Down the Frozen River

Tag: Dallas Stars

Calgary Flames 2021-22 Season Preview

2020-21 record 26-27-3, 55 points

5th in the Scotia NHL North Division

Missed the postseason for the first time since 2020

Additions: F Blake Coleman, F Alex Gallant (signed to a PTO), F Trevor Lewis, F Tyler Pitlick (acquired from SEA), F Brad Richardson, D Nick DeSimone, D Erik Gudbranson, D Kevin Gravel, D Andy Welinski, D Nikita Zadorov (acquired from CHI), G Adam Werner, G Dan Vladar (acquired from BOS)

Subtractions: F Spencer Foo (KHL), F Josh Leivo (signed with CAR), F Joakim Nordström (KHL), F Zac Rinaldo (signed with CBJ), F Buddy Robinson (signed with ANA), F Derek Ryan (signed with EDM), F Dominik Simon (signed with PIT), D Mark Giordano (expansion, SEA), D Carl-Johan Lerby (SHL), D Nikita Nesterov (KHL), D Alexander Petrovic (signed with DAL), D Alexander Yelesin (KHL), G Louis Domingue (signed with PIT)

Still Unsigned: G Artyom Zagidulin

Re-signed: F Dillon Dubé, F Glenn Gawdin, F Justin Kirkland, F Matthew Phillips, F Luke Philp, F Brett Ritchie, D Oliver Kylington, D Connor Mackey, D Colton Poolman, D Michael Stone, D Juuso Välimäki, G Tyler Parsons

Offseason Analysis: Calgary is facing an existential crisis.

They can either trust in their core players that they just might get it done if they’ve become frustrated by years of falling short (or not even making the playoffs at all, as they missed the postseason in 2021) or they can begin to move forward by hitting the “reset” button.

This offseason, Flames General Manager, Brad Treliving, chose to add without subtracting– to overhaul, rather than to rebuild (at least for now).

Joakim Nordström, Derek Ryan, Zac Rinaldo and more are gone. They’ve left for other professional leagues around the world, Edmonton and Columbus, respectively.

Mark Giordano was claimed by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft after breaking into the league with the Flames in the 2005-06 season. He spent 15 years in Calgary and amassed 143-366–509 totals in 949 games in a Flames uniform and had been captain in the “C of Red” since the 2013-14 season.

Though many fans in Calgary would like to belive the 37-year-old will spend one season in Seattle and return to the Flames, there are no guarantees.

Calgary’s already worked on developing a good-standing relationship with their new Pacific Division rivals as they got traded a 2022 4th round pick to the Kraken for forward, Tyler Pitlick, on July 22nd– a day after the expansion draft.

Pitlick slides in as a quality top-nine forward for the Flames and had 6-5–11 totals in 38 games for the Arizona Coyotes last season while battling injury.

He’s reached the 20-point plateau twice in his career in 2017-18 with Dallas (27 points in 80 games) and 2019-20 with Philadelphia (20 points in 63 games) and should be a low-risk high-reward depth move.

Treliving made a splash when free agency opened on July 28th, signing two-time defending Stanley Cup champion, Blake Coleman, to a six-year contract worth $4.900 million per season.

Coleman’s speed and skill solidifies Calgary’s middle-six as he should be on the second or third line at all times.

He’s had three consecutive seasons with at least 30 points since the 2018-19 season and notched 31 points (14 goals, 17 assists) in 55 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020-21.

Coleman on a line with Andrew Mangiapane is a game-changer for Calgary’s offense– especially as they’ve re-signed Dillon Dubé and still have Sean Monahan down the middle to fill out the top-nine with Mikael Backlund, Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk on the roster.

The same day that free agency began, Treliving also made a pair of trades–first acquiring defender, Nikita Zadorov, from Chicago for a 2022 3rd round pick (originally belonging to the Toronto Maple Leafs) and later acquiring goaltender, Dan Vladar, from the Boston Bruins for Calgary’s own 2022 3rd round pick.

Zadorov, 26, signed a one-year deal worth $3.750 million with the Flames and had 1-7–8 totals in 55 games with Chicago last season, as well as 23-60–83 totals in 411 career NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres, Colorado Avalanche and Chicago.

The 6-foot-6, 235-pound Russian native isn’t an offensive powerhouse from the blue line, but rather a top-four shutdown defensive defender. At his best, Zadorov can make hit after hit and pummel an opposing team’s offense into submission in his own zone, though the occasional bad penalty may result.

Vladar, 24, made his regular season debut last season for the Bruins and went 2-2-1 in five games played with a 3.40 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage in that span.

Don’t let the stats fool you, though, as Boston allowed eight goals against in Vladar’s last start against the Washington Capitals on April 11th before the emergence of Jeremy Swayman and return from injury for Tuukka Rask forced B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy’s, hand down the stretch and through the postseason.

Vladar is capable of holding his own in the NHL and should be a decent backup behind Jacob Markström in net for Calgary.

In 2019-20, Vladar had a 1.79 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage in 25 games with the Providence Bruins (AHL). He followed that effort up with a 2.19 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage in 10 games with Providence last season.

Treliving signed unrestricted free agents, Brad Richardson, Trevor Lewis and Erik Gudbranson, to one-year contracts over the summer– adding Richardson on an $800,000 cap hit for depth, Lewis as a fourth liner with an $800,000 cap hit and Gudbranson ($1.950 million cap hit) as a defender that just might push Oliver Kylington or Juuso Välimäki out of regular ice time.

Richardson, 36, was limited to 17 games with the Nashville Predators last season and had 1-3–4 totals after spending 16 prior seasons with the Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks, Coyotes and Predators.

He won a Stanley Cup ring with then Los Angeles head coach, Darryl Sutter, in 2012, while Lewis won two Cups in his Kings tenure in 2012 and 2014.

Lewis joins the Flames after spending last season with the Winnipeg Jets– notching 5-5–10 totals in 56 games after spending 674 games in a Los Angeles uniform from parts of the 2008-09 season through 2019-20.

Gudbranson bounced from the Ottawa Senators to the Predators at the 2021 deadline after amassing 1-2–3 totals in 36 games with the Sens before contributing one assist in nine games with Nashville afterward.

With only four points in 45 games, Gudbranson isn’t much competition for Välimäki, who had 2-9–11 totals in 49 games for Calgary last season, but the clock is ticking on Kylington’s tenure in the “C of Red”.

Ranked 24th by TSN in the final draft rankings ahead of the 2015 NHL Draft, Kylington fell to the Flames in the 2nd round at 60th overall and has only appeared in 95 career games approaching seven years out of his draft year.

He had one assist in eight games last season and re-signed with Calgary on a one-year, two-way contract and has 16 points in his career, while Välimäki already has 14 points in 73 games in parts of two seasons since breaking into the NHL with the Flames in 2018-19.

Just like with Calgary’s core, time might be running out for a serious chance.

Offseason Grade: A-

If you were hoping for the Flames to tear things down this offseason, then they failed this summer.

If you’re looking at things from the perspective that adding without subtracting while still having enough of a core to make something happen, well, then signing Coleman alone is enough to laud Treliving praise for making a move instead of sticking to the script.

Of course, now the pressure is on for Calgary to succeed or risk fraying their relationship with Gaudreau and other Flames veterans, which would mean that Treliving would be forced to make some big trades by the deadline or next summer.

That said, the biggest detractor from the Flames this offseason might just be the Flames themselves as Sutter’s coaching style hasn’t adapted to the NHL in 2021.

If you don’t let your best players play their games and try to box them into a mold they don’t fit, then you’re only bringing yourself down in the league currently.

September 12, 2021
Vancouver Canucks 2021-22 Season Preview

2020-21 record 23-29-4, 50 points

7th in the Scotia NHL North Division

Missed the postseason for the first time since 2020

Additions: F Justin Dowling, F Jason Dickinson (acquired from DAL), F Phil Di Giuseppe, F Sheldon Dries, F Conor Garland (acquired from ARI), F Nic Petan, F Sheldon Rempal, F John Stevens, D Kyle Burroughs, D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (acquired from ARI), D Brad Hunt, D Brady Keeper, D Tucker Poolman, D Luke Schenn, D Devante Stephens, G Jaroslav Halak, G Spencer Martin (acquired from TBL)

Subtractions: F Sven Baertschi (signed with VGK), F Jay Beagle (traded to ARI), F Travis Boyd (signed with ARI), F Loui Eriksson (traded to ARI), F Tyler Graovac (KHL), F Jayce Hawryluk (SHL), F Kole Lind (expansion, SEA), F Lukas Jasek (Liiga), F Marc Michaelis (signed with Toronto Marlies, AHL), F Petrus Palmu (Liiga), F Antoine Roussel (traded to ARI), F Jake Virtanen (buyout, KHL), D Jalen Chatfield (signed with Chicago Wolves, AHL), D Alexander Edler (signed with LAK), D Mitch Eliot (signed with Rochester Americans, AHL), D Brogan Rafferty (signed with ANA), D Nate Schmidt (traded to WPG), D Ashton Sautner (signed with Abbotsford Canucks, AHL), D Josh Teves (signed with Rochester Americans, AHL), G Braden Holtby (buyout)

Still Unsigned: F Elias Pettersson (RFA), F Jimmy Vesey, D Quinn Hughes (RFA), G Jake Kielly

Re-signed: F Justin Bailey, F Brandon Sutter, D Guillaume Brisebois, D Travis Hamonic, D Olli Juolevi

Offseason Analysis: Canucks General Manager, Jim Benning, has been busy this offseason undoing past misjudgments and moving Vancouver forward in other areas (however small they may be).

At least he didn’t sign anyone to a head-scratching long-term contract the day that free agency began on July 28th this year.

With about $10.664 million in cap space currently and Elias Pettersson as a restricted-free agent alongside Quinn Hughes, the Canucks still have some work to get done before the season begins or else they risk falling behind even further in the standings.

While Pettersson would probably love to make about $9.000 or $10 million per season, he hasn’t exactly reached that status yet as a 22-year-old center with 153 points in 165 career games.

A solid bridge contract is more likely in his future than, say, a long-term seven or eight-year deal.

It may be kicking the can down the road to pay him later, but with 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 26 games last season, there’s always the risk that his wrist injury might quite literally hurt his skilled hands in the near to long-term future.

A bridge deal insures the Canucks of avoiding prolonging the salary cap hell that they’ve been through until Benning was able to dump most of it in Arizona via the trade with the Coyotes for Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland.

That said, Pettersson is worth paying a premium for to build off of Vancouver’s young core. He had 28-38–66 totals in 71 games in his first season in the league in 2018-19 and amassed 27-39–66 totals in 68 games prior to the COVID-19 pandemic being declared in the 2019-20 season.

Hughes, on the other hand, is important to Vancouver’s future, but had a dip in production from 53 points (eight goals, 45 assists) in 68 games in his first full season in 2019-20 to 41 points (three goals, 38 assists) in 56 games last season.

Nevertheless, for a defender to wrack up 40 or more points in a season is pretty good all things considered.

Especially since Hughes is only 21-years-old and has plenty of track left on route to his potential.

It should be easier to get a deal done with Hughes than Pettersson if the sticking point is that one sees themselves more valuable to the team than the other.

If, for some reason, things went south between the Canucks and Pettersson, the Canucks could survive– albeit reminiscent of the last days of Pavel Bure with the franchise.

In other words, you probably don’t want that to happen again.

All right, what about what Vancouver has already taken care of this offseason, shall we?

