Cleaning out the Brain
Don’t fret. The Northwest Division Preview should be coming this weekend. Until then, however, I’m going to give you a little bit of the random junk that falls off the top of my head as something to tide you over.
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A week or so ago, there was a debate raging over the seemingly never ending battle between bloggers and the mainstream media.
Now, I’m a little late to the party mostly because I didn’t have the time to weigh in on the issue, but here are my thoughts nonetheless.
I am, above all else, a blogger. I don’t have a journalism degree, nor do I write for any traditional news source. I blog for Wild Nation and I also write more traditional articles for Hockey Primetime.
That’s it. No newspapers, no print journalism. Just those two.
Now, as a blogger, I don’t answer to anyone but myself. There is no editorial staff on Wild Nation that reads every single thing I write and fact checks it or even checks it for grammar. That is my responsibility, whether or not I choose to do so.
If I so chose, I could write that Brent Burns wears a pink thong instead of a jock strap when he plays and post it because there’s nobody to check the veracity of my claims – the facts of what I write are taken as truth or not based solely on my own integrity.
Are there bloggers out there that hold themselves to a higher standard? Absolutely. There are bloggers around the interweb that genuinely put in the work. They do the digging and they find good, newsworthy material for their blogs and manage to do so in a fairly objective manner (if a little skewed towards their own viewpoint).
But the problem remains that most bloggers aren’t subject to an editorial staff, nor do they have anyone that holds them accountable for what they write and this accountability is key.
On a whole, there are blogs that are either a) part of a larger network or b) part of a media outlet that are held to these higher standards. Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog and the blog platform SB Nation are examples of each of these. Both have earned a reputation for bringing on people that will legitimately do the legwork to make sure that what they are writing, no matter how inflammatory, is based in fact.
Meanwhile, there are independent blogs and some other networks that don’t have this reputation.
One of these larger networks is the Bleacher Report. {Author’s Note: In the spirit of full disclosure, I used to write for the Bleacher Report.}
While the Bleacher Report has an extensive editorial staff, this staff does not check for facts (or, at least they didn’t in my experience there). Their sole duty is to check for stylistic and grammatical errors.
That’s it.
So why, oh why, would the league credential writers who are not accountable to anyone? Why in the world would a team want to credential someone who would be free to make any outrageous claim he or she wished, which would then hold the weight of coming from a credentialed writer?
The bottom line is that, truthfully, they shouldn’t.
Yes, it sucks for those of us that genuinely try to do a good job and genuinely try to put in the legwork and do the research to get the facts. Does it frustrate me to no end that I likely wouldn’t be able to be credentialed through Wild Nation?
Absolutely, because that access would allow me to give my readers an even more in depth look into the team and not have to rely on media outlets to get snippets of behind-the-scenes news.
But I understand completely why teams are weary about giving this access out to every Tom, Dick and Harry out there.
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I’ll be honest here. I’m really getting sick of this whole Ilya Kovalchuk fiasco.
I love Kovie. I think he’s one of the more exciting players in the game to watch. But this has seriously gone on long enough.
I like that the NHL rejected his first contract because, quite honestly, it was ridiculous along with all of the other long-term contracts that are getting signed these days. But, from what I understand, the Devils were in close contact with the league on this second contract that they submitted.
Sooooooo…
Shouldn’t that mean that the league shouldn’t have had to extend the deadline to approve it?
I mean, really…WTF mate?? Just get it done already or let him go to the KHL – one or the other, because we’re all getting sick of hearing about it.
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There was some pretty awesome stuff going down on Twitter today in the shape of a #80shiphopfantasyteamname meme. Check out some of the highlights.
@gonebeancountin: Vanilla Yzerman
@Sean_Leahy: Straight Outta Comrie
@Steve_Dangle: Public Eberle
@BanginPanger: Salt n Peca
@mserven: Doughty by Nature
@DownGoesBrown: Hip Hop Souray
And, a couple of mine:
Me, Myself and Iafrate
Fight For Your Right to Pardy
Kurtis Foster Blow
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And finally, am I the only one that really, really hopes that the offer sheet to Niklas Hjalmarsson was some diabolical plot by Doug Wilson to steal Antti Niemi from the Blackhawks?
I just have the image of Wilson sitting at his desk saying a Mr. Burns-esque “Excellent” at the news that the ‘Hawks matched the offer sheet.
Hopefully this brings some sort of blood feud between the two teams because, let’s be honest here…That’s something the NHL needs infinitely more of.
Wild Nation’s Ridiculously Early Season Previews: The Central Division
Well, here we are. The Eastern Conference is down and just three divisions and the playoff picture are left to go, so let’s delve into the Western Conference picture, shall we?
The Western Conference has been the more competitive of the two conferences in term of depth over the last few seasons and this season should be no different. The core of this depth has come from the Central division. Last season, three of the five teams made the playoffs, while one more was on the bubble and there’s no doubt that there’s at four teams that could be challenging for the playoffs this season.
So let’s get started.
Chicago Blackhawks – There is no doubt that the Blackhawks are going to be a much, much different team than the one that won the Stanley Cup last season.
Gone are role players like Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien who have been replaced by Fernando Pisani and a handful of players who have been developing in Rockford. This is both troubling for Blackhawks fans and intriguing as well. Jack Skille, Jake Dowell and Bryan Bickell will finally get their chance in the big leagues, as will Viktor Stalberg.
The good news for their forward corps, however, is that returning are their core players like Toews, Hossa, Kane and Sharp. With those players to guide their incoming youngsters, the Hawks should still be in good hands next season.
On defense, the team has added big defenseman John Scott who will add some toughness in the absence of Ben Eager. While the contract of Niklas Hjalmarsson may be questionable, there’s no doubt that their top-four are as good as any in the league and the potential addition of Nick Leddy to the group is encouraging indeed.
