Around the NHL: Vacant Captaincies

Today’s going to have a little less coverage than a normal Tuesday would because, well, NHL ’12 comes out in stores today, so you all will have to suffer through a day or two of my nerdiness, but fear not. That nerdiness will result in a review of the game coming up this week, so you’ve got that to look forward too.

As a result, though, there will be no player profile today and there will be a truncated Around the NHL, so let’s get to it!

Captain Questions
There are six separate franchises that are searching for captains this off season, so I thought that we could take a look at each of those franchises and whose chest I think that they should put the C on.

First, let’s take a look at the New Jersey Devils.

Gone is Jamie Langenbrunner, their previous captain, and Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise and Patrik Elias all are listed as the alternate captains on the team’s website. So, which one of these would make the best captain for the team? Or is there an unlisted player who would fit the bill?

Well, first of all, let’s look at the three alternates.

You have Elias, the veteran, Parise, the franchise, and Kovlachuk, the player who’s going to be in a Devils sweater for the next 16 years.

To me, the decision is simple. Elias has come out and said that he doesn’t want the role and, to be honest, I don’t feel that he’s best suited to be a captain. An alternate, yes, but not the guy with the C on his chest. Elias is on the downside of his career. This season, he’ll turn 36 and, though he’s still good, he’s no longer that point-per-game player that he once was. Kovalchuk might be the choice at some point down the road, but he’s not the answer for this season. The answer for this season is simple: Zach Parise.

Yes, there’s the chance he might not be there after this season, but you’ve got to take that chance if you’re the Devils. No one else on the roster is either ready or seemingly primed to step into that role and the other two alternates just simply aren’t as good of a choice.

He’s your franchise. He’s your best player and he’s also the player that you need to woo to keep in your organization, and he also happens to be one of the best guys for the job. He’s not a free agent signing, like Kovalchuk. He’s a Devil, through and through, and the organization needs to show that confidence in him to give themselves every opportunity to re-sign him before he hits free agency next season.

After the Devils, we’ve got the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers currently have no alternates listed on their website and, to be quite honest, probably have the easiest decision to make. If he’s healthy, the captain should be Chris Pronger.

He’s a veteran, he’s got experience wearing the C and he’s one of the most respected and feared players in the NHL.

If we’re going to nitpick things, yes, Daniel Briere could be a viable option, as could Scott Hartnell, but really, the job is Pronger’s to lose or to turn down.

Next, let’s look at the Buffalo Sabres.

This is probably one of the more intriguing situations out there. With Craig Rivet’s rough season last year, the Sabres played most of the season without a player wearing the C. That meant Jason Pominville, Paul Gaustad, Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek and Jochen Hecht

all wore the A for Buffalo last season and were the captain by committee.

So, who gets the C?

Is it one of the aforementioned five?

The answer is yes. It’s the player that has shown the endurance and the resilience to keep playing, even after some crushing hits or devastating injuries. It’s Jason Pominville.

To be fair, all of those five players are pretty suitable candidates for the job and each of them would bring something different to the job but, in my opinion, you’ve got to go with Pominville. He’s been a key player for Buffalo his entire career and he’s a proven performer. He can play in every situation and he is as much of the fabric of the Buffalo Sabres franchise as Ryan Miller (who, let’s be honest, is the de facto leader in the locker room).

So, what about the Colorado Avalanche?

Replacing Adam Foote will be no small task for this young roster, but they’ve got someone tailor made for the position.

Last season, the alternates were Milan Hejduk and Paul Stastny, but I don’t think that either will be the one to get the C this season.

That honor is going to go to Matt Duchene.

He’s the face and future of the franchise and he’s proven over the last couple seasons that he’s up to the task, not quailing under the pressure of the NHL in his first two seasons. He’s well respected in the room and he’s loved by the fans and, let’s face it, the trend in the NHL is to give the C to your young superstar. Throw in the fact that, if the Avs struggle, Hejduk and Stastny will be among the first names to get bandied around in the rumor mill and it makes sense.

The Avs franchise has been in flux for a couple seasons now and naming Duchene would lend a sense of stability to the organization.

But what about the Florida Panthers?

