It was only a matter of time. From the moment the Seattle Kraken officially became the NHL’s 32nd team almost two weeks ago, we knew this news was on the horizon. Now the Kraken have signed their first player in franchise history, agreeing to a three-year entry-level deal with 21-year-old center Luke Henman.
Henman has played the last four full seasons (plus a portion of 2016-17) with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he has also served as captain the last two years. He has put up impressive numbers in that league, and during his captaincy has been better than a point-per-game player.
Henman was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft but did not get signed, becoming an unrestricted free agent. He wasn’t a particularly big guy when he was drafted — Francis referred to him as “slight” when he addressed the media on Wednesday — but Henman has since filled out a bit and is now officially listed at 172 pounds.
Regardless of if he ever cracks the NHL roster for the Kraken, Henman will always be remembered as the franchise’s first player. As such, the team needed a guy with the pedigree to handle the additional spotlight that goes with that distinction.
“I’m a pretty passionate guy about hockey,” Henman, who comes across as affable and polished, said Wednesday. “You know, there’s a few morals that I live by. Being a hockey player is just to compete hard every day and be a good teammate and be a likeable person. If you can do that, good things will happen.”
Francis also shared that additional weight was placed on finding the right guy to shoulder the extra attention.
“I think that’s important in all our players. We’ve done it in the past when I’ve worked with other organizations, and to me character is a big part of who you want in your organization,” Francis said. “It’s always easy when things are going well, but when things are tough, it’s the guys with character that are able to pull you out of those tough situations. The fact that he was a captain for a couple years, and his leadership skills sort of bear that out, there’s no doubt that was a big part of our decision making.”
Henman highlights
Henman, a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia native, notched a few beauties in his junior career.
The QMJHL also put out a pretty great video in March centering on Henman’s game-day routine. In it, Henman’s Armada teammates and coaches speak very highly of him as both a player and as a human being.
This is only a first step for Seattle, but it’s an important one. Francis and his scouting staff needed to get not just the right player, but the right person to be remembered as the first-ever Kraken.
Early indications are that the team has nailed it with Henman.
The Armada are in the midst of a five-game quarterfinal playoff series with the Victoriaville Tigres and currently trail 2-1. The remaining games of the series can be watched via the Canadian Hockey League’s streaming service, CHL TV.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
While general manager Ron Francis tries hard to keep his coaching search under wraps, it’s very likely that his top choices to become the Seattle Kraken’s first head coach are still under contract somewhere else.
Back in November, Kraken ownership reportedly gave the front office permission to hire a coach whenever it felt ready. Last month Francis said he expects a decision by the end of the second quarter and is patiently waiting to see in “the next month or two” who will be available (coaches looking for work, on expiring contracts or “other situations that may be looking to make a change,” i.e., soon to be fired). Clearly, if Francis’ first choice had already been available, the Kraken would have hired him by now.
Another quality that’s not necessary, but will certainly help, is Francis’ close ties and familiarity with coaching candidates. After playing 23 seasons in the NHL and working another 13 years in NHL front offices, Francis has accumulated quite a lengthy list of connections.
Just look at some Kraken hockey operations personnel, for example. Assistant GM Ricky Olczyk and pro scout Mark Hunter worked for the Hurricanes when Francis held front office roles in Carolina. Assistant GM Jason Botterill worked alongside Francis on Hockey Canada’s management team for the 2019 World Ice Hockey Championship. Director of player personnel Robert Kron, director of amateur scouting Norm Maciver and pro scout Stu Barnes were NHL teammates with Francis. Pro scout Jon Goodwin was Francis’ junior hockey teammate on the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds.
It’s been said we’re all linked to everyone else by six degrees of separation. But if you want the plumb NHL job as the Seattle Kraken franchise’s first head coach, good luck if you’re more than one degree removed from Francis.
Unfortunately for the Kraken, these notable Francis connections won’t be available: Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville, Edmonton Oilers coach Dave Tippett, Washington Capitals coach Peter Laviolette, Philadelphia Flyers coach Alain Vigneault and Minnesota Wild coach Dean Evason.
Inasmuch as it would be refreshing to hire a new face instead of the usual suspects who end up being recycled around the league, Seattle will need a seasoned coach who can command respect and get results from a veteran-laden lineup. Comments by Francis back this up, and it would take an incredible audition and interview for a coach without NHL head coaching experience to blow away the Kraken.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Saturday, and it would be nice to get the new coach involved on player assessments well ahead of the July 21 Expansion Draft. So here’s a rundown of the Kraken’s coaching candidates, divided into three groups: Francis connections, backup plans and longshots. NHL head coaching records are in parentheses.
Friends of Francis
Rod Brind’Amour (120-66-20 in three seasons with Carolina)
Brind’Amour coached the Hurricanes to the Eastern Conference finals in 2019, the conference semifinals in 2020 and first place in the Central Division this year. Carolina’s 80 points are tied with Vegas for most in the NHL through Tuesday night. He is the first Hurricanes coach to make three consecutive playoffs and is a front-runner for the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year. Yet, Carolina has bewilderingly dragged out negotiations on a contract extension and might lose him after this season.
Recent reports have the two sides getting closer to an agreement, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has said Brind’Amour won’t re-sign unless his coaching and training staff also get new deals. But the longer these negotiations take, the chances increase for the Kraken to swoop in and land the best man for their job.
Brind’Amour was Francis’ teammate on the Hurricanes from 2000-01 to 2003-04 and succeeded Francis as Carolina’s captain. He was also an assistant coach for Carolina when Francis held various front office roles, including GM and director of hockey operations.
John Stevens (171-148-43 in seven seasons with Philadelphia and Los Angeles)
In his second season as head coach, Stevens took the Flyers to the 2008 Eastern Conference finals but hasn’t won a playoff round since.
