PHR Mailbag: 4 Nations, In-Season Tournament, Midseason Break, Suspensions, Schenn, Sabres, Capitals, Montembeault

With the 4 Nations Face-Off now underway, our latest mailbag focuses on that with a couple of other topics sprinkled in.  If your question doesn’t appear here, check for it in one of our next two mailbags.

Black Ace57: It feels like the only people excited for the 4 Nations are media members promoting it. It doesn’t compare to the World Juniors or the Olympics. Instead of trying to copy other international tournaments has the NHL considered doing anything like the NBA in-season tournament?

This was something that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was asked about before and while he didn’t come out with an outright no, it doesn’t seem to be something they’d seriously consider.  It’s also a bit of a scheduling nightmare as the NBA has to do part of its schedule midseason as all of the teams eliminated from contention have to have a couple of games scheduled on short notice.  If they can do it, the NHL can but that would undoubtedly be cited as a reason against trying it.

The NBA’s in-season tournament has only been around a couple of years but I feel like this season lost a lot of its intrigue from the first.  From the pieces of games I saw, it’s not as if teams were playing any harder with the potential of moving on in the tournament.  It all felt a little too random so I’m not sure copying that format is the right way to go, not unless its popularity really rises in the future.

What the NHL could do if they wanted to do something to dress up some regular season games could be some regional challenges.  The seven Canadian teams have six games designated as Canadian Challenge Cup games and the team with the most points out of those wins a trophy and the players get a small bonus.  The three California-based teams have two head-to-heads against each rival designated as a mini tournament, stuff like that where it’s not just a random grouping.  It certainly doesn’t work to put all 32 teams into a logical region though so it’s far from a perfect idea.

They could also group by division (instead of random groups like the NBA does) and just designate a certain number of games as ‘tournament’ matchups.  There are options if they want to do something, I’m just not sure it’s actually worth them doing anything with this.

Pyramid Headcrab: What’s the real reason for the winter break every season? Obviously, players need a break from travel, and fair dinkum… But is that something they negotiated in the collective agreement? Or does the break exist for a different, but equally practical, reason?

Cuz I think we all know nobody cares about the All-Star Game or the Four Nations Whatever.

This isn’t a direct CBA element but is actually related to the All-Star Game.  When the change was made to go to a three-on-three format, the NHL had to agree to this as a concession to get the NHLPA to agree to the format switch as, in theory, there’s a lot more skating involved at three-on-three.  (In reality, the All-Star Games aren’t played at remotely close to full speed but I digress.)

In general, the idea is that without the bye week, the NHL’s top stars don’t exactly get a lot of rest.  They play to the break, fly in for the All-Star event, then are back in action a couple of days later and some feel that’s not fair to them.  By doing the bye weeks, they ensure that the stars at least get some time off while it’s around the time of year when all teams could benefit from some extra days off to heal up some of the nagging aches and pains.

As for no one caring about the All-Star Game, I disagree.  It has an audience it caters to, it’s just not so much the established fans.  They try to promote things for the younger demographic that they’re trying to hook as fans while there’s a major corporate element to it as well with a lot of the league’s top sponsors being involved.  As long as those two things are in play, the All-Star Game will continue…even next season when the in-season break will be even longer for the Olympics.

FearTheWilson: If a player happens to receive a suspension during the Snore Nation’s tournament, does the suspension carry over to the NHL season or does it count towards international play?

The 4 Nations Face-Off is not an IIHF-sanctioned event.  That’s why there’s no break in those leagues for players (or coaches) to possibly take part which is what made this an NHL-only tournament.  Accordingly, any suspension would be applied against NHL games, not international.

While we’re on the subject of not being IIHF-sanctioned, it doesn’t seem as if the 2028 World Cup event will be either.  That will likely complicate things for some of the countries that don’t quite have enough NHL players to form a full roster.  In a press conference earlier this week, Bettman alluded to needing to “work with each country’s federation to find a balance” when it comes to player participation so there are going to be some hurdles to clear for three years from now.

Gmm8811: Is there a roster freeze during the 4 Nations? Can trades still be made? Where would be the best fit for Brayden Schenn if he waives his NMC? Realistic return for him?

Since this question was posted, we have seen a very minor trade which kind of answered this one for me already.  But there is no roster freeze and teams are free to make any moves as long as they remain compliant with the salary cap and roster rules (teams have to have two goalies, six defensemen, and 12 forwards on their active roster).  I’ll be honest, I thought we’d see another trade or two by now so that when teams come back to practice next week, the potential acquisition would get lots of practice time.  Of course, I also suspect that teams were quietly discouraged against doing anything that would take attention and focus away from the tournament so maybe that’s playing a role as well.

Now, onto a couple of non-tournament questions for now before getting back to them later on.  Staying in the Central Division is probably the best fit for him.  Colorado has been looking for center help since they lost Nazem Kadri and Schenn doesn’t quite have the offense Kadri did now but he’d still be quite impactful.  Winnipeg has been looking for a longer-term second middleman for years now with minimal success.  And Minnesota has a genuine need for more center depth at a minimum and with continued whispers about Marco Rossi that don’t seem to be going away (despite GM Bill Guerin trying to tone that down a while back), adding Schenn would at least give them some more flexibility if they wanted to do something with Rossi.  I could even make a case for Utah here.  I know trading a core player within the division doesn’t happen a lot but there are enough strong fits that could net St. Louis a strong return.

