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CAROLINA HURRICANES

NEWS CLIPPINGS • September 5, 2018

Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour has questions to answer, positions to fill

By Chip Alexander

Rod Brind’Amour says he has been jotting down potential forward lines for the fast-approaching season, his first as the Carolina Hurricanes’ head coach.

“I bet I’ve been through a thousand pieces of paper this summer,” Brind’Amour said Tuesday, only partly in jest.

Should Sebastian Aho stay at center or is the Finn best-suited at the wing?

Where does newcomer Micheal Ferland best fit?

Who would be best with center Martin Necas? That is, if Necas is used at center.

Should Necas and Andrei Svechniokov play together?

One can almost hear the crumpling paper and the gears churning in Brind’Amour’s head.

One easy answer, and one Brind’Amour will use, is that all that will be decided in training camp, which begins Sept. 13. And in preseason games -- the Canes have six.

One thing Brind’Amour is leaning against is having Necas and Svechnikov on the same line. Necas, the Canes’ first-round pick in 2017, and Svechnikov, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, often were on the same line at the prospect camp this summer and seemingly intent on making sure the other had the puck and not playing their game.

Not to mention both will be NHL rookies. That’s asking a lot from the two forwards, both teenagers.

“That’s what we have to guard against,” Brind’Amour said. “You have to give them every opportunity and see what they can do and then make a decision. Are they going to be in our top nine? Is that the right thing? Does it make our team better?

“If it makes your team better it’s an easy decision. If it doesn’t, we have to regroup it and figure out as an organization what’s the best move for their development. The main thing for me, coming out of this camp, is can those guys play? I mean, anybody can play but they have to produce. They have to be in a position where they’re going to help our team.”

That’s where the older, more veteran players can help. Ferland, for example. The former Calgary Flame is a rugged

forward and might be a good fit with Necas to keep things honest on the ice.

Aho led the team in goals with 29 last season, after a 24-goal rookie season. Former coach Bill Peters gave him a long look at center last season and Aho appeared to like the responsibilities of the position and showed good playmaking skills. One weakness: faceoffs.

“We know he can play wing. We know that,” Brind’Amour said. “Now can he play center, is that the best thing for him, for our team? That’s what are have to decide by the end of training camp.

“Do we start him there? Probably, and see how it works. We can always put him back on the wing. I think that’s the approach we’ll go with.”

With Aho at center, the Canes could have Aho, Jordan Staal, Necas and Victor Rask down the middle. If used on the wing, that changes things.

Most of the players have returned to Raleigh, although Brind’Amour said Aho and Teravainen are expected back from Fin;and on Wednesday. He said once the team has reassembled, he could quickly name the captain for 2018-19.

Staal and defenseman Justin Faulk served as co-captains last season, a Peters decision. Brind’Amour said against Tuesday he would use the more traditional approach: a captain and a few alternate captains.

Many are expecting Brind’Amour to name forward Justin Williams, a former teammate on the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup champs, the captain. Brind’Amour was one of those strongly urging Williams to sign a free-agent contract last year and return to the Canes.

“The good news is we’re going to have a really good team,” Williams said Tuesday. “I’m not going to sit here and make promises, but all I know is we have a really, really good team.

“The fact of the matter is you have to let your play speak for itself. Words are just words. ... I thought we underachieved last year. I thought we were better than where we ended up. But at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. You need to go out, fill the net and make a difference.”

CAROLINA HURRICANES


New Faces in New Places: Petr Mrazek

By Mark Scheig

During the month of September, we will profile New Faces in New Places from around the NHL. We now look at Hurricanes’ goaltender Petr Mrazek. He filled in while Brian Elliott was injured in Philadelphia but has battled inconsistency most of his career. Can he help stabilize the net in Carolina?

Petr Mrazek

2017-18 Stats: 14-13-6 with four shutouts, 3.03 goals-against and .902 save percentage combined between Detroit and Philadelphia.

2018-19 Team: Carolina Hurricanes.

How Acquired: Signed a 1-year deal worth $1.5 million on July 1, 2018.

Expected Place in Lineup: Backup to Scott Darling.

Mark’s Take

Ah yes, the Carolina Hurricanes. They are the sleeper pick of many year in and year out because of the upside much of the team brings. But every year, we find ourselves talking about the same narrative. They lack consistent goaltending.

Here we are again. Cam Ward is gone after 13 seasons with the club. Scott Darling had perhaps one of the worst seasons a starter could have. The Hurricanes needed to address the goaltending. I’m just not sure their first plan was to go after Petr Mrazek. But they did. They had no choice after Philipp Grubauer ended up in Colorado.

The goaltending narrative will only intensify this season. If the Hurricanes can’t get a better season out of Mrazek or Darling, you could be looking at a season or promise and upside fade away into the abyss of an over three goals-against average. Is there hope in this situation?

The problem with the goaltending has been their consistency. There were stretches of really good coupled with ugly. The result is an average goaltender.

Mrazek went from Detroit to Philadelphia to cover for the Brian Elliott injury. While he showed some flashes, he finished the season with a goals-against over three. His numbers actually got worse in Philadelphia. He went from a .910 to an .891 and from a 2.89 to a 3.22. That’s when the games mattered in the standings for playoff positioning.

Now if there is good news, it is a low-risk deal. So even if it doesn’t work out it doesn’t cost them much in the long-run. If it does work and Mrazek finds consistency, that’s the huge boost Carolina needs. Maybe it wakes Darling up too. Either way, the path to the playoffs in Carolina goes through the goaltending. Can Mrazek answer the bell when called upon?

What Others Have Said

“That’s where the Hurricanes are: hoping Darling can get back in some kind of shape, mentally and physically, where he can at least resemble an NHL goaltender once in a while, and hoping Mrazek, only 26, can hit the heights he hit three years ago with the Detroit Red Wings and not stumble along with a .901 save percentage like the past two years, although even that would be an improvement on Darling last year.” –Raleigh News and Observer

“Mrázek’s time in Philadelphia was spotty. He still had the reputation of someone who could rise to the level of being a team’s starter, but, not unlike Darling of the Hurricanes, has not been able thus far to carry that mantle.” –Mark Shiver/The Hockey Writers

“The Carolina Hurricanes need to ensure that Scott Darling is both challenged and also confident in his role as the starting goaltender. They also need to ensure a good starter in the case that anything happens to Darling. Petr Mrazek can deliver all that and a little more. He’s extremely talented but hasn’t put it all together yet. Mrazek could do that in Carolina.” –Puck Prose

“Petr Mrazek was signed for a bargain basement $1.5 million and with an ultra low risk one-year deal. The upside is that the deal eats up pretty much minimal budget and cannot be a negative past the end of the 2018-19 season. So the deal rates incredibly high for avoiding long-term financial risks.” –Canes & Coffee

“Petr Mrazek is a phenomenal goalie when his game is on. The trouble Carolina Hurricanes fans will encounter is having patience with him. In recent seasons, he’s allowed his disappointment in his own game affect how he executes. However, given time he will be able to rediscover the A-level goaltender he was while in his AHL and early NHL seasons.” –Rachel Anderson/The Hockey Writers

“There’s no denying Mrazek’s raw talent – his powerful lateral movement and lightning quick reflexes are enviable in the goaltending community. But a lack consistency and inability to adapt his game have plagued the netminder over the past couple of seasons. A fresh start in Carolina behind the Hurricanes’ rock-solid defense may be what Mrazek needs to find his dominant form.” –Tony Wolak/The Hockey Writers

2018-19 Season Stats Prediction

I see about 35 games for Mrazek this season. This depends on the performance of Darling and if they deal with injuries. A lot of this will depend on how well the defense does in front of them. Unless I see it on the ice, we pretty much know what we’re getting here. It makes for a bumpy ride.

17-15-3 with a 2.90 goals-against and .909 save percentage.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


2018 Media Day Recap: It’s Rod Brind’Amour’s World, and We’re Along For The Ride

The new coach of the Carolina Hurricanes has wasted no time in putting his stamp on the team, even before they take the ice for training camp.

By Brian LeBlanc

Rod Brind’Amour spent part of Tuesday morning in the weight room.

That, of course, is little surprise to anyone who has followed the career path of the Stanley Cup champion and fanatical workout devotee. But this season, perhaps moreso than at any time since he retired as a player in 2010, there will be an undercurrent of added meaning to those workouts. As the new head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, Brind’Amour will be setting a tone for his locker room: don’t expect any shortcuts, and if you want to earn the coach’s respect, hard work is the minimum standard expected.

Haydn Fleury, entering his second NHL season, notices a difference already. “You can tell the culture is changing every single day. You see Roddy in the gym working out every day. You know how personable of a guy he is, and you can go to him with anything. You know he’s going to put the work in for you, so you want to put the work in for him.”

Brind’Amour has sought counsel from other coaches. He married into a coach’s family, that being former UNC-Asheville coach and N.C. State player Eddie Biedenbach, and that opened up other doors. Sidney Lowe, onetime N.C. State head coach and longtime NBA assistant, has offered Brind’Amour advice about taking charge of a professional locker room for the first time as well.

And it should come as no surprise that the ever-prepared Brind’Amour has already been hard at work sandboxing line combinations — something he said he tried to stop himself from doing, knowing that it would be a Sisyphean task, yet found himself doing anyway.

Just like his time as a leader on the ice, he’s ready to find his voice behind the bench, but he’s going to be as authentic as ever.

“You have to be yourself. It’s something that I already knew, that I thought was important, but it’s funny how it’s always the first thing that [other coaches] say,” Brind’Amour said. “If you veer off from that, you’re going to get sniffed out, the players are not going to respond very well to phony stuff.

We’re going to make mistakes, but as long as we learn from them and get better, that’s the approach that I have.”

Justin Williams, who won the first of his three Stanley Cups with Brind’Amour as his captain, has seen his new coach command a locker room with his presence, knowing when to raise his voice and when to back off. Things are different in his new role, though. “Now he’s a lot more vocal,” said the man who many are expecting to be named Canes captain. “He seems to be really, really excited, and you can actually see it in his face. Guys are excited to play for him.”

As it has been all summer, “culture change” is the buzz phrase du jour, and it was the talking point that flowed throughout Tuesday’s availabilities. But Williams went deeper than that, saying that it’s not just a culture that needs rebuilding, but an organization as a whole, and Brind’Amour is just the man to lead that transformation.

“What we need to create is a stable foundation, top to bottom,” Williams said. “What better way to start than with the consummate pro and the guy who is going to work his butt off. He worked his butt off playing hockey and he’s going to work his butt off off the ice as well. I’m excited for him to work with the team.”

That team will include a pair of rookies on whom high expectations have been placed. Brind’Amour, who entered the NHL with the St. Louis Blues as an 18-year-old, is now tasked with shepherding another 18-year-old, Andrei Svechnikov, through his first professional season. The coach knows that for the team to be successful, he’ll need to set up Svechnikov and Martin Necas to taste success early and often, and that might be a balancing act that requires refining over the opening months of the season.

But what won’t change is Brind’Amour’s approach to the game. The standard will be set early and often, and having a familiar model for that standard will make the transition that much easier, says Fleury.

“The good thing about Roddy is that I don’t think anything really changes. He’s going to be the hardest working guy anyway, whether he’s an assistant or the head coach. As players, that’s one thing you really like. The guy doesn’t have to change what he’s about when he gets to be the head coach. Seeing what he does, he’s still the same guy.

“I don’t think he’s lost a step. He’s still really jacked. If we can be close to him, we’ll be good.”

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Carolina hopes strong defense brings end to playoff drought

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes have assembled quite a crowd on defense.

The Hurricanes brought in two established defensemen this offseason — trading for Dougie Hamilton, and signing Calvin de Haan. That means seven players for six spots on game nights, and they hope the strength in those numbers will finally end the NHL’s longest active playoff drought.

And while No. 2 overall draft pick Andrei Svechnikov and 2017 first-rounder Martin Necas will draw much of the attention, the strength of this team could be a defensive unit that ranks among the best in the Eastern Conference.

“Being able to play with some of the talent on that back end was going to make my life a lot easier,” de Haan said Tuesday. “And hopefully they can say the same thing about me one day.”

Carolina was the only team in the league last season to allow fewer than 29 shots on goal per game, but they were just 22nd in the league in goals allowed (253).

The additions of Hamilton and de Haan strengthens a young defensive group centered around Brett Pesce and Jaccob Slavin, both of whom last year signed long-term deals that will keep them with the Hurricanes well into the 2020s, and a series of offseason transactions left 26-year-old Justin Faulk as the group’s longest-tenured player.

“I’m the grayhair on the back end,” de Haan said, “and I’m only 27.”

Carolina picked up Hamilton from Calgary in a five-player trade at the draft that cost the Hurricanes another young defenseman — Noah Hanifin — and signed former New York Islander de Haan to a four-year free-agent contract in July. All seven of the defensemen are under contract for the 2019-20 season, too, except for former first-round pick Haydn

Fleury — who will be a restricted free agent, giving Carolina the right to match any offer he receives.

“I think we’re going to have a really young group of guys,” Hamilton said, “and it’ll be fun to see where we can take it.”

Hamilton, who shared the NHL lead among defensemen with 17 goals last season and has had four straight seasons with at least 42 points, gives the Hurricanes some offensive punch from the blue line. Carolina’s top-scoring defenseman last season was Hanifin, who had 32 points. Meanwhile, de Haan looks to step right in and replace Hanifin on the left side.

Those two would appear to join Pesce and Slavin as the top four, with Faulk — whose plus-minus rating was a career-worst minus-26 and whose 31 points were his worst since 2012-13 — slipping to a lower rung along with Trevor van Riemsdyk or Fleury.

The ultimate goal, of course, is to bring an end to that pesky playoff drought.

The Hurricanes have made the playoffs just once — in 2009 — since they won the Stanley Cup in 2006. If they miss the postseason again this year, they’ll tie the NHL record for consecutive seasons without a playoff berth, a dubious mark set by Florida from 2001-11 and matched by Edmonton from 2007-17.

Carolina has “a lot of talented, young guys in the system, and the guys we brought in are great players, so that will be exciting, make everybody better and push one another,” van Riemsdyk said. “I think our D-corps looks really good, and it’s an exciting time to be in Raleigh and hopefully we can make that step and make the playoffs and make some noise this year.”

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Canes need vets to set tone for young guns

Andrew Schnittker

The 2018-19 edition of the Carolina Hurricanes will look very different from previous versions. Gone are forwards Jeff Skinner, Elias Lindholm and Derek Ryan, defenseman Noah Hanifin, goalie Cam Ward and several others.

In order to snap a nine-year playoff drought, Carolina will be looking to several younger players for significant contributions. Chief among them will be the team’s past two first-round draft picks, rookie forwards Martin Necas (2017) and Andrei Svechnikov (second overall, 2018). If the Canes are going to take a leap forward, those two will have to step in and be able to score right away.

As they transition to full-time NHL players, Necas and Svechnikov will look to the Canes’ returning veteran leaders in forwards Jordan Staal and Justin Williams along with defensemen Jaccob Slavin and Justin Faulk, among others.

“I think I will look [to them] a lot,” Svechnikov said. “Those guys know everything here. I will try to just look to them.”

Staal in particular knows what it’s like to come in as a young player, making the leap after being drafted second overall by Pittsburgh in 2006. He scored 29 goals and was finalist for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year in 2006-07.

Staal will draw on his experience of being helped by Penguins veterans during his first season while he tries to do the same for Canes’ rookies.

“What I did was just watch the older guys do what they do and learn from them as best I can,” Staal said. “It’s not really what you say, I think. Obviously it is at times, but it’s your day-to-day stuff that you do to become a pro and make sure that you’re ready for every game. That’s what those guys are going to be watching. I think we have a good group of guys that are willing to put in the work every day to help the team get better.”

While Canes’ vets are helping the rookies transition to big roles, they will also try to make sure they don’t feel any unnecessary pressure to do so before they’re ready.

“I’m excited,” Williams said, “but if they’re not great players this year, I know they’re going to be good players down the road. So you don’t put any extra pressure on them. For us to be a great team, they’re going to have to be good players for us. We know that. So to say ‘We need them to do this, we need them to score this many goals, we need them to be our best players,’ it would be great if they are. But we don’t need that yet and if it happens, it happens. As of right now, we know they’re going to be good players and we know they’re young. And we’ll see where it takes us.”

Necas and Svechnikov won’t be the only people on the Canes’ bench making big transitions, as Rod Brind’Amour begins his first stint as a head coach at any level of professional hockey.

Part of his task in his first year as the bench boss will be facilitating a smooth transition for his young players. He’ll be able to lean on his 21 years’ experience playing in the NHL for that, but will also place a large onus on his returning veterans.

“They have to,” Brind’Amour said. “I think the biggest challenge when you have young players and you have a bunch of new faces is getting everybody to feel comfortable in that locker room. You don’t want an 18 year old coming into a locker room and not being confident, because he’s never going to perform on the ice. He’s got to feel like he belongs in that room, and that’s where leadership comes in. That’s where those older guys make them feel like they’re brothers and like they’re taking care of them and they can be who they are. That’s the only way they’re going to succeed.

“I know coming into the locker room as an 18 year old in the NHL, I remember that. It was really tough. It’s changed now a little bit, but I remember just being so nervous. I couldn’t even play because I was so nervous. I was kind of freaked out about what was going on. We can’t have that. We’ve got to get these guys to feel like they’re the superstars, they’re as good as the guys sitting beside them. And then we’ll know by the end of camp, hopefully, do they belong here?”

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Hamilton hoping for better chemistry, results with Hurricanes than Flames

Defenseman joined another talented group after offseason trade

Dougie Hamilton said he is excited to be part of another highly rated defenseman group with the Carolina Hurricanes. He just hopes it turns out better than it did with the Calgary Flames, who traded him to Carolina on June 23.

"A lot of good players, high-end talent and deep," Hamilton told the Hurricanes website Tuesday. "So it's fun to be a part of that. I think when I went to Calgary, it was kind of the same thing, where on paper maybe we were the best [defense] corps in the League, and we actually didn't turn out so good. So hopefully in Carolina we can do a little better of getting chemistry with everybody and really being a force back there as a unit."

The Flames made the Stanley Cup Playoffs once in three seasons after Hamilton was traded to them by the Boston Bruins on June 26, 2015, despite having a strong defenseman group that included Mark Giordano and TJ Brodie and added Travis Hamonic last season.

Hamilton, who was traded by Calgary to Carolina with forward Micheal Ferland for forward Elias Lindholm, defenseman Noah Hanifin and defenseman prospect Adam

Fox, joins a Hurricanes group that includes Justin Faulk, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce and Trevor van Riemsdyk. The 25-year-old said he hopes to help Carolina get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2008-09.

"I looked up to (former Carolina center) Eric Staal a lot when I was little, seeing the fans when they were winning and stuff," Hamilton said. "Obviously, now it's a little different with the fans and playing here. As players, we just want to get back to winning and having the fans come and having a good atmosphere and everything. I'm looking forward to that."

Hamilton's 17 goals in 2017-18 were tied for the NHL lead among defensemen with Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ivan Provorov of the Philadelphia Flyers. He's one of the new Hurricanes who have co-captain Jordan Staal confident the playoff drought will end.

"I think having optimism to start the season, knowing you have a great group that can do it, is the approach I always take, and I think we do, and we have a lot of exciting young players that are going to be fun to watch and obviously a lot of great returnees, so it's going to be a great year," said Staal, who has played for Carolina the past six seasons and is entering his second season as co-captain with Faulk.

TODAY’S LINKS

https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/article217789895.html#storylink=cpy https://thehockeywriters.com/new-faces-new-places-petr-mrazek/

https://www.canescountry.com/2018/9/4/17820754/carolina-hurricanes-media-day-rod-brindamour-head-coach-justin-williams-haydn-fleury-tom-dundon

https://apnews.com/b71dca0f82704206af0f9f537bcbcca0/Carolina-hopes-strong-defense-brings-end-to-playoff-drought

http://www.technicianonline.com/sports/article_838bedee-b0ab-11e8-b475-139713976d4f.html https://www.nhl.com/news/lars-eller-ready-to-defend-stanley-cup-help-capitals-repeat/c-299937576

CAROLINA HURRICANES


1103510 Carolina Hurricanes

Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour has questions to answer, positions to fill

BY CHIP ALEXANDER

RALEIGH-Rod Brind’Amour says he has been jotting down potential forward lines for the fast-approaching season, his first as the Carolina Hurricanes’ head coach.

“I bet I’ve been through a thousand pieces of paper this summer,” Brind’Amour said Tuesday, only partly in jest.

Should Sebastian Aho stay at center or is the Finn best-suited at the wing?

Should the “TSA” line of center Jordan Staal, with Aho and Teuvo Teravainen on the wings, be reunited?

Where does newcomer Micheal Ferland best fit?

Who would be best with center Martin Necas? That is, if Necas is used at center.

Should Necas and Andrei Svechniokov play together?

One can almost hear the crumpling paper and the gears churning in

Brind’Amour’s head.

One easy answer, and one Brind’Amour will use, is that all that will be

decided in training camp, which begins Sept. 13. And in preseason games -- the Canes have six.

One thing Brind’Amour is leaning against is having Necas and Svechnikov on the same line. Necas, the Canes’ first-round pick in 2017,

and Svechnikov, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, often were on the same line at the prospect camp this summer and seemingly intent on making sure the other had the puck and not playing their game.

Not to mention both will be NHL rookies. That’s asking a lot from the two forwards, both teenagers.

“That’s what we have to guard against,” Brind’Amour said. “You have to give them every opportunity and see what they can do and then make a decision. Are they going to be in our top nine? Is that the right thing?

Does it make our team better

“If it makes your team better it’s an easy decision. If it doesn’t, we have to

regroup it and figure out as an organization what’s the best move for their development. The main thing for me, coming out of this camp, is can

those guys play? I mean, anybody can play but they have to produce. They have to be in a position where they’re going to help our team.”

That’s where the older, more veteran players can help. Ferland, for example. The former Calgary Flame is a rugged forward and might be a

good fit with Necas to keep things honest on the ice.

Aho led the team in goals with 29 last season, after a 24-goal rookie season. Former coach Bill Peters gave him a long look at center last

season and Aho appeared to like the responsibilities of the position and showed good playmaking skills. One weakness: faceoffs.

“We know he can play wing, We know that,” Brind’Amour said. “Now can he play center, is that the best thing for him, for our team? That’s what are have to decide by the end of training camp.

“Do we start him there? Probably, and see how it works. We can always put him back on the wing. I think that’s approach we’ll go with.”

With Aho at center, the Canes could have Aho, Jordan Staal, Necas and Victor Rask down the middle. If used on the wing, that changes things.

Most of the players have returned to Raleigh, although Brind’Amour said

Aho and Teravainen are expected back Wednesday. He said once the team has reassembled, he could quickly name the captain for 2018-19.

Staal and defenseman Justin Faulk served as co-captains last season, a Peters decision. Brind’Amour said against Tuesday he would use the

more traditional approach: a captain and a few alternate captains.

Carolina Hurricanes forward Justin Williams says he believes Canes will

be a really good team this season but will have to prove it on the ice, not talk about it.

Many are expecting Brind’Amour to name forward Justin Williams, a former teammate on the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup champs, the captain. Brind’Amour was one of those strongly urging Williams to sign a free-agent contract last year and return to the Canes.

“The good news is we’re going to have a really good team,” Williams said Tuesday. “I’m not going to sit here and make promises, but all I know is we have a really, really good team.

“The fact of the matter is you have to let your play speak for itself. Words are just words. ... I thought we underachieved last year. I thought we were better than where we ended up. But at the end of the day it doesn’t

matter. You need to go out, fill the net and make a difference.”

News Observer LOADED: 09.05.2018

1103556 Websites

The Athletic / Bring on the skating test: Ryan Suter is back on the ice and ready for Wild camp

By Michael Russo

Sep 4, 2018

“Let’s put it this way: There’s little chance (Suter will) be partaking in

Boudreau’s arduous, infamous skating test to open camp Sept. 14 (although Suter, we assume, kiddingly told Boudreau that maybe he

should do the test so reporters stop asking how he’s feeling), and we may not even see him in an exhibition game.” – The Athletic’s Michael Russo in Tuesday’s State of the Franchise piece

So, we’re off to a good start.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


One column into the unofficial start of The Athletic’s 2018-19 Wild coverage, and already a CORRECTION: “Ryan Suter wasn’t kidding. We, uh, regret the error.”

On Monday, during an interview with me on KFAN, Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau said Suter told him he was feeling really good, “but I don’t know if I can make that first day’s practice.” In other words, he was hinting to Boudreau that maybe it wasn’t a good idea that he take part in the coach’s infamous skating test.

But on second thought, Suter told Boudreau, maybe he actually should participate because if he passes the test, there’d be no further questions

about his health after season-ending ankle surgery last April.

Tuesday, after Suter skated for more than an hour in the Wild’s captain’s

practice at their new practice facility in downtown St. Paul, Suter told The Athletic that not only wasn’t he kidding, he simulated Boudreau’s skating

test on Friday and passed with flying colors.

“I could do it. I’ll be fine,” Suter said, laughing. “You remember my

comments last year, right? If I feel as good as I do now (on Sept. 14), I will do the skating test.”

Last training camp, Suter’s first doing the skating test because he was at the World Cup the previous fall, Suter easily got through it with teammates joking that his blood pressure barely even spiked.

Afterward, Suter nonchalantly joked, “I don’t do any conditioning all summer and I come out and I can do that. Like, it’s not even worth me doing the test. … I was telling Nino (Niederreiter), ‘This is like a game in the second period maybe, it’s easy.’ It’s all a mindset. I don’t think there’s much more than that.”

Skating-test appearance or not, all this is good news for Suter and the Wild.

After sustaining a career-threatening injury with five games left in the regular season, Suter has declared himself good to go a month before

the regular season opens in Colorado.

