It could be a game for the ages. Or, the Americans could get blown out of the water. Either way, it’s going to be a party for somebody. Let’s hope for the former, as Team USA faces the overwhelming tournament favorite, Team Canada, in Tuesday’s World Junior Championship (WJC) gold medal game.
Monday’s semifinals were a tale of two contests. In the early game, Russia—which opened the WJC with an impressive win over Team USA—was spanked 5-0 by the Canadians. That game even made the world’s best under-20 goaltender, Yaroslav Askarov (Nashville Predators prospect), look downright beatable. Team Canada coasted through the third period and never looked under duress.
In the late game, USA ultimately came out victorious over Finland in an intense contest that went down to the wire. After the US allowed the tying goal at 16:17 of the third period, Arthur Kaliyev (LAK) rifled the game winner with just over one minute remaining. It was an emotional game that took every American player giving just about everything to get past the pesky Finns, who nearly overcame their second consecutive two-goal deficit of the knockout stage.
Both teams will need to quickly reset as we turn our attention to the gold medal game, which will be played Tuesday between David Team USA and Goliath Team Canada at 6:30PM Pacific on NHL Network.
Team Canada Lives Up to Hype
On paper, Canada should probably win just about every WJC. Yet—by their standards—the Canadians had a bit of a down decade, earning three gold medals between 2010 and 2020, including last year’s championship. Another win tonight would prove that the dip in dominance was simply an anomaly.
In this WJC, Canada has lived up to its pre-tournament billing in every way. Despite its best player and captain, Kirby Dach (CHI), fracturing his wrist in an exhibition game and forcing him out of the competition, Team Canada has dominated every game it has played to this point. In fact, the star-studded squad has outscored its opponents 41-4 in six games, and netminder Devon Levi has allowed zero goals at even strength.
You read that right. Canada has not yet allowed an even-strength goal in this tournament.
Speaking of Levi, goaltending was perhaps the one area coming into the WJC in which Canada did not appear to hold an advantage over the field. Russia’s Askarov and USA’s Spencer Knight received the bulk of the ballyhoo, while our neighbors to the north questioned who would get the nod in their nation’s goal crease.
Levi—an unheralded seventh-round draft pick of the Florida Panthers—has answered any and all questions to this point. The Northeastern University freshman has stopped 120 of 124 shots through Monday’s semifinal, good for a .975 save percentage. Still, one could argue that he hasn’t been tested that intensely, as Canada has allowed few grade-A scoring chances.
Meanwhile, after losing the odds-on favorite for tournament MVP in Dach, Dylan Cozens (BUF) took the reins as the offensive leader and shined from the jump. Cozens—who has traded off wearing what was supposed to be Dach’s “C” with stud defenseman Bowen Byram (COL)—is tied for the WJC scoring lead with 16 points (8-8-16).
Connor McMichael (WAS), Quinton Byfield (LAK), Alex Newhook (COL), and Peyton Krebs (VGK) are other players that we at Sound Of Hockey have noticed as particularly outstanding on a roster full of potential future NHL superstars.
The Americans Are No Slouches
So if Cozens is tied for the tournament scoring lead, then who shares that honor with him? Why, it’s none other than USA’s Trevor Zegras (ANA), of course!
Zegras has been incredible for the Stars and Stripes, scoring from everywhere, setting up teammates, and finding ways to be dangerous just about every time he’s been on the ice. In all, Zegras has six goals and 10 assists, and if USA shocks the world Tuesday, he has all but secured the tournament MVP award.
Others that have wowed for the Americans have been Cam York (PHI), Matt Boldy (MIN), and Cole Caufield (MTL).
Local Pacific Northwest hockey fans have been clamoring to see Everett Silvertips goaltender Dustin Wolf (CGY) receive a real chance to show what he can do on this global stage. He frankly has been buried on the bench behind Knight, despite not giving up a goal in a game and a half during the preliminary round. USA head coach Nate Leaman has clearly hitched his wagon to Knight, though, and almost certainly will give the start to the 2019 first-round pick of the Panthers.
In fairness to Knight, he has played very well in this tournament, aside from a couple opening-game blunders against Russia that landed him on the bench. Knight boasts a .922 save percentage and was named one of USA’s three best players of the tournament following Monday’s semifinal.
But Do The Americans Actually Have a Chance?
