Down the Frozen River

Tag: Maxime Comtois

  • What does Don Sweeney need to do to make it up to you by the 2022 trade deadline? (Part 1)

    What does Don Sweeney need to do to make it up to you by the 2022 trade deadline? (Part 1)

    Chapter One- In The Beginning… (2016)

    With over two months until the 2022 NHL trade deadline on March 21st, there’s plenty of time to start speculating about what kind of moves— if any— would make the most sense for the Boston Bruins in their 2021-22 endeavor.

    Though it wasn’t easy at the start of his tenure as General Manager, Don Sweeney, has significantly improved his trading prowess as the deadline approaches from season to season in Boston.

    That said, not every trade has yielded a gold mine for the Bruins and they’ve yet to win the Stanley Cup since 2011, despite making it all the way to Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final on home ice and winning the Presidents’ Trophy the following season (2019-20).

    For the record, a lot has changed in both the league itself, as well as the team’s development since the days of acquiring guys like John-Michael Liles and Lee Stempniak on Feb. 29, 2016, instead of swinging for the fences and landing, uh, guys like Pat Maroon, Kris Russell or Mikkel Boedker at the 2016 trade deadline.

    In retrospect, maybe there really wasn’t that much of a market that season.

    Sure, Eric Staal was traded to the New York Rangers the day before the 2016 trade deadline on Feb. 28th, but he only managed to amass six points in 20 games with the Rangers down the stretch.

    Staal then joined the Minnesota Wild in free agency on July 1, 2016, and had four seasons of a career resurgence before he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres prior to the 2020-21 season— whereby he was later flipped to the Montréal Canadiens— only to end up losing in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.

    These days he has been invited to Team Canada’s training camp for the 2022 Winter Games as he’s currently an unrestricted free agent.

    More and more recently, the bigger trades happen in the last couple of weeks leading up to the deadline itself, so let’s widen the scope a bit for 2016, just for a second.

    The Florida Panthers added Jakub Kindl from the Detroit Red Wings, Jiri Hudler from the Calgary Flames and Teddy Purcell from the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 27th that year.

    Kindl spent parts of two seasons in Florida before leaving for Europe after the 2016-17 season, Hudler joined the Dallas Stars for 2016-17, and promptly retired thereafter, while Purcell joined the Los Angeles Kings in 2016-17, before joining the Bruins on a PTO at training camp in 2017, prior to being released then spent the 2017-18 season in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and retired thereafter.

    One other team tried going for it in the rental market, as Chicago acquired Tomáš Fleischmann and Dale Weise from the Montréal Canadiens for Phillip Danault and a 2018 2nd round pick (38th overall, Alexander Romanov), added Christian Ehrhoff from Los Angeles for Rob Scuderi and dealt Marko Dano, a 2016 1st round pick (later flipped to the Philadelphia Flyers, 22nd overall—selected German Rubtsov) and a conditional 2018 3rd round pick (the condition was not met) to the Winnipeg Jets for Jay Harrison, Andrew Ladd and Matt Fraser.

    Fleischmann retired after that season, Weise left for the Philadelphia Flyers in free agency that summer, Ehrhoff went back to Europe, Harrison never suited up for Chicago, Ladd had 12 points in 19 games— then joined the New York Islanders in free agency— and Fraser also never suited up in a Chicago uniform.

    So, the rental market didn’t really pan out that year.

    The San Jose Sharks added James Reimer and Jeremy Morin from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Ben Smith, Alex Stalock and a 2018 3rd round pick (83rd overall, Riley Stotts) the same day the Panthers made all of their moves.

    Reimer went on to serve as a decent backup to Martin Jones in San Jose’s 2016 Stanley Cup Final appearance before ultimately losing in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

    The Sharks also bolstered their blue line five days prior in a separate trade with Toronto on the 22nd, in which San Jose acquired Roman Polák and Nick Spaling from the Maple Leafs for Raffi Torres, a 2017 2nd round pick (later flipped to the Anaheim Ducks, 50th overall— Maxime Comtois) and a 2018 2nd round pick (52nd overall, Sean Durzi), but again, neither of those deals were earth-shattering.

    Polák was in search of a Cup ring late in his career (despite playing four more seasons afterward) and had three assists in 24 games with San Jose in the regular season before failing to put up a point in 24 Stanley Cup Playoff games as a Shark prior to rejoining Toronto via free agency that summer.

    Spaling at least had 2-4—6 totals in 24 games down the stretch with the Sharks and even recorded an assist in 24 playoff games before— like the rest of the team— losing to the Penguins in the Final and leaving the NHL for the Swiss League that summer.