“I’m not shocked,” the Wild’s No. 1 defenseman said Tuesday. “I feel like

your mindset has to be that you’re going to be good for camp, like everything’s on pace. The minute I start questioning myself, saying, ‘Oh

God, maybe I won’t be OK,’ then I’ll never be. That was my mindset all summer: Be ready for training camp.”

Suter began skating in early August and started to really ramp it up 2 1/2 weeks ago. He said that’s when he truly became confident that this injury is behind him.

He said there are no bad effects on the ice and the only issues have been soreness because of the pressure of the boot. But on Tuesday, after 40 minutes of skating, he untied his right skate for 10 minutes, the soreness subsided, he continued to practice “and now it feels better.”

To Boudreau, who was watching from the crowd, “He looks like Ryan

Suter.”

Added teammate Zach Parise, “I mean, he looks fine to me. It’s tough to

tell. I wasn’t really watching when we were doing the quick cuts and different agility things, but outside of that, when I did see him and was on

the ice with him, he looked fine.”

Parise smiled wide.

“And that’s huge,” Parise continued. “It was pretty evident in the playoffs last year and down the stretch how important he is to our team and how

much we need him. So hopefully he’s healthy. In the grand scheme of things, we still have another month until we actually start playing games, so he’s got a month left to prepare. Whether he plays exhibition games or not, who knows? All we care about is getting him ready for that first game in October.”

Suter said his only goal heading into camp is that nothing changes, that everybody knows he’s still going to be the Suter of old.

“I want to go into camp like we’ve done every year since I’ve been here, where I’m the guy, that they know they can depend on me, and I’ll be ready,” Suter said. “I mean, I’ve worked hard this summer, probably the hardest I’ve ever worked. So, I feel good. It feels good to be out skating, for sure.”

Suter doesn’t plan to change much of anything — well, except for maybe one thing. Long an opponent of wearing any kind of foot protection, Suter said he may strap a shot blocker on his boot, at least initially, at the request of general manager Paul Fenton.

“Paul said, ‘I think it’s important for you to wear one,’” Suter said. “I

probably should to start so I’m not favoring it or keeping my foot out of (shooting) lanes. You can’t play like that.”

Asked if he’ll experiment with different types, Suter said, “I don’t know. I’ll talk to (equipment manager) Tony (DaCosta). It’s not on the top of my

(to-do) list right now.”

As for the team itself, it’s well known by now the Wild didn’t make any

wholesale changes after a third consecutive first-round exit. The Wild signed bottom-six forwards Eric Fehr, J.T. Brown, Matt Hendricks and

Matt Read and third-pair defenseman Greg Pateryn.

Asked how things can change this season, Suter said, “I think it’s up to us. We have to go out and play. We’re the players. We have to go out and play. The people making the decisions, they make those decisions and we just have to play. I’m extremely confident. I think we have a good team. We just haven’t been able to take that next step in the playoffs. This is a new year. Our division got better, for sure. Every year’s tough. But it’s up to us to change things.”

‘Going down’

Typically, captain’s practices for the Wild wouldn’t start until next week,

but so many players are back in town, the Wild moved from Braemar Arena in Edina where players were skating with many of the rest of the

local pros to their new practice facility, TRIA Rink, on Tuesday.

Suter called the facility, “the whole package.” Only about a half-dozen

Wild players have not arrived in Minnesota yet.

The Wild had periodic practices at TRIA last season, but the locker room

facilities weren’t available, so the team had to do “dress and drives” from nearby Xcel Energy Center. Now, the facilities are open and players have moved in, meaning before and after practice players take an elevator ride up from the basement to the fifth-floor rink.

The Athletic LOADED: 09.05.2018

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The Athletic / Summer shinny is almost over, so it’s back to real drills – a look at my personal favourite

By Justin Bourne

Sep 4, 2018

One of the most impressive things about being in the Toronto Marlies coaches office for two seasons with the likes of Sheldon Keefe, AJ MacLean, and Gord Dineen, was how they went about drawing up their practices. As a player, I kind of always just assumed there were X

amount of drills out there, certain coaches knew certain ones, and they picked a handful of them every day for that particular practice. Maybe

some days they’d choose more skating drills if we had time between

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games, maybe there was more flow and skill stuff if we played the next day.

But that’s not really how it worked with the Marlies. What really impressed me was how thorough they were about watching video, identifying where the team was struggling, game-planning for how to improve on that, then setting out to build drills each day. (They’ve created a database of the ones that were most effective.) It was rare that there would be a day where they just picked standard drills they’ve always done.

Generally, the focus was on “how do we organically create a situation

that puts our players in the situation we want them to work on?” I had a lot of respect for that, given how easy it is to mail it in and roll out the

same 18 drills in a different order over the course of the long season. When you do that, the players come to know them, things flow smoothly

… but you’re not really pushing your team to be better.

There is an unavoidable truth about coaching though, in that as much as

you want to work on game details every practice, you also have to keep your team in shape. You can’t compete no matter how detailed you are if

you’re out of gas every shift. Sure, the new athlete is more attentive to fitness, they lift weights and play a lot of hockey, but it’s depressing how quickly hockey stamina can drop off a cliff. Ask any player who’s been in great shape, gone home for Christmas break for a handful of days, consumed meat and booze like a Viking, how that first practice back feels. It doesn’t take long to get it back, mind you, but if you don’t skate it off, it doesn’t get better. Sometimes as a coach, you simply have to put the squad through a bagger.

There’s a funny little trick though, in that if you put the team on the goal line and make them do lines (or ladders, or mountains, or whatever your

coach called them), you don’t exactly get premium effort. It’s mostly 20-some skaters looking at each other trying to non-verbally unionize going “OK, we all have to do this, don’t be the one to make the rest of us look bad. No heroes. If we all dial it back a bit nobody should get singled out.” Maybe it’s good for team building, forcing them all to get on the same page, but the point is that plain-as-day baggers don’t necessarily get you the effort you want as a coach.

So, you learn to hide them.

Now, players aren’t oblivious to the hidden bagger. They’re often standing in line after their turn talking to one another about how they’re on to the coach. But they don’t always catch on, so it’s at least worth a try

to sneak one by.

Monday on Twitter a friend preparing for the upcoming hockey season posed the question “What’s your favorite hockey drill?” and I responded that I had one for him, and that’d I’d DM it. I got numerous messages –

like a stunning amount — from other individuals that they’d like to hear about it too, so I thought I’d lay it out for everyone here today. It’s related to exactly what I was talking about above: it’s a bit of a hidden bagger.

The thing is, it also carries with it two things that push your players to maximize their effort. It both offers a reward (well, that being freedom from punishment), and adds true competitiveness.

Here’s a sentiment anyone who has ever run a hockey practice has said, or at least thought: it’s pretty basic, but hockey players are idiots, and if everyone doesn’t listen and pay attention, it will fall apart. That’s part of the perk as a coach here though, is that a lot of drills ask for attention

and engagement, but because this one is fun, you usually get it.

Interestingly enough, this drill isn’t from the Marlies. Stick-tap to my junior

coach, Mike Vandekamp, for putting me through it back in the day.

So here’s what made this drill so competitive: the losers had to actually

bagskate when it was over. Because of that, players tended to lose track of how much they were skating while competing to avoid … essentially

more of what they were currently doing.

It was the forwards versus the D, and goalie versus goalie. The game was that if the forwards could pot 10 goals in the allotted time — I believe

we generally did seven minutes at the end of practice, though 10 would probably work better for younger players – the D had to skate. If the D could keep the forwards under 10, the forwards skated. The goalie who gave up the most goals is with the skating group regardless (the winning group sat on the bench and “cheered” them on).

To start off, you set up the team like so – wingers split on one blue, Ds split at the red, centers in the far corner, and a coach in each corner.

First, the wingers get a pass from the coach – either wing, doesn’t matter — and start on a 2-on-0. Goalies hate that part, but whatever, it’s a blast as a forward, and fun to have a crack at that rare situation. (Note for

forwards: the trick is pass early then shoot it quick. At least make the goalie move, but don’t overthink it with fancy stuff.)

After that initial shot – no rebounds allowed, by the way – the coach would have a second puck ready for those same two wingers, and a

defenceman would jump out.

The great part here, is you’re now into more real hockey gameplay, as

the D has to properly gap up and take an oncoming 2-on-1 the other way. If they get too aggressive the forwards could blow by them, if they sag

back, they leave the forwards far too much room and comfort to make plays. So, 2-on-0 followed by a 2-on-1 the other way.

That poor D who’s just taken the previous 2-on-1 now becomes the “backchecker,” in what sounds like it’d be a 3-on-1 with back pressure, but almost always becomes a 3-on-2. His partner skates down and gaps up, communicates with the original D in a situation that’s a little like a defender getting caught deep on offence and scrambling to get back in position. As you can imagine, this is where it starts to feel a bit like a bagger. The one D is sprinting back, while the wingers are on their third trip up and down the ice.

The coach at that end is going to hit the center out of the corner, who’s likely going to fill the middle lane with the puck on a rush the other way.

In general, that makes the most sense on a 3-on-2 offensive rush, right? If you’re on the wall there’s only one direction to go. The plan is generally

to challenge that middle so it keeps the D tight, then kick it out to a winger who should logically have the most space possible. (Note for

forwards: after the center kicks it out on 3-on-2s, he should drive the middle lane, and both wingers should slow up so they can make plays above the D, or hit the streaking center if the D leave him. None of this is mandatory, just my personal hockey advice.)

Here’s what that looks like after the 2-on-1 shot (again, no rebounds):

As I mentioned, the D almost always gets back and plays a straight up 3-on-2 for a couple reasons. One, is that they know they have to play D going the other way, so with no rebounds, as soon as the forwards shoot they usually sprint the other way, while a forward or two gets trapped deep trying to make a play (so the puck carrier holds up). And two, because forwards don’t realize how slow they take rushes when they don’t have back pressure as they do in a game. That’s not ideal, but because the backchecking D is sort of in their midst on the way up the ice, they tend to be pushed to make good offensive plays (on somewhat tired legs for the wingers).

Throughout all this, remember, the clock is ticking, so other forwards go crazy when a line dilly-dallys to wait for all three forwards to be together (if a guy falls, say), but it is your best chance to score.

After that 3-on-2 shot, the center gets a pass from the coach for a

straight-on full-ice breakaway … only the second D that jumped out is chasing him. We generally played it that that D couldn’t start the chase

until the center got the puck, so it wasn’t a 1-on-1. Those usually turn into nothing, whereas a breakaway with a chaser forces both players to push,

speed-wise. Again – hidden bagger.

As soon as that shot is taken, the next two wingers start their 2-on-0 to

begin the cycle anew.

It gets super fun as the drama of the 10 goal threshold gets closer, and the whole team is hollering at a guy doing a full sprint breakaway to push

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the forwards over the top. All told, the wingers do two-and-a-half lengths each run, centers two, D two. In the given time frame, you probably get four-to-five turns, which means you could be looking at around 10 times up and back, a few of which involve real hustle. (It’s smart to have each player on each line take a turn as the “center,” as these offensive situations aren’t really position dependent.)

And after that, tired and happy on the bench, half the team gets to chirp the other half of the team, and everyone’s had a good time.

Summer’s almost over, and some training camps are but 10 days away. As hard as you can train, there’s no conditioning like game conditioning,

but that doesn’t mean coaches won’t do their darnedest to get their players as close as possible.


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The Athletic / Rival NHL executives divided on what to expect from hyped Maple Leafs in 2018

By Pierre LeBrun

Sep 4, 2018

TORONTO — No matter what happens, this is the year of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Win or lose, sink or swim, Stanley Cup or disaster around the corner, the Leafs are going to absolutely dominate the headlines in the hockey

world.

One could argue they always do, but the addition of John Tavares to a talented, young and rising squad is going to put the media circus on steroids.

It started on July 2 when Vegas oddsmakers listed the Leafs as Stanley Cup favorites a day after landing the biggest UFA star in years.

And so as I get back to work after a refreshing summer off, there’s no question I had to tackle this idea of what the Leafs are, what they could

be, and the pressure that awaits.

I canvassed a few GMs, coaches and other front-office types from the league over the past week and found a very mixed reaction to what these guys expect from the Leafs this season.

“Vegas has them as the favorite to win the Cup, I believe? And rightfully so,’’ said one rival Eastern Conference executive.

“I don’t necessarily agree with that,” countered another rival Eastern Conference exec when asked about the Leafs being the team to beat.

“I mean, they’re good, but they’ve also lost some guys,” he added. “They

lost JVR (James van Riemsdyk), they lost (Leo) Komarov, guys that were good players for them. I know Tavares is good and they’ve got three

good centres, but as a team they’re unproven, I would consider them a very good team but I wouldn’t put them at No. 1 to start the season, by any stretch.’’

It was quite a vast difference of opinion from the hockey people I heard

from, which is why this season is going to be so damn interesting in Toronto.

“Everyone in Toronto thinks they will get the Cup so there’s that pressure,’’ said a Western Conference head coach. “They may have the three best centres in the league, but the same defence. And (Mike)

Babcock must make them all buy in about ice time because Tavares won’t be getting 21 minutes a game.’’

Added an Eastern Conference head coach: “They had a good team last year and they have improved on that. Also, their minor-league team won the Calder Cup so clearly they have guys coming up. They’ll be a contender.’’

Again, contrasting views. Let’s look at some clear themes that came up in these conversations.

There is zero downside to adding a quality superstar like John Tavares.

“Their firepower is pretty significant and now they add a high-character guy who wants to win, who’s selfless, who’s mature,” gushed one rival Eastern Conference exec.

He pointed to the potential impact Tavares would have on a guy like Mitch Marner, but really any young player on the roster.

“How many of those younger guys like Marner are going to get better by having Tavares around? It’s scary, really,’’ he said.

“To add Tavares without having to give up anything, it’s such a huge get for that marketplace and that team,” said another Eastern Conference exec. “I have to think they had the best summer of anyone in the league.’’

While one Western Conference GM worried about Tavares’ skating four years from now, he said the immediate impact is clear. Depth down the

middle wins championships and he said while the defence is lacking in Toronto, the Leafs can use that deep talent up front in a few different ways.

“They’re going to be able to score and be able to control the game up

front,” said the GM. “They’ve got a lot of good forwards. They can use that to their advantage, either by dealing one of them (for a D-man) or just make it the engine for their team, the way that they can score.’’

As another Western Conference GM pointed out, no team is perfect in the salary cap era. Every contender has holes. The Leafs’ talent up front is scary, he said.

“I wouldn’t bet against Toronto, are you kidding? They clearly can outscore you every game,’’ he said.

Not surprisingly, the guys I canvassed had questions about the Leafs’ blueline.

“I think the question with them is always probably going to be the defence,” said a Western Conference GM. “Not only how good are they

at defending but how good is that group at transitioning the puck? So you got to have a combination of guys who can kill plays and defend but also

get the puck up the ice, be good passers. I don’t know that they’ve got that. That might be the area that’s a concern going into the season. I don’t think their defence is awful, but it’s not a strength, if you’re comparing it to many of the other elite teams. They’re lagging behind teams like Tampa in that area.’’

Said an Eastern Conference exec via text message: “D is the biggest area of concern. After (Morgan) Rielly and (Jake) Gardiner they lack a

combination of skill, experience, compete and depth. The backend could well be their Achilles heel, especially if they have injuries.’’

OK, countered another Eastern Conference exec, so the Leafs’ D isn’t their strength. But no team is perfect. That offensive talent and depth is

sublime, he said.

“A lot of teams would trade places with them,’’ he said, not nearly as convinced the Leafs’ D would ultimately sink them.

It was interesting how many of the hockey guys I spoke with, unsolicited I might add, brought up the fact Kyle Dubas was now the GM of the Leafs.

Don’t get the wrong impression. Everyone respects the work veteran GM Lou Lamoriello did in changing the culture in Toronto and getting a

broken ship restored. But it is clear that many hockey execs around the

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league also feel the timing was right to go with Dubas, whom one called a “breath of fresh air.’’

“Their front office (with Dubas in charge) is now super progressive and super collaborative,’’ said one Eastern Conference exec.

In fact, aside from this column, just anecdotally throughout the summer, the reaction from other front office types about the young Leafs GM has been quite positive, especially from those that dealt with him through the AHL ranks.

Having said that, I did have one Eastern Conference exec who questioned whether the “meat-grinder market’’ that is Toronto was the

right setting for a young GM to start his career in.

“Tough city to cut your teeth as a first-time GM — just ask JFJ,” said the

exec. As an aside, John Ferguson Jr. remains the last Leafs GM with a playoff series win under his belt, back in 2004. “Good guys as AGMs

(Laurence Gilman, Brandon Pridham) but none of them have ever been a GM. Good times or bad, and there will be both, where does KD get sage

advice from?’’ added the exec.

Well, I would argue Gilman is exactly the guy that can do that with his

years of experience in Vancouver and Arizona.

“Laurence is a perfect fit that way,’’ agreed another Eastern Conference exec.

But the first point is valid, can a rookie GM handle the Toronto market?

Last season ended with a whammy of a narrative, or at least the perception of one, that head coach Mike Babcock and his young franchise player, Auston Matthews, were not on the same page by the end of that Boston series.

Babcock directly addressed it when I sat down with him in June at a Hockey Canada event.

No question the Leafs coach came up in the comments from the hockey people I interviewed last week.

“You have to look at the Babcock factor,” said one Eastern Conference exec. “He’s such an effective coach until he isn’t.’’

Added another Eastern Conference exec: “Not sure he is the right guy for the talented brat pack in Toronto.’’

And yet I obviously got the exact opposite feeling from a few others,

including one Eastern Conference exec who says it was silly even to wonder about all this, calling Babcock “still the best coach in the league.’’

Real or not, the narrative will re-surface when times are tough this season, the deployment of Matthews, Marner, William Nylander, all will

be scrutinized closely.

Which is hardly news to Babcock, who knew he was signing up for that

three years ago when he came to Toronto.

But it’s certainly another layer of spice no matter how you view it.

The Leafs, of course, carry the longest Stanley Cup drought in the NHL, dating back to 1967. The Tavares signing was the cherry on the sundae for many Leafs fans after an exciting rebuild around Matthews. Leaf fans can smell it. And they’re ready to explode.

It’s a factor some of the hockey guys also touched on. How do the Leafs, from top to bottom, handle it as an organization?

“It’s good, they’re the New York Yankees of the NHL,” said one Eastern Conference exec. “Even when they had decent teams in the past, they were always viewed as being better than they were, when they had players in the past they were always viewed as better than they were

because of the Toronto thing. It’s just the way it is. It’s the biggest market in the world.’’

But the league’s biggest hockey market and that burden might be just too much to handle says one Eastern Conference exec.

“Layer on ridiculous and unrealistic expectations by the fans and media and I suspect it will be a less than smooth season in the Big Smoke,’’ he said. “My gut tells me they have a somewhat tumultuous season and fall significantly short of expectations.’’

Again, some people view it completely differently. The Leafs are poised for great things, argued another Eastern Conference exec.

“They are going to head into camp with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of reason for optimism, they know they’re just coming into their window,’’ he said. “They’re going to be a good team for a long time. They have arguably the best coach in the league, or certainly one of them. It’s good

in Leaf Nation right now, I think. Very good.’’

We’ll know in about eight or nine months, that’s for sure.

But I think whatever happens this season, good or bad, the most important thing about this Leafs team is that it’s built for long-term

success. That doesn’t mean there won’t be heartache or changes, but the most neutral view possible in September 2018 is that never even in

the Pat Burns or Pat Quinn era have the Leafs been in this kind of position in terms of talent and possibilities.

In the salary cap era, things change fast, but that is the reality of the moment in Toronto.


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The Athletic / State of the Franchise: New season, new GM, same big expectations for the Wild

By Michael Russo

Sep 4, 2018

Please, don’t stop reading if you’ve heard any of this before:

It’s now or never.

The Wild are trying to get over the hump.

They’re trying to take the next step/reach new heights/raise the expectations.

Look, I get it: This same storyline has been on a loop for years and has grown tired in hockey-rich Minnesota.

Two seasons ago, the team motto printed on each player’s training camp t-shirt was, “OUR TIME IS NOW!” Last season, it was, “Good is not good enough.” And when the Wild open training camp next week, the latest slogan will be, “Raising the bar.”

Pithy mantras, sure, but frustrated, impatient Wild fans are growing numb to it.

The reality, like it or not, is this must remain this season’s chief objective after last season’s sixth consecutive playoff berth again ended in a blink

and a blur thanks to the Winnipeg Jets and Mark Scheifele’s lethal hands.

The Wild have proven to be a good team. There’s no denying this.

Every year they make the playoffs, something that should not be taken

for granted when every season there are teams with arguably more firepower (Chicago, Dallas, Colorado and so on) that miss the playoffs

and the Wild are the ones left standing and always playing beyond Game

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82. Only the Pittsburgh Penguins have made the playoffs more times in a row than the Wild.

But the Wild do have a plateau problem. There’s also no denying this.

Three straight first-round exits. Two years ago, they nearly won the West yet bowed out quickly to St. Louis. Last season, the Wild amassed a second-straight 100-point season under Bruce Boudreau despite being decimated by injury from start to finish. Yet, in the end, they still managed only a single playoff victory for a second consecutive season.

They just seem to be a good regular-season team that’s always spinning their wheels and leaving fans — and themselves — unsatisfied in the

end.

Chuck Fletcher, who was fired in April after nine seasons as the Wild

GM, committed to the core he built, resisted trading most of those players and instead used draft picks as currency. The effect? A core that once

again didn’t get it done in the playoffs and a prospect pool that is thinner than matzah.

So, now, enter Paul Fenton, the longtime Nashville Predators executive who will get to run a franchise for the first time. He’s an outside opinion

without allegiances to any of these players. It’s his turn to get his eyes — new eyes — on a roster that’s full of good players but players who haven’t proven to be great come springtime.

Paul Fenton

After nine seasons under former GM Chuck Fletcher, the Wild are Paul Fenton’s team now. (Credit: Michael Russo)

Many of us expected him to make a bold, core-altering trade or two by now. It wasn’t without trying, but it still hasn’t come into fruition. Instead, he tinkered around the edges by addressing the fourth line with the signings of Eric Fehr, J.T. Brown, Matt Hendricks and Matt Read and

adding rugged defenseman Greg Pateryn.

At this juncture, it’s probably good for Fenton to be patient and get more

information.

After this offseason’s re-signings of Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba, the

entire core the previous regime committed to has been paid. Now Fenton and his new right-hand man, Tommy Kurvers, can evaluate and identify

the players that should remain when they eventually do start making moves with the idea of getting this team over the hump.

Fenton admits he’s not the most patient man, but “neither of us has seen one second of hockey, so we want to get to know this group here and see what pieces fit.”

Fenton’s initial belief: the Wild have proven to have quality top-nine forwards and a high-scoring blue line that he ranks among the five best overall back ends in the NHL. He has a goalie in Devan Dubnyk that has statistically been one of the league’s best regular-season netminders since 2015 and a fourth line with added grit, toughness and character.

He’s got a coach with the second-best regular-season points percentage in the long history of the NHL.

“Now we want to see what we have here,” Fenton said. “I like the group. I want to get a look at the group. That’s the biggest thing. I’ve got a pretty

good feel for the chemistry and talent level by looking at it from afar, but things do look different when you get in there and open up the hood. I’m

happy with the free agents we signed. We added different types of elements, some right-shot forwards that we lacked, some character that I

think will go a long way in the locker room and a real quality defenseman.

“Now, let’s see how it measures up going forward.”

The good news: Despite some non-playoff teams from last year getting better at least on paper, the Wild are an experienced, tested team that knows how to get in the dance of 16. This should buy Fenton some time to dissect things.

Biggest on-ice question

Will Ryan Suter be the Suter of old?

Prior to breaking his fibula and a rarely-injured bone in the right ankle, Suter missed a grand total of zero games to injury in six seasons with the Wild. He had played in 449 of 454 Wild games, missing five in 2014-15 to the mumps, a suspension and a one-game rest (much to his chagrin) leading into the playoffs.

Suter is so old-school. He’s willing to play through anything and is willing to test the limits even after doctors warned him he suffered an injury that could threaten his career.

Suter, who underwent surgery in April, was putting weight on his ankle

before he was expected to, walking before he was expected to and skating before he was expected to.

Now, he’s skating hard in an attempt to get ready for the start of training camp Sept. 13. But there’s a big difference between skating laps on a

rink and actual hockey skating while getting bumped, checked, facing 90-plus mph slap shots and having to do stops and starts while defending or

chasing down pucks.

Will the smooth, almost-robotic Suter, one who has the ability to control

the pace of games and get the puck out of harm’s way and up the ice, look like the minute-munching defenseman that can go up against the league’s most daunting forwards?

It’s a realistic, unknown question that worries the Wild, but so far, so good.

On Monday, Suter told The Athletic that he feels great and his latest CT scan shows he’s “all healed up.” He’s skating daily. In fact, Boudreau watched him last week and said he looked like the Suter of old.

Still, the Wild will surely be cautious. It’s the reason Fenton called and texted Suter multiple times last month to keep him from playing in the

Stars & Stripes Showdown in Michigan.

Ryan Suter

Let’s put it this way: There’s little chance he’ll be partaking in Boudreau’s arduous, infamous skating test to open camp Sept. 14 (although Suter,

we assume, kiddingly told Boudreau that maybe he should do the test so reporters stop asking how he’s feeling), and we may not even see him in

an exhibition game.

The goal is to have him ready for the Oct. 4 opener, not the start of training camp. In reality, even if it takes Suter longer into the season to debut, the Wild would be fine with that because they know how critical he is to the Wild’s long-term success this season and beyond.