It’s not quite USA versus USSR in the 1980 Winter Olympics, but Canada will be heavily favored on Tuesday. The US will have to play a close-to-perfect game and will still have to get some breaks to beat the Canadians.
So how can they actually do it? Most important for Team USA is that it wins the special teams battle. On Monday, the Americans took five penalties against Finland and relented two power play goals. They aren’t going to score much at five-on-five against Canada, but they do have the best power play in the tournament with Zegras, Kaliyev, and Boldy forming a truly elite forward unit. As a team, USA has scored at a 43 percent clip with the manpower advantage.
Drawing power plays while playing a clean game and receiving stellar goaltending from Knight is how the Americans can pull this off.
Still, it’s a huge long shot.
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.
The Arizona Coyotes experienced some on-ice success this past season. They made the NHL playoffs and beat Nashville in the qualifying round. Off the ice, the Coyotes experienced a series of calamities – to put it nicely – that saw them lose a general manager and get sanctioned. The result was a new general manager who has some intriguing roster decisions heading into the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft.
Bill Armstrong takes over as general manager and inherits a team that did not pick up many prospects in the 2020 NHL Draft due to those sanctions being imposed by the NHL. With the prospect cupboard a bit bare, Armstrong may have to focus on protecting as many young players as possible.
The Coyotes are under the cap, have some questions on defense, and have some interesting options at goalie that could draw the attention of Ron Francis and the Kraken.
Armstrong is new to the franchise, so we don’t have a track record with Arizona to try and determine how he’ll handle expansion in 2021. He has some young players, but most of them have yet to find consistent production in the league. There is potential but it seems that the Coyotes are always that team with potential – a potential that looks like it will break through, only it never does.
Can Armstrong navigate the Kraken Expansion Draft in a way that will let him finally harvest that potential?
Assumptions
The Coyotes have some notable players who will be unrestricted free agents in 2021-2022. What happens to those players will have an impact on who they choose to protect from the Kraken at the Expansion Draft. Arizona only has two defensemen – Jakob Chychrun and Oliver Ekman-Larsson — signed beyond this coming season and obviously will have moves to make prior to the 2021-2022 season.
Seattle could negotiate with the remaining blueliners just prior to the Draft if it wishes. It’s unlikely but veterans Niklas Hjalmarsson, 33, and Jason Demers, 32, have track records and could offer some value. It’s also probable that the Coyotes re-sign one or both, which would affect who they end up protecting.
For this exercise, we will assume that they are not re-signed, and that the Kraken do not pursue them at July’s Expansion Draft.
Arizona Coyotes Expansion Draft Protected List
Armstrong will most likely protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie. Sticking with the theory that the lack of incoming prospects into the system will have the Arizona Coyotes protect their younger players already in the NHL, the Clayton Kellers and Lawson Crouses of the world won’t be available during the Expansion Draft.
Forwards
Phil Kessel (NMC)
Clayton Keller (Lock)
Nick Schmaltz
Christian Dvorak
Lawson Crouse
Conor Garland
Christian Fischer
Veteran Phil Kessel is the second biggest hit against the cap – Keller is the highest-paid Coyote – and has a no-move clause. Kessel, 33, did not live up to his $6.6 million salary last year, his first in the desert. His production dropped from 80 points to 38 and he was a defensive liability. The Coyotes have him under contract for two more seasons.
Which forwards to protect is fairly obvious for Armstrong, although there is some question about the seventh forward.
It should come down to one of three players whose performances during the coming season will be key.
Christian Fischer, 23, is a three-year vet who has shown some signs that he can be a contributor but has yet to put it all together. He scored 15 times his rookie season in 2017-2018 but hasn’t matched that since and is coming off a season where he was quite bad defensively. But the potential is there, he’s young, and that may be enough for Armstrong to protect him.
In a similar boat is Tyler Pitlick, 29. He’s several years older than Fischer and has bounced around with three prior NHL franchises. A long shot to be protected is 24-year-old Brayden Burke who has yet to appear at the NHL level but is coming off two strong seasons in the AHL.
Realistically, it will come down to Fischer and Pitlick. Whichever player has the better season may find himself on the protected list.
Defense
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (NMC)
Jakob Chychrun
Kyle Capobianco
Ekman-Larsson and Chychrun have to be protected with their no-move clauses but after that it gets interesting. As the new season is set to begin, those are the only defensemen under contract beyond this year.
