Category: Ian Palmer

NHL’s top 2016/17 rookies recognized by league

There’s been so much activity in the NHL over the past few weeks that it may have been easy to miss some of the more important announcements. The league handed out its annual awards in Las Vegas recently and also announced the 2016/17 All-Rookie Team. The rookie team included all three players who were finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy this year as Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Zach Werenski made the team along with centre Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets winger Patrik Laine.
Matthews’ Toronto teammate Mitch Marner also made the squad along with New York Rangers defenceman Brady Skjei and Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray. Voting for the All-Rookie Team and the annual awards was done by the PHWA (Professional Hockey Writers Association) when the regular season concluded.
Goaltender Matt Murray has already won two Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh, but this was his official rookie season. He posted a 32-10-4 record this year with a 92.3 save percentage and 2.41 goals-against average. He also recorded four shutouts in his 49 games. He’s the first rookie goalie to win 30 games since 2010/11 when Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks achieved it. The 23-year-old Murray’s 32 wins were also a rookie record for the Penguins franchise.
Brady Skjei of the Rangers is probably the least-known member of the rookie squad. He was chosen with the 28thselection in the 2012 draft and the 23-year-old ranked second in scoring for rookie defenceman this season. He scored five goals and 34 assists in 80 games and was a plus-11. Skjei became the top-scoring Rangers rookie blueliner since Brian Leetch had 71 points in 1988/89.
Zach Werenski was the league’s top rookie defenceman this season as he scored 11 goals and 36 assists for 47 points in Columbus. He played 78 games and was also the best rookie blueliner when it came to plus/minus as he was a plus-17. The 19-year-old was drafted eighth overall in 2015 and he’s now ranked sixth overall for points by a teenaged rookie defender in NHL history. He also set new franchise records for rookie points and assists in Columbus and his 47 points is ranked second ever for points by a blue Jackets defenceman.
Winger Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets was chosen second overall in the 2016 draft and he was ranked second in rookie scoring last season with 36 goals and 28 assists for points in his 73 outings. His goals and points totals were rookie records for the Jets franchise. Laine led all rookies with a 17.6 shooting percentage and tied for power play goals with nine. He was top-10 in the league when it came to game-winning goals, shots on goal, and power-play assists and points. He also became the first player in league history to score three hat-tricks before turning 19 years old.
Mitch Marner was drafted fourth overall by Toronto in 2015 and the 20-year-old led all first-year players in assists with 42. He also had 19 goals for 61 points in 77 contests. Marner was top-10 in rookie power play assists, goals and points as well as goals, game-winning goals, points and shots on goal. He set a new Maple Leafs franchise record for assists by a rookie and with fellow first-year players William Nylander and Auston Matthews; Toronto became the second NHL team ever to have three rookies with at least 60 points in the same campaign.

Auston Matthews won the Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year and was the first overall pick in the 2016 draft by Toronto. He finished the season with 40 goals and 29 assists for 69 points in 82 games. He led all rookies in goals and points and his 40 goals ranked tied for second in league scoring. Matthews set a new franchise record for rookie goals and points and became the first NHL player in the modern era to score four times in his first league game. The 19-year-old led all rookies in game-winning goals with eight and shots on goal with 279. Matthews was top-10 for rookie power-play goals, assists and points as well as overall shooting percentage, and assists.