Their website only lists one alternate, and that’s Stephen Weiss, but I don’t see Weiss getting the C just yet.

That honor is going to go to the guy who started his career with the Panthers and helped lead them to the Stanley Cup Finals in his first season. Ed Jovanovski.

Jovo Cop is the man for the job. Indeed, why bring him back to a young team unless you plan on him being a major part of your leadership core. Yeah, he’s a newcomer to the squad as it stands now, but he’s well liked by the fans and he’s got a huge history with the organization and, the symbolism behind naming him captain alone would be worth it.

And finally, we have the New York Islanders.

Both Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo are listed as the team’s alternates, and I think that they have a future captain on their squad in John Tavares, but I don’t think that is the route they’re going to go quite yet.

As evidenced by their building process, Garth Snow is exceedingly cautious and exceedingly patient and, it stands to reason that his coach would be as well. I think that Tavares is their captain of the future, without a doubt, but right now the honor will and should fall on Streit.

The Isles are still a very young team. They’re still growing and they need someone who’s been there and done that, and Streit is that guy. He’s been around the block a couple times and he’s going to be the guy to help lead these youngsters this season.

So there you have it. My view on the captaincy situations of these six teams. What do you think? Am I crazy? Am I dead on? Let’s hear it!

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 44^th 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.

The Rise and Fall of the Lifetime Contract?

The NHL needs to institute “Term Limits.”

No…I’m not talking about for its long lamented commissioner.  I’m not talking about for the coaches or general managers.  I’m talking about for the players.

Okay.  So maybe term limit isn’t exactly the right turn of phrase.  But the concept remains.  These “lifetime contracts” are getting absolutely ridiculous.  Sure…They’re a great way to fit your superstar players under the cap.  But, honestly, do they seem a bit shortsighted to anyone else?

Consider Chris Pronger and his $6.25M cap hit.

Not a bad deal for a superstar defenseman, right?  And look at this!  You’re going to have him for $525K per for the last two years of the contract.  Talk about a bargain!

But wait…Hold on.  If he decides to play those last two years…You’ll be paying him $525K…But be on the hook for $6.25M?  Well that doesn’t sound very good.  But, that’s Chris Pronger.  It’s a unique situation.

Okay…So Henrik Zetterberg.  There’s a good contract.  $6.083M cap hit.  That’s a great deal for a player of Hank’s caliber.  But what about when you’re paying him $1M per year in the twilight of his career, yet still on the hook for just over $6M?

Sure, these contracts look great now.  But how about when a player doesn’t have enough tread on the tires to live up to the contract?

Take Brendan Shanahan, for example.  Give him one of those front loaded contracts back in the 2000-01 season.  It looks fantastic when he’s averaging 60-70 points a season and 30-40 goals.  But after a 73 game, 46 point performance?  What about a 34 game, 14 point performance?  It begins to look a lot worse.

Or what about Sergei Fedorov?  Give him one of those contracts back in the same season and it’s looking great when he’s putting up 30-goal, 60-point seasons.  Then he dips down to average 15-goal, 40-point seasons.  Great for the beginning, pretty poor for the end.

The bottom line is that these long-term contracts will only benefit these teams for so long.  Eventually, however, the production of the majority of these players will begin to fall off.  Sure, there will be the odd player that has a career like Joe Sakic has had, whose production stays consistent right up until the end of his career, but the majority of these players?  By the end of their careers, they won’t be worth the cap hit — most of them nowhere near.  Sure…In 2013, Pavel Datsyuk will likely be as productive as he is now.  But will Henrik Zetterberg in 2020?  What about Vincent Lecavalier in 2019?  I highly doubt it.

Don’t get me wrong.  These contracts are great for the players…But they’re horrible for the NHL.  What’s more…They’re horrible for the fans.

Why?

Take a look at this.  The top free agents for 2010?  Nicklas Lidstrom, Roberto Luongo and Ilya Kovalchuk.  If you think that any of these three won’t be locked up (or in Lidstrom’s case, retired) by then, you’re crazy.  After that?  The crop is still decent…Patrick Marleau, Evgeni Nabokov, Olli Jokinen…All good players, all potential game changers…But bona fide 100% pure superstars, they aren’t.

