Category: Ian Palmer

Plenty of off-ice action during NHL pre-season

There was enough off-ice action during the past week to keep headline writers busy before the NHL’s preseason officially faced off with games between the Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames in China. The most intriguing stories involved the trading of two team captains, the resignation of one of the league’s best young general managers and the retirement of a well-respected veteran.

Both the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators sent their captains packing as Habs’ forward Max Pacioretty was dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights and the Senators shipped blue liner Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks. The 29-year-old Pacioretty was traded to Vegas in return for 27-year-old forward Tomas Tatar as well as 19-year-old forward prospect Nick Suzuki and a second-round draft pick in 2019. Pacioretty was entering the last season of a six-year contract with Montreal that was worth $4.5 million a campaign.

When arriving in Las Vegas, the Golden Knights promptly signed Pacioretty to a four-year extension worth $7 million a season. Pacioretty was originally drafted 22nd overall by Montreal in 2007. He appeared in 626 regular-season games and notched 226 goals and 222 assists for 448 points, including 17 goals and 20 assists last season. He also added 10 goals and nine assists in 38 playoff outings. Tatar was drafted 60th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 2009 and was acquired by Vegas at last season’s trade deadline.

He scored 20 goals and 14 assists last year, but managed just four goals and two assists in 20 games with Vegas. Tatar was also a minus-11 and and appeared in only eight playoff games in the Golden Knights’ run to the Stanley Cup Final with a goal and assist to his name. He’s an accomplished scorer though with four straight 20-goal seasons under his belt while scoring 19 in his other full year. Tatar’s totals read 119 goals and 109 assists for 228 points in 427 games with four goals and five assists in 25 postseason outings.

As for the Senators, the dealt all-star defenceman Karlsson and prospect Francis Perron for defenceman Dylan DeMelo and forward Chris Tierney from San Jose along with and forward prospects Rudolfs Balcers and Josh Norris. They also acquired a first-round draft pick in 2019 or 2020 and a second-round draft pick in 2019. If San Jose misses the playoffs this season then the first-round pick will be in 2019. If they make the playoffs the pick will be in 2020. The deal also involves conditional draft picks which involve the Sharks re-signing Karlsson and reaching this season’s Stanley Cup Final.

The 28-year-old Karlsson was originally drafted 15th overall by Ottawa in 2008. He won a pair of Norris Trophies as the NHL’s top defenceman and was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Karlsson chipped in with nine goals and 53 assists last season for 62 points in 71 games and had 126 goals and 518 points in 627 regular-season games in Ottawa and added six goals and 31 assists in 48 playoff games. The 24-year-old Tierney scored 17 goals and 23 assists for 40 points last season and has 41 goals, 63 assists and 104 points in his 284 regular-season games after being drafted 55th overall by the Sharks in 2012.

The 25-year-old DeMelo played 63 games with San Jose last year and notched 20 assists. Norris was drafted 19th overall by San Jose in 2017 while the 21-year-old Balcers taken with the 142nd pick in 2015. He scored 23 goals and 25 assists last season for the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL to lead the team in goals and points as a rookie. It’s hard to tell how the prospects and draft picks will turn out for Senators, but the Sharks added a future hall of fame defenceman to their roster and now have two of the best blue liners in the league in Karlsson and Brent Burns.

In a bit of a surprise move, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman resigned from his position. He’ll now see out the last year of of his contract as a senior adviser with the club while former assistant GM Julien Brisebois takes over Yzerman’s job. Yzerman, a hall of fame player with the Detroit Red Wings, joined Tampa Bay in 2010 as the franchises GM and vice president. The former centre was named the NHL general manager of the year for 2014/15 when he lead his team to the Stanley Cup Final, only to be ousted by the Chicago Blackhawks. It’s unclear if the 53-year-old will remain with Tampa after this season, but it’s believed he wants to spend more time with his family.

