Tag: 2009 NHL Entry Draft

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NHL Nick's Net

Analysis: It’s Too Early to Pick a Pacioretty Trade Winner

Early Monday morning in Montreal, the Canadiens shipped off their captain, Max Pacioretty, to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki and a 2nd round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft originally belonging to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Just how early on Monday in Montreal was it? It was still Sunday night in Las Vegas.

That’s right, the Habs traded their captain and face of the franchise not named Carey Price while East Coast Canadiens fans were sleeping.

At first glance, it seems like the Golden Knights pulled off a landslide of a deal, but there’s no clear-cut trade winner or loser from this one.

Yes, Montreal was stuck between a rock and a hard place in trading Pacioretty, but they managed to get a valuable prospect and a high round draft pick out of it at the end of the day (on top of Tatar who will likely become a roster placeholder until one of the players in the system takes his job during the rebuild).

While Tatar’s 20-14–34 totals in 82 games with the Golden Knights and Detroit Red Wings last season aren’t as attractive as Pacioretty’s five career 60-plus point seasons since entering the NHL in 2008-09, the onus on re-signing Pacioretty for more than just a rental is now on Vegas General Manager George McPhee (which is now accomplished as moments after posting this analysis, the Golden Knights announced a four-year extension for Pacioretty).

Consider a little bit of the weight of the world off the shoulders of Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, given that he’s now no longer responsible for potentially losing Pacioretty for nothing in free agency next July.

Yes, Tatar isn’t perfect, but the race to rebuild in Montreal is on. The race to win now in Vegas continues.

This trade has no winners or losers, but rather a symbiotic relationship between two organizations heading in opposite directions. The Golden Knights land a gifted scorer in his prime, while the Canadiens get one of the best prospects in Suzuki for the future– and the future is near.vegas_golden_knights_logo

Pacioretty, 29, has 226 goals and 222 assists (448 points) in 626 career NHL games with Montreal. He was named the 29th captain in franchise history in 2015 and became the seventh Canadiens captain to be traded in the expansion era (since 1967). Pacioretty is also the first Habs captain to be traded since Vincent Damphousse was dealt to the San Jose Sharks on March 23, 1999.

In an injury derailed 2017-18 campaign, Pacioretty had 17-20–37 totals in 64 games. He was originally drafted by Montreal in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. He has 10 goals and nine assists (19 points) in 38 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.Unknown-1

Tatar, 27, has 228 career points (119 goals, 109 assists) in 427 career NHL games split between Detroit and Vegas. He has 4-5–9 totals in 25 career postseason appearances, including a goal and an assist in eight games with the Golden Knights in their 2018 Stanley Cup Final run.

He was selected by the Red Wings in the second round (60th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Suzuki, 19, was originally drafted by the Golden Knights in the first round (13th overall) of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and appeared in 64 games with the Owen Sound Attack (OHL) in 2017-18. He had 42-58–100 totals last season and recorded 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 11 playoff games for Owen Sound and appeared in one AHL playoff game with the Chicago Wolves.

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Previews

2018 Offseason Preview: Colorado Avalanche

Our offseason previews for all 31 National Hockey League teams continues with the Colorado Avalanche and their outlook for the summer.

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The 2017-18 Colorado Avalanche came off of the worst season in the salary cap era with a 43-30-9 record and 95-point performance on the year, finishing 4th in the Central Division and clinching the final wild card spot in the 2018 postseason with a win in their final game of the regular season against the St. Louis Blues.

St. Louis entered that game in April, in fact, ahead of the Avs in the standings by a point with the winner advancing to face the Nashville Predators in the First Round.

Not only did Colorado win, but they completed an unthinkable turnaround.

This, after trading the 3rd overall pick in the 2009 Draft, Matt Duchene, to the Ottawa Senators as part of a three team trade that saw the Avalanche flip Kyle Turris to the Nashville Predators, collecting a large package combined that included rookie defender Samuel Girard.

While one trade alone doesn’t put General Manager Joe Sakic in the hunt for the NHL’s GM of the Year award, the incredible turnaround in on-ice performance led by head coach, Jared Bednar, put Bednar in consideration for the 2017-18 Jack Adams Award.

2018 NHL Entry Draft

Sakic currently holds onto the 16th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and two second round picks (Colorado’s own and one from the Predators as part of the Duchene trade).

