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Blackhawks Notes: Mitchell, Dach, De Haan, Crawford

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Sooner or later, Ian Mitchell will join the Chicago Blackhawks. Whether he’ll suit up for the Stanley Cup Qualifier against the Edmonton Oilers remains to be seen. Until coronavirus ended the college season, Mitchell had banked 32 points in his junior year with the University of Denver, and his availability for the tail end of the NHL season was largely going to be dictated by how far of a run Denver could make in their own playoffs. Though the details of the proposed return-to-play plan between the NHL and NHLPA aren’t finalized, it’s assumed that players in Mitchell’s situation – those who have signed their entry-level deals but haven’t debuted – won’t be allowed to join their clubs for the playoff, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie. Regardless, Mitchell isn’t likely to join the defensive rotation this season, not with Duncan Keith and Adam Boqvist, Calvin de Haan and Connor Murphy, and Olli Maatta and Slater Koekkoek likely making up the top three line pairings, writes The Athletic’s Scott Powers If Mitchell isn’t able to sign with the Blackhawks this season, that probably suits Chicago just fine, as they could gain an extra year of cost control for Mitchell. If he is allowed to sign, not only might Chicago burn a year of Mitchell’s entry-level deal, but it’d also align his first year of restricted free agency with Boqvist and Kirby Dach. The Hawks know all too well how difficult it can be to build a contender when a team’s best young players become expensive at the same time.

  • Speaking of Dach, the Blackhawks’ rookie center isn’t quite as gung-ho to return to the ice as NHL players are “supposed” to be, but that shouldn’t be a knock on the young center’s character, writes The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus. On the contrary, Dach displayed remarkable self-awareness and maturity in his comments about returning to play: “As a young guy in my first year, I feel like I’ve got a lot of potential to grow and learn in this league, and to become the player I want to be. I know I’m a few steps away from that. At the same time, this could be a health risk for many young guys’ careers. We’re high-intensity athletes, where our hearts and lungs are pumping extremely fast, and (COVID-19) could be damaging to us, even past our careers. That’s something you’ve got to take into consideration when you go back.” Dach, 19, showed enough in his first season to excite the Chicago faithful, scoring 23 points in 14:16 ATOI. Despite his concerns, Dach plans on joining his teammates for their Stanley Cup Qualifier against the Edmonton Oilers, which, if nothing else, will provide Dach an early brush with playoff-adjacent hockey. 
  • Calvin de Haan, meanwhile, is back on the ice as of today, per Carter Baum of NHL.com. In his first season with the Blackhawks, the former Islanders and Hurricanes blueliner appeared in 29 games before right shoulder surgery knocked him out for the year – or so we thought. When healthy, de Haan was a penalty killer for Chicago, and he’ll likely slot back into the second pair or defenseman with Connor Murphy if he’s fully back up to speed. Baum provides this quote from Coach Jeremy Colliton: “Obviously we’ve got to get him on the ice and go through camp and hopefully everything continues to progress as far as his health.” 
  • The Blackhawks have an uphill climb ahead of them if they hope to survive the Stanley Cup Qualifier. Taking on the star-studded Edmonton Oilers on their home ice (without fans) presents a challenge for the Hawks, but it’s still a better deal than they were likely to get had the season finished on time. Chicago wasn’t likely to scratch their way back into the playoff hunt, but now youngsters like Dach, Boqvist, and Alex DeBrincat can garner some experience playing games of consequence against some of the best players in the game. The Blackhawks have the experience to upset Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the Oilers, but to do so will likely require goaltender Corey Crawford to quickly get on top of his game, per Tracey Myers of NHL.com. After trading Robin Lehner to the Golden Knights, Chicago has no viable Plan B should the 35-year-old Crawford struggle to hit his stride. Not to pile on in the stakes department, but Crawford is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Snapshots: Amnesty, Lucic, Game Audio, Hajek