In other news, Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg, who was drafted 210th overall by the club in 1999, announced his retirement due to a back injury. The 37-year-old Swedish forward came in second in team scoring last season with 11 goals and 45 assists for 56 points. He appeared in 1,082 regular-season games and racked up 960 points on 337 goals and 623 assists. He also played in 137 playoff contests and added another 57 goals and 63 helpers for 120 points. Zetterberg led the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup in 2007/08 and was rewarded for his excellent performance by winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the postseason.

James van Riemsdyk’s return to the Philadelphia Flyers boosts their playoff chances

The biggest NHL free agent signing this summer was centre John Tavares heading to the Toronto Maple Leafs for seven years at $77 million, but fans shouldn’t overlook James van Riemsdyk’s return to the Philadelphia Flyers. The 29-year-old winger began his career in the City of Brotherly Love after being drafted by the Flyers with the second overall pick in 2007. He played three seasons with the club before being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he’s back where it all began now after inking a five year contract for $35 million.

The native of nearby Middletown, New Jersey, racked up 99 points in 196 games for the Flyers with 47 goals and 52 assists between 2009 and 2012 before heading to Toronto for defenceman Luke Schenn. It turned out to be one of the Leafs’ best ever trades as JVR contributed 154 goals and 140 assists for 294 points in 413 games in Toronto, including a team and career-high 36 goals and 18 assists in 81 outings last season. His career totals now read 393 points in 609 regular-season contests on 201 goals and 192 assists with 18 goals and 11 assists in 59 playoff games.

He will definitely boost Philadelphia’s chances at challenging for a Stanley Cup as he joins a lineup which contains fellow forwards Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Sean Couturier, Nolan Patrick, Jakub Voracek and Travis Konecny. And let’s not forget the team went 42-26-14 last year for 98 points and finished third in the Metropolitan Division. However, their lack of scoring depth hurt them in the playoffs as they were ousted in six games by the Pittsburgh Penguins and were outscored 28-15.

JVR is one of the finest scorers in the league around the crease area as he has a knack for finding the roof of the net from close quarters. He ranked 23rd in the NHL in shots on net in 2017/18 with 248 and owned a shooting percentage of 14.5. He netted 25 even-strength goals last year and added 11 on the power play. The Flyers will definitely be a stronger team with Van Riemsdyk skating on the wing and he’s the third-highest player on the squad behind Giroux and Voracek.

Critics note Van Riemsdyk will be 34 years old by the time his new contract runs out, but he’s been improving each year. His goals-per-game ratio increased in each of the last four campaigns from 0.33 to 0.35 to 0.353 to 0.44. Van Riemsdyk played with Voracek, Giroux, Simmonds and Couturier during his first stint in Philadelphia so should be comfortable on his return. There’s a good chance he will skate on the left wing with centre Nolan Patrick though. Patrick was the second overall pick in the 2017 draft and notched 13 goals and 17 assists last year in 73 games as a rookie.

Voracek will likely play on the right wing with Patrick and Van Riemsdyk on the second line while Couturier, Giroux and Konecny will make up the first line. If there is a weak spot on the Flyers’ roster it will likely come in net where Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth will share the goaltending duties. Elliot posted a goals-against average of 2.66 last year along with a 90.9 save percentage, but underwent abdominal surgery in February and a minor hip operation during the offseason. Neuvirth posted a 2.60 goals-against average and a 91.5 save percentage, but has so far been injury prone in his NHL career.

There will be high expectations on JVR’s shoulders this season considering how well he played in Toronto. He’ll be expected to score consistently in five-on-five and power play situations. At 6-foot-three and 217 Lbs, he’s a force to be dealt with in front of the net and it will be interesting to see if he can match last season’s scoring totals. Much has been made of Tavares joining Toronto, but Leafs’ fans need to realize they lost Van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak in the offseason and those moves may balance each other out. They certainly would have loved to see JVR skating on Tavares’ wing, but in the salary-cap era it means Toronto lost last year’s top goalscorer for nothing.