While the conditional 2018 1st round pick from the Ottawa Senators in the Duchene deal was top-10 protected, the Sens will surrender a 2019 first round pick to the Avalanche instead.

Regardless, Sakic and his scouting crew will have plenty of attractive “best available” talent to choose from in the middle of the first round (namely, Barrett Hayton, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Joseph Veleno, Jack McBain, Jared McIsaac and others).

Pending free agents

Colorado has about $22.900 million to spend this summer with Blake Comeau, Matt Nieto and Nail Yakupov as the only current-NHL roster pending free agent forwards.

Comeau, 32, is a pending-UFA that bounced back from 2016-17’s down year (remember when Carl Soderberg had 14 points that season? Carl. Soderberg.), with an average of 30 points in his three seasons in the Mile High city.

He’s been around the league a bit in his career, but he resurfaced as a durable forward on an otherwise young roster, amassing 13-21–34 totals in 79 games played with the Avalanche this season.

Nieto, 25, is a pending-RFA that was claimed off waivers last season by Colorado and had his best season since 2014-15 with the San Jose Sharks, scoring 15 goals and 11 assists (26 points) in 74 games for the Avs in 2017-18.

The biggest difference maker for the Avalanche this offseason is not messing things up. Keeping Nieto isn’t harmful to the team’s future as their younger players come into their own and a small term deal won’t hurt as the younger players gain experience.

In short, there’s nothing for Sakic to lose in building a roster that makes the playoffs for a second consecutive year. Not many expected them to be at the point of playoff contention this season, so any step forward is better than a step backward as Colorado continues to retool for a Cup run (someday).

If there’s one pending-RFA Sakic should have an easy time letting go of, it’s Nail Yakupov.

The 24-year-old 1st overall pick in the 2012 NHL Enty Draft signed a one-year deal with Colorado in attempt to resurrect his career. It did not go as planned, despite scoring often and scoring early in the regular season.

Yakupov produced nine goals and seven assists (16 points) in 58 games with the Avalanche in the regular season and was scratched for their entire 2018 postseason run.

That alone is an indication.

While he almost doubled his offensive production this season compared to his final year with the St. Louis Blues (3-6–9 totals in 40 games in 2016-17), it doesn’t appear he can be part of an NHL lineup with enough consistency.

At best, Yakupov is the one you least expect to score, but then surprises everyone with the occasional goal. At worst, he’s just taking up a roster spot you could be giving to someone else.

Sakic already tried the low-risk, high-reward with Yakupov. It’s best to move on.

On defense, Patrik Nemeth, 26, and Duncan Siemens, 24, are both pending-RFAs.

Nemeth was claimed off waivers early last October from the Dallas Stars and scored his first career NHL goal with Colorado (and then two more) this season. He first broke into the league with Dallas in the 2013-14 season and had 3-12–15 totals in 68 games with the Avs in 2017-18.

He’s a low cost top-6 blueliner on a roster with about 10 NHL caliber defensemen. Whether Nemeth returns or not comes down to how Sakic envisions the roster– with Nikita Zadorov entering a contract year and Tyson Barrie potentially hitting the open market in July 2020– and how Bednar thinks he’s going to play everyone.

The 11th overall pick of the Avalanche in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Siemens scored his first NHL goal and recorded his first career assist in 16 games played. That’s the most he’s played in a season after appearing in his first career game in 2014-15.

There’s nothing holding him back from leaving the organization in search of a place that’ll give him more of a chance, but if he’s comfortable enough in Colorado, that’s fine too. Realistically speaking, he won’t be back with an NHL job in Denver, though.

In goal, the Avalanche have on goaltender under contract for 2018-19 and it’s 30-year-old Semyon Varlamov.

With a $5.900 million cap hit, Varlamov isn’t all that bad– as trade bait. But who would buy an oft-injured goaltender plateauing past his prime?

Injuries once again plagued the veteran starter down the stretch, but his numbers technically improved. Again, it’s an almost automatic technicality coming off of 2016-17, but Varlamov did produce a 2.68 goals against average and .920 save percentage in 51 games this season (which was close to his 2.56 GAA and .921 SV% in 57 games in 2014-15 with Colorado).

His next game will be his 400th career NHL game and if Sakic tosses around the idea of retaining some salary, the Avalanche could possibly find a new home for the goaltender, while seeking a legitimate number one.

