball to track the outcomes that led to the creation of runs. How often do you avoid making outs? How often do you hit for extra bases? Once you knew that, you could reliably estimate how many runs would be created. Or you could flip it around and think about run prevention.

Hockey doesn’t really work like that. The sport doesn’t lend itself to easily tracking the things that result in goals being scored or prevented. Historically, hockey leagues have tracked goals and assists. While that’s useful information, it’s not unlike runs and RBI in baseball: an attempt to hand out credit after the fact rather than tracking the building blocks of goals. Shot attempt data and expected goals models are helpful but there’s a huge issue with a lack of information about how the puck moved and where the non-shooting players were when the puck was shot. That’s the information that’s analogous to on-base percentage and slugging percentage in baseball.

When Major League Baseball began transitioning to more sophisticated player tracking in the middle of the last decade, it pushed the analysis that could be performed a step further. Teams and analysts could now move beyond looking at outcomes of at-bats to looking at the processes that led to those outcomes. These new avenues of analysis played a significant role in the story that Sawchik told in Big Data Baseball, as the Pirates used data to drive decision making on defensive shifts, acquiring players who had skills that weren’t being properly valued (Russell Martin) and acquiring pitchers who had skills that could be identified but who hadn’t been achieving results commensurate with those skills. (Those pitchers also suddenly got the benefit of one of the better pitch-framing catchers in baseball.)

You can think of hockey as being two cycles of analysis behind baseball. We don’t really have the equivalent of OBP and SLG (certainly not to the same degree of usefulness) and we definitely don’t have the kind of process data that MLB teams now enjoy, with every player’s movements being tracked. If the NHL gets player and puck tracking right, these two levels of analysis will suddenly become possible.

For those who aren’t familiar with what puck and player tracking is, the name kind of gives it away. Basically, the league records where every player and the puck is multiple times per second. There are different ways that this can be done but according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the league is looking at a system that involves putting a chip in the puck and on players:

SMT purchased Sportvision in October 2016, and remains involved, having written the HITS scoring system for NHL.com. It has an excellent reputation, creators of football’s yellow first-down line and MLB’s PITCH/fx strike-zone tracking system. But the league wasn’t crazy about its chip-infused puck at the World Cup. In addition, the NHL initially preferred to avoid placing chips on players for regular-season usage.

That appears to be changing. According to multiple sources, the league is testing a radio-based chip system for both the puck and players. Bettman has linked the Germany-based Fraunhofer Institute as a potential puck creator, and that company’s Jogmo project “researches in the field of radio tracking systems,” according to its website.

What a system like this will generate is a file telling you where every player on the ice was located at various points in a game. If it recorded player/puck location 20 times per second and it was one of those increasingly frequent Maple Leafs games in which nobody gets a power play, you’d end up with 20 (data points per second) * 3600 (seconds) * 13 (players and puck) = 936,000 lines of information about a game. The current play-by-play files are usually around 300 lines, so that’s a bit of a difference.

Once teams have this information available to them, their ability to draw insights from it will be limited only by the resources that they devote to doing so. There are a few areas that seem to be particularly likely to benefit from access to data at this level. The first is doing the unfortunately named “pre-scouts” – watching video of the opposition to prepare for a game.

One of the huge constraints on the ability of coaching staffs to prepare for upcoming games is a simple lack of time to review video, particularly when on the road, where back-to-back games or three games in four nights are more common. Teams that take advantage of this data will be able to simply hand their coaching staffs dossiers of video, showing what the night’s opponent tends to do and what’s worked from other teams in shutting them down. It will free up the coaching staff to spend less time plowing through video looking for breakouts or whatever and more time worrying about finding solutions to the problems that a given opponent presents.

Away from the ice, one of the real challenges of hockey is allocating credit or blame between players. This is particularly true when dealing with players who play with superstars – every partner Nicklas Lidstrom ever had posted great numbers – or players who are playing on particularly good or bad teams. The ability to better isolate what players are contributing away from their linemates will result in much better evaluations of players who are in unusual circumstances. This has the potential to be transformative, both in terms of player evaluation but particularly in terms of how players get paid. An early prediction from me: I suspect that ten years from now, we’ll have concluded that the current NHL salary structure doesn’t make a lot of sense, with the salaries that a lot of players draw being more of a product of their circumstances than anything.

In that vein, and looking at the Pirates’ experience, the teams that do the best job of identifying players for whom results are disconnected from skills, whether due to circumstance or some deficiency that can be repaired, will create an enormous competitive advantage for themselves. Pittsburgh enjoyed tremendous success with pitchers like AJ Burnett and Francisco Liriano, extracting enormous value from them relative to their salaries because they found players who had skills that weren’t being maximized. While I don’t expect our perception of hockey’s superstars will change dramatically (possibly a little more with defencemen than with forwards), I do expect that a decade from now, teams and fans will think about the middle class of players much differently than they do today.

In order for all of this to take place, there’s going to be some changes in how front offices and coaching staffs operate. There’s a saying that you hear around hockey: “Managers manage, coaches coach and players play.” This doesn’t really make a ton of sense, even without really good data. If the manager builds a team a certain way, how does it make sense to have a coach who may want to run it another way? If a coach or player has insights that can be used by the front office in modelling how the game works, why not draw on them? One of the themes running through Big Data Baseball, as well as in any discussion of successful Major League Baseball teams these days, is how collaborative the front office, coaching staff and analytics departments have become. Hockey’s historic model of a general manager who builds a team and hands the keys over to the coach will lose out to teams that adapt a more collaborative approach in order to maximize the value of the new information that’s available to them.

If what we’ve seen in baseball is any example, it’s going to be an exciting time to be a hockey fan because teams are going to experiment a lot. New ideas playing out on the ice and in the front office means more content for followers of the game to watch and consider and debate. That part of hockey, at least, won’t change.


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The Athletic / ‘This isn’t a gimmick’: More women are joining the NHL broadcasting ranks

By Joe Smith Dec 5, 2018

Caley Chelios sits in the media room at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, using a yellow highlighter to pore over game notes for the Lightning-Sabres matchup that night.

Chelios, 25, the daughter of Hall of Famer Chris Chelios, is the color analyst on Lightning radio broadcasts with Dave Mishkin for most road games, like this one on Nov. 13. She’s waiting for Sabres coach Phil Housley’s press conference.

So is Allison “A.J.” Mleczko, 43, the color analyst for the NBCSN broadcast that night. In April, Mleczko became the first woman to be in the booth for an NHL playoff game. The gold medalist has covered five Olympic Games.

“She’s who I want to be,” Chelios said.

That night, both Chelios and Mleczko broadcasted an NHL game.

It was largely unheard of a decade or two ago, but you’re now seeing a well-deserved bump in opportunities for women in professional hockey broadcasting. Women have followed the lead of trailblazers like Sportsnet’s Christine Simpson and Cassie Campbell-Pascall and NBC’s Cammi Granato and Kathryn Tappen. There’s Mleczko and Jennifer Botterill now on Islanders broadcasts, and Campbell is doing color in Calgary. Leah Hextall was a finalist for a radio play-by-play gig with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.

With the growth of women’s hockey and the gradually increasing open-mindedness of network executives, the hockey world seems to be welcoming a number of fresh faces and voices.

“You look at where women are playing at the highest level,” said NBCSN executive producer and president Sam Flood, the first to put a woman (Granato) between the benches. “There are a group of ladies who really know the game. They should have a platform to continue on with. It’s still the same rink, same subject, same strategy. There’s every reason to give women the platform they deserve to broadcast the game.”

Women in other sports have taken the lead, like Doris Burke in the NBA and Jessica Mendoza on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball.” Andrea Kremer and Hannah Storm do an online telecast for the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football.”

Now hockey is getting into the game. As legendary NBC broadcaster Mike “Doc” Emrick says, ‘They’ve earned it.”

“I think the more people that see it opens up their minds to say, ‘OK, this isn’t crazy, this isn’t a gimmick,'” Simpson said. “These are all very qualified women at what they’re doing. Why should that be so bizarre? The more we see (women in these roles), I think it’s taken longer than it should have. But I’m very happy to at least see it coming.”

Caley Chelios (Courtesy of the Chelios family)

Chelios grew up a rink rat.

She watched her father, Chris, near the end of his Hall of Fame career, and she fondly recalled posing for a photo with the Stanley Cup on his day in Detroit with hockey’s holy grail.

Her brothers, Dean, 29, and Jake, 27, played hockey. So did Caley, who went as far as high school before switching to lacrosse full-time as a student-athlete at Northwestern.

Chelios, like most college kids, didn’t know what she wanted to do career-wise. One day, though, she was watching hockey with her dad, and Tappen popped on the screen. Formerly of NHL Network, Tappen is in the studio for NBCSN broadcasts for the NHL, Notre Dame and the Olympics.

“You should do that,” her father said.

Tappen and Simpson, a 20-year veteran at Sportsnet, are two of the standard bearers for young female broadcasters. Simpson got her start in 1998 without any broadcast experience or education. Like Chelios, she grew up with her family in and around the game, including her brother, former NHLer Craig Simpson.

“We watched ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ every Saturday night, and there were no women,” Simpson said. “I could never go, ‘I want to be her one day.’

“I never even thought that it was possible.”

Simpson, 54, got into broadcasting indirectly through her work as the marketing manager for the Hockey Hall of Fame. When it opened in Toronto in 1993, the Hall would invite teams and networks to the shrine for tours. Simpson served as the unofficial media spokesperson.

“I’d often have (TV) producers say, ‘Boy, you really know about hockey and seem comfortable in front of a camera. You ever think about working in TV?'”

The Leafs hired Simpson in 1995 to be their first arena host. Now most every team has someone in a similar position, doing intermission interviews on the jumbotron and on-camera features for the team website – it’s the job Chelios was originally hired for, too. Simpson got her shot when Sportsnet opened in 1998, and gave her a chance.

“If it weren’t for that,” Simpson said. “I don’t think I would be in the business.”

NBCSN was the first network to put a female between the benches on a broadcast with Granato in 2006. Granato, one of the first women voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, was on the gold-medal-winning U.S. women’s hockey team in 1998. Mleczko was on that historic team, too. Cassie Campbell captained Canada to back-to-back gold medals in 2002 and 2006.

The growth in the women’s game clearly led to greater diversity in the broadcasting pool, according to Jeff Filippi, MSG Networks’ senior VP of programming and production. MSG hired Mleczko and Botterill to split a 50-55 game rotation as studio color analysts with host Shannon Hogan.

“People are looking to bring interesting people on the air to grow the audience, grow the game,” Filippi said. “The expansion of women’s hockey, the expansion and notoriety of women’s Olympic hockey is part of it. There are more really great candidates. If you go back 20 years ago, it wasn’t the case. It wasn’t the women’s fault — (it was) just their game wasn’t getting the recognition that it’s getting now.

“Probably the turning point was when the USA won the Olympics in ’98 and those great battles with Canada over the last 15 years. It’s elevated the game, and with the people who played the game, there’s a pool of candidates.”

Mleczko will never forget her first audition with NBC back in 2005. She was in a studio with the legendary Emrick, and they had to call the Americans’ 2002 gold-medal-game loss to the Canadians in Salt Lake City.

“It was heart-breaking, I had never watched it,” Mleczko said. “I was sweating, but Doc was so supportive. He knew I was nervous.”

Mleczko laughs. She used to hate Campbell, her rival on Team Canada. Now they’re friends and broadcasting peers. Campbell-

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Pascall does color for Flames broadcasts on Sportsnet. “She’s one of the best,” Mleczko said.

Campbell-Pascall retired from playing in 2006 and started that same year with Sportsnet’s “Hockey Night in Canada.” Her first day on the job, she was hosting “The Battle of Alberta,” Calgary vs. Edmonton.

“I didn’t know what I was doing,” she said.

They taped an interview with then-Oilers coach Craig MacTavish. Ron MacLean sent the feed over to Campbell-Pascall, who was on site.

“I went to introduce Craig MacTavish and I forgot his name,” Campbell-Pascall said, laughing. “So he hugged me. He said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll do it again.’ I thought, I bet he’s never hugged (fellow Sportsnet broadcaster Scott Oake). I kind of knew I had an in. The guys had my back because they knew I was doing something new.”

Chelios had a tough choice after finishing her undergrad at Northwestern.

She could take a job at Merrill Lynch. That would be the safe route.

Or she could go on to graduate school in broadcast journalism. Her dad supported her following her dream, recalling how much he wished his sisters would have had this type of opportunity in the 1980s and ’90s.

“Go for it,” the Hall of Fame defenseman said.

There were some tough moments for Chelios, who struggled to get any job leads over a five-month period in the summer of 2016 when she was graduating. She’d chase any assignment she could find, from Champaign to Chicago.

“It was frustrating,” Chelios said. “I was eating Oreos and ramen for a year in grad school and was tired all the time. I did reporting on the weekend. I still wasn’t that confident, but I had to work to get it.”

She did get an offer from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves for a 20-game stint. It was close to home. But Chelios kept looking.

With her fiancé, NFL fullback Danny Vitale, in training camp with the Buccaneers that fall, she explored Tampa. She called the Rays, Bucs, Rowdies and Lightning, getting in touch with broadcast director Matt Sammon.

Sammon didn’t have a job for Chelios, but he liked her tape — and her attitude. They met in Tampa with Lightning executive VP Bill Wickett.

“I told Bill, ‘She has a really bright future,”‘ Sammon recalled. “It’s going to take 2-3 years to crack that potential. But it’s there.”

Not too long after, Lightning feature reporter Michelle Gingras gave the team her two weeks’ notice; she was moving on. They called Chelios back.

“Perfect timing,” Chelios said.

Like with Campbell and Mleczko, there were some growing pains with Chelios.

With the Lightning expanding their coverage on an online radio station, Lightning Power Play, and debuting “Morning Skate Show,” Chelios had many more opportunities to hone her craft. She’ll never forget one blooper moment last year when the NHL’s Centennial Celebration came to Tampa.

Chelios was doing an online broadcast from a truck outside the arena, and she had a Ron Burgundy moment during which she was reading the teleprompter a bit too literally.

“It’s going to be a fun day. Exclamation point,” she blurted on air.

Chelios laughs about it now. “It was epic. Brutal,” she said. “Every now and then people still bring it up. ‘Exclamation point.‘”

Sammon said Chelios is her own harshest critic and that she has a tremendous work ethic, which has allowed her to excel on a short, tight learning curve. So when Mishkin suggested in a meeting over the summer that Chelios potentially join him in the booth to do color, everyone was open to it.

“The lightbulb went off,” Sammon said. “It was a no-brainer.”

Leah Hextall and Cassie Campbell-Pascall call the Clarkston Cup last season. (Courtesy of Leah Hextall)

There aren’t a lot of women like Chelios doing color on radio broadcasts.

Sherry Ross was a pioneer as analyst on Devils’ broadcasts in the early 1990s, including being part of NHL Radio broadcast of 1994 Stanley Cup Final: she started a second stint as Devils analyst in 2007. Part of the challenge is getting reps. Like with TV, when Mleczko would have to wait literally years between spans of broadcasts for the Olympics, there’s not an easy avenue to work on it.

Just ask Leah Hextall.

Hextall, 39, the cousin of Hall of Fame goalie Ron Hextall, is in Winnipeg. When she was let go as part of recent layoffs at Sportsnet, she struggled to find jobs in the traditional markets (in-game host, rinkside/feature reporter, etc.). So Hextall tried to pivot into play-by-play.

She reached out to Emrick, who has always been gracious with his time in terms of listening to aspiring broadcasters’ tapes and offering feedback. “I think (Hextall) may become the first female to do play-by-play in the NHL,” Emrick said.

Hextall was a finalist for the AHL San Diego Gulls’ play-by-play gig. She has, however, called games for the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, making history by calling the Clarkston Cup with Campbell-Pascall last season.

Hextall is always refining her craft. Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, let Hextall use an empty broadcast booth to do her own play-by-play calls each game. They aren’t aired anywhere; they’re simply more practice for Hextall.

She is thankful, saying that this movement to allow more women into broadcasting is partly due to all the “male allies” in the business. And some tough women.

“This is not an easy thing to do. You know you’re taking a risk,” Hextall said. “The fact is people don’t like change. Just the sound of a female voice is different in these roles. It’s not something we’re accustomed to. I’m used to hearing a male voice.

“You have to have courage in yourself to put yourself out there.”

Most of the feedback, however, has been been positive for female broadcasters. Network executives get anecdotal praise from viewers. For the most part, the broadcast-crew brethren have welcomed them with open arms.

And players have been respectful, too, often speaking to Mleczko and company like the fellow athletes they are. Campbell-Pascall, who is married to Flames assistant GM Brad Pascall, has to often double check with players what is inside information and what’s on the record.

“If you know the game, you know the game. It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “Now, for us, you see broadcasts on NHL Network, TSN, Sportsnet, and there’s definitely a lot more women than when I was growing up. They do a great job. I think it’s only going to continue to grow.”

One day in the not too distant future, we could have an all-female NHL broadcast booth. Maybe Chelios is doing color, Hextall the play-by-play. Network executives say it’s just a matter of time.