Their biggest question lies between the pipes. With the decision to walk away from Antti Niemi and sign Marty Turco, the ‘Hawks have also made a statement that they are confident that it was not the young Finn who led them to the promised land.
While Turco’s record in big games is more than questionable, there is no doubt that he has both the drive to succeed, as well as the talent to be a successful goaltender in Chicago.
Columbus Blue Jackets – The Blue Jackets find themselves in a precarious position.
They are just one season removed from their first playoff appearance in team history, yet there is an air of uncertainty surrounding this team that is undeniable. In fact, questions are abounding when it comes to the Jackets.
Is Steve Mason a true franchise goaltender? Can Nikita Filatov find himself in the NHL? Can Rick Nash truly be dominant player without a top center?
If the answer to two of the three of those questions is yes, then you could very well see the Stanley Cup Playoffs return to Ohio.
The problem is, however, is that there is no certainty that the answer to any of these three questions is yes.
Mason started to find his game again at the end of the season, while Filatov may find himself much more suited to the style of Scott Arneil than of Ken Hitchcock, but the fact remains that Nash does not have that one player on his line that can complement him and help him become the dominant player that we saw in the Olympics.
The addition of Ethan Moreau makes the team tougher to play against, to be sure, but it does nothing to help their top-six forwards.
Unfortunately for Jackets fans, it would appear that this team is again going to be on the outside looking in unless things turn around very, very quickly. There are significant needs that the team has that were not addressed in either the draft or free agency, most notably help on defense. These needs must be addressed before the team can take any significant steps forward so, they may be looking at another lottery pick.
Detroit Red Wings – So, how do the Detroit Red Wings follow up an admittedly disappointing season?
Well, how about signing a future hall-of-famer, a gritty defenseman and getting back one of their top young players from the KHL?
Their forward corps now have Jiri Hudler back in the fold as well as newcomer Mike Modano, who will serve as a depth center and also get some powerplay time, most likely. But on top of that, they will have a healthy and rested forward unit that is one of the most potent in the NHL.
Johan Franzen and Tomas Holmstrom will be back healthy and the return of Hudler will likely spell a resurgence for the team’s two superstars in Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg and that can only mean bad things for the rest of the league.
On defense, Ruslan Salei joins an already solid defensive unit and will provide them with some added grit. He, along with Brad Stuart and Niklas Kronwall will ensure that opposing forwards keep their heads up.
Led, once again, by Nicklas Lidstrom, the Wings blueline will be one of the toughest to play against in the league and Salei’s hardnosed style will only add to that and their defense should only solidify Jimmy Howard’s place in net with the squad.
Howard had a breakout season with the Wings last year and the Calder Trophy nominee unseated Chris Osgood in the starting role. He held the Wings together through the injuries last season and was the sole reason that the team was able to not only make the playoffs but claw their way as far up as they did. Howard will have a lot to prove in order to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump but he is in the best situation possible to be able to do so.
When you look at the Wings, they are a team that is poised and ready to be a competitive team in the Stanley Cup race once again and could easily find themselves as the frontrunner to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup finals again.
Nashville Predators – To be perfectly honest, Nashville is like the bad cold of the Central Division. When it comes down to it, there’s no reason they should be there but you simply can’t get rid of them.
The Preds are about $13 million under the salary cap heading into this season with 15 forwards under contract, but just five defensemen and one goaltender. As always, however, it should be expected that those positions will be filled from within.
Chet Pickard will likely get a good, long look as the team’s back up goaltender while it could be expected that Ryan Ellis or Cody Franson will get a look as the team’s sixth and seventh defensemen.
But overall, this is a Predators team that is looking like they could match up very well with the rest of the division.
Matthew Lombardi joins an underrated forward unit and Colin Wilson will find himself in an increased role as well, after the departure of Jason Arnott. The top six, while not flashy, are both reliable and clutch and their young players of Wilson and Patric Hornqvist are continuing to improve. Throw in the addition of Sergei Kostitsyn, who will have a renewed lease on life after a change of scenery, hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow former-Montreal Canadiens underachiever, Guillaume Latendresse and some solid role players like Joel Ward and Jerred Smithson round out the group.
On defense, they still have their solid top-two of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. These two will anchor a defensive unit that could use some work, but is very promising.
With veteran Francis Boullion, youngsters Ryan Parent (who is looking for a new lease on life in Nashville as well) and Kevin Klein will round out a defensive unit that will look much different by the time the season starts.
In net, they have Pekka Rinne, who will look to improve on a pedestrian season last year. Without Dan Ellis looking over his shoulders, however, the starting job is Rinne’s to lose and the team’s hope is that the certainty of his job will elevate his play.
The Predators are likely going to be a bubble team this year, as they have been the past few seasons, but that shouldn’t be a problem for a team that is used to that tag being saddled on them.
St. Louis Blues – Last season was admittedly disappointing for the Blues, who had come in with high hopes of contending, or at least winning a playoff series.
The young Blues team faltered early on and, after the firing of Andy Murray and hiring of Davis Payne, began to find the fire that had made them a force to be reckoned with in the West.
This season will be one of change for the Blues, though it shouldn’t make them any less deadly. Paul Kariya and Keith Tkachuk are both gone, leading to a youth movement for the team. This will lead to increased ice time for players like David Perron, David Backes, T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund, all of whom will look to improve on their performances from last season.
The fate of the Blues likely lies in how these four perform. With the subtractions of Tkachuk and Kariya, their forward unit is significantly younger and has lost two of their more prominent leaders. That means that these four, as well as players like Brad Boyes and Andy McDonald will have to step up and fill the void both in leadership and in point production if this team is to be successful.