Spencer Martin, 23, is a pending-RFA that last played at the NHL level in 2016-17. He is 0-2-1 in his short three game NHL career with a 4.35 GAA and an .865 SV% in the worst season for the franchise since moving to Denver.

Backup goalie, Jonathan Bernier, 29, is a pending-UFA that in 37 games with the Avs this season, amassed a 2.85 GAA and .913 SV% with a 19-13-3 record. That’s down from his 2.50 GAA, .915 SV% and 21-7-4 record in 39 games with the Anaheim Ducks in 2016-17– ignoring the experience along the blueline Anaheim’s defense has over Colorado’s.

The problem with Bernier is that while he’s a backup goaltender, he’s been subpar with average teams. In 2015-16 with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Bernier was once again relegated to being a backup goalie for the first time since his breakout days behind Jonathan Quick with the Los Angeles Kings.

In 20 fewer games than 2014-15 (his last as a starter, in which he had a 2.87 GAA and .912 SV%), Bernier posted a 12-21-3 record with a 2.88 GAA and .908 SV% in 38 games with Toronto. Yikes.

Could the Avalanche take a stab at trying to acquire pending-RFA Philipp Grubauer from the Washington Capitals?

Sure, but let’s remember, they tried getting a Washington goaltender (in Varlamov) before to be their number one, so there’s no guarantees.

Other pending free agents throughout the organization include:

Rocco Grimaldi (UFA), Felix Girard (RFA), Jesse Graham (RFA), Joe Cannata (UFA), Mason Geertsen (RFA), Joe Colborne (UFA), Ryan Graves (RFA), Andrew Hammond (UFA), Reid Petryk (RFA), Trent Vogelhuber (UFA)

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Deadline Deals NHL

TRADE: San Jose lands Evander Kane from Buffalo

A highly touted winger was swapped with a couple of picks and a prospect that now reunites a Boston University line in Buffalo. Should BU open up a remote campus in upstate New York?

The Buffalo Sabres traded F Evander Kane to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for F Danny O’Regan, a conditional 1st round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and a conditional 4th round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft prior to Monday’s trade deadline.

If Kane doesn’t re-sign with the Sharks, then the 2019 1st round pick becomes a 2019 2nd round pick. The 2019 1st round pick is also lottery protected and will remain a 1st round pick if San Jose wins the Cup.

The conditional 4th round pick in 2019 can become a 2020 3rd round pick if the Sharks so choose.

UnknownKane, 26, has 20-20–40 totals in 61 games for the Sabres this season. A five-time 40-point scorer, Kane has 177 goals and 163 assists (340 points) in 557 career NHL games with the Sabres and Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers.

A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, the 6’2″, 212-pound power forward combines scoring prowess with quite a punch. He is a pending-UFA this July and was originally drafted by the Thrashers in the 1st round (4th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Unknown-2O’Regan, 24, has four assists in 19 games with San Jose this season.

The 5’10”, 185-pound center has 7-18–25 totals in 31 games with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL) in 2017-18 and had 23-35–58 totals in 63 games last season with the Barracuda after completing four years at Boston University alongside now-current Buffalo teammates, Jack Eichel and Evan Rodrigues.

A native of Berlin, Germany, O’Regan was originally drafted by the Sharks in the 5th round (138th overall) of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. He’ll likely report to the Rochester Americans.

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Deadline Deals NHL

TRADE: Wedgewood and Rieder to L.A., Kuemper to Arizona

On Wednesday, the Arizona Coyotes and the Los Angeles Kings completed their first trade with each other since March 9, 2006 (remember the Tim Jackman–Yanick Lehoux trade, anyone?).

Arizona traded F Tobias Rieder and G Scott Wedgewood to the Kings in exchange for G Darcy Kuemper.

Kuemper signed a two-year contract extension with the Coyotes as part of the transaction and Arizona retained 15% of Rieder’s contract. Rieder is a pending-RFA this offseason.

Unknown-3Rieder, 25, has 51 goals and 60 assists (111 points) in 292 career NHL games– all with the Coyotes. The 5’11”, 188-pound, native of Landshut, Germany was originally drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 4th round (114th overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

He had a career-high 37-points in 2015-16 after making his NHL debut in the 2014-15 season. The right-winger had a career-high 16 goals last season with Arizona.

In 58 games this season, Rieder has 8-11–19 totals.

