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2022 Winter Olympics Tournament Field Set

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After several years of qualifying tournaments dating all the way back to November 2019 and delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the final three entries into the 2022 Winter Olympics Men’s Hockey Tournament are now set with less than six months to spare. The closing tournaments took place over this past week and came to a close today with Slovakia advancing past Belarus, Austria, and Poland, Latvia overcoming France, Hungary, and Italy, and Denmark upsetting host Norway to win the group that also included Slovenia and South Korea. The results are the following groups for the 2022 Games, with the three qualifying teams joining the IIHF’s top eight ranked nations and host China (with IIHF ranks):

Group A: (1) Canada, (6) United States, (7) Germany, (32) China
Group B: (2) Russia, (5) Czech Republic, (8) Switzerland, (12) Denmark
Group C: (3) Finland, (4) Sweden, (9) Slovakia, (10) Latvia

The inclusion of Slovakia, the top non-autobid nation in the IIHF, Latvia, and Denmark is a strong result for the competitive balance of the Olympic field, which was especially needed this time around to compensate for the drag of China’s participation. It also could allow for a pair of veteran NHLers who are currently unsigned to potentially ride off into the sunset with a final performance for their country. Zdeno Chara will be expected to lead a Slovakian entry that will have a mix of experienced veterans and promising youngsters, while Frans Nielsen will likely be the leader of the Danish squad, which will have more prime participants like Nikolaj Ehlers and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Latvia will bring a young roster built from the net out with Elvis Merzlikins. Lost by the final qualifying results are Olympic appearances from NHL stars like Anze Kopitar (Slovenia) and Mats Zuccarello (Norway) or young players leading their teams such as Alexandre Texier (France) and Marco Rossi (Austria). However, this for the best with the three teams who advanced clearly appearing to be the best choice on paper.

Of course, this all assumes that the NHL permits participation in these Olympic Games. While the league released a regular season schedule that allows for an Olympic break and the IIHF has reportedly met all demands of the league and the players’ association, there still has not been an official announcement. At this point, it is expected that NHL players will participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics, but concerns remain surrounding COVID-19 and China that could reverse course. The tournament field will not change regardless of whether the NHL sends players or not, but it will certainly impact how the Olympics are viewed this winter.

New York Rangers To Hire Ryan Martin

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Aug 25: The Rangers have officially announced the hiring of Martin, naming him to the roles previously reported.

Aug 13: The New York Rangers have added to the front office, hiring Ryan Martin as assistant general manager according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post. Martin will also serve as general manager of the Hartford Wolf Pack, the role previously held by Chris Drury before he was promoted in the Rangers organization.

It’s a big change for Martin, who has worked in the Detroit Red Wings front office for more than 15 years, including more than a decade as the team’s assistant GM. He also served as the GM of the Grand Rapids Griffins since 2013, winning the Calder Cup in 2017. Martin is also part of the staff for the U.S. World Junior program, which resulted in a gold medal at this year’s tournament.

The Rangers front office group is finally starting to take shape under Drury, who also hired John Lilley away from the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this month as director of player personnel and amateur scouting. The team underwent a drastic management dismissal earlier this year after some embarrassing losses, and has made it very clear that the team will undergo stylistic changes for the 2021-22 season. Players like Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Reaves, Patrik Nemeth, Jarred Tinordi and Sammy Blais have been brought in to give the team some significant size and physicality.

Martin’s history with contract negotiation and salary cap management will be key for the Rangers over the next few years, as they enter contract talks with some of their key players. Norris winner Adam Fox has just one year left on his entry-level deal, while top center Mika Zibanejad is scheduled for unrestricted free agency next summer. With those and many other contract talks coming up, cap concerns could become very pressing for the Rangers in short order.

NHL Releases Full Preseason Schedule

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The NHL has released the full 2021-22 preseason schedule, which will kick off on Saturday, September 25 between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Seattle Kraken will hit the ice for the first time the next day against the Vancouver Canucks in Spokane, Washington, the first of three WHL stops the expansion franchise will make this preseason.

The full schedule is as follows:

All times Eastern

SATURDAY, SEPT. 25

Montreal at Toronto, 2 p.m.

Minnesota at St. Louis, 8 p.m.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 26

Nashville at Florida (split-squad doubleheader), 2 and 6 p.m.

Boston at Washington, 5 p.m.

NY Islanders at NY Rangers, 7 p.m.

Ottawa at Winnipeg, 8 p.m.

San Jose (split squad) at Anaheim, 8 p.m.