As for that return, I think it’s fair to say that it would start with a first-round pick.  Yes, a $6.5MM price tag through 2027-28 for a 33-year-old is a little high but with the big jump coming in the salary cap, it becomes a lot easier to absorb.  Not to the point where it’s an asset by any stretch but it shouldn’t be a deterrent now.  It wouldn’t shock me if they were to land another first-round-caliber asset either though not necessarily a draft pick but rather a prospect or young player who’s either in the NHL or close to being ready.  I doubt the Blues are going to flip the switch to do a long-term rebuild so an all-futures return doesn’t seem likely.  It also wouldn’t shock me to see them take a veteran player back to help offset some of the money as I doubt they’re going to retain salary to make a move happen.  It’s a big price but with the dearth of quality centers available, I think they could get it if they move him.

sabres3277: Do you believe the Sabres will make the inevitable GM change during the break to allow an interim GM to handle the trade deadline? I think this could happen because Adams is clearly out of his league when trying to make deals etc. The fanbase has had it with the incompetence that he has shown in trying to end this disgraceful playoff drought.

It hasn’t happened yet so it’s safe to say that it’s not going to happen.  Frankly, if a team had concerns about their general manager, they wouldn’t let that person stay in place this close to the trade deadline.  By all accounts, Kevyn Adams has been working the phones in recent weeks on the trade and contract front so this is his team to lead through the deadline.

While the Flyers are a recent notable exception, general managers generally don’t get let go right around the deadline.  Instead, changes like that often come after the regular season ends.  If Buffalo does decide to make a change at the GM position, I think it will be made in April as the playoffs are about to start.  Doing something now would surprise me.

letsgonats: Did teams use 4 Nations roster selection like the recent expansion drafts? Trade away draft picks so teams would not pick players. What did the Caps pay to not have Tom Wilson, Logan Thompson, Jakob Chychrun, and John Carlson from being selected so they could rest for the end of the year?

Alright, back to the 4 Nations questions.  You may recall that the rosters were picked more than two months ago.  Yes, Washington was tied for the conference lead in the standings at that time but it’s fair to say there was still a healthy amount of skepticism about whether this was a team on the rise or just off to a hot start.  I think that perception didn’t help things.

But let’s look at the individual players.  Thompson had only played 13 games at that point with Washington in full platoon mode between the pipes at that time which I think hurt his candidacy.  His numbers were decent then but not what they were now either.  He’s the biggest omission of the four you listed though as merit-wise, he should be there.  Wilson is having a solid season, yes, but on Canada’s roster, the best he would have been is on the fourth line.  Clearly, they went with safer options there given his penchant for penalty trouble so the fact he wasn’t named doesn’t surprise me too much.

For the blueliners, Chychrun is having himself a career year but he was also coming off a tougher campaign with Ottawa and clearly, 2023-24 performance played a role in some of their roster picks.  You could make a case that he should be there ahead of Travis Sanheim but we’re quibbling about a player who was supposed to be the seventh defenseman.  That’s not an egregious oversight and I imagine Chychrun received some consideration.  Carlson’s omission was surprising to me at first glance but who out of Zach Werenski, Brock Faber, Adam Fox, or Charlie McAvoy was he going to beat for one of the spots allocated for a right-shot defender?  Maybe McAvoy but again, we’re haggling over a depth spot that would have had several players, including Carlson, considered for it.

I don’t think there was any side agreement for the Capitals not to have any players taken.  Instead, it was a combination of perception about Washington being a so-so team off to a great start more than anything else plus the various federations feeling there were better fits for the depth positions some of those players would have filled.  I’d have had Thompson on Canada’s roster if it was up to me but that’s the only major omission out of these four.

usaKesler: How on earth did Sam Montembeault get selected for the 4 Nations All-Star circus? It’s very suspicious.

There were a lot of mediocre goalies to choose from and he happened to get one of the spots.  If you were picking the team now, how many of the three Canadian netminders would be there?  Would any of them still be on it?  I’m not so sure.  That was part of the problem with having the rosters picked two-plus months before the tournament even started.

There are a couple of reasons why I think Montembeault got the last spot.  He had shown marginal improvement over the last couple of years and had stolen quite a few games for Montreal.  Considering that last year’s performance clearly was a factor in the decision-making, that’s probably a factor.  So too was the fact he was Canada’s starter at the 2023 Worlds (Jordan Binnington was last year and he’s also on the team) and played quite well at that event.  If you think there’s something suspicious, perhaps he got the advantage because he said yes to the Worlds, an event Canada has a hard time getting people to play at?

Earlier this week in a piece for Sportsnet, Adam Vingan took a deeper look at the numbers for Canada’s three netminders and the general conclusion was that Montembeault had the strongest statistical case to be the starter even though that was the least likely outcome.  Again, I’d have had Thompson on the team (in Montembeault’s spot) but with who they have, I don’t think his presence on the roster is that crazy or suspicious.

Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.