As an assistant coach in L.A., Stevens helped the Kings win two Cups and became a highly sought-after head coaching candidate. After the Kings fired him from his head coaching duties early in the 2018-19 season, Stevens has been an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars for the past two seasons.
Stevens helped the Stars reach the Cup Finals last season, but they missed the playoffs this year. He’s been in charge of the forwards and the team’s 5-on-5 offense, which ranks 21st in the NHL with 101 goals.
Stevens was a member of the 1990-91 Hartford Whalers along with Francis.
Todd Nelson (17-25-9 in one season with Edmonton)
Nelson played only three NHL games, but one of them was alongside Francis on the 1991-92 Penguins.
After playing many years in the minor leagues, Nelson paid his dues coaching in the American Hockey League and United Hockey League. Nelson served as a head coach for eight seasons in the AHL, winning the Calder Cup championship in 2017 with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
His only NHL head coaching job was on an interim basis for the Oilers after Dallas Eakins was fired 31 games into the 2014-15 season.
Nelson just completed his third season as an assistant coach for the Dallas Stars where he works on the power play with fellow assistant Derek Laxdal. The Stars’ power play ranks fifth in the NHL (23.6 percent) this season.
Rick Tocchet (178-200-60 in six seasons with Tampa Bay and Arizona)
Tocchet was a formidable power forward in his playing days but hasn’t had close to the same success behind the bench. His only playoff appearance came during last year’s pandemic bubble where the Coyotes lost in five games to the Colorado Avalanche in the first round (though they beat the Nashville Predators in the play-in round).
Arizona dumped Tocchet on Sunday after four seasons. His reputation for what Friedman describes as “one of the best around at handling players that are not easy to reach” could get the attention of his former teammate on the 1992 Stanley Cup champions. Francis and Tocchet played together on the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1991-92 to 1993-94 and in juniors with The Soo.
Paul Maurice (761-670-125 – and 99 ties – in 23 seasons with Hartford/Carolina, Toronto and Winnipeg)
Winnipeg was cruising nicely through most of this season, but a recent slump that had the Jets losing nine out of their past 11 games raises questions about Maurice’s job security. A quick playoff exit against the potent Edmonton Oilers just might bring an end to Maurice’s eight-season run in Winnipeg.
Among active NHL coaches, only Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper has been in his current job longer than Maurice. Fair or not, the shelf life of hockey coaches doesn’t last very long.
Maurice is well-respected around the league, has his players’ backs, and won’t have to wait long for a new job if he hits the market. He coached Carolina when Francis returned to play for the Hurricanes/Whalers organization from 1998-99 to 2003-04.
Francis and Vellucci were teammates on Hartford in 1987-88, and Vellucci served as assistant GM and director of player development in Francis’ front office with the Hurricanes from 2014 to 2017.
Plan B coaching options
Gerard Gallant (270-216-51 – and four ties – in nine seasons with Columbus, Florida and Vegas)
Gallant is high atop most everyone’s Kraken coaching list after he took the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their first season.
Knowing how to squeeze the most out of a first-year expansion team is invaluable. But he’s been unemployed for a little more than a year. If the Kraken really valued and wanted Gallant, they could have landed him by now. Being perceived by some as unwelcoming toward analytics doesn’t help his case with the progressive-minded Kraken either.
Mike Babcock (700-418-164 – and 19 ties – in 17 seasons with Anaheim, Detroit and Toronto)
Winning a Stanley Cup with the Red Wings and two Olympic gold medals with Canada speak for themselves. But Babcock’s history of mind games and questionable treatment of some players can’t be brushed aside. That and the $5.875 million per year he’s being paid to not coach the Maple Leafs through 2022-23 will likely be tough obstacles to overcome.
Travis Green (123-130-31 in four seasons with Vancouver)
Green’s Canucks improved every season until a sudden regression had them miss the playoffs this year. Vancouver’s surprising run to the 2020 Western Conference semifinals was probably more indicative of Green’s abilities than this year’s COVID-19 train wreck. Green’s contract ends after this season, and the Canucks’ baffling indecisiveness in re-signing him could end up sending a rising coaching star to Seattle.
Bruce Boudreau (567-302-115 in 14 seasons with Washington, Anaheim and Minnesota)
In his favor, the longtime coach has never had a losing season in the NHL and worked with Kraken director of hockey strategy and research Alex Mandrycky in Minnesota. Boudreau hasn’t won a playoff round since 2015, however.
We’ll have to see if the Kraken want Boudreau.
Claude Julien (667-445-152 – and 10 ties – in 19 seasons with Montreal, New Jersey and Boston)
Julien won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011 and took them to the Cup Final again in 2013. But he hasn’t won a playoff round since 2014 and an emergency heart procedure caused Julien, 61, to miss part of the Canadiens’ 2020 postseason. Montreal fired him 18 games into this season after he couldn’t pull the team out of an early slump.
Rikard Gronborg
If the Kraken really like to do things differently, then hiring Gronborg would fit that model perfectly. The former national team coach for Sweden just completed his two-year deal with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League and reportedly has designs on landing an NHL job. New Jersey pursued him last year before hiring Lindy Ruff, and we can expect Gronborg’s name to be linked to more NHL coaching rumors.
Gronborg, who was an assistant coach for the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs in 2004-05, has won two World Championships and 16 medals for Sweden. It’s only a matter of time before he becomes the third European to coach in the NHL.
David Quinn (96-87-25 in three seasons with the New York Rangers)
Fresh off being fired Wednesday by the Rangers, Quinn should land a second chance somewhere after MSG chairman James Dolan got impatient with the team’s rebuild. Quinn’s background in college hockey (Boston University) sets him up better to work with younger players.
Longshots to be Kraken coach
John Tortorella (673-541-132 – and 37 ties – in 20 seasons with Tampa Bay, New York Rangers, Vancouver and Columbus)
Tortorella won a Stanley Cup with the Lightning and has had impressive results nearly everywhere he’s coached. But his old-school style and abrasiveness wouldn’t be a good fit in a new market. The Kraken coach needs to be on board for selling hockey to new fans, and Torts’ frequent condescending or curt responses to questions from the media won’t help.