But as Boudreau likes to say, tell Suter he can’t do something and he’s liable to say, ‘The hell with you, I’m going to prove you wrong and stick it right up your” you-know-what. If he’s not healthy or at least “100 percent” feeling and looking like the Suter of old, this will be one gigantic problem.

We all saw the Wild’s latest playoff exit to Winnipeg — Jonas Brodin is

not Ryan Suter. And, a combination of Brodin and inexperienced left-shots Nick Seeler, Carson Soucy and Gustav Olofsson won’t make up for

Suter’s absence.

At times, Suter is underappreciated in Minnesota because he’s not a wild

stallion like Brent Burns and doesn’t let fly Al MacInnis-like slap shots.

But since 2008-09, among active defensemen, nobody has averaged

more time on ice in the NHL (26:47 a game) than Suter. In that span, he ranks third in power-play assists, fourth in overall assists, tied for fifth in

power-play points, tied for seventh in scoring and 15th in shots. Even missing the final four games last season, Suter tied his own career-best and defenseman franchise-record point total of 51 and set a career-high and defenseman franchise record with 45 assists.

The one constant the past six seasons has been Suter as the Wild’s stalwart, No. 1 defenseman.

If that doesn’t continue, look out.

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“I just want him at 100 percent,” Boudreau said. “If he had to miss a week to make him better, you can’t afford to lose a player that plays between 25 and 30 minutes and as your No. 1 defenseman for any length of time. And Ryan is that. He’s our rock back there. We just want him healthy and we think we’ll get him healthy sooner rather than later.”

Depth chart analysis

Left wing: The Wild are most deep up front at this position. Jason Zucker, armed with a brand-spanking-new five-year, $27.5 million contract, was rewarded for “proving it” during a two-year, prove-it-to-me contract. One year after scoring a career-high 22 goals and tying for the league-lead

with a plus-34, Zucker potted 11 more goals for a total of 33. He’s the fastest forward on the team and the closest the Wild have to a pure

finisher.

Behind him is Zach Parise. After missing last season’s first half due to a

back injury that would require surgery, it took Parise a few months to get going before taking off with 12 goals during a late 16-game stretch. He

also scored a goal in the first three games of the playoffs before a broken sternum ended his season and effectively doomed the Wild.

Nino Niederreiter had three consecutive 20-goal seasons before last year’s injury-plagued 18-goal season. He’s looking for a bounceback year. He’s versatile and could end up at right wing because of the Wild’s lack of depth there. If that’s the case, rookie Jordan Greenway, who will be given a bona fide shot in training camp to make the team, could end up as the third-line left wing. Boudreau was blown away during his improvement after debuting late in the season following his junior year at Boston University. Greenway played six regular-season games and Boudreau is on record saying that Greenway may have been the Wild’s best forward by the end of the playoffs.

Hard-hitting Marcus Foligno had a tough first year with the Wild but was much better down the stretch and effective in the playoffs. The Wild also

added veteran checker Matt Hendricks, whom Boudreau campaigned for as much for his character in the locker room as his ability to stand up for

teammates on the ice.

Center: Eric Staal, 33, is enjoying quite the renaissance to his career as

he enters the final year of a bargain, very team-friendly, three-year, $10.5 million contract. He followed a 28-goal campaign in 2016-17 with 42 goals and 76 points last season and an invitation to the All-Star Game. Not only did he become the second 40-goal scorer in Wild history and matched Marian Gaborik’s team record, Staal scored his most goals

since 2005-06 (his second year in the NHL when he won the Stanley Cup with Carolina) and tied for his most points since 2007-08. The 76 points

were the highest point total by a Wild player in 10 years.

Eric Staal

Captain Mikko Koivu, the all-time leader in Wild games and points, signed a two-year extension last September and will be turning 36 in March. After being a finalist for the Selke Trophy two years ago, he dipped offensively with 14 goals and 31 assists and won only 51.4 percent of his faceoffs, his worst success rate since his second season, in 2006-07.

The Wild are looking for huge offensive strides from Joel Eriksson Ek. He scored only six goals last season and suffered through a 50-game goal drought. It felt like he was just handed a roster spot last season. This season will be his second full year and he should play with better

linemates. He was good down the stretch and in the playoffs.

The Wild badly needed a right-shot center and didn’t have a lot of money

to spend, so they signed Eric Fehr, who played for Boudreau in Washington, for $1 million. If the Wild run into injury problems, there’s not

a lot of minor-league options, so they could always move Charlie Coyle or Mikael Granlund to the middle.

Right wing: At some point, the Wild could really use a top-scoring, right-shot right wing. But after a very slow start to last season — likely due to an ankle injury entering camp and a groin injury coming out of camp — the left-shot Granlund took off in the second half with 45 points in his final

46 games. He finished with a career-high 46 assists and had 67 points, two off his team-leading, career-high from 2016-17.

The second-line right wing spot is up for grabs between likely Niederreiter and Coyle. Boudreau said Monday he expects one of Coyle or Niederreiter to be on the right side of Parise-Koivu and Greenway-Eriksson Ek. Coyle had an extremely disappointing 2017-18 with only 11 goals and 26 assists. He broke his fibula the third game of the season, underwent surgery and never got right. Then, he played through a pair of wrist injuries the entire second half that would require surgery after the season.

The Wild signed J.T. Brown, a right-shot speedster and energy guy, for the fourth line. The Wild also have Luke Kunin, the former Team USA

world junior gold-medal-winning captain and first-round pick, working his way back from a torn ACL. The Wild will be patient with him in training

camp and wouldn’t mind him starting in Iowa. The team also signed former Bemidji State standout Matt Read. Read has 437 games of NHL

experience with the Philadelphia Flyers. If the Wild are healthy, both players may start in Iowa if Greenway wins a roster spot out of camp.

The Wild also have former University of Minnesota scorer Kyle Rau in the system to provide depth. He can play any forward position.

Defense: The Wild’s defensemen totaled a franchise-record 200 points last season, ranking second in the NHL behind only Nashville’s defensemen (206). Last training camp, Boudreau wanted to try Ryan Suter with Matt Dumba because even though Suter prefers to play with Jared Spurgeon, Dumba’s game always seems to be lifted playing with Suter. Suter and Dumba were aligned until the final practice of camp when he was reunited with Spurgeon.

Boudreau has hinted he’d like to try Suter with Dumba again. Dumba,

who in July signed a five-year, $30 million contract, hit double-digit goals for a third straight season and is the one Wild blue-liner with the capability of scoring 20. He set career-highs in virtually every statistical category last season including points (50).

That would leave Jonas Brodin and Spurgeon as the second pair. Both are terrific defensemen. In fact, many would debate that Spurgeon is the Wild’s best defenseman. But both are brittle. Brodin has missed an

average of 12 games a season the past four years and Spurgeon has missed an average of 13 games a season the past five years. Last

season, Spurgeon partially tore his hamstring and rushed back well less than 100 percent for the playoffs.

The third pair could be interesting. On the left side, Nick Seeler got a 22-game look from the Wild last year and proved to be tough, mobile and

reliable. He got a one-way contract but doesn’t require waivers to get to the minors. Still, the Wild are very much expecting him to make the team.

Gustav Olofsson does require waivers and is coming off another disappointing year and he knows this could be his final chance to prove his worth to the Wild. Carson Soucy also had a solid year in the minors last season, and in his first pro year, even got a look on the Wild and looked good. On the right side, Nate Prosser will again have to fight to get playing time because the Wild signed Dallas Stars shutdown blue-liner Greg Pateryn. Paired last season with veteran Dan Hamhuis, Pateryn was a solid penalty killer and was one of nine NHL defensemen last season with at least 140 blocked shots and 150 hits. The Wild have good depth in the minors with Ryan Murphy and Louie Belpedio, who had

a couple of assists in his NHL debut last season after signing out of Miami University.

Goaltenders: Devan Dubnyk has his doubters, yet since debuting for the Wild on Jan. 15, 2015, he leads the NHL with 231 games played and 20

shutouts, is tied for first with a .923 save percentage, is second with 134 wins and second with a 2.26 goals-against average. Fenton, who did see

the worst of Dubnyk during two lousy games played for Nashville in 2014, calls Dubnyk a “good regular-season goaltender.” That seems to hint that Fenton at least questions whether Dubnyk can get it done in the playoffs. In four playoffs for the Wild, Dubnyk has gotten the Wild past the first round once and is 8-18 with a 2.72 goals-against average and .904 save

percentage.

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Devan Dubnyk

Alex Stalock has been with the Wild for two years and was the backup last season, so it’s his job to lose to newcomer Andrew Hammond this training camp. Fenton has made it clear he does feel the Wild lack a “star goaltender coming up in the system.”

Power play: With assistant coach John Anderson out, Dean Evason will coach the power play. Evason, who coached the Fenton-managed Milwaukee Admirals, essentially creates a reunited Washington Capitals coaching staff from Boudreau’s time there because Boudreau’s other assistant is Bob Woods, who also was in Washington. The power play in

each of the past two seasons was over 20 percent, something only achieved once previously — in 2008-09. But still, 20 percent isn’t the

accomplishment it once was. Finishing 20.4 percent last season still ranked the Wild tied for 17th in the NHL.

Boudreau actually has a lot of weapons. He could go with the Zucker-Staal-Granlund line as Unit 1 up front and the Parise-Koivu-Niederreiter

line as Unit 2. But that would leave Greenway off the power play and he could be quite the net-front presence. At the point, the Wild would have

Dumba and Suter and Brodin and Spurgeon. The Wild are one of the few teams that doesn’t use a forward, typically, at the point. If that were to change, Granlund, Zucker and Coyle are the likeliest choices.

Penalty kill: The Wild’s penalty kill was peculiar. Like their goaltending, it was exceptional at home and horrific on the road. The Wild ranked fourth at home by killing 86.1 percent of opposing power plays and finished 22nd on the road (77.3 percent). Boudreau basically rotated four forwards down the stretch to get more of a rhythm. But he too has plenty of weapons with Koivu and Granlund, Eriksson Ek and Coyle, Parise and Zucker and newcomers Brown and Fehr.

In the pipeline

Forwards: Thank goodness for the figment of every Wild fan’s

imagination, Kirill Kaprizov, or the Wild’s prospect pool would be really bleak. One of hockey’s best prospects outside North America, Kaprizov,

who led the entire world junior championships two years ago with nine goals, is coming off another tremendous KHL season and looked great in

the world championships and the Olympics. The problem? He signed a two-year extension, so his agent, Dan Milstein, has told The Athletic umpteen times that there’s no chance of him signing with the Wild until the 2020-21 season. Both Milstein and Fenton have said plans are in the works for Fenton and members of his staff to fly to Russia this season to

begin a relationship with the young stud.

Behind Kaprizov in Corey Pronman’s recent Wild prospect report areGreenway and Kunin. But after that, nobody’s considered close to being NHL-ready. One caveat: Wild fans are clamoring for Sam Anas, a

highly-skilled, yet undersized player for Iowa last season who scored 26 goals and 61 points. Maybe a new regime will give him a look if the Wild have injury trouble or he has a strong camp.

Dmitry Sokolov scored 98 goals in the OHL in the two years since the Wild drafted him in the seventh round and will turn pro with the Iowa Wild this season, but he’ll need to improve his fitness and play away from the puck to make it. The Wild have high hopes for Ivan Lodnia, who had a quality year of juniors last season for Erie, and Mason Shaw, coming off a torn ACL and MCL. Lodnia was recently traded to Niagara. The Wild believe they drafted a power forward in Boston College’s Jack McBain in

June, but he has to work on his first couple steps. Alexander Khovanov is a wild card. He missed the first half of last season after contracting

Hepatitis-A while visiting the Dominican Republic last summer. He has quick hands and great hockey sense and has publicly stated he expects

to score 100 points this season for Moncton in the Quebec League.

Defensemen: The Wild went off the board, so to speak, by surprising

everyone and drafting Filip Johansson in the first round in June. The Wild believe they’ll have the last laugh in a few years. And, who knows, but maybe they even drafted a better Johansson at 148th overall. Simon Johansson was just named top defenseman in the Under 20 4 Nations

tournament. He showed off his big shot from the point and made some terrifically skilled plays coming up the ice and in the offensive zone.

Wild fans got a good look at Seeler and Soucy last season and both are NHL-ready. Belpedio also looks like he can be a better pro than college player, while undrafted Brennan Menell had a strong training camp last year for the Wild.

Goaltenders: So, the ship sailed on Steve Michalek, as the Wild gave him the boot this offseason. They are bringing over Kaapo Kahkonen to compete down in Iowa. A few years ago he made more news for continually scoring goals in Europe. Yes, scoring goals — multiple ones.

But he’s coming off a strong year in his actual net, too, for his Finnish Elite League team, and the Wild are ready to see what they got in the

2014 fourth-rounder.

The $2.167 million cap hit to bought-out Tyler Ennis doesn’t help, but the

Wild actually have more breathing room entering this season than they had last season when they were forced to use their long-term injury

cushion almost immediately.

With 13 forwards and eight defensemen on the team, the Wild will be

roughly $1.7 million under the $79.5 million ceiling. But they could create more space by only keeping seven defensemen. That would likely mean putting Olofsson or Prosser on waivers, or perhaps Seeler doesn’t earn a roster spot to open camp.

The Wild don’t plan to begin considering an extension for Staal, who enters the final year of his contract, until watching how he plays this season. If Staal warrants an extension, the Wild do have the space to give it to him.

Long-term, the Wild may continue to have trouble signing or trading for the big fish now that they paid their entire core coupled with the fact

Parise and Suter still have seven years left on contracts with $7.538 million cap hits.

Fenton talked to every GM in the NHL multiple times in an attempt to make a splashy trade. But, as one source describes, those GMs were

“circling and lowballing.”

Fenton said it was like a game of “War,” where GMs were throwing down

3s and hoping to pick up an ace. Maybe they figured he didn’t know his new team very well, so they were trying to steal things.

“I probably would have done the same thing,” Fenton said. “But I’m not just going to make a bold statement to make a bold statement. I want to see what our team is. We might have a very good team going forward here with the additions that we’ve made. I’m not going to make a move just to make a move. I think our team should have the ability to be able to prove ourselves and see where we are as a team and as an organization.”

So, once again, it’s time for the Wild to raise the bar, to prove that good

isn’t good enough, that their time is now.

And it needs to be.

Every year prognosticators pick on the Wild in their preseason predictions. Once again, many are assuming this is the year the rug is

pulled out from under this team.

After all, age is catching up to veterans like Koivu, Staal, Dubnyk, Parise,

and Suter, with the latter two having seven years left on their $98 million deals and mileage on the tank by means of significant injuries the past

few seasons.

Questions surround Coyle and Niederreiter to see if they can bounce back, and Staal and Zucker to see if they can reprise last season’s strong play. Can Eriksson Ek really catapult himself into a two-way stud?

In five years in Des Moines, the Iowa Wild haven’t made the playoffs and have the fewest wins in the AHL in that span. Kaprizov remains a ghost but keeps teasing with spectacular highlights overseas.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


So, what’s the state of the franchise? So far, a good team with warts when it counts.

But Fenton will try to ascertain: Was the latest early exit just an aberration and the zero points Zucker, Coyle and Niederreiter combined for a fluke? Were the Wild just doomed from the start simply by Suter’s absence, Parise’s eventual injury and Spurgeon playing hurt? Was fiddling around the edges this past offseason enough to push the Wild forward when it matters?

We shall see.

But there are no weak sisters in the Central Division and Fenton will be

upstairs eyeballing and analyzing with the same objective his predecessor had: Pushing this team over the top.

Yes, yes, yes, you’ve heard all this before. Let’s see if it happens … this time.

If it doesn’t, it’ll be fascinating to watch how Fenton proceeds.


1103560 Websites

The Athletic / Q&A with Paul Bissonnette, Part I: On Spittin’ Chiclets,

Barstool Sports and how he gets interview subjects to open up

By Josh Cooper

Sep 4, 2018

Paul Bissonnette is a media mogul.

Well, not quite … yet. But the former NHL forward, who made a name for

himself as arguably the league’s first Twitter celebrity while he was a member of the Arizona Coyotes, acclimated quickly into the

communications realm in his first season as a non-player in 2017-18.

He became the radio analyst for the Coyotes last year, joined Barstool

Sports’ popular “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast this offseason and also released a five-part online mockumentary video called “BizNasty Does

B.C.” where he talked to NHL stars around British Columbia. This was originally filmed a year ago.

The 33-year-old Bissonnette has seemed to figure out one part of the media game pretty well, in that he’s able to get interview subjects to open up and divulge stories or opinions that they generally keep to themselves when asked by reporters in a locker room setting.

“A lot of these guys I know, or they’re a friend of a friend so they’ll talk to me like a buddy and that’s an advantage that I guess we have over just like a regular person in media,” he said of himself and “Spittin’ Chiclets” in general, which is co-hosted by former NHLer Ryan Whitney and Brian McGonagle.

Overall, Bissonnette, who played 573 professional games between the

NHL, AHL and ECHL is quite a busy guy, so it was much appreciated that he gave us some time to go over several topics. We talked with him about the podcast, his association with Barstool – a company that has often come under fire for its male-dominated take on sports humor – and his mockumentary.

This is Part One of a two-part Q&A with Bissonnette. On Wednesday, we’ll go over several other topics, like his struggles as his career neared

its end, his soft spot for the Kings’ organization and how he got involved with the Coyotes on the broadcast side.

Josh Cooper: How do you get guys to open up on “Spittin’ Chiclets” like they do? Do they understand they’re on on the record on a podcast with a lot of listeners?

Paul Bissonnette: Yeah, some guys. I feel that … well there’s two things about it. We’ve just gone into summer time and I find getting guys in the summer is a little better than during the season because you don’t know what they’re going through, whether they’ve lost a couple in a row, they’re not playing well or their coach has been on them. So that’s the benefit we’ve had since I’ve jumped on. Now that’s also another reason why I’ve banked a lot of interviews, is because I like getting guys when

they’re like in their comfort zones. And any time you get guys away from the rink, which is most of the time when you guys are interviewing guys

… would that be the case?

JC: Most of the time yes, we talk to them at the rink.

PB: I say that that benefits us. Another thing that benefits us is we pre-record our interviews. So I tell these guys, like some guys have been like,

‘Ah, I don’t know if I can do that.’ And I’m like, ‘Listen man, we pre-record these things, if there’s anything you say that you think you’re a little

weary about after we’re done, we take it out.’ It’s just as simple as that. We’re not there to like throw anyone under the bus. We’re there to have a good time. Maybe show their personality to fans that might not have known they had one, or what type of interests they have and that’s it.

JC: And how long have you been on board with “Spittin’ Chiclets” now?

PB: I started in the middle of April.

JC: How did you get hired?

PB: They’d had me on the podcast and every time I would go on there I was a lot more candid than most guys, and people would comment like, ‘You got to get him to join full-time. You got to get him to join full-time.’

Last year, my first year in media, wasn’t the time to do it. I was still getting my feet wet and had a lot of things to learn on that side of the

industry. I thought once the season was over was the right time to come on and now it’s fairly simple. I know what to do and how to hook

everything up and yeah, so it was the right time to do it and also Barstool was like, ‘Hey, we just got down to join.’ And it has been good. Ever

since we’ve joined their listenership has gone up.

I think we’ve close to doubled the amount of listeners on average, so it has been good and it has been a fun experience.

JC: And are you going to keep doing it during the season?

PB: Yeah, I love it. I enjoy it. We basically talk about other stuff than hockey. We try to anyway with the players, and then it’s also fun for me to give my perspective on like the the human aspect of it and situations that maybe we’ve been through and tell fans, ‘Listen, you’re being a little hard on this guy. You have no idea what it’s like.’ And I think that people might sympathize for players a little bit more when they listen to the

podcast.

JC: Do you feel like you have a legit skill as an interviewer to get guys to

relax and feel comfortable answering what you ask them?

PB: I still have a lot to learn and I want to get better at it. Like where

Howard Stern, like he’ll take it in a direction, he’s so good at that. I like how he’ll dig in and he’ll get people to say things. Now also saying that, I

think that people know my personality where they may be coming into interviews with me and (Ryan) Whitney, expecting to be a little more

candid than normal, so it’s like if I went on Howard Stern, like I know I’m going on there for one reason – to entertain people. They don’t give a shit about what I’m eating for my meals and stuff. They care about maybe who I’m fucking, like you know? Like that type of thing. And that’s what Howard Stern is so good at. And we want to flirt with that line where we’re not taking advantage of these guys and then having them answer questions for a week later about something they said on the podcast. But another thing too is we were players, right? So like a lot of these guys I know or they’re a friend of a friend so they’ll talk to me like a buddy and

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that’s an advantage that I guess we have over just like a regular person in media.

JC: When I listen, I find the line you guys walk to be interesting. There are certain areas where you don’t go, but you’re close to going. Sometimes, maybe some people think it gets crossed. How do you walk that line or at least try to?

PB: That’s a great question. (Whitney’s) married now, so he doesn’t go into a lot of his old stories. I’m a fairly liberal guy when it comes to talking about sex. I’ve been with my girl on and off for about three years now. Whatever, we’ve had our issues. We’re back on. But I’ve made her

aware of it that, ‘Listen this is my past. It’s no secret.’ To me, I find those stories humorous. I don’t obviously use womens’ names (specifically). It

was all consensual. They were funny, fun times. I’m going to tell those stories. Now if she doesn’t like it, well then listen, that’s a healthy income

coming in, then I might just go my separate way and I can understand why she wouldn’t want to be a part of that. But she has been pretty great.

She fought back a little bit at first, but then she was like, ‘You know what? I can put up with it as long as you’re being respectful,’ and I am.

Editor’s note: On a “Spittin’ Chiclets” episode released after our interview, Bissonnette said he was single again.

JC: And the Coyotes have been great about it?

PB: Yeah, they’ve been awesome ever since I joined Twitter when I was on the team. I mean, obviously sometimes I would cross a line. I would say I’m getting better at it now but it’s also like a mutual respect. If they had said, ‘Hey we’re not down with you talking about certain types of things or doing this’ … part of the reason why I joined the podcast was to open up different doors for myself. I never want to stay static. I don’t want to rely on just the Coyotes and I LOVE working for the ‘Yotes but if there

was ever a time where they were like, ‘Hey, it’s either quit this and simply focus on us or we’ll fire you.’ I would say, ‘OK, now I can sit down, weigh

out the options and go from there.’ Where I don’t want to have that as my only source of income and my only option because then you’re very

reliant upon someone else for your job.

JC: Barstool seems to elicit opinions across the sporting world for how it

portrays sports culture and its brand of humor. “Spittin’ Chiclets” seems to have been immune to the criticism or feels separate in some ways. What’s your take on your Barstool association and how it looks to women hockey fans?

PB: That is such a good question and one that I’ve noticed since I’ve joined “Spittin’ Chiclets” and now that it is associated with Barstool that I feel that maybe like some friends in the media that I’ve had I’ve maybe like lost them and maybe even lost their respect. I don’t agree with everything that Barstool puts out there and I like the fact that we’re kind

of not fully (financially) associated with Barstool. We’re kind of like on our own little island, but now I can also understand a company that’s going the extra mile in order to try to make people laugh and sometimes they do cross the line and I guess that’s the price you pay for trying to make people laugh with that type of humor in today’s society and once again, there are some things that they say and things that happen where I’m like, ‘Uh’ like ‘I would definitely not go that route.’ But yeah, you’re definitely putting yourself in a little bit of the bubble there. We’re all aware that there’s a lot of people in media who don’t work for Barstool who hate Barstool. I think that’s pretty much the point that you’re alluding to,

correct?

JC: Yes, there is a stigma. Have you heard from women who may be

offended by your stories and some of the jock humor on the podcast?

PB: I think it’s funny when people label the stories like that associated

with jocks because I’ve played with guys, for instance like Shane Doan, a Christian guy, a family man who wouldn’t dream of doing some of these

things and I also have friends who don’t play sports who … look, I don’t put sex on a pedestal and I didn’t at least in the past where if I wasn’t committed to someone and I wanted to go have fun and there were two consensual parties, yeah, there would be funny, crazy things that happened. And women think it’s funny too. There’s going to be maybe

more women who don’t think it’s funny and maybe more guys who do think it’s funny but I just hate how it’s always attached to the athlete thing like, ‘Oh athletes are misogynistic.’ Well, that’s an awful stereotype because I played with guys who aren’t like that and I’ve played with guys who are and once again, when I tell these stories I tell them because one, sometimes they’re self-deprecating and two, I would never name the woman who’s involved in it. It’s just a funny sexual story. I mean, it’s sex. Like who cares? That’s the way I look at it. Some people might put it on a pedestal and be like, ‘Oh my God, that’s disgusting.’ That’s fine, but my podcast isn’t for those people. So don’t listen and go listen to one that

you do enjoy and you will laugh at.

JC: Switching gears, in your mockumentary I was pretty struck by how

natural an actor you seemed. Did you take lessons for it?

PB: No, but I am so intrigued by it. I love to do things that I’m not good at

just to see. And I feel that like maybe (as) a blank slate, I’m somewhat of a decent actor just for a normal person who has never taken an acting

class. I definitely want to try to expand that horizon. Now, most of the time when I’m running these videos I’m playing a similar personality to

myself. I’m playing more of like an egotistical, delusional Paul Bissonnette. That’s kind of like the shtick I have as far as the acting. I would like to try to branch out eventually and maybe play a character that I wouldn’t be comfortable with doing now. So it’s definitely an interest of mine. I love watching good movies. I don’t need an unbelievable script or action movie. If the acting is on point, I’m down.

JC: When did your mockumentary get filmed? The tag-line was that you had been sitting on it forever.