Jaroslav Halak left the Boston Bruins for the Canucks via free agency this summer and signed a one-year deal worth $1.500 million with another $1.500 million in performance bonuses to become the backup to Thatcher Demko, though Vancouver may prefer to utilize Halak and Demko as some sort of a 1A/1B tandem.

Despite Halak’s 9-6-4 record in 19 games last season, he maintained a quality 2.53 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage with two shutouts in that span as Boston’s backup until Jeremy Swayman entered the conversation.

In 2019-20, Halak and Tuukka Rask captured the William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltender(s) with 25 or more games played that allowed the fewest goals against in that season.

Halak went 18-6-6 in 31 games and had a 2.39 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage and three shutouts in that remarkable regular season run.

It served as a reminder that Halak was once a surefire starting goaltender and could very well, in the event that was necessary, command a team from the crease as a starter once more.

This after a 22-11-4 record in 40 games played with Boston in 2018-19, in which he had a 2.34 goals-against average, a .922 save percentage and five shutouts.

But at 36-years-old, Halak’s time in the league is dwindling as he continues about the twilight of his career.

At the very least, he brings in more stability in the crease than Braden Holtby did for Demko– and that’s precisely why the Canucks felt is was O.K. to buyout the remaining year of Holtby’s contract.

The bulk of Benning’s work this offseason came via making trades.

He most recently acquired goaltender, Spencer Martin, from the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 31st for future considerations to solidify depth in the event of injury or to at least provide the Abbotsford Canucks (AHL) with a quality starter.

But earlier this summer, Benning kicked things off with a small grab for top-nine depth by sending the Dallas Stars a 2021 3rd round pick (73rd overall, Ayrton Martino) for forward, Jason Dickinson, on July 17th.

Six days later, Benning phoned Bill Armstrong in Arizona and executed a trade that saved the Canucks almost $5.000 million in valuable cap space after sending Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson, a 2021 1st round pick (9th overall, Dylan Guenther), a 2022 2nd round pick and a 2023 7th round pick to the Coyotes for Ekman-Larsson and Garland’s signing rights before re-signing the latter to a five-year extension worth $4.950 million per season.

Arizona retained 12% of Ekman-Larsson’s salary, thus shaving $990,000 off of his cap hit for Vancouver, who is assessed a cap hit of $7.260 million per season for Ekman-Larsson through 2026-27.

With change coming to the blue line in Vancouver, Nate Schmidt reconsidered a trade he had initially rejected and informed Benning he would be fine being moved after all in a deal where the Canucks sent Schmidt to the Winnipeg Jets for a 2022 3rd round pick on July 27th.

If Ekman-Larsson’s able to rebound from his decline– reaching 55 points in 75 games in 2015-16, then 39 points in 79 games the following season before rebounding with 42 points in 82 games in 2017-18 and 44 points in 81 games in 2018-19 prior to his dropoff again in 2019-20, where he had 30 points in 66 games and 2020-21, where he had 24 points in 46 games– then Benning might just be a mastermind after all.

At the very least, Ekman-Larsson’s 24 points last season with Arizona was more than Schmidt had in 54 games with Vancouver, as Schmidt dropped from 31 points in 59 games with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019-20 to 15 points in 54 games with the Canucks.

Offseason Grade: B

If the Canucks had signed Pettersson and Hughes to extensions already– and assuming they weren’t overpaying them– then Vancouver probably would get an “A” overall for their willingness to free themselves from past mistakes and try something new.

Will they be as bad as they were last season? Probably not.

Will they be “blow other teams out of the water” good this season? Also probably not.

But at the very least, they’ve given themselves enough to work with in the next year or two to fill out the rest of their core and supplement their best players with better pieces of the puzzle.

If, however, everything falls on their face, then I guess Vancouver is just cursed like that then, huh.

September 8, 2021
San Jose Sharks 2021-22 Season Preview

2020-21 record 21-28-7, 49 points

7th in the Honda NHL West Division

Missed the postseason for the second-straight year

Additions: F Nick Bonino, F Andrew Cogliano, F Nick Merkley (acquired from NJD), F Lane Pederson, D Jaycob Megna, G Adin Hill (acquired from ARI), G James Reimer

Subtractions: F Kurtis Gabriel (signed with TOR), F Fredrik Händemark (KHL), F Maxim Letunov (signed with CAR), F Marcus Sörensen (SHL), F Alex True (expansion, SEA), D Christian Jaros (traded to NJD), D Greg Pateryn (signed with ANA), G Martin Jones (buyout), G Josef Korenar (traded to ARI)

Still Unsigned: F Ryan Donato, F Noah Gregor (RFA), F Patrick Marleau

Re-signed: F Rüdolfs Balcers, F Joachim Blichfeld, F Jonathan Dahlén, F Dylan Gambrell, F Matt Nieto, F Jeffrey Viel, D Nicolas Meloche

Offseason Analysis: The Sharks have been quiet– too quiet– this offseason for a team that proclaims they’re “definitely not rebuilding” and “totally going to be back in the playoffs in 2022”.

Whether you buy into the speculation that Tomas Hertl is going to be shopped by the team or not, there is some uneasiness in the dressing room as Evander Kane’s bankruptcy court ongoings continue to unfurl in public amidst separation from his wife while San Jose is tight against the salary cap with about $3.361 million in cap space heading into the 2021-22 season.

Erik Karlsson’s made it known that he doesn’t want to experience another rebuild in his career– having been dealt to the Sharks originally as a casualty of the Ottawa Senators’ demise and subsequent retool/rebuild.

It’s not hard to feel empathy for the precarious position that Doug Wilson is in as General Manager, though it’s through much of his own doing.

For starters, Karlsson carries an $11.500 million cap hit through the 2026-27 season, which contributed to Joe Pavelski leaving for the Dallas Stars via free agency on July 1, 2019, and with it San Jose’s character amongst the Sharks’ leadership core.

Kane carries a $7.000 million cap hit through 2024-25, though he may reach a termination agreement at any point in time with San Jose to restructure his debt and may or may not end up signing for much less as a result with the Sharks if he isn’t forced to take a step back from hockey to focus on that whole debt thing that keeps getting mentioned.

Seriously, we’re hoping for the best here.

Forced to make minor moves due to a stagnant salary cap, Wilson signed Matt Nieto to a two-year extension worth $850,000 per season and continued to fill out his middle of the lineup/bottom-six forwards with Andrew Cogliano and Nick Bonino via free agency.

Cogliano received a one-year, $1.000 million deal, while Bonino earned a two-year contract that carries a $2.050 million cap hit.

Nieto recorded three consecutive seasons of 20 or more points with the Colorado Avalanche from 2017-18 through 2019-20 as he experienced a career resurgence as a bottom-six forward, prior to amassing 5-2–7 totals in 28 games last season with San Jose before a lower body injury cut his 2020-21 season short.

After spending the last few seasons in Dallas, Cogliano left the Stars for the Sharks in free agency after managing 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 54 games last season.

At this point, the 34-year-old center is just trying to hold onto what is likely the twilight of his career and looking for a way to either spice up his remaining playing days and extend his tenure in the league or find a way to be moved by the trade deadline to a Cup contender as the 14-year NHL veteran has only been to one Stanley Cup Final in his career thus far– losing in six games with Dallas to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020.

Bonino, on the other hand, brings some Cup winning experience to San Jose’s dressing room as the 33-year-old center won his first of two Cup rings with the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games against the Sharks in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final.

After winning back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017, with Pittsburgh, Bonino made his way to the Nashville Predators and, most recently, the Minnesota Wild, where he had 10-16–26 totals in 55 games while the Wild rose to prominence and endured a seven-game First Round series loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Bonino may be at the point where he bounces around the league every other season or so, but he’s shown that he can still prove to be a valuable piece down the middle as a glue guy, which is welcome news for San Jose as they look for Logan Couture and Hertl to remain steady as a 1-2 punch at center on the first and second lines.

Drafting William Eklund 7th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, then signing him to a three-year entry-level contract was another quality move made by Wilson in the ongoing restructuring of the organization’s depth and future foundation.

Ranked as the No. 1 European skater by NHL Central Scouting, Eklund fell to the Sharks in the draft and could end up playing this season for San Jose. Sure it might be throwing him to the fire a bit early, but if he’s as good as he looked with Djurgårdens IF, then it’s worth it to spur the *ahem* rebuild in San Jose as he managed to have 11-12–23 totals in 40 games in the SHL last season.

But the biggest change this offseason for the Sharks comes in the crease, where San Jose has bought out Martin Jones– freeing themselves from his 15-13-4 record in 34 games last season, with a 3.28 goals-against average, an .896 save percentage and one shutout in that span– and traded for Adin Hill before signing Hill to an extension and landing James Reimer in free agency.

Jones will carry a $1.917 million buyout penalty on San Jose’s cap through the 2026-27 season, but at least he’s the Philadelphia Flyers’ reclamation project now.

In the meantime, Hill was acquired in exchange for Josef Korenar and a 2022 2nd round pick back on July 17th.

The 25-year-old former Arizona Coyotes goaltender was given a two-year extension worth $2.175 million per season and went 9-9-1 in 19 games last season, recording a 2.74 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage and two shutouts in that span.

It’s important to note that he had a 2.62 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage in 13 games in 2019-20 with the Coyotes and has shown that, perhaps, in a better defensive situation, he just might improve.

Meanwhile, Reimer reunites with the Sharks for the first time since San Jose’s 2016 Stanley Cup Final appearance as he was acquired by the team on Feb. 28, 2016, with Jeremy Morin for a 2018 3rd round pick, Ben Smith and Alex Stalock in return to the Toronto Maple Leafs back in the day.

Since then, Reimer had a stop with the Florida Panthers and, most recently, with the Carolina Hurricanes as a tandem duo with Petr Mrazek.

The 33-year-old goaltender might have an edge going into the season over Hill as Reimer managed to record a 15-5-2 record in 22 games last season for Carolina and had a 2.66 goals-against average, as well as a .906 save percentage in that span.

He signed a two-year deal worth $2.250 million per season with the Sharks on July 28th.

In both cases, it’s a low-risk, high-reward move that Wilson can defend simply as a placeholder if it all goes south while searching for a long-term solution in net.

Offseason Grade: C-

It’s time for the Sharks to make some serious roster decisions in a proactive manner instead of forcing their own hands tied and reacting to the alarming situation that may only worsen as the team desperately tries to avoid using the term “rebuild”.

San Jose’s unprecedented success in the regular season throughout the 2000s and 2010s meant that the team never really had to rely on the uncertainty of going through growing pains and struggles, but for the first time since franchise’s infancy it appears that it’s inevitable once more.

Whether removing Wilson is something to be done sooner rather than later or not hinges upon whether or not Sharks ownership is informed of a solidified plan.

There cannot be any wavering any longer for a team that, sure, finished ahead of the Anaheim Ducks last season, but is expected to bottom out in the Pacific Division by virtually every expert and analyst on paper going into 2021-22– and that’s even with the uncertain nature of the expansion, Seattle Kraken, to consider.

San Jose is close to getting a “D+”, but cutting their losses and buying out Jones now brings them up to a “C-“.