Kirk Muller (80-80-27 in three seasons with Carolina)
In one of his first moves as Hurricanes GM in 2014, Francis fired Muller after he missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season. Have assistant and associate coaching gigs with St. Louis and Montreal since then made Muller better suited to lead an NHL team?
Dave Hakstol (134-101-42 in four seasons with Philadelphia)
Since he was fired by the Flyers, Hakstol has spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with Toronto. He oversees penalty killing, which ranks 26th (79.9 percent) in the NHL. He never got out of the first round in two playoff appearances with the Flyers, but the former University of North Dakota coach could get another shot at a head coaching job in the NHL.
Hakstol and Francis worked together on Team Canada when Hakstol was an assistant for Alain Vigneault’s coaching staff at the 2019 World Championships.
Samuelsson first left the Kraken to become head coach of Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League in 2019-20. He previously coached MODO in Sweden for two seasons and was 39-29-8 as head coach of the Charlotte Checkers, Carolina’s AHL farm team, in 2016-17 when Francis was Hurricanes GM.
Francis has obviously aided Samuelsson’s coaching aspirations, but can the Kraken GM objectively determine if Samuelsson is ready to be an NHL head coach?
Jim Wilkie is a longtime Northwest journalist, former NHL editor and NHL Insider writer for ESPN.com, onetime GSHL All-Star, and SJHA hockey dad. Follow him on Twitter @jimwilkie.
The Seattle Kraken are going to select T.J. Oshie from the Washington Capitals in July’s Expansion Draft. At least that’s what media and message board punditocracy seem to have already determined.
It’s a presumption that makes sense on the surface.
Oshie has been a great NHLer for over 800 games, and his accomplishments are cemented in hockey fans’ memories. He’s an Olympic hero for his shootout antics during the 2014 games, he won a Stanley Cup with the Capitals and drank beer through his shirt. Just this past week he recorded an emotional hat trick, days after his beloved father passed away.
Simply put, he’s got cache.
Oh, and he also has a Northwest connection. In case you weren’t aware, Oshie grew up in Snohomish County before moving to Minnesota as a teenager to find more competitive hockey. Of course, if he’s exposed by the Capitals, the Kraken will select him for that local angle, right? Imagine the jersey sales and marketing opportuities.
But should they? What matters more, his local connection or his production on the ice? While Oshie being selected in the Expansion Draft would make for a nice story, the Kraken want to win.
Will selecting Oshie in the Draft help the Kraken market the team?
Oshie returning to his hometown would be a great narrative. The local kid leaves home as a teenager, achieves great success before returning home to lead the new NHL club in its infancy. It’s got a feel-good Disney movie written all over it.
The Kraken really don’t need help marketing the team, though.
They’ve sold out all their season tickets, built a waiting list of 60,000 people, and merchandise has been flying off the shelf – and that’s without jerseys being available.
Further, while the local hockey fans – of which there are plenty – are aware of who Oshie is and where he came from, the casual sports fan may not. If you randomly polled ten local Seattle sports fans, ones who don’t follow hockey but will root for all the hometown teams, how many will know Oshie’s name? Four? Three?
Still, his selection would be a story, one that every local and national hockey writer will write about in the post-draft excitement. The local news will produce features and Oshie will make the rounds on the local sports radio stations – stations that have mostly ignored the NHL to date.
That exposure will capture those six or seven casual sports fans who didn’t previously know him. They will relate to Oshie, connect with him, and it will help cement the Kraken into the local sports scene – plus, he’s already a Seahawks fan.
Is being a local product worth the Kraken taking T.J. Oshie at the Expansion Draft?
So, there is a benefit to having a local guy come back, but still, what about the production on the ice? After all, winning is the ultimate marketing tool. Nothing will excite the city better than putting out a competitive product early into the Kraken history.
Is Oshie’s production worthy of an Expansion pick from the Kraken?
Oshie will turn 35 two months into the upcoming season, but his play has not shown any decline at this stage of his career. In 53 games with Washington this season he’s scored 22 goals with 43 points.
Those numbers are on pace with the bulk of his career.
He can still shoot, and this year’s 20.8 percent shooting percentage is the second highest in his career, coming off a 19 percent mark the season prior. Throughout his time in the NHL he’s averaged just over two shots per game and is at that pace this year as well, showing no drop-off.
Oshie has only had one NHL season where his Corsi-For percentage was under 50 – this year he’s at 52 percent – and his expected goal (xG%) percentage this year is also 52, which is an increase from last season. Not only is he still driving possession but he’s creating chances for the Capitals.
Those are all great five-on-five numbers, but the Capitals use Oshie quite a bit on the power play, and that’s where he’s really come through. With Washington this year, he’s scored 13 power-play goals for a total of 17 points with the man advantage.
His salary is high, with four years left of a $5.7 million contract that would have the Kraken on the hook until he’s 39 if they were to select him at the Expansion Draft. That amount may be reasonable now, but will it in four years?
If they like the local angle, defenseman Brenden Dillon may also be available. He’s younger, cheaper, still productive, and his time as captain of the Seattle Thunderbirds was more recent. It’s not clear if he’s ever drunk beer through a jersey or t-shirt but Dillon would be a solid top-four defenseman for the Kraken.
Seattle could also consider a young goalie from Washington. Vitek Vanecek, 25, burst onto the scene as a rookie this year and is worth a look. He will likely be exposed (we think Ilya Samsonov gets protected, but if it’s the other way around, then Samsonov is also worth considering), and while he does not have a long NHL track record, Vanecek would be a promising young goalie that the Kraken could groom for the future.
In the end, the Kraken do not have to select Oshie. They have options when it comes to the Capitals, but Oshie will certainly be in the mix. While he is aging, he is still producing at a high level and would instantly become a fan favorite for the way he plays the game and carries himself off the ice.
