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Training Camp Competitions: Vesey, Buchnevich, Montour

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Despite an apparently dire need to fortify their blue line corps, the New York Rangers instead spent a vast majority of their offseason resources adding depth to the forward ranks. After a flurry of free agent transactions, the Blueshirts added Brandon Pirri, Jimmy Vesey, Josh Jooris, Nathan Gerbe and Michael Grabner giving the club 15 forwards with a realistic shot to contribute this season on Manhattan. This depth is sure to create competition and provide head coach Alain Vigneault with plenty of alternatives to guard against injuries or ineffectiveness.

Vesey joins top prospect Pavel Buchnevich as rookies who hope to provide a significant impact in their first seasons in New York. But given the Rangers depth up front, the two youngsters don’t have their spots in the lineup guaranteed as Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post writes. For his part, Vesey understands that he will have to earn ice time and accepts it as part of being a professional.

“Nothing is given in sports. At the end of the day, I have to go and make the team. It’s my first camp, and I’m looking to definitely turn some heads and earn a roster spot.”

The talented youngsters are already getting a head start as they are part of the Rangers prospect contingent that is participating in the annual Traverse City tournament. Newsday’s Steve Zipay reports that Buchnevich and Vesey are skating together on a line centered by University of Michigan Wolverine Cristoval “Boo” Nieves.

Ultimately, Vesey and Buchnevich will have their fair share of opportunities to contribute this season for the Rangers. Their upside trumps their lack of experience and should ensure they earn regular roles up front with the Blueshirts.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Once the Ducks get Hampus Lindholm signed to a new contract, the team will have seven NHL-caliber defensemen on their roster. That doesn’t count top prospect Shea Theodore, who saw his first NHL action in 2015-16 and had a solid showing, collecting eight points in 19 games. This enviable depth has fueled rumors all summer that the team could look to move one of their pricier d-men in a deal to acquire a scoring left wing. While a trade has not yet transpired, were it to happen, Theodore would not be the only blue liner to potentially benefit. Brandon Montour, the Ducks second-round pick in 2014, has added needed muscle and strength this offseason to aid his quest to make his NHL debut in 2016-17, writes Kyle Shohara of the Ducks official website. Montour was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team on the heels of an impressive 12-goal, 57-point season with the San Diego Gulls. Even if the Ducks do deal one of their defenders, it’s likely Montour will again spend a majority of his time in San Diego but it’s conceivable the 22-year-old will make his NHL debut.
  • Long one of the best offensive defenseman in the AHL, T.J. Brennan has yet to parlay his minor league success into consistent work in the NHL. Now Brennan has joined his hometown Philadelphia Flyers with the hope that he can suit up at some point this season for the team he grew up rooting for, as Sam Carchidi reports. Brennan, 27, has appeared in 443 AHL contests and his 113 goals rank fifth all time among defensemen in that league. As Carchidi points out, Brennan’s struggles in his own end are likely the reason the offensively-inclined blue liner has accumulated just 53 games of NHL experience. The Flyers boast a wealth of defensive prospects which will likely work against Brennan’s chances of making the team. But he should at least serve the organization well as a mentor for those prospects joining him with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Canadiens Notes: Pacioretty, Sergachev, McCarron, Lehkonen, Scherbak

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It’s been an interesting offseason for the Montreal Canadiens, to put it mildly. First, they traded away the very charismatic and talented P.K. Subban in a deal that was panned by many pundits and not particularly popular among fans in Montreal. It’s believed that Subban’s colorful personality may not have sat well with the old-school sensibilities of head coach Michel Therrien and general manager Marc Bergevin. Shea Weber, the player acquired for Subban, is quiet and serious, as well as talented and accomplished. At this point in their respective careers, Subban is the more dynamic player and one who offers more long-term value. But Weber is the safer, more conservative defenseman and that apparently was the direction Habs decision-makers were going toward.

Next, the team reached an accord with controversial winger Alexander Radulov on a free agent contract. While Radulov’s talent is unquestioned, he didn’t end his last NHL tenure on a good note and there is certainly risk bringing him on board. In a way, the move contradicted the concept of conservatism the Weber acquisition seemed to suggest.

Now it’s been reported that Therrien was overheard recently at a golf course saying that Max Pacioretty was the worst captain in team history (link in French). For his part, Pacioretty dismissed the report and indicated that after speaking with team coaches, he believes the comments were “reported erroneously,” as Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports writes. He also considers it an honor just to be among the few who have worn the “C” in the team’s illustrious history.