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Despite the hopes and dreams of fans around the NHL, the agreed-upon return-to-play conditions and extended CBA is not likely to include any kind of amnesty clause, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie. The assumption that the salary cap will hold at $81.5MM for the next two seasons gave rise to some speculation that the stagnant cap would be augmented by an amnesty provision, but it appears teams will be stuck with the contracts they’ve got on the books. For the Calgary Flames, that means Milan Lucic, writes Todd Cordell of Hockey Buzz. Lucic has three more years on his deal worth $5.25MM per season. The 32-year-old Lucic hardly set the world on fire in his first season in Calgary, notching just 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists) across 68 games. The Flames acquired Lucic and a conditional 3rd round pick for winger James Neal after one disappointing season in Calgary produced just seven goals. The money owed Lucic isn’t exorbitant, but it’s not an ideal price tag for an aging winger entering his mid-thirties. Lucic still played a role on the Flames’ third line, but his days as a 40-60 point scorer appear behind him. Additionally, it’s unclear right now if the Flames will actually receive the third-round pick. To get the pick in this year’s draft, Neal had to score at least 21 goals and record 10 more goals than Lucic. The second condition was qualified, but Neal scored just 19 goals – in a shortened season. Common sense would look at those numbers and say Neal was going to qualify both conditions, but it’s not entirely clear.

  • When the NHL returns to television, the game may look the same – except for the leagues of empty seats in the background – but the audio experience may provide an even more jarring change, per Kevin McGran of The Star. Without access to players, the play-by-play commentators are likely to call games from a studio instead of the arena, and in terms of sideline reporting, well, there won’t be any. Studios are still working on the best way to pump in ambient sound, whether that’s highlighting sounds from the ice or using some kind of fan track. The most entertaining option would almost certainly be to mic the players, but that would require players to curb their vulgarity, which, in the heat of the moment, might be too great an ask.
  • Libor Hajek of the New York Rangers has hired Octagon as his representation, tweets agent Allan Walsh. The young blueliner appeared in 28 games for the Rangers this season, recording five assists but no goals. Walsh also represents NHL players like Marc-Andre Fleury and Brock Boeser.

One Trade The Maple Leafs Would Like To Have Back

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In the summer of 2006, the Toronto Maple Leafs decided not to pick up a contract option on 41-year-old Ed Belfour. Totaling three seasons as resident netminder in Toronto, Belfour spent much of his final season in Toronto hampered by a balky back. He was limited to 49 games in 2005-2006 and a substandard .892 save percentage. GM-at-the-time John Ferguson Jr. probably made the right call moving on from Belfour (though Belfour would bounceback somewhat in his one and only season with the Florida Panthers before retiring) – where Ferguson and the Maple Leafs erred was in choosing Belfour’s successor.

Looking ahead, the Maple Leafs had two goalie prospects to dream on: Tuukka Rask and Justin Pogge. Unfortunately, neither Rask, 19, nor Pogge, 20, were ready to step between the pipes. Thus, Ferguson Jr. moved to deal from a position of future depth to secure a near-term solution. Toronto traded Rask to the Boston Bruins in a straight-up swap for 26-year-old goaltender Andrew Raycroft.

On its face, the deal made some sense for both sides: Rask had been a recent first-round pick, #21 overall of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, while Raycroft came to Toronto decorated as the 2003-2004 Calder Trophy winner as the league’s top rookie. The Bruins were run at the time by interim General Manager Jeff Gorton (now the GM of the New York Rangers), who said this of the deal: “We had an opportunity, with three good, solid goaltenders who are all number one goalies in the NHL, and they couldn’t all play for us. Andrew had some value and we were able to move him for a player we really like, who is along the lines of Hannu Toivonen.” 

Of course, Toivonen would be traded to St. Louis the following season for Carl Soderberg. He’d start 17 games for the Blues in 2007-2008 and never again appear in the NHL. So while the comparison wasn’t as apt as Gorton intended, his point was clear. Nevermind that it’s a little curious for Gorton to trade for a player in Rask whom he would describe as being, essentially, “similar to the other guy we already have,” so it’s possible Gorton knew more about the organization’s future intentions than he let on at the time.