On the back end, the team has their potent young duo of Erik Johnson and Alex Pietrangelo (who will likely finally crack the lineup for good this season). These two will be the cornerstones of a defensive unit that is as offensively talented as it is gritty, making for a potent combination.
Behind this defensive unit is the hero of the Montreal Canadiens, Jaroslav Halak. Halak proved in the playoffs that he is capable of bearing the load of a franchise and is really the first solid goaltender that the team has had in a few years. Behind him will be perennial solid back up, Ty Conklin, who will fill in admirably when needed and the duo will provide one of the more solid goaltending tandems in the West.
There is no doubt that the Blues are a bubble team, but there’s no doubt that Davis Payne has this team playing the way that he wants them to and heading in the right direction.
Predictions
1) Detroit Red Wings
2) Chicago Blackhawks
3) Nashville Predators
4) St. Louis Blues
5) Columbus Blue Jackets
It breaks down like this. The Red Wings and Blackhawks will most likely be back in the playoffs this season. As with the last couple seasons, one of the last spots in the West could be determined by who finishes third or fourth in the division, lending hope to Predators and Blues fans. Finally, Columbus will find themselves looking at the lottery once again; however, their future continues to look up under Scott Howson.
Up Next: The Northwest Division
Wild Nation’s Ridiculously Early Season Previews: The Southeast Division
Last time, we took a look at the Northeast Division but, today, in our final division preview of the Eastern Conference, our view moves south to the division that is considered by many to be the weakest in the East.
Those perceptions, however, look as if they may be changing. Let’s take a look, shall we?
Atlanta Thrashers – Atlanta found themselves second in the Southeast last season, despite their tumultuous season that saw them deal superstar winger Ilya Kovalchuk to the New Jersey Devils for a king’s ransom.
Their biggest off season change, in my opinion, was the insertion of Rick Dudley into the general manager position, moving former GM Don Waddell to a more administrative position.
The move has already started to pay dividends, as Dudley has brought in the likes of Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Ben Eager and Brent Sopel from Chicago as well as Chris Mason to share the net with Ondrej Pavelec.
Let’s be clear. The additions of Byfuglien and the like make the Thrashers a better team, but don’t necessarily make them a contender.
The Thrashers are still missing that gamebreaker that they had in Kovalchuk, though Little, Bergfors or Kane could easily turn into that. The mantra for this team for this off season has seemed to be “get harder to play against,” and for the first time in a long time it looks like there is a distinct plan in place to mold this team into a contender.
The bottom line is that the Thrashers are getting better and they’re heading in the right direction – they just might have a little farther to go.
Carolina Hurricanes – The question that everyone is going to be wondering about this Hurricanes team is whether they were the team that started the season so miserably or that ended their season so strong.
Injuries hampered the ‘Canes last season and Staal, Ward and Ruutu should be healthy and ready to go this season and their defense will be anchored by four familiar faces. If Cam Ward is healthy, this is a team that could really do some damage in the Southeast.
The ‘Canes have been relatively quiet in free agency, compared to their Atlanta counterparts, but have brought back Anton Babchuk who played last season in the KHL.
What Carolina is counting on is the growth of their younger players. The losses of veteran leaders Ray Whitney and Rob Brind’amour are both big for the team but their top-six could be considered relatively in tact as Chad LaRose or Brandon Sutter will step in to the spot vacated by Whitney.
Let us not forget that this is still relatively the same team that marched to the Conference finals two seasons ago. The ‘Canes have a good team and, if everything lines up right they could be heading back to the playoffs.
Right now, however, there are too many question marks to say that this is a playoff team, but all the parts are there for a successful season.
Florida Panthers – It would be easy to write off the Panthers as being in a re-building phase of their franchise’s history, but the fact of the matter is that they’ve been re-building now since the trade of Roberto Luongo and they have been surprisingly competitive the last few seasons.
Their immediate strength is in net with goaltender Tomas Vokoun coming off the two best seasons of his career.
In front of him, they have a group of solid, but not flashy defensemen anchored by Bryan McCabe and Dennis Wideman. Youngsters Keaton Ellerby and Dmitry Kulikov give some hope for the future on the blueline and will get some valuable ice time this season.
Where this team will struggle is up front. David Booth and Stephen Weiss lead a corps of forwards that are unimpressive, to say the least. The team lost its second leading scorer last season and did little to nothing to replace him. The additions of Steve Bernier and Michael Grabner will help, but not enough to help a team that was 28th in goals for last season.
If the Panthers are going to be successful, it’s going to be on the strength of their defense and their goaltending and, in an offensively powered Southeast Division; that could pose a problem.
Tampa Bay Lightning – Like the Thrashers, the Lightning’s best move could have been the hiring of Steve Yzerman as their General Manager.
Yzerman has already made some big moves for the team, trading for Simon Gagne, as well as signing Pavel Kubina, Dominic Moore and Dan Ellis.
The trade for Gagne is a huge addition to the squad as he gives the team a legitimate fourth scoring threat if he is healthy, and also allows them the ability to break up the big-three without losing anything. Once Steve Downie is re-signed (he is a Restricted Free Agent), the Bolts will have themselves one of the most potent top-six forwards in the league.
On top of that, the additions of Dominic Moore and Sean Bergenheim give this team two players that may not be top-six forwards, but that are capable of logging powerplay time and pitching in offensively as well.
But offense may not be this team’s downfall. With 260 goals against last season, they desperately needed an upgrade on defense and in net and Dan Ellis and Pavel Kubina represent that.
While Kurtis Foster had a remarkable season last year, it was obvious that he wasn’t exactly what the team needed. Kubina, however, gives them another top-pairing defenseman that is both comfortable in the city and is able to log even strength, powerplay and penalty kill time. The team has yet to re-sign Paul Ranger, but once that is accomplished, this could be a very solid defense.