Las Vegas Golden Knights’ Nate Schmidt dealt 20-game suspension

Some of the lustre has been taken off the Vegas Golden Knights’ successful inaugural NHL season as defenceman Nate Schmidt has been banned for the first 20 games of the upcoming 2018/19 campaign. The 27-year-old found out the news on September 2nd when the league announced he had failed a drug test and violated the current NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. However, Schmidt doesn’t appear to be very happy with the news and stressed to the media that he isn’t a cheater.

The blue-liner released a statement which said he’s very disappointed with the ban. He stated that he’s been tested several times during his career and twice in the 2017/18 season and this is the first time he’s failed. Schmidt said he was shocked to hear of the result, but said only a microscopic amount of the unnamed banned substance was found in his system. He added that the small amount of the substance found in his body could have no way enhanced his performance on the ice.

Schmidt went on to say he didn’t intentionally place anything in his body and this should be taken into consideration due to the minuscule amount of the substance that showed up on the test. The defenceman remarked that just seven billionths of a milligram of the substance was found in his system and that could be compared to a grain of sand on Miami Beach. However, since the NHL’s policy states that any amount of a performance-enhancing drug in a player’s bloodstream is against the rules he was handed the suspension.

Most NHL players have abided by the program as Schmidt is just the first player to be suspended for testing positive since the 2015/16 season. The last players to be banned were Shawn Horcoff of the Anaheim Ducks and Jarred Tinordi of the Arizona Coyotes when they were both nailed with 20-game bans. Also, two former Toronto Marlies players, Carter Ashton and Brad Ross, were suspended for 20 games by the American Hockey League a year earlier.

Schmidt, who scored a career-high five goals and 31 assists for 36 points last season, said he supports the NHL’s drug program, but still doesn’t agree with the ruling as he never knowingly or intentionally tried to gain an advantage. Predictably, the Golden Knights support Schmidt’s position and also released a statement which said he’s honest and possesses great integrity and moral character. The club said Schmidt may have failed his test, but he knew nothing about the substance found in his system.

No matter how the drug entered his system though, the fact is it was found in his bloodstream and the league had no choice but to suspend him. Schmidt will be allowed to attend the Golden Knights’ training camp in September, but won’t be able to participate in any preseason games. His absence will definitely be felt by the team as Schmidt was the second highest-scoring blue-liner on the squad last season and was generally considered the team’s number-one defenceman. He led the team in minutes per game at 22:14 and was a key part of the penalty-killing and power play units.

He also led the club in ice time during the playoffs and scored three goals and four assists in 20 postseason outings to lead Vegas to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they fell in five games to the Washington Capitals. Schmidt, who’s entering the final season of a two-year contract, will have to forfeit his pay during the suspension and since he’s making $2.3 million in 2018/19 it’s estimated it will cost him approximately $450,000. Schmidt will be eligible return to the Golden Knights’ lineup on November 18th when the team plays in Edmonton against the Oilers.

Major milestones within reach for 2018/19 NHL season

There are numerous NHL and franchise milestones that could and should be reached in the 2018/19 season by some of the league’s star players. We’ll take a look at some of the achievements which will most likely be set during the upcoming campaign.
Russian sniper and recent Stanley Cup winger Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals enters the season with 607 regular-season goals to rank 19th on the overall goal scoring list. The Caps’ captain can move up to number 15 with 18 more goals. If he happens to finish the season with 650 career goals he would become the 14th NHL player to reach that milestone. At 1,122 points he is also 78 shy of 1,200 for his career and his 229 power-play goals are ranked ninth in league history. He could move to number four all-time in power-play markers with 17 more.
Thirty-nine-year-old centre Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks will enter the season with 1,493 regular-season games under his belt. Once he plays in his seventh game in 2018/19 he will become just the 19thNHL player to skate in at least 1,500 contests. In addition, Thornton currently has 1,030 assists and is just 10 away from ranking number 10 in NHL history for helpers. He also needs 31 more points to crack the top-15 all-time scoring barrier which Teemu Selanne currently holds with 1,457 points.
Pittsburgh Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby could also crack the 1,200 point barrier as he enters the campaign with 1,116. This means he’ll need to score at least 84 points this year. It’s not out of reach though considering the centre has racked up at least 84 points in each of his last five seasons. Also, Crosby has skated in 864 regular-season games for Pittsburgh and once he reaches 915 he will become the franchise’s all-time leader in games played as he will pass the great Mario Lemieux.
Forward Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning enters the season with 348 goals and will become the franchise’s all-time leading goal scorer once he reaches 384. He needs 36 this season to break the current mark of 383 which is held by Vincent Lecavalier. Toronto Maple Leafs’ forward Patrick Marleau hasn’t missed a game since 2009/10 and has played in 1,575 regular-season games to rank 11th on the all-time list of games played. If he plays in at least 38 contests this season he will break into the top 10 and if he plays in all 82 games he will end the season fifth overall.

Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Brown has played 1,045 times for the franchise while the team record for regular-season outings is 1,111 and held by Dave Taylor. Brown needs to suit up 67 more times to break the current mark. Anaheim Ducks’ forward Corey Perry has played 957 games with the franchise and should break the team record of 966 held by Teemu Selanne early in the season. Forward Ryan Getzlaf isn’t far behind Perry as he enters the season with 917 games under his belt for Anaheim.
Goaltender Tuuka Rask of the Boston Bruins is 51 games short of 500 for his career and once he plays in game number 469 he’ll set a new franchise record for games played by a netminder. Also, when Rask wins his 15thgame of the season he’ll set a new Bruins’ record of 253 wins.
Goaltender Roberto Luongo of the Florida Panthers reached a pair of milestones last season by becoming just the third NHL goalie to play in 1,000 games and he also moved to number four on the all-time wins list with 470. In 2018/19, Luongo needs six shutouts to move into fifth place as well as 14 wins to reach number three overall. He will also be ranked second all-time in games played for a goalie if he plays in 29 games this season and reaches number 1,030.
Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price already holds the franchise record for games played and is fourth in team history in shutouts. He’ll also become Montreal’s number one in wins if he can backstop his team to 29 victories in 2018/19. He enters the season with 286 career wins while Jacques Plante is the franchise leader with 314. Goaltender Jake Allen of the St. Louis Blues has won 117 games for the club and will pass franchise leader Mike Liut if he can win 36 games this year.

Success of St. Louis Blues’ upgrades will come down to goaltending

The St. Louis Blues were one of the most active NHL teams during the offseason with several player moves under their belt. However, once the season faces off in October the success of those transactions will basically depend on how good their goaltending is. This means there will be a lot of pressure on the shoulders of number one netminder Jake Allen. General manager Doug Armstrong did a fine job of addressing his team’s needs after missing the playoffs last year, but they won’t mean much unless Allen is at his best.
The Blues made a big splash in the free agency market by signing centre Tyler Bozak from the Toronto Maple Leafs, left-winger David Perron from the Vegas Golden Knights and left-winger Patrick Maroon from the New Jersey Devils. The 32-year-old Bozak has scored 365 points in 594 career games while the 30-year-old Perron has 444 points in 722 contests and the 30-year-old Maroon has chipped in with 178 points in 375 outings. Perron previously played for the Blues for seven seasons in two different stints and Maroon was born in St. Louis.

The biggest move of all though was the acquisition of centre Ryan O’Reilly in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres. The 27-year-old O’Reilly is the top faceoff man in the league and has accumulated 422 points in 651 games. The Blues gave up Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, Tage Thompson, and a first-round draft pick in 2019 and second-rounder in 2021 to get him, but they now have a legitimate two-way first-line centre. Of course, they were in the hunt for a middleman ever since Paul Stastny was dealt to Winnipeg at last year’s trade deadline for a first and fourth-round draft pick and forward Erik Foley.
The Central Division Blues definitely look strong enough to challenge for a playoff spot in the Western Conference as they already had some excellent scoring depth with the likes of Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz. In fact, they appear to be one of the top teams in the conference as they’re also solid on the blue line with Alex Pietrangelo, Colton Parayko, Vince Dunn, Joel Edmundson and Jay Bouwmeester. Therefore, the only question mark concerning the squad in 2018/19 is between the posts.

