Finally, some hockey weather in Seattle! Man, imagine if it got cold enough here to freeze the ponds and lakes and create outdoor rinks in parks with just a simple flooding of an open field. Some of us would never come inside during the winter. Then again, even more of us would likely flee the Emerald City because of a general disdain for such atmospheric conditions.
Regardless, I—a good Minnesota boy—welcome with open arms the falling of fresh snow, something we rarely see in Seattle proper.
You might be wondering how I got here, and how I created such a long skidmark on the ice.
Well, I was racing my sister around a pond—as two well-adjusted adult siblings would do—in northern Minnesota about a month ago, going just as fast as my goalie skates would carry me. If you’re unfamiliar, goalie skates come to a toepick-like point at the front. At full tilt, I inadvertently kicked the point of my right skate into the ice and flew like an ungainly Superman, slamming down HARD on the ice. The Carmex in my pocket did not survive.
It wasn’t my proudest moment, and I certainly felt the impact for days to come.
Nonetheless, in these Covid times, being outside on an ODR truly is like a brief trip to a very chilly heaven. On days like these in Seattle, it’s easy to daydream of a place to lace up the skates in nature.
Seattle Kraken news
Training Center partners named
It may not be in nature, but there will at least be a new place to lace up the skates within the next six months, and it will be used to expand Seattle’s budding hockey community. The Seattle Kraken’s three-sheet Northgate practice facility is coming along nicely, and the team announced some interesting community-centric partners this week.
You may recall press conferences from way back in 2018 when the team now known as the Kraken was simply called “NHL Seattle.” At several of those events, Jaina Goscinski, a young player from the Washington Wild Female Hockey Association (WWFHA), stood alongside Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke. She helped Leiweke evangelize the Pacific Northwest as a marvelous hockey market yearning for the league’s 32nd franchise.
Fast forward by two full years and one pandemic, and the Kraken didn’t forget about the WWFHA. On Tuesday, the team announced that it is partnering with the WWFHA as well as the Greater Seattle Hockey League (GSHL) to provide a home base for both organizations within the friendly new confines of the Kraken Training Center.
The WWFHA teaches the game to girls and young women from age four up to 19. The GSHL is the area’s largest adult hockey league with more than 3,000 participants. As a proud member of the GSHL’s Fighting Narwhals, I was pleased with this announcement.
The Kraken also teamed with the Black Girl Hockey Club (BGHC) to sell beanies through their team store this week, with all proceeds going to the organization. The BGHC helps fund the costs of playing the sport for young Black women and girls and works to disrupt racism on and off the ice.
The first shipment of beanies sold out almost immediately.
On and off the ice, twin sisters Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando are hockey legends. Both 31 years old, they have decided to call it quits on a pair of illustrious careers with the US national team.
The sisters experienced their greatest on-ice triumph at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, where they played a huge role in defeating Canada to help the Americans win their first gold medal since 1998.
Watch this whole video:
A golden career 🥇
Monique & Jocelyne Lamoureux announce their retirement from professional hockey today and all we can say is: thank you ❤️
It’s been no secret—and we’ve actually talked about it in the last two Weekly One-Timers posts—that the Pittsburgh Penguins have been looking to quickly fill their vacant general manager role after Jim Rutherford abruptly announced his resignation on Jan. 27. Lots of retreads were reportedly being considered, along with a few would-be newcomers to the GM circle.
In the end, Mario Lemieux and company opted for not just one retread but two. They hired Ron Hextall, the former feisty netminder and GM of the cross-state rival Flyers, to lead the team with Brian Burke, the ornery former GM turned TV personality, serving as President of Hockey Operations.
Pittsburgh is at an interesting juncture in its life cycle of winning. The team’s two veteran superstars are aging and are no longer considered the best players in the world. The Penguins have also been exiting the postseason in progressively earlier rounds each of the past three seasons since winning two consecutive Stanley Cups. Can Hextall and Burke get the team back into true contender mode, or is it time to start thinking about the next life cycle?
The Dallas Stars have issued a statement for some reason
This week, eccentric billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made waves by asking his team to stop playing the national anthem before games. The NBA quickly reversed Cuban’s course for him, requiring teams to play the anthem.
The Dallas Stars offered an unsolicited statement on the matter.
Not agreeing with Cuban is one thing, and it’s totally fine to do so. But from the Stars’ standpoint, this is one of those situations where it would have also been fine to just say nothing and keep going about your business and nobody would have batted an eye.
What a recovery after missing with the pokecheck. A save like that is a sign that a netminder is feeling it.
Tuukka Rask gave his entry for save of the year as well this week, committing highway robbery on Mika Zibanejad.
As long as we’re talking about “of the year” candidates, we might as well throw in a couple of nice tallies from former Seattle Thunderbird Mat Barzal and his teammate Casey Cizikas.
Yes, those goals were both scored in the same game, and yes, the Islanders lost that game in a shootout.
You don’t see that every day
The Red Deer Rebels, who are preparing to start their 24-game WHL season on Feb. 26, will spend the duration of the shortened campaign living in suites at their home arena.
The Red Deer Rebels will be living at the rink this year for the 24-game WHL season….. pic.twitter.com/ZUiPSzHvpV
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.
It will just be 24 games. The games will be against just four different opponents. There will be no playoffs, no overnight trips, no long swings through the Canadian prairies, and there will be no fans in the building. Without a doubt, the 2021 Western Hockey League’s U.S. Division will look different this season.