Most NHL free agents already snapped up

It didn’t take long for NHL teams to get into the free agent frenzy as numerous teams started tinkering with and fine tuning their rosters on July 1st. There were some big-name-players available as well as some lesser-known’s as well as seasoned veterans and relatively inexperienced players. Some were signed for the league’s minimum annual salary and others inked multi-year multimillion dollar deals.
In case you missed anything, we’ll recap all the major 2017 unrestricted free agent signings up until lunchtime on July 3rd.
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks signed goaltender Ryan Miller from Vancouver to a two-year deal. They also made some minor moves by inking Steve Oleksy, Mike Liambas, Derek Grant and Scott Sabourin.
Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes signed defenceman Adam Clendening from the New York Rangers for a year while forward Nick Cousins signed for two years from Philadelphia.
Boston Bruins
The Bruins inked Kenny Agostino, Paul Postma and Jordan Szwarz to one-year deals.
Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres signed forward Benoit Pouliot from Edmonton, forward Seth Griffith from Toronto and goaltender Chad Johnson from Arizona to one-year contracts while Defenceman Matt Tennyson left Carolina and signed for two years.
Calgary Flames
Calgary signed forwards Marek Hrivik from the New York Rangers and Luke Gazdic from New Jersey to one-year contracts.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes inked forward Justin Williams from Washington to a two-year deal. They also agreed to terms with forward Josh Jooris and defencemen Brenden Kitchon and Dennis Robertson.
Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks re-signed forward Patrick Sharp from Dallas for a year and added forward Tommy Wingels from Ottawa for a season. In addition, the team came to terms with goaltender J-F Berube from Vegas and forward Lance Bouma.
Colorado Avalanche
Colorado signed goaltender Jonathan Bernier from Anaheim to a one-year contract and also signed Andrew Agozzino, Joe Cannata and David Warsofsky.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus signed defenseman Cameron Gaunce from Pittsburgh to a two-year deal and defenceman Andre Benoit for one year.
Dallas Stars
The Stars acquired forward Martin Hanzal from Minnesota for three years and re-signed defenceman Patrick Nemeth.
Detroit Red Wings
The Wings signed defenceman Trevor Daley from Pittsburgh to a three-year deal.
Florida Panthers
The Panthers inked forward Evgeny Dadonov from Russia and signed forward Radim Vrbata from Arizona to a one-year contract and forward Micheal Haley from San Jose to a two-year deal.
Los Angeles Kings
The Kings signed forward Michael Cammalleri from New Jersey to a one-year contract while defenceman Christian Folin from Minnesota agreed to a one-year deal and goaltender Darcy Kuemper from Minnesota agreed to a one-year deal.
Minnesota Wild
The Wild signed goaltender Niklas Svedberg from Sweden and defenseman Kyle Quincey from Columbus to year-long contracts. Forward Kyle Rau inked a one-year deal while forwards Cal O’Reilly and Landon Ferraro were signed for two years.
Montreal Canadiens
The Habs signed defenseman Karl Alzner from Washington for five-years and centre Peter Holland from Arizona for two years. They also inked forward Byron Froese and defenceman Matt Taormina to two-year deals.
Nashville Predators
Nashville signed forward Nick Bonino from Pittsburgh to a four-year contract and forward Scott Hartnell from Columbus for a year. They also signed goaltenders Anders Lindback and Matt O’Connor to one-year deals as well as forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie.
New Jersey Devils
The Devils signed forward Brian Boyle from Toronto to a two-year deal.
New York Rangers
The Rangers signed defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk from Washington for four years and signed goaltender Ondrej Pavelec from Winnipeg for a season.
Ottawa Senators
Ottawa signed forward Nate Thompson from Anaheim to a two-year deal.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers agreed to terms with goaltender Brian Elliott from Calgary on a two-year contract and signed forwards Mike Vecchione, Phil Varone and Corban Knight to two-year contracts.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Stanley Cup champs signed goaltender Antti Niemi from the Rangers and added defenceman Matt Hunwick from Toronto for three seasons. Defenceman Justin Schultz also re-signed for three years.
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks re-signed forward Joe Thornton for one more year.
St. Louis Blues
The Blues inked forwards Chris Thorburn, Beau Bennett and Oskar Sundqvist to one-year deals.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa signed defenseman Dan Girardi from the Rangers to a two-year contract after New York bought him out. They also signed goaltender Michael Leighton from Carolina and forwards Chris Kunitz from Pittsburgh and Alex Gallant to one-year contracts. Defenceman Mat Bodie and Jamie McBain also inked year-long deals.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs re-signed goaltenders Curtis McElhinney and Garret Sparks to two-year deals. They also signed defenseman Ron Hainsey from Pittsburgh for two years as well as forward Dominic Moore from Boston for one year and forward Patrick Marleau from San Jose for three years. They also inked forwards Colin Greening, Vincent LoVerde and Chris Mueller.
Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver signed defenceman Michael Del Zotto from Philadelphia while forward Sam Gagner from Columbus inked a three-year contract. Goaltender Anders Nilsson signs from Buffalo for two years and forward Alex Burmistrov signed from Arizona for a year along with defenceman Patrick Wierioch from Colorado. Forward Anton Rodin was also re-signed for a year.
Washington Capitals
Washington re-signed forwards Brett Connolly and Evgeny Kuznetsov. They also inked forward John Albert for a year.

Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg signed goaltender Steve Mason from Philadelphia to a two-year contract while forwards Michael Sgarbossa and Buddy Robinson signed for one year and defenceman Dmitry Kulikov signed from Buffalo for three years. In addition, defenseman Cameron Schilling inked a one-year, two-way deal.