Armstrong will either have to re-up some or all of his current defensemen or dip into free agency this summer. Assuming Hjalmarsson and Demers are retained, there is a good chance one would end up being protected. If neither are back, an interesting name that may end up being protected is Kyle Capobianco.
Capobianco, 24, was a 2015 third-round draft pick and has only played 12 NHL games so far. However, he has spent three seasons with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners and improved each year. Last year, he scored ten goals with an impressive 37 points in 42 games which was good for seventh among AHL defensemen.
Goalie
Darcy Kuemper
Goalie is a position where the Arizona Coyotes offer the Kraken value in the Expansion Draft. They have three goalies who have NHL experience on the roster. Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta were the tandem last year and can be as good as any in the league.
Raanta is not under contract past this season and if not re-signed will become a free agent. It’s also possible that Armstrong could move Raanta at the trade deadline. Either way, he’s unlikely to be in the picture when the Kraken start selecting Coyotes.
That would leave former Portland Winterhawks goalie Adin Hill the target to be exposed to the Kraken at the Expansion Draft. Hill, 24, has been up and down with Arizona as an injury replacement and has looked good.
Arizona Coyotes Expansion Draft Targets
Forwards
Dryden Hunt
Tyler Pitlick
Brayden Burke
Defense
Kyle Capobianco (if not protected)
Niklas Hjarmarsson (if re-signed and unprotected)
Jason Demers (if re-signed and unprotected)
Goalie
Adin Hill
Thoughts
Adin Hill might be the best option among these available players. While he has yet to play a full NHL season, he has looked strong in the AHL and in his limited time up with the Coyotes. The Seattle Kraken may not want to hand over the top goalie spot to an unproven, young netminder like Hill in year one, but he could be a top back-up with an eye towards being the future starter.
If Capobianco is available, he’d be another player to consider for the Kraken. Like Hill, he has yet to prove it over a full NHL season but his AHL numbers are impressive. Negotiating with Hjarmarsson or Demers is also an option. Both are older, experienced, and would help the Kraken get to the cap floor, but there may be better veteran options elsewhere.
The forward group is not as attractive for potential Kraken Expansion Draft targets, though one interesting player is Dryden Hunt. He was a big-time scorer in junior and has had a look in the NHL with Florida. Hunt, 24, didn’t score much in his 63 NHL games but has had big years in the AHL.
Side Deal Scenarios
Arizona does not have any obvious side deal targets. A case could be made that they’d love to get rid of Kessel’s contract to save some money going into next season. He would have to be willing to waive his no-movement clause in order to head to Seattle and it’s unknown how willing he’d be to do that. If he does, Francis might be able to pull something out of Armstrong to take the cap hit. The Kraken would only be on the hook for his contract during the first season.
The IIHF World Junior Championship Quarterfinals start today. Through the Preliminary Rounds there was a lot of chatter about some of the blowouts, so I thought I would take the opportunity to look at the trends over the years to see if there might be a broader theme.
Margin of Victory
Thanks to a couple big blowouts by Canada and the US, the margin of victory has certainly inflated in the 2021 tournament compared to previous years. It would be premature to say there is a significant trend here, especially considering all the variables leading up to the 2021 tournament.
Average Goals Scored
Similar to the average margin of victory, the early blowouts by Canada and United States are certainly showing up in this “average goals scored by game” visual.
If you look over the last six years, this still looks like a blip on the radar as opposed to a full-scale trend. Canada saw an increase of four additional goals scored per game compared to 2020, while the US saw an increase of two goals scored compared to 2020.
Summary
Being that 2020 was such a unique year across the hockey world and that we are not seeing broad trends across multiple years, it would be premature to suggest changes to the IIHF World Junior format based on the 2021 Preliminary Round games. The games have still been enjoyable and for teams like Austria and Switzerland, they earned the right to play in this tournament. Regardless of the blowouts, the games provide upcoming players an opportunity to be seen on an international stage and to grow in their hockey career.
Enjoy the games!
Quarterfinal Saturday is set at the 2021 #WorldJuniors
Here are some milestones Seattle fans should have on their radar as we turn the page on 2020, and the Kraken look to make their official debut in the fall of 2021.