Now that the Washington State government has given the WHL the green light, the U.S. Division will open the season on March 19th. It will be over a year since the last game in the division and it comes at a time that normally is reserved for playoff races and positioning.
“It’s nice to finally know that we’re going to play some hockey,” Seattle Thunderbirds forward Lucas Ciona says. “It’s been a tough year just sitting at home, training, and doing schoolwork. It’s nice to know that we’re getting to go back to Seattle, and it will be good to be with the guys again.”
While not the most ideal situation the short season will allow the Thunderbirds, Everett Silvertips, Portland Winterhawks, Tri-City Americans, and Spokane Chiefs to play hockey.
Pulling this off will be a financial burden on the five clubs as they rely heavily on gate receipts for income. There will be none of that.
On the surface it begs the question of why go through with it at all?
The WHL is one of the top development leagues in the world — last year’s draft saw 28 WHL players selected — and it’s that development that’s the driving influence for the league and its member teams.
“It’s definitely about developing our group but it’s also about making sure that these kids have as much normalcy as possible,” Seattle general manager Bil La Forge says. “Hockey is a great game, and they get to play it. We want to develop our team and our young men. We want to reward these kids for the hard work they’ve put in.”
It’s been a long summer for U.S. Division players
The last game played in the division was a 3-0 win by the Spokane Chiefs over the visiting Kamloops Blazers on March 10th, 2020. Two days later the league and most of the world shut down due to concerns over the growing Covid-19 pandemic.
Players were sent home and the playoffs, Championship Series, and Memorial Cup were all shelved.
Ciona, 17, was one of those players. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound winger had just finished his rookie season in Seattle and was suddenly homebound in Edmonton. Since then, he and the rest of the WHL’s players have been waiting for the call to return to their teams.
“We’ve been finding ways to keep busy,” Ciona says. “I’ve been working out and doing schoolwork. I really enjoy working out, so it hasn’t been too bad. Skating, going out to the ODR’s (outdoor rinks). We’ve been going full pads at the ODR so it gets a little competitive.”
💪WORKOUT WEDNESDAY💪 Brought to you by our friends at @PlanetFitness.
Endless split squats and lunges are great for a player’s endurance. So is playing pick-up games on an outdoor rink, but for young players to develop, they need to play real games. The speed, competition, and intensity just aren’t the same.
To find that edge, Ciona was one of many U.S. Division players who hit the ice last November to get ice time by playing in Junior A leagues like the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He got into four games with the Spruce Grove Saints as did a handful of his Seattle teammates like Kai Uchacz, Tyrel Bauer, and Matthew Rempe.
Other players found some ice time in other Junior A leagues. Among those guys were Everett Silvertips and Montreal Canadiens prospect defenseman Gianni Fairbrother who played for the Nanaimo Clippers of the BCHL and was joined by teammate Dylan Anderson who played for the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
Those stints ended up being short-lived as the Canadian provinces ultimately would shut down all hockey leagues after just a few games. By the time these players get through quarantine and back on the ice for abbreviated training camps, any advantage they earned will be long gone.
“It’s going to be a whole other thing,” Ciona adds. “We’ll be coming back and it will be another fresh start for everybody. Nobody has been practicing or playing too much so it will be interesting.”
No fans and new safety protocols for U.S. Division
When the league starts up in March there will be no fans allowed in the building.
The U.S. Division has become known for loud, large, and intimidating crowds in its arenas. Last season, four of the division’s five teams were in the top seven in WHL attendance. It’s going to be a bit quieter this year and is something the players will have to adjust to.
“We’re going to have to learn to create our own emotion,” La Forge says. “The one thing that this has taught all of us is to not take this game for granted. Not being able to do it for 12 months, I know the excitement I have, and I won’t be on the ice. I don’t think emotion will be a problem.”
Having to create that emotion without a crowd is another skill these players can develop this season. It’s one that should pay off when fans are able to come back to the arenas.
Emotion may come easier than one might think when you consider the schedule being played. The U.S. Division has some well-established and heated, rivalries. The heat is already there, fans or not.
“There’s always some bad blood between Everett and Portland,” Ciona says. “I think it’s going to be getting in those games, getting riled up for those. It’s kind of like the Battle of Alberta here. That’s still pretty heavy even without fans. It’s going to be fun to play those rivalry games even if we don’t have a crowd.”
Another big adjustment for players will be the safety protocols required to play. They’re aware that the NHL has had its share of troubles with Covid cases popping up which has led to the postponement of games with a lot of questions and scrutiny.
The WHL doesn’t want the same hurdles, and it will require both the clubs and the players to follow the protocols and stay safe.
“We’re going to be on top of that and we feel really comfortable with the protocol set in place,” La Forge says. “We think if we do that, we’ll have a really good chance. It’s not something you can guarantee but we’re going to give ourselves a chance. If there’s an issue we’ll address it and deal with it, but we’re confident with the group of young men that we have that we’re going to put our best foot forward and give ourselves a chance.”
WHL teams have been in touch with their players during the shutdown, reminding them of the seriousness of staying safe. The motivation should be easy. Having missed over a year of hockey, getting players 16 to 20 years old to toe the line should not be too hard.
“It’ll be hockey, hockey, hockey,” Ciona says. “There won’t be anything else going on for us. We’ll be coming from our billets to the rink every day. We won’t be out getting distracted by the malls or tourist things. We’ll be locked down, focused on hockey and being safe.”