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Sammon thought about this when turning on the Lightning-Sabres broadcast Nov. 13. Chelios was doing color on the radio, Mleczko on NBCSN.

“I turned on my TV, and it dawned on me: I’m not sure if this is in the record book, but this is really cool,” Sammon said. “I really do think sooner rather than later it’s going to become a norm, just having more women involved in the actual play of the game call. I want to hear play-by-play. Women are out there. There are women in the college ranks, and high school ranks that can do this.

“I think that’s part of the bigger picture. Caley is a very good representative of this movement. I honestly think, as much as Kathryn and A.J., Caley is going to be one of those names in eight to 10 years from now, where someone in her position now is going to say, ‘Hey, I heard you on the radio broadcast. I heard you on TV.’ I think it’s going to continue to pay it forward.”


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The Athletic / As young players learn the game today, are they actually playing too much hockey?

By Joe McDonald Dec 5, 2018

Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy is only 20 years old, and he is already considered one of the best young players in the NHL; he was projected to excel from an early age, growing up on New York’s Long Island.

When he was 13, he was playing youth hockey, and practiced only twice a week. He would have two games each weekend.

“It was so simple, now that I look back at it,” McAvoy said.

That was only seven years ago, but the way elite prospects of McAvoy’s caliber come up today would be hardly recognizable to the young Bruin. Elite young players today would laugh at two-practice, two-game regimens like those McAvoy went through. They are on the ice far more often.

And as for McAvoy’s offseasons? When he would put down the hockey stick, and play lacrosse, football and baseball? They wouldn’t even understand the concept. Most elite prospects today don’t have an offseason; they play hockey year-round, much to McAvoy’s chagrin.

“I loved playing other sports as a kid,” he said. “Playing tons of sports is good – it really is. As far as becoming an athlete, the best athletes, most times, make the best hockey players. Obviously, there are some special circumstances for certain people, but you want to play other sports. It allows you to be in great shape and allows you to take your mind away (from hockey).”

Hockey is thriving at the professional level, but at the teenage level, North American hockey is facing some vexing problems, encapsulated by this disturbing statistic: According to USA Hockey, 70 percent of kids playing organized hockey quit by age 13.

Why?

There are many reasons. The sport is expensive. It requires a lot of travel, especially at the elite levels. Body checking isn’t allowed until 13 and many young players aren’t ready for it. The biggest deterrent, however, is the fact that average teenage players have limited avenues to continue to pursue the game. Elite levels and programs

have created a trickle-down effect that has made it difficult for elite and lesser players to stick with the sport.

There has been a significant decrease in the number of club teams at the high school and college levels; avenues like fully recreational leagues and old-school house leagues are rarer than they once were.

At the same time, many parents of 13-year-olds are scared if their child isn’t part of this year-round development model that their resources will go to waste. Many of today’s parents, after a long day of work, are driving their child sometimes more than an hour, or more, to another state for games or tournaments. McAvoy understands how vital it was for him to have his parents so involved — and how that can be a barrier to entry for other families.

“I’m in debt to my parents for that,” McAvoy said. “That’s hockey parents all over America, all over the world. It’s as much, perhaps even more, of a responsibility for (parents) than it is for the kid. I just had to show up and play and that’s what I loved to do, but for my parents, it was much more than that trying to make it work.”

Parents, naturally, want a return on that investment – a surer guarantee that their kid will succeed and reach those elite levels, compelling more and more families to seek out more frequent opportunities to get on the ice regardless of the time of year.

All this has left the hockey establishment in a tough place – where many are calling for sweeping changes to restore some level of balance. Some NHL personnel believe USA Hockey and Hockey Canada should make it mandatory that youth hockey should shut down at every level at least one month out of the year.

“I agree with that 100 percent,” said legendary hockey executive and Hall of Famer Lou Lamoriello. During his recent hockey travels, the current president of hockey operations and general manager of the New York Islanders has witnessed parents paying hundreds of dollars for personal instruction for 8-, 9- and 10-year-olds.

“The difference today is they all start a lot younger,” he said. “They all have more opportunities for more ice, more instruction, more leagues, more tournaments and they’re doing things 12 months a year that they’ve never done before, which I’m not for. I would rather see them playing other sports.”

At the USA Hockey level, a shift is beginning, one that might move the norms closer to where they were in McAvoy’s day.

Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine, who is the vice president of hockey development and community affairs for the NHL, agrees that the focus has shifted too strongly to year-round, elite-focused play.

“Everybody agrees – universally – that multiple sports has more significant value. Yet, we’re still working at getting (individual) sports to see the value, because too much of one thing is not good,” LaFontaine said. “We all agree on that, but putting it into practice is another thing.”

LaFontaine and those he works with recognize how vital it is to create a better youth experience that focuses more on value. There’s too much focus on elite levels and kids are playing too much hockey.

In September 2017, the NHL and NHLPA, along with 15 other global hockey organizations unveiled the Declaration of Principles. LaFontaine is the architect of the program and it was created to ensure the best possible experience for the hockey community at all levels.

The goals of the DOP are to build teamwork, respect, perseverance, integrity, courage, acceptance, passion and humility throughout the game.

“The DOP puts a spotlight on the anonymous,” LaFontaine said. “We know how to put a spotlight on the top two, or top five percent, but

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it’s so important to understand the real value of our game is and the life skills that are learned.”

Since its inception, the heads of all these organizations — bringing together pro, college, junior level leagues and more on men’s and women’s sides — meet at least once a year, sometimes more, to discuss the state of today’s game and attempt to develop ways of improving it. They want to create a better hockey experience across the board.

The process continues to develop and the line of communication is open and fluid.

Is it working?

“We’ve been really able to create some excitement,” LaFontaine said. “We’re still working on creating initiatives on the youth hockey aspect of it, but for the most part it’s exciting and encouraging.”

There have been plenty of great initiatives – cancer awareness and support, community outreach, learn-to-skate programs, inclusion, equipment donations and mentor programs – created throughout the sport off the ice. However, the on-ice product continues to be a work in progress.

The system still reflects a reality where there are too few programs accessible for kids across the entire developmental spectrum. North American hockey does not cater to all kinds – the player who might want to play for two months, or six months, or yes, even those who want to play for 12 months.

The hockey establishment is working to create “on-ramps” for children and teens to access the game at these multiple levels — not putting one level above the other, but creating more opportunities to grow the game and keep players enjoying hockey.

“It should really be about the long-term development, not only of the player, but the person, the organization and the family experience,” LaFontaine said.

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy has a first-hand perspective on what hockey at the grassroots level is like right now. His nine-year-old son, Cole, plays youth hockey in Massachusetts and Cassidy has been impressed with the programs.

“I’ve enjoyed it so far,” he said. “All the coaches and parents I’ve met, and the kids on the team, all do a good job. They all work hard. I just hope he has fun.”

Cassidy is hands-off when it comes to his son’s practices and games. The NHL coach enjoys being a hockey dad in those instances. Not this season, but in the past Cassidy has gone on the ice to help out.

“I was a little out of my element, I’m not going to lie to you, trying to coach 7- and 8-year-olds,” he said with a laugh. “I wasn’t used to that. I’m used to telling the guys, ‘Here’s the drill and let’s go.’ (With kids) you have to be more specific and explain well. I’ve enjoyed the brief experience I’ve had.”

Fun is not overrated. Even at the NHL level, it can be a challenge for coaches to keep the game fun for players. Cassidy is well aware of this and tries to incorporate fun drills and a fun environment.

“If (NHL players) aren’t having fun you’ll know it,” Cassidy said.

In order to grow the game, the spotlight needs to focus on the many values and life skills that live on long after the game is over, so it’s important to create those “on-ramps” for kids to play the game — because there’s too many exit ramps.

At USA hockey, there’s a recognition that the DOP has merely scratched the surface – but also that it’s a step in the right direction for the future of youth hockey.


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The Athletic / Down Goes Brown: Which teams have the best (and worst) odds of winning a Stanley Cup in the next five years?

By Sean McIndoe Dec 5, 2018

It’s Future Week here on The Athletic’s NHL pages. So today, let’s head into that future. How does five years sound?

If you said “way too far to predict with any accuracy, you idiot”, then you’re right. But we’re going to do it anyway, by trying to figure out which NHL teams have the best odds of winning at least one Stanley Cup at any point in the next five years.

It’s a deceivingly tough question, one that touches on everything from current rosters to prospect pipelines to coaching to cap management. I tried to tackle it three years ago at Grantland, with mixed results (more on that in a bit). Today I’m going to try again, because I do not learn from my mistakes.

But first: You may have seen Monday’s Future Power Rankings, a piece that ranked the 31 existing teams in terms of where they’ll be in three years. It was basically an attempt to project what the league will look like in 2020-21.

So is this the same thing? Not really, although there will be some obvious overlap. If you’re well set up to be among the league’s best teams in three years, you’re basically hitting the sweet spot of a five-year window. And if you’re headed toward being a mess in a few years, you’re probably not in great shape on either end of that. We’ll be referring back to the Future Power Rankings several times as we go.

But today’s ranking isn’t necessarily about the future, and it’s not meant as a ranking of which teams will be in the best shape a certain number of years from now. We just want to win Cups here, and for our purposes, a win in 2019 counts just as much as one in 2023. That means that an old team without many prospects can still rank well if their window remains open right now. And a team that’s an utter mess today still has time to turn things around. Five years is a long time.

So with that in mind, let’s move on to figuring out which teams are the most likely to win the next five Stanley Cups. As with any attempt at projecting the future, some of these rankings will turn out to be wrong; it’s hard enough to predict what’s going to happen in the NHL tonight, let alone half a decade from now. If you’re the sort of person who gets irrationally upset over that, feel free to track me down and scream at me about it. Just remember that you have to wait five years first.

Grab a cup of coffee and settle in. We’ll start at the bottom, and with what should be the only sure thing in this post. Maybe.

32. Seattle Something-or-Others

If the Golden Knight taught us one thing, it’s that anything can happen in the NHL. If they taught us a second and more important thing, it’s that having a clean slate of cap room turns out to be far more valuable than we may have realized.

So why don’t I think Seattle has much of a chance to match the Knights’ success? Partly because I view that Vegas season as a perfect storm that’s unlikely to be duplicated. And partly because I suspect that the other teams are going to smarten up in terms of how they handle expansion. They may even over-correct, hurting themselves in the process. But either way, Seattle is going to have a tougher time fleecing teams right out of the gate.

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But mostly, I feel good about this pick because Seattle won’t join the league until 2021. That eats up three of our five years, which means their odds have to be the longest of anyone in the league.

At least I’m pretty sure they should. And I’m never wrong about an expansion team, as long as you ignore literally everything I’ve written since 2017.

Odds of a Cup in five years: 3%


I suspect that Kings fans won’t be overly surprised to see their team bringing up the rear among the 31 established franchises. The Kings’ rebuild hasn’t even started yet; we’re not even sure they realize how badly they need one. There’s talent coming through the system, but with an uninspiring NHL roster and a long-term cap situation clogged with big deals for declining veterans, there’s a ton of work to do in Los Angeles. They might get there, but by the time they do, most of our five-year window should be gone.



On the one hand, this feels like an easy one. The ‘Hawks were bad last year. They’re worse this year. And with a cap situation dominated by long-term contracts to aging stars who, for the most part, just aren’t ever going to be the players they once were, there’s little reason to think that things will get any better. The prospect pipeline is OK but not much more than that, and among the young players on the roster, only Alex DeBrincat really looks like a potential star. They’re basically the Kings, in just slightly better shape.

So it’s an easy call. Almost too easy. These are still the Blackhawks, just three years removed from a mini-dynasty, and the rush to bury them feels at least a little like wishful thinking. I’m still going to do it, because I have to bury a few teams for this to work. But if Stan Bowman rediscovers his magic, the Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews duo ages gracefully, and Artemi Panarin shows up at their front door on July 1 holding a sign that says ADOPT ME, I’ll be muttering “I knew it” while Blackhawks fans gleefully shove me out onto an ice floe.


29. Ottawa Senators

Here’s where things get tricky. On the one hand, the Senators’ young players have looked good this year, and there’s reason to be optimistic that Thomas Chabot and Brady Tkachuk can both be difference makers. Mix in some decent prospects on the way and a handful of core pieces still left over from the conference final run two years ago, and on paper I should probably be more optimistic, even without that 2019 first-round pick to build around and Mark Stone and Matt Duchene still unsigned.

The big question is whether they can really win a Cup with Eugene Melnyk as owner, given his financial constraints and non-stop parade of distractions and controversies. I’m just not convinced that they can, with the recent implosion of their arena plans reinforcing that. Melnyk continues to insist he’ll never sell. But if and when new ownership arrives, feel free to move the Senators up at least a few slots, and maybe more.



For a while there, it looked like the Wings were going to be that team that stubbornly refused to rebuild even when everyone knew they needed to. I don’t think that’s the case anymore; even as Ken Holland has resisted doing the full-scale teardown, it seems pretty clear that the organization knows that it needs a reset.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that there’s still work to do, with a clogged up cap to deal with and a prospect pipeline that needs work. There’s a big job ahead for Steve Yzerman Ken Holland and/or whoever eventually replaces him. I think the Wings are on the right track, but they’ll eat up a lot of our five-year window while they get there.



The Devils were ranked dead last on my 2015 list, in which I described them as “old and not very good” and predicted that “the job ahead is massive.” Since then they’ve won a draft lottery, traded a middle-pairing defenseman for the MVP and made the playoffs. That’s progress.

Still, there are some red flags, including a farm system that’s just OK and some serious questions around whether $6-million goaltender Cory Schneider is still good enough to win with. Their cap is actually in decent shape, even with Taylor Hall’s extension watch coming next year. But it’s hard to look at the Devils right now and not worry that they’re heading toward that mushy middle and not much further.



The Rangers are rebuilding. We know this because their GM said so. But they’ve been better than expected this year, hanging around the wild-card race. And it’s hard to know quite what to make of that.

One way to look at it would be to suggest that they’re not as far away from contending as we all thought, and that any team with Henrik Lundqvist can absolutely win a Cup if they can sneak into the playoffs. The other would be to suggest that the absolute worst thing that can happen in a rebuild is to win a few more games than expected and finish 18th instead of 28th. I can understand why Rangers fans would be enjoying how the 2018-19 season is playing out, but I wonder if it will come at a cost to the long-range plan.


25. St. Louis Blues

I thought the Blues were going to be reasonably good this year. I was wrong. Maybe I’m wrong about this pessimistic ranking too. But with the team looking like a serious longshot to make the playoffs this year, one first-round pick already traded away, and rumors that Doug Armstrong is ready to blow it all up, there’s reason to worry.

It’s not all doom and gloom, and the farm system makes the future look bright. But if the Blues decide that the current core can’t win and that it’s time to start over and rebuild, they may need to take a multi-year step back before they can contend again.

(As a side note, the Blues have apparently become the annual “gets mad when they’re not ranked poorly enough in power rankings” fan base, so my apologies in advance to St. Louis fans who were hoping they’d be #32.)


24. Dallas Stars

I thought I’d have the Stars higher than this. I like a lot of their roster right now, and it’s not like they’re old. But they’re not all that young either, with Jamie Benn at 29 and Tyler Seguin and John Klingberg both at 26. Those guys have plenty of years left, but all three have probably just about hit their peak. Mix in guys like Ben Bishop and Alexander Radulov already being into their 30s, and you’re left with a team that, aside from Miro Heiskanen, seems like they’re about as good as they’ll get.

And how good is that? Good enough to miss the playoffs in each of the last two years, and to be a bubble team this year. Bubble teams

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can sometimes win Cups, but if there’s a path to this team becoming something more, it’s hard to find.


23. Anaheim Ducks

The core is aging, the farm system isn’t great, the cap situation is messy, and while they have plenty of decent young talent on the roster and on the way, none of them project to be the kind of elite stars that Cup winners are built around. In fact, the next wave might be just enough to make the Ducks one of those dreaded stuck-in-the-middle teams for the next few years.

But all that said, they have one of the best goaltenders in the league and play in a weak division, so they’re absolutely a threat to make at least a little playoff noise in the short-term. It’s possible that some of those young guys make the leap, or an eventual coaching change provides a boost. This pick scares me a little. But just a little.


A quick word about those odds

You’ve made it through our first 10 entries. Maybe you skipped ahead to look for your team, or to see who was ranked near the top. But I’m guessing that by now you’re already thinking it: Wait, everyone’s odds are way too low.

Here’s the thing. We’re working with five seasons and only one team can win the Cup every year, so the total of all the percentages we hand out can’t add up to more than 500 percent. Even that’s being too generous, since it assumes nobody will repeat, and we’re cheating a bit on how the math works to make the numbers work smoothly. But even with that little boost, everyone’s percentages are going to seem low. Surely there have to be a few teams higher than 50 percent and plenty that are close to 25 percent, and even the worst teams still have like a 10 percent shot, right? But if you do it that way in a league that’s about to have 32 teams, you wind up blowing past the 500 percent limit by a mile.