    In terms of immediate impact, the Sharks got their money’s worth (kind of), but for a trio of rental players.

    San Jose’s deals might have been the biggest trades not involving the Bruins in the buildup to one of Sweeney’s most often criticized trade deadlines because first impressions mean a lot to some in the Boston fanbase.

    What was made available, however, didn’t amount to much.

    Although, there is enough credibility to the thought that the Bruins should’ve sold high on Loui Eriksson at the time when they could’ve shipped him out of the Hub at a premium before missing the playoffs for a second-straight year.

    Instead, Eriksson went on to amass 63 points (30 goals, 33 assists) in all 82 games with Boston in his first healthy season in the three years he had been there after the Tyler Seguin trade (which happened under previous General Manager, Peter Chiarelli, while Sweeney worked in a player development role)— and signed on the dotted line with the Vancouver Canucks on July 1, 2016, leaving Boston with nothing in his wake.

    This, after the Bruins (42-31-9, 93 points, 4th in the Atlantic Division) missed the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker with the Red Wings (41-30-11, 93 points, 3rd in the Atlantic) who had 39 regulation plus overtime wins (ROW) to Boston’s 38.

    Two teams from the Metropolitan Division— the Islanders and the Flyers— clinched the Eastern Conference wild card playoff berths with 100 and 96 points, respectively, in the standings.

    As for the biggest deal leading up to the 2016 trade deadline, you’d probably have to move the goalposts a little bit on the “within two weeks before the deadline itself” rule to find the best deal.

    But the Ottawa Senators were the beneficiary of a revival on Feb. 9, 2016, when they traded Colin Greening, Milan Michalek, Jared Cowen, Tobias Lindberg and a 2017 2nd round pick (59th overall, Eemeli Räsänen) to Toronto for Dion Phaneuf (captain of the Maple Leafs at the time), Matt Frattin, Ryan Rupert, Casey Bailey and Cody Donaghey.

    Phaneuf had a late career renaissance with the Sens and proved to be pivotal in their run to the 2017 Eastern Conference Final the following year— only to lose on the road in a Game 7 against the Penguins, 3-2, in double overtime.

    Pittsburgh, by the way, went on to repeat as Stanley Cup champions that June.

    Frattin never suited up for the Senators and left for the KHL after spending a year with the Stockton Heat (AHL) in 2016-17.

    Rupert was mired in the minors until going to Europe in 2018-19, while Bailey played in seven games for Ottawa in 2016-17, then spent time split between the American Hockey League and Europe since then (currently in the DEL).

    Donaghey, on the other hand, played in one AHL game in 2017-18, before spending the majority of his time in the ECHL prior to leaving for Europe last season (currently in the ELH).

    But Phaneuf brought his $7.000 million cap hit to the Sens and actually saved the team money since they shipped out Greening ($2.650 million), Michalek ($4.000 million) and Cowen ($3.100 million) as part of the package— adding about $2.750 million towards the cap for Toronto in the deal.

    Of course, the Leafs went on to win the 2016 Draft Lottery and selected Auston Matthews 1st overall that June, so it wasn’t all that bad.

    In 51 games with the Maple Leafs prior to the trade in the 2015-16 season, Phaneuf had 3-21—24 totals. In 20 games with Ottawa, he had 1-7—8 totals.

    The following year, he had 9-21—30 totals in 81 games and put up five points (one goal, four assists) from the blue line in 19 playoff games in 2017.

    He then had 3-13—16 totals in 53 games with Ottawa in 2017-18, before he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in another deal that— you guessed it, saved the Senators some money (only about $1.100 million this time around).

    Phaneuf had 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 26 games with Los Angeles and recorded an assist in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Kings were swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2018 First Round.

    Then in 2018-19, he amassed 1-5—6 totals in 67 games and had the last two years of his contract bought out by Los Angeles on June 15, 2019.

    He didn’t officially retire until Nov. 16, 2021, and spent parts of two seasons following Brendan Shanahan around in his role as president and alternate governor of the Leafs.

    Though he wasn’t scoring 40, 50 or even 60 points as a defender like he did in his prime with the Calgary Flames, Phaneuf was still the rugged and durable veteran blue liner that he was in his short tenure from before the 2016 deadline until about his final season and injury was really the only thing that did him in at the end due to his physical style.

    He had value and the Leafs just gave him up to their intra-provincial rivals about three years before Toronto repeated themselves in giving Ottawa a better defender (Nikita Zaitsev) for a younger defender (Cody Ceci) that just didn’t really pan out as part of a larger package in a trade on July 1, 2019.