Eye on the next level
Staying safe and getting the full season in is important to Ciona.
Like many players in the U.S. Division, this is his NHL Draft season. He’s on the radar, having received a ‘C’ ranking by NHL’s Central Scouting. Being drafted is a dream for every young player, but so far this season, he has not been able to be seen by NHL scouts.
Getting 24 games will go a long way for him to show off his progression from last year. He’s not alone. This coming season is going to give other Draft hopefuls a chance to shine for the pros as well.
“I want to be higher on that list,” Ciona, who had 13 points in 53 games as a rookie last year says. “I don’t want to be a ‘C’ prospect. It was cool and humbling to see my name and see that some of my hard work got noticed, but that’s not the end game. I want to continue to push and get myself higher on that list.”
Seattle Thunderbirds winger Lucas Ciona will benefit from playing hockey this year. (Brian Liesse/T-Birds photo)
First time NHL Draft eligible players are not the only ones who will benefit from playing this season.
There are many players in the Division who were passed up the last Draft, sitting on the NHL bubble. They are still eligible to hear their names called during this year’s Draft which is scheduled for July. Continued development could push them over the line but could also lead to a free agent signing, getting to play pro in Europe, or in Canadian college.
Incoming rookies will also get valuable ice time and a taste of the higher level of play the WHL offers. These are players that will be looking forward to the 2022 NHL Draft as well as restocking the U.S. Division and league with more talent.
Development is the key to this season but that doesn’t mean teams aren’t looking to win. There will be no playoffs to aim for, but hockey players and general managers alike are hyper-competitive, so winning is still number one.
“If they kept score in the warmup, we’d win that,” La Forge says.
Seattle will ice a young team that is loaded with talent and potential. They’ll be competitive but will have to deal with good teams such as the Portland Winterhawks – last year’s U.S. Division champions – and the always tough Everett Silvertips.
It’s going to make for a fun sprint of a season that will provide entertaining games for fans who will either have to watch online or on television. The coaches, general managers, and players will be ready to go on March 19th.
“I want to win every single (game).” Ciona says. “Obviously it’s a bummer there won’t be any playoffs, but I still want to win them all. We’re competitive, that’s been our identity and we want to show that. We don’t just want to get through the 24 games, we want to dominate.”
The latest Sound Of Hockey Podcast is here, and it will bring you some chuckles. John and Darren come out with guns ablaze to start this week’s episode, putting Andy to the test as the show’s WHL correspondent. Andy fires back with some top-notch WHL knowledge, which leads to some hearty debate between Andy and John.
Patrik Laine was benched on Monday by Torts, on which the guys discuss and give cold takes. Covid is running rampant through the NHL, so Darren temporarily becomes a scientist to explain. John, Andy, and Darren do a quick rundown of things that have surprised them about this season as some teams reach the quarter pole. Andy gaslights all of us into believing that third place is actually second place.
With a compressed schedule this year there is a tasty menu of NHL games to decide between every night. But which one should you watch? Do you choose the best matchup between good teams or do you look for a game that offers potential Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft targets?
It can be a tough call when there are six or seven every night.
Don’t despair. We have you covered with this week’s Games on the Radar, so get some snacks, find a comfy couch, and enjoy the hockey.
Montreal Canadiens versus Toronto Maple Leafs
When: Wednesday, 4:30 P.M. Pacific on NHLTV and Saturday 4:00 P.M. Pacific on NHL Network, CBC
It’s been a while since two of the more storied franchises in the NHL were both top teams at the same time. That adds to the promise of great hockey during a crucial home-and-home match up between the pair this week. The Maple Leafs come in holding a three-point lead in the Scotia North Division over Montreal while the Canadiens have a game in hand.
This week’s pair of contests will be the first since the two entertained with a thriller on opening night, January 13th. In that game, Toronto’s Jimmy Vesey scored midway through the third period to tie the back-and-forth game at 4-4. The contest would be decided in overtime when Morgan Rielly converted on a two-on-one break to give the Maple Leafs the win.
Fast forward a month and the two clubs are among the best in the NHL. There’s a lot going on in these two games so they will be well worth propping your feet up and enjoying.
Players to watch
Toronto’s Mitch Marner comes into the week third in NHL scoring with 21 points in 13 games, but he’s not alone in the Maple Leafs attack. His running mate, Auston Matthews, has scored 11 times in 12 games. Can he score 40 in this year’s shortened season? He’s getting just over four shots a game and converting on an incredible 21.2 percent which gives him a chance.
Goalie Carey Price is the marquee name in the Montreal net, but it’s been backup Jake Allen who has starred early for the Canadiens. In his five starts he’s won four times while posting a .940 save percentage. Not bad for the number two goalie who, by-the-way, could be on the Seattle Kraken radar at the Expansion Draft.
Montreal’s Tyler Toffoli has as many goals as Matthews does and has been a great free agency pick-up. Of his 12 goals, eight have come against Toffoli’s former team, the Vancouver Canucks. Can he keep it up against different clubs?
The Seattle Kraken watchlist
Outside of Allen, Kraken fans should keep an eye on Montreal’s Jonathan Drouin, Phillip Danault, Shea Weber, Victor Mete, and Cale Fleury as potential players who may be available to Seattle at the Expansion Draft.