Head Coach
There has been a lot of anticipation on the hiring of the Seattle Kraken’s first head coach. General manager Ron Francis has signaled that he is willing to be patient in filling this role. Unless there is a coach out there that he really wants, then there is no rush. However, the head coach should contribute to discussions around the Expansion Draft selections, so we would anticipate a coach will be hired in the April/May timeframe. This is conjecture, and the team hasn’t said anything specific about when it plans to hire somebody, but that would make sense.
Expansion Draft
The Seattle Expansion Draft is set for July 21st. I have this date etched in my brain. This is the date the Seattle Kraken becomes a team. This is how the core of the team will be built and is probably the single most important date on the calendar.
NHL Entry Draft
40% of the players in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs were playing for the teams that selected them in their respective drafts. Eventually, the Seattle Kraken will be mostly homegrown draft picks from the NHL Entry Draft. We might not see some of these “kids” play for the Kraken for several years, but while the Expansion Draft is the present, the Entry Draft is the future. The 2021 NHL Entry Draft will be July 23rd and 24th. Depending on how the Draft Lottery goes, Seattle will pick somewhere in the top six.
Jersey Reveal
Fans wanted their authentic Kraken jerseys yesterday, but teams usually unveil their jerseys the summer leading up to the season. There might be an exception to the Kraken being that they are not playing this season, so there is a chance the official jersey and uniform will come early. The earliest I could foresee the official jersey reveal happening is May 10th and the latest might be August.
NHL Schedule
I might be anticipating this more than most, but I can’t wait to see the NHL Schedule with the Seattle Kraken listed all over it. When is Opening Night? When are my San Jose Sharks coming to town? When do we get to see Connor McDavid play at Climate Pledge Arena? Schedule reveals tend to be around the NHL Entry Draft, so I would expect this in late July or early August sometime.
TV Partner/Solution
A lot of the current TV deals that sports franchises have are designed for business models and revenue streams built in 1990s. Has anything in the digital video distribution business changed since then? Of course it has.
Hello, Amazon Prime TV and Hulu Live Sports.
Figuring out what kind of “TV” distribution solution the team agrees upon should be interesting. There is the traditional pay TV route (Cable, Satellite, and Internet TV) or the aforementioned streaming services. Both have their pros and cons in terms of demographics, accessibility, user base, revenue, etc. I could write a whole separate article about this, but for now we’ll leave it at this. Expect information about the Kraken’s distribution partners and solutions in the summer.
Youth Hockey Engagement & Programs
The Seattle Kraken have been quiet in pushing youth hockey and Learn to Play programs since being awarded a franchise two years ago. You do not have to play the game to be a fan, but youth hockey has always been the lifeblood of building new supporters for life.
It’s coming. 2021 will mark the inaugural season for the Seattle Kraken, which – assuming everything does get back on track now, as the NHL has planned – will commence in October.
Those are just some of the big milestones Kraken fans can look forward to in 2021. We’re just about 9 months away from dropping that puck. I hope you’re as excited as I am.
Before New Year’s Eve champagne can be popped and the fireworks can start there is still a big hockey game to be played at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton. Team USA will take on Sweden in the last game of the preliminary round and it will decide the winner of Group B and all-important seeding in the quarterfinals.
With a regulation win, Team USA will win the group and get the easier pathway to the Gold Medal game. They’ll face a smarting Swedish group that had it’s unreal 54-game preliminary round win streak snapped Wednesday in a gut-wrenching 4-3 overtime loss. Russia won it with under six seconds left in the overtime period.
It will be a good matchup as both countries ice rosters loaded with future NHL stars. The Unites States boast 23 NHL-drafted players, nine of which are first-round picks. Sweden counters with 18 drafted players and six first-round draftees.
The USA stumbled out of the gate to lose to Russia but since has found its legs, its offense, and now has a shot of winning the toughest group in the World Junior Championship.
Russia beat Sweden in overtime which is only worth two points in the standings. That gives them eight points, and the US can get to nine points by beating Sweden in regulation.
The US has been on fire after losing to Russia in the opening game of the World Junior Championship. That game ended at 5-3, but the Americans played better than perhaps the score revealed.
A five-minute stretch in the second period saw goalie Spencer Knight struggle handling the puck and that resulted in two quick Russian goals. Knight was pulled for Everett Silvertips goalie Dustin Wolf who would hold down the fort which allowed the US to get to within one goal late before an empty-net tally put it away.