It’s quite possible this situation has blown out of proportion, as Pacioretty suggested. Nonetheless, there were rumors last year that the Habs were unhappy with Subban and could look to move him before his full no move clause kicked in. Those stories were denied by Bergevin practically up until the moment the trade was announced. It will be interesting to follow the Pacioretty story in 2016-17 to see if it ends up swept under the rug or if it is yet another example of where there is smoke, there is fire.

Elsewhere in Habs Land:

  • The Canadiens, like other teams, are set to open their prospect camp, where they will get a sort of progress report on their top young players. Mikhail Sergachev is the one player sure to attract the most attention from evaluators, according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet. Sergachev was the team’s first-round pick in June, chosen 9th overall. One evaluator, Canadiens director of development, Martin Lapointe, already likes what he sees from the skilled, young Russian defender. “His level of confidence with the puck, at his age, is exceptional. To only be 18 and be so composed with the puck is impressive.” Sergachev is almost certainly at least a year or two away from regular duty in the NHL but it’s apparent the Habs are intrigued with his skill set.
  • In addition to Sergachev, Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette lists three other prospects the Canadiens will be keeping close tabs on during the camp. Michael McCarron, who we recently profiled here, is a big forward who could add needed size and skill to the team’s bottom six. Artturi Lehkonen is a highly skilled winger who tallied 33 points in 49 games playing in Sweden. According to Hickey, Lehkonen might be best served starting in the AHL as he acclimates to North America. Nikita Scherbak is yet another skilled forward prospect that also has some grit to his game. Hickey reports his progress has been stunted by injuries, though he did get his first taste of pro experience, appearing in 48 games with St. John’s in the AHL and scoring 23 points. Quite likely he will also begin the year in the AHL but could be considered for an early call-up if injuries or ineffectiveness strikes the Canadiens forward corps.

 

Snapahots: Gibbons, Lindback, Sobotka

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The New Jersey Devils have extended PTO agreements to veteran goaltender Anders Linback – per Henrik Sjoberg of Sport Expressen (link in Swedish) – and speedy forward Brian Gibbons – via tweet from the Devils PR department. The two will attend camp with the Devils in search of an NHL job.

Lindback has led a nomadic NHL career to date. He has already suited up for five different franchises in his six-year career, including four in the last three seasons. He was originally a seventh-round draft choice of Nashville, with whom he spent the first two years of his NHL career. In an ultimately one-sided move, Lindback was acquired from Nashville by Tampa Bay in a deal that saw the Lightning give up three draft choices – two seconds and a third.

After two mostly lackluster seasons with the Lightning, Lindback has served as a backup with Dallas, Buffalo and Arizona. Last season with the Coyotes, Lindback appeared in 19 games, starting 13, and posted a GAA of 3.11 and a Save % of 89.4%. Lindback will likely be given a chance to compete with Keith Kinkaid for the #2 job behind Cory Schneider. Kinkaid would seem to have the upper-hand at the outset given his superior career numbers but Lindback could also provide experienced support in the minor leagues.

Gibbons is a diminutive yet quick forward who has so far been unable to earn a regular role in the NHL. Last season was spent in the Rangers organization where he contributed 23 points in 63 games. He’s appeared in a total of 66 NHL contests with Pittsburgh and Columbus where he has combined to score five goals and 22 points while averaging 12:39 of ice time per game. As with Lindback, Gibbons will likely see little NHL action but should serve as a quality organizational depth piece.

Elsewhere in the NHL:

  • Earlier today, PHR provided an update on the status of Vladimir Sobotka, who has been actively seeking to terminate the final season of his KHL deal in order to return to the St. Louis Blues. In a piece appearing on Yahoo Sports, Stephen Whyno has added that Sobotka is no longer confident a resolution will be reached despite talks continuing between the two sides. ”It’s been going on for five months, so I’ve had enough of it. I’m not thinking about it. It’s just getting ready for workouts. I don’t want to think about it anymore.”  Player transfers between the KHL and NHL have often been acrimonious and the guess is Sobotka’s current employer, Avangard Omsk, is seeking some sort of compensation for releasing the player. The Blues have been expecting Sobotka’s return and after losing both David Backes and Troy Brouwer as free agents, they could use the veteran Czech. Still, St. Louis has guarded themselves somewhat by inviting four free agent forwards to camp on a tryout basis. That may well have been done in case there was an issue with Sobotka’s return.