But, by far the biggest upgrade is in net. The team will have Dan Ellis and Mike Smith sharing the net – something that they hope will benefit both goaltenders, who have struggled at times in starting roles.
With an improved defense, however, they hope that Ellis and Smith will be protected enough to find themselves as contenders again and, with this offense, they could most certainly be that.
Washington Capitals – Let’s be honest here – this is the easiest pick to call.
The Caps will be good. They’ll be first in the division and back in the playoffs.
How’s that for a bold prediction?
In all seriousness, though, the Capitals will be a very good team again this season. They will score goals and they will win games. But will they be Cup contenders?
As with many other teams, the answer to that question lies in goal.
Semyon Varlamov and Michael Neuvirth are taking over the duties in goal and it’s going to be interesting to see if these two young netminders can handle the pressure of what will be expected of them. Both have shown flashes, but it is still uncertain as to whether or not they can go the distance for the team.
Meanwhile, the team is still built to win. They haven’t lost any important cogs on either offense or defense and, in fact, should see both Karl Alzner and John Carlson improve on defense to make for a very potent blue line unit. In fact, the Caps even have some cap room to make improvements throughout the season or even before the season starts.
And that is a scary thought for the other four Southeast teams wanting to take over their crown.
Predictions
So, how will this conference break down? Let’s take a look:
1) Washington Capitals
2) Tampa Bay Lightning
3) Carolina Hurricanes
4) Atlanta Thrashers
5) Florida Panthers
As for the playoffs, I see the Capitals and Lightning making the playoffs and the Hurricanes and/or Thrashers again being a bubble team. The Panthers, as is likely expected, will be on the outside looking in as they build towards a Stanley Cup contending team.
Up Next: The Central Division
Wild Nation’s Ridiculously Early Season Predictions: Northeast Division
Well, it’s ridiculously early season preview time again.
Last time, we took a look at the Atlantic Division, with many of the teams taking much different approach to the season than they did last season. In other words, spending money and spending money on areas of need, in some cases, and to shore up strengths in others.
This time, though, we’re taking a look at the Nord-east Division, the home of some of the more intriguing teams coming into this season.
Boston Bruins – The Bruins have some work left to do this off season, as they are already about $3.1 million over the salary cap (though that will be temporarily relieved when the team places Marco Sturm on the Injured Reserve).
The good news for the Bruins are that they have just two contracts that are worth $5 million or more (Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara), but the bad news is that one of those contracts is for Thomas, who is both a 35-plus contract (meaning that, if he retires, it counts against the salary cap regardless) and has a No-Movement Clause that prevents him from being traded or moved to the minors prior to July 1, 2012.
In other words, it makes him darn hard to move.
What the Bruins do have, however, is a strong core.
They have Tukka Rask in net, a goalie who you could have made a strong case for the Vezina for last season, and a core of solid young forwards led by David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that Tyler Seguin will be on the opening day roster and really, the Bruins are looking pretty good heading into the season despite the questions surrounding whether or not Tim Thomas and Marc Savard will be moved.
Buffalo Sabres – There are many intriguing teams in the Northeast Division this season and many intriguing storylines – unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), none of these involve the Sabres.
The team’s biggest off season acquisition?
Rob Niedermayer.
But, for a team that won the Northeast last season that could be a good thing.
They have eight of their ten top scorers returning and that’s not mentioning Tyler Ennis, who scored at nearly a point-per-game pace in his ten-game cup of coffee last season.
The one area that this team could be lacking in is their defense. They lost a lot of experience and talent in Lydman and Tallinder and I’m not so sure that Leopold and Morrisonn are necessarily an upgrade on defense. If you’re a Sabres fan, this unknown could be a scary proposition. But, with Ryan Miller in net, these losses could go unnoticed, as the Vezina Trophy winner remains one of the top goalies in the league.
The bottom line? The Northeast is Buffalo’s to lose, but if their defense doesn’t live up to what it will need to, you could easily see them do just that.
Montreal Canadiens – So, how do you reward a goalie that many heralded as the revelation of the playoffs?
Trade him, of course.
That is the type of puzzling logic that Canadiens fans saw themselves subjected to over the off season.
Let us not forget that the player that they dubbed their number one immediately following the Halak trade, Carey Price, has yet to be re-signed.
But, it’s not all bad news for the Habs. Price is a restricted free agent and will be back with the team next season, one way or the other. The Halak trade brought in a great young player in Lars Eller and their top forwards still remain.
The team also has one of the most exciting young defensemen in the league in P.K. Subban, who proved himself to be a terrific addition on the blueline and will most certainly be a welcome addition to a defense that is looking better and better as the season nears.
The team’s forwards are set and should prove effective once again as their “big four” of Gomez, Cammalleri, Plekanec and Gionta have another year with one another, which can only mean good things. The biggest question marks at forward are how Andrei Kostitsyn will respond to the trade of his brother as he comes off a sub-par season and whether or not career under-achiever Benoit Pouliot can build on the strong play that he showed last season.
With all of these questions, however, there’s no doubt that their season all hinges on their play in net. If Price is signed and performs up to expectations, there’s no doubt that the Habs could be back in the playoffs. That being said, though…That’s a LARGE if.
Ottawa Senators – Ottawa arguably made the biggest splash this off season in the Northeast, signing Sergei Gonchar to a three-year deal.
Apart from that singular splash, however, Sens chose to maintain the status quo.
Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen, but he does immediately make the Sens a much better team.
Once again, however, the Sens biggest question remains in nets. Whether Brian Elliott or Pascal Leclaire can step up and be the team’s top goalie remains to be seen, but there is some optimism surrounding this team.