Wedgewood, 25, has a record of 5-9-4 with a 3.45 goals against average and .893 save percentage in 20 games played this season with Arizona. Additionally, he has one shutout this season.

The 6’2″, 195-pound, native of  Brampton, Ontario made his NHL debut in 2015-16 with New Jersey and went 2-1-1 with a 1.24 GAA and .957 SV% in four games played that season. Wedgewood notched his first career shutout with 39 saves at Pittsburgh on March 24, 2016.

He was originally drafted by the Devils in the 3rd round (84th overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and has a career 3.05 GAA and .903 SV% in 24 NHL games.

Unknown-3Kuemper, 27, has a 10-1-3 record with a 2.10 GAA and .932 SV% in 19 games this season for Los Angeles. With three shutouts on the year, the 6’5″, 215-pound, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native was in his first season with the Kings since signing with the team as a free agent last summer.

He has a career record of 51-35-17 with a 2.52 GAA, .913 SV% and 10 shutouts in 104 NHL games with Los Angeles and the Minnesota Wild. Kuemper spent the previous five seasons with Minnesota and was originally drafted by the Wild in the 6th round (161st overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

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NHL Podcasts

Down the Frozen River Podcast #83- What’s Brewing In Seattle?

Nick and Connor address the latest potential-expansion news regarding Seattle, recap the process thus far and speculate about many hypothetical relocation possibilities. Charlotte is better than Raleigh, another Subban was traded and— oh yeah— there’s games on the schedule this weekend.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) and/or on Stitcher.

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Daily Matchup

November 30 – Day 57 – Ain’t no Haulaback girl

Nothing is better than Thursday night in the NHL! Grab your favorite brew and head to the rink to watch your favorite crew!

That may have been forced, but I don’t really care.

Anyways, the NHL has lined up seven games for our viewing pleasure this evening, starting with Los Angeles at Washington at 7 p.m. and Montréal at Detroit (RDS/TSN2) half an hour later. Two more contests (Vancouver at Nashville and Vegas at Minnesota) drop the puck at 8 p.m., while Dallas at Chicago gets underway 30 minutes after. Finally, tonight’s co-nightcaps (Arizona at Calgary [SN360] and Toronto at Edmonton [TVAS]) see the green light at 9 p.m. to close out the night’s – and the month’s – action. All times Eastern.

Like I usually do, let’s highlight a couple of the games that might strike your fancy:

  • Montréal at Detroit: Did someone say Original Six?
  • Vegas at Minnesota: It’ll be a trip down memory lane tonight for F Erik Haula, as he’s returning to the Xcel Energy Center for the first time since being picked by the Golden Knights in the expansion draft.

The Stars-Blackhawks game also merits considerable attention since they’re tied for fourth place in the Central Division, but it’s not being considered for Game of the Day status due to Chicago being featured nine times already this season – as recently as two days ago.

As such, let’s make the trip to St. Paul and see if the Wild can do anything to slow down the best offense in the Western Conference.

 

 

 

 

 

Before we get started, I know what you’re thinking: no, I’m not all that interested in the game between the Maple Leafs and Oilers. I get that C Auston Matthews and C Connor McDavid are squaring off, but I don’t have it in me to make my loyal readers watch the Oil’s horrendous defense. That game will probably end with some ridiculous 7-3 score or something like that.

Instead, let’s focus in on Minnesota’s defense that is only a little bit better!

Ok, more on that in a minute. First, let’s recap the first four years of Haula’s NHL career.

The Finn was a seventh-round selection from the USHL’s Omaha Lancers by the Wild in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, but he didn’t start his NHL rookie season until the 2013-’14 campaign after a year with the Lancers, three seasons at the University of Minnesota and 37 games in the AHL.

Of Haula’s four campaigns with the Wild, his latter two were easily the most successful of his Minnesotan tenure. During the 2015-’16 season, he posted a career-high in points with 14-20-34 totals, and followed that up last campaign with a 15-11-26 effort – the most goals he’s scored in a season since his junior year of college.

Playing between RW Nino Niederreiter and RW Jason Pominville, Haula completed the Wild’s solid third line in what proved to be his final season with the club. Unfortunately, the good work that trio did was not enough to keep Haula on the squad, as General Manager Chuck Fletcher arranged a deal with Vegas GM George McPhee to ensure Haula would be selected during the expansion draft.