General manager Ron Francis will weigh all the Oshie factors and have to decide if the salary is worth his age. The prospect is enticing and there is a strong chance that Oshie will be in Kraken colors this fall. If that does come to fruition, it will be because he can and will produce on the ice.
Last week, James Mirtle of The Athleticmentioned that Chris Driedger is a goalie of interest for the Seattle Kraken. Mirtle is hardly the first person to mention Driedger’s name in the same sentence with the Kraken, but he was the first to reference “sources.” Driedger is having a good season as a platooning goalie for the Florida Panthers and will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. This makes him an interesting candidate to be one of the inaugural season goalies for the Kraken.
My concern is Driedger has only seen limited action in the NHL and based on the small sample size, we might not have enough games to assess his long-term capabilities. When I think of older goalies with a small sample size, I immediately think of Scott Darling as a cautionary tale. Darling’s first 20-game season came when he was 26 years old.
Darling had two good seasons in Chicago as a platooning goalie over the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. He then signed a lucrative four-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes where he struggled mightily and played just 51 games over the next two seasons. His contract was eventually bought out after the second year of the contract. Worth noting, Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis was the one who signed Darling, and there’s no question that this deal has lived on in his memory.
For this week’s data dump, I want to look at how Driedger stacks up to comparable goalies that entered the league around the same age as he is now.
Sizing up Chris Driedger
Chris Driedger will be turning 27 years old next week with 37 career NHL games under his belt. This year he has played 22 games with a .923 save percentage, 2.17 goals against average, and a record of 13-6-3. Last year he split time between the NHL and AHL, and when playing with the big club performed well in his 12 NHL games. Driedger also played one game in each of 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17 but remained in the minors for 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Goalie comparables
A goalie’s lifespan in the NHL is relatively short (that’s a post for another day). As such, coming into the league at 25+ years old is late in a goalie’s career. For the purpose of finding a sample of older goalies that entered the league late, I am going to isolate all netminders who were at least 25 years old at the start of their first season where they played at least 20 NHL games.
There were 33 goalies that fit this profile. Driedger has the highest career save percentage of the group, but that could be a bit misleading considering a lot of these players went on to create larger sample sizes and are either further along in their careers or are already out of the league. Naturally, goalie skill and therefore save percentage declines toward the end of a career.
Trends over time
Now that we have our comp list, let us try to visualize the trends of these goalies’ careers. First, we look at how many goalies would continue playing at least one game in the NHL after their first 20-game season.
Three goalies played 20+ NHL games in their first season and then none the very next season.
To put a finer point on it, let us look at the number of goalies that played at least 10 games in the subsequent seasons of the 33 comparable players.
The drop between year one and two does not seem material, but the drop in year three is significant. Only 36% of the 33 players would play 10 more NHL games just three seasons later. Given this information, any deal you sign with a goalie from this age group should have a limited term of under three years.
Adding save percentage
We will now add save percentage into the mix to see how well these goalies performed in the games played.
Now we can start to paint a picture of who was/is successful following their first season of 20 games or more. For some of the players that are still active, we may not have enough service time to get a true determination of whether they have been successful following their first 20-game season.
I went ahead and bucketed all 33 players into four categories:
Success
Ok
Cautionary tale
Too early to tell
This was completely subjective and was based on how many seasons the goalies played a minimum of 10 games, the number of games they played, and their save percentage.
Here is the count of goalies in each category.
If you strip out the “Too early to tell” group, only five out of the remaining 22 goalies were a success. More succinctly, only 23% of the goalies in this category are determined to be successful.
This analysis still lacks statistical context and goalie scout insights. The broader point is that with only 37 NHL games in his career, Driedger’s long-term success is not a slam dunk for Seattle and the team should proceed with caution, should they draft and sign him to a longer-term deal.
Let me know your thoughts. How would you predict Chris Driedger’s viability on being a No. 1 starter in the league?
You said there are no soap operas in the NHL, but holy cats, has this last week been a soap opera in the NHL. The cast of this week’s episode features the New York Rangers, the Washington Capitals, the NHL Department of Player Safety, Gary Bettman, George Parros, James Dolan, Jeff Gorton, John Davidson, Chris Drury, and—at the center of it all—Tom Wilson, whose actions and lack of suspension caused this whole thing.
More on this in a bit.
Seattle Kraken news
Before we really peek under the circus tent that has been installed where Madison Square Garden once stood, let us chat quickly about what is happening on the Seattle Kraken front.
The moment you’ve all been waiting for has arrived! Yes, the Seattle Kraken’s first act as the official 32nd franchise in the NHL is…
The plates range in cost from $59 for a motorcycle with any random jumble of letters and numbers up to $129 for a passenger vehicle with personalized plates. For what it’s worth, I have dibs on CRAPWSL for my plate, so please keep your filthy tentacles off of that one.
And what’s the One Roof Foundation, you ask? Why, it’s the newly announced official philanthropy arm of the Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena, of course!
The One Roof Foundation focuses on three pillars: fighting youth homelessness, making hockey more accessible, and environmental justice. We at SOH are very excited to see what impact the Kraken can have on the community, and the foundation will certainly be central to those efforts.
The team also tweeted pictures of the ice slab going in at Climate Pledge Arena on Friday. It’s starting to look legit, folks!
In other Kraken-related news, Milan Lucic agreed to waive his no-move clause to allow the Calgary Flames to protect an additional player in the Expansion Draft. That’s bad news for Seattle, which we believe will now be choosing between Oliver Kylington and Mark Giordano.
The soap opera
In case you were paying zero attention to the NHL or Hockey Twitter this week, we will fill you in on what happened with the aforementioned cast of soap opera characters. Spoiler alert: it was a doozy.