September 6, 2021
Detroit Red Wings 2021-22 Season Preview

2020-21 record 19-27-10, 48 points

7th in the Discover NHL Central Division

Missed the postseason for the fifth-straight year

Additions: F Mitchell Stephens (acquired from TBL), F Pius Suter, D Nick Leddy (acquired from NYI), G Alex Nedeljkovic (acquired from CAR)

Subtractions: F Mathias Bromé (NL), F Turner Elson (signed with Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL), F Valtteri Filppula (NL), F Luke Glendening (signed with DAL), F Darren Helm (signed with COL), F Frans Nielsen (buyout), F Richard Panik (traded to NYI), F Evgeny Svechnikov (PTO with WPG), F Dominic Turgeon (signed with MIN), F Hayden Verbeek (signed with Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL), F Henrik Zetterberg (retired), D Alex Biega (signed with TOR), D Dennis Cholowski (expansion, SEA), D Christian Djoos (NL), D Joe Hicketts (signed with MIN), D Dylan McIlrath (signed with WSH), G Jonathan Bernier (traded to CAR, signed with NJD), G Kevin Boyle (ICEHL), G Patrik Rybár (KHL)

Still Unsigned: F Bobby Ryan, F Givani Smith (RFA)

Re-signed: F Tyler Bertuzzi, F Adam Erne, F Sam Gagner, F Chase Pearson, F Jakub Vrana, D Filip Hronek, D Gustav Lindstrom, D Marc Staal, G Calvin Pickard

Offseason Analysis: When Steve Yzerman resigned from the Tampa Bay Lightning, the foundation of his plan as General Manager and the years of development that it took had built up a few levels short of winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021, after Julien BriseBois picked up where Yzerman left off shortly before the 2018-19 season.

On April 19, 2019, the prodigal son made his return to Detroit as the now current General Manager of the Red Wings– inheriting a mess left behind by Ken Holland who, despite winning the Cup three times as the executive vice president and GM in Detroit from 1997-2019, was promoted to senior vice president before walking away from the Red Wings altogether.

Still with me here?

Yzerman left the Lightning in September 2018, and BriseBois was named his replacement, then later in the 2018-19 league calendar year, the Red Wings hired Yzerman as their General Manager, while Holland stuck around for less than a month longer before leaving for his current role as General Manager and President of Hockey Operations for the Edmonton Oilers.

In this pseudo-musical chairs endeavor, Tampa has won back-to-back Stanley Cups, while Holland’s Oilers have been mired in early postseason exits and Yzerman, well… …Yzerman’s just been biding his time.

Though he hasn’t played since the 2017-18 season due to a career-ending degenerative back condition, Henrik Zetterberg’s $6.083 million cap hit is finally off the books.

Yzerman is no longer looking to take on dead cap space to meet the salary cap floor, but he’s also not quite spending to the ceiling just yet.

Instead, the Red Wings are setting the gears in motion for big strides sooner rather than later.

This offseason sped things up, though the team hasn’t been kicked into high-gear just yet.

For starters, Yzerman’s kept Tyler Bertuzzi, Adam Erne, Sam Gagner, Filip Hronek and Calvin Pickard around as top-six talent, glue guys and necessary goaltending depth in the event of injury.

He also worked out a solid bridge contract with 25-year-old Jakub Vrana– giving the left wing that was acquired at the 2021 trade deadline a $5.250 million cap hit through the 2023-24 season and buying a year of potential unrestricted free agency in the process.

Vrana’s short stint down the stretch with Detroit proved to be very productive amassing 8-3–11 totals in 11 games with the Red Wings after putting up 11-14–25 totals through 39 games with the Washington Capitals prior to the trade last season.

Detroit also managed to snag Pius Suter on the open market after Chicago chose not to tender a qualifying offer for the would have been restricted free agent.

Suter broke into the league as a 25-year-old rookie and scored 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) in 55 games with Chicago. In a non-pandemic timeline, Suter would have been on pace for about 40 points in an 82-game schedule.

That’s nothing to sneeze at for a guy that can work up and down the lineup in a top-nine role on a team that’s looking to get back into annual playoff contention.

But that’s not all that Yzerman did this offseason.

As the team said “goodbye” to many long-time Red Wings members, like Darren Helm– who’s now with the Colorado Avalanche– and other more recent placeholders, Yzerman was busy working the phones and dialing the NHL’s trade center.

Aside from making a few trades involving nothing but draft picks at the 2021 NHL Draft– including one that led to Detroit moving up in the first round in a swap with the Dallas Stars that led to the Red Wings selecting Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL) goaltender, Sebastian Cossa– Yzerman continued to assemble depth down the lineup.

On July 16th, Detroit sent Richard Panik and a 2021 2nd round pick to the New York Islanders for Nick Leddy as the Islanders looked to make cap space– clearing about $4.125 million in the process for New York and likely teaming Leddy up with Moritz Seider on the second defensive pairing for the Red Wings.

Yzerman then dealt the negotiating rights for Jonathan Bernier and a 2021 3rd round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes for Alex Nedeljkovic on July 22nd, before signing the former Canes netminder to a two-year extension worth $2.000 million per season.

Finally, Yzerman went back to the well in Tampa for Mitchell Stephens– sending a 2022 6th round pick in return to the Lightning on July 30th.

Offseason Grade: B+

Detroit won’t be great, but they should be better than last season and given the fact that the Red Wings looked competitive at times in 2020-21, they just might play spoiler for some of the teams in the Atlantic Division.

Meanwhile, Leddy’s jump in production from 21 points in 60 games with the Islanders in 2019-20 to 31 points in 56 games last season should help jumpstart some two-way play in the backend for Detroit.

A change of scenery and a reunification with Erne on the fourth line for Stephens should necessitate more production than his one point in seven games with the Bolts last season– though neither Erne, nor Stephens are looking to be leading goal scorers on the roster.

Finally, Nedeljkovic established himself as a starting goaltender in the NHL– or a fringe starter, at least– amassing a 15-5-3 record in 23 games with Carolina last season to go with a 1.90 goals-against average, a .932 save percentage and three shutouts in that span.

The improvements to Detroit’s defense should pave a way to letting the Red Wings’ offense to grow and the youth throughout the organization to develop while Nedeljkovic can focus on competing with himself to maintain a high-level of play as the goaltender of the future for now, unless Cossa has anything to say about it in the near future.

For a team that’s been rebuilding in recent years, this is how you do it. Yzerman’s careful scouting, planning and execution is picking up speed.

September 5, 2021
Seattle Kraken 2021-22 Season Preview

2020-21 record 0-0-0, 0 points

Making their debut in the Pacific Division

Newest expansion team entering their 1st season

Additions: F Mason Appleton (from WPG), F Nathan Bastian (from NJD), F Colin Blackwell (from NYR), F Joonas Donskoi (from COL), F Jordan Eberle (from NYI), F Yanni Gourde (from TBL), F Morgan Geekie (from CAR), F Luke Henman, F Calle Järnkrok (from NSH), F Marcus Johansson (UFA from MIN), F Jared McCann (from TOR), F Jaden Schwartz (UFA from STL), F Brandon Tanev (from PIT), F Alexander Wennberg (UFA from FLA), D Connor Carrick (UFA from NJD), D Mark Giordano (from CGY), D Haydn Fleury (from ANA), D Adam Larsson (from EDM), D Jeremy Lauzon (from BOS), D Jamie Oleksiak (from DAL), D Gustav Olofsson (UFA from MTL), D Carson Soucy (from MIN), G Antoine Bibeau (UFA from COL), G Joey Daccord (from OTT), G Chris Driedger (from FLA), G Philipp Grubauer (UFA from COL)

Subtractions: F Tyler Pitlick (traded to CGY), F John Quenneville (NL), D Gavin Bayreuther (signed with CBJ), D Kurtis MacDermid (traded to COL), G Vitek Vanecek (traded to WSH)

Still Unsigned: D Dennis Cholowski (from DET)

Re-signed: F Kole Lind (from VAN), F Alexander True (from SJS), F Carsen Twarynski (from PHI), D Will Borgen (from BUF), D Vince Dunn (from STL), D Cale Fleury (from MTL)

Offseason Analysis: The NHL’s newest franchise is set to take to the ice for their first season on Oct. 12th as the Kraken pay a visit to the Vegas Golden Knights to kickoff a five-game road trip before hosting the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 16th in the first home game in the freshly renovated Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

Vegas didn’t do Seattle any favors in terms of establishing new-age expansion team expectations, since the Golden Knights found a way to make the 2018 Stanley Cup Final in their first season, but Kraken fans are just happy to have a professional hockey team competing for the Cup back in the city for the first time since the Seattle Metropolitans folded in 1924.

The Kraken are going to draw many comparisons to the Golden Knights despite adopting different strategies in roster compesition.

Vegas hit the ground running with a “win now” mentality, while Seattle’s built to grind their opponents down by rolling four lines similar to how the New York Islanders play a modified version of “the trap”.

Kraken General Manager, Ron Francis, has a great scouting department down the hall and knows how to construct a foundation for the future.

Francis’ track record as the General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes prior to Don Waddell’s arrival saw the likes of Martin Neceas, Morgan Geekie, Jake Bean, Julien Gauthier, Noah Hanifin, Sebastian Aho, Nicolas Roy, Haydn Fleury, Alex Nedeljkovic, Warren Foegele, Lucas Wallmark, Elias Lindholm, Brett Pesce, Brock McGinn and Jaccob Slavin rise through the ranks to the NHL– whether they still remain in a Canes uniform or not.

The future is bright for Seattle, while Dave Hakstol is getting a second chance behind the bench of an NHL team after a brief stint as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs most recently.

Hakstol’s time as the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers followed the rollercoaster that the organization’s been stuck in since Ron Hextall vacated the net.

One year showed promise, the next year was average, but then Hakstol and the team found another gear and were on the rise again– finishing 3rd in the Metropolitan Division in 2017-18, before his ultimate downfall and firing– though Philadelphia’s revolving door of goaltenders may have been a contribution.

Yanni Gourde had 17-19–36 totals in 56 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning last season en route to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.

He will miss the start of the 2021-22 season, though, which could put a damper on the expectations that he’ll be a breakout player in a Kraken uniform.

That said, glue guys like Joonas Donskoi, Alexander Wennberg, Brandon Tanev and Mason Appleton should compliment the roster well and help fill the void, while Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz work on solidifying a top-six forward group.

On defense, Mark Giordano provides a touch of leadership and experience with Jamie Oleksiak and Adam Larsson on an otherwise young blue line filled with the likes of Will Borgen, Vince Dunn, Haydn Fleury and Jeremy Lauzon.

In the crease, Seattle signed Philipp Grubauer after selecting Chris Driedger, Vitek Vanecek (later traded back to the Washington Capitals) and Joey Daccord in the expansion draft.

Driedger was the expected starter until Grubauer came along and left the Colorado Avalanche after the last three seasons.

Grubauer had seven shutouts to go with his 30-9-1 record in 40 games played last season, as well as a 1.95 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage in that span.

While Driedger’s 2.07 goals-against average and .927 save percentage was pretty great for the Florida Panthers last season, his 14-6-3 record and three shutouts pale in comparison to Grubauer.

That said, the two should make a dynamic duo as one of the most promising goaltending tandems on paper entering the 2021-22 season.

Seattle may or may not make the playoffs in their first season, but they’re sure to be better than a lot of expansion teams before the Golden Knights came around and flipped the script.

Offseason Grade: B-

Both the Golden Knights and the Kraken benefitted from some of the most generous expansion draft rules in league history– though Seattle dealt with the aftermath of Vegas’ wrath in swindling other teams via side deals in 2017, and couldn’t make a trade at the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft itself as a result.

Admit it, you would’ve taken Alex Ovechkin, Carey Price, Gabriel Landeskog and Vladimir Tarasenko if they were made available to you in an NHL 22 fantasy draft– salary cap be damned.

But that’s just it– a fantasy.