Anaheim Ducks prospect Trevor Zegras has sparked the USA and is tied for the scoring lead in the World Junior Championship with 10 points in three games. He’ll need to keep producing against the Swedes. Zegras isn’t alone as the US is getting balanced scoring and players like Matthew Boldy and Bobby Brink have had big offensive performances.
With Knight’s struggles against Russia, there was a bit of a goalie controversy that crept into the USA camp. Wolf started the following game against Austria and made 10 saves to earn a shutout. Knight was back in net the next night against the Czech Republic and he didn’t allow a score.
Spencer Knight is one of the top US goalie prospects ever (Photo courtesy of USA Hockey.)
Who will head coach Nate Leaman give the crease to Thursday?
Team Sweden Perspective
The win streak is over. It was heart breaking, losing in overtime with under six seconds on the clock. They won’t have time to mourn and can still win Group B. It’s simple, they just need to beat the US.
Sweden can score with the best of them and gets a lot of offense going from the blue line. Edmonton Oilers 2019 first-rounder Philip Broberg is having a strong tournament as is Arizona Coyotes prospect Victor Soderstrom.
Up front they are led by Lucas Raymond, a Detroit Red Wings first-round pick, who has been big during the preliminary games.
Like the USA, Sweden has options in goal and can argue they have one of the best tandems at the World Juniors.
Hugo Alnefelt is the older, more experienced goalie and played the first two games for Sweden. Against Russia, they gave the start to 2021 NHL Draft prospect Jesper Wallstedt. The younger of the two, Wallstedt, played well against the Russians but allowed four goals.
Was that enough to earn him a start against the Americans?
The USA – Sweden Matchup to Win the World Junior Championship Group B
Special teams are always Important in big games and will be a factor on Thursday.
The Swedes’ power play let them down against Russia, but they have been one of the better units so far. The USA comes in with the top penalty kill at the World Junior Championship. Whoever wins that battle will come out on top.
Both teams can score, but the US has a bit more firepower and skill up front than the Swedes do. Sweden’s defense is strong, though, so that will be another great strength-against-strength matchup to watch.
Sweden is coming off a tough loss to Russia that snapped their epic win streak. The USA club was off Wednesday and is more rested. In a short tournament, that could be the tipping point that will put the US over the top in this matchup.
It’s been a terrible year. Come say goodbye to it with the good fellows at Sound Of Hockey, who have been here with you through it all.
On this week’s Sound Of Hockey, the last of this atrocious year, John, Andy, and Darren chat about some real, actual hockey, as the World Junior Championship is in full swing, and it’s been super fun.
They also play a game of “Interesting Or Carry On” to review a flurry of recent NHL transactions, as general managers awake from hibernation and close out some last-minute business before training camps start.
Segments this week include Goalie Gear Corner (featuring this and this), Weekly One-Timers, and Tweets of the Week. Before leaving you for the last time in 2020, the guys share with you each of their favorite guests of the year.
It’s been a terrible year. Come say goodbye to it with the good fellows at Sound Of Hockey, who have been here with you through it all.
On this week’s Sound Of Hockey, the last of this atrocious year, John, Andy, and Darren chat about some real, actual hockey, as the World Junior Championship is in full swing, and it’s been super fun.
They also play a game of “Interesting Or Carry On” to review a flurry of recent NHL transactions, as general managers awake from hibernation and close out some last-minute business before training camps start.
Segments this week include Goalie Gear Corner (featuring this and this), Weekly One-Timers, and Tweets of the Week. Before leaving you for the last time in 2020, the guys share with you each of their favorite guests of the year.
The Blackhawks are probably not going to be particularly good this season. A team already in full re-build mode, Chicago has been dealt a series of maladies that will leave it without its captain, Jonathan Toews, and without two of its up-and-coming young players, Kirby Dach and Alexander Nylander, for the foreseeable future. But how does all this affect the plan for the Chicago Blackhawks in the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft?
Well, it doesn’t. Nylander will return in time for the Expansion Draft and will be protected, Dach is exempt, and Toews has a no-movement clause. As far as Expansion is concerned, there’s no impact, but as far as the Blackhawks are concerned, this could be a tough season.