Compelling RFA Cases For 2017: Pacific Division, Part I

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Jacob Trouba, Johnny Gaudreau and Nikita Kucherov highlight a strong and deep group of restricted free agents that remain unsigned at the moment. While they will each ultimately cash in and receive substantial contracts for the 2016-17 campaign and likely beyond, their status as restricted free agents has certainly complicated the negotiation process.

Next summer, another quality group of players are set to hit restricted free agency unless they can agree to terms on a new deal prior to the 2017-18 league year. In a series of posts, Pro Hockey Rumors will profile the top pending 2017 RFAs and examine what kind of contract they could elicit assuming they put up a strong performance during their platform year. Today we start in the Pacific Division.

Anthony Duclair (Arizona) – “The Duke” is coming off a solid rookie season, scoring 20 goals and posting 44 points in 81 games for the Coyotes. Arizona acquired Duclair and a couple of draft picks from the New York Rangers at the 2015 deadline in the Keith Yandle deal. Duclair, considered a first-round talent in his draft year, tumbled into the third-round following an injury-shortened 2014-15 campaign in the QMJHL.

Another 20+ goal campaign could propel Duclair’s earning potential into the $4MM range annually. Mike Hoffman, who has scored 27 and 29 goals respectively the last two seasons, inked a four-year deal with an AAV of more than $5MM per season. On the heels of back-to-back 21-goal campaigns, Chris Kreider also landed a four-year pact, his worth $18.5MM in total. Kreider was coming off his second contract, Hoffman his ELC. Based on experience, Hoffman would be the better comparable but the goal-scoring numbers are likely to match up better with Kreider. Either way, if Duclair can match or exceed his 2015-16 production this season, a $4MM+ AAV on a new contract would be realistic.

Sam Bennett (Calgary) – Bennett, the fourth overall selection in the 2014 entry draft, posted an 18-18=36 scoring line as a rookie with the Flames in 2015-16, while playing the entire campaign as a 19-year-old. Along with the aforementioned Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, Bennett is part of a strong nucleus of young talent the Flames are counting on to lead the club into Stanley Cup contention.

Assuming an uptick in performance given Bennett now has a full year of NHL experience under his belt, it will be interesting to see how the Flames handle his restricted free agency. They’ve already locked up Monahan to a rich long-term extension and seem to want to do the same for Gaudreau. If they elect to go the same route with Bennett, he’ll likely need to do much better than 36 points to earn a contract in the same ballpark as Monahan’s.

Instead, perhaps a two-year bridge deal similar to the one Kevin Hayes received this summer makes more sense for the two sides. Hayes, who has tallied 81 points in 158 NHL games, inked a two-year pact worth $2.6MM per. That deal might be a fair comparable for Bennett assuming a 40 – 50-point output in 2016-17. A bridge deal also allows Bennett to further prove he can be a top-line player in the league.

Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton) – There was thought that perhaps the Oilers rushed Draisaitl to the NHL and possibly hindered his long term development based on the German pivot’s dreadful rookie year. After being chosen third in the 2014 draft, Draisaitl debuted in the NHL, appearing in 37 games during the 2014-15 campaign and scoring just 9 points and finishing with a -17 plus-minus rating.

Thankfully for Edmonton, Draisaitl demonstrated his career trajectory is firmly pointed upwards after an impressive sophomore season in which he tallied 51 points in 72 contests and improved his plus-minus rating to a -2. If he should continue to show that level of improvement, Draisaitl could land in the same territory as Monahan and Nathan MacKinnon each did coming off their ELCs; namely in the range of $6MM annually. Monahan is coming off back-to-back 60-point campaigns while MacKinnon sandwiched a mediocre second season (38 points in 64 games) between a 63-point debut and a 2015-16 almost identical to Draisaitl’s in terms of production (52 points in 72 games). If Draisaitl can produce in the neighborhood of 60 – 65 points in his platform year, $6MM annually may well be within reach.

Tyler Toffoli (Los Angeles) – Toffoli has improved steadily over his three full NHL seasons, seeing his goal totals increase from 12 his rookie season to 23 in year two and finally to a team-leading 31 last season with the Kings. He also led the league in plus-minus rating with a +35.