Even Vegas was laughed at for some of their expansion draft choices, but both the Golden Knights and Kraken experienced quite a turnover between when they filled out a roster for the first time on paper and when they hit the ice.

For having to put together a team from scratch, Francis didn’t do a bad job. For trying to win a Cup in their first season, well, the jury’s still out on that one, Seattle.

In any case, the city has more Stanley Cup rings before the Kraken even existed than 11 other current NHL teams thanks to the Metropolitans winning it all as the first American team to win the Cup in 1917.

September 1, 2021
Let’s pretend we have any say in jersey sponsors

Apparently the National Hockey League’s Board of Governors were up to something this month as it was reported by Sportico on Tuesday that the Board unanimously approved ads on the front of NHL jerseys beginning with the 2022-23 season.

The ads will be no bigger than a 3-inch-by-3.5-inch rectangle, which is slightly larger than the ads featured on the front of National Basketball Association (NBA) jerseys.

It was only a matter of time before the NHL followed the NBA in generating additional revenue by doing what professional hockey leagues outside of North America have been doing for many years, as well as what’s been done for at least a few seasons now in the American Hockey League (AHL) and ECHL minor league levels on this side of the pond.

As always, hockey Twitter is taking the news well.

Let’s embrace the chaos for a moment and pick some sponsors for all 32 NHL teams that would make so much sense they’ll obviously be overlooked for, well, actual revenue generating streams instead.

Anaheim Ducks

What we want: Disney+ or TCL

What we’ll get: Honda

The Ducks play at Honda Center and, yeah, there’s really nothing besides Disney swooping in and sponsoring the team that they used to own as a means of cross promoting both the Ducks and The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers on Disney+, so we’re stuck with a Honda logo at center ice and on the front of Anaheim’s jerseys.

In any case, Honda’s red logo works pretty well with the Orange County orange featured as an accent color on Anaheim’s home and road jerseys.

NHL teams have a tendency to go back to the well with their partners– think of how many teams have either the same helmet sponsor as another team or just slapped on the same brand as their venue’s naming rights deal– but if we want to expand the playground a little bit perhaps TCL could be of interest for the Ducks.

Come to think of it, that’s probably a better option.

*Opens up Photoshop*

Arizona Coyotes

What we want: P.F. Chang’s or Cold Stone Creamery

What we’ll get: Fry’s or something, probably

Believe it or not the Los Angeles Chargers won’t be the only team tweeting about P.F. Chang’s for long as the restaurant chain was founded in 1993, and opened their first location in Scottsdale, Arizona, so it only makes sense to go back to their roots and toss an ad on the Coyotes’ jersey.

Also founded in Arizona– Cold Stone Creamery.

We figured that’d probably make sense on an AHL team’s jersey, though, despite the obvious cold ice, cold ice cream connection.

The Coyotes had Mountain America on their helmets at home and Dignity Health on their road helmets in 2020-21, so in reality we’ll probably get one of those two on the front of their jerseys in 2022-23.

Boston Bruins

What we want: Dunkin’ or bust

What we’ll get: TD Bank or O.R.G. Packaging, probably

What could possibly be more Boston than a Bruins jersey with a Dunkin’ logo on it?

Their AHL affiliate– the Providence Bruins– already play in the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Rhode Island and have a Dunkin’ ad patch on their jerseys. Why not call it up to the major league?

That said, with some NBA teams earning up to about $20 million in jersey ad space revenue, the B’s likely will reach for a brand with deeper pockets than doughnuts and coffee.

Delaware North likes their relationship with a certain bank from Toronto (TD Bank) and has had one of the league’s longest relationships with a Chinese company (O.R.G. Packaging) as part of the NHL’s intended growth beyond the continents of North America and Europe, so one of the two brands is more likely to appear on a Bruins jersey.

Buffalo Sabres

What we want: Super Chexx

What we’ll get: KeyBank

The Sabres could use some fun in their lives these days and you know what really helps put the mind at ease? Bubble hockey.

That’s right, Innovative Concepts in Entertainment, Inc. (ICE)– the manufacturers of the popular bar and arcade classic, Super Chexx, that your rich friend down the street growing up also had in the comforts of their home– is based outside Buffalo and would be a match made in heaven right about now.

Especially as Sabres fans are looking for something to do while the game’s on TV.

So yeah, we’re definitely going to get KeyBank, Tim Horton’s or something else entirely instead.

Calgary Flames

What we want: WestJet or Duraflame

What we’ll get: Scotiabank

If you, as an American, can name any other Canadian airline other than Air Canada, then congratulations. If you can’t, then may I introduce you to WestJet?

WestJet’s headquarters are next to Calgary International Airport and it’d be nice to prove to the world that Canada is more than just a land of Tim Horton’s, Roots, Canadian Tire, Rogers, Scotiabank and Mr. Sub.

If Duraflame isn’t available, then you might as well dip into the low-cost airline industry as a means of attracting tourists to Banff National Park, Calgary Stampede or whatever it is that sets Calgary apart from the rest of Alberta (so… not being Edmonton).

Carolina Hurricanes

What we want: Surge

What we’ll get: PNC, Diehard, maybe Cheerwine or something else

This should be obvious, but if you haven’t paid attention to the Hurricanes for at least the last few seasons now they do a “Storm Surge” celebration after every win on home ice in the regular season (and sometimes playoffs).

Surge (the soda) is one of those drinks that makes headlines every few years for being pulled straight out of the vault and placed back on grocery store shelves– speaking of which, does anyone know if it’s currently available?

If not, it’ll definitely be back by the 2022-23 season.

Yes, it’s hard to envision where an ad will be placed on the road jersey as the prime real estate is used up by the diagonal “CANES” letters and– for a few players– the captain’s “C” or alternate captain’s “A”.

Chicago

What we want: Portillo’s

What we’ll get: United

Look, between Walgreens, Sears and Portillo’s there’s a few legendary brands that Chicago could partner with as their first jersey ad in franchise history (not including practice jerseys).

Obviously only one of the three mentioned above is the right choice and its the one that might lead you to Walgreens later if you have a weak stomach. Besides, Sears is fading from our collective memory whether it is out of business already or not.

Clark Griswold would be proud of Portillo’s proudly being displayed on a, well, if a WHL team can rebrand, so can you, Chicago.

Colorado Avalanche

What we want: Chipotle or Coors

What we’ll get: Ball

Look, whether or not Nathan MacKinnon eats Chipotle is a debate for another day, but one thing’s for sure– both Chipotle and MacKinnon started their careers in Colorado.

Though Coors or Coors Light would make more sense, we have to consider the fact that kids might be wearing these jerseys to the game and we haven’t heard whether or not the jerseys that are sold in the proshops in 2022-23 and beyond will include the front jersey ad or not.

If they do, then we probably can’t market beer to children.

I’m pretty sure there’s a law about that and it’s also the reason why all my 1:64 scale diecast Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. cars from when I was a kid said “Team Rusty” and “Dale Jr.” on them, respectively, instead of Miller Lite and Budweiser.

Columbus Blue Jackets

What we want: Wendy’s

What we’ll get: Nationwide

Coinciding with the uptick in Columbus born and raised players on the Blue Jackets roster, it would be a great idea to add Wendy’s– which was founded in Columbus in 1969– to the team in such a way that perhaps Jack Roslovic and Sean Kuraly star in local commercials to the Blue Jackets viewing area during the 2022-23 season.

I know that’s assuming Roslovic signs an extension, but the pending-restricted free agent at the end of the 2021-22 season helped facilitate the Pierre-Luc Dubois for Patrik Laine trade with the Winnipeg Jets by forcing Winnipeg into trading him to his hometown team.

Unlike several recent stars that left the city via free agency, Roslovic will stick around for the long term.

Especially if there’s some goods in kind involved with a Wendy’s sponsorship. I mean, I would at least.

Dallas Stars

What we want: Whataburger

What we’ll get: AT&T

Though Whataburger would be a welcome party in the burger wars when Columbus and Dallas would “meat” up, there’s no beef to be found in this hypothetical because AT&T has already made that decision for us.

Sometimes you just can’t think too hyperlocal and AT&T fetches a more national audience than a regional chain that primarily serves Texas.

Besides, if you go to Dallas for a Stars game, you can always just get Whataburger then. It’s not like they’re going to send you a meal with a jersey if ads are on the jerseys sold to fans in 2022-23.

Detroit Red Wings

What we want: Little Caesars

What we’ll get: Little Caesars

The last few teams have all involved food and we’re going to be stuck on this theme for at least one more team after this.

Both the Red Wings and Little Caesars are owned by the Ilitch family and if you think adding one more connection between Detroit and pizza is a bad thing then you clearly don’t understand the marketing behind this.

Kids love pizza. Adults love pizza. There’s a lot of good memories involving pizza.

Plus, with General Manager, Steve Yzerman, in charge, the Red Wings are on the rise, which will only further tap into the nostalgia from when Detroit was doing what the Tampa Bay Lightning are currently doing to the rest of the league.

Edmonton Oilers

What we want: Boston Pizza

What we’ll get: Rogers

Edmonton thought they could replicate the success Ken Holland had in Detroit by hiring Holland as their General Manager and when they see that we’ve got a pizza establishment heading for the front of the Red Wings’ jersey, then the Oilers will think it’s also a good idea to snag a slice.

That’s where Boston Pizza comes in.

Whether or not they’ll get Connor McDavid to do an ad read or be left with whatever scraps surround him on the Oilers roster remains to be seen.

In all likelihood, Rogers Communications will probably just get to slap their logo on another element of Edmonton’s brand.

Florida Panthers

What we want: Royal Caribbean International

What we’ll get: Baptist Health or something

The Blockbuster guy (the late Wayne Huizenga) founded the team and almost named them the “Florida Block Busters”, so it’d be neat to incorporate an homage to the days of Blockbuster (rest in peace) with the almost Blockbuster-like colors of Royal Caribbean International on the jersey.

Plus, who among us hasn’t uttered the words “I need a vacation from my vacation” before?

If you’re an out of town fan visiting the Panthers in Florida or watching the Panthers come to your town— there’s a cruise line for you even if you wouldn’t go remotely near a cruise before the ongoing pandemic began.

Los Angeles Kings

What we want: Dollar Shave Club

What we’ll get: Anschutz Entertainment Group

Never doubt for a second that a team owner wouldn’t give up the chance to toot their own horn, which is why it’s quite possible that one of the world’s biggest entertainment entities would slap their own logo on the front of a Kings jersey.

If you’re not able to finagle a way to write things off as a deduction, then Dollar Shave Club presents a unique opportunity despite the fact that shaving isn’t something that’s in Drew Doughty’s vernacular (or any hockey player, for that matter, when the Stanley Cup Playoffs roll around).

Manscaped could also make a run here and in any case, fine.

Minnesota Wild

What we want: Target or General Mills

What we’ll get: Xcel Energy

When you think of Minnesota what’s the first thing you think about?

That’s right, the very place where you could be standing right now reading this while you’re waiting for a cash register to open up or aimlessly perusing the aisles for those impulse purchases you somehow always make at Target.

It fits the Wild color scheme well and if we’re not going to get General Mills involved then at least getting more than the standard 5% discount for having a Target RedCard via goods in kind might be enough to convince Kirill Kaprizov to stay in Minnesota long-term.

Montréal Canadiens

What we want: CCM and/or Molson

What we’ll get: Bell

CCM makes more than just jerseys, but it’s not like adidas would be just fine with a CCM logo appearing on the front of an adidas ADIZERO jersey.

So, we’re left with two obvious choices– Molson or Bell.