Edmonton at Calgary, 9 p.m.

Vancouver vs. Seattle, at Spokane, Wash. (Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena), 9 p.m.

San Jose (split squad) at Vegas, 10 p.m.

MONDAY, SEPT. 27

Toronto at Montreal, 7 p.m.

Columbus at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.

Dallas at St. Louis, 8 p.m.

Los Angeles at Arizona, 10 p.m.

Calgary vs. Vancouver, at Abbotsford, B.C. (Abbotsford Centre), 10 p.m.

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Snapshots: Stalberg, Wisdom, Schedule

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After a long, productive professional career, Viktor Stalberg is hanging up his skates. The 35-year-old forward last played in the NHL during the 2016-17 season and has been suiting up in Switzerland for the last several years. Originally selected 161st overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2006, the Swedish forward took the unusual route (especially 15 years ago) of playing for the University of Vermont to continue his development, passing up the opportunity to play pro hockey at home.

After three years in the NCAA, he signed and quickly stepped into the Maple Leafs lineup, recording nine goals in his rookie season. A few years later he would be hoisting the Stanley Cup overhead with the Chicago Blackhawks. In all, he played for the Maple Leafs, Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, and Ottawa Senators over an eight-year NHL career spanning 488 regular season games.

  • Philadelphia Flyers prospect Zayde Wisdom has undergone shoulder surgery and will be out indefinitely. The 19-year-old forward played 28 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season when the OHL failed to hold a season, and impressed everyone with an excellent 18-point campaign. Wisdom was a fourth-round pick of the Flyers in 2020, but has already shown an ability to score at the minor league level. He would be one of the players that could potentially become eligible to return to the AHL next season on a one-time exemption, even though he would normally be required to return to the CHL. That obviously also now depends on his recovery from shoulder surgery.
  • The league has announced the start times for the 2021-22 regular season, which will kick off with a banner raising in Tampa Bay on October 12 before the Lightning take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. That game will be followed by the Seattle Kraken’s first contest, taking on the Vegas Golden Knights in the late slot. The regular season will conclude on April 29.

Overseas Notes: Olympics, Kuhnhackl, Slepets

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Will NHL players be headed to the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China this year? The league’s initial schedule release suggested as much, with a break penciled in for February 7-22, but several weeks later the NHL still has yet to confirm their participation. Fortunately, the wait for a decision will not have to last much longer. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly tells ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski that the league will announce, one way or another, their intention for the 2022 Olympics by the end of the month. Wyshynski notes that multiple teams around the league had also indicated that a decision would be made in August. While Olympic participation was written in to the recent CBA extension, it was dependent on an agreement between the NHL and NHLPA and the IIHF as to terms. This has been made more difficult with the resurgent COVID-19 cases and the Games taking place in China of all places. Conversely, the league and players’ association are also concerned about the conditions that the players may be in, with Wyshynski writing that the restrictions could be even heavier than they were in the 2020 NHL postseason bubbles. If the NHL does opt to skip the Beijing Olympics, Daly confirms that the league does have a backup schedule that would fill some of the dates in that currently scheduled gap, though the logistics of such a move could be difficult for teams to manage.

  • Tom Kuhnhackl appears to be on his way out of the NHL and back to Europe. The German forward has been linked to Swedish club Skelleftea AIK, reports local source Sport Expressen. They go so far as to say that the terms of a deal have been agreed to, just not formally announced. Such a move should not come as much of a surprise. Although Kuhnhackl enjoyed a good stretch as a reliable bottom-six forward, he was unable to crack the New York Islanders lineup last season, spending the year exclusively in the AHL or on the taxi squad. As a result, the 29-year-old now heads back to Europe to take on a starring role in the SHL rather than a depth role in North America. The move will also ensure that he can suit up for Germany at the Olympics regardless of the NHL’s decision. Kuhnhackl has been stellar on the international stage for Germany in the past and will look to do so again.
  • Carolina Hurricanes prospect Kirill Slepets is not rushing to North America despite up-and-down development in Russia. The 2019 fifth-round pick has signed a one-year, two-way contract with Spartak Moscow, the team announced. An overage draft pick, Slepets is already 22 years old and after two season with KHL action, was relegated to only second-tier VHL play last season, leading some to expect he might try out a new development path. Instead, Slepets will stay put in Russia and try his luck with locking down a regular role with Spartak . A small, slippery winger, Slepets has struggled competing against the top talent of the KHL with just eight points in 43 games at the top level, but has shown his ability in the minors with 30 points in 65 VHL games. If he is to ever become a legitimate NHL prospect, especially at his age, the Hurricanes will need to see him take a major step this season or else try his hand in North America next year.