Toffoli won’t turn 25 until late in the 2016-17 campaign suggesting he has several more prime years remaining. He is entering the final season of a two-year deal with an AAV of $3.25MM and should be in line for a lucrative long-term pact. Two recent extensions signed by RFA-eligible players that could set the bar for a Toffoli deal are the contracts inked within the last several months by Filip Forsberg (six years with an AAV of $6MM per) and Mike Hoffman (four years with an AAV of $5.1875MM). If Toffoli produces season scoring totals in 2016-17 similar to those of this past campaign, he should be able to command something between what Hoffman and Forsberg are earning on each of their respective deals.

 

2016-17 Season Preview: Minnesota Wild

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As the NHL season is now less than a month away, we continue our look at each team’s offseason and preview the upcoming year. Today, we focus on the Minnesota Wild.

Last Season: 38-33-11 record (87 points), 5th in the Central Division.  Lost 4-2 to Dallas in Round 1.

Remaining Cap Space: $2.1MM as per Cap Friendly

Key Newcomers: D Victor Bartley (free agency, Montreal), Head Coach Bruce Boudreau, W Chris Stewart (free agency, Anaheim), C Eric Staal (free agency, NY Rangers)

Key Departures: RW Justin Fontaine (PTO, Florida), RW David Jones (free agency, unsigned), C Chris Porter (PTO, St. Louis), C Jarret Stoll (PTO, Columbus), Head Coach John Torchetti (was the interim coach last season), RW Thomas Vanek (buyout, Detroit)

[Related: Wild Depth Chart from Roster Resource]

Player to Watch: C Mikael Granlund: Over the last three seasons, Granlund has been a quality secondary player but has yet to take that next big step forward into a true core piece for the franchise.  On the international stage, he is routinely one of Finland’s go-to players but he hasn’t been consistent enough to be one regularly in Minnesota.

With a new coach and system (more on that momentarily), the chance is there for Granlund to take those next steps and become a core player up front.  If he needs any more motivation, he’s heading into the second and final year of a bridge deal that carries a salary of $3.2MM and a cap hit of $3MM.  This is his big chance to prove that he’s worthy of a long-term, big money contract, not to mention a bigger role on the team.

He may have to spend some time on the wing this season (with Mikko Koivu and newcomer Eric Staal also at center) but if he does, he should at least still be in a top six role on a regular basis.  The opportunity is there for Granlund; can he take advantage of it?

Key Storyline: The Wild have historically been known as a defense-first team dating back to the days of Jacques Lemaire as head coach.  Even in recent years with different coaches behind the bench, that still has been the case as the team has finished in the top half in NHL scoring just once since Lemaire left following the 2008-09 campaign.

Expect things to be different with Bruce Boudreau behind the bench.  His teams have a penchant for being in the top-10 in goals scored and he preaches more of an up-tempo system, something Minnesota hasn’t utilized much in recent years.  Will that style of play help get veteran players like Staal, Zach Parise, and Jason Pominville back to the numbers they have shown themselves to be capable of producing?  If that happens without hurting the team too much at the defensive end while youngsters like Granlund and Nino Niederreiter continue to improve, this is a team capable of surprising in the West.

Snapshots: Steen, Ristolainen, Sobotka, Halak, Bobrovsky

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Although he withdrew from the World Cup of Hockey last month, Blues forward Alex Steen is hoping he will be ready to suit up for St. Louis in their season opener on October 12th, reports Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Steen stops short of saying he’ll definitely be ready to play against Chicago on opening night but hopes to be ready by then or shortly thereafter:

“(The opener) seems like a realistic target, but we’ll see how it reacts. I haven’t done much. These (practice) skates, there’s not a lot of contact, so we’ll see once we get a little bit of contact. But I think for sure I see myself playing in October.”

Although he won’t be able to play for his native Sweden in the tournament, Steen noted that the goal of being able to play there actually forced him to accelerate his rehab process from his shoulder surgery back in early June.  Without doing so, the chances of him being available to start the season would have been lower.

Steen also denied the speculation that he has given the team an ultimatum to re-sign him before the end of the preseason:

“I don’t know where that surfaced, that’s not something that’s come from me. I want to be in St. Louis and the organization knows that. I’m sure we’ll get to it when we get to it, so we’re not stressed about it. Right now, the whole focus has been on the shoulder, getting that ready and getting the group back together again.”