On the Leafs ledger, players like Justin Holl or Travis Dermott on the back end could end up with the Kraken. Wayne Simmonds might also be a free-agent target for the Kraken, but he is out with a broken wrist so Seattle fans should keep an eye on Vesey who is also a free agent of note.
Tampa Bay Lightning versus Florida Panthers
When: Thursday, 4:00 P.M. Pacific on NHL.tv and Saturday, 4 P.M. Pacific ESPN+
With an 8-1-1 record starting the week, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning are right where you’d expect to see them, leading the Discover Central. They’re looking down on the division again, but a new face sits just three points behind them. That face is mascot look-alike head coach Joel Quenneville and the Florida Panthers.
Florida is off to an impressive and somewhat surprising 6-1-2 start that puts them in playoff contention within the division. The two games between the Florida rivals will be a big test for the upstart Panthers. Are they for real? We will get a clue this week.
Players to watch
With Florida playing well it must mean that goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has regained his form, right? Well, not quite. Bobrovsky has won three of his four starts this season but his save percentage is a worrisome .881. Instead, Chris Driedger has been stellar. He has five starts for Florida and a 1.97 goals-against average with a .937 save percentage. That’s good and he could end up being an unsung hero for the Panthers.
Former Lightning Carter Verhaeghe is off to a strong six-goal and nine-point start for Florida and should be motivated against his old club.
Tampa Bay is still loaded and so good that they’re almost boring. Captain Steven Stamkos is healthy and leading the Lightning in scoring along with Brayden Point. The pair both have 11 points in their first 10 games and are leading the charge. Defenseman Victor Hedman and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy are already on form and always worth watching.
The Seattle Kraken watchlist
The same depth that makes the Lightning so tough to beat will benefit the Kraken as Tampa Bay can’t protect everyone. Some good players will be available so keep an eye on Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson, Yanni Gourde, and Ondrej Palat. It’s best to just marvel at all the Lightning.
Patric Hornqvist is off to a good start for Florida and potentially an Expansion Draft exposure. On defense, watch Anton Stralman or former Everett Silvertip Radko Gudas as two more potential Kraken targets.
Other NHL games of note
Columbus Blue Jackets versus Chicago Blackhawks: Thursday, 5:00 P.M. Pacific on NHL.tv. It has been a dramatic start to the season for the Blue Jackets and not because of what is happening on the ice. Head coach John Tortorella is taking no guff this season and has already benched newly acquired Patrik Laine.
Detroit Red Wings versus Nashville Predators: Thursday, 5:00 P.M. Pacific on NHL.tv. Detroit is not a good hockey team, but this game is attractive from a Kraken Expansion Draft perspective. Forward Givani Smith was recently recalled and off to a four-point start. He is the most attractive forward from Detroit and may be exposed.
Well, gang, it took three whole months, but we finally did it. We successfully profiled all 30 of the teams that will be participating in the 2021 Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft.
We at Sound Of Hockey have put our blood, sweat, and tears into this thing, and we’re very proud of the product. It’s been a true labor of love. But while we’re all happy to have made it to the end of this arduous journey, we also are left wondering, What the hell do we write about now? After all, players won’t be selected for another 163 days according to @KrakenCountdown, the Twitter-based authority on such matters.
Fear not, faithful readers, for we shall milk this Expansion Draft for every last drop of delicious content until the inaugural Kraken roster is officially selected on July 21. And after that? Oh, you better believe we will break down each selection from every angle until we’re deep sea blue, ice blue, boundless blue, shadow blue, and red alert in the face (those are the official Kraken colors in case you weren’t following).
Jokes aside, we recognize that our projections are subject to change in their feasibility. A simple flick of the pen on a new contract, an injury, a trade, or even poor or exceptional play from an individual can drastically alter a team’s plan going into the Expansion Draft. That’s why we will continue to monitor and update our projections right up until the eleventh hour.
For now, we thought it would be a good idea to wrap up this massive project with some highlights for the too-long-didn’t-read folks, of whom there are certainly many.
**Editor’s Note: We have not included any goalies here, because there will be yet another article updating the Expansion Draft netminder landscape in the coming weeks.**
Veterans
The Kraken will need to look for a mix of older veterans with minimal term remaining on their contracts, players in their primes on reasonable deals, and young guys with oodles of upside.
There will be at least a couple higher-priced veterans selected because Seattle has to hit a minimum of 60% of the $81.5 million salary cap. So the Kraken need to select at least $48.9 million worth of contracts, and they simply can’t reach that number by picking 30 players making the league minimum.
Here’s a list of some of the biggest and most fascinating veteran names that Sound Of Hockey identified as perhaps being available to Seattle in July. If any seem far-fetched, click on their team’s link at the bottom of this story to understand our reasoning for why they may be available.
Some of the above will be unrestricted free agents after the 2020-2021 season, and including such players on the “available” list is frankly a bit of a stretch. If we were the Kraken, we would be focusing on players with term left on contracts that carry reasonable cap hits, rather than using up our selections on free agents that will want top dollar to lure them to forgo the open market.
Even so, there are a few UFA’s who—if still unsigned by their current teams on July 19—would be worth considering.
Taylor Hall is a great example of this. Hall is a bona fide star in the prime of his career. He signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Buffalo Sabres during the offseason. For Kraken general manager Ron Francis to select him, Hall needs to remain a free agent at the end of the current season, then agree to a deal with Seattle in the team’s 48-hour exclusive negotiating window just before the Expansion Draft. If Francis can sign Hall, then the Kraken would use their Buffalo selection on Hall.