More to the point, perhaps, was that the Bruins had made their choice about their starting goalie. A month before the Rask/Raycroft swap, Boston extended Tim Thomas with a three-year deal. The late-blossoming Thomas was primed to take over after 38 games and 2.77 GAA in 2005-2006.

Thomas was the Bruins’ chosen goalie moving forward, and he would take the heft of the timeshare as Rask came of age through the 2011-2012 season. Thomas was a four-time All-Star and two-time Vezina Trophy winner, including in 2011, when he took two-thirds of the timeshare en route to a Stanley Cup. Rask played a key role in getting that Bruins team through the regular season, but it was Thomas who steered the ship to the Cup. He took home the Conny Smythe Trophy as the oldest player ever to win the playoff MVP award. Unfortunately, his political views became a distraction in the following seasons – but Gorton’s trade with the Maple Leafs in the summer of 2006 provided Thomas’ heir apparent.

Rask took over as the primary goalie in 2013-2014, leading the league in shutouts and winning the Vezina Trophy. He’s been one of the top goaltenders in the league ever since. Fourteen years later, Rask and Jaroslav Halak will share the Jennings Trophy this year, combining to allow just 2.24 GAA for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins. Rask has been a huge part of the Bruins’ success over the years in keeping Boston competitive. He put up a .934 save percentage in the postseason last year, helping the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final. Rask has twice gotten the Bruins to the Stanley Cup since taking over as the primary goaltender, losing to the Blackhawks in 2013 and the Blues in 2019.

Back in Toronto, it’s been a long and winding road to current netminder Frederik Andersen. Andersen has settled in for Toronto, making his first all-star team in 2019-2020, his fourth season in Toronto. But even Andersen came at a cost: a 1st and 2nd round pick to Anaheim in the summer of 2016.

Raycroft, meanwhile, served up a league-high 205 goals in the 2006-2007 season for the Maple Leafs. His numbers would only get worse the year after, 3.92 GAA and a .876 save percentage. He left Toronto after a season and a half with a .890 save percentage and a 39-34-14 record. Pogge never developed to take the throne either. Six starts during the 2007-2008 season make up the entirety of his NHL career. He’d bounce around the AHL for a couple of seasons but never make it back to the NHL.

In the interim between Belfour and Andersen, the Leafs cycled through a number of unspectacular puck-stoppers: Jonas Gustavsson, Raycroft, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Vesa Toskala, Garret Sparks, and Ben Scrivens each took a turn, but James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier had the most successful runs. Bernier made 140 mostly forgettable starts with a .915 save percentage from 2013 to 2016, and Reimer – who helped end Toronto’s playoff drought in 2012-2013 – took his office hours in the Toronto net for 196 starts and a .914 save percentage from 2011 to 2016.

But none quite rises to the level of Rask, who has stabilized the Boston goal for an entire era of Bruins’ hockey. For the Bruins, dealing for Rask was one of their better deals of the last twenty years. For the Maple Leafs, they’d probably like to have this one back.

That said, John Ferguson Jr., the GM who made the deal for Toronto, has probably made his peace with the deal: he’s currently the Executive Director of Player Personnel for – you guessed it – the Boston Bruins.

Snapshots: Berglund, Rangers’ Goalie Battle

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Brynäs IF of the Swedish Hockey League has offered a contract to free agent Patrik Berglund, per Uffe Bodin of hockeysverige.se. Berglund, last seen in the NHL as a member of the 2018-2019 Buffalo Sabres, had his contract terminated after failing to report. Mental health issues led Berglund to forfeit the $10MM contract and return to Europe where he eventually signed a deal with Djurgardens in the SHL. It appears as if Berglund, 32, will stay in the Swedish Hockey League for the foreseeable future, putting an end to any speculation that he might return stateside. Berglund initially joined the Sabres to help match salary as part of the Ryan O’Reilly trade.