If there’s nothing against a Canadian team bearing an alcoholic beverage on the front of their jersey with the potential for that brand to be marketed towards kids, then perhaps Molson– whose family ties own the Habs– might make an appearance near the crest.

That or we’ll just get more airtime for Bell. Either way, Montréal would be attractive enough as a franchise to bring in more than one jersey ad sponsor if the league doesn’t have any specific rules outside of the size of the ad.

Nashville Predators

What we want: Curb Records or CMT

What we’ll get: Fifth Third Bank

The music city could attract a music label if they wanted to, but Fifth Third Bank loves investing in Nashville for some reason– like, a lot, despite being headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and primarily serving Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida more than all of Tennessee.

In any case, good for the Predators. They’ll have some deep pockets to reach into while other teams surely will have to squabble for seven figures related to the going rate for the prime ad space.

Still feels like we’d be missing out on a sweet Curb Records patch close enough to the guitar pick on the right shoulder though.

New Jersey Devils

What we want: Honestly, just Prudential is fine

What we’ll get: Prudential

The Devils are overlooked and let’s admit it, you couldn’t think of something distinctly New Jersey either– besides not being allowed to fill your own gas tank.

Bruce Springsteen is not sponsoring the Devils alone.

Whether it’s settling on an old reliable or simply making use of what’s trustworthy and already available, Prudential and New Jersey just seem like a good fit.

New York Islanders

What we want: Gorton’s

What we’ll get: Not Gorton’s

“We want fishsticks!”

O.K., you got them. Take that, Rangers fans. The Islanders are cool now because they’re steering into the skid.

They just won’t go as far as bringing back the fisherman jersey from the dead, but alas, they’ll show a spark of creativity and even crack a smile on Lou Lamoriello’s face with the real Gorton’s fisherman making an appearance on the jersey.

Obviously this will never happen.

New York Rangers

What we want: Liberty Mutual if they’re bringing back the “Lady Liberty” jerseys as an alternate

What we’ll get: Chase for sure, maybe New York Life too

Liberty Mutual (a Boston company) on the “Lady Liberty” jersey would be a sight to see, but New York will never let it happen.

Instead, Chase, which already has quite a great partnership with the team, Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, etc. will likely just step up and foot the bill for one– if not all– of the jerseys in full.

That’s fine. The Rangers will suffer the same consequences of having a diagonal wordmark on their jersey like Carolina’s road jersey, but at least New York’s pretty much always been this way so they should have some ideas of how to work around that.

Ottawa Senators

What we want: Canada Post

What we’ll get: Bell, Scotiabank or Canadian Tire

Canada’s capital city gets the honor of having Canada Post on their jerseys because it breaks up the trend of having the same three or four companies sponsoring all seven Canadian teams (like how their helmets were for 2020-21).

In reality, we’ll probably get more of the same from the Sens and either Bell, Canadian Tire or Scotiabank will make an appearance on Ottawa’s jersey.

At the very least, Canada’s postal service sponsoring a team is more economically viable than the United States Postal Service sponsoring a team.

Philadelphia Flyers

What we want: Wawa or Audacy

What we’ll get: Comcast or GlaxoSmithKline

Remember how I said you don’t want to go too local for a jersey ad? Well, Wawa on a Flyers jersey is an exception.

That said, it probably wouldn’t have the staying power to work on a road jersey too, so Philadelphia could tap into the artist formerly known as Entercom, since rebanded as Audacy, for more.

Audacy maintained their Philadelphia headquarters and covers a broad range of Internet radio, digital content, regular radio and podcasting platforms, plus their logo is orange which fits the Flyers brand.

It’s either that or Comcast will slap their own logo on the jersey or something.

Pittsburgh Penguins

What we want: Duolingo

What we’ll get: PPG Industries

Duolingo is headquartered in Pittsburgh and as a website and mobile app, every sports league with ads on jerseys needs at least one that makes you scratch your head at first before realizing the connection between the company and the city.

The dating app, Bumble, once was featured on the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers jerseys prior to the Clippers replacing Bumble with their more jersey ad with the online browser extension coupon company, Honey.

Dating and living expenses in Los Angeles are probably harder than learning a few new languages through Duolingo, so combining Duolingo with the Penguins makes perfect sense since hockey players can come from all over and speak many languages.

Besides, it might give your team an advantage if they can communicate with one another in a setting that is more comfortable for them.

St. Louis Blues

What we want: Busch

What we’ll get: Enterprise

I know we’ve been over the whole “can they market beer to kids with these jerseys” thing, but St. Louis is the city of Anheuser-Busch, so it’s only fitting that the Blues get a jersey ad that 1) is Anheuser-Busch related and 2) works with their color palette.

If Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals play in Busch Stadium and get Budweiser by default with red as a primary color for the ball club, then the Blues naturally get Busch blue and Busch beer. I don’t make the rules.

Plus Midwesterners really like the stuff.

San Jose Sharks

What we want: Adobe

What we’ll get: SAP or Zoom

Look, we weren’t going to get away with making these in Photoshop and not having to give Adobe something— and with headquarters in San Jose it only made sense.

The Sharks have a deep relationship with SAP, though, so it’s more likely than not that the team will just go further with the brand that also is featured on their helmets at home and holds the current naming rights for SAP Center.

Plus with the uptick in the use of Zoom, San Jose could double-dip and match SAP on the home jersey with SAP stickers on their helmets with Zoom covering the road set (jersey ad and helmet ads).

Seattle Kraken

What we want: Boeing

What we’ll get: Alaska Airlines

The Kraken already have a deal with Alaska Airlines as the official airline of the franchise, but what’s bigger than an airline itself?

That’s right, Boeing, the company that makes a lot of planes and other aerospace stuff, was founded in Seattle and still has a major presence in Washington as the largest private employer in the state.

Want to see your newest expansion team take flight? Just add some Boeing engineering to the jerseys.

You might have thought Microsoft would make sense for a Seattle-based team, but the league’s agreement with Apple probably puts a quick end to that.

Tampa Bay Lightning

What we want: Accusoft

What we’ll get: DEX Imaging

Every sport with ads on jerseys has that one company that nobody’s really sure what they do, but they appreciate that they’re spending their money on their favorite team.

That just might be Accusoft’s relationship with the Lightning come time for ads on jerseys in 2022-23.

The private computer software company is headquartered in Tampa and was founded back in 1991, as Pegasus Imaging– one year prior to the Lightning’s debut season as an NHL team in 1992-93.

Toronto Maple Leafs

What we want: Swiss Chalet, Sun Life Financial

What we’ll get: Scotiabank, Sun Life Financial

Scotiabank already has a stronghold on Toronto both financially and in the sense that the Maple Leafs play inside Scotiabank Arena and proudly display Scotiabank’s logo on their helmets, so it seems inevitable that Scotiabank would also make an appearance on the Leafs jersey.

But Toronto is strong enough to maximize the value of a 3-by-3.5-inch ad and capitalize on the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) brand.

MLSE already has an agreement with Sun Life Financial on their NBA team’s jerseys and the Toronto Raptors were able to go on to win their first championship in 2019.

Perhaps the key to ending the Maple Leafs’ Stanley Cup drought lies within attracting Sun Life Financial to an NHL jersey ad.

Vancouver Canucks

What we want: Hootsuite

What we’ll get: Rogers

Remember when you’d see Hootsuite on just about every tweet with a photo? Am I the only one imagining that?

In any case, Hootsuite was founded and is based in Vancouver and still plays a major role in social media management for brands.

Whereas Rogers is accessible to most every day Canadians, Hootsuite would be more of a “corporate” target audience and you need sponsors at all levels to attract a wide base of potential clients, fans, etc.

That said, the Canucks have had a long relationship with Rogers in that they play in Rogers Arena, so it’s probably going to be Rogers.

Vegas Golden Knights

What we want: Zappos.com

What we’ll get: MGM Resorts International or Allegiant Air

Want to have fun with a local Nevada brand? Zappos is the way to go!

Want to be realistic and attract out of town fans to a destination like Las Vegas? MGM Resorts International is your sponsor and with Allegiant Air as an ultra-low cost airline that’ll gladly bring you to Vegas for a Golden Knights game…

Yeah, it’s inevitable that between MGM and Vegas’ current road helmet sponsor (Allegiant) that there’d quickly be no room for a company like Zappos.

Credit One Bank is on the home helmets for the Golden Knights, so don’t be surprised if they’re a wild card for a jersey ad too.

Washington Capitals

What we want: Marriott International

What we’ll get: Capital One, Custom Ink

Sportswriters rejoice! Your Marriott points may soon reward you with a Capitals jersey or something like that.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Marriott International would make sense from a local and international brand recognition stance.

But you know what we’re probably going to get instead? Sheer confusion as Capital One places an ad on front of a jersey that already says “Washington Capitals”. The Capital One Washington Capitals– live at Capital One Arena!

Either that or Caps owner, Ted Leonsis, might like to make a connection between making custom jerseys for local adult league co-ed softball teams or something and, well, Custom Ink’s logo appearing on Capitals jerseys.

Winnipeg Jets

What we want: A&W or SkipTheDishes

What we’ll get: Canada Life or Bell

A&W was founded in Winnipeg, while SkipTheDishes is headquartered in Winnipeg.

Since it’s 2021, and not 1956, we’re more than likely to see SkipTheDishes on a Jets jersey, but if their helmet ads from 2020-21 are any indication for 2022-23 and beyond, then Bell is probably going to land a spot near Winnipeg’s crest.

Canada Life is taking over as the new naming rights holder for Canada Life Centre where the Jets play, so there’s always a chance they’ll end up with their logo on the front of the jersey too.

August 20, 2021
2021 NHL Free Agency Signings Quick Recap

This post will be updated as signings are officially announced. Be sure to check our Twitter account (@DtFrozenRiver) for all of the latest signings, news, and analysis.

Free agency begins at noon (technically 12:01 PM ET) on July 28th.

For the second-straight year, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the schedule a bit for the National Hockey League, but after the free agency signing period opens to kickoff the 2021-22 league calendar year, things will be back on track for a full 82-game schedule (albeit about a week later than usual).

All that is known is shown and will be updated throughout the day. More analysis will come as we play catch-up.

ESPN+ is streaming TSN’s coverage of free agency from 11 a.m. ET onward and NHL Network has the Sportsnet/their own feed, probably (we like the former, in all partiality).

Reported free agent signings

These are reported agreements in place that are yet to be confirmed and/or announced by a playing club.

F Kyle Palmieri has likely re-signed with the New York Islanders.

Announced free agent signings

These are confirmed/announced signings by playing clubs.

F Carter Verhaeghe signed a three-year extension worth about $4.167 million per season with the Florida Panthers that goes into effect starting with the 2022-23 season.

The Edmonton Oilers re-signed D Tyson Barrie to a three-year contract worth $4.500 million per season.

The Vegas Golden Knights signed D Alec Martinez to a three-year extension worth $5.250 million per season.

The Carolina Hurricanes signed G Frederik Andersen to a two-year deal worth $4.500 million per season.

G Petr Mrazek signed a three-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs worth $3.800 million per season.

F Nick Bonino agreed to a two-year contract with the San Jose Sharks.

F Brandon Sutter signed a one-year extension worth $1.125 million with the Vancouver Canucks.

G Antti Raanta reportedly signed a two-year deal worth $2.000 million per season with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Los Angeles Kings re-signed F Andreas Athanasiou to a one-year deal worth $2.700 million.

D Dougie Hamilton signed a seven-year contract worth $9.000 million per season with the New Jersey Devils.