Jason Spezza had 38 points in the 30 games after he came back from injury, which lends to the idea that he might be back to his 90-plus point form. Daniel Alfredsson and Milan Michalek will also help spur on an offense that struggled at times last season. The most optimistic showing, however, was the emergence of Peter Regin during the post season as both a scorer and a clutch scorer, at that.
As with Montreal, however, Ottawa’s questions lie in net. If Elliott and Leclaire can hold down the fort in net, Ottawa could be the sleeper team in a division of some of the NHL’s most storied franchises.
Toronto Maple Leafs – This is the part where Toronto fans are hoping that whoever is doing the preview is going to say that they’re the sleeper team in the East and going to win the division and so on, and so on.
Sorry Leafs fans. It’s not going to happen just yet. The operative word, though, is yet.
As it stands now, the Leafs have one of the best defensive units in the East. Phaneuf, Komisarek, Kaberle and Beauchemin could all be top-two defensemen in the right situations, while Schenn and Lebda round out a very impressive top six. Throw in the fact that they have J.S. Giguere in nets who looked much closer to the Giguere of old after being traded to Toronto from Anaheim last season and you’ve got an impressive back end.
The biggest question mark for Toronto, though, is their offense. When your leading scorer has 55 points, there is a big problem. The addition of Kris Versteeg should help this immediately, while Kulemin and Bozak will continue to grow and should put forth more impressive seasons than they did last year.
It’s very apparent that Brian Burke is still trying to mold this team into the one that he wants them to be and it’s apparent that he’s taking steps in that direction, especially after the signing of Colby Armstrong.
The best compliment that a rebuilding franchise can get is that it’s hard to play against and Toronto will definitely be that. They will be difficult to play against and they will be competitive but, at the end of the day, I don’t foresee them making it into the playoffs this season.
Predictions
So, now that the previews are behind us, let’s see how I think the Northeast will break down:
1) Buffalo Sabres
2) Boston Bruins
3) Ottawa Senators
4) Montreal Canadiens
5) Toronto Maple Leafs
Last season four of the five Northeast teams made the playoffs and I don’t see that happening again. I think that the Sabres and the Bruins will be squarely in the midst of the playoff race, while the Senators and Habs will be a bubble team. The Leafs will once again be on the outside looking in.
Up Next: The Southeast Division
Wild and NHL Musings
Well, a lot has happened since last we met, so I figured I’d better just tackle the slew of it in one fell swoop. I’ll be looking at some NHL news too, but mostly Wild news.
Before we get into my Wild musings, let’s take a look at the big story to hit in the NHL today.
Arbitrator Voids Kovalchuk’s Contract
This is going to be a very contentious topic, methinks, so I’ll just dive headfirst into it.
Arbitrator Richard Bloch has ruled against the NHLPA’s grievance and upheld the NHL’s decision to reject Ilya Kovlachuk’s 17-year, $102 million contract with the New Jersey Devils.
One reason for the rejection that Bloch cited was Kovalchuk’s age at the end of the contract:
“Kovalchuk is 27 years old, and the agreement contemplates his playing until just short of his 44th birthday. … Currently, only one player in the league has played past 43 and, over the past 20 years only 6 of some 3400 players have played to 42.”
Bloch also stated that this could be grounds for rejection of such contracts as Roberto Luongo, Marc Savard and Chris Pronger. Also mentioned was the contract of Marian Hossa though, as Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog states, it seems unlikely that the league would target Hossa’s contract for rejection as he has already played a season under the new contract.
Now, I first need to say that I don’t believe that there is any precedent for this decision. The notion that Kovalchuk is any less likely to be playing the game at the age of 44 as Hossa is at the age of 42 is, in my mind, absurd.
Yes, only one player has played past the age of 43, but citing that Hossa is more likely to play until 42 because six out of 3,400 players have done so is ridiculous.
That being said, I think that the arbitrator made the absolute right decision in this case, siding with the NHL.
Yes, there was no precedent to do so but the NHL had to stand up and make a stand on this issue at some point. They didn’t have guts to do it with Hossa or Pronger or Luongo, but finally found it in themselves to do so and it’s long past time that they did.
Teams are going to continue to try and exploit this loophole in the CBA, but at least this gives the NHL some basis for when to say when on future contracts.
Madden Signs With Minnesota
Don’t worry. He’s not going to try to sell you any tough actin’ Tinactin. He won’t say Boom! (at least not all the time) and he won’t give you some overly complicated explanation about some overly simple football concept.
Congratulations! You are number one million to make that joke about John Madden!
Alright. All kidding aside, I love the signing of Madden. He’s a strong two-way player and the type of player that the Wild has been sorely missing since the retirement of Wes Walz.
Look. Madden’s not going to score 20 goals (he’s done so just twice in his 11 season career), nor is he going to star on our top two lines. What he will do, however, is give the Wild another reliable penalty killer, a checking-line forward capable of shutting down teams’ top lines and a leader on and off the ice.
What this also does is create competition at the center position.
Here is our depth chart at center, as it stands (and, to one Ryan Lambert of Puck Daddy and Two-Line Pass, this is off the top of my head and without looking at a roster). Those in bold and italics are the ones guaranteed a roster spot:
Mikko Koivu
Matt Cullen
John Madden
Kyle Brodziak
James Sheppard
Casey Wellman
Colton Gillies
So, what you can see here are seven centers for four full-time positions. It’s not out of the realm of reason that one of the four (most likely Brodziak) would be moved to the wing, so you essentially have three players vying for one position.
In my opinion, the player for the job is Colton Gillies.
Gillies is fleet of foot, he’s big, he’s physical and he has demonstrated a limited offensive upside. This would allow Wellman a year of development in the AHL and Sheppard one to get his confidence about him as well.