In 2011?  You’ve got Brad Richards, Zdeno Chara and Joe Thornton…But there isn’t a UFA under the age of 31 until you get to Patrice Bergeron and, no offense to him, but I hardly think that teams will be knocking down his door.

2012?  A class headlined by Chris Drury, Ryan Smyth and Brian Rafalski.

Finally, in 2013, you get Sidney Crosby, Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Nathan Horton, all under 30…But does anyone really think that four out of the five of them will be available?

Talk about nothing for fans to get excited about.  Let me tell you that, if in 2012 I’m getting excited about the possibilities of the Minnesota Wild signing a 35 year old Chris Drury or a 36 year old Ryan Smyth, I should be committed.

The bottom line is that these long-term contracts are a plague on the NHL.  The more long-term contracts get signed, the more teams will, not only handcuff themselves, but handcuff the league’s ability to spread parity throughout.  Not only that, but it harms the fans as well.  A lack of marquee free agents during the off season can kill any momentum that the league has with the fans.

The CBA is expiring soon and it’s looking more and more like there could be another labor dispute looming.  But one thing is for certain.  In the new CBA, the NHL needs to impose some sort of limitation on the length of contracts…Not only for the entertainment of the fans, but for the long term health of the league as well.

Playoff Picture

Where’s Jim Mora when you need him?

Playoffs?!?  Playoffs!!?!

Okay, okay, so the reference has probably been beaten to death every single season for every sport since Mora’s famous outburst.  The fact remains, however, that the playoffs are bearing down upon us.  While the field has yet to be set, we do have a pretty good idea of who is going to be in the big show.  We’ll be rating the potential playoff match ups on our newly patented Mora-Meter.  One Mora would be the equivalent of watching the World Series of Gin Rummy played on ESPN (my guess as to what the next program to move into the Worldwide Leader instead of hockey) while five Mora’s would be a series that would lead to so much excitement that it would drive Jim Mora into a frenzy that would leave him frothing at the mouth.

So here you have it.  The playoff match ups, if the playoffs started today, complete with the new and improved Mora-Meter!

Western Conference
#1 San Jose Sharks v. #8 Nashville Predators
Analysis: The Nashville Predators are like that kid in high school that you never wanted to hang out with, but always somehow ended up getting invited wherever you went.  Over the last few seasons the Preds have been the whipping boy of the NHL, more specifically from Canadian fans, about how southern expansion just flat out doesn’t work.  The bottom line is, however, that the Preds continue to put a good package on the ice and continue to make the playoffs no matter what.  In this series, they’d be running up against a Sharks team that will be hellbent to prove that they can perform in the playoffs.  I don’t envy anyone in the position that the Preds are in, but if anyone can pull off a first round upset, it’s them.  This could be an intriguing series; however, it could just as easily be a case of the Sharks doing their thing and the Predators hanging on for dear life.
Mora-Meter:   

#2 Detroit Red Wings v. #7 Anaheim Ducks
Analysis: The last time these two teams met in the playoffs, the Ducks bounced the Wings en route to a Stanley Cup Championship.  Can anyone think of anything more intriguing than the last two Stanley Cup Champions facing off and in the first round no less?  The biggest swing in this match up is that the Ducks still play like they’re the class bully, while the Red Wings bully teams by skating circles around them.  What makes this series even more interesting is the fact that the Wings and the Ducks quite simply don’t like each other.  Lest we forget Chris Pronger attempting to remove Tomas Holmstrom’s head from his body, amongst other things transpiring between the two teams that cultivated the bad blood in their last post season meeting.  The Red Wings always seem to be a step ahead of the NHL; however, this season, their goaltending could be their Achillies Heel and with a potent Ducks powerplay, it would make for some great playoff hockey.
Mora-Meter:    