So I can just about guarantee that even if you agree with where I’ve ranked your particular team, you’re going to think their actual percentage should be higher. As hockey fans, we’re just not wired to understand the reality that the chances of any given team winning the Stanley Cup are a lot lower than we want to believe. The league is probably glad of that, because if we really understood how unlikely a Cup win is, it would be depressing.

But yeah, everything had to add up to 500. It isn’t much, but in the age of parity, it’s all we’ve got.


The Habs’ hot start suggested that some of the doom and gloom around the team was overstated. Some of the young players are better than expected and some of the veterans seem to have more in the tank than we thought. This team might be good.

But “good” doesn’t win many Cups. So is there a path here that gets them to great? If there is, it’s one that could be complicated by cap concerns. It’s looking more and more like the Carey Price contract may have been a major mistake, and having Shea Weber’s deal on the books through 2026 just compounds that. There are ways out of bad contracts – hello, 2021 compliance buyouts – and it would only take one hot month from Price to change some perspective here. But right now, it’s easier to see the Canadiens stalling out as a bubble team instead of a true Cup contender.



The Panthers have a ton of good young players on the roster, and some year it’s all going to click. But I thought that would be this year, and it looks like they might miss the playoffs instead.

The thing about good young players is that at some point they just become good players, and you can’t count on the mere passage of time to make them better anymore. That’s gradually becoming the case for the Panthers core, and even with some decent reinforcements on the way, you wonder what the ceiling is. A playoff team? Absolutely. Top 10 in the league? Not out of the question. Good enough to regularly get past the Lightning and Maple Leafs, not to mention the Sabres and Bruins? I’m not ruling it out, but man, you wish they were showing us a lot more right now, don’t you?


20. Arizona Coyotes

As a small market team that needs to get creative to compete with the big kids, the Coyotes have done a lot of things right over the years. John Chayka was an inspired hire, and he’s been willing to make risky moves and manipulate the cap floor to improve the roster’s long-term potential. But like the Panthers, at some point you have to start winning.

I’ve used this metaphor before, but coming out of a rebuild can be like throwing an idling car into drive and hitting the gas. Sometimes the tires catch and you’re off to the races, like the Maple Leafs and Avalanche. And sometimes the wheels just spin and spin and you realize you’re not getting anywhere. I’m not giving up on them yet, but the Coyotes have to get some traction at some point. And even if they do, the market and ownership situation limits their upside.



We know that the fall is coming. We just don’t know when.

Maybe it’s already here; the Penguins have looked awful for stretches this season. But I don’t think so, and still have the Pens slotted in as a short-term threat. The question is how short that short-term will be. Recent history with the Kings and Blackhawks suggests that when the moment of reckoning arrives, it will come quickly and the fall could be steep. But in the meantime they’ve still got Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, which means they’ve got a chance to beat anyone in the playoffs. If they can get there.


18. Minnesota Wild

The cap is tight and the prospect pipeline is poor, even as Kirill Kaprizov is intriguing. But the team is good right now, so this really comes down to whether you think they’re a serious threat to win a Cup today. If you’ve followed the weekend power rankings, you know that I bounce back and forth on that question. For now, I think they’ve got a shot, but the road will be a tough one, and it should only get tougher as time goes by.



Are they rebuilding, or already rebuilt? There’s some good young talent on the way, and they’ll have plenty of cap room after this year. But what’s the path to the Cup?

They don’t look like top-tier contenders right now, but they also don’t look like they’ll be in the thick of the lottery any times soon, and aside from Mathew Barzal they don’t have anyone in the organization you’d describe as an elite talent in a league where those are the guys that Cup winners are built around. So can Lou Lamoriello find a way to add those pieces? Maybe, although his recent track record makes you wonder.

Still, with a new arena finally on the way, there was to be room for at least some optimism. We’ve been talking about the Islanders arena situation for decades now; assuming the project goes well, it could be a gamechanger for the franchise. But that takes us to 2021,

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which eats up a chunk of our time. I want to figure out a way to get the Islanders higher up this list, but I just can’t.



There’s not a lot of good news in Philadelphia right now, where the team is losing, people are getting fired and fans are losing hope. If anything, I’m betting that even diehard Flyers fans might think this ranking is too optimistic.

But this is a five-year view, not a snapshot of what’s happening this month. And in the big picture, there’s still reason to like what the Flyers are doing. They’ve got some good young players, including on the blueline. And while the goaltending is a problem right now, Carter Hart is on the way. There are pieces in place, the cap situation is set up nicely and Chuck Fletcher has a mandate to get better right now. This season has shown that the Flyers are further away than we might have thought, but there’s still time to get there.



I’m dangerously close to giving up on the Hurricanes. I like the roster. There’s young talent everywhere. It should be adding up to a contender, or at least something more than a playoff bubble team. But it never does. Mix in the Tom Dundon factor, and I’m lost. Ownership matters a ton in smaller markets, and Dundon could be a visionary, a poser, or something in between. They seem like a smart organization, but how many “Carolina is dominating the metrics but it’s not translating to wins” pieces can we write?

Maybe they eventually prove me wrong. It could happen as soon as this year. But when a team hasn’t made the playoffs in almost a decade, at some point you can only bang your head on the desk so many times before you give yourself a break. I’ll give them average odds, but no more.



The Knights are set up well for the future with some decent prospects and a manageable cap situation, and the current roster has plenty of talent. Can you win with that? Sure. They almost did last year. And the Pacific offers up a fairly straightforward path back to the conference final this year.

But I admit that I’m a little concerned about Marc-Andre Fleury, who just turned 34 and isn’t going to play at least year’s level for the next five years. The question is when that drop will come, and how much of his $7-million a year extension is left on the books when it happens. And does he turn out to be just another goalie who can be replaced when the time comes, or a heart-and-soul piece who meant something more? We’ll find out. In the meantime, their odds aren’t bad.



Their time isn’t now, but it’s coming.

They don’t have all the pieces in place yet, but they have a few, including Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser, and the pipeline looks downright impressive. The long-term goaltending is still unproven, and your confidence in Jim Benning and the ownership group to put the finishing touches on everything may vary. But the Canucks are headed in the right direction, even if it will take at least a year or two of our five-year window for them to get there.


12. San Jose Sharks

The Sharks core is old and the future is uncertain. As of this writing, we don’t know if the Erik Karlsson experience will extend past a single season, or what kind of new deal Joe Pavelski will get, or whether Joe Thornton is in his final season. We do know that they’re locked into long-term extensions to Brent Burns, Logan Couture, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Evander Kane, all of whom will be well into their 30s before those deals end. And we know they’ve traded away their next two first-round picks.

So this feels like a pretty obvious win-now situation. But winning now doesn’t seem all that unlikely, especially given the state of the competition in the Pacific. Could this core win it all this year, or maybe even next? Sure. But at some point the clock is going to run out on this group, and there’s no obvious reinforcements on the way to replace them.


11. Calgary Flames

The problem in Calgary is that the Flames don’t have many high-end prospects, largely because they’ve traded away so many picks over the years. So when you’re looking for their path to the Cup, you’re left asking if the current roster is good enough.

It might be. The rest of the division is underwhelming and guys like Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan are in their prime. The goaltending is a big question mark, but that’s paradoxically both the worst problem for a roster to have and (often) the easiest one to fix. Get them a goalie, and the rest of the pieces are there to at least have a puncher’s chance. That’s not bad, even if it’s just not clear how it gets all that much better.


Looking back at the 2015 list

Before we get to the top 10, let’s take a quick look back at that previous attempt from 2015, if only because we might learn a few things with some benefit of hindsight. You can find my picks from that three-part series here, here and here.

A few observations:

– First, the good news: Three years in, and none of the real-world Cup wins have embarrassed me. The Penguins won twice and the Capitals took one, and I had both in my top 10. There were certainly teams I was too low on, including finalists like the Sharks and (especially) the Predators, but so far I’ve avoided the embarrassment of some team that I listed at five percent winning it all and making me look dumb.

– I was too hard on the low end of the scale, where I had some teams as low as one percent. I didn’t rank the Golden Knights because they didn’t exist, but if had I would have all but guaranteed there was no way they could win a Cup. The fact that they almost did in Year 1 should serve as a reminder: We’re living in the age of parity, and no result can ever really be ruled out. So I’ve moved the floor up quite a bit for the bottom-dwellers (which flattens them even more for everyone else).

– I was clearly way too high on teams that were just coming out of rebuilds, specifically the Oilers and Sabres. We can’t assume that a team that looks ready to flip the switch and move forward will actually do it, which is why I’m trying not to go overboard on teams like the Coyotes and Canucks this time around.

– I honestly have no idea what was going on with the Islanders pick. Like, none. I think I was hacked. Let’s go with that.

In theory, this time around should be easier; not only can I learn from past mistakes, but I have a few months of a regular season to work with, which should bring Year 1 into a much clearer focus.

Will it help? Probably not, as our next entry demonstrates.

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10. Edmonton Oilers

Oh god help me, I have the Oilers in the top 10 again. I did it last time, and here I am again, having learned nothing.

Look, last year was a disaster. This year might be headed that way too. Even worse, this year might be headed toward being just good enough to save Peter Chiarelli’s job and give him a chance to double-down on this plan for building a contender. There are questions about Cam Talbot in net, there’s nowhere near enough depth up front, and they somehow still need a major upgrade to the blueline despite spending the last few years doing nothing but upgrading the blueline. And worst of all, there’s little if any evidence that ownership and upper management can recognize, let alone fix, any of these problems.

And yet…

I mean, they have Connor Freaking McDavid, right? Hockey isn’t a sport where one guy can drag a team to a championship, but history tells us that generational stars almost always win Cups eventually, and often sooner than later. In terms of pure skill, McDavid has a chance to be the best player ever, period. If he gets there, or even all that close, the Oilers almost have to at least contend.

So let’s say the worst-case scenario kicks in this year. The Oilers miss the playoffs, Chiarelli is fired, Hitchcock doesn’t want to stick around, and they basically have to start all over. Let’s say they write off next year and even the year after that while new decision-makers put a decent roster together.

That still leaves them two years of our five-year window, with a team built around McDavid in his absolute prime, with Leon Draisaitl there too. That team would absolutely have a good chance at a Cup, right?

I may have a problem.



The Blue Jackets are one of the toughest teams to project past this year. Make no mistake, they’ve got the talent to win a Stanley Cup right now. But as of this writing, we don’t know what’s going to happen with Sergei Bobrovsky or Artemi Panarin. If either guy leaves, the Jackets’ chances take a big hit. If both guys do, it would be devastating, even with core pieces like Seth Jones and Zach Werenski around to cushion the blow.

So where does that leave us? They might be the best team in the Metro right now, and they seem determined to go all out for a Cup this year. The road out of the division is wide open. You just hope there isn’t a dead end around the corner for this team. I don’t think there is, but I’m hedging my bets at least a little bit.


8. Boston Bruins

I like the Bruins a lot; they could absolutely win the Stanley Cup this year. But an era is ending in Boston, with Zdeno Chara on his last legs and Patrice Bergeron fighting through a second straight season of injury, plus Brad Marchand and Tuukka Rask on the wrong side of 30. Even without much help on the way from the farm system, there are enough younger contributors on the roster that the Bruins won’t bottom out anytime soon. They might even be able to contend for most of our five-year window. But there should be a sense of urgency in Boston, because the current core only has so many more shots.



The top line is obviously the big story in Colorado, and if they stay together they could be chasing scoring titles for our entire five-year

window. But one-line teams don’t often win Cups. So is there enough here to fill out a championship roster?

I don’t think there is … yet. But help is on the way, both in terms of the farm system and a potentially high pick from the Senators. Joe Sakic still has work to do – there are teams coming up on this list where it feels like just about all the pieces are already in place, and the Avs don’t give off that vibe. But the elite talent is already there, and with some smart moves and a little luck, the rest of it could fall into place soon.



The Caps got crushed in the Future Power Rankings post, and it’s not hard to see why. They have quite possibly the worst prospect pipeline in the league and some long-term deals on the books that already look regrettable. This whole thing could be two or three years away from collapsing completely.

But two or three years still gives them some time to work with, and these are the defending champs we’re talking about. Can they hold it together long enough to win it all in 2022? Probably not. Could they do it this year or next? Absolutely.


5. Buffalo Sabres

Three years ago, I was way too high on the Sabres, overrating their potential while ignoring the fact that they hadn’t won anything yet. A cynic might note that they still haven’t won anything. And yet here we are, back in the top five with these guys.

I’ll be honest, if I’d done this list in the offseason I doubt I’d have the Sabres in the top 10. But after a solid start to the season, some optimism feels reasonable. Remember that metaphor from the Coyotes section about a successful rebuild being like hitting the gas on a car? The Sabres spent years spinning their wheels, but now it seems like they’re finally on the move.

Of course, when you hit the gas there’s always the possibility that you’ll speed up too fast, lose control and drive into a tree. That could still happen in Buffalo. But right now, I like where they’re at, even if there’s a clear gap between them and the league’s Big Four contenders.



No team has made a bigger leap up the rankings since my 2015 list than the Maple Leafs, and it’s not even all that close. Back then I had them 26th, even as I was reasonably optimistic about recent draft picks like William Nylander and Mitch Marner. At the time I wrote “they’re still at least three years or more away from true contention.” Three years later, they made it.

If anything, the question might be why I don’t have them ranked even higher. After all, the Future Power Rankings piece had them at No. 1 by a decent margin. Maybe I’m overthinking it, or maybe this is my three decades of Leafs fan pessimism kicking in. But I’d like to see a team win at least one playoff round before I’m ready to put them in the top spot. The cap is going to get tight and the blueline still needs work. But the Leafs are absolutely on the right path to being contenders for the next five years and beyond, even if a few teams are just a step or two ahead of them.


3. Winnipeg Jets

Leafs or Jets? Jets or Leafs? The battle for Canada’s best odds is pretty close to a coin flip, but I’ll go with Winnipeg by a nose.

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Why? I like their cap situation a little better, with Mark Scheifele already locked into a steal of a deal and Nikolaj Ehlers on a reasonable one. Patrik Laine will be a different matter, though, and they still need to figure out Jacob Trouba. There’s also the question of whether they can use their cap room to attract free agents or veterans with no-trade protection who’ve often been reluctant to come to Winnipeg in the past, although I’m betting that winning will help fix that issue.

On top of all that, their path to a Cup looks reasonably clear. The Predators are a lurking menace and will probably end at least a couple of Jets seasons over the next few years, and the Avalanche might get there. But the rest of the West looks like they’re a tier below, so I like Winnipeg’s odds of making at least a trip or two to the final.



And here’s the other Central monster. There isn’t a whole lot to choose from here between the Predators and Jets; I think Nashville is the slightly better team today, while Winnipeg is set up to have more staying power. Figuring out what will happen years down the road is tricky, so I’ll lean toward the here and now and give the Predators a slight edge.

The question is how long they can contend. With all of their stars other than Pekka Rinne under 30, the window isn’t in danger of slamming shut anytime soon, and the cap has been managed well. But there isn’t much help on the way from the farm system, which might put David Poile in a tough spot. Does he trade picks to go all in on winning a Cup with the group right now? I’m betting he does, and there’s a decent chance it pays off.



And after all of that, we end up with the Lightning in the top spot, just like they were three years ago. Back then, I pegged their odds at 45 percent and heard from plenty of fans who thought that was way too low, and that I was crazy for thinking the Lightning were more likely than not to fail to win a Cup. After all, back then they seemed like a sure thing – they were young, the roster was stacked and they’d just been to the final.

Instead, we’re three years down the road and the Lightning haven’t been back to the final and even missed the playoffs once. That’s a reminder of how unpredictable the NHL can be. So while they’re still on top, are the Lightning’s odds any better?

I don’t think so. Steven Stamkos is older, Steve Yzerman has moved on, and just a little of the shine has come off Jon Cooper. On the other hand, Nikita Kucherov hadn’t yet emerged as a Hart candidate back in 2015 and most NHL fans had never even heard of Brayden Point. All told, the Lightning have done a remarkable job of staying well positioned.

Can it last? Not necessarily. The cap situation is about to get very tight and the farm system isn’t offering much more than future depth. This year won’t be their last shot, but it may well be their best. They’re the top team in the East right now, but it may not be long before the Maple Leafs or Sabres pass them. There’s still time, but the clock is ticking more loudly than it was three years ago.

So yeah, I think their odds have dipped. Just not enough to move them out of the top spot. The Lightning are still my pick, even as the rest of the league closes in.



1119598 Websites

The Athletic / Hockey’s home away from home: Three days inside the life of a billet mom and her superstar new son

Scott Wheeler Dec 5, 2018

Friday, November 23, 5:40 a.m. — Beyond a snow-covered cul-de-sac on the outskirts of Ottawa, three dim porch lights illuminate a two-storey red-bricked home.

Inside, as neighbours sleep, Andrea Guzzo Lehman, is already dressed and cooking breakfast when a 17-year-old shuffles into her kitchen from the basement, with acne-fighting cream still caked to his cheeks.

As he pulls his knapsack off of his shoulder and takes a seat at the kitchen table, she pesters him with questions about his plans for the day.