F Blake Coleman signed a six-year deal worth $4.900 million per season with the Calgary Flames.

The Montréal Canadiens signed D David Savard to a four-year contract worth $3.500 million per season.

G Brian Elliott signed a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

D Tucker Poolman agreed to a four-year contract worth $2.500 million per season with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Dallas Stars signed F Luke Glendening to a two-year deal worth $1.500 million per season.

D Andreas Borgman signed a one-year, two-way deal worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Dallas Stars.

D Travis Hamonic signed a two-year extension worth $3.000 million per season with the Vancouver Canucks.

F Dominik Simon signed a one-year, two-way contract extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

F Charles Hudon signed a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

D Zach Bogosian signed a three-year contract worth $850,000 per season with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The San Jose Sharks signed F Andrew Cogliano to a one-year contract worth $1.000 million.

The Montréal Canadiens signed F Cedric Paquette to a one-year contract worth $950,000.

D Brady Keeper signed a two-year deal worth $762,500 per season with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Vegas Golden Knights signed G Laurent Brossoit to a two-year deal worth $2.325 million per season.

F Jean-Sébastien Dea signed a one-year deal worth $750,000 with the Montréal Canadiens.

The San Jose Sharks signed G James Reimer to a two-year deal worth $4.500 million per season.

F Michael Bunting signed a two-year deal worth $900,000 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

D Patrik Nemeth signed a three-year contract worth $2.500 million per season with the New York Rangers.

F Maxim Mamin signed a one-year deal worth $975,000 with the Florida Panthers.

D Louis Belpedio signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $750,000 with the Montréal Canadiens.

The Vancouver Canucks signed F Danila Klimovich to a three-year entry-level contract worth $886,667 per season.

The Dallas Stars signed D Alex Petrovic to a one-year, two-way contract.

F Michael Amadio signed a one-year, two-way deal worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Vancouver Canucks signed D Luke Schenn to a two-year contract worth $850,000 per season.

F Josh Leivo has signed a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Carolina Hurricanes signed D Ian Cole to a one-year, $2.900 million deal.

F Nic Petan signed a one-year, two-way deal worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Vancouver Canucks.

D Jake McCabe signed a four-year contract with Chicago worth $4.000 million per season.

The Detroit Red Wings signed D Jordan Oesterle to a two-year deal worth $1.350 million per season.

F Andrew Agozzino signed a two-way contract with the Ottawa Senators.

D Adam Clendening signed a two-way deal with the Philadelphia Flyers.

D Ryan Murphy signed a two-way contract with the Detroit Red Wings.

The Los Angeles Kings have signed D Alex Edler to a one-year contract worth $3.500 million per season.

The Boston Bruins signed F Erik Haula to a two-year deal worth $2.375 million per season.

F Tomas Nosek signed a two-year contract worth $3.500 million per season with the Boston Bruins.

F Phil Di Giuseppe signed a two-way contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Tampa Bay Lightning signed F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to a two-year contract worth $1.000 million per season.

F Matt Luff signed a one-year, two-way, $750,000 deal with the Nashville Predators.

F Jon Lizotte signed a one-year, two-way, contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Minnesota Wild.

F Ryan Getzlaf agreed to a one-year extension with the Anaheim Ducks worth $4.500 million.

F Ryan Dzingel signed a one-year, $1.100 million deal with the Arizona Coyotes.

D Matt Tennyson signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Nashville Predators.

F Mattias Janmark reached an agreement on an extension with the Vegas Golden Knights.

F Josh Ho-Sang signed a PTO with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

F Mike Hoffman signed a three-year deal with the Montréal Canadiens worth $4.500 million per season.

G Linus Ullmark signed a four-year deal worth $5.000 million per season with the Boston Bruins.

G Garret Sparks reached an agreement on a one-year, two-way contract with the Los Angeles Kings worth $750,000 at the NHL level.

F Sam Gagner agreed to an extension with the Detroit Red Wings.

The Red Wings also agreed to an extension with G Calvin Pickard.

D Ryan Suter signed a four-year deal worth $3.650 million per season with the Dallas Stars.

The Columbus Blue Jackets signed F Boone Jenner to a four-year extension.

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed F Evan Rodrigues to a one-year extension worth $1.000 million.

F Patrik Laine signed his qualifying offer with the Columbus Blue Jackets and will make $7.500 million on a one-year deal as a result.

F Eric Robinson agreed to terms on a two-year extension worth $3.200 million with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Philadelphia Flyers signed D Keith Yandle to a one-year deal worth $900,000.

D Alex Goligoski signed a one-year deal worth $5.000 million with the Minnesota Wild.

G Braden Holtby signed a one-year contract worth $2.000 million with the Dallas Stars.

The Minnesota Wild signed F Frederick Gaudreau to a two-year deal worth $1.200 million per season.

D Jarred Tinordi signed a two-year deal worth $900,000 per season with the New York Rangers.

F Justin Bailey signed a one-year, two-way contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Vegas Golden Knights signed F Sven Baertschi to a one-year, two-way, contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level.

The Tampa Bay Lightning signed F Gabriel Dumont, D Darren Raddysh, D Andrej Sustr and G Maxime Lagacé to one-year, two-way contracts.

F Gage Quinney signed a one-year, two-way contract extension with the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Ottawa Senators signed D Michael Del Zotto to a two-year contract worth $2.000 million per season.

Chicago signed F Jujhar Khaira to a two-year deal worth $975,000 per season.

F Alexander Wennberg agreed to a three-year deal worth $4.500 million per season with the Seattle Kraken.

The Nashville Predators signed F Anthony Richard to a one-year, two-way contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level.

F Phillip Danault signed a six-year contract worth $5.500 million per season with the Los Angeles Kings.

The Seattle Kraken reached an agreement with F Jaden Schwartz on a five-year deal worth $5.500 million per season.

F Michael McCarron signed a two-year, two-way contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Nashville Predators.

G Martin Jones signed a one-year, $2.000 million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.

F Nate Thompson signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.

G Philipp Grubauer is signed a six-year deal worth $5.900 million per season with the Seattle Kraken.

F Greg McKegg signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the New York Rangers.

F Dryden Hunt signed a two-year deal with the New York Rangers.

The Florida Panthers signed D Brandon Montour to a three-year contract worth $3.500 million per season.

D Chris Wideman signed a one-year deal worth $750,000 with the Montréal Canadiens.

The Columbus Blue Jackets signed F Sean Kuraly to a four-year contract worth $2.500 million per season.

The San Jose Sharks signed F Lane Pederson to a two-year contract worth $750,000 per season.

D Tony DeAngelo signed a one-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes worth $1.000 million.

D Gavin Bayreuther signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Edmonton Oilers signed D Cody Ceci to a four-year deal worth $3.250 million per season.

F Kurtis Gabriel signed a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

F Zachary L’Heureux signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the Nashville Predators.

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed F David Kampf to a two-year contract worth $1.500 million per season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed F Brock McGinn to a four-year contract worth $2.750 million per season.

The Arizona Coyotes signed F Dmitrij Jaškin to a one-year contract.

The Carolina Hurricanes re-signed F Jordan Martinook to a three-year contract worth $1.800 million per season.

F Juho Lammikko signed a one-year extension with the Florida Panthers.

G Jonathan Bernier signed a two-year deal worth $4.125 million per season with the New Jersey Devils.

The Buffalo Sabres signed F Vinnie Hinostroza to a one-year contract worth $1.050 million.

F Zach Hyman reached an agreement with the Edmonton Oilers on a seven-year contract worth $5.500 million per season.

G Filip Lindberg signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

F Brayden Point signed an eight-year extension worth $9.500 million per season with the Tampa Bay Lightning that goes into effect starting with the 2022-23 season.

The Boston Bruins agreed to a three-year deal with D Derek Forbort worth $3.000 million per season.

The Boston Bruins signed F Nick Foligno to a two-year deal.

G David Rittich agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.250 million with the Nashville Predators.

G Carter Hutton signed a one-year deal worth $750,000 with the Arizona Coyotes.

The Colorado Avalanche signed D Roland McKeown to a one-year contract.

The Columbus Blue Jackets signed F Alexandre Texier to a two-year contract extension worth $3.050 million.

F C.J. Smith signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level with the Carolina Hurricanes.

G Chris Gibson signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Florida Panthers.

The Detroit Red Wings signed F Pius Suter to a two-year contract.

D Brandon Davidson signed a one-year contract extension worth $750,000 with the Buffalo Sabres.

The Nashville Predators re-signed F Mikael Granlund to a four-year contract worth $5.000 million per season.

The Calgary Flames signed F Trevor Lewis to a one-year deal worth $800,000.

G Jaroslav Halak agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.500 million with the Vancouver Canucks.

July 28, 2021
2021 NHL Entry Draft Round 1 Recap
Round 1 of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft was held virtually Friday night for the second-straight year as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic delayed the league’s plans for a draft at Bell Centre in Montréal until 2022 at the earliest.

Coverage of this year’s first round began Friday night at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 in the United States, as well as SN and TVAS in Canada. Rounds 2-7 will be televised on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. ET on NHLN in the U.S. and Sportsnet in Canada.

As always, there were plenty of surprises and (possibly) a lack of trades. Here’s how it all went down.

2021 NHL Entry Draft Round 1

1.Buffalo Sabres –> D Owen Power, Michigan (NCAA)

2. Seattle Kraken –> C Matthew Beniers, Michigan (NCAA)

3. Anaheim Ducks –> C Mason McTavish, Peterborough Petes (OHL)

4. New Jersey Devils –> D Luke Hughes, USA-U18 (USHL)

5. Columbus Blue Jackets –> C Kent Johnson, Michigan (NCAA)

6. Detroit Red Wings –> D Simon Edvinsson, Frölunda HC (SHL)

7. San Jose Sharks –> LW William Eklund, Djurgårdens IF (SHL)

8. Los Angeles Kings –> D Brandt Clarke, Barrie Colts (OHL)

9. Arizona Coyotes (from Vancouver Canucks) –> RW Dylan Guenther, Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)

10. Ottawa Senators –> RW Tyler Boucher, USA-U18 (USHL)

11. ~~Arizona Coyotes~~ –> Forfeited pick

12. Columbus Blue Jackets (from Chicago) –> C Cole Sillinger, Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)

13. Calgary Flames –> RW Matthew Coronato, Chicago Steel (USHL)

14. Buffalo Sabres (from Philadelphia Flyers) –> RW Isak Rosen, Leksands IF (SHL)

15. Detroit Red Wings (from Dallas Stars) –> G Sebastian Cossa, Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)

16. New York Rangers –> LW Brennan Othmann, EHC Olten (Swiss League)

17. St. Louis Blues –> C Zachary Bolduc, Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL)

18. Winnipeg Jets –> C Chaz Lucius, USA-U18 (USHL)

19. Nashville Predators –> C Fedor Svechkov, HC Lada Togliatti (VHL)

20. Minnesota Wild (from Edmonton Oilers) –> G Jesper Wallstedt, Luleå HF (SHL)

21. Boston Bruins –> RW Fabian Lysell, Luleå HF (SHL)

22. Edmonton Oilers (from Minnesota Wild) –> C Xavier Bourgault, Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)

23. Dallas Stars (from Washington Capitals via Detroit Red Wings) –> C Wyatt Johnston, Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