Like all other UFA’s, Hall can sign an extension at any time with his current team. If that happens, then Buffalo will surely protect him from the Expansion Draft, and this all becomes moot.
Young(ish) guns
Seattle has not been shy about its quest to build the NHL’s best analytics department to work hand-in-hand with what it hopes is the league’s best pro scouting staff. Being that players early in their careers inherently have smaller bodies of work, the young players that the Kraken select in the Expansion Draft is where those departments will really show their mettle.
As Vegas proved in 2017, there are diamonds to be found in the rough.
Here are some of the younger players we projected to be available.
Speaking anecdotally, one thing we noticed in this exercise is that the better the team—or perhaps the more challenged a team is by the salary cap—the less obvious it is which players will be good picks for the Kraken from that roster.
A great example is the Detroit Red Wings. They have been terrible the last few seasons and are in the midst of a full rebuild. There really are no veterans that will be both exposed and worth taking for Seattle, so the Kraken will be trying to find a guy with upside that either hasn’t been given a real chance at the NHL level or has been miscast when called upon.
At the other end of the spectrum is a team like Carolina. Unlike the Red Wings, the Hurricanes have exceptional depth. Look for the Kraken to get a guy who may not be a household name now, but could play a big role on a team with fewer skilled players. These are the types of players that could develop into cornerstones for Seattle.
Local ties
Here are a few players that we identified as potential Kraken targets that have ties to the Pacific Northwest.
TJ Oshie (WAS) – born in Mount Vernon, WA, raised in Everett, WA
Dylan Gambrell (SJS) – from Bonney Lake, WA
Alexander True (SJS) – played in WHL for Seattle Thunderbirds
Brenden Dillon (WAS) – played in WHL for Seattle Thunderbirds
Tyler Johnson (TBL) – born and raised in Spokane, WA, played in WHL for Spokane Chiefs
Jake Bean (CAR) – played in WHL for Tri-City Americans
Here are all of our Expansion Draft profiles. Thanks again for riding along on this journey. There will be more to come as we prepare to welcome the inaugural Kraken roster to Seattle.
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.
It seems like every season we hear the narrative that goal scoring in the NHL is up year over year. Instead of taking someone’s word for it, I like to dig into it to A) see if it is true and B) identify changes at the individual team level.
As you can see above, scoring is up but only slightly from 6.07 goals per game last year to 6.12 this year. Heading into this season, there were a lot of questions around the long downtime for the seven teams that did not qualify for the NHL Playoff bubble last summer, shorter training camp, and the lack of pre-season games possibly impacting the scoring in the league this year. Those factors might have an effect on the games in some manner but at this time it seems to be immaterial to draw any conclusions based on scoring.
Scoring by NHL Team
There might not be a material change for the league at large, but there certainly are changes in scoring by individual teams. Here is a rundown of the scoring change year over year by team through Friday’s games.
Margin of victory
Another broad metric I like to look at is the ‘average margin of victory’ in games. The general consensus is that the smaller the margin of victory, the better the game, and I tend to agree. Let us take a look.
As you can see, the games are closer this year compared to last year and a heck of a lot closer compared to the 2018-19 season. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues through the rest of this campaign or if it is just an early season blip.
Goals for and goals against
Of course goal scoring is one thing, but goals against is another important factor in how teams are performing (just ask the Vancouver Canucks). If you want to look at individual teams’ performances over time in the ‘goals for’ and ‘goals against’ categories, I’ve created an interactive visual below.
It is too early in the season to draw any hard and fast conclusions, but it will be something we keep an eye on as this shortened season progresses. If you have any questions or data requests, message us at the @Sound_Hockey twitter account.
Ever since Seattle Kraken assistant general manager Jason Botterill appeared on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, his stock has skyrocketed faster than GameStop during a short squeeze. Very topical, I know.
As we mentioned in last week’s Weekly One-Timers post, Jim Rutherford abruptly retired as general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Botterill’s name was being considered as a replacement for the long-time executive. It made sense, since Botterill was part of that franchise’s front office when it won its three Sidney Crosby-era Stanley Cups.
But Botterill is under contract with Seattle, and when a contract is in place, permission is required to speak to a candidate.
Bobby Margarita updated us via Twitter on Thursday that Pittsburgh did not receive permission from Seattle to talk to him, at least not quickly enough from the Penguins’ point of view.
Quick follow up/clarification on what I reported last night regarding PIT GM search: PIT did ask for permission from SEA to talk to Jason Botterill but did NOT receive permission to do so, at least not in a timeframe that worked for PIT. So Botterill is not a candidate in PIT.
So, although this story has flip-flopped a couple times now, the latest seems to be that Botterill is staying with the Kraken.
Botterill was hired as Seattle’s AGM just one month ago. Here’s hoping he stays at least through the inaugural season.
Other Kraken-related stuff
As you likely heard, Andy Jassy is set to take over as CEO of Amazon in Q3 of this year. We have no idea if this has any impact on the Kraken, but Jassy—currently the CEO of Amazon Web Services—is a minority owner of the team and had a big role in the branding of the franchise. There’s also speculation that Jeff Bezos moving out of the CEO role could somehow lead to the Sonics coming back to Seattle, but it remains unclear who is spreading these rumors.
Jassy is one of the minority owners of the Kraken and will probably be the majority owner someday. I imagine a lot of Sonics fans are assuming Bezos stepping down is related to him making a push for buying an NBA team. a little premature but not totally unwarranted.