Recapping the first round of the NHL Entry Draft

It was an extremely busy week for the NHL as the league released the 1,271-game 2017/18 schedule, announced its annual award winners and held both the Expansion and Entry Drafts. We’ll recap everything but the schedule over the next few weeks just in case you missed any of the action. The seven-round amateur Entry Draft was held in Chicago on June 23-24 and we take a look at the first round below along with the players’ regular-season stats from 2016/17.
2017 NHL Entry Draft
1. The New Jersey Devils selected centre Nico Hischier of Switzerland with the first overall pick. He played with Halifax in the QMJHL last season with 38 goals and 48 assists in 57 games. Hischier becomes the highest-drafted Swiss player ever.
2. Philadelphia Flyers took centre Nolan Patrick of Brandon in the WHL. He scored 20 goals and 26 assists in 33 games in 2016/17 and has 205 points in 163 career junior contests. He also racked up 30 points in 21 playoff games last year and was the WHL’s playoff MVP.
3. The Dallas Stars took Finnish defenceman Miro Heiskanen of HIFK and he scored five goals and five assists last season in 37 games.
4. Colorado Avalanche drafted defenceman Cale Makar from Brooks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) after he was named the best defenceman in Canadian Junior Hockey and the AJHL last season. Makar scored 35 goals and 100 assists in a total of 111 games last campaign.
5. The Vancouver Canucks selected Swedish centre Elias Pettersson from Timra of the nation’s second division after he scored 19 goals and 22 assists in 43 games last season.
6. The Vegas Golden Knights chose centre Cody Glass from Portland of the WHL after scoring 32 goals and 62 assists in 69 contests.
7. The New York Rangers added Swedish centre/winger Lias Andersson, from HV71 after scoring nine goals and 10 assists in 42 outings last season. The Rangers traded forward Derek Stepan and goaltender Antti Raanta to the Arizona Coyotes for the draft pick and defenceman Anthony DeAngelo.
8. The Buffalo Sabres took American centre Casey Mittelstadt from the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL after he racked up 21 goals and 43 assists in 25 games and was named All-USA Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.
9. Detroit Red Wings selected centre Michael Rasmussen from Tri-City of the WHL after playing 50 games last season and scoring 32 goals and 23 assists.
10. The Florida Panthers chose right-winger Owen Tippett from Mississauga of the OHL after scoring 44 goals and 31 assists in 60 games last year.
11. The Los Angeles Kings took centre Gabriel Vilardi from Windsor of the OHL after he contributed 29 goals and 32 assists in 49 contests last year.
12. Carolina Hurricanes chose centre Martin Necas from Brno of the Czech Republic after playing 41 games last year with seven goals and eight assists.
13. The Vegas Golden Knights took centre Nick Suzuki from Owen Sound of the OHL after scoring 45 goals and 51 assists in 2016/17.
14. Tampa Bay Lightning chose defenceman Callan Foote from Kelowna of the WHL after scoring six goals and 51 assists in 71 outings last season. He’s the son of former NHL star Adam Foote.
15. The Vegas Golden Knights selected Swedish defenceman Erik Brannstrom from HV71 after he tallied a goal and five assists in 35 contests last year.
16. The Calgary Flames drafted Finnish defenceman Juuso Valimaki from Tri-City of the WHL after he scored 19 goals and 42 assists in 60 games.
17. The Toronto Maple Leafs chose Swedish defenceman Timothy Liljegren from Rogle after scoring a goal and four assists in 19 games last year.
18. The Boston Bruins took defender Urho Vaakanainen from JYP in Finland after he posted a pair of goals and four assists in 2016/17.
19. The San Jose Sharks picked up centre Joshua Norris from the USA Under-18 team after he scored 23 goals and 28 assists in 52 contests last season.
20. St. Louis Blues took centre Robert Thomas from London of the OHL after he scored 16 times and added 50 assists in 66 games last year.
21. The New York Rangers added centre Filip Chytil from Zlin of the Czech Republic after scoring four goals and four assists in 38 outings last campaign.
22. The Edmonton Oilers chose right-winger Kailer Yamamoto from Spokane of the WHL after he scored 42 goals and 57 assists in 65 games last season. The 5-foot-7-inch Yamamoto has scored 227 points in his 190 WHL games.
23. The Arizona Coyotes selected defenceman Pierre-Olivier Joseph from Charlottetown of the QMJHL after he played 62 times last season and scored six goals and 33 assists.
24. Winnipeg Jets took winger Kristian Vesalainen from Frolunda in Sweden after he tallied a goal and five assists in 26 contests last year.
25. The Montreal Canadiens drafted college centre Ryan Poehling from St. Cloud State of the NCHC after he posted seven goals and six assists in 35 games as the youngest player in the NCAA.
26. The Dallas Stars took goaltender Jake Oettinger from Boston University. He posted a save percentage of 92.7 last season along with a 2.11 goals-against average and a record of 21-10-3 in 35 games. He was the second-youngest NCAA player last season.
27. The Philadelphia Flyers selected centre Morgan Frost from Sault Ste. Marie of the OHL after he chipped in with 20 goals and 42 assists in 67 outings last year. The Flyers traded forward Brayden Schenn to St. Louis for this draft pick.
28. Ottawa Senators added centre Shane Bowers from Waterloo of the USHL after he scored 22 goals and 29 assists in 60 contests.
29. The Chicago Blackhawks chose Finnish defenceman Henri Jokiharju from Portland of the WHL after scoring nine goals and 39 assists in 71 games last season.
30. The Nashville Predators selected Finnish right-winger Eeli Tolvanen from Sioux City of the USHL after he scored 30 goals and 24 assists in 52 games.