Chicago did surprisingly make it into the postseason bubble in 2019-2020. In fact, it even got through the best-of-five qualifying round with a 3-1 series win over the Oilers before being quickly dispatched by the Golden Knights in the first round of the real playoffs.
Notably, the Blackhawks—despite their core group of remaining veterans from the Stanley Cup teams of yore—were the youngest team to make it into the bubble. So, there’s some hope for the future.
But with the recent news that Toews is dealing with a mysterious medical issue and with the departure of Corey Crawford, there’s just no way that this team contends for at least a couple of years, barring some miraculous signings and trades.
While there may be some real talent to select from Chicago, there are no obvious cornerstone pieces that will be available. So, here’s hoping the Kraken can uncover a diamond in the youthful rough.
Assumptions
The big question is whether or not Brent Seabrook—who will almost certainly be asked to waive his no-movement clause—will actually waive his no-movement clause. If he were to agree to waive it, being that the Kraken wouldn’t touch his contract with a 10-foot hockey stick, it would allow Chicago to protect an extra player.
We will assume for the sake of this exercise that Seabrook will not waive his no-movement clause, and he will have to be protected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the Expansion Draft.
Chicago Blackhawks Protected List for Expansion Draft
Forwards
Patrick Kane (Lock, NMC)
Jonathan Toews (Lock, NMC)
Alex DeBrincat (Lock)
Dylan Strome
Alex Nylander
David Kampf
Lucas Wallmark
The thing about the Blackhawks forward group is that there isn’t a super obvious way to decide on which guys to choose in the last couple of protection slots. General manager Stan Bowman could go in a variety of directions, including exposing Kampf—who only had eight goals and eight assists last season but played all 70 games—in favor of, say, Brandon Hagel. Hagel has only played one career NHL game, but is still only 22 years old and posted 19 goals and 12 assists in 59 games with the Rockford IceHogs.
Defensemen
Duncan Keith (Lock, NMC)
Brent Seabrook (Lock, NMC – unless he agrees to waive his NMC to help the team)
Nikita Zadorov
As we mentioned in the assumptions, there is a chance Bowman will be able to get Seabrook to waive his NMC, in which case the ’Hawks would be able to protect either Connor Murphy or Lucas Carlsson.
Goalie
Collin Delia
The Blackhawks also have Malcolm Subban and Kevin Lankinen, but unless one of the three netminders emerges in mythical fashion this season, then move along, as there’s nothing to see here.
Chicago Blackhawks Targets for Expansion Draft
Forwards
Hagel is intriguing, just because of his age and the fact that he’s been a productive AHL player on the verge of becoming a regular NHLer. There is definitely a chance that he will be protected by Chicago, though, so his consideration for the Kraken could end up moot. If Hagel is protected and Kampf is exposed, then Kampf would be worth at least considering.
Defensemen
The play for Seattle is likely on the blue line. Connor Murphy, 27, has proven himself a reliable NHL defenseman. He doesn’t score many goals, but he does chip in anywhere from 15 to 20 points per season.
Another option could be Lucas Carlsson, a 23-year-old blue liner who has yet to solidify an NHL role. The Swedish defenseman played six games for the Blackhawks last season, but has put up good numbers with AHL Rockford over the past two seasons, and is certainly knocking on the door of the highest level.
Side Deal Scenarios
There’s no question that Bowman would love to get out of Seabrook’s contract, but it runs until 2024 at a cap hit of $6.875 million annually with a no-movement clause. We just can’t come up with a scenario in which Chicago is able to sweeten the pot enough to make Seattle Kraken GM Ron Francis take that on.
The Chicago Blackhawks are poised to lose just one replaceable player in the Seattle Expansion Draft and will have more cap space after this season. So, side deals seem less likely here than with contending teams.
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’s been a weird year, no doubt. Amidst everything else that has happened in 2020, hockey has played out in a very strange way. After shutting down in March, the National Hockey League completed its playoffs in a late-summer bubble. That late-summer timeframe is usually when NHL general managers go into their annual hibernation, and hockey news – trades, signings, and the like – becomes non-existent.
But with everything being thrown off the usual cycle by the pandemic, this year’s hibernation period came much later than normal. The lull that we typically see in August instead came in November and early December.
That’s over now. The GM’s are awake. NHL hockey is back on the horizon, and the lingering business is now being executed.
Here are some highlights from a recent flurry of activity around the NHL, as teams prep for the opening of training camps this week.
