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Snapshots: NHL & AHL Seasons, Germany, Newhook

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After comments were made recently by NBC analyst Pierre McGuire that the NHL and AHL might have to settle for a 35-game season for the 2020-21 season with the pandemic running rampant recently in both the United States and Canada, AHL President and CEO Scott Howson stated that he agreed that both leagues should be grateful if they can even get in a 35-game schedule, according to BostonHockeyNow’s Jimmy Murphy.

“Well, I think a 35-game season is better than no season in any league,” Howson said. “So no I don’t think it’s too low. I think we’re in such a different time right now and whatever we do, whatever any league does, is not going to look good or look perfect. I think it’s going to be a challenge and we’re just gathering as much information as we can and we’re gonna make the best decision we can at the time.”

The AHL announced recently that they were shooting for return date of Feb. 5 with the hopes that the NHL might start shortly before that. However, with the increase in COVID-19 cases recently in both countries, there will be challenges for both leagues to put together a significant season.

“I’ve said this all along; we gotta be flexible, we gotta be nimble,” added Howson. “We don’t know what next week is going to look like, let alone February 5, and we’ll just try and plan as best we can and be ready to be flexible to change plans whenever we have to.”

  • The Athletic’s Corey Pronman reports that the DEL in Germany, which is one of the few leagues that hasn’t started in Europe, is expected to announce their start date early next week, which should be in early December with no fans. That should benefit teams that sent players to Germany to play.
  • The Denver Post’s Mike Chambers writes that the Colorado Avalanche could get a late season addition this upcoming season as top forward prospect Alex Newhook could join the team once his sophomore season at Boston College is completed. Newhook, the team’s first-round pick in 2019, was the NCAA Rookie of the Year after posting 19 goals and 42 points in 32 games. He is expected to leave his BC team shortly to join Team Canada for the World Juniors, a potential two-month experience if he makes the team, before returning to Boston College to finish their season. He is expected to take online classes while he’s in Red Deer, Alberta to remain eligible. However, he adds that he will then have to decide if he wants to join the Avalanche at that point. ” … at the end of the season (I’ll) reassess and see where we’re at in terms of what the NHL is doing, what the Avs think, and where I’m at development-wise as well,” said Newhook.

Free Agent Profile: Anthony Duclair

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It’s hard to believe that a player who was named to the all-star game just last year would still be sitting on the free-agent market at this point in the offseason, however, Anthony Duclair remains one of the top names in free agency who hasn’t found himself a home one month into it.

On the surface a 25-year-old all-star unrestricted free agent is a rarity as most big-named free agents are older when they hit UFA status the first time. Of course, much of that is due to the fact that the Senators did not qualify him, leaving him a free agent. Regardless, Duclair is coming off a great season in which he tallied 23 goals and 40 points in his first full season in Ottawa and looked prime to sign a long-term deal with the Senators this offseason. On top of that, he is also a fast skater, placing sixth in the fastest skater contest at the all-star game last year. However, Duclair struggles significantly in one area that could be keeping him from being signed — his defense. He is a goal scorer first, and there is a significant step back on his defensive efforts, one that former Columbus Blue Jackets’ coach John Tortorella mentioned before the team traded him to Ottawa back at the trade deadline in 2019.

Strangely enough, however, despite the belief that Duclair would dominate on the power play and not even play on the penalty kill, it’s the exact opposite. Duclair struggled on the man advantage at times during the season, while actually providing solid play on the Senators’ penalty kill, which makes things even more confusing.

However, another fact that stands out is that Duclair dominated the first half of the NHL season, scoring 21 goals and 33 points in 47 games. While the second half of the season was suspended, he only tallied two goals in 19 games following the all-star game, a significant drop off, making him one of the more unique players with little consistency.

Potential Suitors

While many people figured that Duclair had a good chance to sign a long-term deal with Ottawa this offseason, that never materialized. Duclair fired his agent and opted to represent himself. He was supposedly offered a two-year deal at $3MM AAV and turned that deal down, believing he could get more on the open market. However, no deal has materialized in this depressed market and now with Ottawa having brought in Evgenii Dadonov and Alex Galchenyuk, it’s extremely unlikely that the Senators will bring back Duclair even if he accepts a lesser contract.

Other teams still may be interested, although a deal is likely to come closer to when training camps begin. There are a number of playoff teams that might be interested in bringing in the 25-year-old as a second or third-line option on a short-term deal, but Duclair might have to accept less from those teams than the deal that Ottawa offered in the first place.