31. The St. Louis Blues finished the first round by taking Russian forward Klim Kostin from Dynamo Moscow of the KHL. Kostin played just 18 games last season due to shoulder surgery. The Blues traded Ryan Reaves to Pittsburgh for the draft pick.

Several NHL teams make moves before expansion draft

There were several NHL transactions before the league’s trade-freeze came into effect just before the expansion draft is announced on June 21st. The biggest deal took place on June 15th when the Tampa Bay Lightning traded forward Jonathan Drouin and a sixth-round draft pick in 2018 to the Montreal Canadiens for defensive prospect Mikhail Sergachev and a second-round pick in the 2018 entry draft. The 22-year-old Drouin was then promptly signed to a six-year contract worth $33 million by the Habs.
Drouin, who was drafted third overall by Tampa in 2013, was scheduled to become a free agent on July 1stwhile the 18-year-old Sergachev was taken ninth overall by Montreal in 2016. Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman said the teams will only swap the draft picks if Sergachev plays fewer than 40 regular and postseason games with Tampa next season. Tampa decided to trade Drouin rather than risk losing him for nothing to the Vegas Golden Knights in the upcoming expansion draft. Sergachev doesn’t need to be protected in the draft since he’s signed to an entry-level contract.
Sergachev is a big offensive defenceman at 6-feet-3-inches tall and posted 10 goals and 43 points in 50 games for the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) this season. He also helped the team win this year’s Memorial Cup. Drouin, who can play both wing and centre, chipped in with 21 goals and 53 points for Tampa in 2016/17 and gives Montreal some insurance in case free agent forward Alexander Radulov signs elsewhere this summer.
Montreal made another move just two days later when they dealt defenceman Nathan Beaulieu to the Buffalo Sabres for a third-round pick in this summer’s entry draft, which will be the 68th selection overall. The 24-year-old Beaulieu was drafted 17th overall by Montreal in 2011 and was also scheduled to become a free agent on July 1st. The 6-foot-2-inch defenceman played 74 games with the Habs in 2016/17 and posted four goals and 28 points and added an assist in five playoff contests.
The Arizona Coyotes also made a move by trading veteran goaltender Mike Smith to the Calgary Flames for goaltender Chad Johnson, defensive prospect Brandon Hickey, and a third-round draft pick. Johnson is scheduled to become a free agent on July 1st as is Calgary’s other goaltender Brian Elliot. The 35-year-old Smith played 55 games with Arizona last season with a record of 19-26-9 with a save percentage of 91.4 and a goals-against average of 2.92.
Smith still has two years left on his current contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $5.67 million.  Johnson went 18-15-1 in 2016/17 with a 91.0 save percentage and a 2.59 goals-against average in 38 games. Elliot played 49 games with the Flames with a 26-18-3 mark along with a 91.0 save percentage and a 2.55 goals-against average. This move gives Calgary some goaltending insurance in case Elliot decides to leave town and sign with somebody else this summer.
Another move saw the New Jersey Devils make a trade with the San Jose Sharks as they picked up defenceman Mirco Mueller along with a fifth-round draft pick (143rd) this summer for a second (49th) and fourth-round (123rd) pick in June. The 22-year-old Mueller was chosen 18thoverall by San Jose in 2013 and has spent his time since then between the AHL and NHL. He played just four games with the Sharks last season with a goal and assist to his name.
In addition, the Washington Capitals sent a fifth-round draft pick in 2018 to the Minnesota Wild for centre Tyler Graovac. The 24-year-old Graovac, who stands 6-feet-5-inches tall, scored seven goals and nine points in 57 career outings with the Wild. He was drafted 191stoverall in the seventh round in the 2011 entry draft. Graovac also has 102 points in 202 career games in the AHL with Iowa on 49 goals and 53 assists.