Ok, but seriously it has no real evidence behind it at this time, other than Bezos is really rich, is based in Seattle, and Seattleites want the Sonics back.
Climate Pledge Arena also announced its first concert this week.
After the NHL successfully closed out its 2019-2020 postseason bubble with zero positive tests throughout, we at Sound Of Hockey were optimistic about 2020-2021. We thought it could be more successful than other leagues like the NFL and Major League Baseball at safely carrying out a season outside of a central bubble, because clearly the NHL just gets it and wouldn’t allow COVID to be an issue. Right?
Our optimism was perhaps a bit misguided.
As of Friday, 26 NHL games have been postponed this season.
Of course, there was always flexibility built into the schedule to allow for such postponements, but it does beg the question of what else can be done to make it more safe. And if this trend continues, does the league carry on, just accepting that more players and staff will get COVID?
There are currently four teams trying to contain outbreaks in Buffalo, Minnesota, Colorado, and New Jersey—the Devils have had as many as 17 players on the COVID protocol list. This does not include teams like Vegas, Dallas, and Carolina, who have already had their seasons shut down due to positive tests but have since returned to play.
Buffalo head coach Ralph Krueger also tested positive this week. He’s 61 years old, so that’s a bit scary.
With Colorado the latest team to shut down—the Avs just played three games against Minnesota, making us wonder if there may have been some cross-mojonation between the clubs—the league did get creative with its scheduling. It replaced a Blues/Avalanche series with a previously postponed Blues/Coyotes series on Saturday and Monday. It’s a quick pivot in plans for those teams but a clever decision by the NHL to try to keep things somewhat on track.
New protocols
The NHL released a statement on Thursday with new steps that must be taken immediately to hopefully curtail the spread of the virus. The most notable new protocols are removal of partitions behind benches to improve airflow and limiting arrival at the arena to no more than one hour and 45 minutes before game time.
The NHL isn’t the only league that has had its plans altered after COVID infiltrated its ranks. The same is certainly true for the NWHL, which very sadly was forced to suspend its previously exhilarating tournament in Lake Placid.
The NWHL and the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) have agreed, due to new positive COVID-19 tests and the resulting safety concerns for the players, their respective staff & the community that the remainder of the 2021 NWHL Season in Lake Placid have been suspended.
The Metropolitan Riveters and Connecticut Whale had both exited the so-called Whubble after receiving positive tests, and the rest of the six-team league followed suit on Wednesday.
The timing was especially painful, as the NWHL was preparing for its first-ever nationally televised games. The semi-finals and final were set to be played on NBCSN with the Seattle Kraken’s new play-by-play man, John Forslund, on the call along with AJ Mleczko.
It’s a devastating blow for a league that seemed to finally be finding some traction and national attention with this very protracted season.
WHL update from our WHL correspondent
On the other side of the coin, Sound Of Hockey’s own Andy Eide broke the news this week that Washington Governor Jay Inslee has given the green light to the WHL teams within the state to return to play.
I have learned that Gov. Inslee has approved the WHL’s request to play hockey for its Washington based teams. No word from the league or teams about the next steps as of yet but one major hurdle has been overcome.
We don’t have a start date yet, and we also don’t know if the Portland Winterhawks will be given the same go-ahead by the state of Oregon.
The WHL teams located in Alberta did have a start date set last week and are expected to begin play on Feb. 26.
Victor Hedman is cooler than ever
Victor Hedman has done a lot in his NHL career, including winning a Stanley Cup, a Norris Trophy, and a Conn Smythe Trophy and being named to four All-Star Games. Plus, he just comes across as a cool dude. But we don’t think he’s ever looked cooler than he does now that he has this Swedish banger as his goal song.
Victor Hedman har – utan någon som helst konkurrens – NHL:s bästa mållåt 2020/21. pic.twitter.com/4uZOVM76KH
The Lightning do have a standard song they play for most players, but a few get special treatment with personalized tunes after they tickle the twine.
Here is the full song with lyrics for your enjoyment.
Tony DeAngelo is gone, Rangers rejoice
The Rangers—who waived Tony DeAngelo after he got in a reported scuffle with goaltender Alexandar Georgiev on Saturday—came away with a 4-2 victory on Thursday over the Capitals.
As the Rangers were leaving the ice, they celebrated with what appeared to be a feigned altercation between other goaltender Igor Shesterkin and star forward Artemi Panarin.
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.
Tim Ohashi – the Head Video Analyst for the Seattle Kraken – joins Sound Of Hockey this week to teach us some things (there’s a joke there, which you will understand after you listen to the interview). Tim is just an all-around awesome guy, who has a much bigger impact on the team than most people probably realize. You will learn a lot from listening to him in his FIRST EVER PODCAST INTERVIEW! It’s truly one-of-a-kind content that you will only get from Sound Of Hockey.
Also on this episode, lots of chatter about the controversial Kraken/ROOT Sports partnership and the John Forslund hiring. Plus some WHL news from our WHL correspondent, Andy Eide, and a spirited discussion about Tony DeAngelo.
Bits this week include Three Stars. Segments include You Don’t See That Every Day, Weekly One-Timers, and a hostile Tweets of the Week.
The Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning found themselves in a tough spot this offseason in regard to salary cap compliance heading into the 2020-21 season.