PB: I did it last summer guerrilla style and I wanted to do a project coming out of … basically when I retired I wanted to do a project to jump

into media. So I wanted this to actually be released before the season started last year in order to be like, ‘Hey listen, I’m coming in here and I’m going to do some fun shit. Let’s rock and roll.’ Well, the company I had done it with just completely fumbled it and it was not good. And it was tough. It was a lot of stress on me because I had worked so hard and I wanted so many people to see it. And luckily Barstool kind of saved the day. That’s another reason why I have a soft spot for them is

because they helped me out personally and I’ve also talked to these people off camera and they’re nice people.

JC: So did you fund this whole thing yourself? What was the premise of it?

PB: So, the whole premise was people thought they were getting a documentary on B.C. but it was more of a mockumentary.

JC: Have you ever seen “This is Spinal Tap?”

PB: No. Is it similar to that?

JC: It’s sort of the first mockumentary ever made.

PB: Oh really. OK, well I’ll have to check that out then.

JC: It’s about a rock band in the 1980s.

PB: OK, well there you go … and I wanted to surprise people in that regard and I think that people were like, ‘Oh wow, this is a lot different

than I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be you cruising around going from city to city …’

I was given a $35,000 budget, which I ended up paying them back to buy it back. And then I dipped into my own pocket, about another $35,000,

but in order to do it properly with post sound, post narration, post color and really, really perfecting it to where I thought it needed to be at least for my first project. That’s the sacrifice I made. Luckily I retrieved that money through Barstool because they sold sponsorship to Warrior and everything worked out. And for me to break even on that first project? Most people have to lose money in order to prove what they can do and I’m ahead of the game I guess in that regard.

JC: Did you enjoy illuminating personality with these players in this

documentary? Was that what you were going for?

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PB: So looking back on it now, it’s pretty insane, the fact that we pieced it all together because we were giving these guys a script to run off of and kind of like “Curb your Enthusiasm” with, ‘Hey this is the idea we want to go with in this scene, use it in your own words.’ Where some guys were like, ‘Oh really,’ like didn’t feel maybe comfortable saying it. We would have to dumb it down at some points for some guys. There were so many moving pieces. And then we ended up getting Morgan Rielly for a full episode. The fact that we were able to tie that all together was pretty insane.

JC: How’s the reception been?

PB: I think we’re at over 10 million media views overall through all channels and the way that guys were perceived and the positive

feedback that they’ve gotten from fans, I think that other guys are going to want to jump on board moving forward. Now hopefully the budget’s

bigger where we can maybe compensate these guys a little bit or make a donation to a charity of their choice – that’s the goal and hopefully we

can get there for the next one because I would love to do another one.

JC: Is it just your big goal with these videos and the podcast to show that

these guys are way funnier than they let on?

PB: I hope that me not taking myself seriously on such a big level where I’m just putting myself out there would help other guys who are playing and who have played (to) at least meet me halfway. And if I can get that out of them, then I’ve done my job for fans that want to see these guys and what they are behind the scenes. That’s my ultimate goal is this is my gift to hockey fans. I mean, fuck dude. I made over half a million dollars (per-year) for five years playing hockey and being a healthy scratch. I feel that I owe it to these people to not only give them the behind-the-scenes fun stuff, the banter, but also to show the actual stars’

personalities who have a lot of pressure on them and they have people to answer to as far as media, fans and management on a daily basis throughout hockey season. Some of these guys are making, $6, $7, $8 million dollars. I wasn’t that guy. I was the guy who had to play music in the locker room and make sure there were beers on the bus after the game.

JC: Speaking of beverages, I didn’t know about the whole, “sneezing on

the bus to hide a player opening a beer” thing until I heard it on the podcast.

PB: I had heard of that, but hearing the story again on that, it’s fucking funny.

JC: I think the best story you guys did was getting Keith Tkachuk to admit to the Vegas trip. I still can’t get over that.

(On “Spittin’ Chiclets,” Tkachuk, who was a guest, was asked about a game when he played for the Phoenix Coyotes where he scored the game-winning goal to prevent overtime and help his teammates catch their commercial flight for a pre-planned off-day trip to Las Vegas).

PB: That’s one of the best hockey stories I’ve ever heard.

He beat 15,000 people out of the arena that night and had a police escort to the airport so they could fly to Vegas. Like come on man. And there

was more to that story on the back-end but that can’t be told on anything.


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The Athletic / How do you become an NHL official?

By Scott Burnside

Sep 4, 2018

If you happened to wander into the Harbor Center ice complex in downtown Buffalo on a recent August weekend, you might have paused to watch the action on the ice.

Fast. Skilled. Definitely eye-catching. If you didn’t know better, you might have wondered if they were Division I men and women preparing for training camp. Maybe some NHL, AHL or other minor pro players gearing up for camp.

But if all you watched was the game action, then you were missing the whole point of the exercise. And if you weren’t paying attention, you

might have missed how every 10 minutes in the 30-minute run-time games a new officiating crew would enter the proceedings from the

official time box across from the players’ benches.

While some were veteran officials, others were pulling on the familiar

black and white striped jerseys for the first time after playing in the NHL, AHL or other minor pro or top college leagues.

“Coaches” and men with notebooks and pads of paper watched intently from the benches and the main concourse. They cared not a whit about

the deft passing or wicked shots but the positioning of the referees in the offensive zone, the angle the linesmen took on calling plays offside or the confidence in calling penalties, icing calls and goals.

Those watching — men with experience officiating literally thousands of games — were preparing notes that will impact not just the 91 participants in the NHL Exposure Officiating Combine but the future of the game at its highest levels.

In fact, this camp — the fifth of its kind hosted by the NHL — might be the most important gathering of hopeful talent anywhere in the hockey world. Because if the NHL can’t populate its pipeline with competent

officials as the game becomes ever faster, ever more scrutinized, then the game breaks down and becomes less than it could and should be.

To understand exactly what is taking place here on the ice, and in the classrooms and workout facilities at Harbor Center, you have to

understand the history of how such a gathering began in North Bay, Ontario.

Not long after the local hockey community moved from outdoor rinks to a fancy indoor rink, Stephen Walkom’s father was an uber-volunteer helping to keep the machinery of the North Bay minor hockey program running as president of the hockey association. He did so from his home office, which happened to be the top of a big rectangular freezer in the basement of the family’s home.

In the new indoor rink, Walkom and his brother were tasked with running the score clock, a job that paid 75 cents a game.

On the ice, the officials were getting $1.50 a game to referee the youth games.

In a family where treats were not doled out on a daily basis, basic economics drove Walkom. After all there was a vending machine with 25

cent potato chips in the arena, so why not increase your buying power?

In time, he would referee more than 900 regular season games and more

than 100 postseason games. Walkom now serves as the head of officials for the NHL.

“You miss it every day. You miss it every second,” Walkom said as he watched some of the participants circle the ice. But if his heart is still in a

pair of skates with a whistle in hand, his head is constantly consumed with how to make the game better and, specifically, how officials factor into that ever-changing equation.

The idea of the officials’ combine has been refined and altered since Walkom first came up with the idea of canvassing college and minor pro coaches for the names of players whose careers might be coming to an end but who might possess the physical and mental attributes that could be easily transferred to being an on-ice official.

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The first attempt was just a group of guys in a conference room.

But Walkom and his staff kept at it and soon the combine included significant on-ice instruction and feedback from veteran officials.

That first event in 2014 attracted 52 participants.

This year there were more than 300 applicants.

The passion and intrinsic emotion that fuels players from mites through the NHL is the same for NHL officials.

Sure, the NHL is an attractive company to work for and NHL linesmen, depending on experience and aptitude, can expect to see salaries

between $120,000 and $250,000, while referees, again depending on experience, will fall somewhere between $175,000 and $390,000, with minor pro officials making a fraction of that — not unlike the salary divide that exists between NHL players and players at other levels of the game.

But for professionals who never play a home game and who face constant scrutiny and criticism – more so now than at any point in the history of the game – there has to be more than just a paycheck, something more basic fuels their desire to give up a summer weekend to get up at the crack of dawn to race up and down the ice blowing a whistle.

The answer, of course, is perfect in its simplicity.

“It’s the game,” Walkom tells the group as they assemble for the first

time. “It’s why we’re here.”

And maybe at the heart of it, that’s why Cody Beach is here.

A fifth-round pick by the St. Louis Blues in 2010, Beach was driven out of the playing side of the game because of concussions. The last

competitive hockey the 6-foot-5 Beach played was in 2015-16 when he skated in 25 games for the AHL Chicago Wolves and twice for the Quad

City Mallards of the ECHL.

Now Beach lives in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, with his wife and two daughters, ages 6 and 3, selling John Deere equipment.

“You’re so passionate about the game all your life, right?” Beach said. “For that to be taken away from you is hard to accept.”

No stranger to the penalty box during his time as a player, Beach admits he might have been a guy who got after referees and linesmen. Now the 26-year-old has an opportunity to be one of those guys trying to keep a

young Cody Beach on the right side of the line.

“I haven’t been nervous in a pretty long time,” but he admitted there were

nerves in putting on the stripes for his first session at the combine.

“But it’s kind of nice to see the other side of things,” Beach added. “It’s a

weekend like this that you look for to put the passion and love of the game back in your tummy. It kind of inspires you.”

It’s certainly why Brett Roland has come from Winnipeg to be here, to see what’s next, and to keep his feet on the path of a dream.

As a pharmacist, his colleagues may look forward to the summer for vacation time, but Roland banks all of his vacation time for the hockey season so he can pursue his dream of being a professional official.

Last season, he worked WHL games and then some AHL games, one step away from the NHL.

His first AHL game was in his hometown. About 30 of his friends and family bought tickets to attend the game and 20 or so came wearing black and white striped jerseys.

His dream? Refereeing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, of course. No different from the dream shared by the players whose games he calls.

This weekend is his first trip to the NHL Exposure event, a step closer to that dream.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “You’ve got to put the time and the effort in or it’s really just not going to happen.”

The epicenter of the weekend is the ice. The participants are divided into teams that compete against each other in 30-minutes games. The officials for each game are rotated through from the non-playing teams in a seemingly never-ending cycle.

But it’s the spokes that emanate from that epicenter that make this weekend so interesting.

Along with the on-ice component there is rigorous physical testing in the workout facility, including standing broad jumps, pushups with weights

placed on the subject’s back, leg raises also with weights involved. In some ways very much like the physical testing done by the top prospects

at the NHL draft combine.

There are ample examples this weekend of how cutting-edge technology

can be used to help officials position themselves better, how they can learn to identify and correct mistakes in their individual games.

During one exercise, participants are given tablets showing a series of plays and they must quickly determine if there has been a foul. The clips,

prepared by a company called deCervo under the product name uCALL for Officials (the company provides similar technology in baseball for hitters) are broken into distinct areas: slashing, hooking, icing and interference. Those are easier because the eye looks for those specific fouls. But then there is a general section under “NHL Standards,” which requires users to react within seconds to what they see in front of them.

(For the record, I scored well on all of the fouls but missed every single icing call. How is that possible?)

The cognitive element of the game, training the brain to process quickly what the eye sees, is a key part of the job.

There is an intense workout session testing heart rate and overall fitness that leaves participants gasping.

There is a session with Dave Smith, the longtime director of fitness for NHL officials.

Not all of what transpires over the course of the combine is formal. Not surprisingly it’s the informal parts that may leave the most indelible

impression.

Like being able to pull up a chair next to Mike Leggo, who recently retired as an NHL official with more than 1,200 NHL games under his belt and has now come full circle as a scout at the junior and minor pro level.

Sometimes the focus is about gap control — keep skating or you lose control of the gap as the play develops. If you get hit by the puck between or inside the faceoff dots, that’s the official’s fault. If you’re outside the dots, meaning you’re closer to the boards, and the puck hits you, well, that’s part of the game.

“It takes time to process these things,” Leggo explained to the group. The

more experience earned on the ice, the faster the processing will get.

Still, slow and right is always better than fast and wrong when it comes to

a call, Leggo said.

It’s being able to chat with former referee Paul Devorski, now an NHL supervisor and one of the most respected referees in the NHL during his career.

Or Al Kimmel, director of scouting and development for the league; Bob Hall, the NHL’s senior officiating manager; or Dan McCourt, Ken Wheler and Chris Edwards, all officiating managers for the league.

Yes, these are the men who are evaluating the aspiring officials, but they’re also interested in finding out who these people are and whether they might have the right disposition, not just the right positioning, to take on the demanding job.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Sometimes those casual off-ice conversations are about the nuts and bolts of the job, like travel and nutrition. But the weekend also provides a unique opportunity to meet with potential future bosses, officiating executives from the ECHL, the Southern Professional Hockey League, USA Hockey, the USHL and all three major junior leagues in Canada.

Joe Ernst was an on-ice official for 16 years and is currently in his 28th year with the ECHL and eighth as vice-president of hockey operations.

“I think it’s eye-opening for a lot of these kids,” he said.

It’s likely that more than a quarter of the attendees will work some games in the ECHL.

“The officiating should be just as good as the play on the ice,” Ernst said. “Officiating adds to the game or takes away from the game.”

These young men and women have a chance to make it better.

“They’re not coming here for a vacation, that’s for sure,” he added. “They’re going to be put to the test.”

You don’t have to go far during the NHL season to find managers, coaches or executives who raise concerns about the level of officiating. Usually those concerns are more pronounced after a loss and the concerns go up exponentially come playoff time when literally millions of dollars hang in the balance.

But there is also an understanding that officiating doesn’t exist in a

vacuum, that they aren’t simply hoping that good officials present themselves to the league and everything will be OK.

One former player and longtime NHL executive said he believes that identifying and developing new officiating talent is crucial to the game,

and he is especially enthusiastic about the league’s efforts to identify smart, high-level players who are looking to stay in the game.

“Yes, game sense matters,” he wrote. “Former players have a better chance for hockey sense.

“It’s an impossible job in the new speed NHL. No way refs can keep both teams satisfied. Replay makes them too cautious. They do the best they can and are always under siege.”

(Tom Masters/NHL)

Another longtime NHL GM and former player said he feels the league has taken great strides in bringing its level of officiating in line with the

speed and skill of the players in the league.

“This is the best job the league has done as long as I can remember as

far as what they do with the officials,” the GM said. “Officials may have as tough a job as there is in our game, as the goalies do.

“I think it’s unfair to overanalyze how officials do games,” he added, citing the speed of the game and the amount of video available to break down

and tear apart how games are called.

That said, the GM said he feels it’s critical to scout the next generation of

on-ice officials, “like we do our players.”

Among those attending the weekend showcase is former collegiate player and longtime broadcast analyst Billy Jaffe. The former University of Michigan winger went right from playing at the collegiate level to officiating CCHA and independent college games.

“It was kind of scary, kind of intimidating, kind of exciting,” Jaffe said.

Now he analyzes NHL games for a living, which sometimes means casting a critical eye on the on-ice officiating. A weekend like this, he said, is “unbelievably important.”

As the league’s profile has increased, as the league has expanded and

become faster and more skilled, “one of the big things that can get left behind and maybe did for a little bit was officiating,” Jaffe said.

By appealing to former players, the league is helping to change the personae of the job.

“I think it’s a very smart approach,” Jaffe said. “The league’s got to make it so it’s kind of cool to be an official.

“There’s never been a better time to be an official in the National Hockey League. And there’s never been a harder time to be an official in the National Hockey League.”

As though to illustrate those comments, Walkom and some of the other NHL officials heckle Jaffe as he steps on the ice to referee his first session.

“C’mon, Billy, get up the ice,” someone calls good-naturedly.

After Friday’s dinner, as many of the participants have presumably headed off for bed given the painfully early hour at which things began that morning, a video appears on the big screen in the meeting room that serves as the dining hall.

It’s a video Leggo was part of producing when he was still going to school in Victoria and refereeing in the WHL.

It’s pure 80s with the hair, the cars and the music, but it’s the hockey that tells the real story of the video, chronicling a two-game road trip. Fights? Oh, yeah. At one point Leggo tells the camera operator that handling multiple fights is no big deal as long as the players on the bench stay on the bench, drawing chuckles from the audience.

But the game might as well be being played in slow motion. It’s a reminder that Leggo’s world as a young man is a vastly different world than the one successful graduates of this weekend will encounter.

What is happening here in Buffalo “is vital,” Leggo said.

“I don’t think the game can survive without stuff like this.”

The attrition rate of younger officials leaving the game at the community level “is incredible,” Leggo said. “It’s off the charts.”

So the NHL can’t count on organically finding a new generation of referees and linesmen.

“We have a bunch of motivated people in that room,” he said.

The question will be how quickly can they adapt as they are asked to do more and more?

“They’re very, very coachable,” said Leggo.

Whatever good comes from this program Leggo credits Walkom for thinking outside the box in making sure the game is in good hands not

just next year but the year after and so on.

“These are his kids, we’re just his babysitters,” Leggo joked. “And you

don’t just trust your kids to anybody.”

If you’re a cynic, then maybe you roll your eyes at all this.

And maybe you think officials suck because that’s what most fans whose teams don’t get what they want believe.

But if you’re not a cynic, maybe you think a little differently about understanding what goes into the process of finding more, better men and women to put on the stripes.

Dave McMullen is from Kingston, Ontario. He grew up with 2018 Hart Trophy-winner Taylor Hall, and the two remain friends. In fact, McMullen was on the phone with the former No. 1 overall draft pick when Hall found out he was being dealt from Edmonton to New Jersey.

McMullen played one season with the Niagara Ice Dogs of the OHL and later three seasons with the University of Lethbridge before moving to London, Ontario, where he works for Pepsi Co., managing a staff of 20 to

25, but still has a longing to be part of the game.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


He has visited Hall in New Jersey and understands the commitment that it takes to be an elite player.

Maybe this weekend in Buffalo, something for which he had no preconceived ideas, is an opportunity for him to make that kind of commitment, too.

“It just sounded like an opportunity that you don’t really want to pass on,” he said. “It totally makes sense.”

And this program works.

Since the NHL Exposure weekends began in 2014, 23 graduates have

gone on to NHL jobs of some sort. That includes six graduates who will see NHL action for the first time this season.

“I like where we’re going,” Walkom said. “We have a whole lot of people who respect the game. We’ve created a team culture.”

Go ahead, roll your eyes again. But listen to any head coach or GM at any level of the game and they’re searching for the same thing in building their respective teams; a group that is committed to one goal, a group that puts the team ahead of personal goals and aspirations.

Does it exists here in Buffalo?

On the Saturday morning of this year’s weekend, the NHL officials gather

around a couple of visitors, Andrew Smith and Shandor Alphonso.

The two young men don’t have to be here. In a few weeks’ time, they’ll

be gathering with the rest of the NHL’s full-time officials and prospects for the formal preseason officials’ camp at this same facility.

But both these men came through the program, Alphonso having sat in on the first event.

Both feel there is a debt to be paid back to Walkom, his staff and the 91 participants.

Smith, who is from Kitchener, Ontario, and started officiating games when he was 14, played university hockey in Kitchener, but it was a trip to the NHL Exposure event two years ago that solidified in his mind that officiating was a real possibility.

He called the lines in his first NHL game in Pittsburgh last October when the then defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins hosted the St. Louis Blues.

“It happened so quickly it was overwhelming,” the 23-year-old said. “Now

I feel like I’m living a dream.”

Soon the two NHL linesmen are on the ice helping with positioning and

offering tips as the play unfolds.

By Saturday, with the camp winding towards a close, the games are

faster, more spirited, and the calls or non-calls more hotly contested by the players themselves even though they will soon be the ones on the

other end of the whistle.

Matt Ceko, 21, has been refereeing since he was 15, and while he

played Junior B hockey in St. Catherines, Ontario, he enjoyed the different perspective of the game that officiating gave him. When concussion issues ended his playing career, he went to Brock University where he is studying business administration. But he also officiated Junior B and Junior C games, and attended the NHL Exposure weekend in 2015.

This season, following his second time through the combine, he is looking at calling major junior hockey games, as well as games at the ECHL and AHL level.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “It’s surreal. That’s probably the best word to

describe it.”

The showcase has allowed him not just to make contacts but to share his

passion for the profession and drive to be an NHL official.

“Just showing them what you’re made of and how badly you want to be in such a prestigious league,” he said.

Does he imagine what it might be like to be one step away from the NHL calling AHL games – does he think the exact same thing that players at that level all think – one step away, one call from the show.

He laughs.

“I think about it all the time,” he said.

For Mike Duco and David Broll, the perspective is slightly different.

Both men played in the NHL. They know what it means to walk through

that door that separates the best in the world from the rest, if only for a moment or two.

Duco did so 18 times, 12 times with the Florida Panthers and six more with the Vancouver Canucks.

At 31, he remains very much connected to the game having been an assistant coach with the OHL Peterborough Petes, and this season he’ll coach a U18 team east of Toronto and help the Petes with their skills development.

Officiating? Well that’s something else entirely. Toward the end of his career in the ECHL, he and Ernst discussed the camp and the idea of

crossing the line to become an official.

“It’s just so different,” Duco acknowledged. “You’re not sure what to

expect. You never dream that you’d be here discussing this.”

Even if not everyone from this camp ends up donning the zebra’s outfit,

they should come away with a different appreciation for the job, and if they move on to coach or manage, then the game is better for their

having attended.

“There’s a lot of moving parts in the game of hockey,” Walkom said.

And, sure, it’s easy to feel a bit sorry for yourself, especially when every missed called gets replayed ad infinitum on social media.

As recently as the Hlinka-Gretzky junior showcase competition in Edmonton in August, a controversial missed call denied Team USA a victory over Canada and ultimately cost the Americans a medal, while Canada went on to win the competition.

“It’s easy to get into that ‘woe is me, people are criticizing us,’” Walkom said.

Instead, part of the process is to look for people who accept that this is part of their life as an official.

“You need people who are the calm in the storm,” he said. “They’re happy to wade into the chaos.”

The game is always bigger than any single payer, coach or official, but what must always be kept in mind is that players will always take the

game to the limit. It’s what they’re taught to do.

Officials are there to enforce that limit, to draw the line in the sand — or

on the ice, as it were.

“You need someone to step in,” Walkom said. “You need someone to assume that role. Do we have things to work on? We sure do. We always do. But there’s no lack of trying on our team.”

And, he added, “We’re not hiring and hoping.”


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CAROLINA HURRICANES


The Athletic / 2018-19 NHL Season Preview: New Jersey Devils

By Dom Luszczyszyn

Sep 4, 2018

Read this to learn more about how these projections work and this to understand the uncertainty each projection carries.

Here we go again.

Last season, I was extremely low on the New Jersey Devils’ chances,

much to their fan base’s dismay. The team proved me extremely wrong, finishing with 97 points and a playoff berth. Far from the 78 points and last place finish I projected.

After a surprisingly competitive season, optimism is high in New Jersey and I’m sure many fans were hoping I’d put some respect on their team’s name. Knowing these projections are in order, fans probably weren’t expecting to read New Jersey’s season preview just yet – not before teams that finished behind the Devils last season like Carolina (really…), Arizona (seriously Dom?), Edmonton (c’mon!) or even Buffalo (is this some kind of sick twisted joke?).

I have a lot of explaining to do.

The big issue with last season’s last-place projection was the lack of

uncertainty shown. I didn’t see how the Devils would compete, which was a far too closed-minded approach for someone who tries to break these

things down probabilistically, even if those probabilities were small.

As you can see above, the range of outcomes is wide. There are many

ways the Devils can be competitive this year, perhaps even dominant – I just don’t believe it’s very probable. New Jersey enters the season with a

21 per cent chance at making the playoffs with a 31 per cent chance of earning 90 points or more. Eclipsing last season’s total of 97 is much less likely at just seven per cent. Essentially, regression is in the forecast and it’s unlikely the team can top last year’s surprising season.

That’s something the Devils should be expecting this year. A lot went right for them in 2017-18, but I’m not sure many in the fan base were expecting it to go as well as it did. Some would argue a young team can build on such a season and grow, but team development isn’t linear. The

Devils took a big step last season, much bigger than many expected. That performance upgrades their true talent level, but in a new season, there’s a new range of outcomes. The Devils results in 2017-18 were at the extreme range and while it’s not impossible for that to be the case again this season, it’s more likely they fall closer to the team’s true talent level, even if they didn’t last season.

A team can improve and grow through its underlying process year-over-year while not getting the same results to show for it — I don’t think that’s too controversial a take. What I’m guessing is the issue is how low the

Devils true-talent level is expected to be according to my model.

That comes from a lack of depth, specifically at centre and defence,

which some would argue are the most important positions. Goaltending doesn’t look like it’ll be a strength, either.

Essentially, this is what my model sees: The Devils have one of the best lines in hockey (if they load up the top line), but after that, they have

three below-average third lines. On defence, they have one pair that has the potential to be really good. But the team likely won’t trust them as

much as they should and will instead sandwich them between two third pairs. In net is two below average goalies. Unless some major strides are taken by a few of these players, it’s difficult to see how the team can be as competitive as many are expecting.

It all starts with Taylor Hall. He’s the reason we can have this conversation. He almost single-handedly carried this team into the playoffs on his own last season. My model projects that he’ll be the fifth-most valuable player in the NHL this season with an 83-point season. It’s

a drop-off from last season, but that’s to be expected when a player goes from a 60-to-65 point pace all the way to 100. A projection of 83 points means somewhere between 73 and 93 is a good guess for where Hall lands, making it unlikely, but not impossible, he repeats his MVP-calibre season. Doing so would be one way the Devils can beat their 85-point projection.

Outside of his likely point-per-game production, Hall also figures to be one of the league’s most impactful players at 5-on-5. Last season, the Devils’ Corsi was 3.6 per cent better with Hall on the ice, going from 47.7 per cent to 51.3 per cent. By goals, the difference was even higher at 14

per cent, going from 44.8 per cent to 58.7 per cent. Hall is an incredible play-driver, especially on offence and has been since his days in

Edmonton. Even if he’s not scoring, he’s still adding value. That he does both is what makes him the complete package. His micro-stats profile is

downright dominant, which should come as no surprise considering how fast he is and how good he is with the puck.