  • The New York Rangers are in the enviable position of having not one, not two, but three viable options at goaltender once play resumes, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com. Henrik Lundqvist (.905 save percentage in 26 starts) could be grandfathered into the starting role, but Igor Shesterkin (.932 save percentage in 12 starts)and Alexandar Georgiev (.910 save percentage in 32 starts) each made their case with solid play during the year. As with many of the roster decisions coming out of the long layoff, this may come down to conditioning and readiness. However he decides, coach David Quinn is sure to be second-guessed if their five-game Stanley Cup Qualifier against the Carolina Hurricanes goes poorly. On his thinking, Quinn said this: “You can make a case for all three guys. There’s a lot of reasons to take ’Shesty,’ there’s a lot of reasons to start Hank (Lundqvist), and there’s reasons to start ’Georgie.’ This is such an uncertain time that that will play out over the course of the two and a half weeks that we’re going to have before we drop the puck.”
  • Looking ahead, the Rangers decision could speak to their likely direction this offseason when they’ll need to decide again how to manage the futures of Lundqvist, 38, Shesterkin, 24, and Georgiev, 24. Lundqvist is owed $8.5MM for the 2020-2021 season while Shesterkin has another year at $925K. “Georgie” could be the odd man out, as he will be a restricted free agent at the end of this season. That said, the Rangers’ remain in control of all three, and they’ll likely explore trade avenues to extract value from the deep positional group.

Next Steps To Finalizing Toronto and Edmonton As Hub Cities

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It’s been a long and arduous journey, and there’s plenty more road left to clear, but it appears as if the NHL and NHLPA have a framework in place to settle all their outstanding issues, writes TSN’s Frank Seravalli. The deal has yet to be finalized, but when it is, it’s expected to include an extension of the current CBA, some of which we went over here, as well as the final details of the return-to-play initiative. Plus, of course, there’s the final announcement about the hub cities.

Multiple sources at the Athletic, however, confirm Bob McKenzie of TSN’s initial report that marked Toronto and Edmonton as the NHL’s chosen locations for hub play, per The Athletic’s Michael Russo. The 12 participating teams from the Western Conference would play in Edmonton, with the 12 Eastern Conference clubs headed to Toronto. Of course, that means that both the Maple Leafs and Oilers will have the “advantage” of playing in their home city. The NHL doesn’t view this as much of an advantage, however, given that fans won’t be in attendance. Besides, there’s at least a chance that neither the Oilers nor the Maple Leafs would advance past the Qualifier round.

Not to mention, there remain obstacles to finalizing the plan as currently constituted. Seravalli kindly laid out the next steps: “Once a deal is finalized, it will require ratification votes from both the NHLPA’s full membership and the NHL’s Board of Governors, which could come as soon as this weekend. A simple majority vote is needed from the NHLPA; a two-thirds vote is required from the BOG.”

Still, after hemming and hawing for weeks to finalize these details, it does appear as if the NHL and NHLPA are close to pulling off the monumental task of coming to an accord in just a manner of days.

Poll: Who Do You Least Want To See Win The No. 1 Pick?

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If Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly’s face didn’t give it away during Friday night’s NHL Draft Lottery, this result was not what the league was expecting or hoping for. In a season when a decorated Original Six franchise, the Detroit Red Wings, had one of the worst campaigns of all-time and the league’s most downtrodden franchise, the Ottawa Senators, had not one but two high-percentage chances of winning the top pick, the No. 1 overall selection will instead go to a to-be-determined “playoff” team.

With the league expanding the postseason field to 24 teams this season as a result of COVID-19 cutting the regular season short, 16 teams will vie for a chance to move through a “knockout round” onto a more standard version of the NHL playoffs. However, now those same 16 teams, all of whom finished above .500 this season, will also be in the running to win the top overall pick and the right to select a generational talent in forward Alexis Lafreniere. All eight losers of the qualifying round will have even odds in a second running of the lottery and one lucky team will get playoff experience and an elite young player this season. No one is going to be truly happy with the result (apart from the lottery winner and their fans of course) but who would you least like to see win the top overall pick?