Unfinished Business
A hockey-related side effect of the pandemic is a decrease in money coming in for the league. After all, no fans means no gate revenue, and the NHL – which averages north of $1.3 million per game in ticket sales – certainly relies on this stream.
Everyone expected the league’s salary cap to go up this offseason, but the revenue losses instead led to a flat cap at $81.5 million for the upcoming 2020-21 campaign. The flat cap meant that general managers who were already feeling the pinch now were in even more of a bind, and in some cases desperately needed to shed salary prior to the opening of the season in January.
The pinch on teams across the league also left a pool of respected NHL veterans without jobs, including the likes of Mike Hoffman, Mikael Granlund, Anthony Duclair, and many others.
Trades
The salary cap dominos have started to fall. Of the teams that were cap-strapped, the situation for the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning seemed the most dubious.
News broke just before the Christmas holiday that former Hart Trophy winner, Nikita Kucherov, would go onto LTIR after undergoing hip surgery, and is expected to miss the entire regular season. That’s certainly not how Lightning fans hoped the team would achieve cap compliance, but the announcement was quickly followed by the re-signing of restricted free agent center, Anthony Cirelli. So, the team was obviously getting closer.
Then, GM Julien BriseBois performed some more voodoo accounting, dumping Braydon Coburn, Cedric Paquette, and a 2022 second-round pick to the Senators for the contracts of Marian Gaborik and Anders Nilsson, both of whom will be placed on LTIR and will not play this season. It’s shifty work by BriseBois, but the moves make his team cap compliant, at least to start the season.
The Senators were also involved in a trade that brought in Derek Stepan from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a second-round pick. Ottawa… is… a team.
Signings
The most fascinating “signing” (wink wink, nudge nudge) of the past few weeks is definitely Hoffman heading to St. Louis, at least for training camp. He has agreed to a professional tryout deal, which technically means that any team can still sign him. The hockey Twittersphere seems to be assuming that he will ultimately play for the Blues this season, though, despite the fact that he is currently not under an actual contract.
Hoffman will be in Blues camp and the plan is he’ll sign a 1-yr deal = $3.5-4.5m.
“I’m extremely thrilled to have the opportunity to possibly become a member of the St. Louis Blues. I’ve heard nothing but pleasant things about this team and organization.” https://t.co/3ry3v2Em4o
The expectation is that Vladimir Tarasenko – who underwent yet another shoulder surgery and is expected to be re-evaluated in February – and Alex Steen – who has retired citing back injuries – will be placed on long-term injured reserve. The team will wait to make these moves, however, until just before the season to maximize the amount of cap savings that they will receive for the LTIR designations. It’s at that point that it will have enough space to sign Hoffman.
Fascinating that we already seem to know how much Hoffman’s contract will be worth, even though he hasn’t technically been offered anything yet, isn’t it?
Hoffman has never been known for his defensive prowess, but he definitely packs an offensive punch. The 6-foot-0 forward has never scored fewer than 22 goals in a full season and has notched 65 goals and 129 points over the last two years with Florida. Assuming he actually spends the season with the Blues (sounds like he will), Hoffman will prove to be a pretty great eleventh-hour replacement for Tarasenko.
Nashville brought back Granlund on a one-year deal worth $3.75 million, and also signed his old Minnesota Wild teammate, Erik Haula, for $1.75 million. After his deadline acquisition by the Predators two seasons ago, Granlund was horrendous down the stretch. He did bounce back a bit in 2019-20, though, with 17 goals and 13 assists. He’s better than his stat lines the past couple years, so $3.75 million could work out to be a bargain.
Other Recent Signings:
Anthony Duclair to the Panthers for one year at $1.7 million
Andreas Athanasiou to the Kings for one year at $1.2 million
Corey Perry to the Canadiens for one year at $750,000
Editor’s note: This is exactly what the North Division needs—Perry running around poking guys in the nether regions.
Carl Soderberg to the Blackhawks for one year at $1 million
Ryan Miller back to the Ducks for one year at $1 million
Craig Anderson to the Capitals on a professional tryout
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.
The Montreal Canadiens face some tough decisions on who to expose in the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft.
The Habs have been stuck in a lull lately having missed the playoffs three out of the four seasons prior to the 2019-20 campaign. They benefited from the expanded structure of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the last team added to the 24-team field. They (sort of) took advantage of the opportunity by knocking off the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Qualifying Round before being eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers in the First Round.