The Nashville Predators, who are looking for more firepower for their team, have been mentioned as one team that is looking at both Mike Hoffman and Duclair as options, although Hoffman could be the team’s first choice. However, Duclair might be a good fit, who could battle for a spot on the team’s second line there.

Other playoff teams like the Boston Bruins, the Dallas Stars or the Colorado Avalanche as options, but many of these teams might be more likely to look and see what they have in training camp before bringing in Duclair.

Projected Contract

Representing himself may have been a mistake as the forward now may be forced to accept less than the two years at $3MM AAV that he reportedly declined earlier in the offseason. He will almost assuredly will have to accept a deal with little term, either a one or two-year deal, but may have to take something significantly less than what he rejected in the first place.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Atlantic Notes: Johnson, Fabbri, Kotkaniemi

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While news out of Tampa Bay has been extremely quiet, many fans are waiting for the Lightning to get their offseason underway. The team has three key restricted free agents, including Mikhail Sergachev, Anthony Cirelli and Erik Cernak, that it must deal with and little to no cap room with which to work with.

In his most recent mailbag, The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required) writes that with no confirmation yet on when the season will start, most teams have taken a break, leaving the Lightning with moves to make and no one to turn to until training camps get underway at some point. Much of that speculation points to whether Tampa Bay can find a taker for forward Tyler Johnson and the four years at $5MM AAV. The team was not able to find a trade partner at the start of the offseason and no team attempted to claim him when the Lightning put Johnson on waivers.

With rumors that teams are demanding a first-round pick to take Johnson off their hands, Smith writes that the Lightning have little interest in doing that considering they already traded away their 2021 second-rounder. It is possible if the Lightning can’t find an alternative solution, that they might have to retain some salary in order to trade him. Johnson, who has a full no-trade clause, has given the team eight or nine teams he’s willing to go to, but so far the team has had no luck finding a taker. Even if the Lightning can find a trade partner to take all of Johnson’s $5MM AAV, the team is also likely to make other moves to get all three RFA’s under contract.

  • In a Q&A with Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill, The Athletic’s Max Bultman (subscription required) gets the head coach to comment on the team’s potential lineup when the 2020-21 season starts. One interesting nugget in the interview is that Blashill said he wants to take a look at Robby Fabbri at the center position. “I’m intrigued by giving Robby Fabbri an opportunity to play center too. So we’ll see, we’ll see where the best fit is. But the fact he can do it, I think is a real positive to have on your roster,” said Blashill. Although more roster moves are possible, it is believed that there are a number of players who will vie for the second-line center position. Fabbri had a solid campaign last year with 14 goals and 31 points in 52 games and could be ready to return to the center position where he played before injury history began.
  • The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription required) looks at the play of 20-year-old Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who is currently playing for his hometown team of Assat in Finland’s Liiga. The forward went scoreless in his first four games before getting his first point. He now has three assists in seven games, but is still looking for his first goal. While the numbers aren’t there, Basu writes that Kotkaniemi is still trying to adjust to Finland’s top league where every team they play is completely focused on him, something he hasn’t had to deal with in his two years in the NHL. Adjusting back to the Liiga after two years on North America’s smaller rinks also has been an adjustments for a player who was enjoying doling out hits in the NHL. That’s much harder to do in the larger rinks where a hit could take him out of the play too, meaning he can’t really work on that part of his game much.

Central Notes: Wild, Husso, Stars

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Despite no start date set for next season, several Minnesota Wild players, who live locally, have begun skating once a week in Edina with skating and skills consultant Andy Ness, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription required). Among those participating are Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Zach Parise, Marcus Foligno, Nick Bjugstad, Kyle Rau as well as former Wild players Luke Kunin, Eric Staal and Jason Zucker.

Russo said that according to sources, Suter, who was injured in Game 3 of the playoffs and missed Game 4 before being eliminated, looked good on the ice and should be fully ready for the start of the season. Reports also suggest that Bjugstad, who the Wild acquired from Pittsburgh earlier in the offseason and is recovering from back surgery, is progressing nicely.

  • Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes it’s very likely the St. Louis Blues stick with backup goaltender Ville Husso in net as opposed to going out and signing a veteran netminder for one more year. Husso, has never made an NHL appearance and would appear to be a candidate to struggle considering his limited experience at the NHL level. However, the scribe writes that besides being cheap, the team has a number of other young and talented goalies in the system and the team must learn sooner or later what Husso can offer them. He has been the No. 3 guy for a while now, but Jordan Binnington and Jake Allen never got injured, so Husso never got a chance to show what he can do at the top level.
  • The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf (subscription required) writes that the Dallas Stars are likely going to have to turn to some rookies to step in for Tyler Seguin and Ben Bishop who are both expected to miss a large chunk of next season. The team will likely turn to top prospects Jason Robertson and Ty Dellandrea to step in and fill roles, with Robertson a leading candidate to fill a top-six role while Seguin is out. The team will also have to depend on rookie Jake Oettinger to backup Anton Khudobin, while Bishop is on the mend. Seguin underwent right hip arthroscopy and labral repair, while Bishop underwent right knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus.

Former NHL Star, Hockey Night In Canada Icon Howie Meeker Dies At 97

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Howie Meeker, a four-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Toronto Maple Leafs and longtime broadcaster with Hockey Night in Canada died Sunday at the age of 97 at Nanaino General Hospital in B.C.

Meeker was the oldest living Maple Leaf and was an NHL star, winning the Calder Trophy back in 1947 when he scored 27 goals and 45 points in 55 games, beating out Gordie Howe in his rookie campaign. He played in a total of 346 NHL games (all with Toronto), scoring 83 goals and 185 points. His NHL career ended at the age of 30, but he continued to play throughout the next 15 years in different leagues.

Once retired, he did coach the Maple Leafs for one season, replacing King Clancy in April of 1956, but struggled behind the bench with a 21-34-15 record before moving upstairs as general manager the following season.

However, it was his broadcasting career with Hockey Night in Canada, that made him legendary. Meeker worked for 30 years between CBC and TSN, earning the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 1998 and was famous for phrases like “Jiminy Crickett,” “Golly gee willikers,” and “Stop it right there!”

Pro Hockey Rumors joins in with the rest of the hockey world with thoughts for the Meeker family during this difficult time.

Metropolitan Notes: Konecny, Capitals, Blue Jackets

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After two 24-goal seasons in Philadelphia, there were many that were concerned that Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny was at a crossroads in 2019-20 where his career would either take that next step or fall back. Konecny took that next step, scoring 24 goals for a third straight year, but also seeing a points increase of 12 in a pandemic-shortened season. Much of those offensive statistics can be credited to his improved defense, according to The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor (subscription required).

With a new coach coming in last year in Alain Vigneault, Konecny put more of his offseason focus into developing his two-way game, which impressed the new coach, giving him more on-ice access during games, including playing late in games, something that he rarely saw under former head coach Dave Hakstol and then interim coach Scott Gordon. Vigneault’s confidence in Konecny led to an increase of minutes where he saw a 1:32 ATOI of more ice time.

While his regular season was a success, his playoffs was far from it with zero goals and seven assists in 16 games, including a big drop-off in his defensive ratings. The key to his future as a potential Flyers’ star is whether he can prove his two-way game is for real.

Pacific Notes: Sutter, Leivo, Archibald

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One thing of note Saturday was when the Vancouver Canucks passed on a second potential buyout window. A buyout would only have applied to players making more than a $4MM AAV, which meant the only player that it likely would have applied to was center Brandon Sutter. However, the Canucks opted not to make a move to buy him out, according to Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma.

Sutter, who is entering the final season of a five-year, $21.9MM contract that he signed back in 2015, hasn’t been particularly effective the last two years as injuries have kept him to just 70 games over the two seasons, although he did manage to appear in all 17 playoff games during the most recent playoffs. He finished the 2019-20 season with eight goals and 17 points in 44 games. However, at $4.38MM AAV, the team could have benefitted from a buyout with the team’s cap situation extremely tight. A buyout would have saved the team $2.33MM in cap space this season. However, the team wouldn’t have benefitted much, especially considering they would have to replace Sutter in the lineup somehow. On top of that, the team lost a significant amount of leadership after Chris Tanev and Jacob Markstrom left via free agency. Having Sutter in the locker room is worth something as well.

“We have to be careful that we take everything into consideration before we start buying people out,” Canucks general manager Jim Benning. “He kills penalties and plays a match-up role and losing him would be a big void in the room.”