After the way Gillies performed in camp last season, I thought he would be a shoo-in for the big squad, but he instead struggled through a season in the AHL. It may be time for him to show what he can do.
What About Butch?
I had a friend ask me a question the other day about whether or not I thought Bouchard would play this season and, if he did, would he even be effective.
I thought it a good enough question to stick it into here.
First question, will Butch play this season?
My answer to that is most definitely yes.
It might not be at the beginning of the season, but he will play. He’s started exercising, he’s lifting weights and he’s feeling better, so whether it’s in October or in December, he will play this season.
The next part of the question, however, is the most important. Will he be effective?
My personal opinion is that he will.
One of the biggest hindrances in returning from a concussion is getting used to the contact once again. There’s trepidation when going into the corners, when going to the tough areas on the ice.
That’s also the biggest problem I’ve always had with Bouchard, as well.
He’s rarely gone into the corners and rarely gone into the tough areas on the ice. Bouchard is, primarily, a perimeter player. He is at his best when creating plays on the outside for players going to the net and a concussion shouldn’t change this.
This isn’t to say that Bouchard won’t have a readjustment period of some sort when he returns, but I think he will largely come back as the same player that he was before which is both a blessing and a curse for Wild fans.
Wild Nation’s Ridiculously Early Season Predictions: The Atlantic Division
August is almost upon us, which can only mean one thing – its training camp time.
The time in the NHL where there’s hope running through every team’s fan base, except for Toronto’s of course. But, with that hope in mind, it’s time for our ridiculously early season prognostications that will likely be proven to be dead wrong by the second week of the season or just the Ridiculously Early Season Predictions, for short.
We’re going to start with the Eastern Conference this season, namely the Atlantic Division so, let’s get started.
New Jersey Devils – The NHLPA filed their grievance on Thursday regarding Ilya Kovalchuk’s contract and one would assume that, despite their desire to resolve this quickly both sides are digging in for a fight.
Even without Kovalchuk in the fray, however, the Devils remain a much improved team over last season’s with the additions of Anton Volchenkov and Henrik Tallinder on defense and Jason Arnott up front. It could, in fact, be argued that the Devils could be a better all around team without Kovalchuk, as they would have to unload a contract in order to come into the season under the salary cap.
Looking at this team, however, Volchenkov and Tallinder should be upgrades over the departed Johnny Oduya and Paul Martin, while Arnott should give the team a solid second-line center that can pitch in on offense.
While these three players alone might not get the Devils back to the promised land, in the Stanley Cup finals, they will certainly go a long way towards making New Jersey more competitive both in the regular season and the post season.
New York Islanders – The Islanders may find themselves in the enviable situation of having to spend money in order to reach the cap floor this season – something that many teams might relish at this point in the off season.
The problem for the Isles, however, is how do they do that?
With the big fish out of the free agency pond, the Isles may have to resort to multiple signings, which could cut down on the amount of playing time that some of their youngsters would get.
It’s hard to imagine that forwards Doug Weight and Matt Moulson won’t be back with New York this season, so that will take care of some of it, but likely won’t resolve the entire issue, but this is good news for a team that only has seven roster players under contract for next season and 13 restricted free agents coming up.
Another year’s experience for their big time youngsters will be good for the Isles, and they’re headed in the right direction – they’re just not there quite yet.
New York Rangers – As has been the case the last few seasons, the Rangers are an enigma wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in a puzzle.
They have Marian Gaborik who, after countless disappointing seasons in Minnesota, came out and showed that he could shoulder the load and be a superstar in the NHL, but past him they don’t have many players that chipped in offensively.
Then, this off season they made what many consider to be the shrewdest move, signing Martin Biron as a capable back up for a goalie who has never really had a capable back up, but they then went out and signed enforcer Derek Boogaard to a ridiculous four-year, $1.65 million per contract.
So, as it stands now, the Rangers aren’t really much better than they were at the end of last season. Alexander Frolov’s agent has stated that his client is close to a deal with the blueshirts and, if that’s the case, the team could be looking better going into this season.
But, as it stands right now, they’re in the same spot that they were last season, which means that they will likely be on the outside looking in once more.
Philadelphia Flyers – After spending most of the off season pretending like the salary cap didn’t apply to them, they’re now back under the cap by a whole $327k.
After replacing Simon Gagne with Nikolai Zherdev, which was likely a salary shedding move, it is apparent that the Flyers are anticipated increased production from James Van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux and Ville Leino next season, along with what Zherdev brings, to make up for the loss of Gagne’s production.
But the story here isn’t in the team’s offense, but in a defensive unit that could easily be the best in the NHL.
After their defense got embarrassed by Chicago through much of the finals, the Flyers responded by going out and trading for Andrei Meszaros and Matt Walker and signing free agent Sean O’Donnell.
That gives them five defensemen that could legitimately be considered top-five defensemen and two more that are legitimate shut down d-men, plus Oscars Bartulis who appears to now be on the outside looking in.
All of this points to the fact that we could very well be looking at a situation much like the Penguins and Blackhawks faced, of having to lose before you can win.
Pittsburgh Penguins – Let’s be perfectly honest here. You can never count the Pens out of anything.
While they still have one glaring need to address (a scoring winger), the Pens have upgraded their defensive unit which should be a big help for Marc-Andre Fleury.
Zybnek Michalek and Paul Martin give the Pens two more defensemen that can play in any situation and takes the pressure off of Kris Letang and Alex Gologoski on the powerplay and should help in the wake of losing Sergei Gonchar to free agency.
The best news for the Pens, also, is that they have the cap room to address their need for a winger before free agency is out. With the market value for free agent forwards taking a dive, especially with the signing of Nikolai Zherdev, the Pens can more than afford to improve their forward corps.