While his selection may have been choreographed to ensure Minnesota retained all the pieces it wanted, selecting Haula has only come up spades for the 15-7-1 Golden Knights. Haula has been promoted from lowly third-liner to Vegas’ top center and acclimated very well to his new role, averaging a career-high .68 points-per-game on the season with his 7-6-13 totals.

Of course, it’s hard to struggle with a linemate like W James Neal (12-7-19 totals), especially when they have the luxury of W Reilly Smith (6-13-19), C William Karlsson (13-9-22) and F Jon Marchessault (8-13-21) playing behind them as a brilliant second line. As such, the Pacific Division-leading Knights sport a nasty 3.52 goals-per-game average that trails only the Islanders and Lightning for best in the NHL.

Given the unenviable task of trying to slow down Vegas’ attack is 11-10-3 Minnesota, the worst team in the Central Division and third-worst in the Western Conference.

Hinted at before, the Wild’s biggest struggle this season has been keeping the opposition off the scoreboard. They allow 3.04 goals against-per-game, the (t)11th-worst effort in the NHL. Since I’m struggling to determine if responsibility for this issue falls on G Devan Dubnyk or his defense, I’m led to believe both share in the blame.

Let’s start with Dubnyk, who’s struggling to replicate last season’s .923 season save percentage and 2.25 GAA that earned him the fifth-most votes towards the Vezina Trophy. So far this year, he’s managed a .911 season save percentage and 2.85 GAA, which are 17th- and 14th-worst, respectively, among the 34 goaltenders with at least 10 starts (read: Dubnyk’s been average).

Unfortunately, he’s not getting all that much help from his d-corps. Even with LW Marcus Foligno‘s three hits-per-game, C Mikko Koivu‘s team-leading 18 takeaways and D Jared Spurgeon‘s 2.2 blocks-per-game, Minnesota is allowing a 12th-worst 32.2 shots against-per-game.

It is probably very telling that D Jonas Brodin, the team’s leader in individual goal-differential with a +8, is the only blueliner with a +/- better than +1. Meanwhile, defensemen like Spurgeon and Ryan Suter that have at least 14 points to their name have been neglecting their defensive duties, as neither have positive goal-differentials even though they’re among the Wild’s top-six point earners.

Unless Dubynk stands on his head – which is something he hasn’t done since his 30-for-30 performance against Philadelphia over two weeks ago – it’s hard to believe that the Wild will have much luck slowing down the Golden Knights’ offense.

With two goals in the span of 2:20, the Montréal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 at the Bell Centre in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

The Senators had a hot start to this game, as Second Star of the Game RW Mark Stone scored an unassisted shorthanded backhanded shot only 4:36 into the contest to quiet the loudest arena in the NHL.

Ottawa’s lead lasted until the 2:56 mark of the second period. That’s when First Star F Jonathan Drouin scored his fifth goal of the season, a penalty shot that pinged off G Mike Condon‘s right goalpost. 2:18 later, F Phillip Danault (F Andrew Shaw and LW Max Pacioretty) set the 2-1 final score with a wrist shot.

This goal was a result of some lightning-fast puck movement. Pacioretty and Shaw were busy behind Condon’s net, scrapping with C Derick Brassard and D Cody Ceci for possession. The moment Shaw had the opportunity, he forced the puck back above the goal line to Danault, who was screaming towards Condon’s right goalpost. Before the goalkeeper could get turned the right way, Danault sent his one-timer into the back of the net.

Though I was unable to watch the game, I’m led to believe that Third Star D Karl Alzner played a major role in keeping the Sens off the scoreboard after Stone’s first period tally. In 21 minutes of ice time, he threw three hits, blocked four shots and tacked on an additional takeaway to help the Habs earn two points.

G Carey Price earned the victory (his third-straight since returning from injury) after saving 27-of-28 shots faced (.964 save percentage), leaving the loss to Condon, who saved 29-of-31 (.935).

Home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series are on quite the roll, as they’ve won the last five games. Tonight’s victory improves their record to 32-19-6, 15 points better than the roadies’ effort.

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NHL Nick's Net

TRADE ANALYSIS: Preds, Sens solidify contender status, Avs profit later

Breakups are hard.