  • Sticking with the Canucks, Kuzma reports that the team and Benning did offer Josh Leivo, who signed with the Calgary Flames on Saturday, a similar deal. The 27-year-old who played parts of the last two seasons for the Canucks decided against staying. He was acquired midseason in 2018 from the Toronto Maple Leafs and missed the second half of this past season after he suffered a fractured knee cap. He had seven goals and 19 points in 36 games. Leivo signed a one-year deal at $875K with Calgary.
  • Much credit went to Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland who signed unqualified forward Josh Archibald last offseason and saw him thrive. Despite being a perfect candidate for the fourth-line right wing position, the Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins writes that with so many right wings on the roster, he wouldn’t be surprised if the team asked Archibald to move to his off wing and take up a spot on the team’s third line alongside newly signed Kyle Turris and Jesse Puljujarvi. Archibald has showed a knack for offense with 24 goals over the past two seasons and could provide that line with some much needed grit.

Central Notes: Heiskanen, Tolvanen, Wallmark

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The Dallas Stars have been working to improve their team this offseason in hopes of getting back to the Stanley Cup Finals once again. However, the team has also had another focus this offseason, which is to free up enough cap room for the 2021-22 offseason when the entry-level contract of defenseman Miro Heiskanen is up and the 21-year-old will be a restricted free-agent who the Stars would like to lock-up long-term.

Heiskanen has been a key reason for the dominant defense that the Stars have used to push their way to the top. The 21-year-old may have only posted 35 points in 68 games last season, but his defense is what makes him special and it is critical to get the blueliner signed to a long-term deal. To free up cap room, the Stars absorbed the full amount of their cap overages ($3.05MM) for next year as opposed to splitting it between the next two years, saving them $1.52MM in cap room for 2021-22 and chose not to buy out any players to keep extra cap penalties away from that year.

Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News writes that assuming the plan is to sign Heiskanen to a long-term deal, it likely will cost them somewhere between $8-9MM if you compare his deal to that of Ottawa Senators’ defenseman Thomas Chabot, who signed his long-term deal a year ago with an $8MM AAV. Now with newer contracts such as Vegas’ Alex Pietrangelo and Nashville’s Roman Josi, the market seems set for Heiskanen when the two sides can begin negotiating at the start of the 2020-21 season.

  • With the Nashville Predators having moved out quite a few veteran players during the offseason including Mikael Granlund, Kyle Turris, Nick Bonino and Craig Smith, the team looks likely to be forced to insert a number of young players into their lineup to fill it out. While The Athletic’s Adam Vingan (subscription required) writes the team is still working on trying to bring in Mike Hoffman or Anthony Duclair to fill one of those roles, the Predators will be putting quite a bit on the shoulders of Eeli Tolvanen this year. The 2017 first-rounder is a likely candidate to take on a top-six role with the team after sitting in the AHL for the past two seasons. Tolvanen has only appeared in seven NHL games during that time, but after a 21-goal campaign with Milwaukee last season, he is the most likely candidate to step into the lineup, although it isn’t out of the question that 2019 first-rounder Philip Tomasino could also make the team with a strong camp.
  • While he hasn’t been loaned out to a European team, newly signed Lucas Wallmark is training overseas with Bjorkloven of the Allsvenskan, who play in his hometown of Umea in Sweden, according to a report in HockeyNews.se (translation required). Wallmark will practice and train with the team until the NHL season starts. The 25-year-old joined his third time in a year after being traded at the trade deadline to the Florida Panthers as part of the Vincent Trocheck trade and then was not issued a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free-agent. He opted to sign with the Blackhawks.

Martin Hanzal Retires From NHL

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It’s been talked about for quite some time. Martin Hanzal has been considering retirement for quite a while, but he finally decided to retire from professional hockey, according to Arizona Coyotes’ beat writer Craig Morgan. The 33-year-old Hanzal was a solid forward for many years with the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes, but back injuries cut his career short. He finished his career scoring 127 goals, 338 points and 574 penalty minutes in 673 career NHL games.

“It’s a little bit of a relief because the last couple of years I wasn’t sure if I’d play another NHL game or be healthy again so now it’s official: I am retired from the NHL,” Hanzal said by phone. “If I was healthy, I would probably still be playing, but after three back surgeries and especially after the last one, I just can’t do it anymore. I was doing everything I could after this last one and it took me a year to get back on the ice. When I went to see the doctor again, it was either do another surgery or be done playing. Even the doctor said, ‘We’re not sure another surgery will help.’ I still have a long life ahead of me. I don’t want to do another surgery when it’s not 100 percent sure it will even help.”