He responds quietly with one-word answers. In his longest reply, through broken English, he says his dad called and she needs to call him back.

In a lot of ways, the pair are polar opposites. But they work.

Andrea is the loud, charismatic, high-energy 48-year-old with dyed-silver hair pulled high into a short ponytail. She is a mother of two kids, a wife, and dog-mom to a seven-month-old Havanese named Duke.

Andrea’s husband, 53-year-old Greg, is still sleeping upstairs after a long drive back from a rec league hockey tournament he played in the night before in Montreal — a team he has played on for 32 years. So too is her son, 13-year-old Kirk, and daughter, 11-year-old Kenzington.

The teenager sitting in front of her, scarfing down his eggs, is Marco Rossi. They aren’t related, at least not in the traditional sense. Andrea is his billet mom.

Rossi is the nearby Ottawa 67’s bright young star. The team recruited him, from Austria, to play in the OHL, taking him with their first-round pick in the CHL Import Draft.

This season, he’s proven to be one of the best rookies in the CHL. His 1.17 points per game puts him in the same company as just five players his age in the last decade: Connor McDavid, Nail Yakupov, Alex DeBrincat, Sean Monahan, and Alex Galchenyuk. A year and a half from now, he may challenge Thomas Vanek (fifth overall) as the highest-drafted Austrian ever. Not long after that, he’ll become the 16th Austrian to play in the NHL.

But first, he’s got a 6:20 a.m. pickup from teammate Graeme Clarke for their shared 7 a.m. physical therapy session.

Beneath his Polo sweater, Rossi, who is only 5-foot-9 but built thick and wide, hides a bulky braced elbow.

Before he heads out into the black, Andrea hands him a zip-locked bag with his favourite chocolate muffins (made with over 70 percent cocoa, as his strict diet dictates).

Rossi is the first in a long line of people (her husband included) that Andrea gets ready every morning. She never stops to pause for coffee, a shower, or a return to bed. There isn’t time.

As soon as Rossi is out the door, she pulls a tray onto the countertop and begins prep for Kirk’s favourite dinner: twice-baked potatoes.

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When Kenzington enters the kitchen at 6:48, her hair still nappy and a little dazed, Andrea greets her with loud questions about what she wants in her lunch and begins to make her spaghetti — including a homemade sauce that features blended carrots and broccoli because Andrea never feeds her kids anything processed (they get homemade granola bars in their lunches too).

Kenzington is soft spoken, intelligent, and a little shy. She’s in Grade 6 in the International Baccalaureate French immersion program. She loves three things: Hockey, their dog, and being a billet sister. Kenzington shows off the hat her mom made for her, which reads “Billet sister of Rossi.”

“She didn’t want to wear a big jersey with his name on it at the rink. She just wanted to have a little something. And all her hockey teammates are jealous,” Andrea says. “Hey Kenz, do you like Marco?”

“Yeah!” she replies.

“What’s the best part about having a billet, Kenz?” Andrea shouts back.

“Everything…” she answers, adoringly.

This isn’t the first time the Lehmans have billeted, though they’re new to the 67’s. Three years ago, they took in another stranger, Nepean Raiders Jr. A forward Justin Hess, after Andrea received an email through Kirk’s minor-hockey team. The family remains close to Hess — recently catching up with him to watch one of his games with Nazareth College, an NCAA Division III team.

With both Hess and Rossi, Andrea wanted a kid who took the opportunity to play junior hockey seriously. Hess was an Ontario Scholar who took night courses at Algonquin College — but still took the time to play mini-sticks with the Lehman kids for hours.

In Marco, they found the same kind of connection. On his first day with the Lehmans, Marco helped Kenzington work on her shot on the net outside.

“It was pretty fun,” Kenzington says. “And then my shot was way better.”

“We started calling him coach Marco,” Andrea chipped in.

Each of those moments are commemorated in photos. Andrea has photos of Rossi coaching Kenzington, of him with her kids before his first game, of their recent dinner with Hess, and of dress-up night at TD Place with the other billet moms. For Christmas, she plans on framing a photo of Rossi celebrating a goal (a rare show of emotion) — the same photo Kenzington has as her iPad background.

When the potatoes and spaghetti are finished, Andrea descends into the busy morning routine.

Kirk is the second to rise at 6:57 and the first thing he asks is whether Rossi’s home. His head is shaved, with a line carved out of its part, and he’s wearing an LA Kings t-shirt (though he’ll swap that out for a Vegas Golden Knights one before school).

“Marco’s already long gone honey bun,” Andrea says.

Kirk is sports-obsessed. He recently made every team at school (table tennis, badminton, rugby, golf, volleyball), and spends his morning yelling at the TV and discussing the Senators’ Uber controversy with his mom.

“Let’s go!” he yells at the New Orleans Saints highlights.

Greg is the last to wake, at 7:30.

“Babe, how was your game!?” Andrea says.

“We got smoked,” he answers.

“Take a ringer with you next time,” she says.

“We had ringers!” he answers — and her laughter fills the house.

Greg’s a lean 6-foot-3, with a narrow face and glasses. He wears a Chicago Bears t-shirt, an allegiance to his hometown. Greg, an engineer, moved to Canada for work and never went home after meeting Andrea in his late 30s.

Nepean is now their home — though Greg and Andrea both watch beachfront bargain shows dreaming of retirement south of the border.

Greg isn’t immune from Andrea’s early-morning questions and reminders either. She tells Greg to drive Kirk to school and insists he better not be late for the ringette fundraiser they’re attending later that night.

“When am I ever late?” Greg says.

“When is daddy ever late?” Andrea asks their kids.

“When you aren’t on top of him!” Kirk answers.

“I always brief my husband on our plans,” Andrea says.

“What do you mean!? On time is my middle name!” Greg replies, while making an espresso, before agreeing. “I’m just a tourist in my own home.”

When Greg returns from dropping Kirk off at school, the conversation turns to Rossi — as it often does. He admits that after he did a few of Andrea’s 6 a.m. morning shifts with Rossi, the novelty wore off.

“I think it’s exciting to have a kid that you can help and allow them to improve and live their dream. The important thing is it had to be the right kid. We both wanted somebody who wasn’t here just to party, play some hockey, and drink. Regardless of level, this doesn’t mean they have to go to the NHL,” Greg says.

“Marco was really shy that first day. But if it’s hockey in the driveway they’re comfortable. I think it’s a good role model for our kids, just to teach them that in life with what you want to do you make sacrifices, you focus, and you commit.”

Given how quiet Marco is, Greg and Andrea both worried he was unhappy early on. They’ve learned that’s not the case.

“Marco is just a really lovely kid. He smiles at everything – we joke about it. And you can tell he has a really solid background. He has a really good relationship with his parents so that’s the kind of kid we got,” Andrea says.

“He’s just an easy, easy personality. And very, very polite and very appreciative. Every text I send to him it’s ‘thank you very much’ or ‘yes please’ or ‘no thank you.’ And he doesn’t care what he eats as long as it’s healthy.”

Because Rossi is obsessive about organization, Andrea is the perfect fit. She can parent him like she parents her own kids. She’s schedule-crazy too, and jokes about how her favourite thing to do is to check her Team Snap app for her kids’ hockey schedules because it tells you how early to be there. The 67’s have also provided billet parents with an app called Driven that updates their schedules. Andrea has Rossi’s memorized and she can see when Andre Tourigny, the team’s head coach, adds Rossi’s name to an event he has to attend (most players have to do things like school readings but Rossi only does charity skates due to the language barrier).

Andrea is, above all else, attentive. She noted, while serving Rossi breakfast, that it was the first time he hadn’t had toast since arriving.

“They really don’t have a lot of time here. I’m sure there are other teams that have more time but on a typical day he has a 7 a.m. meeting, 8 o’clock ice, then skills sessions, then Blythe (a private school with individual programs for each of the players), and then

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the gym and he gets home at 6 o’clock has to do it all over again the next day,” Andrea says.

There are only four stops on Rossi’s route (TD Place, Canadian Strength, Blythe, and home in Nepean) and she drew it out for him when he first arrived. He usually spends roughly four hours a day in school.

“His English has got a lot better even since he has been here. They have to work around their schedule and this whole going on the road for five days thing. It’s too bad there aren’t more teams that operate like that because the boys could use it. I’m telling you right now: They’re not all going to the NHL,” Andrea says.

Before each road trip, Andrea sits down with Rossi to explain the geography of where he’s going, sketching it out on a piece of paper he can take with him. Rossi likes to know exactly how many hours he’ll be on the bus, if he needs to charge his laptop or his phone, how far the hotel is from each rink, and when the buses leave.

Andrea and Greg don’t billet for the money. The few-hundred dollars a month the team provides for food and everything else Rossi might need is a wash.

Andrea does it for her kids, she says — and to help someone else’s.

“I don’t require anything from the 67’s. From the kids’ perspective, they see Marco who is committed to a goal just like Justin was, it doesn’t matter what the outcome of that goal was, and no drugs, no alcohol, and works hard toward something. I’ve been clear about that too though. I can’t do that. I don’t want to get up and do this in the morning for somebody who is not appreciative or isn’t committed,” Andrea says.

The 67’s do everything they can to show billets their appreciation. This season, they had them to an Ottawa RedBlacks game that Greg and Kirk attended, and a dinner with all of the players, billets, and staff. Rossi and Andrea attended a seminar together on suicide prevention. Every billet gets as many season’s tickets as they need — and a parking pass so that they can come and go freely from a busy TD Place.

“They’ve been really, really good to us,” Andrea insists.

The 67’s require that each player must have their own bedroom and access to a bathroom. Marco’s room is cluttered but not messy.

By the time her house is empty, it’s only 8:30 a.m. and Andrea is mad at herself for forgetting to ask Marco for his suits so that she could dry-clean them, for her kitchen being dirty, and for the fact that she’ll miss the beginning of the Grey Cup because both kids play hockey Sunday evening.

Andrea refers to mornings like this as “ridiculous” but common.

“I’ve got it down to a science,” she says. “I can get down here and make Marco breakfast in five minutes and he’s out the door.”

While Andrea seldom worries, she does about Marco. His transition from Austria to Ottawa has been decidedly tough on both him and his parents. Andrea tries to send Rossi’s mom, Claudia, as many photos of him as she can, knowing a teenager won’t send his mother photos of himself.

She has also been teaching Marco to cook, which was one thing he told her he wanted to learn while in Canada. They’ve made hamburgers and lasagna roll-ups from scratch. Claudia appreciates those little things.

“I actually went through a little phase where I felt incredibly sad for [Claudia],” Andrea says. “For our son in a couple years to be doing what Marco is, like he’s not prepared for the world… It’s still her baby, right?”

Saturday, November 24, 9 a.m. — Marco isn’t just Claudia’s baby, either.

Inside the Minto Sports Complex, Marco’s father, Michael Rossi, sits next to Andrea as Kenzington’s Nepean Wildcats prepare to take the ice for a game against Cornwall.

Michael has travelled by way of Feldkirch, Austria, a small town of 14,000 people on the country’s western border, to stay at the Raddison Hotel and be near Marco, who has struggled with homesickness. As hard as billeting has been on Marco, it has been just as difficult on Michael, who worries about his son.

“It’s very hard for me and my wife — but he wants it,” Michael says.

Initially, Marco wasn’t sure if he was ready to move across the Atlantic. He was very close to his family and didn’t like to be separated from them for long.

“What do you think Daddy? Should I go?” Michael recalls his son saying.

Michael told Marco that it had to be his decision.

“He slept on it one night and then he comes to me and he says ‘Daddy, I want to go to Canada’ — and I go ‘Woah, OK, let’s go,’” says Michael. “But it was hard.”

This is Michael’s third trip to Ottawa in just three months. He came for a couple weeks during training camp, then came back with Claudia for another two weeks — and stuck around for a third, after Claudia had to return to Austria for work. This time around, after a month away — the longest he has ever been without his son — Michael’s entering his second and final week in Ottawa before he and Marco will return home together. Marco was meant to play for Team Austria in their second-tier world championships, but his elbow injury makes that unlikely. Regardless, they plan on making the brief trip back to Austria.

At Christmas, the Rossi family, including Marco’s two sisters, will return to Ottawa to spend the holidays with the Lehmans.

“His parents, we’d be friends with them if they lived beside us. Like they’re that great,” Andrea says, explaining how they had them over on Marco’s first night and how she has grown to like Michael because he’s a conversationalist.

“I said to Claudia when she was here, ‘Are you sad?’ And she said she was but since she’s been to Ottawa she felt a lot better because she met us. She’s lovely. She’s the nicest girl.”

Michael, who had a decade-long pro hockey career of his own in Austria including an appearance at the 1998 Spengler Cup, shares his appreciation for the length Andrea has gone to help make Marco feel comfortable.

“Some people do it for the money, she does it for the kids. That’s what I love about her,” he says. “In Austria, when you have success people get jealous and it’s like ‘Ah, fuck them.’ Here, they want to help them.”

Michael maps out the unique location of the Rossi home, which sits five kilometres from Lichtenstein, five kilometres from Switzerland, and 20 kilometres from Germany, on his jeans. For four years, Michael drove Marco back and forth from Zurich at 4:30 a.m. and midnight so that he could go to school Monday to Wednesday and be with his club team the rest of the week.

These days, both Michael and Marco are relieved to have a family like the Lehmans to help with the transition to the next level.

“They are just wonderful,” Michael says. “You have a good life in another country and you want to be respectful. That’s why the guest parents like these two, they really try to [help him] understand the life here in Canada every day. Marco is very lucky.”

Michael takes solace in the fact that Marco is learning to challenge himself, but the injury has made things even more difficult. At first, it looked like his elbow may have required surgery and his season

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might be over. Now, Michael thinks he’ll be back by January. And with Marco’s rising stardom, a lot of people are eager for his return. These days, Michael is getting five or six calls a week from Austrian newspapers for stories on Marco and updates on his injury. Back home, Marco was always told how good he was and Michael hated that. In the OHL, he doesn’t get that kind of treatment.

“To me it was always, when you tell a kid every day how good they are, you stop the working,” Michael says. “I tried to give him a challenge every day.”

For the Rossi family, Marco’s move to the CHL was always going to be Ottawa or bust because of 67’s head coach, Tourigny. They trust him. Marco grew up playing against Swiss star Nico Hischier, and Hischier played under Tourigny with the Halifax Mooseheads before recommending him for Marco’s development.

“Andre is a really nice man,” Michael says.

“Oh yeah, first class, we both got that feeling right from the beginning,” Andrea replies.

After the game, Kenzington joins her mom in the lobby. She assisted on two goals. Michael congratulates her on a job well done.

“I say, ‘OK…I’ll watch the girls,’” Michael says. “And then oh my gosh — you’re really good!”

“Thanks,” Kenzington says, blushing. “Thank you for coming to my game.”

Room 361, Senate of Canada — Between driving Kenzington home to make lunch and picking up Kirk to head to a 2 p.m. Ottawa game against the Sarnia Sting, Andrea makes a pitstop at her other job: leading public relations and communications for Senator Mike Duffy.

The senate has called a Saturday session to begin the process of passing back-to-work legislation for striking Canada Post workers and Duffy has cancelled flights to events in his constituency so that he can deliver a speech on adoption law to vouch for provinces that have opened up their records to allow parents the ability to reconnect with children (and vice versa), and a second speech during second reading on the impact of the strike over the holidays.

After some time with the Senator, Andrea rushes home for the day’s next items on the Lehman agenda: grilled-cheese making and melon-slicing, list-making for Greg so that he’s reminded to finish up some jobs, a quick refill on tire pressure, work on Kirk’s science project, another outfit change, dog toy cleanup, a new round of hand sanitizer for everyone (Andrea’s orders and something Marco says reminds him of his mom), and a warning that no junk food will be consumed at the game.

Just before running out the door to the 67’s game, Andrea gathers the entire family around the TV to watch a replay of the hit that injured Marco, which only she had seen.

“When it happened, I thought I was going to be sick. I just felt horrible, like it was one of my kids,” she says.

“I’ve never seen him go down and not get up. He went off, went to the locker room, said he was fine, came back and played. It’s too bad. Marco was tracking really, really well. But he’ll be alright.”

By game time, everyone has assumed their regular spots.

The game quickly gets out of hand as the 67’s route the Sting. Andrea cheers just as loudly for the first goal as she does for the eighth (when the 67’s Kody Clark scores his second of the game, she tells his billet sister Cassie to have her hat ready).

Behind Andrea, Marco is laser-focussed on his team, pausing only to Snapchat his girlfriend from back home. His dad jokes about how he had to move away because he won’t stop talking about the plays. It’s clear that Michael is more relaxed than his son.

“At training camp, I was like ‘Mike, do you get stressed?’ He says ‘No, it’s just a joy to watch my kid play,'” Andrea says. “Sometimes I sit on the other side of the ice and Marco will go coast-to-coast and I look over and Michael is just shaking his head like ‘I can’t believe he just did that.’ Sometimes you sit next to hockey dads and they’re so intense. He’s not a crazy hockey dad. He’s just a lovable guy who cares about his kids just like any other parent.”