The Pittsburgh Penguins might be at the top of many peoples’ lists. The franchise has won three Stanley Cups in the last decade and no one would be surprised to see them win again this year, especially given the fact that they finished  the regular season in seventh league-wide in points percentage. The Penguins are the best team slated to play in the knockout round, but if by some chance they lose to the Montreal Canadiens, Lafreniere could potentially join Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and company in a move that could extend the dynasty for years still to come. The thought of the talented young winger playing beside either of those superstars would be daunting to every other team in the league.

Finishing just behind Pittsburgh with the ninth-best points percentage in the league this year were the Carolina Hurricanes. The club has quietly accumulated a deep, talented roster including a number of elite young players. Carolina is set to contend for titles for many years to come, but Lafreniere would make them truly dangerous. Like the Penguins, the Hurricanes simply do not need the best player in the draft. Keep in mind  that they were also one of just two teams to vote against the expanded postseason model, making it especially twisted if they were to reap the benefits of this one-off lottery structure. As good as the Hurricanes were at times this season, they are a popular upset pick in the qualifying round against the New York Rangers and could wind up in the lottery.

The New York Islanders finished just outside the top-ten in points percentage this season and have a deep, experienced team. They also play a sound defensive system. While it works to win games, it isn’t the most exciting strategy and could limit the upside of an explosive offensive talent like Lafreniere. On top of that, the Isles don’t even know where they will be playing their home games next season and have suffered from poor attendance in recent years. It doesn’t exactly sound like an ideal landing spot for an exciting top prospect. Fortunately, the Islanders drew a plus matchup against the Florida Panthers and should advance past the knockout round if they can stick to their smothering defensive game.

Given their luck in the draft lottery over the past decade, it’s pretty gross to think about the Edmonton Oilers being in the running for another No. 1 pick. Likely soon to be the home of two MVP’s in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers landing Lafreniere as their fifth first overall pick and ninth top-ten pick since 2010 would really be something. With an improved NHL roster and a strong pipeline of talent, the Oilers are finally starting to be self-sufficient and don’t need Lafreniere like they might have in recent year. However, if the team can’t hold off a poor Chicago Blackhawks club in the knockout round, maybe they do need the pick.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are another team that is chock full of young talent and it would be an embarrassment of riches (and embarrassing for the league) to see them land Lafreniere. While the team would be in prime shape to finally snap their Stanley Cup drought with the addition, the Leafs are already well on their way and will be contenders for years and years to come even without the top pick. Additionally, should Toronto win the lottery, there would certainly be those that would cry foul about the whole situation. The Maple Leafs face the Columbus Blue Jackets in the qualifying round in one of the more evenly matched of the upcoming series. Toronto is likely the slight favorite, but could just as easily wind up in the lottery.

The current iteration of the Chicago Blackhawks is not good. However, they are also the most dominant franchise of this decade with three Stanley Cups. It’s not east to find many outside of Chicago who have pity for the current Blackhawks given their sustained success of late. With some of those core players still in place and some exciting young pieces starting to build up, the Blackhawks may already be back on the rebound without the assistance of Lafreniere. If they make it a series with the star-studded Oilers, it will be even more evident that they don’t need a top pick to stay relevant. Like the Maple Leafs, some will also be outraged if the Blackhawks win the lottery due to the perceived favoritism shown by the league on a number of occasions in recent years.

If you really want to hear conspiracy theories though, look no further than the possibility of the Montreal Canadiens winding up with No. 1 overall. Yes, the Canadiens have no business in a playoff series and would have been in the standard draft lottery anyway, but there will be plenty who think that it is far too convenient if the Habs win the top pick when a Francophone and Quebec native is the best player on the board. It used to be that Montreal – who don’t forget have more Stanley Cups than any NHL franchise – was able to claim the best French Canadian players in the draft regardless of draft order. If that opportunity should inadvertently occur once again, plenty of people might get upset at the league despite the fact that Montreal technically is the most deserving (read: worst) of the qualifying round teams. The NHL does not want that drama right now and its most decorated club frankly does not need special treatment, perceived or otherwise.