Joe Sakic was one of Matt Duchene‘s all-time heroes growing up– right up there with golden age era Colorado Avalanche counterpart, Peter Forsberg. Now, Sakic has traded away the player that was meant to carry the torch as Colorado transitioned from their franchise’s greatest player of all-time to the 3rd overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

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Last year’s Colorado Avalanche sealed the deal for Duchene. He had waited long enough for a franchise that has only made the playoffs twice in his career to rebuild.

His days were numbered and had been rumored to be on his way out since things really began to go south last season, but Avalanche general manager, Joe Sakic, held on until the very last minute– demanding quite the return in hopes of making up for the lost time in talent acquisition and development after the Ryan O’Reilly trade with the Buffalo Sabres at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Nikita Zadorov hasn’t lived up to the hype– though he is on their roster, J.T. Compher isn’t as prolific as O’Reilly, Mikhail Grigorenko‘s now playing in the KHL and the 31st overall pick was flipped by the Avs at the draft to the San Jose Sharks. The O’Reilly deal had a clear winner (Buffalo) and setback Colorado further than they expected to have been in the post-O’Reilly Era, already depleted at center a season after losing Paul Stastny to the St. Louis Blues in free agency.

For Duchene, the drama’s over.

No more questions about who’s going to step up, when thing’s are going to turn around or how long things will last.

The deal is done.

Sunday night, while playing at Barclays Center against the New York Islanders, Matt Duchene was pulled off the ice during a stoppage to assist now former teammate, Blake Comeau, out of the rink with an injury. Duchene had been traded– mid-game. The first in recent memory since Janurary 12, 2012, when the Montreal Canadiens sent Mike Cammalleri to the Calgary Flames during a matchup with the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.

Unknown-6Duchene will be closer to home, bringing his 4-6-10 totals in 14 games with Colorado so far this season to Canada’s capital. His Senators debut will be against his former team later this week as Ottawa takes on Colorado in the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series this Friday and Saturday in Stockholm, Sweden.

The 26-year-old center had 428 points (178 goals, 250 assists) in 586 games played with the Avalanche since being drafted in 2009 and is moving on to greener pastures with the Ottawa Senators after a career worst minus-34 in 77 games last season.

Ottawa is going through a little breakup of their own as part of this three-team trade, sending the other largest part of the deal, Kyle Turris, to the Nashville Predators, while dealing Andrew Hammond, Shane Bowers, a 2018 1st round pick (with top-ten protection) and a 2019 3rd round pick to Colorado.

In perhaps the biggest underrated pickup from this trade, Turris brings his 3-6-9 totals in 11 games with the Sens this season to the Nashville Predators. The 28-year-old center is coming off of a career best 27 goals last season and finished the 2016-17 campaign with 27-28-55 totals in 78 games played.

A strong, two-way player, Turris’s current contract expires at the end of the season, but fear not, Preds fans, he’s already signed a six-year extension that’ll keep him in Nashville through the 2022-23 season at a $6.000 million cap hit (beginning next season).

Predators GM David Poile knows he’ll need plenty of depth down the middle for a long playoff run. Nashville has their sights set on a Cup run and given their last Stanley Cup Final appearance, they’ll need one of the best group of centers down the middle, in the event of injury (a la Ryan Johansen).

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Luckily, that’s where Kyle Turris fits the bill. In 544 career NHL games with Ottawa and the Phoenix Coyotes, he’s had 136 goals and 184 assists (320 points). The 3rd overall pick by the Coyotes in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft seeks to win it all with his third team in the NHL.

To complete the deal, the Predators sent Samuel Girard, Vladislav Kamenev and a 2018 2nd round pick to the Avalanche. Girard is a highly touted prospect once log-jammed in Nashville’s immense depth on the blue line, now free to flourish with Colorado and was the 46th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Kamenev was the 42nd overall choice by the Predators in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

While Sakic kept his demands high throughout the entire process of trading Duchene, he may reap the rewards of a plethora of picks, prospects and much needed depth in goal that is all-too-often overlooked (but becomes quite apparent when goalies are injured, let alone one of them– hello, Vegas).

Whether or not Sakic will flip the assets he attained for more remains to be seen– if he’s even the one to do so (there’s no guarantees in the midst of a rebuild, even if the draft picks are one or two calendar years away).

tl:dr The Colorado Avalanche finally traded Matt Duchene to the Ottawa Senators in a three-team trade in which Kyle Turris got shipped from the Sens to the Nashville Predators. In all, Colorado acquired Shane Bowers, Andrew Hammond, Samuel Girard, Vladislav Kamenev, a 2018 1st round pick (OTT), a 2018 2nd round pick (NSH) and a 2019 3rd round pick (OTT).