A few seats down, sit two more Austrians.

Konrad ‘Conny’ Dorn coached both Michael and Marco (and alongside former NHL coach Ralph Krueger) and is the all-time games played and penalty minutes leader in Austria. Bernd Schmidle, who now works in the printing business, played with and for both Michael and Conny.

“We had a really hard time yesterday,” Michael says with a smile, still hung over from the night before. “We have fun here. It’s beautiful here.”

They can’t believe the little things: benches on opposite sides from each other in some rinks, the pace and detail in Tourigny’s practices, that there are more than 100 rinks in the Ottawa area, and that 140 girls tried out for Kenzington’s Wildcats team.

The trio have known each other for 35 years and when they saw footage of Marco playing they decided they had to come to Canada to see him in action (he wasn’t injured when they booked their flights). It’s Conny’s second time in Canada (he played for Austria in their ninth-place finish at the Calgary Olympics, which Marco gives him a hard time about).

During the second intermission, billet coordinator Eileen Duffin stops by to say hello to Andrea and Marco.

Together, Andrea and Duffin are considered superheroes around the 67’s organization.

Marco says that along with Andrea, he couldn’t have made the transition without Duffin, who keeps the players in order — and Marco affectionately calls “Mrs. D.”

The on-ice adjustment was fairly easy, he says — although the ten-hour bus rides to Sault Ste. Marie are certainly new. He points to teammates Alex Chmelevski, Austen Keating and Tye Felhaber for their help and guidance. Coach Tourigny has been a big support too.

But, along with Andrea, Marco says he couldn’t have done this without Duffin. Because of both women, he says he has no regrets about his decision to come to Ottawa.

Duffin is who she is because she cares deeply for each player, like a third mother. Eight years after taking the job and leaving a background in education for another, she’s still at it. She FaceTimed with the Rossis multiple times before Marco came over to get to know them. Marco is lucky to be on this team, she says, because it’s the most cohesive group she’s been a part of.

“There’s no way every OHL team has an Eileen,” says Andrea. “The boys go to her with all sorts of stuff and not every player has a relationship like we do – I’m not saying he’d come to me with everything but I think he feels pretty secure here. The whole education component and the billet-matching component, she’s a rock star. She’s fair but she’s on top of the academic component too.”

That sentiment is shared by Torurigny.

“Eileen gives the proper environment to the player and she’s a second mom for them in the sense that she makes sure everything is rolling in the right direction. We’re so fortunate to have her as such a support,” he says.

James Boyd, the team’s general manager, credits Duffin for her ability to find the right match between a billet and a player.

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“For a player to maximize their potential, they’ve got to be comfortable with their life away from the rink so the billet home being a surrogate home for them is of the utmost importance because if you get the right fit there and everyone is comfortable then the player won’t have any anxiety when he’s coming to the rink,” Boyd says. “Players form special relationships with their billets and go on to lifelong friendships.

“Billets are the lifeblood of junior hockey, like there’s no way we could do this without them.”

Unlike most billet coordinators, Duffin waits until training camp before she places her players, rather than assigning them to a home in June — that way, she’s able to get a sense for the players and parents who are more nervous than others.

“The match is the most important thing,” she says. “If you put them with a brand new billet family and the parents are super nervous, they worry even more.”

Once a player is placed, Duffin never moves them. Andrea was told she’d need to make a commitment for Marco’s entire career.

“You’re bringing a kid five thousand kilometres away from home from parents who are very, very concerned about his well-being,” Duffin says. “He turned 17 in September. In Austria, they had it worked out where he wasn’t really ever alone… I make decisions based off of what’s right for the individual player and Andrea is it.”

After meeting with Andrea face-to-face several times, including once where she brought Tourigny to the Lehman house (a rarity for the coach), Duffin quickly learned that Andrea is involved and “willing to go the extra mile.”

“She’s a communicator, and when you have a young kid from overseas you want that kind of billet. And some billets you just let them take your boys and you hardly talk. But with a young guy like Marco, and let’s face it he is a pretty special kid, you want him to be happy and healthy,” Duffin says.

Marco isn’t your typical player or kid, either. Duffin says she doesn’t cater to stars but that he has needed special treatment. She has worked closely with him and Blythe to improve his pronunciation and begin some media training so that’s he’s more comfortable when the attention builds ahead of the 2020 draft. She credits him for finishing high school before he came (it’s not uncommon for European players to finish by 16).

“Marco is Marco, he’s a very dot your Is and cross your Ts kind of kid,” Duffin says. “Andrea will make sure he understands so there’s no anxiety. That’s a huge piece for a younger player.”

This season, Duffin put 16-year-old Matthew Maggio with her brother, a retired RCMP officer, “because he was a highly unfocused kid whose mother hit the panic button.” Others, who come from divorced parents, thrive in homes with big families.

“Marco is the opposite. He wants things organized. Andrea is so organized and she has good conversations with him — though I think it took Marco a while to get used to the intensity of Andrea because that can be intimidating,” she says.

Dinner at the Lehmans — “I’m going to cry,” Andrea says, opening her arms for a hug as Michael, Conny, and Bernd enter her front door with one of Marco’s jerseys as a gesture of appreciation.

“You do a great job. Really,” Michael replies.

Quickly, the dinner descends into a blend between a Q&A session (the quartet of Austrians are full of questions about Canada and vice versa) and a comedy club.

Michael, when he’s at a loss for words — or after a couple of glasses of wine or beer — begins to mime everything with theatrics. And Conny fills in the gaps.

“When you play hockey together, you have to make jokes, eh? Oh, he can make me laugh,” Michael says, pointing at Conny.

While Andrea serves crackers and cheese, her table set as if for a giant Thanksgiving dinner, the questions begin.

“Did you have a hockey rink in the backyard like other Canadians?” Michael asks.

“No, but I built them one in the boulevard out front, with lights and everything,” Greg replies.

“How was Andre in the dressing room after the win today?” Andrea asks Marco.

“He wasn’t happy. He’s never happy,” Marco replies with a smile.

“What’s the hockey like in Austria?” Greg asks.

“If Austrian ref came over here, he would call everything,” Michael replies. “When we were kids, hockey was big. Now, with cell phones, it’s not the same.”

“It’s not hockey in Austria anymore,” Bernd echoes.

As the night progresses, Andrea learns new things about Marco — like that when he was 15 he once skipped a hockey tournament for basketball, that his favourite players are Patrick Kane and Pavel Datsyuk, and that he excelled at the 60-metre and 2-kilometre track events back home.

The Austrians learn a few things too, and comment on how young Canada is and how everything, from the 500-year-old buildings to the food, is better back home. They can’t believe Ottawa’s Rideau Canal Skateway exists, nor its summertime locks network.

In the background, Hockey Night in Canada plays. Michael asks if anyone knows Michael Grabner or Michael Rafl, who’ve made Austria proud.

By the end of the night, the majority of the conversation has centred around Marco. Michael tells the story of how the nerve-wracking import draft went down, and how he had to tell managers in Shawinigan, Sudbury, Saint John, and Halifax that if they took Marco he would stay in Switzerland.

“We didn’t want first overall. Parents are always thinking too much. But with parents now it’s always ‘Why isn’t he playing, why this?’ When I was young my dad brought me to the rink and he just said have fun,” Michael says.

It’s clear that Marco is more at ease than usual now that his dad and his friends are around. He openly gives his opinion on the 2020 draft’s other top prospects, from Quinton Byfield and Alexis Lafreniere, to Jamie Drysdale (who Michael likes a lot), and Swedes Alexander Holtz and Lucas Raymond.

“Last year it was Holtz, this year it’s Raymond everyone talks about,” Marco says.

They wonder about where he might go, and Greg jokes that if the Blackhawks take him the Lehmans might have to move to Chicago after all, while Andrea promises she’ll be there for his draft day. Everyone has to give their opinion on Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty, and on the differences between the QMJHL, the OHL, and the WHL, too.

“We see the emotions with Canadians and hockey,” Michael says. “It’s crazy. Fast hockey too. First game here, they’re playing Kingston, I swear to God, first faceoff, I see my son three metres in the air. He got a big hit and I’m like: ‘OK, welcome Canada.’”

“It’s Canada, it’s freezing cold, what else are you going to do here?” Greg says to laughter.

Before leaving, Michael begins to plan out their final days in Ottawa with Andrea. They want to go to Kingston for the 67’s game on

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Wednesday and they ask how far it would be to go to Toronto after that, hoping to get tickets to the Leafs game against the Sharks, or the Hockey Hall of Fame, and split the five-hour drive back to Ottawa that night.

“Toronto!” Michael says, flashing his hands as if the city is up in lights like New York or Hollywood. “These guys come here just once. We must go.”

Sunday, November 25, the Canadian Museum of History — “All he does is talk, talk, talk,” Michael says as he leads the way into the museum’s first exhibit while Conny tries to tell him they’re starting in the wrong place.

They pause at the displays they recognize — the ones that bring worlds together.

The first is a World War exhibition that shows the division between the allies and the axis — and Austria’s place within it.

The second is a Maurice Richard jersey, though they don’t know who he is.

“It would be hot in that,” Marco says of the thick sweater.

The third is an ode to 9/11.

“It’s horrible but the good thing is it connected the world. It’s sad that terrorists are the only thing that can do that,” Michael says, clenching his fist.

At a map of early Ontario, Conny can’t believe the distance from Ottawa to Sarnia.

“That must be 1,000 kilometres,” he says.

Marco is only peripherally interested, but he is able to help teach them about Terry Fox, a story someone has already told him since arriving.

“That’s why I do this for Marco. You want to be respectful and know a little history,” Michael says. “In Austria, nobody puts a flag outside their house. Here, if something goes wrong, they do. He needs to learn about proudness. You can see at every game, they’re proud.”

Michael puts his hand over his heart in the Expo 67 exhibit to mimic the fans at Ottawa’s games during the anthem.

Before leaving for the walk back to the hotel, Michael turns to Marco in a museum lobby halfway across the world from where they started and grabs him by the shoulders.

“They care about their history. That’s good,” the father says, pulling him closer. “This is your new home.”


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Sportsnet.ca / 31 Thoughts: What Seattle means for future NHL expansion

Elliotte Friedman December 5, 2018, 10:30 AM

• 2021–22 Seattle start ‘blessing in disguise’

• Nothing imminent on 33rd NHL franchise

• Some GMs unhappy with Nylander contract

Ninety minutes before Gary Bettman stepped to the podium and made things official, several members of Seattle’s bid team were

asked inside the Board of Governors’ meeting. Not that it was ever in doubt, but walking into a room full of people clapping for them slammed it home.

It’s ancient history, but you forget that the previous expansion process was supposed to be more about Seattle than Las Vegas. There were rumours of multiple bids, one from the city and one from the suburb of Tukwila, just south of Seattle. When the deadline hit, there were zero bids from the area. They fumbled like Dave Krieg.

Vegas joined for $500 million. It wasn’t the predicted outcome, but it worked out best for the league and, in the end, Washington state. Barely two months after the Golden Knights began play, Seattle — and Seattle alone — was authorized to file a fresh application. The message was clear: figure it out, and you can join the club. For $650 million.

“If this was easy, it would have happened a long time ago,” CEO and President Tod Leiweke told David Amber. “My brother (Tim) did a brilliant job of pulling the arena plan together.”

Tuesday’s celebration was smooth as Soundgarden. The arena problems are solved. The organization was represented by three things the commissioner likes: an understated-but-confident owner (David Bonderman); a smooth, experienced executive at the helm (Leiweke); and a bit of Hollywood (Jerry Bruckheimer, who realized a longtime dream with a piece of this team). The weather at the meetings in Sea Island, Ga., was mostly rainy, so everyone from the Pacific Northwest felt comfortable.

At the beginning, we doubted Vegas. Could this really work? There won’t be any doubts here.

Bruckheimer is expected to have a major role in setting “the look” of the franchise, although he modestly downplayed that. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan told Sportsnet’s Irfaan Gaffar that she liked “Krakens” as the team name. It’s so ridiculous; I love it.

“I know they are very focused on something that will be meaningful to Seattle,” Bettman said.

It would be easy to paint the NHL’s decision to push back the debut to 2021–22 as a disappointment. After all, the organization offered to go on a lengthy road trip at the start of the season before that to make sure the new arena would be ready. But between possible delays and CBA uncertainty, it was too risky.

Leiweke was smart. Instead of focusing on the negative, he spun it as a positive.

“I think we (now) have a chance to do some things with the arena that we wouldn’t have had a chance to do,” he said. “In some ways, it could be a blessing in disguise.”

Senior advisor Dave Tippett, who has coached 14 NHL seasons, didn’t want to start the franchise with extended travel.

“One thing I talked to Tod about was, Las Vegas played two games on the road and they came home and played seven in a row,” he said. “They went 6-1 and set the tone for the whole season.”

The extra year gives everyone a chance to celebrate, break ground on Wednesday, celebrate some more, celebrate some more after that and then take a deep breath. If you’ve got time, use it. Make those extra arena plans, consider the name, figure out what you want to do in the front office.

The original plan was to hire someone this spring. (You will hear the names Ken Holland and Kelly McCrimmon.) Now? The timeline might stay the same. It might get pushed back.

For Seattle and the NHL, waiting is a good thing.

31 THOUGHTS

1. Let’s empty the Board of Governors’ notebook first. Is Seattle merely a two-way stop on the route to more teams? Deputy

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Commissioner Bill Daly told the Associated Press’s Stephen Whyno, “Not sure there is any magic about 32,” in a story published the day before these meetings began.

Quebec City is aching to get in. Houston has expressed interest. Europe needs multiple cities and a lot of planning. There are other wild cards, including the Palletta family of Burlington, Ont., which has met with the NHL and quietly waits to see how the commissioner feels about another team in Southwestern Ontario. Bettman said he “wouldn’t disagree” with the sentiment, but the league is not looking right now. Daly said his quote was “not really intended to be that way…. What our Board asks is, ‘Does an expansion franchise add value to the league?’”

Translation: For it to go past 32, the NHL needs a legit reason.

The Program

G.M.'s will take different approach to side deals for Seattle expansion

December 04 2018

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2. Now that Seattle is done, Ottawa rockets towards the top of Bettman’s to-do list. He was tight-lipped, simply saying he is “disappointed” by what’s happened. He wouldn’t want anything to overshadow the expansion news, but I’d also bet two other things: there is delicate information he wants to keep private and he knows the situation is a tinderbox, easily turned into a five-alarm blaze. Keep the gasoline far, far away. There’s work to be done.

3. Arizona owner Andrew Barroway put up some last-minute resistance to moving from the Pacific Division to the Central, but it was too late. There’s logic in thinking this eases a move to Houston, but Daly said “one has nothing to do with the other.” It’s been reported there is a sale brewing, and that’s believed to be true. It will be interesting to see if new owners have any objection to leaving the Pacific, and what that could mean. The NHLPA also has to approve the change, just like it did for the 2013–14 league-wide realignment.

4. Item that might only interest me: The increased expansion fee means more “moving money” for players selected by Seattle in 2021. Those selected by Vegas received approximately $16,000 to relocate their families. Future “Krakens” get $20,000.

5. As Nick Kypreos reported, there was discussion about shortening intermissions from 18 minutes to 15. On one side is the desire to resume the game as quickly as possible, and not make fans/viewers wait. On the other is the wish to sell beer, food and concessions.

6. Bettman is on record with his dislike of expanding the playoffs. But, after attending the meetings, it is very clear there are many teams who would like to do it. I don’t know where this goes, because the commissioner is very much in control of his league. It’s really interesting, though.

7. Finally, best line: One exec wondered if he could “still fit into [his] Nirvana shirts.”

A weekly deep dive into the biggest hockey news in the world with hosts Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek. New episodes every Thursday.

8. According to multiple sources, Pittsburgh “tested the market” on Phil Kessel. This one is tricky, because the Penguins appear to have decided to hold off on anything involving him for the time being, but that doesn’t mean it can’t or won’t be revisited. Three weeks ago, the Penguins were last in the Eastern Conference. Tuesday’s win over Colorado put them within two points of the playoffs, and who is betting against them? GM Jim Rutherford’s been searching for ways to upgrade the roster. He’s made two moves — Carl Hagelin to Los Angeles for Tanner Pearson, Daniel Sprong to Anaheim for Marcus

Pettersson — but is eyeing more. The Penguins don’t have a ton to trade without seriously altering the team. Kessel has some control of the process with partial no-trade protection. Toronto still pays $1.2 million of his $8-million salary. The winger has 10 goals and 29 points in 26 games, so the production is still there. We’ll see where it goes.

9. St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong’s proclamation that his coaching search would expand into Europe flicked on a lightbulb in the noggin, reminding that it was time to check in on World Cup Team Europe coach Ralph Krueger. There’s been interest in Krueger since that tournament, but his day job — chairman of Southampton Football Club in the Premier League — keeps him at arm’s length. His reply: “I am focused on completing this season in the EPL. I will assess my future soon.” Hmmmmmmmmmn.