A net-front melee erupted in the first of two consecutive meetings between the Rangers and the Capitals on Monday. Tom Wilson shoved Pavel Buchnevich’s face into the ice, then Artemi Panarin jumped on Wilson’s back. Wilson grabbed Panarin by the hair and threw him like a ragdoll, then gave him the same treatment that he had given Buchnevich. Wilson then flexed in the penalty box. Panarin will not play for the rest of the season, but it doesn’t sound like he was seriously injured (he certainly could have been).
On Tuesday, Department of Player Safety director George Parros opted to simply fine Tom Wilson $5,000, rather than handing him a suspension for at least the next game between the two teams.
Later that day, the Rangers issued one of the strongest official statements ever made by an NHL club.
On Wednesday, James Dolan, the owner of the Rangers, fired the team’s brain trust, replacing Jeff Gorton and John Davidson with Chris Drury as the new general manager. Dolan claimed the firings had nothing to do with the statement the team had issued, but it’s impossible to ignore the timing of the moves.
Oh, then the two teams had to play each other again on Wednesday night!
The game started with a line brawl, then another fight, then another fight, until the penalty boxes were busting at the seams in a downright comical scene that the internet enjoyed to no end.
In all, 141 penalty minutes were assessed during the game.
TJ Oshie steals the show
Somewhere hidden deep within all this bizarreness was the story that TJ Oshie was playing Wednesday in his first game since the passing of his father, Tim, lovingly known throughout the hockey world as “Coach.”
So what did Coach’s son do? He rose above the terrible mess that was happening all around him in that game to score a hat trick.
Oshie was visibly emotional and was embraced by his teammates in a way that you rarely see in professional sports. It was perhaps the most beautiful story of the year, and yet it was oddly overshadowed by a bunch of guys punching each other.
No Tom Wilson suspension, yes Pavel Buchnevich suspension
The off-ice ugliness picked up again on Thursday, as the NHL fined the Rangers $250,000 for their public comments directed at Parros, and—in perhaps the most ironic twist of all—suspended Buchnevich for one game for cross-checking Anthony Mantha in the face during Wednesday’s Broadway Brouhaha.
You seriously cannot make this stuff up.
If the league had simply suspended Wilson for a game—which folks would have argued was either unjust punishment or not nearly enough because you can’t please everyone anyone—then this all would have been nipped in the bud.
Emily Kaplan summed it up perfectly on ESPN’s Around The Horn.
"[The NHL] could have avoided this entire mess."@emilymkaplan says the "manifestation" of unwritten rules in Capitals-Rangers resulted in a bad night for hockey pic.twitter.com/YrtKW2QyeK
Canada defeated Russia 5-3 in a thrilling gold medal game at the IIHF U18 World Championship on Thursday.
Bedard, 15, is the first player ever to be granted exceptional status to join the WHL early and showed on a big stage why scouts are clamoring for this kid. With 14 points, Bedard tied for second in the tournament scoring race with teammate Shane Wright. Wright and Bedard finished behind only Russia’s 16-year-old future superstar, Matvei Michkov, who notched 16 points (12-4=16) in just seven games.
Everett’s Olen Zellweger had a huge tournament on Canada’s blue line with a goal and seven assists. Seattle’s Conner Roulette had two goals and three assists, while netminder Thomas Milic posted a 2-0-0 record with a .975 save percentage and .50 goals against average but did not play in the playoffs or gold medal game.
AHL teams relocating
Recently on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, we surmised that—because the operator of the Utica Comets had filed a new trademark for the brand “Utica Devils”—there was some AHL shuffling on the way.
We were correct.
The Utica Comets, Vancouver’s top affiliate, are re-locating to Abbottsford, British Columbia, while the Binghamton Devils, New Jersey’s AHL franchise, are moving 90 miles north to Utica. I can’t help feeling for the people of Binghamton, but the moves make sense, at least on paper.
The Canucks having their top prospects playing thousands of miles away and in a different country was never a good plan and created even greater challenges during this pandemic. But AHL hockey in Abbottsford has been tried before and did not work, as the Heat only lasted five seasons there with low attendance.
Perhaps the fact that the NHL and AHL teams of the same organization will be playing within the same province will make it more successful this time around?
Around the boards
With the new national TV deals coming next season, broadcaster hirings at TNT/TBS and ESPN are starting to trickle in. Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyck will be the lead team for Turner Sports, while Craig Morgan has reported he believes Ray Ferraro will be the lead analyst at ESPN.
David Backes is likely to retire after this season. His Anaheim Ducks visited St. Louis on Wednesday, where Backes played 10 seasons and served as captain for five. Backes gave Darren Pang an all-time post-game interview on Wednesday, which was played over the public address system in the arena.
Marc-Andre Fleury recorded his 490th career NHL win on Wednesday, surpassing Roberto Luongo and giving him third place on the all-time list. That’s not bad for a guy who was selected by the Golden Knights in the Expansion Draft after the Penguins sent an extra draft pick to persuade Vegas to take him.
Goalie gear corner
As a huge Felix Potvin fan as a child, I very much approve of David Rittich’s new look.
There’s something a little trippy about seeing the outline of the old Koho crosshairs logo on a pair of CCM pads, but man… this was beautifully done.
Who wore it better?
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
When it comes to hockey rivalries, Canada and Russia is one of the best. The two countries have played epic games on the international stage and will write the next chapter Thursday night in Texas when they play for the gold medal of the IIHF U18 World Championships.
The U18 tournament features many top 2021 NHL Draft prospects as well as some unbelievably talented players who will be featured in the 2022 and 2023 Drafts.
Canada has breezed through the tournament so far, unbeaten and outscoring its opponents by an absurd 46 to 9 margin. It’s a deep squad loaded with future NHL talent and one of the deepest teams the Canadians have brought to the U18s.
We’ve heard this before, though.
At the 2021 World Juniors, Canada looked invincible, with a roster of first-round NHL picks. Surely nobody would stop them. That was the narrative heading into the gold medal game and yet the U.S. ended up skating away with the prize.