Colorado makes off with the most assets that could pay off if they draft the right guys or flip for more roster components at a later date, Ottawa got a center that they won’t have to worry about giving a raise this offseason (though they’ll still have to re-sign other large components in the next year or two) and Nashville got Turris locked up to a six-year extension going into effect next season, while also legitimizing themselves as a contender for the Cup this season with a solid core down the middle.

Some fun facts:

Duchene’s contract expires at the end of the 2018-19 season. His current cap hit is $6.000 million. Ottawa has about $3.700 million in cap space currently, according to CapFriendly and will need to re-sign players like Mark Stone and Cody Ceci next July (2018), as well as Erik Karlsson in 2019.

Nashville’s current cap hit of about $70.270 million, with Turris signed to a 6-year, $6.000 million per extension going into effect next season, will be even tighter heading into July 2018, which means they could be the new Washington Capitals in terms of everyone’s “Cup or bust” team this season.

Colorado’s cap hit is now about $66.741 million with a little over $8.000 million in cap space with more to offer throughout the season in terms of potential transactions and expendable rental players come this year’s trade deadline.

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Deadline Deals Nick's Net

TRADE: COL and WSH make minor move

Early in the day on Wednesday the Colorado Avalanche and the Washington Capitals swapped minor league players.

The Avalanche acquired goaltender Joe Cannata in exchange for defenseman Cody Corbett.

Unknown-1Cannata is a 27-year-old native of Wakefield, Massachusetts who was originally drafted by the Vancouver Canucks 173rd overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

In 22 appearances with the Hershey Bears (AHL) this season, Cannata amassed a 11-5-4 record with a 3.22 GAA and a .876 save percentage.

The veteran goaltender also played in three games with the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL) this season with a perfect 3-0-0 record in addition to a 2.33 GAA and a .916 SV%.

Washington Capitals LogoCorbett is a 23-year-old native of Lakeland, Minnesota who was undrafted. In 23 games with the San Antonio Rampage (AHL), Corbett had two goals and eight assists. He has 8-17-25 totals in 93 career AHL games.

The pending restricted free agent had 2-3-5 totals in seven games with the ECHL’s Colorado Eagles.

Corbett played junior hockey with the Edmonton Oil Kings for three seasons, winning two WHL championships and a Memorial Cup championship in 2013-2014.

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Deadline Deals Nick's Net

TRADE: New York Rangers acquire Taylor Beck

The New York Rangers acquired left winger Taylor Beck in exchange for right winger Justin Fontaine on Wednesday.
New York Rangers LogoBeck, 25, is the 70th overall product of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft selected by the Nashville Predators and is a pending restricted free agent in July. In 90 career NHL games, Beck has recorded 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists).

He appeared in three games this season for the Edmonton Oilers and has previously spent time with the New York Islanders and Predators in his career.

Unknown-5Fontaine, 29, was undrafted and will be a pending unrestricted free agent in July. After breaking into the NHL during the 2013-2014 season with the Minnesota Wild, Fontaine has recorded 27-41-68 totals in 197 games played.

He played in 50 games this season for the Rangers AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, and notched nine goals and 21 assists. Fontaine has yet to appear in a NHL game this season.

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Daily Matchup

February 7 – Day 111 – Pigeons not the only birds in Gotham

A whopping 11 games are on the schedule this evening, so let’s hop right in. Like it usually does, the action starts at 7 p.m. with four contests (San Jose at Buffalo, Anaheim at the New York Rangers, Calgary at Pittsburgh [TVAS] and Carolina at Washington), followed half an hour later by another set of four (Dallas at Toronto, St. Louis at Ottawa [RDS2], Columbus at Detroit and Los Angeles at Tampa Bay [NBCSN]). We keep moving west with two contests (Vancouver at Nashville and Minnesota at Winnipeg) dropping the puck at 8 p.m., followed an hour later by tonight’s nightcap: Montréal at Colorado (RDS). All times eastern.

There’s a handful of good games this evening, but I expect the best one to occur at Madison Square Garden. To the Big Apple we go!