They were already against the salary cap when they signed restricted free agents Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak, and Anthony Cirelli in the offseason. In an effort clear cap space, the team put Tyler Johnson on waivers hoping that another NHL team would claim the 30-year-old veteran and his $5 million cap hit. Johnson would go slip through unclaimed, directing the team elsewhere in clearing cap space.
They would go on to trade Braydon Coburn and Cedric Paquette to Ottawa to shed $3.4 million in cap space for essentially nothing in return. Then right before the season would begin, Nikita Kucherov would have hip surgery that would keep him out all regular season. This would move the elite forward to long-term injured reserve and move his salary off the books, freeing up an additional $9.5 million and bringing cap compliance.
Assumptions
They may have dodged a bullet to be cap compliant this season, but the Lightning are going to be in a challenging position next offseason as well. This could lead to some roster movement leading up to the Expansion Draft, but it is anyone’s guess on how that might play out. For the purposes of this exercise, we are assuming the roster stays consistent in the lead-up to the Expansion Draft.
Additionally, Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow are playing on the last year of their current contracts. Both contribute and are valuable in the roles that they play, but because of limited cap space, we do not anticipate Tampa Bay will be re-signing these two players for next season.
Tampa Bay protected list for Expansion Draft
Defense
Victor Hedman
Mikhail Sergachev
Erik Cernak
Cal Foote
The Lightning are stacked up and down their roster. We are confident that they will protect four forwards, four defensemen, and one goalie as opposed to the more common 7-3-1 scenario. Hedman is a perennial contender for the Norris Trophy. Even without his no-move-clause, he would be protected. Sergachev and Cernak both are under 23 years old and signed new contracts this past offseason, so the Lightning have signaled that they are significant pieces of the team’s long-term plans. Cal Foote was a first-round draft pick in 2017 and made his debut during this 2020-21 season. Although we have not seen much of Foote’s capabilities in the NHL, we would find it hard to believe the Lightning would expose a player with his potential.
Forwards
Steven Stamkos
Nikita Kucherov
Brayden Point
Anthony Cirelli
Stamkos and Kucherov both have no-move clauses, but would still be locks without them. Brayden Point is an elite forward in this league and averaged just about a point per game last season. He is another lock. A 23-year-old Anthony Cirelli rounds out the forward protection list as another lock, as far as we are concerned. Cirelli put up 44 points in 68 games and is way ahead of schedule from a player development perspective.
Goalie
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Vasilevskiy is one of the best goalies in the league and is not going anywhere.
Tampa Bay targets for Expansion Draft
Defense
Ryan McDonagh
If the Lightning do protect 4 defensemen in the Expansion Draft, then Ryan McDonagh could be a candidate for selection by the Kraken. Offensively, McDonagh’s numbers do not jump off the screen, but he remains a premier shutdown defenseman that can put up big minutes in that role. He had a drop-off in point production last year but contributed 10 points over 22 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Forwards
Alex Killorn
Alexander Volkov
Boris Katchouk
Mathieu Joseph
Ondrej Palat
Taylor Raddysh
Tyler Johnson
Yanni Gourde
The list of possible forwards that could be selected is long. The Kraken will have options. There is a case to be made for each one of these players. Killorn, Palat, Gourde, and Johnson are all productive middle-six forwards that could step into an elevated role with the Kraken. Joseph, Katchouk, Raddysh, and Volkov appear to be primed to be everyday players in the NHL very soon. In the case of Joseph and Volkov and also Mitchell Stephens, Ron Francis and team should be able to get a good look at these players in the NHL this season. Katchouk and Raddysh are expected to play most of their current campaign with the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL.
Side deal scenarios
Side deals are tough to predict, particularly when the narrative appeared to be that NHL teams learned their lesson in the Vegas Expansion Draft and would not be doing any side deals with Seattle. That might have been the case before the pandemic flattened the salary cap, but now those cap projections teams were using are out the window.
Tampa Bay will be the most vulnerable to get cap compliant heading into the 2021-22 season. What better opportunity to shed some cap space than to get Seattle to take some bigger contracts off their hands? At the very least, the Lightning will need to find an additional $9.5 million in cap space for Nikita Kucherov next year. Killorn, Palat, Gourde, and Johnson all carry about a $5 million cap hit. Seattle could select one of the players on an entry deal in Joseph, Katchouk, Raddysh, and Volkov, but that will not help Tampa Bay at all. This scenario seems prime for a side deal. We should expect it.
Spokane Native Tyler Johnson (Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire)
When the Seattle Kraken announced the hiring of Norm Maciver to serve in the front office, he talked about how excited he was to join a franchise at the ground floor. It played a huge role in leaving the Chicago Blackhawks, where he had served for 14 seasons.
It’s been a common theme among Kraken hires.
The new additions of Jason Botterill and Norm Maciver bring Stanley Cup championship experience to our Hockey Ops staff, as we continue to prepare for the expansion and amateur drafts this upcoming July.
Everyone from general manager Ron Francis to assistant general manager Jason Botterill has expressed that same draw of starting a franchise from scratch. It’s an excitement that’s wrapped up in a huge challenge and undertaking.
Maciver has done it all in the NHL from player to coach to front office work. He’s faced many challenges, but the one in Seattle will be different than the one he faced when he joined the Chicago front office.
The Blackhawks were an established franchise. As the Kraken director of player personnel, Maciver now is tasked with helping the Kraken establish themselves in a similar manner. Winning three Stanley Cups, as he did with Chicago, would be nice as well.