The 28-year-old Allen of Fredericton, New Brunswick was originally drafted by the Blues with the 34th overall pick back in 2008 and will be entering his sixth season with the club. He’s racked up a record of 117-71-15 in 219 games with a 91.3 save percentage and 2.47 goals-against average along with 16 shutouts. He’s also 9-10 in 22 playoff contests with a 92.2 save percentage and 2.10 GAA. Allen played 15, 37 and 47 games in his first three seasons as he shared the workload with former teammate Brian Elliott. His workload then increased to 61 and 58 games as Elliot left and Carter Hutton took over as the backup. Hutton has since moved to Buffalo where he signed as a free agent this summer.

Some critics feel Allen has struggled over the past couple of seasons since becoming the team’s number one starter and at one time he was benched when his save percentage dipped down to 89.7. He turned things around though and lost just eight times over his final 27 games of the 2016/17 campaign. The Blues made the playoffs that year and Allen posted a 93.5 save percentage in the postseason. He was inconsistent in the crease last season however and Hutton ended up playing in 32 games and was arguably the better goalie. Allen finished the season with a 2.75 GAA and 90.6 save percentage in 56 games with just one shutout.

Allen needs to improve on those numbers in 2018/19 if the Blues are to return to the postseason. The team may score quite a few more goals due to the strengthening of the roster, but they won’t win games unless Allen can regain his best form. His numbers since joining the league have basically been at the league-average level, which isn’t bad by any means. But the Blues will need Allen to provide above average goaltending if their recent acquisitions are going to help the club get back in the playoffs.

Detroit Red Wings Captain Henrik Zetterberg could miss upcoming season

Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg is possibly facing retirement as the 37-year-old Swedish forward is dealing with a health issue. It’s possible that Zetterberg won’t be able to suit up for the NHL team to start the upcoming 2018/19 season due to an ongoing issue with his back. General manager Ken Holland recently announced the news on the club’s website and said Zetterberg’s health issues mean he hasn’t been able to train properly during the offseason.
Holland, the rest of the club and the team’s fans obviously hope for the best, but they’ll just have to wait until training camp starts in September to see how healthy the player is. If Zetterberg is able to play it will be his 16th season in the NHL, all with the Red Wings. The back problem isn’t anything new since he had surgery on it in 2014 to fix a ruptured disc. However, he missed just five games in the 2014/15 campaign and has been able to play the full 82-game schedule in each of the last three seasons.
But according to Holland, Zetterberg had some issues with his back last season and although he played the club’s games, he didn’t practice with the squad for the last 10 weeks of the schedule. The news from Holland doesn’t look too good at the moment, especially since he announced on July 1st that he believed his captain would be able to play this year. Zetterberg’s scoring output may have tailed off slightly with age over the past few years, but his leadership skills and experience are essential to the team.
Zetterberg came in second in team scoring last season with 11 goals and 45 assists for 56 points as centre Dylan Larkin led the Red Wings with 63 points. Larkin, who just signed a fiver-year $30 million contract with Detroit, said Zetterberg has played with a lot of pain over the years and believes he’s still the best player on the team. He added that he definitely hopes the veteran can play this year, but understands that his health and future need to be taken into consideration.
Zetterberg told the press at the end of last season that he isn’t thinking about retirement any time soon and he’ll work out in the summer and see how he feels once training camp opens. If for some reason he can’t play in 2018/19, there’s a good chance Zetterberg may have to hang up his skates due to his age and deteriorating back. He’ll turn 38 years old in October. So far, he’s appeared in 1,082 regular-season games and has racked up 960 points on 337 goals and 623 assists.
He’s also played in 137 playoff contests and added another 57 goals and 63 helpers for 120 points. Zetterberg led the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup in 2007/08 and was rewarded for his excellent performance by winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the postseason.