Unknown-1New York Rangers Logo

 

The Ducks make their yearly trip to the World’s Most Famous Arena with a 28-16-10 record, good enough for second place in the Pacific Division. They’ve found much of that success on the back of their defense and goaltending, as Anaheim has allowed only 133 goals in 54 games this season, the sixth-best rate in the NHL.

That all starts with 20-12-8 John Gibson, who’s having a solid campaign. He’s accumulated a .921 season save percentage and a 2.27 GAA, the (t)eighth and sixth-best efforts, respectively, among the 43 goaltenders with at least 20 appearances.

Much of the reason he’s found such success has been due to the blueline playing in front of him, which has allowed only 29.4 shots-per-game to reach his crease – the 10th-best rate in the league. That being said, the defense is working its hardest to fill some big skates. Sami Vatanen, who leads the club with 94 shot blocks, is currently fighting a lower-body injury to the point that Brandon Montour was recalled from San Diego. Cam Fowler, who has blocked 82 shots so far this year for the active-lead in the clubhouse, is being called on to fill the void.

The defensive success continues on the penalty kill, where the Ducks rank fifth-best by refusing to yield a goal on 84.3% of opposing power plays. Vatanen is usually a big player when down a man with 19 shorthanded blocks to his credit, so Anaheim will once again turn their eyes to Fowler, who’s 18 blocks when down a man are second-best.

Playing host this evening are the 33-18-1 Rangers, the fourth-best team in the Metropolitan Division and fifth-best in the Eastern Conference. Winners of their last two games, the Blueshirts have found a lot of their success with the puck on their stick, scoring 175 goals already this season – the second-most in the league.

New York‘s forwards may not turn heads when compared to the rest of the league, but they play incredibly well together. Leading the group has been J.T. Miller with 40 points, but four other skaters have at least 35 points to their credit. And he’s not even the one scoring all the goals. That job belongs to Michael Grabner, who tops the club with 23 tallies.

As might be expected, the Blueshirts‘ power play is pretty darn good. Led by Captain Ryan McDonagh and his 12 power play points, New York converts 21.3% of it’s opponents’ penalties into tallies, the ninth-best rate in the NHL. What makes the Rangers so dangerous is that opposing goaltenders don’t know who is going to take the final shot. The power play goal scoring title is shared between Chris Kreider, Rick Nash and Brandon Pirri, all of whom have five tallies with the man-advantage.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Anaheim‘s Gibson (2.27 GAA [seventh-best in the league] and three shutouts [tied for seventh-most in the NHL) and New York‘s Henrik Lundqvist (23 wins [tied for eighth-most in the league]).

It’s strength-on-strength tonight at MSG, which means the other end of the ice may prove to be more important in determining the outcome. Given the Rangers‘ strong play on the defensive end, I think the home squad holds on for the victory.

Hockey Birthday

  • Peter Bondra (1968-) – An eighth-rounder selected by Washington in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, this right wing earned five All-Star selections over his 16 seasons.
  • Alexandre Daigle (1975-) – Selected by Ottawa, this center was the first pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. He spent half of his 10 seasons in the league with the Senators, his longest tenure with a club.
  • David Aebischer (1978-) – This goaltender was selected in the sixth-round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by Colorado. He made his debut with the club during the 2000-’01 season and was a member of the Stanley Cup-winning team.
  • Steven Stamkos (1990-) – Another top pick, Tampa Bay selected this center in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Since then, he’s managed three All-Star selections and two Richard trophies.
  • Ryan O’Reilly (1991-) – Picked 33rd-overall by Colorado in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, this center’s crowing achievement is the 2014 Byng trophy. This season is his second in Buffalo.

In yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, First Star of the Game Carter Hutton led the Blues to a two-goal shutout victory over Philadelphia.

Paul Stastny (Kevin Shattenkirk and Alex Steen) takes credit for the winning goal with 4:38 remaining in the second period on a tip-in.

Second Star Kenny Agostino (David Perron and Jori Lehtera) tacked on the lone insurance tally 2:10 into the final frame on a breakaway snap shot in his first game as a Blue.

Hutton saved all 26 shots he faced for the victory, leaving the loss to Michal Neuvirth, who saved 14-of-16 (87.5%).

Road teams have earned three-straight victories in the DtFR Game of the Day series, and that surge has pulled them within seven points of the 59-37-17 homers.