24. Florida Panthers –> RW Mackie Samoskevich, Chicago Steel (USHL)

25. Columbus Blue Jackets (from Toronto Maple Leafs) –> D Corson Ceulemans, Brooks Bandits (AJHL)

26. Minnesota Wild (from Pittsburgh Penguins) –> D Carson Lambos, Winnipeg Ice (WHL)

27. Nashville Predators (from Carolina Hurricanes) –> LW Zachary L’Heureux, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

28. Colorado Avalanche –> RW Oskar Olausson, HV71 (SHL)

29. New Jersey Devils (from New York Islanders) –> RW Chase Stillman, Sudbury Wolves (OHL)

30. Vegas Golden Knights –> C Zach Dean, Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)

31. Montréal Canadiens –> ~~D Logan Mailloux, SK Lejon~~

32. Chicago (from Tampa Bay Lightning via Columbus Blue Jackets) –> D Nolan Allan, Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)

Trades made during the first round of the draft:
- The Dallas Stars traded the 15th overall pick to the Detroit Red Wings for the 23rd overall pick, 48th overall pick and 138th overall pick in this year’s draft.
- The Edmonton Oilers traded the 20th overall pick to the Minnesota Wild for the 22nd overall pick and 90th overall pick in this year’s draft.
- The Carolina Hurricanes traded the 27th overall pick to the Nashville Predators for the 40th overall and 51st overall picks in this year’s draft.
Trades made earlier in the day prior to the first round of the draft:
- The Buffalo Sabres traded D Rasmus Ristolainen to the Philadelphia Flyers for D Robert Hagg, a 2021 1st round pick (14th overall) and a 2023 2nd round pick.
- F Pavel Buchnevich was traded by the New York Rangers to the St. Louis Blues for F Sammy Blais and a 2022 2nd round pick.
- The Arizona Coyotes acquired F Antoine Roussel, F Jay Beagle, F Loui Eriksson, a 2021 1st round pick (9th overall), a 2022 2nd round pick and a 2023 7th round pick from the Vancouver Canucks for D Oliver Ekman-Larsson and F Conor Garland. Arizona retained 12% of Ekman-Larsson’s cap hit (about $990,000) in the deal.
- Chicago traded D Adam Boqvist, a 2021 1st round pick (12th overall), a 2021 2nd round pick and a conditional 2022 1st round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets for D Seth Jones, a 2021 1st round pick (32nd overall) and a 2022 6th round pick. If Chicago wins one of the 2022 draft lotteries, the conditional 2022 1st round pick becomes a 2023 1st round pick in the transaction.
- The Carolina Hurricanes dealt D Jake Bean to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2021 2nd round pick (originally belonging to Chicago).
July 23, 2021
2021 NHL Expansion Draft Results

The Seattle Kraken announced the results of the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft Wednesday night outdoors at Gas Works Park in Seattle, Washington on ESPN2 in the United States and Sportsnet in Canada, despite several NHL Insiders getting a hold of Seattle’s selections shortly after the Kraken turned in their picks to the league on Wednesday morning.

Seattle had to meet several requirements and select no more than one player from 30 out of the 31 other NHL franchises as the Vegas Golden Knights were exempted from the league’s latest round of expansion.

The Kraken had to draft at least 14 forwards, nine defenders and three goaltenders with a minimum of 20 players under contract for 2021-22 while being between 60-100% of the NHL’s $81.500 million salary cap in the process.

Kraken General Manager, Ron Francis, was allowed to talk to exposed pending-free agents prior to the draft and secured a few contracts in the process– thereby selecting said players as a result and counting towards the 30-player roster in the expansion draft.

Seattle’s selections were announced by division in alphabetical order by team, starting with the Boston Bruins of the Atlantic Division and so on until they finished the night with the teams that makeup the Pacific Division.

We’ve taken the liberty of sorting the draft results by forwards, defenders and goaltenders in the order they were announced.

Forwards

Tampa Bay Lightning– C Yanni Gourde

Toronto Maple Leafs– C Jared McCann

Carolina Hurricanes– C Morgan Geekie

New Jersey Devils– RW Nathan Bastian

New York Islanders– RW Jordan Eberle

New York Rangers– C Colin Blackwell

Philadelphia Flyers– LW Carsen Twarynski

Pittsburgh Penguins– LW Brandon Tanev

Arizona Coyotes– C Tyler Pitlick

Chicago– LW/C John Quenneville

Colorado Avalanche– RW Joonas Donskoi

Nashville Predators– C Calle Jarnkrok

Winnipeg Jets– LW Mason Appleton

San Jose Sharks– C Alex True

Vancouver Canucks– RW Kole Lind

Defenders

Boston Bruins– Jeremy Lauzon

Buffalo Sabres– Will Borgen

Detroit Red Wings– Dennis Cholowski

Montréal Canadiens– Cale Fleury

Columbus Blue Jackets– Gavin Bayreuther

Dallas Stars– Jamie Oleksiak

Minnesota Wild– Carson Soucy

St. Louis Blues– Vince Dunn

Anaheim Ducks– Haydn Fleury

Calgary Flames– Mark Giordano

Edmonton Oilers– Adam Larsson

Los Angeles Kings– Kurtis MacDermid

Goaltenders

Florida Panthers– Chris Driedger

Ottawa Senators– Joey Daccord

Washington Capitals– Vitek Vanecek

July 22, 2021
Let’s pretend to be the Seattle Kraken

The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft welcomes the Seattle Kraken to the league as its 32nd member club Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 in the United States and Sportsnet in Canada.

Because of a lot going on right now, this mock expansion draft got delayed until the day of the actual draft and ultimately is arbitrary. If there’s even one prediction right here, then Kraken General Manager, Ron Francis, apparently reads DTFR.

We’ll make that assumption, thank you very much.

Seattle has run numerous mock drafts at this point and gone through many scenarios, but who would’ve imagined that players like Alex Ovechkin, Ondrej Palat and more would be available?

Of course, keep in mind that the Kraken have to spend between 60-100% of the previous season’s salary cap ($81.500 million).

For the sake of keeping things simple here, we’ve provided some built-in scenarios that would allow Seattle to be cap compliant as a result of the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

The Kraken will be selecting one player from 30 NHL clubs as the Vegas Golden Knights are exempt from this round of expansion. The 30 other teams had the option to protect seven forwards, three defenders and one goaltender or any combination of eight skaters and one goaltender.

For more on the protection and exposure requirements, check out the protected lists and 2021 NHL Expansion Draft rules.

The majority of this was written before the leaked selections were revealed, so let’s just pretend we’re all in an alternate universe for a bit longer.

ANAHEIM DUCKS

LD/RD Haydn Fleury

25-years-old, 1 year left, $1.300 million cap hit

Fleury was dealt to Anaheim at the trade deadline as the Carolina Hurricanes feared they would probably lose him anyway to former Canes GM Ron Francis at the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

Turns out their fears were based in reality as the Ducks experience déjà vu that harkens back to when they lost Shea Theodore to the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.

Fleury had 3-1–4 totals in 47 games for Anaheim and Carolina in 2020-21.

ARIZONA COYOTES

RW/LW Christian Fischer

24, 1 year left, $1.000 million cap hit

Fischer (3-8–11 totals in 52 games) is a safe bet for Seattle as he’s entering his prime and carries a low-risk, high-reward type of contract with the expectation that he could blossom into an attractive bottom-six forward.

It’s either that, or he’ll be a sweetener in another transaction as the deadline approaches if there’s a team looking to bolster their depth.

BOSTON BRUINS

LD/RD Connor Clifton

26, 2 years left, $1.000 million cap hit

Boston is more than likely going to lose a defender– whether it’s Clifton, Jeremy Lauzon or Jakub Zboril– rather than a forward, like Nick Ritchie, for example. Between Clifton and Lauzon, the Kraken can’t go wrong.

If they’d prefer the younger of the two, then Lauzon is your choice. Of course, if Seattle is looking for an NHL ready bottom-pairing and/or seventh defender, then look no further than the hard-hitting Clifton (1-6–7 totals in 44 games) despite his 5-foot-11, 175-pound frame.

BUFFALO SABRES

LD Jake McCabe

27, pending-unrestricted free agent, $2.850 million cap hit in 2020-21

Like more than a few players in Buffalo this offseason, McCabe could benefit from a change of scenery and can be best utilized as a bottom-pairing or depth defender.

Perhaps the Kraken can’t come to an agreement on a new contract or they find a way to flip him at the Expansion Draft– ether way, Seattle’s looking to get more out of his 1-2–3 totals in 13 games in 2020-21.

CALGARY FLAMES

LD Mark Giordano

37, 1 year remaining, $6.750 million cap hit

Though Seattle wouldn’t go wrong with either Milan Lucic or Giordano in terms of drafting leadership out of the Flames’ dressing room, it turns out the Kraken liked the Golden Knights’ model enough and pried a veteran defender out of Calgary to lead the first generation Kraken roster.

With 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 56 games in 2020-21, a Mark Messier Leadership Award and a James Norris Memorial Trophy under his belt in 2019-20 and 2018-19, respectively, Giordano’s had a late career resurgence and could prove to be an effective piece on Seattle’s blue line.

CAROLINA HURRICANES

RD Dougie Hamilton

28, pending-UFA, $5.750 million cap hit in 2020-21

Hamilton arrived to Carolina after Francis left the organization, but that doesn’t rule out the six degrees of Kevin Bacon factor here, which allows the Kraken to select the right-shot defender that had 10-32–42 totals in 55 games this season.

Though he’s a pending-UFA, Seattle has the space to get creative with either a new contract or the ability to trade his negotiating rights for more assets before free agency begins on July 28th.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

LD/RD Calvin de Haan

30, 1 year left, $4.550 million cap hit

de Haan’s (1-9–10 totals in 44 games) been a journeyman for three out of the last four seasons having gone from the New York Islanders in 2017-18, to the Hurricanes in 2018-19, then Chicago from 2019-present.

He’d either play a bigger role with Seattle or would continue wracking up the airline rewards points by being used as trade bait for another club in the offseason similar to how the Golden Knights used Marc Methot and David Schlemko in their Expansion Draft year.

COLORADO AVALANCHE

LW/C Gabriel Landeskog

28, pending-UFA, $5.571 million cap hit in 2020-21

Vegas was wheeling and dealing at the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft and Seattle will likely be doing the same in this year’s 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, so why not take a chance on Landeskog and see what happens?

At best, he sticks around. At worst, you trade his negotiating rights before July 28th or play it safe and claim Joonas Donskoi instead to provide yourself with some quality top-nine forward depth.

Landeskog, however, brings his 20-32–52 totals in 54 games this season, as well as his leadership qualities as the current captain in Colorado to Seattle if he were to sign a long-term extension to guide the Kraken through their formative years. He’d be the surefire captain for the new club, no doubt.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

C/LW Max Domi

26, 1 year left, $5.300 million cap hit

Columbus took a gamble and it didn’t pay off as Domi’s 44 points (17 goals, 27 assists) in 71 games with the Montréal Canadiens in 2019-20, faltered to 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 54 games with the Blue Jackets in 2020-21.

As such, Domi was exposed to the elements and that’s where the Kraken come in to take a flyer on a top-six forward looking for the right system and something to be built around. If all else fails, it’s only one season to get Seattle off the ground and provide a spark.

DALLAS STARS

LD/RD Andrej Sekera

35, 1 year left, $1.500 million cap hit

Sekera’s five points (three goals, two assists) in 46 games won’t be attracting any buyers for his offensive capabilities from the point, but if it’s a shutdown defender that can play throughout the lineup you need, then he’ll come in handy as a Swiss Army knife of sorts.