As for the remaining teams, the Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks were all better than their records implied this season and already have elite young players, the Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes may not have the fan bases to support a young star like Lafreniere, and I’m sure there are reasons to root against the Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, and Minnesota Wild as well. If you can think of a valid reason why the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have one playoff series win in franchise history, don’t deserve a stroke of good luck, that’s fine too.

What do you think? Which team do you absolutely not want to see Lafreniere go to, either because of existing talent or complaints of foul play or for any other reason? The reality is that one of these 16 will end up with the best player on the board, which in many ways is already a loss for the league, but it can get much worse from here.

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Vegas Golden Knights Sign Jiri Patera To Three-Year Entry-Level Deal

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The Vegas Golden Knights took a step towards securing their goaltending future today, signing Jiri Patera to a three-year, entry-level contract, per The Athletic’s Jesse Granger.

The Czech goaltender was one of the top goalies of the 2019-2020 season in the WHL, winning the Eastern Conference Goaltender of the Year Award after setting a new franchise record for the Wheat Kings with 2.55 GAA, per NHL.com, who also announced the signing.

Patera, 21, was a sixth-round selection of the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, the 161st overall selection. He wasn’t necessarily all that highly touted at the time, but his performance in the WHL raised some eyebrows and he’s in the conversation for the top goalie prospect in Vegas’ pipeline.

Despite their limited history, the Golden Knights already boast a strong tradition in the net thanks to Marc-Andre Fleury, a team leader who has been the face of the franchise in these early years. Though the former first overall pick already secured his place in Vegas lore, the veteran netminder wasn’t quite as effective this season as in his first two with the Golden Knights.

Next season would be the five-time All-Star’s age-36 year after 16 seasons in the league. At some point, Vegas will need to set their sights on choosing their goaltender of the future. Robin Lehner has backfilled the role ably after being acquired from the Blackhawks – plus he has a sweet new mask – but he’ll be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

Snapshots: Vegas No Longer Hub Frontrunner, Wild, Soucy, Coyotes, Kessel

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Hold onto your hats: the NHL’s hub cities saga is taking yet another turn. Las Vegas is no longer a presumed selection for one of the NHL’s hub cities, per Frank Seravalli of TSN Sports. Veteran NHL Reporter John Shannon notes that increasing cases of COVID-19 in 36 states across the United States – including Nevada – are among the reasons the NHL has started to look more seriously at letting Canada host both the Eastern and Western Conference playoff bubbles. Toronto and Edmonton would be the presumed frontrunners now, though still, nothing is official. It’s surprising that it took the NHL this long to move off Vegas as their top choice, but if the delay amounts to the league doing their due diligence, the process is working as intended. Still, we continue to wait for the final word from the league. In the meantime, let’s check in on some player health notes…

  • Minnesota Wild defenseman Carson Soucy has recovered from a mid-season upper-body injury and he’s ready to participate in the Stanley Cup Qualifier, per Pete Jensen of NHL.com. Soucy, 26, missed the final nine games of the season after scoring 14 points in the first 55 games. Soucy averaged over 15 minutes of ice time per game when he was healthy. He’ll be an option in the third pairing for Minnesota if indeed he’s back to full strength. Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Mathew Dumba, and Jonas Brodin figure to make up the top two defensive pairings for the Wild.
  • Mercurial forward Phil Kessel told reporters today that he’d never been more banged up in a season than this year, his first with the Arizona Coyotes, tweets Coyotes’ beat reporter Craig Morgan. In 70 games with Arizona, Kessel managed just 14 goals, the lowest total since his rookie season in 2006-2007. His 24 assists somewhat salvaged the campaign for the 32-year-old Kessel, but it’s still a far cry from the 75 points per season he racked up in four years with the Penguins. Kessel is a typically strong postseason performer, but he’ll have to come out the gate hot to push the Coyotes past the qualifier stage. This very well might be a case of a player putting a positive spin on a down year, but Kessel at full-speed is a big enough difference-maker that it’s worth tracking.