10. Could Philadelphia’s GM change affect Wayne Simmonds’s future? According to several sources, Hextall thought very highly of the powerful winger, but was unwilling to commit term to the 30-year-old. There are differing opinions on whether or not Simmonds was being shopped. Some said yes; others said Hextall preferred to wait and see if the Flyers stayed in the race. Now we’ll find out what Chuck Fletcher thinks.

11. The Flyers really wanted Fletcher. He met with Paul Holmgren and Comcast Spectacor CEO Dave Scott in-person, while at least one and possibly two other candidates were interviewed via video conferencing. There are a lot of things that will be interesting about Fletcher’s first 100 days. In initial comments to local reporters, he preached patience. But word at the Board of Governors’ meetings was some of the people who hired him aren’t that patient.

12. One scout said Hextall left behind a couple of late-rounders with potential: Ohio State’s Tanner Laczynski (169th in 2016) and Virden, Man.’s Wyatt Kalynuk (196th in 2017), who plays at Wisconsin. “No guarantees, but they’ve got a chance,” he said.

13. The Blackhawks are really pounding the pavement. GM Stan Bowman was at Arizona/Los Angeles on Tuesday. Cap-ologist Kyle Davidson made their last trip, which is not a regular occurrence. They had two scouts at Los Angeles/Vancouver last Tuesday, three at Dallas/Calgary on Wednesday and two more the following night for Los Angeles/Edmonton. That’s more Kings than in a blackjack shoe.

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14. Chicago might be thinking about Sam Gagner, too. He chose Vancouver over them in the summer of 2017. They were interested.

15. Mikko Rantanen is on pace for 135 points. He’d win every scoring title since 1995-96 with that total. Mario Lemieux (160) and Jaromir Jagr (149) were the last to beat 135. Unreal.

16. Auston Matthews has returned from injury four times in his NHL career. He’s got six goals and two assists in those games. The latest was a three-point performance last Wednesday versus San Jose.

17. Toronto is going to take a shot at keeping Jake Gardiner. The odds are long, but he likes it there and they like him. He leads the Maple Leafs with 19:46 at even strength per night. They will offer him term and be generous with bonus and structure. It comes down to how much he’s willing to leave on the table.

18. It’s public knowledge that William Nylander’s 4:20 pm ET Saturday phone call shook things loose and got his deal done. As the deadline moves farther in the rear-view mirror, information seeps out. One thing that’s very clear is both sides believed there was a very real possibility this wasn’t going to get done. Dubas let other teams know two days earlier that if anyone was willing to meet both Toronto’s price (to trade) and Nylander’s (to sign), they should

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contact him. There was conversation, but it doesn’t sound like anything was close.

As we know now, his heart wasn’t in trading Nylander. Yes, some GMs were unhappy at the final number, but with a shot at competing for the Stanley Cup, Dubas’s sole responsibility was to his own organization. Nylander’s a good player, and they have a chance.

“I would bet that Dubas thinks some other GMs were screwing with him,” one exec said. “They were saying they’d spend $7.5 million on Nylander to make things harder on [Dubas].”

Why?

“First, you might want to get Nylander. But, hey, you want to disrupt Toronto. They’re a good team. Or maybe you don’t like them. There could be many reasons. It happens.”

Sportsnet’s Starting Lineup

With Nylander deal, Brian Burke pessimistic Kyle Dubas will keep young Leafs together

December 05 2018

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19. Ten years ago, the average age of the highest-salaried players on each NHL club was just under 30. (Some teams had a tie at the top.) Half the teams’ highest-paid guy was over that age, and only four — Sidney Crosby, Rick Nash, Alexander Ovechkin and Eric Staal — were under 25.

This season, the average age of the highest-paid per team is a hair below 29, 14 are above age 30 and seven are under-25: Jack Eichel, Bo Horvat (tied with Loui Eriksson), Dylan Larkin, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Sean Monahan (tied with Johnny Gaudreau and Mark Giordano) and David Pastrnak (tied with Brad Marchand). Next year, Calgary (Matthew Tkachuk) and Colorado (Rantanen) will still be on that list, but you can add Carolina (Sebastian Aho), Toronto (Mitchell Marner, Matthews), and Winnipeg (Patrik Laine). Three players who might still get there but have struggled are Brock Boeser, Ivan Provorov and Zachary Werenski.

That’s close to half the teams, and it’s where we are going. About a year ago, an agent said he was talking with counterparts who represent players in other North American team sports. He said they did not understand the mentality of hockey’s stars/best players, who constantly left money on the table. But players, agents, coaches, executives and owners recognize that we are heading into a new world, and Nylander’s negotiation was a smack to the head of anyone who didn’t recognize that.

“The mentality is changing,” one GM said last week. “The best players are aiming higher, especially with the possibility of contract rules changing in the next CBA.”

“The guys making ‘middle money’ will be squeezed out or traded,” another said.

And then there’s the question of how players will react to this trend.

“Should we be entering CBA negotiations,” agent Anton Thun asked, “without knowing how this will affect the current agreement?”

20. All the attention in Ottawa is on unrestricted free agents Matt Duchene and Mark Stone. But, under this scenario, what are the Senators going to have to do with Thomas Chabot, who will be 22 in January? He’s leading all defencemen in scoring, and can be extended in July.

21. One player on upcoming CBA negotiations: “It would be solved by sharing some expansion money.” But he’s not betting on it.

22. Washington won the Stanley Cup last June with its top four in terms of average annual value (Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom and Braden Holtby) earning 40.2 per cent of the cap. None have any structure that would be illegal under current rules. Regardless of what happens this year, it’s clear that Toronto GM Kyle Dubas wants to try to win with an even higher percentage next season. If the ceiling is indeed at $83 million in 2019-20, would anyone be surprised if Nylander ($6.9 million), John Tavares ($11 million), Marner and Matthews ($22 million combined? Maybe more?) are at 48 per cent of the cap? Conventional wisdom is you can’t keep everyone. Dubas would like to try, be more “top-heavy” than we’ve seen. Other organizations are going to be very interested in the results.

Winnipeg’s percentages won’t be as high, but that’s another team that might try it, too.

23. A thought from a Leaf-loving co-worker on all the contract talk surrounding a talented, entertaining team with a shot at something special: “Only Toronto would not allow itself to enjoy this.”

24. What a story developing in Arizona, with 22-year-old Adin Hill. He came off the bench to beat Minnesota last Tuesday, then followed with victories over Nashville (his first career shutout, on the road), St. Louis and Los Angeles. Hill is listed as six-foot-six, but was a foot shorter in his WHL draft year. The Coyotes took a shot with the 76th pick in 2015, after he’d grown a bit. But he’d played one full season at Portland by then. Good gamble. The word is he’s a confident kid, not fazed by the pressure. That’s definitely true, as he holds the fort with Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta in sick bay.

25. Edmonton coach Ken Hitchcock asked Mike Modano to watch a few Oilers games and send some notes about McDavid. Via text, Modano said you’re always working on playing without the puck.

“The best way is to have [McDavid] kill penalties. You have to stop and start a lot more, face the puck. Not swinging away from it. All the best players had to implement this, or their teams would have never won.”

The Hall of Famer added they also discussed how the coach handled Modano early in their relationship.

26. The Oilers dialled back on McDavid’s minutes after he was on a record-setting pace seven games into the season. He’s back up to 23:59 a night under Hitchcock. That includes 20:54 at even strength, unprecedented for a forward.


27. San Jose’s 6–2 defeat in Ottawa reminded me of an old Pat Quinn line. He was always upset when his team played poorly in a game it knew meant something to someone. It signalled to him that “something was wrong.”

Once he freaked out when the Maple Leafs let down late in a game and blew a Glenn Healy shutout. He would have been angry if Erik Karlsson’s return went like that under his watch. Obviously, Sharks GM Doug Wilson felt the same way, meeting with his team before it rebounded to defeat Montreal. Wilson does not like doing that, preferring to leave it up to his coaches, but sometimes circumstances dictate it. The Sharks have taken longer to get going than we thought.

28. How friendship creates competition: One executive, who knows both Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, said he loved watching their spectacular Pittsburgh/Colorado game last week in Denver. Down 3–0, Crosby scored a natural hat trick to tie it.

“It wasn’t a surprise,” the exec said, “that MacKinnon set up the next goal to win it for the Avalanche. They are good friends, but they want to beat each other.”

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Of course, it figures that neither reached the scoreboard when Pittsburgh won the rematch.

29. If you’re unfamiliar with the “Chelsea Dagger” controversy in Vancouver, a new in-arena DJ played the song during a Canucks game a week ago. Fans went apoplectic, considering the ferocity of the 21st-century Chicago/Vancouver rivalry. The crazy thing about this is that when Alexandre Burrows scored to eliminate the Blackhawks in overtime of their 2011 Game 7 classic, there were people in the organization who wanted to play the song, rubbing it in Chicago’s face. GM Mike Gillis fought against it. I didn’t cover that series, but heard the rumour later in those playoffs. I asked Gillis if it was true. He wouldn’t answer.

30. The NHL Alumni — fresh off a major success with individually branded whiskeys for Wendel Clark, Guy Lafleur and Lanny McDonald — is preparing to participate in the “Last Game,” a shinny event to be played in April at the North Pole. Hall of Famer Slava Fetisov, the United Nations’ Environment Patron for Polar Regions, is involved in planning the game, which is designed to call attention to the dangers of climate change. The reason it is called the Last Game is because there’s a danger it might be just that.

31. 32 Thoughts in 2021–22. Need more sources.

Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 12.06.2018

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Sportsnet.ca / Takeaways: Cam Talbot punches back after losing Oilers' starting job

Mark Spector

This is the story of a league where, whether your name is Tom Wilson or the Edmonton Oilers, what goes around comes around. Almost every single time.

Only 12 days ago the Oilers coughed up a hard fought 1-0 lead when Anaheim scored with their goalie pulled and 17 seconds left to play. Then they watched the Ducks steal the second point with an overtime goal. Bummer.

Fast forward to St. Louis on Wednesday night, where the Oilers owned more than their share of the play. But with a bad start and an anemic offence, there was Cam Talbot sitting on the bench with a minute to play, a 2-1 deficit and an extra attacker out there trying to find something, anything in the way of offence.

Suddenly, boom! An Oscar Klefbom one-timer evened the game, and the Oilers went onto win in a shootout.

That point they blew in Anaheim? It just came back in spades against the Blues, and with home games Friday and Sunday against key Western foes Minnesota and Calgary, the Oilers have positioned themselves to make something good happen after a brutal November.

Some takeaways from St. Louis, where a sudden win erases what were negatives just moments before.

Can Talbot

So, Cam Talbot CAN win, even though there may have been doubts during a personal six-game losing streak.

This was just reward for Talbot, who had zero chance on St. Louis’ two first period goals, both coming on some shoddy D-zone work by his skaters. He had a .933 saves percentage, and simply shut the

door after the Blues went ahead 2-0. He doesn’t do that, and there’s no chance for a late goal comeback or shootout win, right?

Here’s what we know about these Oilers: They’re not looking like a team that’s going to score much. OK. So goalies that let in no more than two per night will be imperative if this ship is going to sail into the playoffs.

Mikko Koskinen stole the No. 1 job from Talbot. Now he’s punching back, a good sign in these parts.

Oscar The Cinch

On a defence with basically one offensive threat, oh boy has Klefbom found the right time to heat up for the Oilers.

He has seven points in his past six games, scored the OT winner Nov. 27 vs. Dallas, and had the clutch tying goal on a solid one-timer with 56 ticks left on the clock in St. Louis. He played over 30 minutes (overtime included) Wednesday, and despite probably having too much asked from him by a team that lacks offence from its back end, Klefbom has turned into a guy who gives you everything he has every night of the schedule.

He saved the day Wednesday, sending the Oilers home from the road at .500, and right back on track in the West.

Goals Please

At first we thought, “OK, it’ll take some time.” Under Ken Hitchcock, the Edmonton Oilers would figure out how to keep the puck out of their net, and then the goals will come.

Taps foot.

In eight games under Ken Hitchcock the Edmonton Oilers have now scored 16 goals (shootout goal not included). They’re 5-2-0-1, which is truly amazing considering they’re averaging two goals per game.

So, what’s the issue? What has become abundantly clear with Peter Chiarelli’s Oilers is, they don’t have enough scoring from their wingers. The burden of scoring falls to three centremen — Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl (playing the wing) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who scored Wednesday.

They need help, and getting Tobias Rieder back soon should aid a bit.

Discounting Draisaitl, a natural centre who is playing with McDavid, Alex Chiasson leads all Oilers wingers with 11 goals. Drake Caggiula has seven. After that, not a single Oilers winger, through 28 games this season, has more than two goals.

With three goals now, Klefbom has more goals than Milan Lucic, Zack Kassian and Jujhar Khaira (one each), and Jesse Puljujarvi, Ty Rattie, and centre Kyle Brodziak (two each).

Edmonton dominated in possession against the Blues, but need the 60th minute to score a second goal. Like Teemu Selanne used to say, the Ketchup bottle is surely plugged right now.

What Goes Around…

There’s a growing cry in the Edmonton market about the lack of calls that McDavid draws from NHL referees. There is some merit there, but it should also be acknowledged when the calls go the Oilers way — and on Wednesday they got a doozy.

Trailing 2-1 in the second period, Matt Benning nudged Vladimir Tarasenko as he cruised in front of the Oilers crease. Tarasenko banged into Talbot, who went down, just as Zach Sanford rifled a puck into the Edmonton net.

The goal was disallowed, and replays showed that Tarasenko was undoubtedly pushed into Talbot. It was a break that took a goal off the scoreboard.

They don’t come any luckier than that.

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Sportsnet.ca / How Flames' Matthew Tkachuk will be affected by William Nylander's deal

Eric Francis

CALGARY — Matthew Tkachuk is on the verge of becoming the highest-paid Calgary Flame of all time.

That much we know.

But there are very few other certainties we can draw from the William Nylander saga in terms of how it will affect Tkachuk’s next deal. Nylander’s annual cap hit of $6.962 million was most certainly encouraging for the Flames right winger as it will be a mere starting point for Tkachuk’s next deal.

Given the torrid start to his third season (29 points in 27 games) and the wide range of intangibles he brings, Tkachuk is destined to earn more than the six-year, $45-million deal Nylander just signed.

It means he’ll skyrocket ahead of the $6.75 million AAV that team salary leaders Mark Giordano and Johnny Gaudreau make. He’ll also surpass the franchise-record $7 million Jarome Iginla pocketed annually here back in the day.

The in-house argument that he shouldn’t make more than the captain or the Flames perennial scoring leader is laughable now, as we are entering a new era of salary structure.

The extensive crop of young superstars in line for raises this summer has essentially taken the restricted out of restricted free agency.

If Jack Eichel can make $10 million annually and Leon Draisaitl can demand $8.5 million coming of their entry-level deals, all bets are off when it comes to signing a player with the skill-set and potential of Tkachuk.

Ditto for Patrik Laine, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen, Brayden Point, Brock Boeser, Sebastian Aho, William Karlsson and Kyle Connor.

Variables such as each team’s salary structure, Cup chances, ownership, point totals, playoff success and injuries are just a few of the issues dictating contract possibilities.

Argue all you want how you’d rank each player on the star-studded list in terms of skill or earning potential, but the fact is we won’t know how any of them stack up against one another until months after the season ends.

That talented group will have as much to say about one another’s next AAV as their stats will.

They’ll all be pegging their potential salaries against every new deal signed, keeping in mind the salary cap will go up to $83 million (from $79 million) to open up even more money for them.

Last man to sign may win, which is a scary thought given they all have until Dec. 1, 2019 to wait out the money, just like Nylander did.

A bad precedent, indeed.

Several of Tkachuk’s key stats are better than Eichel’s and the list of things No. 19 brings to the Flames is lengthier than the Sabres star. But it’s not as simple as anointing Tkachuk more than $10 million.

With more than four months left in the season, it’s a fool’s errand to try predicting what this year’s crop will be able to earn any time soon.

It’s safe to say Tkachuk’s earning power is north of $7 million at this point in time, but a significant playoff run, lengthy stay amongst the top-20 point getters or a 40-goal season could up that even higher.

Time is on his side.

Time to continue piling up the ridiculous, point-per-game stats he’s accumulated this year (1.07 points per game), surpassing the 61 points Nylander posted last year (0.74 points per game).

William Nylander; Maple Leafs

William Nylander and the Toronto Maple Leafs agreed to a six-year deal at a cap hit of $6.9M per season. (Claus Andersen/Getty)

Time to continue establishing himself as one of the game’s top young power forwards. Time to see the long list of impressive, franchise forwards around the league sign their deals, continually bumping up the bottom line for a player like him, who brings more intangibles than anyone else looking for big dollars this summer.

He won’t be the highest-paid in that group, but he’ll be amongst them.

Tkachuk, whose agent had preliminary contract talks with the Flames this summer, knew it made no sense to sign an extension early. It still doesn’t. So he won’t.

What Brian Burke, in particular, found disturbing about the Nylander signing was the fact he returns to the Leafs as their sixth-best player. It speaks to the Leafs’ depth and the quandary that puts teams in.