This time it’s the Russians who will try to upset the seemingly unbeatable Canadians. Will they do so? They have talent but will have to play a near perfect game Thursday night. The game starts at 6 PM Pacific time and will be broadcast on the NHL Network.
Canada versus Russia for U18 gold
After ripping through the preliminary rounds, Canada advanced to the gold medal game with a pair of seven-goal wins. They beat the Czech Republic 10-3 and Sweden 8-1. The game against Sweden was closer than the score appeared as Canada led 2-1 through 40 minutes. With the way Canada has played, that’s what constitutes a close game in this tournament.
The Russians tied Finland in points during the preliminary rounds but lost out on the top seed due to a head-to-head shootout loss. They had a taste of revenge by beating Finland in a thrilling 6-5 semi-final contest. Prior to that, they had taken care of Belarus, 5-2. Russia has played exciting games during this tournament and won’t be a pushover here. They’ve already erased a 5-1 deficit against the United States to hand the Americans a heartbreaking loss early in the tournament.
Canada-Russia by the numbers
It should be no surprise that the two teams fighting for the gold medal have some impressive numbers. Despite Canada routing all of its opponents, Russia boasts the best shooting percentage as a team at 18 percent, but Canada is right behind them at 17. Both squads are far and away the best shooting clubs in the tournament which could lead to some explosives Thursday night.
Special teams are always a factor in gold medal games and Russia and Canada feature the top two power-play units in the tournament. Russia’s is clicking at 43 percent while Canada is just a tick below at 42. Russia will need to be disciplined in this game as their penalty kill was not as good (75%) as Canada’s (85%) and too many kills could lose the gold medal.
The top two scorers in the tournament are both Russians. Captain Nikita Chibrikov has 13 points and is tied with teammate Matvei Michkov – 11 of his points are off goals. Canada’s Connor Bedard (12 points) and Shane Wright (11 points) are third and fourth in scoring, respectively.
Players to watch
It would be easy to list the entire Canadian roster here as their chances to grab U18 gold against Russia lay in the hands of a talented roster that has depth through all four lines.
For Kraken fans, forward Dylan Guenther, Brandt Clarke, and Mason McTavish are just three players who are projected as first-round picks in the range of when Seattle will pick in its first Draft. In particular, Clark — who normally plays with the OHL’s Barrie Colts but played in Slovakia this year due to the OHL season being canceled — has had a strong tournament and could see his stock on the rise.
Canada’s Dylan Guenther will be a top NHL Draft pick in July. (Photo by Andy Devine/Edmonton Oil Kings)
Local fans will want to keep an eye on Seattle Thunderbirds forward Connor Roulette, who has six points in six games, and Everett Silvertips defenseman Olen Zellweger, who has seven.
Russia also has NHL talent on its roster, most notably its two leading scorers.
Chibrikov is a speedy two-way and fluid center projected to land in the first round. Another first-round prospect is Fyodor Svechkov who has checked in with 10 points for the Russians. Svechkov is another fantastic two-way center who will have his hands full against Canada in the gold medal game.
The future of the future
Both Canada and Russia have younger players who will not be eligible for the NHL Draft this year but in the coming years. These guys have been electric and have put on a show during the tournament in Texas.
It’s a U18 tournament which means that 15-year-old Bedard could be and was invited for Canada. The Regina Pats phenom is the first player ever to be granted exceptional status in the WHL and after leading the league in scoring there, he’s come to Texas and has led Canada. He’s as dynamic a player as you’ll see in this game and turned in a hat trick during Canada’s semi-final win against Finland. Bedard is eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft and is already being talked about as the top pick.
Not to be outdone, Canada’s Wright, 16, has been equally impressive. He’ll be eligible for the 2022 Draft and already looks like the No. 1 guy. Wright was named Canada’s captain for this tournament, which is exceptional by itself, but then you watch the guy play and he does it all. He can score, play in his own end, he’s on the Canadian power play, and he kills penalties.
Russia also has a 2023 eligible player in Michkov. At 15 years old, he’s exploded on the scene during the U18s, leading the way with 11 goals. He’s got size for a guy his age and could give Bedard a push for that top Draft spot in two years.
Gold medal goalie matchup for Canada and Russia
Obviously, it took good goaltending for Canada and Russia to reach the U18 gold medal game and both clubs have it. Russia’s Sergei Ivanov will get the call in net Thursday and will bring with him a 2.36 goals-against and a .920 save percentage.
On the Canadian side, Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Thomas Milic started two games in the preliminary rounds – only allowing one goal – but will serve as the backup goalie for Canada in the gold medal game. Instead, Canada will go with Benjamin Gaudreau, who started both playoff games. Gaudreau has only allowed eight goals in six games with a save percentage of .922. Playing for the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, Gaudreau had not played in a game all year, making his U18 performance that much more impressive.
The Seattle Kraken are officially the 32nd NHL team, now that they have submitted the final payment of their $650 million expansion fee to the league. The Sound Of Hockey Podcast is quite excited about this, and the guys react accordingly in this episode.
John, Andy, and Darren give an update on a couple of news items from the women’s hockey world, then stroll around the NHL to look at how the divisions are shaping up with playoffs on the horizon.
Things then get bit- and segment-heavy, as the guys go from Three Stars to HYPEotheticals to Goalie Gear Corner to Weekly One-Timers to Tweets of the Week.
Within those bits and segments, you’ll hear about Ryan Miller retiring, Tom Wilson being a dick, Kirill Kaprizov being amazing, and much more.
The Seattle Kraken are officially the 32nd NHL team, now that they have submitted the final payment of their $650 million expansion fee to the league. The Sound Of Hockey Podcast is quite excited about this, and the guys react accordingly in this episode.
John, Andy, and Darren give an update on a couple of news items from the women’s hockey world, then stroll around the NHL to look at how the divisions are shaping up with playoffs on the horizon.