There has also been a couple of coaching announcements since the Penguins hoisted the Stanley Cup. The Buffalo Sabres appointed Hall of Fame defenceman Phil Housley as their new head coach on June 15th. Housley spent the past four seasons with the Nashville Predators as an assistant coach and replaces Dan Bylsma behind the bench in Buffalo. Also, on June 12th, the Florida Panthers announced Bob Boughner as their new bench boss. Boughner is a former assistant coach with San Jose and he replaces Tom Rowe. 

Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy stay in Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Penguins won their second straight Stanley Cup and captain Sidney Crosby won his second consecutive Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP with a 2-0 win over the Predators in Nashville on June 11th. Pittsburgh scored twice in the last 95 seconds to clinch the best-of-seven series in six games. It’s the franchise’s fifth NHL championship with all of five of their Stanley Cup-winning games coming on the road. The team is the first to win back-to-back Cups since the Detroit Red Wings achieved the feat in 1997 and 1998, but the Penguins are the first to do it in the salary cap era.
As for Crosby, he led Pittsburgh in scoring in the final series with a goal and six assists and came in second in playoff scoring to teammate Evgeni Malkin with 27 points on eight goals and 19 assists in 25 games. Malkin finished the postseason with 28 points. Crosby is just the third player to win the Conn Smythe in two consecutive seasons since the award originated back in the 1964/65 campaign. Former Penguins’ great Mario Lemieux won it in 1990/91 and 1991/92 and former Philadelphia Flyers’ goalie Bernie Parent took the trophy home in 1973/74 and 1974/75.
Crosby also won the Rocket Richard Trophy for leading the league in goals this season and is finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy and this is his third Stanley Cup win overall. Former Predator Patric Hornqvist, who was drafted with the very last pick in 2005 when Crosby went first overall, scored the eventual game-winner with just 1:35 left on the clock while Matt Murray saved 27 shots for his second consecutive shutout in the series. Carl Hagelin then scored into an empty net with just 13.6 seconds to go after Nashville had pulled goaltender Pekka Rinne for an extra attacker.
Pittsburgh’s five Stanley Cups is now fifth on the all-time list for NHL championships, which brings the club level with the Edmonton Oilers. The loss in game six was just the first regulation time defeat for the Predators in the 2016/17 postseason. They thought they had opened the scoring early in the second period when Colton Sissons knocked a loose puck over the goal line. Referee Kevin Pollock blew the call though by whistling the play dead after apparently losing sight of the puck. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan also enters the record book as he becomes the first American coach to win a pair of Stanley Cups.
However, while Sullivan’s feat may very well be equaled in the future it’s going to be difficult to top goaltender Matt Murray’s achievement. Murray is the first goalie in history to win the Stanley Cup twice while still a rookie. He was called up late last season and didn’t appear in more than 25 games to lose his rookie status this season. The 23-year-old Murray also shut the Predators out over the last 126 minutes and 52 seconds of the final series and set a rookie mark in the finals with a pair of shutouts in the six-game series.
Nashville was enjoying its first Stanley Cup final as this is the furthest the franchise has advanced in the postseason in its 19-year history. The team entered the 2016/17 playoffs with just three postseason series victories out of seven. However the 16th-seeded team in the postseason reached the final by sweeping Chicago in four games and then taking care if St. Louis and Anaheim. In addition, captain Mike Fisher was the only player on the club’s roster to have ever played in a Stanley Cup final before. Pittsburgh beat Columbus in five games in the first round, but then had to go seven games to oust both Washington and Ottawa before facing Nashville.