Buffalo Sabres ready to climb the NHL standings

The Buffalo Sabres have been one of the NHL’s doormats for the past several seasons, but general manager Jason Botterill is doing his best to change that. The Sabres finished dead last in the league last season for the third time since 2013/14 with 62 points. However, they finally won the draft lottery and now look poised to make the postseason for the first time since 2010/11. The Sabres did manage to add one key piece to their rebuilding puzzle when the Edmonton Oilers drafted Connor McDavid first overall three years ago as they landed forward Jack Eichel with the second pick.
Eichel hasn’t had much in the way of help on the ice since then though other than centre Ryan O’Reilly. Therefore it’s hard to understand how the club will be any better this season since O’Reilly was traded this summer. Of course, finally owning the first overall draft choice was a step in the right direction and Botterill used it to select ace 6-foot-2-inch Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin from Frolunda HC of Sweden’s Elite League. Along with Rasmus Ristolainen, the Sabres now appear to possess two of the best young defencemen in the game and also have Zach Bogosian and Jake McCabe in the mix.
The defence certainly has unlimited potential with those two on the blue line and Botterill then went about upgrading the forward positions. He acquired Conor Sheary from the Pittsburgh Penguins for a conditional fourth round draft pick. Sheary proved he was the real deal in 2016/17 with 23 goals and 30 assists for 53 points in just 61 contests, but his numbers dropped off last year with 18 goals and 12 helpers for 30 points in 79 games. The Sabres feel he can regain his scoring touch though by skating on the left wing with either Eichel or Casey Mittelstadt at centre.
Let’s not forget the O’Reilly trade to the St. Louis Blues enabled Buffalo to add some depth up front as Patrick Berglund was acquired along with Vladimir Sobotka, 20-year-old prospect Tage Thompson and a first and second-round draft pick. The newcomers will be joining Eichel, Sheary, Mittelstadt, Kyle Okposo and Sam Reinhart up front in a young and versatile forward core. To top things off, Botterill was then able to pry Jeff Skinner away from the Carolina Hurricanes for a prospect named Cliff Pu and a second, third and sixth-round draft pick.
The 26-year-old Skinner is a quick, skilled winger who has cracked the 30-goal barrier three times and racked up 89 goals over the past three campaigns. Only 11 other NHL players scored more than Skinner during that span and just six players bettered his 74 even-strength goals. Skinner, the NHL’s rookie of the year as an 18-year-old in 2010/11, obviously believes Botterill has the Sabres moving in the right direction as he agreed to waive his no-trade clause to join the team. He told the media he believes the Sabres’ young core is quite exciting and he feels he can be a key piece of their puzzle.
So while the Sabres seem to look pretty good at both ends of the rink heading into the season they’re also going to need top-notch goaltending to improve in the standings. This task will fall on the shoulders of 32-year-old Carter Hutton who was signed as a free agent from St. Louis in the offseason. Hutton inked a three-year deal for $8.25 million and will be entering his sixth NHL campaign. He played just 32 games last year and went 17-7-3. But when it came to goalies who appeared in at least 30 contests he led the league in goals-against average at 2.09 and save percentage at 93.1.
Hutton will now have to prove he can be just as effective with a heavier workload. If he should happen to falter it looks like 25-year-old Linus Ullmark will get the nod. Ullmark has appeared in 26 games with Buffalo over the past three seasons with a 9-13-2 record along with a GAA of 2.52 and a 91.7 save percentage. All the stars will need to align for Buffalo to make the playoffs this year. They need to score more goals, allow fewer against, stay healthy and improve both on the power play and penalty kill. If they can gradually achieve all of those goals, the club should be playing in the postseason once again in the next year or two.