Snapshots: Power, Olympics, Orlando

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The past few days have been quite the event in NHL news, leading up to the Seattle Expansion Draft on Wednesday and the NHL Entry Draft on Friday. But while the majority of news and notes have had to do with the Kraken, including their reported signing of goalie Chris Driedger earlier today, the Entry Draft hasn’t been lost in the shuffle. TSN’s Bob McKenzie, in his final draft piece before the event on Friday, states that in his polling of NHL scouts, University of Michigan defenseman Owen Power has pulled away from the rest of the field and is the consensus No. 1 overall choice ahead of the draft. This comes after reports that the Buffalo Sabres, who hold the first pick, had yet to interview Power and had significant interest in Swedish forward William Eklund instead. But based on McKenzie’s polling, it seems as though Buffalo will still be selecting Power with that first choice. What remains to be seen is if the Sabres acquire an additional top-10 draft choice ahead of Friday, allowing them to potentially select both Power and Eklund. What’s for sure is that neither will join the team next season, as both Power and Eklund have expressed their desire to return to their respective teams for at least one more season.

  • ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski notes that despite the NHL expected to leave an Olympic break in their 2021-22 schedule, their participation in the event is not yet confirmed. This builds on earlier reporting that the NHL had until July 23rd to find a resolution for the situation. However, that was based on the fact that the schedule would be final and without modification. The expectation here is that with an Olympic break built into the schedule, the NHL won’t need to add any time to the season if they are able to send their players to China in 2022. If not, the schedule can be adjusted without extending the season.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning announced in a press release today that they’ve extended their ECHL affiliation with the Orlando Solar Bears for two years. The agreement takes the two teams through the 2022-23 season and ensures a pipeline of Orlando in the ECHL and Syracuse in the AHL remains constant for the next two seasons. Orlando, previously the ECHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs, has seen success in recent years after matching with the Lightning organization. The team likely appreciates having a relatively local minor league affiliate and had no desire to move elsewhere.

Snapshots: Price, NHL Schedule, Snowden

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The NHL landscape was rocked this weekend with a landslide of news triggered by a pre-Expansion Draft transaction freeze that came into effect yesterday. Trades rolled in quick succession prior to the 3:00 PM ET deadline, leading to an unexpected rush of news. Now, with teams’ protection lists for the Seattle Expansion Draft being released this morning, there are even more implications. One of these is the future of Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price. After shockingly being asked to waive his no-movement clause, Price wasn’t protected by the Habs this morning. It’s led to a variety of rumors surrounding the circumstance of his potential selection. One potentiality that was floated was Seattle selecting Price and proceeding to trade him back to Montreal with salary retained. However, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that this isn’t possible given league statutes. The NHL classifies this type of move as salary cap circumvention, meaning that if the Kraken do select Price, he won’t be able to be immediately dealt back to Montreal. Uncertainty remains surrounding whether the Canadiens could re-acquire Price next offseason, however, which could be a strong possibility.

  • National Hockey Now reports that the NHL will indeed be re-incorporating series-style scheduling into the 2021-22 regular-season schedule, which is expected to be released this week. It’s a move that was widely anticipated ahead of the announcement. This year’s NHLPA players’ poll revealed that 66.3% of players wished to carry this year’s series-style scheduling forward into the coming seasons. It’ll be of benefit to teams as they begin to readjust to league-wide travel, as the league returns to its standard divisions next season. The only modification will be the Arizona Coyotes moving to the Central Division, vacating their Pacific Division spot for the Kraken.
  • The AHL’s Toronto Marlies announced today that they’ve brought in John Snowden as an assistant coach. He fills a vacant seat on the Marlies’ coaching staff left by former NHL defenseman Rob Davison, who departed the team after his contract expired this offseason. Snowden’s most well-known achievement as a coach is guiding the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers to a Kelly Cup Championship in 2019 after he was promoted to the job mid-season. He’ll look to bring that championship expertise to the next generation of Toronto Maple Leafs prospects beginning next season.

NHL Announces Multiple Events For 2021-22

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During NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s state of the league address today, ahead of game one of the Stanley Cup Finals, the league officially announced several events for the 2021-22 season.