That, in and of itself, is encouraging news for Pens fans and they should expect to see the playoffs in Pittsburgh once again.
Predictions
Well, now that we’re done with the previews, let’s take a look at how I think the Atlantic Division is going to line up come playoff time this coming season:
1) Philadelphia Flyers
2) New Jersey Devils
3) Pittsburgh Penguins
4) New York Rangers
5) New York Islanders
Through most of the season last season, all five teams were in playoff contention and it should be much of the same this season, though I think that the Rangers and Islanders will fall of towards the end of the season once again and be on the outside looking in. The Flyers, Devils and Penguins, however, should all be back in the dance once again.
Up Next: The Northeast Division
Wild Scratch Koivu’s 7-Year Itch; Sign Center to Blockbuster Extension
The last remaining drama of the Minnesota Wild’s off season is over.
The Wild have signed their franchise player, captain Mikko Koivu to a seven-year contract worth $6.75 million per season, plus a bunch of signing bonuses that add up to be about the GNP of a third-world country and a full no-trade clause.
I’ll be completely honest with my assessment here—I love this deal with the exception of the term.
As many of you know, I’m not a huge long-term contract type of guy. I would have preferred to see the Wild sign Koivu for four or five years as opposed to the seven that he got.
That being said, you won’t hear me complain one bit.
Here’s the deal. The Wild were going to have to pay to keep Koivu around.
Yes, he wanted to be here. Yes, he was convinced that the Wild are headed in the right direction. But the Wild still were going to have to pay.
But the thing is that this deal isn’t actually as outlandish as many are portraying it as.
Yes, Koivu has a larger cap hit than Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Backstrom, Jonathan Toews and Henrik Sedin. Yes, his stats may not necessarily define him as a “superstar” type player but, then again, neither have Toews’.
In fact, Koivu has put up better numbers than Toews over the last few seasons with less talent surrounding him—something that likely was at the forefront of these discussions when comparables were involved.
What Koivu brings to the squad, however, is so much more than just numbers-based value.
The fact of the matter is that the Wild would be lost without their captain. Koivu is the cornerstone of their team at even strength, on the penalty kill and on the powerplay.
The Wild’s offense not only runs through Koivu, but their forecheck and backcheck does as well.
As Fletcher said on his conference call, “To define Mikko by his statistics is to miss the point of what he’s all about.”
That is one-hundred percent true.
Of course, there are certain expectations that the Wild and their fans will likely have from Koivu that have to do with numbers.
He’s been the team’s best player over the last two years and has made huge steps in his development each year—something that will be expected to continue.
But, it’s not all sunshine and roses for the Wild after this signing.
The team is now faced with the stark reality that, with Koivu’s new contract in tow, Minnesota has just under $9 million in cap space heading into the 2011-12 season and just 17 players under contract.
Looking at their expiring contracts for next season, there are likely only two players that they’re going to want to look at retaining, both of whom are restricted free agents, but either way Chuck Fletcher will have to work some of his magic to improve the Wild—something that he’s quite familiar with from last season.
When it comes down to it, the Wild did what needed to be done to keep Koivu.
His camp wanted seven years, they gave him seven years. His camp wanted $7 million per year, they gave him $6.75 million per year. What’s more is that they got this contract done before the season started, not allowing the distraction of contract talks to loom over what will likely already be a difficult season for the team.
Keeping that in mind, it’s easy to see why the negotiations between the two sides were as amicable as they were all the way through.
Just like his brother, Mikko Koivu is a captain through and through and, apart from being one heck of a hockey player, is one-hundred percent pure class.
Some Off Season Wild Notes
Well, let’s face it. It’s the off season.
We’re on day ten of Kovie Watch 2010, with no signs of anything happening anytime soon and free agency news has slowed to a trickle. So what’s a hockey fan to do?
Make news out of nothing? We’re not in that business here.
So, let’s just take a look at some of the goings on around the Wild.
Modano Interested in Wild?
Well, it’s amazing how much difference a few weeks makes.
First, the Dallas Stars decided that they don’t want to let Mike Modano “Brett Farve” them until the season starts. Then, the rampant speculation starts in Minnesota.
Let’s be honest with ourselves here. For whatever reason, Wild fans have some sort of sick obsession with Minnesota hockey players.
For whatever reason, anytime anyone with ties to Minnesota is available, fans start frothing at the mouth and when Modano became available the sharks began circling.
Immediately, however, all of the speculation was squashed.
It wasn’t the right fit. The Wild were in the running for a number-two center and Modano, at this stage in his career, isn’t that.
But, what do you know. The Wild suddenly want some insurance in case James Sheppard doesn’t step up his game or in case Casey Wellman isn’t ready to play in the NHL.
But, is this the right way for the Wild to go?
If Modano is willing to take a lesser roll with the team, then yes it is.
Modano still has a little bit of tread left on the tires, but he isn’t a top-six forward at this stage in his career—at least, he wasn’t with the Stars.
What signing Modano would do is give the Wild some insurance up the middle.
So, say Matt Cullen doesn’t fit with G-Lat and Havlat. Or Sheppard doesn’t step up to the challenge of making the team. Or they feel that Wellman would be best served to be in the AHL. Well, then they’ve got Modano, who is one heck of a contingency plan.
Cap Situation
As of right now, the Wild find themselves in an interesting situation in net.
They have about $3.5 million in cap space with Josh Harding left to sign in order to fill out their roster.
So, that means that they’ll likely have about $1 to $1.5 million left over once that happens.
So what does this mean? Are we done?
Like Russo, I tend to think not. I can’t imagine that the Wild wouldn’t be looking for another defenseman.
It sounds like Fletcher might be thinking the same thing, as there are rumblings that the Wild have had talks with Willie Mitchell.