Tkachuk was arguably the Flames MVP 20 games into the season, although several others were close. A future captain who was handed an A this fall, the 20-year-old is already the emotional leader of the Flames. He also sells tickets.

You never know exactly how, but on any given night you can bet Tkachuk will factor prominently in the game.

Only Connor McDavid has drawn more penalties than Tkachuk since the latter entered the league in 2016 as the sixth-overall pick. Always involved. What’s different this year is he’s been making opponents pay by being on the Flames’ first power-play unit — a group that has gone from being 29th in the league last year to 13th this season.

Coincidence? We think not, as his four goals and 10 points with the man-advantage can attest.

Many of those points have come via net-front deflections, which Tkachuk may also be amongst league leaders in. And he’s done it all as a second-liner, anchoring a line with Mikael Backlund as the club’s top shut-down unit. All those impressive numbers while being tasked with facing off against (and irritating) the opposition’s best players.

In terms of where he’ll fit in financially, the other Flames stars are all locked up for at least the next three years at reasonable cap hits.

Sportsnet NOW gives you access to over 500 NHL games this season, blackout-free, including Hockey Night in Canada, Rogers Hometown Hockey, Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey, the entire 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs and more.

Behind Gaudreau and Giordano at $6.75 million sits Sean Monahan at $6.375 million. James Neal is at $5.75 million, Backlund is at $5.35 million and Elias Lindholm was signed this summer to a six-year deal worth $4.85 million annually.

Sam Bennett and David Rittich need new deals as well, but the focus will be on Tkachuk and whoever the Flames ink to be their goaltender(s).

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Goalies don’t come cheap, nor will Tkachuk.

Dreamers will suggest Tkachuk would consider a bridge deal to help the Flames’ cap situation the next few years, with an eye on cashing in even bigger after that. Truth is, he can and will cash in now. And later.

To date, Flames GM Brad Treliving has been very good at keeping cap hits reasonable, using the CBA and an internal cap structure to his advantage. Plenty has changed since then and plenty more changes are still in store, making this a fluid situation, to say the least.

What he’d sign for today is different from what he’d sign for this summer or, gulp, next December.

Expect the unexpected, which will include a cap hit for Tkachuk few could have envisioned even a year ago.


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Sportsnet.ca / Ranking the 13 names registered by Seattle's NHL group

Daniel Goffenberg

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a slightly updated version of a previous story.

Seattle is getting an NHL franchise.

And now we wait to see what it’ll be called.

Thirteen possible names were registered by someone with Oak View Group – the company responsible for renovating Seattle’s KeyArena – last January. Thanks to some sleuthing by Detroithockey.net’s Clark Rasmussen, the 13 selects are out in the public eye.

Here they are in order of how much we like them:

1. Seattle Rainiers

Mount Rainier is just an hour and a half drive from Seattle, and is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. It is a literal meeting of fire and ice, and gives jersey designers plenty to work with.

2. Seattle Kraken

Certainly a unique choice. This is a name an expansion franchise can use and likely not fear any legal disputes over.

Check out sportslogos.net for an interesting mockup of potential uniform sets for a Seattle Kraken franchise.

3. Seattle Evergreens

Dallas reverted back to a vibrant green in 2013, but no NHL franchise has ever really embraced the colour. Seattle could do so, and have “greenouts” during the playoffs. You had your chance, Vancouver. Opponents will fear stepping into “The Forest.”

4. Seattle Seals

The NHL has already seen a Seals franchise come and go, but “Seattle Seals” does have a nice ring to it.

5. Seattle Emeralds

Another option that could heavily feature green, and you can look here for an explanation as to why Seattle is called “The Emerald City.” (Hint: it’s because of all the green.)

But a sports team named after a gemstone would be … something, even if it is a gemstone with a hardness of 7.5-8 on the Mohs scale. That’s almost as hard as topaz!

6. Seattle Sea Lions

The second of three alliterated names, a Sea Lions franchise could borrow heavily from Seattle’s NFL team for colours and themes.

7. Seattle Sockeyes

There’s nothing inherently wrong with naming your franchise after a fish, but, it’s just not all that inspiring either. There may also be a conflict with an existing ultimate frisbee team.

8. Seattle Whales

The Canucks are no strangers to changing their logos, but it’s hard to see them excited about giving up their orca and letting a new rival can comfortably slide in with a whale of their own.

9. Seattle Eagles

You probably shouldn’t pick a name that is already in use by an NFL franchise. Especially one that’s never won a Super Bowl. UPDATE: You’re welcome, Philadelphia.

10. Seattle Totems

Seattle did have a professional hockey team called the Totems in the ’50s and ’70s, and the team logo and jerseys would be beautiful. But as sports franchises move away from such names and imagery, is it worth the controversy?

11. Seattle Cougars

No.

12. Seattle Firebirds

The Flint Firebirds (formerly the Plymouth Whalers), began play in the 2015-16 OHL season, and haven’t exactly been a beacon of success since.

13. Seattle Renegades

Via Merriam-Webster: “A deserter from one faith, cause, or allegiance to another.”

Sounds like … not a great way to build a loyal fan base.


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Sportsnet.ca / NHL Power Rankings: The Biggest RFA Questions Edition

Rory Boylen

The restricted free agent market has been the buzz of the NHL these days, with William Nylander holding out until the last few minutes of the Dec. 1 deadline and getting a big-money deal anyway. When he starts playing full seasons again, Nylander will come with a $6.9-million cap hit, which is a pretty good deal when you look at it from the angle of per cent of the overall cap.

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But if you thought his contract was too much to hand out, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

The 2019 RFA class is chock full of big names and players who are already stars in the NHL. With the salary cap also rising to a projected $83 million next season, the entire market is about to reset and we may very well look back on Nylander’s deal in awe of its value.

Every team has an RFA to deal with, and most of them have a significant signing ahead.

Welcome to our NHL Power Rankings: The Biggest RFA Question Edition.

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Brayden Point: Steven Stamkos makes $8.5 million against the cap and Nikita Kucherov will start counting for $9.5 million next season — so what do you do with a 22-year-old centre who has nearly as many goals as the two of them combined this season? We all know how valuable a productive top-six centre is, but Point also comes with the upside of being strong on defence. We know he won’t keep scoring on 26.3 per cent of his shots, but playing alongside Kucherov should help Point to his third straight season of improved point totals. And he’s not propped up by special teams production: Point is seventh in even-strength points league wide. You can make the case he is Tampa’s best centre right now.


Mitch Marner: While Auston Matthews should come out of next summer the highest-paid Maple Leaf, and perhaps highest-paid in the league, Marner’s ultimate value is what will really set the table for the following years. A magician with the puck and preferred linemate of massive UFA pickup John Tavares, the case has been made for Marner to make everything from Nylander-type money ($6.9 million) to upwards of $10 million. His deal could really put the squeeze on Toronto’s cap, but the question has to be asked of this homegrown talent: Would he consider some level of discount?

Pinder and Steinberg

Chris Johnston talks fallout from the Nylander deal

December 04 2018

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Kevin Fiala: The stars seemed to be aligning for a breakout year from the 11th overall pick of the 2014 draft, but at the 28-game mark Fiala is on pace to struggle to finish with even half of the 23 goals he accumulated last season. Injuries have afforded him an opportunity on the top line and he does have six points in his past six games, so maybe things are turning around.

4. Buffalo Sabres

Nathan Beaulieu: When Sabres GM Jason Botterill acquired a then-24-year-old Beaulieu for a third-round pick ahead of the Vegas expansion draft, it was generally viewed as a good bargain deal for Buffalo. At the time, Beaulieu was coming off a 28-point season and had the kind of puck-moving abilities that all teams need nowadays. But he struggled to just nine points last season and has been a healthy scratch multiple times this season as his average ice time has dropped to just 14 minutes per game. The only plus is that with three goals, Beaulieu has already surpassed his total from all of last season. Arbitration eligible, no Sabres blue-liner plays less often than Beaulieu.


Mikko Rantanen: With Nathan MacKinnon on one of the best value contracts around the NHL, making just $6.3 million for MVP-calibre performances through 2022-23, you wonder where the NHL’s current scoring leader will slide in. For instance, if you think Marner is worth between $9-10 million, how can you make the case a player from the same draft who has outperformed Marner two years running is worth any less?

6. Calgary Flames

Matthew Tkachuk: Big-time payout or short-term bridge deal? It could be fascinating to watch Tkachuk’s negotiation play out. We already knew he is a major disturber with a lot of sandpaper in his game, but his great value there is that he draws more penalties than he takes. On top of that, Tkachuk’s really breaking out on offence this season, with 32 points in 28 games. The Flames love him, and there’s plenty of speculation he’s the future captain of this team — so will he make more than Johnny Gaudreau? The statement may be less egregious than it seems. First, Gaudreau signed his six-year contract ($6.75 million AAV) under a smaller salary cap. Second, the two are close in point production this season, both overall and at even strength. For now, Gaudreau has the highest cap hit among all RFA-aged left wingers. His teammate could very well eclipse that if he signs for the long-term this summer.

7. Winnipeg Jets

Kyle Connor: Much like the Leafs, the Jets have two massive RFAs — one of whom we know will get paid enough to fill Scrooge McDuck’s vault, while the other has potential to throw cap plans out of whack. In Winnipeg’s case, Patrik Laine will get the big money and could very well be the team’s highest-paid player when he signs, but what should Connor go for? A goal scorer at every level, Connor has gotten recent praise from head coach Paul Maurice, who also was confident enough in the player to move him away from Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler in order to help a second line get its production going. Connor is well on his way to back-to-back 30-goal seasons and is interesting to compare to Nylander. Nik Ehlers is already making $6 million so you have to believe Connor goes above that if everything stays on track – but higher than Scheifele’s value deal at $6.125 million? Winnipeg has approximately $23 million in cap space for next season without Jacob Trouba or Laine under contract, and they’ll still need to fill out nine other roster spots beyond those two.


William Karlsson: One of the more intriguing RFAs this past summer after he broke out with 43 goals on a wholly unrepeatable 23.4 shooting percentage, Karlsson inked a one-year extension that paid $5.25 million with the idea that everyone would have a better sense of his worth after this season. Well, he’s not shooting at the same percentage, but he does have nine goals and 21 points in 29 games, which is about a 25-goal pace. Making it more complicating is that although Karlsson still has arbitration rights, he’ll only be one year away from becoming UFA eligible.


Andre Burakovsky: On pace for a fourth straight year of declining point totals with seven through 27 games, the 23rd overall pick from 2013 will be hard-pressed to become the goal scorer it looked like he might be when he had 17 tallies in 2015-16. Now playing on the third line, Burakovsky already makes $3 million and needs to be qualified for at least that amount this summer. With fellow pending RFA Jakub Vrana trending up and the Capitals already bumping near the cap, some level of roster turnover will need to happen. Consider, too, that two years from now Nicklas Backstrom will be UFA eligible and due a big pay day at 32 years old.

10. Dallas Stars

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Esa Lindell: The Stars have eight players up as RFAs this summer and five UFAs, but none are more important to keep than Lindell. The young defenceman will turn 25 in May and, in John Klingberg’s absence, has been the team’s No. 1 blue-liner, averaging 24:33 per game and leading the back end with five points in the 12 games Klingberg has missed. Currently making $2.2 million, it’s conceivable Lindell becomes the highest-paid defenceman on this team next season with a rising cap and Klingberg on just his second contract.


Zach Werenski: The 24th-highest scoring NHL defencemen over the past three years, Werenski best compares in this measure to Minnesota’s Matt Dumba, who signed a five-year, $30-million extension last summer. It’s early, but like Dumba, Werenski is on his best offensive pace yet, though his defensive play to this point in the season has been a bit of a sore spot. Seth Jones makes $5.4 million against the cap, so perhaps Werenski’s more productive and more-used partner caps his salary there, but Columbus may not be facing much of a crunch anyway, with the futures of UFAs Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky in the air.

12. Anaheim Ducks

Jake Dotchin: Without any stud RFAs up for contract the Ducks aren’t facing any pressing questions, but after Dotchin was released by the Tampa Bay Lightning in training camp due to poor conditioning it will be interesting to see how his new team handles him. It’s believed the Lightning sent Nikita Gusev to Vegas ahead of the expansion draft to keep the Golden Knights from picking Dotchin (and Slater Koekkoek) so he’s not far removed from being a valued defender. Now on the third line, Dotchin is working his way back up the depth chart.

13. Boston Bruins

Charlie McAvoy: The future top guy on Boston’s back end, McAvoy is injured without a timetable to return. Boston has roughly $13 million in cap space for next season with 18 players under contract, but a few key names who aren’t: on top of McAvoy, UFA Zdeno Chara needs to be extended for a year if he wishes to continue, while fellow big-minute blue-liner Brandon Carlo is an RFA as well.

14. San Jose Sharks

Timo Meier: Starting on Joe Thornton’s top line and getting out to a quick start with nine goals in 12 October games, a breakout season appeared to be on the way for Meier. While it’s hard to imagine he won’t finish with career-best totals across the board, he has slowed considerably with just two goals in his past 11 games. The ninth overall pick from 2015 has a goal scorer’s background with 78 in his last 113 QMJHL games and he’s already just eight shy of tying his total of 21 from a year ago. Fresh off re-signing winger Evander Kane to a $7-million cap hit, and with pending UFAs Erik Karlsson and Joe Pavelski also seeking big pay days, the Sharks have $24.1 million in projected cap space this summer with just 12 players under contract. Meier doesn’t have arbitration rights, which could make his negotiations interesting to keep an eye on.

Sportsnet’s Starting Lineup

Nylander signing shows the landscape has changed with RFAs

December 03 2018

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15. Minnesota Wild

Joel Eriksson Ek: With the Wild’s top two centres, Eric Staal and Mikko Koivu, set to be 34 and 36 years old respectively at season’s end, it’s time to start thinking about what the future brings at the position in Minnesota. Now, Eriksson Ek is not yet an offensive force and the jury is out on whether or not he’ll hit a level of production he

teased in the AHL last season (eight points in eight games), but he is being used more on the penalty kill than most expected. That should help him with the two-way demands that come with playing centre in the NHL, whether his offence fully comes around or not. Eriksson Ek is the only RFA on the Wild’s roster and since his contract shouldn’t come in too expensive, it’ll help this team maintain its Cup hopes a bit longer.

16. Edmonton Oilers

Jesse Puljujarvi: Just what do they have in this player, picked fourth overall in 2016 with just two goals this season and already demoted to the AHL? Ken Hitchcock wants to work with him, which is what was behind his recall, but he has just one goal in five games under the new coach. This situation seems to have bridge deal written all over it.

17. Arizona Coyotes

Nick Schmaltz: Picked up in a trade from Chicago last week, reports out of the Windy City indicated the cap-strapped team moved him because they were uncomfortable with where his contract negotiations were headed. Prior to the move, Schmaltz looked set to be the productive No. 2 centre the ‘Hawks needed, and in Arizona he’s off to a fast start with five points in four games. Now playing on the Coyotes’ top line, will he become their highest-paid forward already?

Ryan Dixon and Rory Boylen go deep on pucks with a mix of facts and fun, leaning on a varied group of hockey voices to give their take on the country’s most beloved game.


Sebastian Aho: A second-rounder in 2015, you may not think of Aho’s name along with some of the headliners of the 2019 RFA class, but his impact on the game is right up there. His 5-on-5 goals differential of plus-3 is second among forwards on the ‘Canes, as are his 1.45 primary points per 60 minutes. But with 26 points in 26 games, he’s far and away the primary offence driver and has seen his year-over-year point totals rise from 49 in Year 1 to 65 in Year 2. He could get paid a hefty amount, and if you aren’t familiar with Aho the forward already, get used to him now.


Artturi Lehkonen: If you want to bet on a Canadiens player to improve and recover from a slow start, Lehkonen may be a decent gamble. Not only does he have the motivation that comes with a contract year, but he’s already been an 18-goal player in the NHL before — two years ago as a rookie. That season his shooting percentage was up at 11.4, but he’s been below eight ever since. If he can get back to that acceptable level of efficiency, it’s entirely possible Lehkonen could still hit the 20-goal mark. On top of that, he’s the second-most used forward on the penalty kill, so the team values his two-way presence.


Jake Guentzel: With similar goal totals to Nylander over the past two seasons in 41 fewer games played, just what is the winger riding shotgun with Sidney Crosby worth on his own? Looking at just this season, Guentzel is tracking for a career year, which should increase his contract demands further. If the cap rises to $83 million as reported, the Penguins will have $14 million in space with about 10 players to sign. Guentzel should come in over Tanner Pearson’s $3.75 million – the question is how will his final number stack up to Patric Hornqvist’s $5.3 million?


Martin Frk: As far as tough, expensive decisions go, this one will rank near the bottom of the NHL in the summer as the Wings don’t really have any RFA issues right now. Frk plays less than nine

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minutes a night on average and has only gotten into 13 games. This is a low-cost, low-priority keep.