NHL finalizes Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft Rules

The NHL will soon be holding its first expansion draft since June, 2000 when the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild entered the league. With the 2017 draft being just a couple of weeks away, now’s a good time to go over the rules as the league prepares to accommodate its newest franchise the Vegas Golden Knights. The expansion team has already been given the green light to sign non-NHL free agents and NHL players who are playing overseas and to start acquiring draft picks from other clubs, which is a distinct possibility due to the expansion draft coming up on June 21st.
During the draft, the Golden Knights will be allowed to choose one unprotected player from each of the other 30 NHL teams to build their roster. However, several teams may be inclined to persuade the league’s 31st franchise to leave specific unprotected players alone by sending them draft picks or future considerations. For example, a club may offer a third-round pick if the Golden Knights turn a blind eye on a specific player in the draft. This year’s expansion draft choices will be revealed to the public live on television on June 21st, which is the same night the annual NHL Awards show is held in Las Vegas.
However, Vegas will actually send their draft picks to the NHL earlier in the day as they need to be in by 10 a.m. The league also clarified a few other rules recently as it released a timeline of draft-related events. The NHL has imposed a player-movement freeze for the time the Golden Knights receive the protection lists from the other teams until after the draft picks have been announced. The only team allowed to sign players or make deals in this time period will be the Golden Knights themselves. The movement freeze includes player signings, waivers and trades.
In addition, clubs will be allowed to ask roster players to waive their no-movement clauses in their contracts if they have them. If a player agrees to waive the clause he could be left unprotected in the draft. Also, any player who waives the clause will have it reinstated after the draft. Teams have until 5 p.m. Eastern time on June 12thto ask players to waive these clauses, but Pittsburgh and Nashville will have until 24 hours after the Stanley Cup Final if it ends after June 12th. The latest the Final will end is June 14th.
Once June 15th arrives on the calendar, teams will be able to buy-out players if they choose. If a club wants to buy-out a player with a no-movement clause they must ask him if he would like to be placed on waivers before the contract is bought out. NHL clubs will have until lunchtime Eastern time on June 16th to place players on waivers. Also on this day, players who have been asked to waive no-movement clauses have to agree by 5 p.m. The no-movement clause for the other 30 teams comes into effect on June 17th and all clubs have to hand in their protection lists this day.
All NHL teams will receive a copy of the protection lists by 10 a.m. on June 18th and the Golden Knights will be allowed to speak to free agents the same day. The Vegas franchise will submit the list of 30 players chosen in the draft by 10 a.m. on June 21st and they’ll be announced that evening at the awards ceremony. The players no-movement freeze will then be lifted one June 22nd at 8 a.m. As far as the protected lists go, each team is allowed to protect one goalie, three defencemen and seven forwards or a goalie and eight skates at any position.
Players with no-movement clauses have to be protected unless they agree to waive them. Teams don’t have to protect first and second year pro players and any unsigned draft choices since they’re all exempt from the draft. The clubs need to leave a defenceman and two forwards unprotected who are under contract for next season and played in at least 40 NHL contests this year or 70 games in the past two campaigns. They must also leave a goalie unprotected who is a restricted free agent this summer or who is under contract for next season.

In addition, if a team elects to leave a free-agent goalie unprotected they must give him a qualifying offer before submitting their protected list. Also, players who have missed at least 60 straight games due to injury or have career-ending injuries, can’t be left unprotected. Those are the main points of the expansion draft and it’ll be interesting to see the new lineup of the Vegas Golden knights come the evening of June 21st.

2016/17 Stanley Cup playoffs down to the final two

We’re down to the final two teams in the 2016/17 NHL playoffs as the Pittsburgh Penguins will be battling it out with the Nashville Predators for Lord Stanley’s Cup. The Penguins are the defending champions while the Predators will be playing in the finals for the first time. Nashville made the playoffs this year as the bottom seeded team with 94 points while the Penguins had 111. History will be made either way. Pittsburgh will become the first franchise to win back-to back cups in the salary-cap era with their fifth championship or Nashville will become the first 16th-seeded team to hoist the trophy. The last team to win two straight Stanley Cups was Detroit in 1997 and 1998.
The Predators enter the series as the NHL’s best defensive team, but they’re without one of their top offensive players in centre Ryan Johansen as well as fellow forward Kevin Fiala. They’re also hoping forwards Mike Fisher and Craig Smith will return from their injuries. Meanwhile, the Penguins will be missing one of their top defenceman as Kris Letang is sidelined, but forward Patrik Hornqvist should be back soon. The teams met each other just twice during the regular season with Nashville winning 5-1 at home in October and the Penguins doubling them 4-2 in Pittsburgh in January. This is the first time they’ve met each other in a playoff series.     
Matt Murray has now taken over from Marc-Andre Fleury in net for the Penguins and has posted a 94.6 save percentage in his four starts. Pekka Rinne has started all 16 games for Nashville with a save percentage of 94.1 so this has the potential to be quite a goaltending duel. This may be the first appearance in the finals for Nashville, but their coach Peter Laviolette has already won a Stanley Cup with Carolina back in 2005/06 and he also led Philadelphia to the finals in 2009/10. He’s just the fourth coach in NHL history to take three different teams to the finals.
Pittsburgh has made it this far by eliminating Columbus in five games in the first round and then beating both Washington and Ottawa in the seventh and deciding games. Nashville swept Chicago in four games in their opening series and then took care of both St. Louis and Anaheim in six contests. The Penguins have the edge on the power play during the postseason as they’re success rate is 23.6 per cent and Nashville’s is just 14.9 per cent. The Predators have the edge in penalty killing though at 88.1 per cent compared to Pittsburgh’s 84.9  per cent.