The problem with that is that Mitchell will likely command more than the Wild have left, so someone will have to go.
But who?
Right now, the obvious candidate is James Sheppard, but there are others that wouldn’t surprise me, especially at forward.
The most likely forward other than Sheppard, however, is Antti Miettinen. Mittens has performed admirably on the team’s first line, but he just doesn’t seem to fit anywhere on the team. In each situation, there seems to be a player who could potentially do the job better than he.
Combine that with his size, or lack thereof, and you can see that he could very well be shopped around this season.
What Does Endras Signing Mean?
Well, in the short run, nothing.
Dennis Endras will go ply his trade overseas again and likely will then come to the team next season.
What the signing of Endras does do, however, is create competition among the Wild’s goaltenders.
Next season, it’s going to be Matthew Hackett and Anton Khudobin in Houston, with Darcy Keumper likely heading back to Red Deer.
The season after, however? The Wild are going to have a four-way battle to see who will be taking over in the back up role for either Josh Harding or Niklas Backstrom.
Now, I say Harding or Backstrom, because I don’t know that Fletcher and Richards have ruled out the possibility of moving Nik if it comes to that.
Harding is younger and has shown some significant signs of improvement over the last couple seasons.
Backstrom, though he has gotten a bit of a bad rap for his performance last season, is still Backstrom. He’s nowhere near as bad as he looked at times last season and, in my opinion, is still a top-ten goalie in this league.
So, the signing of Endras is both a depth move as well as one to spark something in the goaltenders and make them work for their jobs—both of which are good things to be sure.
For more of Blake’s work, you can follow him at the Bleacher Report and Hockey Primetime, as well as on his Twitter feed.
Updated: Wild Signs Cullen, Nystrom
I’ll have more to come later, but I just wanted to toss this up really quick that the Wild have signed center Matt Cullen to a three-year deal, worth an average of $3.5 million per-year and with a modified no-trade clause and forward Eric Nystrom to a three-year deal, worth an average of $1.4 million per-year.
Update:
Day one of the official off season is in the books and, boy, was it a doozy for the Wild.
Two players, two needs filled and the general manager already saying that the team might be done? Man, that’s got to be a good day at the office.
Before I get into the players the Wild signed, let’s look at that last statement—the Wild might be done with free agency.
First of all, the all-seeing, all-knowing Mike Russo said that Fletcher was comfortable with the six defensemen that the team has.
That means that he’s also comfortable with either Nate Prosser or Marco Scandella being the team’s number seven d-men.
So, let’s look at this.
Fletcher is comfortable with their number six defenseman being an injury-prone rookie and the other option being either a rookie defenseman with three NHL games under his belt or another with none?
I don’t buy it—at least not for someone who is as in depth about his planning as Fletcher.
Here’s the deal. Stoner definitely deserves a shot to show what he’s got, especially with his impressive cup of coffee with the team last season.
But Prosser and Scandella? You can’t tell me that they’d be better served playing 25-35 games in the NHL than playing a full schedule in the AHL.
So what does that add up to?
Maybe a restricted free agent allowed to go to free agency, maybe a veteran defenseman. Who knows. But the fact is that it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if the Wild aren’t done.
But, enough with my ramblings about the status of their free agency period—on to the signings at hand.
First and foremost, there’s Matt Cullen.
This was the player that the Wild wanted heading into free agency and they certainly got him.
He’s fast, he’s gritty, he’s skilled—in other words, he’s everything that the team wanted from Andrew Ebbett, only with more offensive upside.
The 33-year old center from Virginia, Minnesota has scored 15-plus goals five times in his career and has scored 40-plus points seven times, including the last five seasons.
He plays a solid two-way game, he can play the point on the power play and he’s played in 63-plus playoff games and won the Stanley Cup, which is something that no one else on the Wild’s roster can claim.
What’s even better is that he can win face offs.
Following Cullen was gritty forward, Eric Nystrom.
Nystrom is young (27) and he’s a character player that can hit. Fletcher has stressed that he wants the team to get younger, faster and stronger and Nystrom did just that.
I’m a little concerned with the amount of money that the Wild spent on Nystrom, but as Russo said Nystrom is in the prime of his career, which is why Fletcher was likely willing to commit the term and money that he did with Nystrom.
Nystrom comes to the Wild having scored a career high 11 goals and 18 points last season for Calgary.
Now I don’t mean to be cynical about the signing, but I’m really not crazy about it.
The good news is that both Fletcher and Nystrom feel like he hasn’t quite tapped into his offensive potential, of which he obviously has some (he scored 32 points in 38 games for the Michigan Wolverines in his last season of college hockey).
So where do he signings of Cullen and Nystrom leave the Wild?
Well, the Wild have about $3.5 million in cap room left, without the eventual re-signing of Josh Harding.
In other words, they very well could be done.
So, with those signings, this is what the Wild’s depth chart could look like:
Andrew Brunette/Mikko Koivu/Pierre-Marc Bouchard (if healthy)
Guillaume Latendresse/Matt Cullen/Martin Havlat
Chuck Kobasew/Kyle Brodziak/Antti Miettinen
Eric Nystrom/James Sheppard/Cal Clutterbuck
Extras: Casey Wellman, Cody Almond, Colton Gillies
Greg Zanon/Marek Zidlicky
Brent Burns/Nick Schultz
Cam Barker/Clayton Stoner
Extras: Nate Prosser, Marco Scandella
Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding
When you look at it, this is a team that is looking more and more like they could be competitive this season.
HockeyPrimetime Live: Free Agency Frenzy
It’s almost here! Christmas in July for hockey fans.
Join myself, Justin Bourne, Denis Gorman and all the other usual suspects for a live blog today, starting at 10 a.m. Central time.