Anthony Beauvillier: The only RFA up for contract this summer, Beauvillier is still finding his way as a top-six forward on this team, but has eight points in his past eight games after a slow start. The 21-year-old, picked 28th overall in 2015, is on track to surpass his 21 goals from last season, but has just two assists in 2018-19 so far that is slowing his pace. He shouldn’t be a big contract that throws the Islanders’ cap structure off track.

23. Ottawa Senators

Cody Ceci: The worst CF% and worst 5-on-5 shot differential among all Senators blue-liners, Ceci is already making $4.3 million, so where do he and the team go from here? Ceci will be 25 years old next month and the 2019-20 season will be his seventh, making him UFA eligible in the summer of 2020. Ceci plays north of 22 minutes a night so the team needs him, but a bigger defence contract is surely on the way a year from now when Thomas Chabot becomes an RFA.


Ivan Provorov: A big, solid and puck-moving defenceman picked seventh overall and coming off a 17-goal season? Provorov was tracking towards a monster 2018-19 season. While that still may happen, his two-goal start is a bit of a letdown. But he’s still a high-value defenceman with Norris hopes in his future and the Flyers rely on him to the tune of 24:43 of ice per game, the 14th-most among all NHL defencemen. With Travis Konecny producing on the top line and also an RFA, new GM Chuck Fletcher has some expensive decisions ahead.


Neal Pionk: If you had to guess the member of the Rangers with the most average minutes per game, would Pionk be your first choice? It’s true. Undrafted and coming off a 28-game rookie season, Pionk has quickly ascended under head coach Dan Quinn, who also recently moved on from the NCAA ranks. Pionk is putting up solid offensive numbers with 16 points in 26 games and is heavily used in all situations. Brady Skjei was just given a six-year, $31.5-million extension this past summer, but it appears 23-year-old Pionk has passed him on the depth chart.


Frank Vatrano: Since being acquired from Boston for a third-rounder a year ago, Vatrano has 13 goals in 41 games, a pretty good pace over a full season. Another good start to this season has him on track for a pay increase, though it won’t be a big one. Still, he’s effectively a second-line winger with Vincent Trocheck on the sidelines and has quietly turned into a pretty productive depth play for Florida who can play on just about any line.


Will Butcher: Drafted by Colorado but signed by New Jersey a few years later as a free agent, Butcher got a couple Calder votes last season for his 44-point performance but this year he’s slowed a bit to eight points in 25 games. Still, his average time on ice has risen by nearly two minutes per game and he has the best CF% and 5-on-5 goal differential on the struggling Devils.


28. St. Louis Blues

Joel Edmundson: Already nearly halfway to his career-high point total, the defensive defenceman is a key part of St. Louis’s collection of young defencemen they’ll surely move into the future with.

Edmundson actually leads all Blues blue-liners in primary points per 60 minutes despite not being a power-play asset. His value is as a shutdown defender, he plays more than 20 minutes a night and is a key penalty-killer.


Brock Boeser: Boeser may have won the Calder Trophy had he stayed healthy until the end of last season. An elite goal scorer in the making, Boeser could get to 30 this season if he’s able to stay healthy enough – that would put him in line for a significant pay increase. He’s not on the level of Winnipeg’s Laine, but Boeser is in a tougher situation than most of the other big RFAs this summer and should be considered a candidate for big money.


Gustav Forsling: Averaging more than 20 minutes a night, Forsling is the kind of guy Chicago needs more of these days – a young, cheap and productive talent. He gets some exposure on the second power-play unit, but has never played more than 41 games in a season.


Alex Iafallo: Here is the main issue with the Kings. Although they sit at the bottom of the standings and our Power Rankings, there aren’t any high-end prospects in need of contracts this year or next. For now, Iafallo is the most interesting because he plays alongside Anze Kopitar on the top line and has 11 points in 28 games.


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Sportsnet.ca / 4 Maple Leafs who could be negatively impacted by Nylander's return

Michael Singh

It’s hard to debate the job that Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock has done so far in his fourth season behind the bench in Toronto.

Even without two of the team’s best forwards in William Nylander and Auston Matthews (for a time), Babcock has led the Leafs to an impressive 20-8-0 start, good enough for 40 points and second place in the National Hockey League. However, with Nylander’s return finally imminent — and the team playing some of its best hockey on a current five-game winning streak — Babcock will ultimately be faced with a few tough coaching decisions in the coming days.

Adding a player of Nylander’s caliber automatically makes any team better, as Andrew Berkshire reminds us of the value Nylander brings to this already-stacked group of Maple Leafs forwards. However, there are two sides to every equation, and unfortunately in order to make room for their talented Swede’s roughly 17 minutes a night, a corresponding subtraction must be made from a streaking Maple Leafs team that has won nine of its past 11 games.

So now that Nylander has officially touched down at Pearson Airport in Toronto and Josh Leivo has been traded to the Vancouver Canucks, the question ultimately presents itself: which Maple Leafs forward’s early-season production and ice time is going to take the biggest hit as a result of the young Swede’s arrival?

Ryan Dixon and Rory Boylen go deep on pucks with a mix of facts and fun, leaning on a varied group of hockey voices to give their take on the country’s most beloved game.

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Kasperi Kapanen

The most obvious candidate is winger Kasperi Kapanen.

Playing mainly in Nylander’s branded right-wing spot next to Matthews — including overtime 3-on-3 — Kapanen has helped ease Nylander’s absence by scoring a career-high 10 goals in just 28 games, and all have been at even-strength. Before this season, the 2014 Pittsburgh Penguins first-round pick had scored just eight times in 55 career NHL games.

And while it’s clear Kapanen is playing some of the best of hockey of his young career — averaging 16:20 a night — it’s safe to say the 22-year-old would only realistically sustain his early-season scoring rate if he remains on the top line alongside Matthews and Nylander. However, that hasn’t been Babcock’s coaching style in recent years.

The Leafs head coach generally tends to pair his most skilled forwards in duos and rounds out line trios with a different type of playing style — such as Zach Hyman for instance.

But Kapanen has certainly made a case for at least a continued look on the Leafs’ top line and that may still end up being the case if you read into comments Babcock made earlier in the season. At the time the coach challenged Kapanen to play more like Hyman, which could’ve been alluding to a potential top-line fit down the road after Nylander returned.


Tyler Ennis

Since being taken off the Matthews line at the beginning of the season, Tyler Ennis has been turning heads in limited opportunities. Playing 10:26 a night, Ennis has scored four goals and added four assists in 25 games, while consistently creating chances with high-skill plays on the team’s fourth line.

It’s not going to be easy to take minutes away from Ennis, especially with three points in his last four games, but amongst those likely to lose playing time, the former 20-goal-scorer’s skillset is the most similar to Nylander’s.

As it stands, Ennis, who’s centring the team’s second power play unit alongside Andreas Johnsson and Kapanen, may find himself bumped off the Leafs man-advantage entirely when Nylander returns, especially if Kadri is moved off the top unit. Though, in a changing league with a demand for skilled players to get on the ice, it’s possible the 5-foot-9 winger’s playmaking ability and consistency of late may be enough to keep him there.

Andreas Johnsson

Andreas Johnsson had a very strong game in a competitive 4-3 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Despite being held off the score sheet, the dynamic winger looked dangerous with an extra step to his game.

Like Ennis, Johnsson has looked substantially better of late, capped off by his first period hat trick against the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 24. If it wasn’t for this recent strong play, Johnsson may have been the obvious first candidate to lose playing time upon Nylander’s return.

After getting off to a slow start in his first full NHL season, the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs MVP has put up six points in his past five games. Averaging 11:43 a night, Johnsson has scored five goals and added four assists in 23 games this season.

In the AHL last season, Johnsson consistently got better as the year went along. If that is any indication Johnsson will keep improving his production, it’ll be hard for Babcock to take minutes away from the hard-working Swede. If he’s not producing, however, and with Ennis

and others such as Connor Brown and Par Lindholm gunning for that playing time, Johnsson’s leash will be short.

Frederik Gauthier

This season, Frederik Gauthier has taken his biggest strides as a Toronto Maple Leaf, no pun intended. The 6-foot-5 centre is technically having a career year, tying his career-high in points with just three assists in 23 games, though as Kyle Dubas told us back in 2015, the 23-year-old’s value to this hockey team will never be about producing points.

When Gauthier was called upon with Matthews out injured, the team’s 13th forward was very solid in a refined fourth line role. However, he will have to be better in the faceoff dot if he’s going to earn more playing time, with a winning percentage of just 48.2, down from his previous two seasons.

With Par Lindholm shifting back to the middle of the ice upon Matthews’ return on Nov. 28, the 2013 first-round pick was the first name to be scratched off Babcock’s starting roster and he was pushed even further back on the depth chart when Nylander, who can play centre, signed with the team three days later.

Many thought Gauthier’s time as a Maple Leaf might have even expired after Dec. 1 when Nylander signed just minutes before the 5:00 p.m. ET deadline, but with Leivo nowout of the picture instead, the Quebec-native can still be a valuable member of this hockey team. But as Toronto’s extra forward, it will be difficult for Gauthier to earn more ice time.


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Sportsnet.ca / Flames' Mark Giordano putting together strong Norris Trophy bid once again

Eric Francis

CALGARY — A couple weeks ago his coach hid his skates in a desperate attempt to keep him from practicing.

What also appears to be hidden from the rest of the league is the fact Mark Giordano may just be the NHL’s best blue liner this season.

Yes, it’s early to be talking Norris Trophy candidates, as the Toronto media is doing with Morgan Rielly and the Nashville media is doing with almost every defenceman they employ.

Their cases are strong.

But 28 games into the season, none have had a bigger impact than the Calgary Flames’ 35-year-old captain.

Fifth amongst defensive scoring leaders (27 points in 28 games), sixth in plus-minus (plus-14) ninth in shots (78) and 18th in ice time (24:30), he certainly has the stats to be in a Norris conversation he dominated four years ago, before a biceps tear ended his season.

Word amongst players around the league is spreading about Giordano finally being recognized as one of the game’s most complete.

“I think it’s starting,” said Montreal Canadiens buzzsaw Brendan Gallagher of the Norris chatter for No. 5. “He’s one of the best defencemen in the league for sure. Obviously Paul Byron used to play there and I’m good friends with Lance Bouma who used to play

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here and talking to guys like that, they say he’s a little bit underrated, but I think generally people understand he’s a pretty good player.

“He brings it every single night. He does a lot for their team up and down the ice. He’s someone you’ve got to be aware of.”

Travis Hamonic was a believer long before he left Long Island to be a Flame.

“I think he’s been one of the best in the league for years, and I’ve been saying that for years — when I was in New York he was someone I watched intensely,” said Hamonic. “When I got traded here you see first-hand how good he is at both ends. He probably works his bag off harder than anybody else. I don’t know if there’s a better compliment you can give a guy than he sets the standard for the rest of the team.

“He’s as good off the ice as he is on it, which is saying something because he’s a hell of a player.


Hamonic insists Giordano “has probably got the toughest minutes in the league.”

His boss agrees.

“He plays against the other teams’ top line, he plays on the power play and kills penalties, he produces on offence and plays more than 24 minutes a night — how could he not be a Norris candidate?” shrugged GM Brad Treliving, who has Giordano inked for another three years at a team-high $6.75 million annually. (Yes, he makes as much as Johnny Gaudreau).

“I know I’m biased but that’s a thin list of players who can do all that. To me, Gio doesn’t get nearly enough credit — he helps stabilize guys.”

Case in point: a rocky start to Dougie Hamilton’s time in Calgary was remedied by putting him alongside Giordano. Hamilton responded with back-to-back career years offensively. Now that Hamilton is in Carolina he’s far from posting the offensive numbers he had with Giordano.

During those two seasons, T.J. Brodie’s numbers and confidence dropped, as did his effectiveness — things that have all been remedied this year since he returned to the top pairing with the undrafted Toronto native, Giordano.

Brodie, who has been a defensive adventure at times, now leads the league at plus-19, and is a big part of the team’s seventh-place standing overall. Tough as nails to play against, he’s also the first man to join the rush, creating odd-man opportunities that make the Flames one of the highest-scoring teams in the league.

Giordano finished sixth in Norris voting in his injury-shortened 2014-15 season, 13th the year after that, eighth two years ago and was 16th (behind Hamilton) last year.

“The best players in the league know all about him,” said first-year Flames coach Bill Peters, who openly admitted hiding Giordano’s skates was the only way to keep the fitness fanatic off the ice for a day. (Giordano jumped on a bike instead).

“It doesn’t surprise me (how good he is) at all, to be honest with you. He’s an unbelievable leader. I’ve had a good pro like him in Nick Lidstrom. Lidstrom looked after himself very similar to Gio.”

As in, seven-time Norris Trophy-winning Lidstrom.

Despite his advanced age, Giordano continues to be near the top of his team’s fitness-testing charts, not to mention their hearts.

His three assists in Tuesday’s 9-6 win in Columbus puts him at a point-a-game clip that would see him eclipse his season-high 56 points he had three years back, when he scored 21 times.

This year he’s shooting more than ever (2.78 shots a game), which has added another layer to his depth.

“I’m always trying to get pucks to the net — I don’t think I’ve changed my mindset that much, but for some reason it feels like I have had more shots this year,” said Giordano, who spearheads the first power-play unit.

“I’m just getting more looks and o-zone time.”

Rewarded with the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award a few summers back for his community work, he’s also an inspiration his fans and teammates look up to.

“That’s kind of the player I want to be — play in all situations and be a 200-foot player,” said rookie defenceman Juuso Valimaki, the Flames’ top draft pick in 2017. “The biggest thing is how crazy it is to watch him play 25 minutes every night and he doesn’t even look tired. The thing that amazes me the most is he doesn’t make a mistake. He does everything right.

“He always gets up in the rush and is always the first one back and always plays against the best players on the other team and shuts them down.

“Great person, great player.”

Great choice for the Norris… so far.


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Sportsnet.ca / Candidate pool for Seattle NHL's coach and GM is long and deep

John Shannon

Seattle 2021 is now a reality and NHL owners are $650 million richer. That’s $21,666,666 million per team, with the exception of the Vegas Golden Knights, who will not receive a cut of this action.

Soon there will be name-the-team contests, and team colours will be presented. And finally, some real construction will get underway. We all know the rules of the expansion draft for Seattle will mirror those for the Golden Knights, but I suspect this time around NHL teams won’t submit to the de facto blackmail Vegas GM George McPhee performed as he all but threatened to take each GM’s first born if the player he truly desired wasn’t available.

And while we know that Tod Leiweke and Victor DeBonis, each of whom have tons of NHL experience, will pilot the Seattle team on the business side, we don’t know yet who will be the guiding light on the hockey operations. Who will be the general manager and coach driving other NHL teams crazy between now and the expansion draft? McPhee didn’t hire his coach, Gerrard Gallant, until well into the expansion process while David Poile, when he took up the Nashville challenge, hired his guy, Barry Trotz, very early in the process to help scout players they thought would best suit the new Predators.

The list candidates to run the new Seattle franchise is an interesting one:

Mike Gillis: The former Canucks’ GM lives in Victoria. He has spent the past few years travelling the world, trying to better understand

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sports management. He is a smart, thoughtful man who has learned from his triumphs and mistakes in Vancouver. He is also very close to Victor DeBonis, who is the new Seattle COO.

Kelly McCrimmon: The Golden Knights assistant GM was integral to the Vegas expansion draft and their success during their inaugural season. He knows hockey talent and now knows his way around the NHL.

Mark Hunter: Maybe the best hockey evaluator NOT in the NHL, Hunter’s stock is rising every time Mitch Marner, Patrick Kane, Matthew Tkachuk, Bo Horvat and many more contribute to the NHL game.

Dave Nonis: The former Canucks and Maple Leafs general manager now works for the Ducks and can handle the pressures of working for an expansion team having already worked in two high-profile media markets.

Ron Hextall: The former Flyers’ GM has excellent skills for a GM and will certainly have learned from his time in Philadelphia.

Dean Lombardi: The man who won two Stanley Cups in Los Angeles is now part of the Flyers’ management team. His vast knowledge and experience would certainly be an asset.

Laurence Gilman: The former assistant GM in Phoenix and Vancouver is now in Toronto in a similar role. He helped the NHL build the expansion draft rules and would be a great choice. He is also very close to DeBonis.

Ron Francis: The former Carolina GM is getting a lot of credit for the young, fast Hurricanes’ roster. His low-key approach is complimented by his thorough evaluation of talent.

Steve Yzerman: The architect of the Lightning team is on every list of potential GM openings. As it should be.

Mike Futa: The L.A. Kings assistant GM has tremendous ties to junior hockey. His player personnel background should make him a viable candidate.

The list of potential head coaches is also deep and not limited to: Joel Quenneville, Alain Vigneault, Todd McLellan, Dallas Eakins, Todd Nelson, Sheldon Keefe, and Lindy Ruff.

I started writing this blog on a plane, thinking the list would be easy and short. But the more I thought about it, the longer the list grew. The pool of talented, experienced people is deep. And the list doesn’t put every candidate forward. Of course the list will change as more candidates become available through firings and resignations.

And for what its worth… I like the Seattle “Totems.”


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