Hall is obviously the main reason the Devils project to have one of the league’s best lines, but it’s also because the two players beside him

project to be very good. Kyle Palmieri’s 5-on-5 play is decidedly average, but in the right situation, he can be a first line talent that puts up a 30-30 season. Much of his value comes on the power play, so he would struggle to drive his own line, but he works well as a pure-shooter complement to high-skilled players and is an efficient penalty drawer.

Nico Hischier looks like the real deal, though, and is poised for an even bigger year than his already successful rookie campaign. He’s an even more efficient penalty-drawer (projected for plus-18 in penalty differential this, third in the league) and scored at a nearly identical rate to Hall at 5-on-5. His 2.38 points per 60 ranked 32nd in the league last season, next to guys like Evgeny Kuznetsov and Aleksander Barkov. An ice-time bump, especially on the power play, could see him reach 60 or 65 points next season – maybe even more. He could still use some seasoning on defence, however. Using RAPM (regularized adjusted plus-minus, to account for the fact he plays a lot of minutes with Hall), Hischier’s defensive shot rates ranked the lowest on the Devils.

Those three are the Devils best forwards and putting them on the same

line is an interesting decision. They’ll win a lot of matchups at the top of the lineup, but it comes at a price further down. It would make sense to

maybe split up Hall and Hischier, the team’s two best forwards with the puck, but with the Devils so thin up the middle it may not be in their best

interest to hamper their best player – though it is worth noting that Hall and Pavel Zacha had some decent chemistry in limited minutes last

season.

Zacha’s further development is crucial to the Devils success this season

and he could be one of the most important players on the team for that reason. A bonafide second-line centre gives the team more flexibility in the top six and down the middle, but as it stands now he’s ill-suited for the role.

That he hasn’t been able to hit a 30-point pace in either of his first two seasons isn’t a good sign, but he showed some growth in his second season jumping from 0.83 points per 60 to 1.42. That’s still not great, but he’s young enough that there’s likely more to come. An increase in ice-time and better linemates would be helpful to his totals, too. In any sense, he needs to produce more because he’s not exactly a two-way

force yet either. His shot impacts are relatively average.

What likely hurts Zacha’s game most is a lack of confidence in his ability

at the NHL level. Over the last two seasons, Zacha’s ability to enter the zone with control is nearly in the top 10 per cent of the league, but the

times he actually does it is in the bottom 20 per cent. Coupling that with how deferential he is in terms of his ratio between shots to shot assists

suggests he’s a player who has the tools but is afraid to use them. A less conservative style of play could do wonders to his game and might be the key to him breaking out next season. If he does, the Devils’ chances of making the playoffs go up significantly.

A healthy Marcus Johansson should help, too since he missed all but 29 games last season. He should help boost Zacha’s production, though the

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duo might not be good for the team’s shot share. Jesper Bratt on the right side likely won’t help that cause either.

If Zacha’s development stalls, Travis Zajac will need to build some sort of time machine to regain his form because I don’t think he has much left at age 33. He fell off a cliff last season and was arguably one of the team’s worst offensive forwards. It doesn’t seem as if whatever’s left of his defensive acumen would make up for those shortcomings either. Cutting his minutes could be one way the Devils find value internally, though I’m not sure they want to put too much on their two young centre’s plates at this stage of their careers.

What could help rejuvenate Zajac is having Stefan Noesen on his right wing. Noesen doesn’t get much love and is a relative unknown, but he

shows up really well here thanks to his efficient production and possession impacts. Only Hall had a stronger relative Corsi among

forwards last season thanks to Noesen’s terrific shot suppression. I’m guessing a lot of that has to do with his play away from the puck because

his transition and passing stats aren’t very sparkling.

Miles Wood is another relative unknown that deserves a lot more love

than he currently gets from mainstream hockey fans (and his own coach for that matter). He was New Jersey’s 11th most-used forward last season despite being the only Devil not named Hall or Hischier to earn points per 60 of 2.0 or higher last season at 5-on-5 and leading the team in shots-per-60 (yes, even more than Hall, who had nearly 300 shots last season).

With the Devils, there’s potential and room for growth to the point that I can see why fans might be more optimistic than I am. There’s even young kids that can come in as the 12th or 13th forward and make their mark right away. But for now, it’s just potential. The players need to

prove themselves first.

There are some decent pieces up front, but the defensive situation is a

lot less rosy. Still, it’s a significant improvement over where the team was a year ago when it looked like the worst group in the league. The

emergence of rookie Will Butcher and a trade for Sami Vatanen has made the defence corps look slightly more respectable, though, it’s still a weak group overall.

With a 53 per cent Corsi, Butcher led the Devils in his rookie season, but he did so in a very sheltered role on the third pairing. The Devils coaching staff worked hard to make sure he had a reliably safe defensive partner in Ben Lovejoy, he got a healthy diet of offensive zone starts (61

per cent) and he didn’t see the other team’s best forwards as often (among the 243 defenders playing 20 or more games last season,

Butcher saw the 15th easiest collection of talent on average). It worked wonders in his first year, but now it’s time to see how he fares in a bigger

role.

I think he’s up for the challenge and giving him more minutes should theoretically make the Devils stronger, but it’s no guarantee he can be as productive on the second pair. Worst case scenario, it doesn’t work and Butcher goes back to giving the Devils a very strong third pair while also being the true power-play quarterback they’ve been missing for years.

Either way, the Devils will still only have one good pair and two questionable ones. Andy Greene gets underrated by my model as a defence-first player, but even his ability there has waned in recent seasons. The Devils allowed five more shot attempts per 60 with Greene

on the ice compared to on the bench. While competition (seventh toughest in the league) and zone starts are a reasonable excuse, it

doesn’t completely explain his results and it likely means he’s ill-suited for the role at this point of his career. Vatanen helps, especially when it

comes to exiting the zone, but even he’s probably better suited for the second pair. The third pair without Butcher could be a big headache, too.

Mirco Mueller and Lovejoy are both probably borderline NHLers at this point.

Weak goaltending could be the team’s biggest concern, though. Neither Cory Schneider or Keith Kinkaid looks like a capable starter. One of the most fascinating things about the Devil’s surprise success last season

was they did it without Schneider regaining his .920 form, something I would’ve thought impossible at the start of the season. One of these two will need to step up from the .911 (Schneider) and .913 (Kinkaid) goaltending expected of them by my model. The team got away with .908 goaltending last season, but I’m not sure they can do it again.

Schneider looks to be the best starting option, but he nearly lost his job after a very poor regular season and was especially abysmal in the season’s second half. That’s now two straight seasons of uncharacteristically subpar goaltending, making it unlikely the old Schneider is walking through that door this season. He did look good in

the playoffs, however, and has an excellent history, so it’s possible, just not probable.

Kinkaid doesn’t come off great here either, but an excellent second half has given fans some optimism that he has hidden potential at age 29. He

posted a .920 in 26 games after the all-star break, which was good enough to make him the team’s outright starter down the stretch. With

goalies, the sample size is king and Kinkaid looks much worse with a larger body of work. But I can’t fault anyone for hoping he’s something

more after showing glimpses of greatness that kept the Devils in the playoff hunt last season. If he can keep that up or if Schneider regains his previous form then the Devils have a much better chance at making the postseason.

For most legit playoff teams, though, there are few ifs. We know what they are and why they’re good and why they belong near the top, and if something goes wrong they can usually survive. That changes for teams on the bubble. They can make it if a lot of things go right. Or they can miss if a lot of things go wrong. The closer you are to the middle, the more room there is for error when it comes to any uncertainties.

With this team, there are a lot of ifs.

If Hall can repeat his magical MVP season and earn 90 or more points,

the Devils have a shot. If Zacha blossoms into a legit second-line centre, the Devils have a shot. If other young players can grow into bigger

contributors, the Devils have a shot. If the team gets better health, the Devils have a shot. If Butcher finds success with more ice time, the Devils have a shot. If this team actually gets goaltending, the Devils have

a shot.

With the number of ifs here and the lack of depth, one if coming true may not even be enough, not if something else falls apart. There are definite paths to success for this team, but those paths all come from the hope

that a lot of things go right. The Devils got their best case scenario last season. I’m not confident they’ll get it again this season.

Emmanuel Perry, Corsica: 91.9 points, 20th

Rob Pizzola, Semi-Professional Sports Bettor: 91.1 points, 19th

Andy MacNeil, Vegas Stats & Information Network: 90.7 points, 19th

Over/Under Point Total, Bodog: 91.5 points, T-19th

Every other model agrees: mine might be a bit too harsh about the

Devils. These four are all within one point of each other and figure the Devils will be much closer to the playoff mix, though still on the outside

looking in, while mine is five-to-six points off consensus. As much as I personally don’t buy it based on the team’s depth issues and goaltending

question marks, it does give pause when three very smart people and an oddsmaker are all in agreement.

What Fans Expect

Public Sample: 1,956

Fan Sample: 179

After a surprise playoff berth, it’s no surprise Devils fans expect more of the same next season (with 83 per cent expecting another playoff berth) and are fiercely optimistic about their team’s chances next season, more so than the public and much, much more so than my model. That’s fair, and I respect it greatly. What is slightly alarming is how tight the

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distribution is as it seems that many Devils fans (at least from this 179 person sample of them) can’t picture a 2018-19 season where their team does worse than last season.

Of course, no fan wants a losing season and it’s better to be optimistic, but it’s important to reserve some caution in the chance that things do go wrong. I think that chance is higher than many Devils fans are willing to accept. Even more optimistic models and the general public have some reserved skepticism that the team can repeat last season’s magic.

Corey Masisak: I didn’t start covering the team until late in the season, so I’ve spent a lot of time this summer trying to figure out exactly what

happened last season. In the simplest terms, it was a pretty weird year. The Devils were a wildly successful bunch at the beginning and at the

end, and not so great in the middle. Taylor Hall was phenomenal throughout, but several players had wild swings in effectiveness. Jesper

Bratt, Brian Boyle and Brian Gibbons were all impact producers in the first half and nearly non-existent in the second half.

The goaltending in particular was … let’s call it quirky. Schneider was 17-7-5 with a .920 save percentage in 30 games before he got hurt, then

didn’t win a game the rest of the regular season. Kinkaid was bad at the start of the year, then went 16-3-1 with a .929 save percentage in his last 21 games. So the Devils got above-average to borderline elite goaltending for 51 games — and well below-average work in the other 30.

Some of what the Devils produced last season to get to 97 points is unsustainable or maybe even downright fluky. But there are some legitimate reasons to believe they can approach that number again this season.

Specifically, with respect to Dom’s projections, Zajac was injured at the

start of last year and really struggled when he came back but played very well the last three months or so. Stefan Noesen played well with

everyone, but Zajac and Blake Coleman were better once that line was put together. Bratt ran out of gas in the final third of last season, and his

overall numbers plummeted, but the Devils still see him as a potential impact player. Between Bratt, Miles Wood, Pavel Zacha and a bushel of prospects competing for that final roster spot, there could be a few

breakout performances — it’s something New Jersey definitely needs to keep pace in the East with other young, improving teams around them.

Zacha is the biggest wild card.

Butcher should play more, which should provide at least a small

improvement from the defence. Steven Santini or another wild card, KHL import Egor Yakovlev, could be another slight upgrade. Schneider had

the same off-season surgery that Pekka Rinne had a few years back, and it’s certainly plausible that he can approach .920 again if he’s

healthy.

New Jersey was somewhere between 17th and 21st in every shot attempt metric — except for high-danger scoring chances. They were sixth in HDCF%, according to Natural Stat Trick, which is interesting. They are one of the fastest teams in the league and play an aggressive style, so maybe that leads to more great chances but also makes it tougher to consistently control the possession game? Or was that a part of their game that is unsustainable? Whether or not the Devils can improve in the other shot metrics could also help offset some other areas of regression.

The Devils also have the assets and cap space to make a big move in-season (like adding Sami Vatanen in November last year). There’s

enough youth with potential upside to see the Devils competing for a playoff spot, especially if Schneider offers more stability in net. There’s

also a lot of variance in where this team could end up, and it feels like even more than a typical mid-pack NHL club.

If nothing else, the Devils don’t need a new slogan or new t-shirts for this season. “NJD vs. Everybody” looks like it is still going to work.


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The Athletic / State of the Franchise: Flyers look to break cycle of averageness, take turn toward true contention

By Charlie O'Connor

Sep 4, 2018

“We’re getting better, but we need the push. It’s time to push. We need to get going.”

Those were the words of Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall during his April exit interview, just days after his club had fallen to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a six-game, first-round series defeat, one that wasn’t nearly as close as the number of games suggested. After all, the team’s four losses came by a combined score of 25-6 — not exactly strong evidence that the Flyers were in the same talent realm as the defending Stanley Cup champions.

So on the surface, it was reassuring for fans to hear Hextall acknowledge

that the process needed to be jumpstarted. Yet many doubted his words. During the early portion of Hextall’s tenure, the “patient” tag applied to

him was meant as a compliment, a welcome change of pace from the chaotic and ultimately unsuccessful (in terms of bringing a Cup to

Philadelphia) Paul Holmgren regime. But as the franchise’s playoff series victory drought extended to six seasons, that patience morphed into less

of a virtue and more a vice for many fans.

Suddenly, there was fear that Hextall’s organization would always spin its

wheels from an acquisition standpoint, hoping against hope that the young talent on the NHL roster and deep prospect pool outside of it would reach impact-level status before the older, high-end veteran players began their steep declines. Despite Hextall’s assurances, there existed an “I’ll believe it when I see it” mentality scattered across the Philadelphia area this summer.

With one bold move, Hextall turned many of those doubters into believers.

James van Riemsdyk absolutely provides a significant on-ice boost to the club. But the five-year, $35 million contract that Hextall handed him was

just as much a statement of purpose as a roster upgrade. Rebuilding teams don’t (or at least shouldn’t) give out massive contracts to players

in their late twenties in free agency; neither should “retooling” teams, to use the more accurate term for the Flyers’ recent situation. But clubs on the cusp of true contention, with a general manager looking to provide a helpful shove to get them there? That’s another story entirely.

The shift in mentality at Flyers HQ, of course, brings with it increased expectations and pressure. Throughout his tenure, Hextall has long held that the postseason is not a hope but a goal; still, there now exists a

feeling around the organization (both internally and externally) that “just making it” is no longer acceptable. This is a club with an MVP candidate

captain, a Selke contender first-line center, a point-per-game winger, two dynamic young defensemen, and numerous other youngsters threatening

to join the core. Simply grabbing a spot in the playoffs isn’t good enough anymore for the Flyers. Meekly bowing out in the first round won’t be

viewed as a positive step. As Hextall himself put it just four months ago, “We need to get going.”

Like all clubs that fail to break 100 standings points, the Flyers concluded 2017-18 with a number of legitimate roster needs. But none loomed larger than the gaping hole at third-line center.

So when the Flyers failed to add a down-the-middle option on the first day of free agency, and previous 3C Valtteri Filppula inked a contract

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with the New York Islanders before July 1 ended, confusion reigned. What exactly was the team going to do at that spot?

With camp just days away, it’s clear that the organization plans to fill the role from within. And while none of the candidates are ideal, Hextall and head coach Dave Hakstol have a wide variety of options.

All summer long, Hextall has been championing Jordan Weal for the job, and it would be a minor surprise if he doesn’t get first crack at it. The fit is a bit odd, because Weal has only sporadically played the center position at the NHL level, largely slotting in at wing. But the 26-year-old did play the pivot position in both juniors and the AHL, and Hextall appears

confident he can succeed there with the Flyers as well.

“He’s a good centerman.” the general manager said in July. “He’s good

on faceoffs. He’s good defensively. He makes plays.”

If Weal is unable to impress in camp, Scott Laughton is probably Plan B.

Laughton did spend most of 2017-18 functioning as the team’s fourth-line center, and even received a month-long February audition in a pseudo-

3C role. His underlying shot and chance metrics at 5-on-5 from last season imply that he could hold his own in the job, though his scoring

and goal-based results were less impressive.

Prospects can’t be ruled out of the race entirely. Fans are rightfully most excited about Morgan Frost, who scored a whopping 112 points in 67 games in the OHL last season. But though Frost did come to development camp this summer with significantly more weight on his frame, the consensus at Flyers HQ still seems to be that he needs at least one more year of experience and training before he is ready for the next step. Only by blowing away the competition at camp will he change that internal perception, and Frost will need to be even more impressive than Travis Konecny was back in 2016 when he earned a surprise spot

on the roster.

When it comes to center prospects, Mikhail Voroybev has a better

chance of making the jump. He already has a year of AHL experience under his belt, and 72 KHL games at an even younger age. From a

physical standpoint, Voroybev could hold his own in the NHL; for him, the question is skill set. The 21-year-old was a play-driver extraordinaire with

the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last year, but the guess is that Hextall would like to see a bit more offensive assertiveness and production (29 points in 58 games last season) before promoting him.

A massive camp from forgotten prospect Mike Vecchione could get him back on the radar, and the possibility of Jori Lehtera — who did conclude the playoffs as the team’s 4C — taking the role if higher-upside candidates flame out can’t be totally discounted. Based on Hextall’s summer comments, however, they seem like last resorts.

All parties involved are tiring of being asked about it. There’s no mistaking the “not again” look on Ron Hextall’s face when a reporter brings up the negotiations, and the player himself bristled at the idea of having something to prove in a contract year when the subject was broached with him this week in Canada.

Unfortunately, both Hextall and Wayne Simmonds will be dealing with questions like this all season. That’s what happens when one of a team’s most popular players — not to mention one of its most consistently productive — enters a year with an unresolved contract situation.

Simmonds has long been one of the league’s most-underpaid players, a regular 25+ goal scorer on a sub-$4 million per year deal. But that

contract reaches its end next summer, and his future in Philadelphia is uncertain.

Publicly, Hextall has stated his intention to re-sign Simmonds, who is not only a key on-ice contributor but a major part of the club’s veteran

leadership core. But unsurprisingly, Hextall hasn’t been willing to go into detail on the specifics of the ongoing back and forth between the

organization and Simmonds’ agent.

“I’m not going to discuss negotiations publicly,” Hextall stated in July. “I don’t think it’s good for anybody. Simmer, like I’ve said, we’d like to keep Simmer. Whether we can or not, I don’t have the answer to that.”

The likely sticking point between the two sides will be term. Simmonds will be 31 years old when his next contract kicks in, and while his track record and unique power forward skill set would earn him a significant amount of years on the open market, it might not be a prudent investment considering his age. In addition, Hextall has been hesitant to hand out long-term deals in free agency, and he’s spoken about the importance of a clean cap situation to ensure that the organization will

eventually be able to lock up all of its young players. A six- or seven-year deal handed to a player in his thirties may not fit that plan.

Simmonds is a true professional, so it’s hard to imagine the talks weighing on his mind too much when he is on the ice. But the uncertainty

— regarding both his Flyers future and his specific place in the team’s lineup — could plausibly lend itself to some drama. Right now,

Simmonds likely slots in at third-line right wing on the depth chart, which isn’t exactly conducive to racking up tons of even-strength points. As for

his usual spot at netfront on the top power play unit, van Riemsdyk also played that role in Toronto to great success, and Nolan Patrick showed real potential there during the final month of 2017-18. If Simmonds were to lose his spot on PP1 and receive third-line minutes — even if it truly was the right decision for the team — it’s easy to imagine some theorizing that the Flyers were secretly motivated by an interest to deflate Simmonds’ stats in a contract year, with the goal of re-signing him to a cheaper deal.

That’s not to say such a scenario will come to fruition, or that the charge would hold any water whatsoever. But this is just one potential issue that can originate from an unresolved contract situation. Most likely, talks will continue throughout the season, and unless the Flyers find themselves out of contention around the trade deadline, it’s tough to imagine Hextall weakening his club for a stretch run by shipping out Simmonds, even if he doubts an agreement is forthcoming. In other words, either the two sides will agree on a contract at some point during the season, or this will be a storyline lasting through June 2019.

Center: Entering training camp, the player atop the Flyers’ depth chart down the middle is obvious. The only remaining question is when Sean

Couturier will be cleared to play hockey.

The team announced two weeks ago that Couturier had suffered a lower-

body injury (knee) earlier in August at a charity hockey tournament, and would miss four additional weeks with the ailment. That puts him on track

to return to full action around the midpoint of camp, and the expectation at Flyers HQ is that he’ll be fully ready for the start of the regular season.

It’s a guarantee that second-year pro Nolan Patrick opens camp as 2C, but what he will provide in that role remains unclear. The ineffective player from the first three months of 2017-18 is long gone, and if Patrick simply replicates his second half results as a sophomore, Philadelphia has a solid second-line pivot on their hands. But considering the fact that Patrick is coming off his first full offseason in years not marred by surgery recovery, it’s exciting to speculate that the soon-to-be 20-year-old could take a gigantic Year 2 leap in performance.

Third-line center remains the biggest question facing the lineup, and appropriately, the remaining center depth chart is jumbled as a result.

Jordan Weal and Scott Laughton lead the way at the moment for the 3C and 4C jobs, respectively, but prospects like Mikhail Vorobyev, Morgan

Frost and Mike Vecchione could factor in as well. Jori Lehtera remains, and he could end up functioning as the fourth-line center in a number of

scenarios, especially if Weal cannot stick at center or the coaching staff decides that Laughton is better served skating at wing.

Left Wing: After topping the Flyers’ center depth chart for almost a decade, Claude Giroux now finds himself in a new (though no less lofty) place: atop the team’s left wing depth chart.

There were many reasons for Giroux’s rebound 2017-18 season — regained health, decreased responsibilities at wing vs. center, chemistry

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with Couturier, better on-ice luck — but the fact is that he was moved to wing to start the year and delivered maybe his best single-season performance yet, at 30 years old. That’s reason enough not to mess with success, so Giroux will almost certainly begin the year back at LW, a plan that Hextall has confirmed repeatedly this offseason. It’s not out of the realm of possibility Giroux could change positions at some point, but it would likely be in a “in case of emergency break glass” situation.

Locked in at 2LW is new acquisition James van Riemsdyk, who returns to Philadelphia after a six-year absence. Van Riemsdyk scored 36 goals in 2017-18 for the Maple Leafs, largely in a sheltered third-line role. The

Flyers’ hope is that with more minutes and better linemates, he’ll thrive as a second-line winger and remain a 30-goal forward even in a new

environment.

Oskar Lindblom and Michael Raffl will probably fill out the remainder of

the LW depth chart, though both possess the flexibility to play right wing if necessary. Lindblom will have to earn his way onto the team at camp,

but he should be in the starting lineup for Game 1 barring a disastrous September. As for Raffl, he’s played up in the lineup in the past — as

recently as the 2018 playoff series versus the Penguins — but the team’s enviable wing depth should relegate him to a bottom-sixer role. Taylor Leier provides depth, and also possesses the ability to play both wings, though he’ll need to score more in order to carve out a job as an every night NHLer.

Right Wing: He may not begin the year on Line 1, but make no mistake: Jakub Voracek tops the Philadelphia RW depth chart. He’ll be near the top of the Flyers’ forward ice time charts, even if he’s tasked with boosting a second line rather than racking up an obscene amount of points with Couturier and Giroux.

It was Travis Konecny who was the prime beneficiary of Voracek’s second-half “demotion,” scoring 37 points in 46 games during his time with the first line. Logically, he would seem to be the best fit for right wing duties on that unit, but considering Hakstol’s desire to hold the young Konecny to very high standards, he’ll have to impress at camp to earn the spot. If he fails to do so, there’s always newly healthy Wayne Simmonds. The Flyers organization is expecting a serious bounce-back

year from the Wayne Train, who still found a way to pot 24 goals in 2017-18 despite a laundry list of injuries.

Jordan Weal’s place on the depth chart is in a state of flux, as the Flyers seem intent on giving him a real chance to earn the 3C job out of camp. If

the Weal-at-center experiment fails to take hold, the 4RW spot would be a natural fallback spot for him, so long as the coaching staff does not

view him as a “top-nine-or-bust” type. Dale Weise — coming off a miserable season — hits camp as a press box candidate, but the

organization is obviously hoping that he’ll more resemble the player they thought they signed back in 2016 rather than the one who struggled throughout 2017-18. Prospect Nicolas Aube-Kubel has an off-chance of making the big club out of camp, but he could fall victim to a numbers game even if he stands out in September.

Left Defense: Get used to it: this spot at the top of the LD depth chart for Philadelphia will remain Ivan Provorov’s well into the next decade. Locked in as the team’s No. 1 defenseman in terms of even-strength usage and total minutes, Provorov’s on-ice metrics took a significant step forward in 2017-18 after he was paired with Shayne Gostisbehere at 5-

on-5. He probably won’t score 17 goals this season — a mark that tied him for the league-lead among blueliners last year — but continued

development of his all-around offensive game could move him into truly elite defenseman territory.

Two second-year defensemen fill out the left side of the Philadelphia blueline depth chart. Robert Hagg earned the confidence of Hakstol and

his staff early in 2017-18, and even though he spent most of March either injured or serving as a healthy scratch, extended time functioning as a top-four blueliner as a rookie gives him the early edge over his counterpart Travis Sanheim. Clearly the higher upside LD option, Sanheim enters camp as close to a roster lock, but he’ll have to show the

coaching staff an increased attention to detail in the defensive zone to

earn the usage that his talent (and stellar underlying metrics) implies he deserves.

Right Defense: He may not actually shoot right-handed, but Shayne Gostisbehere has settled into a role as top right-side defenseman on the Philadelphia roster, and that shouldn’t change in 2018-19.