Pittsburgh has scored 2.89 goals per game in the postseason and allowed 2.21 goals against while Nashville has a league-best 2.89 goals for per game and 1.81 goals against. The final series gets underway on Monday, May 29th with games scheduled for May 31st, June 3rd, 5th, 8th, 11th and 14th. All games are set to face off just after 8pm Eastern Time. The two teams have met 25 times in the past with Pittsburgh holding the edge with a record of 12-10-2-1.   

One-goal games and comebacks rule in 2016/17 NHL playoffs

It’s never hard to tell when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is in the house during league events as he’s always greeted by a chorus of boos. However, it’s a little hard to figure out why since Bettman has brought parity to the world’s best hockey league and its unpredictability is one of the reasons fans are so addicted to it. You never know who’s going to win from night to night and this year’s playoffs have been a great example of that.
One-goal victories and comeback wins have been a highlight of the current postseason and it appears no lead is safe anymore. Fans saw one of the greatest come-from-behind wins in playoff history during the second round of the Western Conference when the Anaheim Ducks erased a late 3-0 deficit to win 4-3. The Ducks trailed the Edmonton Oilers with just 3:16 remaining in the third period in game five and managed to score three times with goalie John Gibson pulled for an extra attacker.
Rickard Rakell tied the game with just 15 seconds to go and Corey Perry won it for the home team at the 6:57 mark of the second overtime period. It was the second time in this year’s playoffs that Anaheim has erased a tree-goal deficit to win. They also trailed the Flames 4-1 in Calgary in game three of their first round series and won it 5-4 in overtime. Anaheim has fought back five times from multi-goal deficits this postseason and won four of those games.
The Ducks are now tied with four other teams for four multi-goal comeback wins during a postseason while the Philadelphia Flyers hold the record with five, set in the 1986/87 campaign. There have been 14 multi-goal comebacks in the this year’s playoffs which is just one shy of the record of 15 set in 2013/14. Edmonton was also involved in the only other NHL playoff game which saw a team wipe out a three-goal deficit with just four minutes to play in a game.
They found themselves trailing the Dallas Stars 3-0 at home with four minutes to go in the third game of the Western Conference quarterfinals on April 20th, 1997. The Oilers banged in two goals in 12 seconds and three in 1:56 to tie the game with 2:04 on the clock. They then won it at 9:15 of overtime. There has been 31 comeback wins in the 2016/17 playoffs in which a team has won after trailing by at least a goal. The record is 45 which was set in 1989/90.
The Nashville Predators have also excelled in comebacks this postseason with five come-from-behind wins.  As for one-goal victories in this year’s playoffs, there has been 48 of them up until May 22nd. The all-time record is 51 in 81 games which was set in 2006/07. There was a single-round record of 18 overtime games this season in the first round of the playoffs with the Washington vs Toronto series going past regulation time in five of their six contests.
Four games went to an extra period on the same night on April 17th. It was the third time in history that four games needed overtime on the same day and the first time it happened since 1984/85. The first time it occurred was in 1979/80. There’s also a chance the record for overtime games in a single playoff season will fall this year as there has been 26 of them so far with the record being 28 which was set in 1992/93. The Conference Finals still aren’t over yet and we then have the Stanley Cup Finals to go.

So whatever it is Bettman is doing to the NHL, fans should appreciate the closeness of the league these days. Yes there has still been a few blowouts in this year’s postseason, but the salary cap has definitely helped with the parity issue. We could also see this year’s 16th-seeded playoff team the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup Final.     