If the Kraken trade from the rest of their plethora of defenders and Sekera remains, it’s not the end of the world. If Seattle sends him packing after claiming him from Dallas, then the Stars won’t have lost that much for nothing with bigger fish to fry.

Either that or the Kraken could just snag Jamie Oleksiak and call it a day.

DETROIT RED WINGS

RW/LW/C Vladislav Namestnikov

28, 1 year left, $2.000 million cap hit

Remember when Namestnikov was a household name in a Tampa Bay Lightning uniform? Or when he was a New York Ranger? These days, it seems like he’s been everywhere– especially since he’s suited up for the Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Colorado Avlanche and Red Wings in the last two seasons.

His best season came in 2017-18, when he amassed 48 points between the Lightning and Rangers in 81 games played, but Namestnikov only managed 8-9–17 totals in 53 games with Detroit this season.

At $2.000 million for one season, he’s a suitable asset in your bottom-six forward group with a low-cost, high-reward 30-40 point potential at best or easy to move at the deadline at worst.

EDMONTON OILERS

RD Adam Larsson

28, pending-UFA, $4.167 million cap hit in 2020-21

Larsson (4-6–10 totals in 56 games) is sure to hit the open market on July 28th, but if the Kraken find themselves in position to stake their claim to his negotiating rights and sign him before anyone else can even submit an offer it wouldn’t be unwise.

At best, Seattle lands a top-four defender. At worst, they avoid having to take something else from the Oilers. James Neal likely isn’t getting another call from an expansion team this time around and Kyle Turris might be the only decent cheap contract if he can find his game again.

FLORIDA PANTHERS

G Chris Driedger

27, pending-UFA, $850,000 cap hit in 2020-21

Seattle was enchanted by his emergence in the last couple of seasons and with Spencer Knight coming out of the shadows behind Sergei Bobrovksy’s contract in Florida, Driedger finds himself hitting the open waters of Puget Sound and/or free agency.

Whether or not Driedger’s 14-6-3 record, 2.07 goals-against average and .9217 save percentage in 23 games (23 starts, three shutouts) is a promising sign of things to come or simply a solid mark of defensive work in front of him remains to be seen.

That said, Driedger is one of the better goaltenders on the open market– if he even makes it there first.

LOS ANGELES KINGS

RW/LW Austin Wagner

24, 2 years left, $1.133 million cap hit

Despite having one of the best prospect pools in the league right now, the Kings don’t have too much to offer via expansion, so the Kraken will have to settle for a fourth-liner that has yet to reveal whether or not this is really all that there is to his game.

Wagner had 4-4–8 totals in 44 games with Los Angeles in 2020-21.

MINNESOTA WILD

G Kaapo Kähkönen

24, 1 year left, $725,000

The Wild chose to protect Cam Talbot over their future potential starting goaltender in Kähkönen which is good news for Kraken fans and bad news for Minnesota fans.

Unless Seattle has a deal in place to acquire assets from the Wild to not select Kähkönen, this is a dangerous game for Minnesota GM, Bill Guerin, to play– but then again, he’s put an emphasis on change at the forefront of his tenure in Minnesota’s front office.

Meanwhile, Kähkönen went 16-8-0 in 24 games (23 starts, two shutouts) and had a 2.88 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage in that span in 2020-21.

MONTRÉAL CANADIENS

G Carey Price

33, 5 years left, $10.500 million cap hit

Whether or not Price is even being considered by the Kraken hinges upon two things 1) his health and 2) if Seattle and Montréal have already worked out some sort of trade.

The league has already informed the clubs that they would be circumventing the salary cap if the Kraken select Price, retain 50% of his salary and deal him back to Montréal.

But, Seattle could take the 2021 Stanley Cup Final runner-up goaltender that amassed a 12-7-5 record in 25 games (25 starts, one shutout) in the regular season and had a 2.64 goals-against average, as well as a .901 save percentage in that span and play him, place him on long-term injured reserve or eat some salary and trade him elsewhere.

In any case, Price to Seattle would be as big a deal as Marc-Andre Fleury to Vegas in 2017.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

LD Mark Borowiecki

32, 1 year left, $2.000 million cap hit

Borowiecki’s 2020-21 campaign was cut short and limited to 22 games due to injury, but don’t let his one assist fool you– he’s a physical defender that will do anything to make a hit, block a shot and lead in the dressing room when he’s not on the ice.

If he’s healthy, he’d be effective in Seattle as the Kraken look to establish their workplace culture and team identity.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

LW/RW Andreas Johnsson

26, 2 years left, $3.400 million cap hit

Johnsson had 43 points in 73 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs in his first full season at the NHL level in 2018-19. He then had just 21 points in 43 games with the Leafs in 2019-20 and 5-6–11 totals in 50 games with the Devils this season.

In the right situation, he could bounce back. In New Jersey, it doesn’t look like that’d be happening anytime soon– regardless of Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes’ emergence with Ty Smith and Yegor Sharangovich playing a part in the club’s turnaround.

Some, however, have Mackenzie Blackwood pegged as being selected by the Kraken as they certainly have plenty of goaltenders to choose from and trade thereafter.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

RW/LW Josh Bailey

31, 3 years left, $5.000 million cap hit

Bailey had 8-27–35 totals in 54 games with the Islanders this season and would provide some meat in the middle of our hypothetical Kraken roster.

Between Bailey and Jordan Eberle, however, Seattle can’t go wrong. The former tends to score clutch goals in the playoffs and has a cap hit that’s $500,000 less than the latter, though that’s not much to worry about.

NEW YORK RANGERS

RW Julien Gauthier

23, 1 year left, $775,000 cap hit

It’s not always about size, but having the option to use a 6-foot-4, 227-pound winger in your lineup certainly will help the Kraken in the physical elements of the game– especially against their rivals in the Pacific Division.

Gauthier had 2-6–8 totals in 30 games with the Rangers in 2020-21.

OTTAWA SENATORS

G Joey Daccord

24, 2 years left, $750,000 cap hit

Daccord appeared in eight games (six games) this season as the Senators struggled to stay healthy in the crease and went on to amass a 1-3-1 record in the process with a 3.27 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage in that span– revealing two things 1) he’s a young goaltender and 2) the Sens really need a better roster in front of any and all of their goaltenders.

But choosing Daccord is O.K. for Seattle since he’ll develop in due time and it takes care of having to pick something else from Ottawa’s scraps.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

RW/LW Jakub Voracek

31, 3 years left, $8.250 million cap hit

Want to get messy? Let’s have the Kraken select Voracek from the Flyers and see what happens!

No, this isn’t about postgame press conference outbursts or anything (though Voracek was in the right in that regard), but rather, there’s a lot of teams that would take Voracek at a reduced rate and Seattle could make bank off trading him.

Or they could keep the guy that had 9-34–43 totals in 53 games in 2020-21 and see what happens in 2021-22, but Francis isn’t likely going to take on that big of a contract unless it’s a free agent signing.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

RW/LW Brandon Tanev

29, 4 years left, $3.500 million cap hit

Tanev can skate, hit and compete, so… …in other words, he’s a hockey player. He’s also got the long hair to go with it.

In 2020-21, he had 7-9–16 totals in 32 games in his second season with the Penguins. Though he was on the cusp of the 30-point plateau with the Winnipeg Jets in 2018-19, Tanev’s career-high 29 points is about the most Seattle could get out of him, but that’s fine for the meat of their lineup.

SAN JOSE SHARKS

C Dylan Gambrell

24, 1 year left, $1.100 million cap hit

Be honest, did you really want to have to take anything from the Sharks?

Gambrell matched his career-high in goals (five) and set career-highs in assists (seven) and points (12) in 49 games with San Jose this season, but aside from being young, he’s still very much a fourth liner in the NHL, so the Kraken have that going for them, at least.

ST. LOUIS BLUES

RW Vladimir Tarasenko

29, 2 years left, $7.500 million cap hit

Name brand power. Seattle would assure themselves of having some top jersey sales if they’d just take Tarasenko and keep him on the roster.

Then again, he’s missed significant portions of the last two seasons and already wants out of St. Louis, so what’s not to say he won’t be disgruntled about going to a completely new franchise and any growing pains?

With 4-10–14 totals in 24 games in 2020-21, and 442 points in 531 career NHL games, it’s probably worth at least being in control of his next destination– whether that’s the Kraken or elsewhere.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

C/LW/RW Yanni Gourde

29, 4 years left, $5.167 million cap hit

Gourde is an affordable player to build a brand new roster around, but just how far up the lineup can he play? Will Seattle try to make him like William Karlsson in Vegas’ first year and demand first line minutes or are they comfortable with taking a more conservative approach and, say, making him a second liner at best?

In any case, 17-19–36 totals in 56 games en route to back-to-back Stanley Cup rings with the Lightning brings the right amount of depth scoring and valuable playoff experience to the Kraken’s roster.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

LW/C Jared McCann

25, 1 year left, $2.940 million cap hit

There was a reason why the Maple Leafs went out and got McCann in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of the expansion draft, but it clearly wasn’t as an insurance plan in the event that Seattle took Alexander Kerfoot and Toronto needed a new third line center or something.

Instead, the Leafs left both available and the Kraken took the guy with the better offensive production in 2020-21, as McCann had 14-18–32 totals in 43 games with Pittsburgh, while Kerfoot had 8-15–23 totals in 56 games with Toronto.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

C/RW Zack MacEwen

25, 1 year left, $825,000

All of Vancouver’s bad contracts are coming to bite them just as everyone expected. Sure, some attractive salary cap hits were available if the Kraken needed a boost, but for the point scoring output, none of them would’ve made sense in a million years– even as a favor to the Canucks, you know, the closest geographical rival to Seattle.

Thus, MacEwen’s taking his talents and 1-1–2 totals in 34 games with the Canucks this season to the Kraken, where he’ll become intertwined with some semblance of depth.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

G Vitek Vanecek

25, 1 year left, $716,667

Yeah, there’s no way around it, really, but this is the worst thing that could happen for the Capitals short of the Kraken getting bold and taking Alex Ovechkin.

Vanecek (21-10-4 in 37 games, 36 starts, 2.69 goals-against average, .908 save percentage, two shutouts) provides a great 1A/1B punch with Ilya Samsonov as both goaltenders develop, but since Washington couldn’t get a deal done with the team that plays in Washington (state, that is), then it’s a solid grab for Seattle.

Whether or not they keep Vanecek in the mix with all the other goaltenders (or any of the other goaltenders, for that matter) remains to be seen.

WINNIPEG JETS

RD Dylan DeMelo

28, 3 years left, $3.000 million

It’s simple, draft DeMelo from Winnipeg and either end up with a decent top-4 defender or use him as trade bait a la the Vegas way in 2017.

Nine assists in 52 games won’t get you much offense from the point when DeMelo is on the ice, but his shutdown style and decent cap hit is attractive around the league.

Total Cap Hit (excluding players already on SEA roster): $80,681,666

Average age: 27.7 years old

Seattle won’t actually be spending to the cap from the expansion draft alone kind of like how the Golden Knights did in 2017, but in this mock draft, let’s get crazy.

Spend every penny and sell high, why not!?!

Yes, Price carries a hefty price tag, but that doesn’t have to be your problem if you find a team desperate enough for goaltending. Imagine trading Price to the Maple Leafs and watching all of Québec sit through the uneasiness of another Toronto-Montréal matchup in the postseason by the time his contract expires.

Or just imagine all of the possible side deals from taking a team that’s loaded with talent and stripping it down to the essentials, plus a foundation for the future.

Ron Francis is kind of good at that.

July 21, 2021