Hanzal was a first-round pick by the Phoenix Coyotes in 2005 (17th overall) and debuted with his team in 2007 and played 10 years for the franchise, who at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, served as a power forward, who gave the Coyotes’ much of their grit. After 10 years and with an expiring contract, the Coyotes decided to trade Hanzal at the trade deadline to Minnesota in 2017 for a slew of draft picks (which eventually netted Arizona defensemen Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Kevin Bahl – both since traded). Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to help much with Minnesota’s hope of a long playoff run as they were eliminated in five games that year. He then signed a three-year deal to sign with the Dallas Stars, but back issues allowed him only to appear in 45 games over that time before his contract ran out this past year.

Free Agent Profile: Erik Haula

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Despite the excitement of  the free-agent flurry that started off the 2020 offseason, things have calmed down now quite a bit and yet there remain a number of free agents out there for teams to pick up. Yet with little cap room remaining for most the playoff hopefuls, teams are being extra cautious about paying out too much to free agents. especially if they are coming off a down season. That perfectly explains the situation for free-agent center Erik Haula, who has now found himself looking for a fourth team in just two-plus seasons and is coming off a 12-goal campaign last year.

The 29-year-old will be hitting 30 during the 2020-21 season and has dealt with numerous injuries, including a gruesome leg injury that held him to just 15 games in 2018-19. However, that hasn’t stopped teams from showing interest in the center, one of the few potential impact centers remaining on the free-agent market, who was ranked 16th in our PHR Top-50 Free Agents. If healthy, he has the potential to fill a second-line center role or be a top third-line option in the middle. He has the potential to put up goals, scoring 29 goals in Vegas’ inaugural season in 2017-18.

Despite Vegas’ love for Haula, the team even had cap issues after their second season and were forced to send Haula to the Carolina Hurricanes to free up some cap room. Haula signed a three-year, $8.25MM contract ($2.75MM AAV) with Vegas as part of a deal for the Golden Knights to select him in the expansion draft from Minnesota and looked like a significant find after the first year. The injury held up that outlook for the next season and Carolina was hoping to recapture some of that offensive magic last season. Instead, he struggled through more knee injuries on and off and only appeared in 41 games with 12 goals before the Hurricanes packaged him to Florida for Vincent Trocheck. Haula scored no goals in seven games for the Panthers before the team’s season ended.

However in the right system and with plenty of extra time to allow his knee to fully mend, Haula could fill a significant hole in a team’s middle and if everything goes right, could thrive there.

Potential Suitors

Not surprisingly, Haula has received significant interest from at least 10-12 teams, yet no deal has been struck. The forward is likely looking for a potential long-term deal, deals that aren’t really offered to players right now as several free agents have had to ink one-year deals in hopes that the 2021 offseason may prove to be more lucrative and hopes that COVID-19 may settle down in a year.

Perhaps one of the most obvious suitors would be returning to the one team where he had the most success. The Golden Knights might be a perfect fit for Haula as the team was forced to send off center Paul Stastny to Winnipeg to save cap room and with Cody Glass’ rookie season having also been interrupted by injury, there is a clear opening for a No. 2 center in the system. Of course, the team is so tight against the cap that the team doesn’t even have the money for a minimum-salaried deal without clearing more cap room, which will be difficult. The team has already made it clear they will not be moving now back-up goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, which means they will be spending $12MM on their goalies this coming year.

Rumors that the Pittsburgh Penguins could be looking for a third-line center to fill in some depth for another Stanley Cup run with their veteran squad. Pittsburgh doesn’t have a clear-cut third or fourth-line center, so Haula would be a big addition to a team that needs to get more scoring from their bottom-six. Of course, the team must look at their cap issues as well. Other teams such as the New Jersey Devils and the Vancouver Canucks have come up although there are likely many others, but only the Devils have the cap room to easily bring him in.

Projected Contract

PHR initially projected Haula to receive a three-year, $11.25MM deal, although that number now looks quite high considering some of the contracts that other players have received in the last week or so. Players ranked much higher, such as Evgenii Dadonov and Tyler Toffoli each had to settle for less than they were hoping for. Dadonov received three years and $15MM from Ottawa, while Toffoli signed a four-year deal at $17MM with the Montreal Canadiens.

Considering that Haula is coming off two injury-plagued and disappointing offensive seasons, it doesn’t seem likely that he can easily pry a long-term deal away from any team and may have to sign a one-year “prove it deal,” except for the fact that his services as a center could give him slightly more leverage than most free agents remaining on the market.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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