Things then get bit- and segment-heavy, as the guys go from Three Stars to HYPEotheticals to Goalie Gear Corner to Weekly One-Timers to Tweets of the Week.
Within those bits and segments, you’ll hear about Ryan Miller retiring, Tom Wilson being a dick, Kirill Kaprizov being amazing, and much more.
Yesterday we tiered all the teams in the NHL Eastern Conference by the likelihood of a side deal in the NHL Expansion Draft coming in July. If you have not read yesterday’s piece, now would be an excellent time to do so. Today, we will be breaking down all the Western Conference teams.
Likely side deal candidates
Colorado Avalanche – The Avs are stacked on the blueline with Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Sam Girard. The problem is fellow defenseman Erik Johnson has a no-movement clause and must be protected per Expansion Draft rules. Johnson could waive his NMC for the Expansion Draft, but players waiving such clauses in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft was very rare. Assuming Johnson does not waive his NMC, expect general manager Joe Sakic to swing a side deal to avoid losing Toews.
Nashville Predators – The Predators should be desperate to get either Matt Duchene or Ryan Johansen’s contract off their books. Both carry an $8 million salary cap hit with five and four years remaining respectively. We anticipate both will be exposed, but there is no guarantee Seattle selects either with its pick from the Predators. General manager David Poile could incentivize the Kraken to select either of them with a prospect or a few draft picks via a side deal.
Possible side deal candidates
Anaheim Ducks – Before the trade deadline, Anaheim seemed positioned to lose a quality defenseman in the Expansion Draft. To make the situation worse, the Ducks acquired another young defenseman from Carolina in Haydn Fleury. We could see the Ducks offering up a draft pick to Seattle in order to influence who the Kraken select in the Expansion Draft.
Edmonton Oilers – The Oilers will have some exposure risk in the Expansion Draft. At a bare minimum they will need to expose a key defenseman in either Caleb Jones, William Lagesson, or Oscar Klefbom. Assuming Edmonton goes with the eight total skaters protection format, Lagesson is probably the one exposed. One outstanding item is a potential re-signing of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. If that happens before the Expansion Draft, you can guarantee the Oilers will protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie. This will expose one more of the defensemen mentioned before and create a potential side deal scenario.
Minnesota Wild – The Wild have three defensemen with no-move clauses, and Matt Dumba is not one of them. The general feeling is GM Bill Guerin will avoid losing Dumba for nothing in the Expansion Draft and will either trade him before the Expansion Draft, protect four defensemen, or swing a side deal with Seattle. The Wild are well positioned to start competing for a Stanley Cup and probably prefer to keep Dumba as a part of their core. If Dumba is on Minnesota’s roster on July 17, expect a side deal.
Less likely side deal candidates
Arizona Coyotes – The Coyotes might not have much to offer to Seattle, but they have two goalies worth protecting in Darcy Kuemper and Adin Hill. Kuemper is a high-end netminder when he is healthy, and Hill, who is younger and cheaper, showcased well this year while filling in for the injured Kuemper. The Coyotes might consider a side deal to protect both goalies.
Calgary Flames – The Flames’ willingness to do a side deal with Seattle will come down to how much they want to hold onto either Mark Giordano and/or Oliver Kylington. Kylington went unclaimed on waivers earlier this year. The 37-year-old Giordano is still productive in this league, but if he were to be drafted by the Kraken, his $6.8 million salary could create some space in Calgary to make other tweaks in the roster. We think this makes a side deal less likely, as the Flames may actually be ok to lose Giordano.
Los Angeles Kings – The Kings do have some decisions to make with their sixth and seventh protected forwards. Dustin Brown, Blake Lizotte, Austin Wagner, and Lias Andersson are all candidates for those last two slots of the protected list. If LA wants to protect one more of those, they might offer Seattle a draft pick or a prospect to not select a specific forward.
San Jose Sharks – There has been a lot of talk that San Jose might want to expose Brent Burns in the hopes that the Kraken select him and his $8 million salary cap off their books. Burns is still a strong defenseman in the NHL, and the Kraken may select him with or without an incentive from a side deal.
Close to zero chance of a side deal
Chicago Blackhawks – With the retirement of Andrew Shaw and the move of Brent Seabrook to long-term injured reserve, the Blackhawks moved a lot of salary cap off the books already. They are well positioned to not lose anyone of note in the Expansion Draft, and we would say it is extremely unlikely they are part of a side deal with Seattle.
Dallas Stars – The Stars are in good shape headed into the Expansion Draft with no obviously bad contracts on the books. Thus, they are unlikely side deal partners with Seattle.
St. Louis Blues – The Blues have some decent players that will be exposed, but we do not feel there are any players that warrant swinging a side deal to protect.
Vancouver Canucks – It’s hard to see much exposure risk in the Expansion Draft for Vancouver. Loui Eriksson’s contract is bad, but with only one year remining, the Canucks will probably eat that last year instead of offering up a prospect or draft pick to Seattle in the Expansion Draft.
Winnipeg Jets – Winnipeg has a few younger defensemen in Sami Niku and Logan Stanley. Neither of them warrants protecting via a side deal.
Did we miss anyone? Are there players or teams that you expect to move via a side deal? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
During the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, Vegas made 10 side deals that netted the Golden Knights an additional six players, 10 Entry Draft picks, and signing rights to one player. Such Expansion Draft side deals will be an important element of the upcoming Seattle Expansion Draft. We went ahead and tiered all 30 NHL Teams that are participating in the 2021 Expansion Draft into four buckets based on the likelihood of the team making a side deal.
We’re starting in the Eastern Conference.
Major factors in determining if a side deal can happen
Too many players to protect. This is where a team has too many quality players and not enough spots on the protection lists. Example: In 2017, the Minnesota Wild had an abundance of defensemen they wanted to protect. The Wild traded Alex Tuch and a third-round pick in exchange for Vegas selecting Erik Haula in the Expansion Draft. This prevented the Golden Knights from selecting Matt Dumba, who was unprotected in the 2017 Expansion Draft.