First is the 2022 Winter Classic, which will feature the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild at Target Field, Minneapolis. The event will be held on January 1, 2022, a year after it was originally scheduled. The Wild were set to hold the 2021 Winter Classic, but it was eventually canceled due to the COVID restrictions present all season long. This is the second outdoor game for both organizations.

The 2022 Stadium Series is headed to Nashville, where the Predators will welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning at Nissan Stadium. This will be the second outdoor game for the Predators, who took part in the 2020 Winter Classic against the Dallas Stars. For the Lightning, this will be the first outdoor game in the franchise history. The Carolina Hurricanes, who were supposed to hold the Stadium Series game in 2021, will not be involved next season but Bettman confirmed that the league will schedule an event in Raleigh at some point in the near future.

Perhaps most notable however is the 2022 All-Star Weekend, which is officially scheduled to take place in Las Vegas next year. The Vegas Golden Knights will host the league’s best players, though the actual dates have not been able to be announced yet. That’s because the league’s schedule isn’t confirmed yet and could still include an Olympic break, though deputy commissioner Bill Daly did explain today that “time is running short” on those negotiations. Bettman explained that if at all possible, they want to fulfill their promise to the players that they would go, but that there are serious concerns at this point over whether this is even “the most ideal Olympics to go to.”

Though not included in the official announcement, the 2022 NHL Entry Draft is expected to be held in Montreal, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The 2020 draft was originally scheduled to be held in Montreal but was eventually moved to a virtual setting. At the time, the league suggested that they would go back to the city as soon as possible, which now seems like it will be in 2022.

Snapshots: Draft Rankings, Schedule, Sedins

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The NHL Entry Draft is right around the corner and rankings, mock drafts and scouting reports continue to pile up. The Buffalo Sabres have the first-overall pick once again and another defenseman is at the top of most lists. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic released his full draft board today and like most other scouts, has University of Michigan star Owen Power at the top. The 6’6″ Power recently won a gold medal at the World Championship and is almost certainly going to be the first player selected next month.

It’s Wheeler’s other rankings that are even more interesting, however, as he goes in-depth on the first 100 prospects listed. One place where he diverts quite a bit from the NHL Central Scouting ranking is on Mason McTavish, who he slides in at tenth overall. McTavish finished second among North American skaters in the CSS rankings and will be in the mix for the first few selections. The entire list is worth a few minutes (or perhaps an afternoon, given how thorough it is) for hockey fans of every NHL team.

  • NHL insider John Shannon tweets that the league will be sending out two drafts of a 2021-22 schedule this week, one with the Olympics included and one without. It is still not clear whether the league will be participating in the Games, as there is considerable support for and against going. Shannon notes that the official schedule will be out in the third week of July.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have been working with Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin to find them a new role in the organization, and Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK reports that the official announcement is expected tomorrow. It’s still not clear exactly what the role or responsibilities will be for the twins, but they are expected to be involved with the new Abbotsford AHL team.

AHL Approves Schedule Unification For 2022-23

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For years, AHL clubs have been playing various schedule lengths depending on which division they were in. In the 2018-19 season, for instance, the Pacific Division played just 68 games while the other three divisions hit the ice 76 times. Before that, even Pacific teams were playing in different amounts, with points percentage being used to determine standings. Now, the AHL has approved a plan for schedule unification by the 2022-23 season. All teams will follow a 72-game schedule at that point in a plan that league president Scott Howson called “fair and equitable.”

This upcoming season, the schedule will still be unbalanced, with the Pacific still playing just 68 games, while the other teams were given the option of 72 or 76-game schedules. The decisions were made as follows:

76 Games:

Chicago Wolves
Cleveland Monsters
Grand Rapids Griffins
Hershey Bears
Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Milwaukee Admirals
Rochester Americans
Springfield Thunderbirds
Syracuse Crunch
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

72 Games:

Belleville Senators
Bridgeport Islanders
Charlotte Checkers
Hartford Wolf Pack
Iowa Wild
Laval Rocket
Manitoba Moose
Providence Bruins
Rockford IceHogs
Texas Stars
Toronto Marlies
Utica Comets

68 Games:

Abbotsford (team name not yet released)
Bakersfield Condors
Colorado Eagles
Henderson Silver Knights
Ontario Reign
San Diego Gulls
San Jose Barracuda
Stockton Heat
Tucson Roadrunners

The league has also announced the divisional alignment, which will be similar to the 2019-20 format but include Abbotsford and Henderson in the Pacific.

The number of teams qualifying for the Calder Cup Playoffs will also be increasing at some point, though the details on that have not yet been finalized or released.

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