Hall of Fame candidate Jarome Iginla hangs up his NHL skates

Perhaps one of the least known facts about Jarome Iginla is that his full name is Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla. But one of the best known facts about him is that he was one of the most talented and toughest forwards the NHL has ever seen. The 41-year-old native of Edmonton, Alberta has decided to say goodbye to the league though as he announced his retirement on July 30th. Iginla definitely left his mark over the past 20 seasons, especially in Calgary, where he played 16 of them.
Iginla’s name can be found at the top of the leader board in just about every category for the Canadian franchise as he’s the all-time leader in games played at 1,219, goals with 525 and points at 1,095. He’s also number one with 161 power play markers and 83 game-winners. The only major area he doesn’t rank number one is in assists with 570 as he ends his career with 39 fewer than leader Al MacInnis. The 6-foot-1-inch right-winger also added 28 goals and 21 assists for 49 points in 54 playoff games for the Flames.
Let’s not forget Iginla also suited up for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings during the final four years of his career. When his totals with those clubs are added, Iginla walks away with 625 goals and 675 assists for 1,300 points in 1,554 regular-season games with 37 goals and 31 assists for 68 points in 81 playoff contests. He wasn’t one to shy away from the rough stuff either and ended up serving 1,040 minutes in penalties in the regular season and another 98 in the postseason. He ranks 13th all time in games played and is tied with Joe Sakic at number 15 in goals scored.
Iginla was originally drafted from the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL by the Dallas Stars back in 1995 with the 11th pick overall. However, he was traded to Calgary along with Corey Millen for Flames’ star Joe Nieuwendyk just a few months later. While in Kamloops as a junior, Iginla racked up 102 goals and  134 assists for 236 points in 183 games, won two Memorial Cups and was named the league’s player of the year in 1996. During his NHL career Iginla made the All-Rookie Team, three First All-Star Teams a Second All Star Team and played in six All-Star Games. He also won the Rocket Richard Trophy twice for leading the NHL in goals and the Art Ross Trophy once as the top point-getter. .
In addition, he took home the Ted Lindsay Award in 2002 as the league’s most outstanding player after a season of 52 goals and 44 assists as well as the 2004 NHL Foundation Player Award and King Clancy Award for community leadership and the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2009. One thing that eluded him though was the Stanley Cup. He did lead the Flames to the Final in 2003/04 as club captain, but they were eventually upended in seven games by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Iginla left Calgary in March of 2013 when he was dealt to Pittsburgh for the rest of the season. He then signed as a free agent with Boston for a year, Colorado for two years and was traded to Los Angeles in March, 2017.
Iginla also represented Canada at numerous international tournaments. He led the World Junior Championships in scoring with five goals and seven assists in 1996, won a gold medal, was named to the All-Star Team and also named the top forward of the tournament. He won a gold medal just a year later at the age of 19 when playing for Canada’s senior squad at the World Championships and added two goals and three helpers. He scored twice in the final game of the 2002 Olympics to lead Canada to a gold medal and also became the first African/American to capture a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
He played for Canada in the World Cup of Hockey in 2004 and won a gold and then played at both the the 2006  and 2010 Olympics. He led the 2010 Games with five goals and helped his homeland win another gold medal. Iginla was a perfect example of a power forward and similar to Gordie Howe in many ways as he could skate, score, setup teammates and easily take care of himself when the going got rough. And like Howe, fans should see Iginla in the Hockey Hall of Fame as soon as he becomes eligible. 

Jaromir Jagr’s NHL days likely over

It looks like Jaromir Jagr’s amazing NHL career has quietly come to a dead end as the 46-year-old forward currently recovers from a serious knee injury. Jagr became an unrestricted free agent on July 1stafter spending the 2017/18 campaign with the Calgary Flames. He managed just one goal and six assists in 22 outings with his last game coming on New Year’s Eve. Just four weeks later he was placed on the club’s injured reserved list and placed on waivers. There were no takers and Jagr ended up back at home in the Czech Republic with Ryitiri Kladno, a franchise which he just happens to be the majority owner of. 
Jagr told the media back in April that he hoped to play in the NHL for a 25th season in 2018/19, but it now appears those hopes are a longshot. He recently stated that his main concern right now is getting 100 per cent healthy and he aims at doing that by working out and playing with Kladno. If Jagr’s NHL career is over, the league will be losing it’s second-highest scorer in history as he currently has 766 goals and 1,155 assists for 1,921 points in 1,733 regular season games. The only players to score more goals were Wayne Gretzky with 894 and Gordie Howe at 801 while Gretzky’s 2,857 points are the most ever accumulated.