Washington Capitals to watch Stanley Cup Final on TV once again

They may not be chokers or losers, but whatever you want to call them, the Washington Capitals disappointed their fans once again during the 2016/17 NHL playoffs. They were eliminated at home in the seventh and final game of their second round playoff series 2-0 by the Pittsburgh Penguins on May 10th. The loss came exactly a year to the day since last year’s playoff letdown, which also came at the hands of the Penguins.   
This is the third time the Capitals have won the President’s Trophy as the NHL’s best regular-season team and have been eliminated from the playoffs before the third round. That in itself shouldn’t come as much of a surprise though since the top regular-season team has only won the Stanley Cup twice since 2004/05. That represents just a 16.7 per cent success rate for the league’s President’s Trophy winners over the past 12 seasons, including this campaign.
At least Washington made it out of the first round this season as four of the past 11 President’s Trophy winners were eliminated in the first round. The Capitals had their hands full in the opening round though as it took them six games, with five of them going into overtime, to eliminate the Eastern Conference’s eighth-seeded Toronto Maple Leafs. A few of Washington’s key players were playing through injuries, including captain Alex Ovechkin Karl Alzner and Marcus Johansson. Fans didn’t really want to hear about the injuries though since all teams have to who play through pain in the postseason.
The fact is Washington has now failed to reach the Conference Finals in their last 12 playoff appearances. Their only conference title came in 1997/98 while Ovechkin joined the club in 2005/06. Some fans are blaming the five-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner for the team’s lack of playoff success and point to the fact that the Russian star has missed the playoffs or been knocked out in the first round in six of his 12 seasons. The team made it as far as the second round in the other six years.
But it’s hard to pin the blame solely on the 31-year-old Ovechkin since the future Hall of Famer has scored 90 points in 97 career playoff games. Yes, injuries may have been a factor this season and there’s no doubt goaltender Braden Holtby struggled with a 90.9 save percentage and 2.47 goals-against average in this postseason. Holtby posted a 94.2 save percentage and a 1.72 goals-against average, but ultimately suffered the same fate.
Some critics of the Capitals will be calling for a complete rebuild which means firing coach Barry Trotz and trading Ovechkin. However, that will partially come down to Ovechkin since he has a modified no-trade clause in his contract. In all probability, the only way fans will see him leave town is if he feels his career needs a boost and he feels a new start somewhere else will benefit him. Ovechkin has the option of listing 10 teams he won’t accept a trade to which means there are 20 clubs the Capitals could work out a deal with.

It’s always possible that Ovechkin may be dealt, but he’s the centerpiece of the franchise and let’s not forget that NHL hockey is first and foremost a business. Since he’s still under contract for another four years and the Capitals posted the best record in the league over the 82-game regular season, it’s a good bet that Ovechkin hangs around for at least one more year.  

Phil Kessel once again proving to be a key playoff performer

Pittsburgh Penguins right-winger Phil Kessel is proving that last season’s excellent playoff performance definitely wasn’t a fluke. Kessel arguably should have won the Conn Smythe Trophy last campaign after leading his team in playoff scoring race with 10 goals and 12 assists in 24 games and guiding the Penguins to the Stanley Cup. He’s at it again this season with five goals and eight assists in his first 10 postseason contests to rank third in league scoring. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise since Kessel has now posted 56 points in his first 56 career playoff outings with 28 goals and 28 assists.
Kessel earned the ridiculous and undeserved reputation of being a coach killer while being the Toronto Maple Leafs best player for six seasons, but Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said nothing could be further from the truth. Sullivan said Kessel is able to lift the level of his game once the playoffs arrive, but also does an excellent gob for the team in the regular campaign. Kessel scored 26 goals and 59 points for Pittsburgh last season in his first year for the club and improved to 23 goals and 70 points in 2016/17. While he may not be scoring at a 30-goal pace in Pittsburgh, Kessel’s an extremely underrated passer and playmaker and was tied for 10thin the league in assists this season.   
There are currently just two active players who have scored points at a better pace in the playoffs in their career over a minimum of 40 game. These are Kessel’s Pittsburgh teammates and future Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. And when it comes to goals per game in the playoffs, the 29-year-old Kessel ranks second in active players behind forward Vladimir Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues. But unlike Crosby and Malkin, Kessel produces more points-per game in the playoffs than he does during regular seasons while those two players see their totals drop slightly.
Kessel’s no slouch in regular-season play though as he’s scored 296 goals along with 649 points in 832 games. He averages .78 points per game and .36 goals per game, but raises that number to one point and .50 goals per outing in the playoffs. Kessel has always been a clutch postseason performer no matter which team he suited up for. He scored three goals and for points in four games for Boston against Montreal back in 2007/08 in his playoff debut ad then added six goals and 11 points in 11 games for the Bruins the following year.

Kessel even managed to produce for a weak Leafs team in his one playoff venture with Toronto by scoring four goals and six points in seven games against Boston in 2012/13. The Penguins have already reaped the rewards by acquiring Kessel from Toronto. They have a Stanley Cup championship under their belt with the skilled right-winger in the lineup and coach Sullivan said he’s no longer surprised at Kessel’s outstanding play. Pittsburgh currently have their hands full with the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but there’s a good chance Kessel could win his second straight Stanley Cup this season to forever silence his critics.