“The challenges are totally different,” Maciver says. “In Chicago you’re dealing with a team that’s had a lot of success, that’s a little bit on the downside now. You’ve got contracts and you’re dealing with a lot of situations like that where here it’s totally fresh. We don’t have any players yet so it’s a matter of looking at what might be available in July and what players might be a fit for what we’re trying to do here…that just sounded so exciting and I’m looking forward to getting into it.”
Maciver will be watching a ton of hockey
As director of player personnel, Maciver will be involved in evaluating players at every level of the Kraken organization.
He’ll monitor the progress of young players in the American Hockey League, in the amateur ranks, and on the NHL roster. He’ll work with the team’s scouts, player development staff, and the general manager to ensure that the players in the system are on the right track.
He’s going to be watching a lot of hockey.
“In a normal year and season, you get your eyes on a little bit of everything,” he says. “You’re watching junior, you’re watching the American League, college and the NHL. You have to be aware of European free agents as well.”
With no players to monitor yet, Maciver will be assisting in the process of preparing for July’s Expansion Draft.
But its more than just scouting players. Maciver and the rest of the Kraken hockey operations team will get their heads together and establish the team’s culture and identity. It’s an underrated aspect to putting together a club and one that again, will be put together from the ground floor in Seattle.
“It’s something you want to establish from day one,” he says. “You want it for the players you’re going to initially acquire but you want it for the guys you’re going to draft over the next few years. You want that in place so when they’re ready to become NHL players they can walk right into it.”
Maciver’s experience an asset for the Kraken
Thanks to some really terrible down years the Blackhawks were able to select two generational talents – Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. The two stars were the catalysts to the Blackhawks winning Cups and can make coaches, general managers, and Maciver look good.
But it wasn’t as easy as that.
Chicago had to find depth players, guys who would compliment Toews and Kane and push the Blackhawks over the top. Something that’s easier said than done.
“It’s a challenge we saw in Chicago over the years,” Maciver says. “The core guys became really established as star players in the NHL. A lot of times when you brought in young players they were intimidated. A lot of young guys would defer. Meaning, every time they were on the ice with one of these stars they would give the puck to them, let them do their thing…for some players it’s tough to play with star players. It takes a certain mentality of young players to not be in awe and just go out and play. It is tricky sometimes to make sure you find that chemistry when you have those star players.”
Finding guys to do that is one of the challenges and responsibilities of player personnel directors.
Maciver points to Andrew Shaw as a player that the Blackhawks brought up and fit in perfectly with their stars. Not an obvious NHL prospect, Shaw was a fifth-round draft pick of Chicago but made his way to the NHL and contributed to two Stanley Cup winners in 2013 and 2015. Turns out he was a perfect fit.
Being in charge of player personnel also requires weighing in on trade possibilities.
While ultimately the responsibility of the general manager, Maciver will have input on how players with another franchise might fit in. Again, it’s something he had a hand in with the Blackhawks.
It ultimately comes down to trying to project that fit. How will the player targeted fit in with the new team? One such player was Dylan Strome who Chicago acquired early in the 2018-2019 season from the Arizona Coyotes.
After being selected by Arizona with the third overall pick in the 2015 Draft, Strome had a couple of lackluster seasons with the Coyotes. In Chicago, he posted career numbers immediately.
The Blackhawks saw a fit and made the trade.
“In the case of Dylan, in Arizona they had a lot of young guys,” Maciver says of the trade. “We had an opportunity in Chicago, he had had chemistry in junior with (Chicago center Alex) Debrincat. They were dynamic in junior so the thinking at the time was this could be an opportunity for both of them to hopefully do similar to what they accomplished in junior. Dylan has progressed nicely in Chicago.”
The challenge of scouting for July
Obviously, the hockey world is different than it’s been every other season. Most NHL arenas are not allowing fans, some are allowing scouts, and there has been very little amateur hockey to watch.
The Kraken will have to find players for whom they may not have had as many viewings as they’d prefer.
Even at the AHL level things will be different for Maciver. Seattle’s affiliate in Palm Springs won’t be ready to play until the 2022 seasonbut the team will need minor league players for its first year. The team will announce that they will split an affiliation with another AHL franchise for the first season.
Maciver will have to monitor those players to judge their progress towards becoming NHL regulars. Having prospects split may lead to some complications.
“It can be a challenge but it’s not something that hasn’t happened before,” he says. “Back 30 years ago that was more of the norm in the AHL. Virtually all of the teams were dual affiliates. I know from my own experience; I was a coach in the AHL in a similar situation. Even though I was hired by one team, yeah, you obviously wanted to make sure your prospects continued to improve but you had to play the players who deserved the ice time. You want to make sure you have prospects that deserve to play and if they do deserve it, I’m confident they will play.”
Maciver and the Kraken have their work cut out for them with all these challenges. Finding the right players for not only the first year but drafting the future in the NHL Draft will be tough with hurdles the pandemic has placed in front of them.
Its coming quick and its not something Maciver and the Kraken staff are shying away from.
Maciver is currently living in Minnesota and until recently hadn’t been to a hockey game since the NHL shut down the season last March. He’s ready to go.
“The clock is ticking but I think it’s fun,” Maciver says. “Personally, just getting into the rinks again, seeing games live, you’re more confident talking about players versus watching them on video. I’m just excited about that. I think these months will fly by but since I’ve been onboard, we’ve had some really good conversations and I’m looking forward to more.”