Gostisbehere’s all-around game improved dramatically in 2017-18, and he actually produced points at a more efficient rate than in his incredible rookie season. Suddenly, he has the profile of a true top-pair blueliner, rather than more of an offense-first second-pair guy. Gostisbehere will need to retain those gains this year in order to convince any remaining

skeptics and establish himself as one of the better defensemen in hockey.

Another not-actually-a-righty right-side defenseman, Andrew MacDonald has largely played his off side recently on pairings with Provorov, Hagg

and Sanheim. The best bet is that he remains on the second pair in that role to start the year, beside one of the latter two youngsters. A bounce-

back year from Radko Gudas, however, could push MacDonald down to pair No. 3. Gudas’ shot- and chance-based metrics remained solid in

2017-18, but his goal-based ones were less than impressive and he failed the eye test for many. In addition, his year ended in the worst way possible, as he accidentally tore Couturier’s MCL in his knee during a practice collision, and then delivered a disastrous second period in Game 6 that remains hard to forget.

Providing depth is Christian Folin, who was signed to a one-year contract to ostensibly function as the No. 7 defenseman. He’ll start his fair share of games. Top prospect Philippe Myers also will have a shot of making the Flyers out of camp, but most likely, it would take an injury or a surprise trade to get him on the opening night roster, since the Flyers will

not put him on the team just to have him sit in the press box.

Goalie: Popular in the locker room and effective on the ice prior to his

February core muscle injury, Brian Elliott enters the 2018-19 season as Philadelphia’s probable starter in net. At 33 years old, Elliott shouldn’t be

expected to deliver a Vezina-caliber season, but 40 games of league-average netminding would be perfectly acceptable.

Despite another injury-plagued season, Michal Neuvirth hits camp as the probable No. 2 in the final year of his contract. As always, the question with Neuvirth remains just how many games he will be able to play during a full season, with his health issues requiring organizations employing him to have a solid “third” goalie as a contingency plan.

The Flyers have this in Alex Lyon, who performed admirably in the NHL in limited time with the club last season. Lyon is no longer waiver-exempt, so assuming he doesn’t surprise everyone and beat out Neuvirth for the No. 2 job (or benefit from a camp injury to one of the vets), he’ll

have to be exposed to the rest of the league before getting reassigned to Lehigh Valley. It’s unlikely he’ll be claimed, however, since many teams are sending a Lyon-type to the minors at the same time and a club claiming Lyon would be required to keep him up at the NHL level and deploy him as its primary backup. Chances are, Lyon begins the season with the Phantoms, waiting for the first injury in Philadelphia to get another chance with the Flyers.

2018-19 also marks the first professional season for top prospect Carter Hart, viewed as the potential goaltending savior for a city long starved for one. It’s not totally out of the realm of possibility that Hart forces his way

onto the big club with a spectacular camp, but he has almost no margin for error whatsoever. Most likely, he gets his feet wet at the AHL level to

start his pro career. If he excels there immediately, the equation changes.

Power Play: Nine of the ten spots on Philadelphia’s two power play units are locked in. It’s tough to see any of Giroux, Voracek, Gostisbehere,

Simmonds, Couturier, van Riemsdyk, Konecny, Patrick or Provorov not being used as every-night power play personnel.

It’s the makeup of those two units that remains unclear.

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On PP1, Giroux, Voracek and Gostisbehere are all locks. The path of least resistance for power play coach Kris Knoblauch would be to replicate the top unit that he deployed for most of the season by placing Couturier in the slot and Simmonds in his usual spot at netfront, but there are other options. Van Riemsdyk thrived at netfront with the Maple Leafs, scoring 11 power play goals in 2017-18, and his massive contract has many wondering if a top power play unit spot is necessary for Philadelphia to get full value out of the deal. And then there’s Patrick, who excelled in Simmonds’ spot during the final month of the season and into the playoffs.

Knoblauch could adjust the structure of the power play entirely. One such option is replacing Couturier with JvR and moving to a double-netfront

formation with Simmonds and van Riemsdyk on opposite sides of the crease area — a strategy the Flyers deployed during the Pittsburgh

series with Patrick and Couturier.

Knoblauch may simply choose to swap Simmonds with JvR at netfront

altogether, though that does raise some handedness issues since a Giroux pass down low to van Riemsdyk would be on the latter’s

backhand (Simmonds, as a righty, receives such passes on his forehand, making them easier to control). Or, he could throw everyone for a loop and keep Patrick up with the top unit as a netfront replacement for Simmonds, since Patrick is also a right-handed shot. The structure and personnel of PP1 will be an key subplot during training camp.

The second unit was an unmitigated disaster in 2017-18, and Hextall himself acknowledged that its struggles were at least a partial reason behind the JvR signing. Whether van Riemsdyk ends up on PP1 or not, his addition should create a trickle-down effect where the second unit gets a legitimate infusion of talent, and in turn, becomes far more effective.

Of course, the key word here is “should.” Frankly, a second unit including Konecny, Provorov and Patrick should have delivered at least passable results last season; instead, Konecny was on the ice for 1.62 Flyers goals scored per 60 minutes at 5-on-4, nearly 50 percent less than his on-ice GF/60 rate (3.08) at five-aside hockey. That’s beyond poor, and mindblowing considering the talent of Konecny and his regular linemates

on the unit.

In 2018-19, the unit will be led by whichever two PP1 options don’t make

the cut, in addition to Provorov and Konecny. The fifth member should be one of Lindblom, Sanheim or Weal, depending upon the formation and

structure that Knoblauch chooses to deploy. Regardless of the exact mix, this will be Philadelphia’s most talented PP2 unit in years, and another

poor showing would be a major disappointment.

Penalty Kill: It’s not particularly controversial to state that the penalty kill

was one of the Flyers’ biggest issues in 2017-18. In response to their 29th place ranking in the PK efficiency charts, the organization has taken the bold move of making no major changes, in terms of leadership or personnel.

Ian Laperriere, the assistant coach in charge of the PK, returns for his sixth year (he took over management of the PK three games into 2013-14 after former penalty kill coach Craig Berube was promoted to head coach). Over the previous four seasons, the shorthanded units that Laperriere directed have ranked 27th, 20th, 21st and now 29th.

Over the summer, Hextall noted repeatedly that he believed the PK took

a step forward in the final stretch of the 2017-18 season, and it was that improvement that seemingly convinced the front office to keep the

current leadership structure in place.

“You look at the last 20, 22, 23 games right in there — we were good,”

Hextall said in April. “I think when you look at special teams you always have a goal that you want to be top 10. We’re not even close, [so] that’s

something that has to get better. [But] once things stabilized late in the year it got better, there was a couple little minor tweaks that were made, and it got better. At this point I’m convinced that it’s gonna be better next year. Because of the track record, I actually thought our penalty killing in the playoffs was good. [Pittsburgh] got two or three goals the one game

[Game 3], [but] I think we were at 80 percent [for the series], which puts you mid-league — 15 or 16, somewhere in there. That’s not where we want to be. But against that power play I thought we did a good job, I’ve seen enough signs where I think it’s gonna get better, and quite frankly it has to get better.”

But even over the final 20 games of the season, the Flyers’ penalty kill ranked just 18th league-wide in Goals Against per 60 minutes. Yes, it was no longer among the NHL’s worst, and yes, some tactical adjustments were made (mostly additional up-ice pressure to my eyes). But a high-teens PK ranking isn’t one to target, which Hextall — to his

credit — admitted. The question is whether the Flyers have a plausible path to achieving the goal of icing a top-10 shorthanded unit.

Based on Hextall’s past comments, it does appear that the initial plan was to add a penalty kill piece in the offseason, specifically a PK forward.

But while van Riemsdyk can help the Flyers in many ways, penalty killing is not one of his skills. In other words, the PHI shorthanded units will

have to improve with largely the same pieces, receiving largely the same direction.

Expect Couturier and Provorov to continue to anchor the top units, with help from players like Gudas, MacDonald, Laughton, Simmonds and Hagg. Giroux should continue to function in usual his “faceoff and off” role in defensive zone draws, and if Lehtera is a lineup staple, he’ll surely get a significant amount of minutes. Raffl, Leier and Lindblom are all additional options up front, as is Folin on the back end. The only major subtractions to the unit come in the form of Filppula (1:17 minutes per game), Brandon Manning (1:15) and Matt Read (1:09).

Center: The Flyers’ pipeline may not have impressed The Athletic’s Corey Pronman enough to justify a top-10 ranking — due to his opinion

that it lacks impact talent — but even the bearish Pronman acknowledged that in terms of sheer viable depth, no club can match Philadelphia. The center position is no different.

Morgan Frost is the organization’s top prospect at center, and likely the

long-term fit at 3C behind Couturier and Patrick. 2018 first-rounder Jay O’Brien (who will be a freshman at Providence) may eventually settle in at wing if he cracks the big club in the coming years, but for now, expect

the Flyers to view him as a center from a developmental standpoint.

Russian prospects Mikhail Voroybev and German Rubtsov appear to lack high-end scoring upside, but are both strong two-way players who could factor in the bottom-six at the NHL level in the future. It’s possible that

Rubtsov might be deployed at wing in the AHL as he was in juniors, but considering his conservative style of play, center still may still be the best

fit.

Over in Sweden, 2017 sixth-rounder Olle Lycksell has turned heads and

already established himself as an SHL professional at the age of 19, while 2018 seventh-round draftee Marcus Westfalt appears to be on the same path. Sixth-rounder Gavin Hain enrolls in the University of North Dakota this fall.

Wing: As soon as his name was called two months ago at the podium in Dallas, Joel Farabee became Philadelphia’s top wing prospect. He needs to bulk up, but the Boston University commit combines a relentless playing style with legitimate scoring upside. He’s at least a year away from the NHL, and likely more.

Far closer to NHL-readiness is the group of Isaac Ratcliffe, Wade Allison,

Tanner Laczynski and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. Ratcliffe took a massive step forward in the second half of his Draft+1 season, and enters 2018-19 as

a darkhorse for a Team Canada roster spot at the coming World Junior Championship. Allison and Laczynski are two of the best forwards in

college hockey, and both should be in the running for the Hobey Baker Award this season. Aube-Kubel already has two seasons of AHL time

under his belt, and he’s basically ready for an NHL shot — he simply needs a spot to open up for him.

Further down the ranks, prospects like Noah Cates, Maksim Sushko and Matthew Strome have yet to turn pro but possess legitimate NHL upside.

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The Phantoms will still be receiving an influx of wing talent this year, however, as Carsen Twarynski, David Kase, Pascal Laberge and Connor Bunnaman are all under contract with the organization and are eligible to join the professional ranks in 2018-19.

Left Defense: 2013 first-round pick Samuel Morin still leads the way, but due to a knee injury, he won’t see action until February at the earliest. The bulk of Philadelphia’s lefty-shot blueline prospects are actually in Sweden, with Adam Ginning (2018 second-rounder), Linus Hogberg (2016 fifth-rounder) and David Bernhardt (2017 seventh-rounder) all expected to have full-time roles in the SHL. The club’s biggest-name

LHD in North American yet to turn pro is Wyatt Kalynuk, a 2017 seventh-round pick who proved to be a pleasant surprise for the organization in

his freshman year with Wisconsin.

Right Defense: While Hextall and the scouting department clearly placed

an emphasis upon adding right-handed defensemen to the prospect pool in the 2018 draft, no one they added can match the upside of top

prospect Philippe Myers, who is close to NHL-ready and possesses legitimate top-four defenseman upside at the next level. He’ll play games

in Philadelphia this year.

In Dallas, Hextall added Jack St. Ivany and Wyatte Wylie to the prospect pool, and upside exists with both. Nearer to the big club is Mark Friedman, whose first pro season with the Phantoms may look like a disappointment after a quick glance at the stats, but actually hid strong shot differentials and a penchant for both drawing and avoiding penalties. A big Year 2 isn’t out of the question for one of the prospect pool’s best skaters.

Goalie: No Flyers prospect will be more closely monitored this season than Carter Hart, who turns pro after dominating the WHL for the better

part of three seasons. The temptation will be to rush the talented netminder to the NHL — especially because the big club’s current situation at the position is less than stellar — but expect Hextall to employ his usual patience in grooming a prospect to play the position that he once did.

Returning to full health is Felix Sandstrom, who was signed to an entry-level contract by the Flyers this summer. He’ll remain in the SHL for one

more year on loan before journeying across the Atlantic. Stateside, the Phantoms will have to contend with three goalies searching for playing

time in 2018-19: Hart, Alex Lyon and Anthony Stolarz. The latter two aim to position themselves as possible replacements for one of Elliott or

Neuvirth in 2019-20.

Further away, Kirill Ustimenko will get a chance to prove himself in the

VHL, with fellow Russian Ivan Fedotov likely spending the bulk of his time in that league as well. 2018 fifth-round pick Samuel Ersson will

begin his post-draft development process in the second-tier Swedish hockey league (Allsvenskan), while Matej Tomek will continue to try and get his career back on track at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Once the dust has settled and the Maple Leafs have signed key forward William Nylander to a long-term deal prior to the start of the season, the Flyers will enter 2018-19 with the fifth-most available cap space, per Cap Friendly — a whopping $10,282,500. It’s a far cry from the Holmgren years, when the team usually entered a season over the cap due to exploiting the long-term injured reserve allowance.

Even accounting for possible bonuses to Patrick, Provorov, Konecny,

Sanheim and Lindblom, the Flyers easily project to be under the cap at the season’s conclusion. That provides Hextall with a great deal of

flexibility if he wishes to add to the roster at the trade deadline. When February rolls around, the team will have banked enough cap space to

be able to pick up more than one high-cap hit player, if Hextall chooses.

The Flyers are in fine shape from a cap standpoint for 2018-19. But their

situation does become more complex next summer. After all, there will be the Simmonds dilemma to resolve, in addition to young players like Provorov, Konecny and Sanheim all due their first post-ELC extensions.

Still, Philadelphia remains in solid position moving into the 2019-20 season, and could even afford to add to the roster again next summer. That’s due to the fact that a number of players will be leaving the Flyers’ books at the end of the season, including Lehtera, Raffl, Weal and both of their current NHL goalies.

But what about the money that Provorov/Konecny/Sanheim will require to extend? Let’s play a quick, non-scientific projection game to see how things might play out.

Provorov’s agent will likely try to argue for Aaron Ekblad as a comparable, and he received a $7.5 million cap hit, so let’s blindly pencil

the Flyers’ 1D in for that very same amount. Konecny very well could be bridged, but assuming the Flyers wish to extend him long-term, let’s say

that the $6.66 million cap hit Boston gave David Pastrnak coming out of his ELC is a high-end Konecny ask, the $5.5 million handed to Jonathan

Drouin is the mid-tier, and the $4.5 million Columbus handed to Alex Wennberg is a floor. Since the chances of Konecny scoring 70 points in

2018-19 like Pastrnak did in his contract year seem slim, let’s plug in the Drouin comparable. As for Sanheim, it’s tough to know how his third ELC

season will play out so coming up with comparables is basically impossible, but barring a massive breakout, a bridge deal feels most likely, probably in the $1.5 to 2.5 million range.

Since we’re trying to see if there’s any chance the Flyers could be pushed into cap trouble via plausible decisions over the next year, let’s also assume that Hextall brings back Simmonds, and re-signs one of Raffl or Weal for depth purposes. With those assumptions, let’s take a look at our projected 2019-20 Flyers roster, and the cap results.

So in a world where the Flyers open the checkbook for Simmonds, sign Provorov to a deal nearly equal (cap ceiling inflation does play a role

here) to a first overall pick who won a Calder Trophy, extend Konecny long-term, bring back one of Weal or Raffl rather than going solely with cheap youth in the bottom-six, and see the cap ceiling fail to increase year over year, they would still have a little over four million in change to sign a solid veteran mentor netminder for Hart.

Obviously, there are quite a few variables in play here. Simmonds could be allowed to leave. Hart might not be ready by 2019-20. Weise could be

bought out next summer. A veteran defenseman could be moved to make space for a healthy Morin. In addition, Hextall will have to budget

for an eventual Patrick extension in the summer of 2020. But this isn’t a franchise in danger of moving back into cap hell anytime soon, even with

new contracts for the kids on the horizon.

The 2018-19 Philadelphia Flyers aren’t a perfect team. No one should

enter the season with the expectations that they can go toe-to-toe with the true juggernauts (on paper) of the Eastern Conference, such as the

Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. They still could use another top-four caliber defenseman, the 3C spot is a major question mark, the penalty kill remains a glaring issue, and the chances of the club receiving above-average netminding from a Brian Elliott/Michal Neuvirth tandem aren’t especially high. This isn’t a Cup favorite.

But it’s important to remember that despite all of the frustrating aspects of the 2017-18 season — the often-poor goaltending, the black hole at 3C, the ten-game skid — the Flyers still finished with 98 points and in third place in the Metropolitan Division. Combine the clear-cut upgrade via the addition of JvR with expected growth from young players, and there’s no

reason this team should not take a major step forward in 2018-19. Competing for a division title — they did finish just seven points behind

the Capitals last year — is not out of the question.

It’s understandable that many fans feel the Flyers have been spinning

their wheels for the bulk of the 2010s. Six years without a playoff series win will do that to a fanbase, as will a repeated unwillingness to add

impact pieces in the offseason or at trade deadlines. It sends a clear message: right now, winning at all costs isn’t the plan. That’s been a tough pill to swallow for a long-suffering fanbase — one that since 1975 seemingly came to an unspoken understanding with the organization that it would be forgiven for the long title drought if it was made obvious every

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day that the front office was trying its damnedest to bring a Cup back to Philadelphia.

Hextall’s gamble was to break that implicit agreement for a few years, in the belief that a long-term approach would succeed where the constant win-now attitude always failed. That’s why the van Riemsdyk signing was important on multiple levels. Whether it proves shrewd or foolhardy in the end, it signifies Hextall’s apparent belief that the team is ready to take that next step, that it’s not OK to remain the most consistently mediocre team in North American sports, as FiveThirtyEight recently argued they have been over the past five seasons.

On paper, this does seem like a roster that can “get going.” The top-six is loaded, depth should be improved due to addition-by-

subtraction/development of youngsters, and Hakstol really should be able to cobble together two strong defensive pairings out of the personnel on

hand. The Flyers may not be ready to win a title just yet. But a clear step forward should be the expectation now, not a hope.


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Sportsnet.ca / Winnipeg Jets' open Stanley Cup window presents new set of challenges

Mark Spector | @sportsnetspec

September 4, 2018, 5:50 PM

It truly is unfair.

The window for the Winnipeg Jets to not win a Stanley Cup opened way back in 1979 when they arrived as a World Hockey Association merger club and stayed open for 35 years. Even though the Jets’ doors did not.

Today, the window for the Winnipeg Jets to win a Stanley Cup is officially open, but they’d better hurry. Because as they sign captain Blake Wheeler to a five-year, $41.25 contract extension, we are already talking about the difficulties involved in keeping together a handsome roster

compiled by general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and his right-hand man Craig Heisinger.

“The key is to try to keep this group,” Wheeler told reporters in Winnipeg Tuesday. “It kind of looks like that window is opening up. And you want to

try to keep it together as long as possible. That’s where Chevy has a great luxury in having that problem, but it’s also probably really difficult to

try and manipulate.”

Signing Wheeler, who will be 33 when he embarks upon this five-year

deal, is something this fiscally prudent, risk averse team might not have done a few years ago. But the Jets have never been a serious Cup contender before, and with that comes the responsibility to commit to a player who means so much to the project that’s been built in Manitoba.

If you didn’t watch a ton of Jets hockey during the regular season last year, you may have gone into the playoffs unaware of Wheeler’s level of play. Assuming you tuned in for the Jets’ run to the Western Conference Final, however, it should be plain that Wheeler is far more than just the captain of this club.

He’s the one who sets it on a tee for Mark Scheifele, both at even

strength and on the power-play, a unit that runs through the big Minnesota native. He’s their barometer — the veteran player who

chooses the emotion that runs down through the club at any given hurdle during a game.

And if it is tangible items you’re looking for, how about finishing tied with Claude Giroux at 68 for the most assists in the NHL last season? Or the fact he sits seventh in assists over the past five seasons among all NHL players.

There have been times when players like Wheeler have parlayed success in Winnipeg into contracts elsewhere around the NHL. Those times, at least in the near term, are gone.

“We’ve invested,” he said. “There have been guys here that have invested a lot of time and a lot of blood, sweat and tears to try and build this into something we can be proud of. Hopefully, we are getting to the

point now where we can be a contending team year-in and year-out. That’s kind of what we’ve been pushing for. To be able to be locked into

those years is really exciting.”

Wheeler is the definition of a player who makes the players around him

better, through both leadership and production. And with the young crew coming up underneath, to have his kind of veteran leadership married

with a player who just had his best NHL season (23-68-91) is a luxury the Jets cannot afford to let go.

But now, of course, the cap dancing begins for Cheveldayoff.

He’ll have to figure out an eight-year deal with Patrik Laine prior to next season, as players who average 40 goals in their first two seasons tend not to have to wait until the third contract to get paid. Then he must solve Kyle Connor, whose contract next season could be a bear if Connor puts up another 31-goal season.

After that, the contracts of defencemen Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers expire after this season. Meanwhile, RFA defenceman Josh Morrissey — a very important part of the program in Winnipeg — remains without a contract as we speak.

Clearly, it’s a difficult puzzle to solve when you draft and develop as successfully as the Jets have. The goal is to have all those young players

grow into weapons, but the inherent problem is the direct relationship between how well you build and how hard it becomes to afford everyone,

which is where Cheveldayoff finds himself today.

Credit him for ticking off some boxes as he goes along, with goalie

Connor Hellebuyck signing a six-year, $37-million deal this summer, and Scheifele locked down for six more seasons at a ridiculously low $6.125 AAV.

It wasn’t as much fun in Winnipeg when the Jets were trundling along at the bottom of the Central. But, there weren’t as many headaches either.

Today, they are paying the price of success. It will all be worth it, if this project delivers on a Stanley Cup in the next year or two.

In fact, after all these years, it had better.

Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 09.05.2018

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Sportsnet.ca / Cap comparables: How Blake Wheeler impacts Jets' looming cap crunch

Rory Boylen | @RoryBoylen


While we wait on a contract for RFA Josh Morrissey and wonder what kind of raises Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Jacob Trouba — all high-

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profile RFAs next summer — will get, the Jets locked in their captain to a five-year extension on Tuesday that comes with an $8.25-million cap hit.

Wheeler will be 37 years old at the end of the deal, but no matter whether or not you believe he’ll provide value against his AAV towards the end, this was a signing the Jets needed to make. After all, Wheeler is coming off a career-best 91-point season and the Jets’ Stanley Cup window is wide open — the value comes in keeping the core together and doubling down on their contender status.

As of right now, Wheeler is slated to be the Jets’ highest-paid player when the 2019-20 season gets started, although Laine could still come

over the top. But even with top centre Mark Scheifele locked in at a tremendous $6.125-million bargain for the next six years, perhaps the

best contract league-wide from a team perspective, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has to work to keep his Jets in formation.

Winnipeg has a projected $27 million in cap space for next season with a few key, and likely expensive, pieces to sign.

If Cheveldayoff wants to re-sign all of the big-ticket players, here’s a ballpark of what kind of AAV we could expect from each:

Jacob Trouba: $6.5 million

After an arbitration award, Trouba’s cap hit nearly doubled and while it won’t go up by that same percentage again, his next deal will either buy up UFA years or place him one year away from 2020 UFA eligibility. Though there is a rocky history here that has made Trouba’s long-term desires unclear, he did say recently he wouldn’t rule out a big extension. Today he is the No. 2 defenceman in Winnipeg as far as usage goes and if he stays on a multi-year pact, will likely become the No. 1 over the life of that deal. Trouba asked for $7 million in arbitration this season and that might be the upper-limit of what he’d get on a re-sign. More likely

might be a deal in line with Cam Fowler ($6.5 million) or Ryan Ellis ($6.25 million), two players whose deals kick in this season and next,

respectively.

Josh Morrissey: $5.5 million

The only player left unsigned for the 2018-19 season, Morrissey’s extension could be impacted by Noah Hanifin’s $4.95 million AAV on a

six-year contract signed last week. But where Hanifin was protected and given less than 24 per cent of his zone starts in the defensive end, Morrissey is more of a defender and started in his own zone more than any other Jets blueliner. Morrissey is also a couple years older and any deal extending more than four years would buy UFA time so his final AAV should come in a bit higher than Hanifin.

Tyler Myers: $5.5-6 million

This one is a little difficult to gauge — Myers currently makes $5.5 million against the cap and although he signed that deal under a smaller ceiling, he also hadn’t matched the kind of point production he accumulated in

his first three seasons until 2017-18. Health also complicates things: Myers has played more than 24 games in two of the past four seasons.

Myers’ role comes with a focus on special teams and he ranked fourth on the team in even-strength time on ice. If he approaches or crosses 40

points and stays healthy this season his expected AAV could come up. Who is a good comparable for Myers? Niklas Hjalmarsson has less

offensive upside, but signed a two-year, $10-million extension with the Coyotes. Ellis came in over $6 million, but has been more consistent and

healthy. It might just make sense to walk away from the player.

Kyle Connor: $6-7 million

Before this season starts, Toronto’s William Nylander needs a new contract and could be an interesting comparable for Connor. Both players burned the first year of their ELCs with 20-ish games played, then followed it with similar point totals in Year 2 — the difference is that Connor is a sniper and Nylander is more of a possession playmaker. For now, Dylan Larkin’s $6.1 million AAV with the Red Wings is a good place to find a comparison. Connor has a chance to join a small list of elite players to post multiple 30-goal seasons before their ELC expired.