In addition, Jagr’s number of games played are third all-time behind Mark Messier’s 1,756 and Howe’s record of 1,767. Jagr holds the mark for the most game-winning goals in history though with 135  and he hoisted the Stanley Cup twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1990/91 and 1991/92 seasons. Individually, he took home the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player in 1999, led the league in scoring five times and won the Masterton Trophy in 2016 for his perseverance and dedication to hockey.

Jagr, who broke into the NHL in 1990/91, said he’s obviously not the same player he was even 10 years ago, but still feels he can play at a high level this season. His recent practice was the first time he’s been on the ice in the past six months and he admitted he still has a long way to go. Jagr said his knee didn’t bother him, but his muscles and thighs felt weak. He attributes this to his advanced age, but believes he’ll eventually get stronger and in top shape with each passing day. Time may not be on the future Hall of Famer’s side though as Kladno’s campaign faces off on September 8th and the 10-game preseason beginning on July 31st

Jagr signed a one-year deal for a million dollars with Calgary last season and it’s still possible he gets a similar type of offer from an NHL club for 2018/19. However, it likely wouldn’t come until September or October if and when he gets himself into playing shape with kladno. Jagr admits he didn’t play well with the Flames last year, but still believes he can play until he’s 50 years old and would definitely prefer to finish his career somewhere in the NHL.

Ilya Kovalchuk’s return to NHL overshadowed by John Tavares’ Maple Leafs move

Most of the talk in the NHL offseason has centred around free agent John Tavares’ decision to leave the New York Islanders and sign a long-term deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, there was also another significant signing as Russian star Ilya Kovalchuk headed back to the NHL after playing in his homeland in the KHL for the past five years. The star left-winger, who’s now 35 years old and was drafted first overall by the Atlanta Thrashers, was inked to a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings for $18.75 million.

Kovalchuk started his career in Russia then skated for eight seasons with Atlanta before signing as a free agent with the New Jersey Devils where he spent another four NHL campaigns. Kovalchuk agreed to a 17-year, $102 million contract with the Islanders, but departed for SKA St. Petersburg in 2013 after posting 417 goals and 399 assists for 816 points in 816 regular-season NHL contests. He also added 11 goals and 16 assists in 32 playoff games. While playing in the KHL, he scored 138 goals and 189 assists for 327 points in 298 games with 43 points in 63 playoff outings and helped his team win a pair of championships.

Kovalchuk remained visible to NHL fans over the past five years as he continued to play internationally in the World Championships and Olympic Games, being named MVP of the 2018 Games and winning a gold medal. He was still considered a highly-skilled forward who could produce at a point-per game pace and led the KHL scoring parade last season. He also publicly stated that he was interested in returning to the NHL before he retired. There was a lot of interest in Kovalchuk’s services, but he decided the Kings suited him best.

Kovalchuk recently told the media he believes he has another three or four top-level seasons left in him and wanted to join a team that is ready to challenge for the Stanley Cup now rather than a few years down the road. He said the Kings fit the bill perfectly as the club has one of the best goaltenders and defence in the NHL as well as a top centre to play with in Anze Kopitar. Of course, he’ll also be suiting up with top goaltender Jonathan Quick and defenceman Drew Doughty. Kopitar enjoyed a career year of 92 points this season while Doughty broke the 60-point barrier. In addition, veteran forward Dustin Brown scored 61 points and Jeff Carter notched 22 points in 27 games.

According to Kovalchuk, the veterans on the Kings’ roster all have their names on the Stanley Cup and will help him remain productive on the ice. Los Angeles head coach John Stevens is obviously glad to be adding Kovalchuk’s offence to his lineup and believes he’ll also make a difference on their power play due to his lethal shot and passing skills. Kovalchuk shared the Rocket Richard Trophy in 2003/04 as the NHL’s top goal scorer with 41 goals, but he actually bettered that total on four occasions with seasons of 52, 42, 52 and 43 goals from 2005 to 2009. He also posted 98 points in 78 games in 2005/06 and 91 points in 79 outings in 2008/09. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how his production compares to that of Tavares over the next three seasons.