Snapshots: Dave Andrews Retirement, Hub Elimination, Flames, Gritty

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Dave Andrews is serving his final day as President and CEO of the AHL. Congratulations have filtered in throughout the day. Former player and current TV analyst Mike McKenna wrote via Twitter, “…You always had time for the players and considered us in league decisions when possible…then you’d beat us on the tennis court and share a drink after. Enjoy retirement, you’ve earned it!” It’s unfortunate that Andrews has to end his tenure with a season cut short, but it’s a testament to his impact on the game that many people thought first of him when the season was canceled, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. Andrews has served as the President of the AHL since 1994. The longtime executive will remain involved in helping the AHL forge a return-to-play plan. Patrick Williams, AHL beat writer for NHL.com, will be tracking congratulations to Andrews throughout the day. Let’s check-in elsewhere around the hockey world…

  • Los Angeles appears to be out of the running for the NHL’s hub cities, tweets TSN’s Bob McKenzie. It’s unclear if this decision was inspired by the recent uptick of coronavirus cases in Los Angeles and California, though it’s safe to assume it was a factor. Vegas, Chicago, Edmonton, and Toronto are the four remaining options to host the NHL’s 2020 postseason.
  • There will be a new face in camp as the Calgary Flames prepare for their potential Stanley Cup Qualifier with the 9-seeded Winnipeg Jets. The Flames extended an invitation to prospect Adam Ruzicka, who plans to join the club next week, per The Athletic’s Scott Cruickshank. The 21-year-old Slovak was a fourth-round pick of the Flames in 2017. Ruzicka notched 27 points (10 goals) for the Stockton Heat in 2019-2020.
  • In undoubtedly the most important NHL news of the day, Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty has a new look. The notoriously unkempt Philly native received the Queer Eye treatment, per NHL.com. Given the level of global fear amid health concerns and civil unrest, Gritty will perhaps face some criticism for leaning into this public pampering – but with the Queer Eye crew in Philadelphia for their fifth season on Netflix, Gritty found himself nominated for a makeover by none other than his close confidant and mentor, the Philly Phanatic. Luckily, Gritty took the nomination in stride, a testament to his character, given that the 43-year-old Phanatic started dying his hair last year –  a rather embarrassing display of public vanity from the Hall of Fame mascot.

NHL Players Concerned About Return To Play

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NHL Players might be more concerned about returning to play than they’ve let on, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels.

In a series of tweets, Engels shines a light on some of the discussions he has had with players, revealing a dichotomous relationship between players and the possibility of returning to play. On the one hand, players are concerned for their safety and frustrated with the lack of transparency and attention being paid to those details in their discussions with NHLPA representatives.

On the other hand, one player suggests that the culture is such in the NHL that no player will choose to opt-out if given the choice. A few NBA players have made the decision to opt-out of the NBA’s return to play, and four MLB players made the decision not to participate in the 2020 season yesterday, citing health concerns. A culture of toughness and grit permeates the hockeysphere, making it considerably more difficult for a player to simply elect to abstain from play – even amid heightened health concerns.

The player culture makes the NHL’s decision about hub cities all the more imperative. Some confusion has surrounded the presumed decision for Vegas to host one play hub, considering Nevada does not appear to be the most prepared environment in terms of containing coronavirus outbreaks. Cases of COVID-19 have been surging in Nevada, peaking with 1,041 new cases on June 27th.

For the NHL, however, Vegas brings a lot to the table when it comes to providing accommodations for players and staff in their quarantine bubbles. Importantly, the final decision has not yet been made, and the NHL has insisted that the five remaining cities are all still very much under consideration.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

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