Patrik Laine: $9-10 million

We may have to wait to see what Auston Matthews gets before the first player picked after him in the 2016 draft signs, but there’s a chance Laine passes Wheeler as the Jets’ highest-paid player next season. He’s not going to win any Selke Trophies or be a PK contributor, but he could have multiple “Rocket” Richard Trophies in his future. Jack Eichel is Buffalo’s franchise player and had better points-per-game averages over the past two seasons so Laine likely won’t go beyond the $10 million Eichel earned.

All of this together comes in at around $33 million, which would put the

Jets $6 million over the cap and leave them with holes in the bottom-six and backup goalie spots. There are avenues to take down at least part of

this cost: perhaps Connor or even Morrissey come in with AAV’s a little lower on bridge contracts. But decreasing this total amount by more than

$6 million is a tall task. The easiest way to get there would be to let Myers become a UFA, or to trade Trouba.

Cheveldayoff has never been a big trader as GM of the Jets, but that option has to be on the table in the next 12 months. Trouba will be in the

rumour mill until he signs a long-term extension and although 30-year-old Mathieu Perreault’s versatility makes him a valued asset, $4.125 million for essentially a third-liner could prove too rich.

Then there are younger players who could push others out and be on the books at a bargain. For instance, if Jack Roslovic works his way into a full-time centre role this season, he could play next season there on the last year of his ELC. Kristian Vesalainen may be NHL-ready a season from now and will start on his ELC. Tucker Poolman and Sami Niku showed they could fill depth roles last season and both come in under $1 million.

For these players to get into the lineup full-time, someone would have to be on the way out.

Wheeler’s signing keeps a central piece in place for the future, but the contract will kick in at a time when the salary cap will be more of a factor

for the Jets than at any other time in their history.

Chelevdayoff has shown the likes of Wheeler, Scheifele and Hellebuyck

are a part of his team’s core — the next step may be to identify the players who are not.


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Sportsnet.ca / Jets coach Paul Maurice on what makes Wheeler a great captain

Mike Johnston | @MikeyJ_MMA


Blake Wheeler signed a five-year contract extension worth $41.25 million Tuesday to ensure he’ll be with the Winnipeg Jets through the 2023-24 season.

Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice won’t be the one signing Wheeler’s paycheques, but he’ll be the first to say the Jets captain has earned every penny of his new deal.

“When you have a guy like we have, the ‘C’ is important, and what he does in the room is very important,” Maurice told Prime Time Sports

Tuesday afternoon.

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The 32-year-old recorded a career high 91 points and his 68 assists were tied for the league lead in 2017-18 as the Jets advanced to the Western Conference Final.

Maurice said the impact of a captain wholly depends on how his personality and game relate to the other players on the team.

“With Blake, what his strength is, is his ability to drive every single day, practice and games,” Maurice explained. “Certainly he’s been an elite player in terms of passing and assists in the last few years but his real strength is that he drives at a level – it’s not even a matter of will, it’s a matter of preparation and conditioning, because you can’t work hard

unless it’s your entire being – so that you can go at anybody on that bench and say, ‘all I’m going to ask you to do is work as hard he does,’

and that’s it.

“Leading by example gets fired around all the time but if you watch what

he does then at least we know we’re going to get the most out of you we possibly can.”

Maurice said the Jets “are an unusual animal here in Winnipeg,” referring to the fact the city hasn’t historically been a free agent haven over the

years.

Maurice credits ownership and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff for building “enough of a room and a culture that we can have players come in and say, ‘Yes, I’ll raise my family here, I’ll make this my home,’ because at the end of the day they just want to win.”

Wheeler, for example, is an American-born star player whose wife is from the United States yet they’ve chosen to stay in Winnipeg long-term.

Maurice spent time earlier in his career coaching both the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs and he compared Wheeler to the likes of Hall of Famers Ron Francis and Mats Sundin when it comes to

his ability to lead a team.

“It’s not a fluke,” Maurice added. “This guy drove our team last year.”


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Sportsnet.ca / Cap comparables: How Blake Wheeler impacts Jets' looming cap crunch



While we wait on a contract for RFA Josh Morrissey and wonder what kind of raises Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Jacob Trouba — all high-

profile RFAs next summer — will get, the Jets locked in their captain to a five-year extension on Tuesday that comes with an $8.25-million cap hit.

Wheeler will be 37 years old at the end of the deal, but no matter whether or not you believe he’ll provide value against his AAV towards the end, this was a signing the Jets needed to make. After all, Wheeler is coming off a career-best 91-point season and the Jets’ Stanley Cup window is wide open — the value comes in keeping the core together and doubling down on their contender status.

As of right now, Wheeler is slated to be the Jets’ highest-paid player when the 2019-20 season gets started, although Laine could still come

over the top. But even with top centre Mark Scheifele locked in at a tremendous $6.125-million bargain for the next six years, perhaps the

best contract league-wide from a team perspective, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has to work to keep his Jets in formation.

Winnipeg has a projected $27 million in cap space for next season with a few key, and likely expensive, pieces to sign.

If Cheveldayoff wants to re-sign all of the big-ticket players, here’s a ballpark of what kind of AAV we could expect from each:

Jacob Trouba: $6.5 million

After an arbitration award, Trouba’s cap hit nearly doubled and while it won’t go up by that same percentage again, his next deal will either buy

up UFA years or place him one year away from 2020 UFA eligibility. Though there is a rocky history here that has made Trouba’s long-term desires unclear, he did say recently he wouldn’t rule out a big extension.

Today he is the No. 2 defenceman in Winnipeg as far as usage goes and if he stays on a multi-year pact, will likely become the No. 1 over the life

of that deal. Trouba asked for $7 million in arbitration this season and that might be the upper-limit of what he’d get on a re-sign. More likely

might be a deal in line with Cam Fowler ($6.5 million) or Ryan Ellis ($6.25 million), two players whose deals kick in this season and next,

respectively.

Josh Morrissey: $5.5 million

The only player left unsigned for the 2018-19 season, Morrissey’s extension could be impacted by Noah Hanifin’s $4.95 million AAV on a six-year contract signed last week. But where Hanifin was protected and given less than 24 per cent of his zone starts in the defensive end, Morrissey is more of a defender and started in his own zone more than any other Jets blueliner. Morrissey is also a couple years older and any deal extending more than four years would buy UFA time so his final AAV should come in a bit higher than Hanifin.

Tyler Myers: $5.5-6 million

This one is a little difficult to gauge — Myers currently makes $5.5 million

against the cap and although he signed that deal under a smaller ceiling, he also hadn’t matched the kind of point production he accumulated in

his first three seasons until 2017-18. Health also complicates things: Myers has played more than 24 games in two of the past four seasons.

Myers’ role comes with a focus on special teams and he ranked fourth on the team in even-strength time on ice. If he approaches or crosses 40 points and stays healthy this season his expected AAV could come up. Who is a good comparable for Myers? Niklas Hjalmarsson has less offensive upside, but signed a two-year, $10-million extension with the Coyotes. Ellis came in over $6 million, but has been more consistent and healthy. It might just make sense to walk away from the player.

Kyle Connor: $6-7 million

Before this season starts, Toronto’s William Nylander needs a new contract and could be an interesting comparable for Connor. Both players

burned the first year of their ELCs with 20-ish games played, then followed it with similar point totals in Year 2 — the difference is that

Connor is a sniper and Nylander is more of a possession playmaker. For now, Dylan Larkin’s $6.1 million AAV with the Red Wings is a good place

to find a comparison. Connor has a chance to join a small list of elite players to post multiple 30-goal seasons before their ELC expired.

Patrik Laine: $9-10 million

We may have to wait to see what Auston Matthews gets before the first

player picked after him in the 2016 draft signs, but there’s a chance Laine passes Wheeler as the Jets’ highest-paid player next season. He’s not going to win any Selke Trophies or be a PK contributor, but he could have multiple “Rocket” Richard Trophies in his future. Jack Eichel is Buffalo’s franchise player and had better points-per-game averages over the past two seasons so Laine likely won’t go beyond the $10 million Eichel earned.

All of this together comes in at around $33 million, which would put the

Jets $6 million over the cap and leave them with holes in the bottom-six

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and backup goalie spots. There are avenues to take down at least part of this cost: perhaps Connor or even Morrissey come in with AAV’s a little lower on bridge contracts. But decreasing this total amount by more than $6 million is a tall task. The easiest way to get there would be to let Myers become a UFA, or to trade Trouba.

Cheveldayoff has never been a big trader as GM of the Jets, but that option has to be on the table in the next 12 months. Trouba will be in the rumour mill until he signs a long-term extension and although 30-year-old Mathieu Perreault’s versatility makes him a valued asset, $4.125 million for essentially a third-liner could prove too rich.

Then there are younger players who could push others out and be on the books at a bargain. For instance, if Jack Roslovic works his way into a

full-time centre role this season, he could play next season there on the last year of his ELC. Kristian Vesalainen may be NHL-ready a season

from now and will start on his ELC. Tucker Poolman and Sami Niku showed they could fill depth roles last season and both come in under $1

million.

For these players to get into the lineup full-time, someone would have to

be on the way out.

Wheeler’s signing keeps a central piece in place for the future, but the contract will kick in at a time when the salary cap will be more of a factor for the Jets than at any other time in their history.

Chelevdayoff has shown the likes of Wheeler, Scheifele and Hellebuyck are a part of his team’s core — the next step may be to identify the players who are not.


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Sportsnet.ca / Goaltender Jeff Glass signs PTO with hometown Calgary Flames

Eric Francis | @EricFrancis

September 5, 2018, 12:34 AM

One of the NHL’s feel-good stories last year is hoping to carve out an

even better narrative in his hometown this fall.

Jeff Glass, who made his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks last

Christmas at age 32, has been inked to a PTO by the Calgary Flames – the team he grew up watching.

“I never thought being from Calgary I’d play for the Flames,” said the longtime KHL netminder from his Calgary home.

“When I was a kid my dad would get tickets from work once or twice a year so I have fond memories of watching them play at the Saddledome. I grew up idolizing Trevor Kidd. Him and Rick Tabaracci were the Flames goalies when I was young and I got to go to his goalie schools here in town. Kidd was the man. He had the cool gear – I loved everything about him.

“It’s kind of cool wearing the Flames jersey. What a small world.”

Although it has yet to be announced by the Flames, Glass agreed to a PTO with GM Brad Treliving last week and started skating informally with the Flames in town Monday.

It included many of the same lads he faced last New Year’s Eve when a slew of friends and family members watched him play his second NHL

game.

Just two nights after his NHL debut in Edmonton where he stoned Connor McDavid and his Blackhawks won in overtime, his squad lost in extra time in a scenario he couldn’t have fathomed as he spent seven years toiling in the KHL.

Two summers ago, the former Kootenay Ice star, who backstopped a star-studded Canadian team to World Junior Gold in 2005, decided it was now or never to take his NHL shot.

A PTO with the Leafs turned into a two-game stint with the Marlies that ended abruptly, only to see his career resurrected later that year by the Rockford IceHogs.

He was called up last season as the Blackhawks struggled to find capable goaltending in the absence of injured Corey Crawford, leading to

a Dec. 29 audition that ended with him as the game’s first star in front of his parents, wife and two-month-old daughter, Lucy.

He went on to win three of his first five starts, earning him kudos from around the hockey world for sticking with his NHL dreams.

When in Calgary he said all he wanted to do was “keep it going” in an effort to prove he was worthy of staying in the big league.

However, on a team that never did find its groove, he lost his last ten outings as part of Chicago’s uncharacteristic slide from the playoff scene.

In a summer of relative stagnancy amongst NHL goaltenders the 6-foot-3, 206-pound free agent, and his 3-7-3 record, 3.36 GAA and .898 save percentage, got no bites.

Until Treliving called.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want something done July 1 – that’s when

everybody loves to sign and be able to plan your summer,” said Glass, a former third-round pick of the Ottawa Senators who spent four years in Binghamton of the AHL before a Russian excursion where he was an all-

star at several stops.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve been in an 11th-hour situation, here or overseas. That’s kind of part of being a goalie. I’m totally comfortable with the situation I’m in now.”

The reality is that an outstanding camp could position Glass to be an outside threat to youngsters Jon Gillies and David Rittich, who enter camp in a battle to be named Mike Smith’s backup.

Both faltered down the stretch last year as the Flames fell out of a playoff spot after Smith was injured.

However, should Glass fail to shine, he’d be released and the team would continue to follow its obvious plan, naming Rittich or Gillies to the

big club and sending the other down to Stockton.

That would also pave the way for the Flames goalie of the future, Tyler

Parsons, to play meaningful minutes in Stockton, as opposed to the ECHL where he had a tough year in his first season as a pro.

“No promises have been made,” said Glass.

“We’re just kind of leaving it up to how camp goes.”

Glass won’t accompany the team’s top three netminders in China for the club’s two exhibition games against Boston. The reality is, the Flames need more bodies in camp than usual as prospects left behind will continue camp here in Calgary, playing exhibition games.

He’s okay with the fact it will interrupt his plans to attend the grand opening of his second Yoga/Barre/Spin studio in North Vancouver, like the The Sweat Lab he and his wife run with former Calgary Hitmen defenceman Matt Kinch and his wife in Calgary.

“I’m okay with that,” he chuckled.


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Sportsnet.ca / Canucks' Gudbranson talks Pettersson, Linden, UFAs, open captaincy

Luke Fox | @lukefoxjukebox


As deeply as he loves it, Erik Gudbranson resisted all urges for adventure this summer.

Besides booking a direct flight to Toronto and making weekend jaunts back home to Ottawa to pound stakes in support of his mother’s political campaign (more on that later), the formidable Canucks defenceman — who memorably was enjoying an African safari on the day he was traded to the Canucks — refused to let the travel bug bite him the way the injury bug has since orcas splashed his apparel.

Projected to patrol the Canucks’ second pairing alongside Michael Del Zotto this season, the six-foot-five, 220-pound right shot has appeared in

a grand total of 82 games since joining Vancouver two years ago. Each of the 2010 third-overall pick’s Canucks campaigns has been marred with

surgery, a not-so-merry Christmastime wrist procedure in ’16 and season-ending shoulder operation this past March.

“It’s been a tough couple of years, a couple big surgeries. That’s part of the reason I came to Toronto this summer — to be in the right program

and get myself feeling good,” explains Gudbranson, 26.

“The biggest thing for me is just not get hurt.”

Del Zotto sold Gudbranson on training this summer with BioSteel’s Matt Nichol, and the player’s agent hooked him up with sessions with highly regarded skating coach Dawn Braid.

Rehabbing diligently since June 1, the hard-hitting, stay-at-home blue-liner now asserts that his shoulder “feels really good,” and with Vancouver committing three more years and another $12 million to the big man, the club is banking on better than a 50 per cent rate of attendance.

In a recent chat with a small group of reporters, an insightful Gudbranson addressed the state of the Canucks, touching on president Trevor

Linden’s abrupt departure, the excitement surrounding the roster’s new additions, and the void left by your favourite Swedish doppelgangers.

On the peculiar feeling of entering camp without Daniel and Henrik Sedin:

“There’s going to be a lot of new experiences without them there, and we’re going to have an opportunity to grow as a group. We’re going to be

challenged in ways we haven’t been challenged. They’ve held down the fort for so many years and set the standard. [Now] we have to create that.

“They’ve been running our power-play for a long time, finding back-door tap-ins for a long time. They did so much for our team, so much in our locker room that unfortunately you guys won’t be privy to. They’re such amazing people. It’s going to be different, but it’s not a bad thing. We’re excited for their retirement; they had such a great career. We have to go in a different direction now. Everybody needs to up their game and fill those spots.”

On why it’s difficult to overstate the vacancy left by the Sedin twins:

“It’s hard to put into words, actually, what they mean to us in the dressing

room. You ask what it’s going to be like without them. I know we have the character in the room to go in the right direction without them, but there’s

certainly going to be a learning curve without them. They’ve done everything for that city. You need a question answered? Just walk over to their side of the room. Pretty easy.”

On the remaining Canucks who can fill that leadership void:

“Once you get back to camp and start seeing the boys again, that role will emerge. It’s not something you guys will know now. It’s something that will grow into something bigger. There’s lots of leadership in that dressing room. Tons of guys with great character. It’s sad to see the Sedins go, but they’ve groomed that dressing room very well and set a standard very high that we have to uphold.”

On the captain-like characteristics of 23-year-old Bo Horvat:

“He’s got all of ’em. He’s a good player, he battles, he’s a great guy in the

dressing room. He’s as professional off the ice as he is on — if not more. He’s got all the tools you need for something like that, and I think guys

would be excited about that.”

On if NHL captaincy is overrated:

“No. Absolutely not. You need a captain. That’s an interesting question. I’ve never thought about that. But, no, that’s part of hockey. You need a captain. I don’t know what their plans are, if they have a guy in mind, but there’s lots of guys who could do it.”

On much-hyped Vancouver prospect Elias Pettersson:

“His highlight videos are ridiculous. I saw him play two years ago, a 3-on-3 at rookie camp in the summer, the way he commanded the middle of the ice was impressive. He dominated the rink within the rink at a young age. The kids we have coming up have a lot of hockey sense. They’re quick, they’re fast, they’re smart players, and we should be very excited about them.”

On if UFA signings Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel, who each inked

four-year deals, contradict a rebuild:

“We picked up guys we really needed. We picked up some guys that are coming to take pucks to the net and get in the dirty areas. We got caught last year at certain times playing to the outside and not commanding the

centre of the ice and really dominating. That’s where the game’s won. If you control the centre of the ice, you should win the game. We brought

guys in who will get their noses dirty, and they’re good players as well. I was very excited to see those signings.”

On Vancouver’s 2018 first-round pick, Quinn Hughes:

“Very talented player. He moves the puck well. His control is impressive. His skating is extremely impressive. From what I’ve heard, he’s a great kid, great individual, and that’s something you should pay a high price for.”

On whether defence prospects are best served waiting to make the NHL jump:

“Patience is always a virtue, whether that’s one year or three years. It’s the best league in the world. You can have all the talent, but it’s about making the right plays at the right time. It’s also being physically ready.

Look at the guys in the gym here: They’re big men. You don’t want to throw someone who’s not developed enough into the line of fire. I think

there’s a lot of value to going back. I went back for my third year of junior [and put up a career-best 34 points in 44 games with the Kingston

Frontenacs]. I wanted to be [in the NHL] when I was 18, but that year was one of the best years I’ve played, and I grew big-time. If they’re

ready and they can handle it, by all means [play in the NHL]. We need ’em. If they make the team, they make the team.”

On what struck him about Linden’s summer departure:

“The saddest part is that he’s such an icon for that team and he’s done such great things for the city of Vancouver. It’s sad to see him go. I mean, you get to pick his brain. He comes to eat lunch with you and stuff like that. [You can ask him] how to deal with a situation and whatnot. He’s a good person to talk to. [The reasons for his exit] are way above

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my head. I don’t know the ins and outs of that, but I wish him nothing but the best.”

On what stands out about 2017-18 super rookie Brock Boeser:

“He’s got a ridiculous release. Ridiculous release. The puck’s on his stick and off of it in a split second. The control he has with his wrist shot is extremely impressive. Something to watch, for sure.”

On his mother, Donna Leith-Gudbranson, running in the Ottawa municipal election (Innes Ward) this October:

“We’ve been pushing her for years. She used to work in the former

councillor’s office for six years. She’s got so many great ideas. She knows the area so well; she’s been living there for 25 years. She finally did it, and we’re super-pumped about it and hope to get her elected.

She’s definitely the right person for the job. She can tell you where every pothole is in the whole ward. I’ve gone back [to Ottawa] twice now. This

past weekend I was punching signs into people’s lawns. It’s fun.”

On following his mom’s political path:

“I don’t know if I’m much of a politician myself. I’m enjoying this hockey thing right now.”

On hope bubbling in Vancouver after three consecutive playoff-free seasons:

“I’ve said this for a while now: I think this team is a diamond in the rough.

Vancouver has a lot going for itself. It takes time to rebuild. It takes time to learn the process, how to manage the ups and downs. We’re learning as a group, and that’s really exciting. You know, I’ve spoken to a lot of my teammates this summer. Guys have been calling each other, checking up on each other, making sure we’re ready to take another step forward.”


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Sportsnet.ca / Flames' GM Treliving: This is 'deepest group' since I’ve been here

Josh Weinstein

Following an underwhelming 2017-18 season in which the Calgary Flames finished 11 points out of the Western Conference playoff picture

with a 37-35-10 record, general manager Brad Treliving sensed big changes were on the horizon.

Hiring Bill Peters as the team’s new head coach – the second head coaching hire he’s made since taking over as general manager in April

2014 – to replace Glen Gulutzan (now an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers) was the GM’s first order of business.

Treliving, during an in-studio interview with Ryan Pinder on Sportsnet 960 The Fan’s Pinder and Steinberg, discussed the impact he expects his new head coach to have.

“He’s (Peters) certainly a guy, when we made the change, that was at the top of my list … I feel strongly that he’s the right guy for this group right now,” Treliving said. “He pushes. He’s a demanding guy, but in a way that he’s an encouraging and relationship-driven coach with players.”

With hiring a new head coach off the to-do list, the 49-year-old executive

turned to his roster, looking for ways to improve a young, up-and-coming hockey club. Recognizing what changes had to be made was the next

step in the organization’s off-season overhaul.

After finishing last season ranked 27th in goals per game at 2.63, improving offensively was a must to remain competitive in the West.

“A few things we really felt strongly about (changing) … our depth, organizationally, but specifically at the forward position. I take responsibility that we didn’t necessarily give our coaches as many tools as they probably should have had last year in terms of moving people around.

“We felt we’ve increased the forward depth of our group, and then looking at specific areas, and that’s on the right side for people that can play in scoring roles.”

Signing 31-year-old right winger James Neal to a 5-year, $28.75 million deal highlighted the Flames’ bevy of forward signings this off-season,

moves Treliving hopes prevent Calgary from relying too heavily on its star talent.

“One thing that was painfully evident last year is we relied on too many. If two or three guys didn’t score last year, we were going to have a tough

time to win.”

With increased forward depth and new young additions in Noah Hanifin

and Elias Lindholm signed long term, Treliving feels his club is ready for a bounce back campaign. The Flames’ architect even declared this year’s crop of talent entering training camp “is the deepest group that’s been here since I’ve been here.”


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Sportsnet.ca / How I Spent My Summer: Toronto Maple Leafs

Luke Fox | @lukefoxjukebox


With school now back in session, and before training camps officially open next week, over the course of the next few days we’ll be bringing you up-to-date on how each of the seven Canadian NHL teams have

spent their summers.

Current cap space: $13.3 million

GM: Kyle Dubas

Head coach: Mike Babcock

Assistants: Jim Hiller, D.J. Smith, Andrew Brewer

Unsigned players: William Nylander (RFA)

Signings/PTOs:

• John Tavares, seven years, $77 million

• Par Lindholm, one year, $925,000

• Tyler Ennis, one year, $650,000

Free Agent departures:

• James van Riemsdyk (Flyers)

• Tyler Bozak (Blues)

• Leo Komarov (Islanders)

• Tomas Plekanec (Canadiens)

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• Dominic Moore (UFA)

• Roman Polak (Stars)

Biggest summer splash

The Leafs’ biggest splash doubles as the biggest splash league-wide. John Tavares wrestled with his emotions, tossed in his sheets, then

decided to pursue a childhood dream of playing for his hometown. Cannonball!

The timing is perfect for the biggest UFA of the cap era to switch sides, sweater burnings be damned. Despite two straight one-round-and-done

post-seasons, Toronto plays a fast, offensive brand of hockey and — based on the skill-hoarding alone — should be relevant for the duration of J.T.’s seven-year commitment. That Tavares could’ve raked more

money elsewhere underscores his desire to win and, Dubas hopes, sets a team-first tone that could influence the next round of signings.

Other notable additions and subtractions

A front-office shakeup (evolution?) saw 75-year-old Hall of Fame GM Lou Lamoriello move on to the New York Islanders and assistant GM Mark Hunter ultimately return to his OHL London Knights, 32-year-old Kyle Dubas stepped to the helm — with a vision.

Dubas masterminded the Tavares sales pitch and made out-of-the-box hires like Hayley Wickenheiser. We’ve spoken to several players about the new Dubas regime, and the response has been uniformly glowing.

“That’s a guy you can relate to more than anyone else, really—a guy that cares about you genuinely, not just what you bring to the team,” says Travis Dermott. “Having him around will be great for the team.”

As expected, Dubas allowed long-serving top-six forwards van Riemsdyk (Philadelphia) and Bozak (St. Louis) to get rich elsewhere, saving cap space and allowing more opportunity for emerging talent. The departures

of Komarov, Polak and Matt Martin signifies another philosophical step toward speed and skill in Toronto — albeit at the expense of intimidation

and physicality, a necessary ingredient to the Capitals’ 2018 championship run.

Other summer headlines

• Dubas on keeping Nylander, Marner, Matthews: ‘We can, and we will’

Not only did Dubas’s AHL Marlies capture Toronto’s first pro hockey

championship since 1967, not only did he pry Tavares away from his former boss, but Dubas promised to keep Matthews, Marner and Nylander in blue and white for years to come. That said: None of them have extensions, yet.

• The inside story of how the Maple Leafs won the John Tavares sweepstakes

Leafs Nation spent the final week in June refreshing its Twitter feed for tidbits of the ever-evolving Tavares sweepstakes to emerge. San Jose

pitched hard, the Islanders received no consolation prize as the runner-up, as a Mitch Marner sizzle reel and Maple Leafs bedsheets set won the day.

• Auston Matthews talks Babcock, Tavares, contract, new lines

Needing time to get away after a sour Game 7 collapse in Boston, a refreshed Matthews — next captain or nah? — spoke about his excitement over the Tavares signing, his much-scrutinized Arizona meeting with Babcock, his contract talks, and swapping wingmate Zach Hyman for Patrick Marleau.