Steen is entering the final year of his contract, one that carries a cap hit of $5.8MM and a salary of $6.5MM.  He has been in St. Louis since late 2008 when he was acquired from Toronto along with defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo in exchange for right winger Lee Stempniak.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Buffalo blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen isn’t yet worried that he doesn’t have a new deal with the Sabres, writes Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. Ristolainen is coming off his entry-level pact which carried a guaranteed salary of just $925K.  He was one of the bigger bargains on the back end last season, one where he had a career high 41 points in 82 games.  Harrington suggests that Ristolainen, who will suit up for Team Finland at the World Cup of Hockey, is seeking a five or six year deal which would cover his remaining restricted free agent years.
  • There is still no deal in place yet to officially allow Vladimir Sobotka to return to St. Louis for the upcoming season, notes ESPN’s Joe MacDonald. The Blues and his KHL team Avangard Omsk as well as his agent are expected to talk during the World Cup to try to come to a resolution.  Sobotka has one year on his deal remaining in Russia but also owes St. Louis one year with a salary of $2.725MM, an arbitration award from back in July of 2014.
  • New York Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak has earned the #1 job for Team Europe at the World Cup, head coach Ralph Krueger announced. He beat out Islanders teammate Thomas Greiss and Washington’s Phillip Grubauer for the job.  Team Europe plays their first game of the tournament on Saturday afternoon against Team USA.
  • Columbus Blue Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky will start Team Russia’s first game on Sunday afternoon, reports NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika.  He beat out Colorado’s Semyon Varlamov and Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy for the start in the opener.  Head coach Oleg Znarok wouldn’t say who he plans to start beyond that and noted that no decisions have been made on what their lineup against Sweden will be.

Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Fourth Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?

Here are the results of our redraft so far:

1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)

Now we move forward to the fourth pick, which was held by the Minnesota Wild.

To recap how this works:

  • We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
  • The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.

Back in 2005, Minnesota chose left winger Benoit Pouliot.  He didn’t last too long with the Wild and was dealt to Montreal back in 2009 for left winger Guillaume Latendresse (who wound up as the 45th pick in 2005 but retired a couple of years ago due to concussion troubles).  He bounced around after that with stints with the Bruins, Lightning and Rangers, but has settled in well with his current team in Edmonton, picking up 70 points over the last two seasons despite not playing in 60 games in either year.  While it took a while, he’s now beginning to show some signs of being a consistent top six NHL forward.

With the fourth pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the Minnesota Wild select? Cast your vote below!


For Trade Rumors app users on iOS, click here to vote.

Flyers Notes: Del Zotto, Gordon, MacDonald

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While Flyers defenseman Michael Del Zotto will be ready to go once the season gets underway, he acknowledged to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post that the range of motion in his surgically repaired wrist won’t the same as it was before the operation:

“I’m as good as I’m going to be. It’s just how they do the surgery, how they tighten the ligament back up. It just has a protective barrier up so I’ll never have that, but I feel great. It’s not restricting me in any way and I’m good.”

Del Zotto underwent the procedure back in February and as a result, played in just 52 games with Philadelphia last season; he also missed their first round series against Washington.  His numbers were well down from his output from the previous year (32 points in 64 games) as he managed just four goals and nine assists in those 52 contests despite playing a career high 23:25 per game.

The 26 year old is entering the final season of his contract, one that carries a cap hit of $3.875MM and a salary of $4MM.  He will be an unrestricted free agent in July and will be counted on to provide some secondary offence from their back end behind returnees Shayne Gostisbehere and Mark Streit.

[Related: Flyers Depth Chart]

In other Flyers news:

  • Offseason acquisition Boyd Gordon left an informal skate yesterday after a collision near the boards, writes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He left the ice under his own power and received facial stitches.  He’s not expected to miss any time.  Gordon joined the Flyers on a one year, $950K deal this summer after spending last year with Arizona.
  • After a challenging 2015-16 campaign, defenseman Andrew MacDonald is mentally stronger heading into training camp, Carchidi penned in a separate column. The 30 year old got off to a slow start last season and despite having a $5MM cap hit, was waived and demoted to their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley where he spent more than half the season.  He was brought back to the Flyers when Del Zotto went down last year and was a much steadier presence on their back end.  With several quality prospects such as Samuel Morin and Ivan Provorov expected to contend for a roster spot in training camp, MacDonald will be in a battle to secure a position despite having the most financial stability among any blueliner on the team with four years left on his current contract.

