With the St. Louis Blues edging the Boston Bruins in seven games on June 12th the 2018/19 NHL season went the distance. The Blues hoisted the cup for the first time since 1967/68 when they entered the league as they rode the hot hand of center Ryan O’Reilly and the goaltending of Jordan Binnington. O’Reilly netted eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points in the playoffs to tie Brad Marchand of the Bruins for the scoring lead.
O’Reilly also took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the postseason for his efforts and put together a six-game streak in the series against Boston with five goals and four assists, including goals in four straight games. As for Binnington, the 25-year-old rookie who was called up mid-season from the minors, set a new NHL record for first-year goaltenders by winning 16 games in a playoff season. He’s could also win the Calder Trophy this year as the league’s rookie of the year as he’s one of three finalists for the award.
And speaking of the annual NHL Awards, they are next up on the league’s agenda as they take place in Las Vegas, Nevada this Thursday, June 20th. In fact, even though the on-ice action has come to a conclusion, the NHL is entering one of the busiest times of the year. The NHL Draft will be held on Friday, June 21st to Saturday, June 22nd at Rogers Arena in Vancouver with the New Jersey Devils selecting first overall. Shortly after that, the league’s free agency market opens and this is often a frenzied time of the calendar with numerous players switching uniforms for enormous amounts of money.
Unrestricted free agents have the power to sign with whoever they choose while restricted free agents are open game for offer sheets from pother teams with their own club having the right to match.
Offer sheets are quite rare in the NHL these days, but that could change this year with restricted free agents such as Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning being possible targets for competing teams. And with the draft and free agency heading our way shortly fans should expect to see several trades made over the summer.
General managers typically fine tune their squads during the offseason to prepare themselves for the next gruelling campaign. The Los Angeles Kings have wasted no time in trying to rebuild as GM Rob Blake got the ball rolling just after the season ended by buying out the contract of 34-year-old veteran defenceman Dion Phaneuf. Blake triggered the Kings’ option and bought out the remaining two years of the blue liner’s deal which was a mammoth contract worth $49 million over seven years.
Phaneuf signed the deal while a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but has been traded to the Ottawa Senators and the Kings since then. Los Angeles acquired him in February of 2018 and he played 93 regular-season games with the club. However, he managed to post just 16 points on the west coast and occasionally found himself watching his teammates from the press box as a healthy scratch. The Kings finished in eighth place in the Pacific Division this season with the league’s worst record and Blake is trying to turn his side into a playoff contender as quickly as possible.