#3 Vancouver Canucks v. #6 Columbus Blue Jackets
Analysis: Is it bad that there’s a large part of me that really wants Vancouver to slide down so that Calgary takes this spot?  I mean, let’s be honest.  I’m a Wild fan.  I have no vested interest in the playoffs to mention at the moment (maybe by the last game of the season…A guy can dream, right?) so I don’t really care who wins the division, other than the fact that I just want to watch an entertaining playoff series.  To me, there would be no more interesting series than a Flames/Jackets and Canucks/’Hawks series, because the teams just don’t like each other.  But I digress.  In this one, honestly, there’s not really any appreciable storylines to speak of, nor do either of the teams play extremely exciting hockey.  On one side, the Blue Jackets are almost 100% playoff un-tested (save for a few players), while the ‘Nucks have some star players with a propensity to do a disappearing act in the playoffs.  All of this adds up to a series that could prove to be pretty uneventful; though worth watching to watch how the Jackets respond to playoff hockey.
Mora-Meter:   

#4 Chicago Blackhawks v. #5 Calgary Flames
Analysis: As much as I would love to watch the ‘Hawks fight play the ‘Nucks, I think this series would be extremely entertaining to watch.  First, you have a rematch in net of the ’03-’04 Cup Finals (Kipper v. Bulin), then you’ve got two teams with some very dynamic players (Kane, Toews and Havlat v. Iginla, Cammalleri and Jokinen) and finally you’ve got two teams with some fantastic defensemen (Seabrook and Keith v. Phaneuf and Regher).  This could become the best series in the first round if it stays this way.  Plus, if Phaneuf keeps playing the way he has been, you could find yourself looking at a very formidable “sloppy” second defensive pairing of Phaneuf and Leopold.  Sorry.  Couldn’t resist.
Mora-Meter:     

Eastern Conference
#1 Boston Bruins v. #8 Montreal Canadiens
Analysis: How’s this for a role reversal?  The exact match up of last season’s first round, just with home ice turned around.  If both teams are on their game, this could be an exciting series to watch.  The problem is that both teams have battled inconsistency since the All Star Break.  The biggest thing to look forward to, however, is that these two teams always get up to play one another.  Look at last season’s first round.  A seven-game slugfest that was probably the most entertaining series in all the playoffs.  Plus, there’s also always the chance that you could hear Jack Edwards’ maniacal laugh again.  That in and of itself is reason enough to watch.  All of this equals one amazingly entertaining first round series.
Mora-Meter:     

#2 Washington Capitals v. #7 New York Rangers
Analysis: Honestly, this is another that I wish was a little different, but beggars can’t be choosers, right?  This one, well, this could be interesting.  On one end you’ve got the Caps’ unbelievable offens and on the other you’ve got the Rangers’ unbelievable goaltender.  Coach John Tortorella has helped the Rangers find their game again; however, can he put a stop to the attack of the Capitals?  On the other side of things, you’ve got the Rangers’ aneimic offense squaring off against the Caps’ inconsistent goalie.  This could either be a very high scoring series or a series where you get nothing at all.  Any series pitting a high powered offense against a solid goaltender, however, can prove to be a fun series to watch.
Mora-Meter:    

#3 New Jersey Devils v. #6 Carolina Hurricanes
Analysis: Ok.  So can someone please explain to me if the Devils are just coasting to the playoffs or if something is going on and when, exactly, Lou is going to place himself behind the bench yet again?  Alright.  I feel better now.  Now that I’ve said my piece, this could be a very one sided series if the Devils don’t right the ship and quick.  The ‘Canes have had success against Newark’s finest this season, and if the Devils back into the playoffs this could get ugly quick.  Looking at the potential match up, the ‘Canes match up quite nicely against the Devil and have the hot hand.  Both teams have a solid defense and an under rated offense.  There should be some very tightly contested games in this series and some good, physical play.
Mora-Meter:   

#4 Philadelphia Flyers v. #5 Pittsburgh Penguins
Analysis: The Broadstreet Bullies against the NHL’s wunderkid.  I don’t see how it could get much better than this; a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals.  The Flyers were ran out of town by the Pens in the ECF last season, but this is also a Flyers team that has gained a lot more character since then, not in turnover of players but just in experience.  The big question mark for both teams is definitely in net and, in all honesty, that could lead to a very entertaining series.  These two teams are also division rivals and flat out don’t like each other.  That’s good enough in my book!
Mora-Meter:     

So there you have it.  My thoughts on the current playoff picture.

Also, coming next week will be the first intrim show of Wild Nation.  Join myself and Nick in New York next week as we talk about all things Wild!  We will have a time and date set for our first show sometime this weekend.