Bad contracts. In this scenario, a team might have a player with a high annual average value (AAV) cap hit, but the player might not be performing at a level expected based on the AAV. Example: In 2017, Columbus traded their 2017 NHL Entry Draft first-round pick and David Clarkson for Vegas selecting William Karlsson. In this case, Clarkson was the bad contract and the combination of the draft pick and Karlsson was the incentive Columbus provided to Vegas for taking the bad contract in the Expansion Draft.
Reduction of cap hit. Like the bad contract scenario, this is where a team wants to reduce its salary cap obligation for the next season to create space for current and future players. This was not prevalent in 2017 but may be very important in the Kraken Expansion Draft due to a flat salary cap caused by the pandemic.
Likely side deal candidates
Tampa Bay Lightning – Heading into this season, Tampa Bay was already doing some salary cap gymnastics to be compliant before the season opener. Nikita Kucherov had surgery that landed him on the long-term injured reserve list (LTIR). This enabled the Lightning to move his $9,500,000 salary cap off the books to keep the team in compliance. Kucherov is expected to be healthy next season and the Lightning will need to move money off the payroll to be compliant for the 2021-22 season.
Possible side deal candidates
Boston Bruins – How the Bruins approach the Expansion Draft is anyone’s guess. They have several young players in Trent Frederic, Jakub Zboril, and Jeremy Lauzon. Plus, they have some vets that are making a strong case to be protected in Nick Ritchie and Craig Smith. Three of those five players could be exposed and could create an opportunity for a side deal to protect them.
Buffalo Sabres – Buffalo will want to offload the bad Jeff Skinner contract, but with six seasons remaining on Skinner’s contract, I do not think the Sabres could offer enough to Seattle for them to take it on. However, with only two years remaining on Kyle Okposo’s contract, the Sabres might want to offer some incentives to the Kraken that will create more cap space in Buffalo.
Morgan Geekie was a third-round pick by Ron Francis in the 2017 NHL Draft (Checkers photo)
Carolina Hurricanes – Two months ago the Hurricanes looked like a prime candidate for a side deal, but it now appears Dougie Hamilton will not be signing an extension with the Canes. This will allow them to protect Jake Bean. The Canes also sent Haydn Fleury to the Ducks at the trade deadline, so the Expansion Draft options suddenly do not look nearly as appetizing. It is possible that the Canes offer up a draft pick to Seattle if the Kraken do not select Morgan Geekie in the Expansion Draft.
Florida Panthers – At the beginning of the season the Florida Panthers looked like one of the teams with not much to offer the Kraken in the Expansion Draft. Several players are having career years, though, and have made the protected list a bit trickier for Florida. The Panthers further complicated matters for themselves by acquiring Sam Bennett at the trade deadline, and the list of candidates for protection at forward is now a bit crowded. They might want to encourage Seattle to take on a big contract like Patric Hornqvist at $5 million a year by offering up a draft pick to influence the decision.
New York Islanders – As we see it, the Islanders will expose Josh Bailey or Kieffer Bellows in the forward category and either Nick Leddy or Scott Mayfield on defense. General manager Lou Lamoriello might consider offering up a sweetener to influence the Kraken’s decision here if there is a player he prioritizes over another.
Philadelphia Flyers – Signing Scott Laughton to a contract extension last month really threw a wrench into forecasting the exposure list for the Flyers. They will need to expose three of the following forwards: Jakub Voracek, Nolan Patrick, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, and James van Riemsdyk. The Flyers might want Seattle to take on some salary cap and offer up some incentive for Seattle selecting Voracek or van Riemsdyk, both of whom have salary cap hits over $7 million per year compared to Patrick and Aube-Kubel’s cap hits of ~$1 million per year.
Less likely side deal candidates
Montreal Canadiens – The Canadiens approach to the Expansion Draft hinges on their desire and ability to sign any of their big three pending UFAs: Joel Armia, Phillip Danault, and Tomas Tatar. Signing two of the three would create an exposure issue for Montreal. It might also be possible for the Canadiens to offer up some draft picks to the Kraken for them not to select platooning goalie Jake Allen who has played roughly half of Montreal’s games this season. It seems like a long shot for any of these scenarios to play out.
New Jersey Devils – The Devils continue to rebuild and do not seem like a team that needs to shed any salary. PK Subban’s contract is high at $9 million a year, but he has had a bounce-back season. And with only one year remaining, there is no sense of urgency to get Subban off the books.
New York Rangers – Colin Blackwell might be having an impressive season, but if he is exposed, we do not anticipate the Rangers offering up anything extra to protect him.
Ottawa Senators – The Senators are positioned very well to not lose much in the Expansion Draft and are unlikely candidates for a side deal.
Pittsburgh Penguins – There are a couple players of note that could be exposed in the Expansion Draft, but Pittsburgh is unlikely to part with draft picks primarily because they don’t have many left in the next two years.
Toronto Maple Leafs – The Leafs situation is a bit complicated. They need theoretical space for re-signing Zach Hyman and/or signing a UFA starting goalie not named Frederik Andersen. If they want to sign Hyman and a higher-caliber goalie, then they are going to need to move money off their payroll to create cap space. My feeling is that Hyman will not be re-signed and therefore no side deal with Seattle will really be needed.
Washington Capitals – The only way the Caps make a side deal is if they want to create some cap space, and we just do not see any obvious bad contracts on the Capitals roster to move.
Close to zero chance of a side deal
Columbus Blue Jackets – The Blue Jackets do not have much to offer Seattle in the Expansion Draft and their salary cap position seems fine.
Detroit Red Wings – The Wings are another team with very little to offer to the Kraken and do not need to worry about the salary cap anytime soon.
Tomorrow I will run through the Western Conference teams of possible Expansion Draft side deal candidates.