• Joining Maple Leafs the latest feat for remarkable Wickenheiser

Dubas doesn’t think or operate like the old boys’ network. The hiring of hockey icon–slash–med student Hayley Wickenheiser as assistant

director of player development and Noelle Needham as a scout (based on something called merit, hey!) hint that more boundaries could be

broken during his tenure.

Key questions heading into training camp

• What will Nylander’s deal look like? And when is it coming? On the heels of back-to-back 61-point campaigns, the unsigned RFA needs his money, preferably within the next two weeks, so that the headlines as Leafs camp opens focus on Tavares’s presence instead of Nylander’s absence. The winger says he wants a long-term deal. Something in the range of Dylan Larkin’s five-year, $30.5-million extension would allow Nylander to get another juicy raise as a UFA in his 20s.

• Will the Leafs name a captain? The C patch has sat in a drawer since the Dion Phaneuf trade in February 2016. Tavares and Matthews are the

only realistic candidates here, but the Leafs brass say they want to see a captain emerge organically.

• Who will back up Frederik Andersen? Veteran No. 2 Curtis McElhinney did everything that could have been asked of him in a stellar 2017-18, but

Garret Sparks has paid enough dues and, after being crowned the AHL’s top netminder, is due for an NHL shot — be it in Toronto or elsewhere.

• Who can hop from the fringes to the roster? Babcock loves internal competition, and there should be no shortage of battles for the fourth line

(Josh Leivo time?) and third D pairing (paging Justin Holl).


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Sportsnet.ca / How I Spent My Summer: Edmonton Oilers

Mark Spector | @sportsnetspec


With school now back in session, and before training camps officially open next week, over the course of the next few days we’ll be bringing you up to date on how each of the seven Canadian NHL teams have spent their summers.

Current cap space: $3,978,834

GM: Peter Chiarelli

Head Coach: Todd McLellan

Assistants: Glen Gulutzan, Trent Yawney, Emanuel Viveiros

Unsigned players: Darnell Nurse (RFA)

Signings/PTOs:

– Kyle Brodziak, two years, $2.3 million

– Ryan Strome, two years, $6.2 million

– Tobias Rieder, one year, $2 million

– Drake Caggiula, two years, $3 million

– Matthew Benning, two years, $3.8 million

– Jakub Jerabek, one year, $1 million

– Kevin Gravel, one year, $700,000

– Mikko Koskinen, one year, $2.5 million

– Scottie Upshall (PTO)

– Jason Garrison (PTO)

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– Mike Cammalleri

Biggest Summer Splash

When your best player’s AAV rises from $3.775 million to $12.5 million, it inhibits a team’s ability to make the “Big Summer Splash.” So Edmonton

went after the coaching market instead, replacing their assistant coaching staff after finishing last in power play and seventh from the bottom in penalty killing in 2017-18.

Out went Jim Johnson, Jay Woodcroft (to AHL Bakersfield), and Ian

Herbers, who returned to coach the University of Alberta Golden Bears. In came ex-Flames coach Glen Gulutzan, veteran PK specialist Trent Yawney from Anaheim, and Emanuel Viveiros, who will run the Oilers’

power play after an impressive stint behind the bench of the WHL champions in Swift Current.

The Oilers ranked 11th in five-on-five goals last season. The plan is to add some more power play goals, cut down on some goals against on

the PK, and make the playoffs.

How about giving backup goalie Mikko Koskinen a one-year, $2.5 million deal — despite the fact he is 30 and has exactly four NHL games under his belt?

If Chiarelli is right, and Koskinen can challenge Cam Talbot for the starter’s job, the Oilers GM will look like a genius. Chiarelli has never been afraid to make a controversial trade/signing, but his problem is he’s on a losing streak. Now, he’s capped out, his completely unproven backup is making about $1.5 million more than most people feel he’s worth, and signing Nurse appears problematic.

With little cap space, Chiarelli nibbled around the edges with guys like Tobias Rieder on a one-year deal, and veteran centre Kyle Brodziak,

who returns to the team that drafted him in Round 7 a full 15 years ago. He’s someone the Oilers can use, and a guy whose familiarity may help

Upshall get a contract.

Other Summer Headlines

• “I’ve always said I want to score more. That’s what I want to do.” Those words, spoken by Connor McDavid at the BioSteel Camp, should send

shivers through the NHL goalie ranks. McDavid’s 84 even strength points last season were the most by a player — this century. And he wants more. Yikes!

• Second pairing D-man Andrej Sekera blew out an Achilles tendon while training this summer, the Oilers said. After missing half of last season with a torn ACL, it’s hard to see Sekera coming off Achilles surgery and helping in any meaningful way this season. His NHL career is in jeopardy.

• With the Sekera injury, some feel like 10th overall pick Evan Bouchard will have a better chance to make the team. That is fair.

But the Oilers, who open with a game in Sweden, then get Boston, the Rangers and Winnipeg on the road before their home opener, are in dire

need of a strong start. We believe McLellan has little interest in wasting many minutes on breaking in a teenager on his blue line this fall, thus the

addition of Jerabek, Gravel and Garrison on a PTO.

• McLellan knows this project has reached critical mass in Edmonton. He

has to find a way to win with the players his GM has under contract, with both the coach and Chiarelli entering Year 4 of five-year deals. “The off-

season is not necessarily about acquiring a bunch of different players, it’s about getting more out of the players we have,” he admitted.

The big question is simple: Are the real Oilers the 103-point team from 2016-17? Or were they imposters, and in fact the real team is the one that had 78 points last season?

With their roster virtually set contract-wise, we’ll get to see predominantly the same group take a third run at things this fall. After two Art Ross

Trophies, we are confident McDavid will carry his share of the load. But after that, the questions are many:

Can Cam Talbot register a save percentage closer to his career mark of close to .920? Or was last season’s .908 a sign that his game has fallen off?

What about Milan Lucic? He’s got five seasons left at $6 million per, and is coming off a brutal, brutal season (10-24-34). He needs to show the game hasn’t left him behind, because another 10-goal, chase-the-play season, and they’ll be talking buy-out in Edmonton.

Oscar Klefbom has shown us he is a pretty good defenceman when he is

healthy. The problem? He has been injured far, far too often in his young career. Exacerbating that is the Oilers are light on the blue line, and

Klefbom — despite not being a legit No. 1 — is Edmonton’s No. 1. Another injury-plagued season for Klefbom could crush the Oilers. He

HAS to stay healthy.

It’s decided: Leon Draisaitl will open the season as Edmonton’s No. 2

centre, and if the late season chemistry between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid holds up, that alignment will not change. Draisaitl needs to

dominate without McDavid as his centreman


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Sportsnet.ca / Jordan Eberle on contract extension talks: 'I haven't had

any conversations'



With one player’s decision, the New York Islanders lost more game-breaking potential off their roster than any other team over the summer.

There’s a John Tavares-sized hole in the lineup now and the Islanders, whose top-10 offence was cancelled out by a league-worst defence last season, are considered a longshot to improve and get to the playoffs.

Mathew Barzal is their best bet to become a star, Kieffer Bellows could be the next rookie up, and Lou Lamoriello’s team is coming off a fantastic

draft.

The future, at least, isn’t off the rails.

But even now the Islanders are heading into a season with one of their most impactful players on an expiring contract that will take him into

unrestricted free agency. Jordan Eberle returned to his career-average levels last season by scoring 25 goals and 59 points in his first season

with the team. As far as proven scorers go — guys who have put up totals without Tavares — Eberle stands with value on his own.

And yet he hasn’t begun contract extension talks with the Islanders.

“To be honest I haven’t had any conversations with anybody,” Eberle told NHL.com after a Tuesday morning skate. “Going into the summer I was trying to focus on me and being the best I can be and come into the camp the best I can be. Once that happens you start trying to fill a role and try to make this team as good as it can be.”

Eberle came to New York in a shocking trade with the Oilers that sent Ryan Strome the other way and was largely dismissed as a loss for

Edmonton, an opinion that proved true last season.

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Looking at ice time, Eberle was used as a second-line contributor in all areas, but he was third on the team in even-strength points, just two behind Tavares.

“I think with the changes that we’ve had, I think it’s always fun to prove yourself,” Eberle continued. “I think there’s going to be some competition in camp and that always makes your team better, and myself included. You want to be a part of that. You want to be able to prove yourself.”

Making $6 million against the salary cap, Eberle has the second-highest AAV of any winger set to become a UFA next summer, behind only Mark Stone who signed a one-year $7.35-million deal with Ottawa ahead of

their salary arbitration hearing.


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Sportsnet.ca / Jets coach Paul Maurice on what makes Wheeler a great captain

Mike Johnston | @MikeyJ_MMA


Blake Wheeler signed a five-year contract extension worth $41.25 million

Tuesday to ensure he’ll be with the Winnipeg Jets through the 2023-24 season.

Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice won’t be the one signing Wheeler’s paycheques, but he’ll be the first to say the Jets captain has earned

every penny of his new deal.

“When you have a guy like we have, the ‘C’ is important, and what he does in the room is very important,” Maurice told Prime Time Sports Tuesday afternoon.

The 32-year-old recorded a career high 91 points and his 68 assists were tied for the league lead in 2017-18 as the Jets advanced to the Western Conference Final.

Maurice said the impact of a captain wholly depends on how his

personality and game relate to the other players on the team.

“With Blake, what his strength is, is his ability to drive every single day, practice and games,” Maurice explained. “Certainly he’s been an elite player in terms of passing and assists in the last few years but his real

strength is that he drives at a level – it’s not even a matter of will, it’s a matter of preparation and conditioning, because you can’t work hard

unless it’s your entire being – so that you can go at anybody on that bench and say, ‘all I’m going to ask you to do is work as hard he does,’

and that’s it.

“Leading by example gets fired around all the time but if you watch what he does then at least we know we’re going to get the most out of you we possibly can.”

Maurice said the Jets “are an unusual animal here in Winnipeg,” referring to the fact the city hasn’t historically been a free agent haven over the years.

Maurice credits ownership and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff for building “enough of a room and a culture that we can have players come in and say, ‘Yes, I’ll raise my family here, I’ll make this my home,’ because at

the end of the day they just want to win.”

Wheeler, for example, is an American-born star player whose wife is from

the United States yet they’ve chosen to stay in Winnipeg long-term.

Maurice spent time earlier in his career coaching both the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs and he compared Wheeler to the likes of Hall of Famers Ron Francis and Mats Sundin when it comes to his ability to lead a team.

“It’s not a fluke,” Maurice added. “This guy drove our team last year.”


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Sportsnet.ca / How I Spent My Summer: Montreal Canadiens

Eric Engels


With school now back in session, and before training camps officially

open next week, over the course of the next few days we’ll be bringing you up to date on how each of the seven Canadian NHL teams have spent their summers.

Current cap space: $7.81 million

GM: Marc Bergevin

Head coach: Claude Julien

Assistants: Dominique Ducharme, Kirk Muller, Luke Richardson, Stephane Waite (Goaltending)

Unsigned players: Michael McCarron (RFA)

Signings/PTOs:

• Tomas Plekanec, one year, $2.25 million

• Matthew Peca, two years, $1.3 million

• Xavier Ouellet, one year, $700,000

• Simon Despres, PTO


• Daniel Carr

• Ales Hemsky

• Logan Shaw

Biggest summer splash

On June 15 Bergevin pulled the trigger on a trade to bring 23-year-old forward Max Domi to the Canadiens from the Arizona Coyotes. In the

process he sent former 30-goal scorer Alex Galchenyuk packing, which was a risky proposition considering Domi has a total of 36 goals over his

222-game career.

It wasn’t entirely shocking to see Galchenyuk traded after inconsistency

in his play led to his name washing through the rumour mill on multiple occasions over the past two seasons. It was however surprising to see

the third-overall selection from 2012 moved straight up in a one-for-one deal for Domi, who was drafted 12th overall in 2013.

Domi recorded only nine goals and 36 assists last season, but the Canadiens are hoping a fresh start for the Winnipeg native will inspire him to produce as he did in his rookie year, when he scored 18 goals and 52 points. A day after acquiring Domi, Montreal gave him a two-year, $6.2-million contract to prove he can make that happen.

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“We saw this as an opportunity to improve our club in the short-term, medium-term and long-term,” said Bergevin after announcing the signing. “Max is a player who’s fast, who plays with a lot of energy, who moves the puck well, who has character, and, honestly, he wants to play in Montreal, which is important to us. He’s proud, and he wants to be part of the big family that is the Montreal Canadiens.”

Domi will be given ample opportunity to show it, with Bergevin seeing him as a top-six forward.

Other notable additions and subtractions

Owner Geoff Molson promised change at all levels of the organization

after the Canadiens and their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, bottomed out in the standings of their respective leagues. The biggest ones he

signed off on over the weeks that followed impacted the coaching staffs of both teams.

The process started in mid-April, when Rocket coach Sylvain Lefebvre was fired after six years of service.

Jean-Jacques Daigneault and Dan Lacroix were dropped from the Canadiens bench just 10 days later, with the club announcing Dominique

Ducharme had been hired away from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Drummondville Voltigeurs.

“With Dominique, we are very confident that we hired an excellent coach, a man who proved himself at the junior level in the QMJHL,” said Bergevin.

He added that Ducharme’s work as head coach of Team Canada — where he earned a silver medal in 2017 and a gold medal in 2018 at the world juniors — was a key factor in the decision to promote him directly to the NHL.

On May 17, Joel Bouchard was lured away from his responsibilities as

co-owner, president, general manager and coach of the QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and brought on board to coach the Rocket.

Shortly after, Rocket assistant coaches Nick Carriere and Donald Dufresne were let go, and Daniel Jacob, who worked on Bouchard’s

bench with the Armada, was hired.

On July 6, Alex Burrows retired from a 13-year NHL career and was

promptly hired to fill the last vacancy on Bouchard’s coaching staff.

“Alex perfectly matches the profile we were looking for; in addition to being an exceptional individual, he is a very good communicator,” Bouchard said of Burrows’ addition. “His rich experience will be an invaluable resource and many players will be able to relate to the perseverance he showed throughout his career. I am thrilled we are able to add Alex to our group.”

Just three days after the Burrows hire the Canadiens announced they were thrilled to complete their NHL coaching staff with the hiring of Luke Richardson.

Richardson, who played more than 1,400 NHL games as a defenceman, served as an assistant coach with the Ottawa Senators and coached

over 300 games at the AHL level, will be in charge of Montreal’s blueliners.

Other summer headlines

• Opportunity to draft a centre too good for Canadiens to pass up

Prolific winger Filip Zadina was there for the taking at third overall at this year’s NHL Draft, but the Canadiens passed on him and nabbed the consensus best centre available in Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

Taking the Finnish kid, who’s drawn comparisons to Anze Kopitar and Aleksander Barkov, was a wise choice for a team that’s been desperate to add quality at the position for the better part of two decades.

• Canadiens take advantage of cap space in trade with Jets

Bergevin had upwards of $17 million in cap space on June 30 and he used some of it to take goaltender Steve Mason’s hefty contract over and help the Winnipeg Jets clear up some much-needed room.

That favour netted the Canadiens forward Joel Armia and two draft picks, and all they had to give up was AHL defenceman Simon Bourque.

Mason’s expiring $4.1-million contract was bought out by the Canadiens a day later.

• Canadiens take patient, cautious approach to start of free agency

The repatriation of Plekanec and the signings of Matthew Peca and

Xavier Ouellet marked a tame approach to free agency for Bergevin and the Canadiens.

• Time for Canadiens GM Bergevin to level with fans

A headline that was inspired by the discovery Bergevin had for two weeks concealed news that the team’s best defenceman, Shea Weber, had gone in for a routine right-knee scope on June 19 and come out with a surgically repaired meniscus that will keep him on the sidelines until mid-December.

• Canadiens and fans should be happy with Danault deal

Second-line centre Phillip Danault was signed to a team-friendly, three-

year, $9.25-million contract on July 16.

Considering Montreal’s lack of depth at the centre position, the 23-year-

old, arbitration-eligible Danault had some leverage in negotiations. Had he used it, he might have been able to squeeze a bit more money — and

perhaps another year of security — out of the deal.

The Canadiens and their fans should be happy he didn’t.

Danault said he was pleased to avoid an arbitration hearing a couple of days ahead of his summer wedding.

There are a lot of them, but one of the most relevant ones to ask is how this team, which finished 28th overall in the standings last season, will rebound after having gone through very little change in the off-season?

On top of that, how will the Canadiens navigate starting the season with several key players sidelined?

Weber, who means as much to the Canadiens on the ice as he does off it, is irreplaceable.

Paul Byron, who scored 20 goals and added 15 assists last season, was

given a six-month timeline to recuperate from right-shoulder surgery on April 18. That means he’s missing camp and is doubtful for the first three

weeks of the regular season.

And forward Andrew Shaw, who had 10 goals and 10 assists in 51

games last season, isn’t scheduled to be back until a week after Byron. He underwent left knee surgery on April 25.

Perhaps some of the team’s young players such as Artturi Lehkonen, Charles Hudon and Nikita Scherbak can help the Canadiens overcome

Byron and Shaw’s short-term absences, but who will supplant Max Pacioretty’s scoring if he’s traded in the coming days?

The captain managed to score at least 30 goals in five of six seasons before potting only 17 in 2017-18. A rebound to form would almost surely make him the highest-scoring Canadien this season, and it seems unfathomable that Bergevin can make a trade prior to the end of camp that will bring a player back who would be that productive.

With Pacioretty’s contract set to expire at season’s end — and with the team having already made its intentions clear by attempting to move him to the Los Angeles Kings earlier this summer — leverage in trade talks

isn’t exactly on Bergevin’s side.

And yet, cutting bait ahead of the season might still be the path the GM

chooses to go down because if this situation is left unresolved it will become a bigger distraction with each day he stays put.

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In an ideal world, the main questions heading into camp would revolve around the optimism that comes with starting a new season, the prospects who threaten to steal spots on the main roster, and the strides young pros have made to become impact contributors. But Bergevin said he expects this team to compete for the playoffs, and all of the issues listed above are going to make that a near-impossible task to achieve regardless of how those types of questions would be answered.

Of course, the most important question heading into camp is: Will Carey Price, who’s entering the first year of an eight-year, $84-million contract, bump his save percentage up from .900 last year to .925 or better this

year?

If he doesn’t get to that level, none of the other stuff matters all that

much.

What Vegas is saying about the Canadiens…

According to Oddsshark.com, the Canadiens have 50/1 odds of winning the 2019 Stanley Cup.

Only the Vancouver Canucks, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes were given worse odds.

The Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders and New York Rangers are also all listed at 50/1.


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TSN.CA / Carrick ready to reclaim role on Leafs’ blueline

Kristen Shilton

TORONTO – Connor Carrick could feel his role with the Maple Leafs slipping away last season.

After playing 67 games in 2016-17, the veteran savvy and penalty-kill

expertise of Roman Polak reduced Carrick to an afterthought on the blueline a year later. He was a healthy scratch in 15 of the Leafs’ final 30 regular-season games of 2017-18, and then sat out all seven contests in

Toronto’s first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against Boston.

Still, the Leafs signed Carrick to a one-year, $1.3 million contract extension in June, putting a hopeful bookend on an otherwise middling year.

Also working in Carrick's favour this summer was Polak’s departure to Dallas in free agency, leaving former KHL standout Igor Ozhiganov as his main competition at training camp for a third-pairing spot.

“Jealousy is a difficult thing to chew on,” Carrick, 24, said after an on-ice session at MasterCard Centre on Tuesday. “[The] treat in hockey is playing time and a personal role and being closely involved in the team’s success. I didn’t get to do a lot of that. So you go home, get set, refresh and you re-grow that love of the game.”

Carrick had four goals and eight assists in 47 games last season, the highest point total in his NHL career. But that was no comfort as he watched a full slate of playoff games following the Leafs’ exit, embracing his “hockey nerd” side while processing the raw feelings of his previous few months.

Eventually he got back to work. Like every summer, the Orland Park, Ill.,

native trained with a large contingency of NHL players, including Blackhawks’ winger Patrick Kane, in the Chicagoland area. The group

has grown bigger each year, and Carrick had specific goals in mind to accomplish before returning to Toronto.

“[I was working on] my skating in general, but you’ve got 700 guys [around the league] going home trying to get quicker,” he said. “You try to get your puck touches back. I’m feeling good there. Get fresh mentally. Hopefully have a bigger impact. Last season wasn’t the finish I wanted personally, it’s pretty clear. I want to push for a bigger role, have a strong camp.”

Barring injury, the Leafs’ top-four defencemen are seemingly set, with Morgan Rielly, Ron Hainsey, Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev projected

to fill their same spots. Should Carrick beat out Ozhiganov, a relatively unknown commodity who’s never played professionally in North America,

he’d likely be paired with sophomore Travis Dermott.

In that case, the Leafs’ backend would be comprised entirely of players

Toronto had on the roster last season.

The Leafs defence has been maligned as the team’s weakest area since

Carrick was traded to Toronto from Washington in 2016. Ignoring such perceptions comes with the territory for Carrick and his fellow blueliners.

“I don’t know what else was out there, what other moves [Toronto] tried or didn’t try. It doesn’t matter. This is our team,” said Carrick. “Other teams are trying to build from within too…a lot of guys are playing on second, third, even fourth looks, finding themselves, finding their identity, growing their role and doing very well.”

With nine days to go until training camp medicals on Sept. 13, Carrick has positioned himself as well as possible to be an emerging success story.

Head coach Mike Babcock said last March that “no one works harder at trying to get better every day” than Carrick, and compared him to veteran

Hainsey who also took longer to earn a full-time role in the NHL, but is still playing big minutes at the age of 37.

But unlikely Hainsey, Carrick doesn't have the special teams’ credentials on his resume that can end up breaking the tie for a roster spot. While

Hainsey led all NHL players in short-handed ice time last season (3:59 per game), Polak was a heavy contributor at 2:30 per game.

Carrick has played no significant short-handed minutes in his NHL career, which could give Ozhiganov, who is expected to be in the mix on the kill, an edge in camp.

But Carrick isn’t going to back down from a challenge.

“You want to play on a great team,” Carrick said. “And we have a chance to do that here. And you want room to grow your own personal role. As an individual and a team, as far as that goes, there’s nowhere I’d rather be [than Toronto].”

TSN.CA LOADED: 09.05.2018

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TSN.CA / Loaded Leafs should chase scoring mark

Travis Yost

Offence, offence and perhaps a little bit more offence – that will be the story of the 2018-19 Toronto Maple Leafs.

The addition of superstar centre John Tavares into a lineup already flush with goal-scoring talent gives Mike Babcock an embarrassment of riches

up front. Even with the losses of proven scoring commodities in Tyler

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Bozak (St. Louis) and James van Riemsdyk (Philadelphia), there is still a lot of firepower sprinkled through Toronto’s four lines.

Just look at the shooting percentages of the forwards expected to win starting jobs for the beginning of the season. I created a hypothetical lineup as a quick example, but it seems reasonable enough to assume that the only spots up for grabs are on the fourth line, where five or six forwards will fight for three spots.

Each forward noted is being compared to the average shooting percentage (2016-18) of all regular forwards over the last two seasons. And as you can see, the Leafs are loaded with guys who are high-grade

shooters:

Zach Hyman has an edge to his game that the Leafs organization clearly

loves, and it seems like Babcock and the rest of the coaching staff will deploy him in a top-nine role where he can ease some of the defensive

burden off of the team’s better goal scorers. Tyler Ennis will likely be fighting for his role on the fourth line all season – you could easily see

someone like Josh Leivo, as one example, stealing his ice time right out of the gate.

I bring up Hyman and Ennis because they are the only two shooters in this lineup who score goals at a rate below league average. That means 83 per cent of the lineup is made up of guys who convert on scoring opportunities better than the average forward around the league. And some of these percentages are just ridiculous. Auston Matthews (16.0 per cent) and Nazem Kadri (14.5 per cent) in particular score at freakishly high rates.

This doesn’t even account for the impact adding another player like Tavares may have on his teammates. We know playmakers, particularly centres, can greatly influence the shooting percentages of their wingers.

You would have to imagine that a player like Tavares could have a demonstrable effect on Hyman, Mitch Marner and so forth. (Tavares’

career on-ice shooting percentage, which would account for not only his shot rates but also those of his teammates, sits at 10.5 per cent. That’s

more than two percentage points better than the league average forward.)

So we know that Toronto, offensively speaking anyway, is pretty loaded. But there have been other monstrously productive teams in years past, too. It made me wonder what the “outer limits” so to speak, look like for a team when it comes to scoring.

In 2017-18, the Leafs averaged 3.3 goals per 60 minutes. A fantastic offensive season, but it still wasn’t good enough for top honours – that belonged to their division rival in Tampa Bay, who averaged a whopping 3.5 goals per 60-minutes.

Looking at the last 11 years, where scoring has been pretty stable, you can see that both teams are already in the upper echelon of offensive performance. But they aren’t at the top of the mountain:

Both teams were well above the average goal-scoring team. Tampa Bay

was already pushing the outer limits of what we have observed from teams in the past – they finished the 2017-18 season with the second best per-60 scoring we have seen in the modern era (defined here as from 2007 on), trailing only the 2009-10 Washington Capitals.

The 2009-10 Washington Capitals are, for all intents and purposes, our extreme for offensive production. That team scored a whopping 3.6 goals per-60 minutes. In a raw sense, that means they scored 43 more goals

than the 2017-18 Maple Leafs, which seems hard to imagine. Alexander Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Knuble, Brooks Laich,

Tomas Fleischmann – just six forwards – combined for a jaw-dropping 200 goals, which was more than the entire Buffalo Sabres team last year.

So how does Toronto get there? The biggest spread between the two teams comes down to power play frequency. Washington’s power play

was virtually unstoppable that season. They converted on better than 25 per cent of their man advantage opportunities, amassing 79 goals.

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