Andrew Ference Not Expected To Play This Season

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Oilers defenseman Andrew Ference, who played in just six games last season due to hip problems, doesn’t anticipate he’ll be able to play again, writes Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal.  Ference underwent surgery back in March and while he has been able to ride a bicycle and swim since, he hasn’t yet skated or run since then.  While he’s not retiring (he’s still under contract for one more year with a cap hit of $3.25MM and is expected to be placed on LTIR when the season begins), he acknowledges his playing days are over:

“What is the terminology? I have a career-ending injury. That’s the way I’m looking at it.”

Ference believes that the cause of his hip ailment dates back to his time in Boston in a playoff series six years ago:

“There was a playoff series and I snapped my adductor muscle in my groin and wound up having sports hernia surgery.  There was a tear in my abdominal wall … I’m pin-pointing it because from that year on, the hip would always flare up.”

Ference has been with the Oilers for the last three seasons but is best known for his time in Boston where he spent seven seasons with the team and won a Stanley Cup back in 2010-11.  For his career, the 16 year veteran has suited up in 907 games, collecting 43 goals and 182 assists along with 753 penalty minutes.

Ference was Edmonton’s captain in his first two years with the team before becoming an alternate last season.  It’s widely anticipated that 2015 top pick Connor McDavid will get that title this season and the 37 year old believes he’s ready for the job despite the fact that McDavid is still a teenager:

“No doubt about it.  He’s so mature and who he is is who he is. He’s not faking it. I don’t care how old a guy is, if you have those qualities, you’re ready, 100 per cent.  “It’ll be a real fresh start with the culture of that room, too. That’ll help him immensely. It’s his culture.”

Ference also told Matheson that he doesn’t intend to get involved in the business/management side of the games when he formally retires following the season but would still like to be involved in Edmonton’s charitable ventures.

Atlantic Notes: Florida Goalies, Wisniewski, Tanguay

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The Florida Panthers will be heading into training camp next week with somewhat of a logjam between the pipes.  Joining incumbent Roberto Luongo are June trade acquisition Reto Berra and free agent signing James Reimer.  At the time Berra was acquired, it was expected that he would replace Al Montoya (who later signed with Montreal) as their backup goalie.

Their decision to pursue Reimer caught many by surprise, including Reimer himself.  Speaking with George Richards of the Miami Herald, Reimer commented on his initial surprise when he was approached by the Panthers shortly after their acquisition of Berra:

“I didn’t know what their intention was. They called, and we got to talking and there was interest there. We pursued it, and it looks like a good fit.”

As it turns out, GM Tom Rowe was viewing Berra (who actually played in two more games in the AHL last year, 16 AHL to 14 NHL games) primarily as an insurance policy for Luongo as it was unknown if he would be ready to start the season following offseason hip surgery.  However, the 37 year old has been skating for a month and appears to be on track to start Florida’s season opener on October 13th.

If that is the case, the Panthers plan to try to send Berra to the minors.  He will have to pass through waivers to get there and if he clears, he will still partly count against Florida’s salary cap to the tune of $500K (his cap hit of $1.45MM minus [$375K plus the minimum salary of $575K]).

More from the Atlantic:

  • After being bought out by Carolina in late June, James Wisniewski was targeting two teams in free agency. One of those teams was Tampa Bay, he told Bryan Burns on the Lightning’s website.  Wisniewski played only a single game last season with Carolina as he tore his ACL on his first and only shift with the team and signed a PTO with the Bolts last month.  However, he’s only two years removed from a 51 point season with Columbus and could be a low risk, high reward pickup if he’s able to make the opening night roster.
  • While he expressed a desire to return to Montreal earlier this offseason, the Canadiens do not have interest in signing free agent left winger Alex Tanguay, Richard Labbe of La Presse reports (link in French). Tanguay played one season for his hometown team back in 2008-09.  He’s the highest remaining point getter among UFA’s after putting up 35 points in 70 games with Colorado and Arizona last season.  It was reported earlier this month that Tanguay has a handful of tryout offers on the table but that he is still seeking a guaranteed deal.

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