After their eventual playoff exit, the Canadiens may have still looked a few years away from pushing their chips into the center of the table for a chance to compete for a Stanley Cup. However, based on his offseason roster moves, it appears general manager Marc Bergevin has a different opinion.
The Canadiens had one of the most active offseasons out of any team in the league and added significant contributors to each position.
Even before the Stanley Cup had been raised, they had already traded a third- and seventh-round draft pick to the St. Louis Blues for goalie Jake Allen. A week or two later Montreal sent a fifth-round pick to Carolina for the rights to defenseman Joel Edmundson and signed him to a four-year deal.
Then, right before the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Montreal traded point-producing center Max Domi to the Columbus Blue Jackets for talented winger Josh Anderson and promptly signed Anderson to a seven-year deal.
As if that was not enough, the Habs signed highly coveted unrestricted free agent forward Tyler Toffoli to a four-year deal.
These moves indicate that the Canadiens believe they are ready to compete. With the Expansion Draft looming, they will need to be smart to not let any of their key assets go to the Kraken.
Assumptions
The Canadiens have three significant players that are currently slated to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the 2020-21 season. Tomas Tatar (22G), Joel Armia (16G), and Phillip Danault (13G) together accounted for close to 25% of the Canadiens’ goals during the 2019-20 regular season and all will be in the last year of their respective contracts.
You can imagine that Bergevin signs at least two of them to extensions before the end of the season. A case can be made for any different combination of the three, but for now we are going to assume that two of them re-sign, specifically Tatar and Armia, while Danault hits free agency.
Our only logic for this assumption is that the Canadiens have more up-and-coming depth at center. Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi are clearly the centers of the future, if not the present. Letting Danault walk for free agency will provide the space for the younger generation, both in playing time and salary.
Protected List
There is a scenario where Montreal could go with the less common eight total skaters and one goalie selection as opposed to the 7F-3D-1G option, but we project the 7-3-1.
Forwards
Brendan Gallagher (Lock-NMC)
Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Lock)
Tyler Toffoli (Almost Lock)
Josh Anderson (Almost Lock)
Artturi Lehkonen
Tomas Tatar
Joel Armia
Again, this assumes Tatar and Armia sign extensions before the Expansion Draft. If only one re-signs, you can add Jonathan Drouin to the list of protected forwards.
Defense
Jeff Petry
Joel Edmundson
Ben Chiarot
Astute hockey fans will realize there is one significant name not on this list of protected players: Shea Weber.
Weber tied for fourth in goals scored by defensemen during the 2019-2020 NHL regular season. Weber is an elite NHL defenseman, but he will be 36 years old by the time the Seattle Kraken take the ice and will have four more seasons left on his $7.8M/year deal. Inevitably, his value will erode and Montreal could take the chance that Ron Francis disregards Weber in an attempt to build a team for the future.
Goalie
Carey Price (Lock-NMC)
We know this will disappoint Tri-City American fans, but Carey Price has a full no-movement clause and must be protected per the rules of the Expansion Draft.
Top Montreal Canadiens Expansion Draft Candidates
Forwards
Jonathan Drouin
Phillip Danault
Defense
Shea Weber
Victor Mete
Cale Fleury
Goalie
Jake Allen
If the Montreal Canadiens protected list for the Expansion Draft plays out this way exactly, then Seattle will have options at all positions. The first step might be to see if a deal can be reached for Danault during the 48-hour period when Seattle is allowed to talk to free agents exclusively.
If Danault is not interested in signing with Seattle, there are still plenty of other options. A case can be made for all the players listed above, including Allen, who could be targeted as a starter in Seattle or part of a 1a/1b combo, depending on who else is available.
Fleury and Mete could provide younger options at defense should the Kraken want a more youthful look on the blue line.
Side Deal Scenarios
The Canadiens signaled that they are trying to take a major step toward being a contender for a Stanley Cup run in the next few years. If this step works, the organization may want to keep the core intact and not lose a significant piece of their team to Seattle in the Expansion Draft.
There will be some good assets available from the Montreal Canadiens for Seattle in the Expansion Draft. Montreal might want to steer the Kraken’s selection in a certain direction by adding a prospect or draft pick to avoid losing specific assets.