    Anyway, that last part was really just for those of you that made it this far and care about things outside of just the Bruins organization.

    We’ll move on to analyzing Sweeney’s deadline deals since 2016, in the next chapter.

  • Anaheim Ducks 2021-22 Season Preview

    Anaheim Ducks 2021-22 Season Preview

    2020-21 record 17-30-9, 43 points

    8th in the Honda NHL West Division

    Missed the postseason for the third-straight year

    Additions: F Danny O’Regan, F Buddy Robinson, D Greg Pateryn, D Brogan Rafferty

    Subtractions: F Andrew Agozzino (signed with OTT), F Danton Heinen (signed with PIT), F Chase De Leo (signed with NJD), F Andrew Poturalski (signed with CAR), D Haydn Fleury (expansion, SEA), D Andy Welinski (signed with CGY), G Ryan Miller (retired)

    Still Unsigned: F David Backes, F Carter Rowney

    Re-signed: F Max Comtois, F Ryan Getzlaf, F Max Jones, F Isac Lundestrom, F Sam Steel, D Josh Mahura

    Offseason Analysis: All three California-based NHL teams missed out on the playoffs for the second year in a row (and third time overall since 1996), but there’s hope for 2/3 of the California teams in terms of turning things around a lot sooner rather than later.

    Both of them happen to be in southern California.

    Though the Ducks are behind the Los Angeles Kings by a year or two in both time spent in their ongoing rebuilds– as well as when they’re expected to be a playoff contender once again– Anaheim’s trending in the direction of a younger team with a tinge of experience gained from last season as Max Comtois led the way in scoring on the roster with 16-17–33 totals in 55 games.

    Troy Terry solidified a spot on the NHL roster and won’t have to spend any time fluctuating back and forth between the Ducks and the San Diego Gulls (AHL) after he managed to amass 7-13–20 totals in 48 games.

    Though Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg are often the subjects of trade rumors out of Anaheim, Rakell led the Ducks in assists last season with 19 helpers in 52 games, while Silfverberg had a more pedestrian season– notching 16 points in 47 games.

    At the very least, they’re two veterans that head coach, Dallas Eakins, can lean on as Anaheim’s youth continues to emerge and Ryan Getzlaf’s aging body wears down over time.

    That’s not to say that Getzlaf’s 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 48 games didn’t mean much for the Ducks, but rather that they won’t have to count on their 36-year-old captain for nearly as much as they used to get out of him– especially as his production is projected to continue to decline.

    Getting a full season on defense from Jamie Drysdale is likely to be a difference maker as the 19-year-old managed to put up 3-5–8 totals in 24 games from the blue line last season in his league debut after being selected 6th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft.

    His offensive contributions from the defense– at the very least as a two-way defender– should spark more rushes from a team that got stuck playing catch-up while attempting to bear hug their opponents from night-to-night in recent years.

    Cam Fowler and Josh Manson are set to turn 30 during the 2021-22 season, while Kevin Shattenkirk is currently the oldest defender on the roster at 32-years-old, but Hampus Lindholm and Jacob Larsson are familiar names that are just entering the cusp of their defensive primes, so really the Ducks just need to hit the back of the net more– as if that wasn’t already evidenced enough by their minus-53 goal differential last season.

    Granted, that does mean they’ll have to shore things up in their own end somewhat, but yeah, score more goals than the other team, win the game. Who would’ve thought?

    Don’t overplay John Gibson in the crease (seriously, no goaltender should be facing more than, like, 55 games in an 82-game schedule) and give Anthony Stolarz a chance to be a legitimate backup goaltender in the league– something in the Ducks’ coaching staff is working for him in the last two seasons.

    Gibson went 9-19-7 in 35 games with a 2.98 goals-against average, a .903 save percentage and three shutouts in that span, which was better and worse than his 20-26-5 record in 51 games in 2019-20, in which he had a 3.00 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage– as well as one shutout.

    With the exception of last season’s 56-game schedule, Gibson hasn’t faced fewer than 1,500 shots against since the 2016-17 season, which featured a run to the Western Conference Final for the Ducks.

    A drop in goals for production has hurt Gibson like a lack of run support spurns a starting pitcher in baseball.

    Meanwhile, Stolarz took on a bigger role as Anaheim’s backup towards the tale end of the season– forcing Ryan Miller into an early retirement, even though Miller earned the honors of the last game of the season.

    Stolarz put up a 4-3-0 record in eight games played and had a 2.20 goals-against average, a .926 save percentage and one shutout in that span, which was much better than Miller’s 4-8-2 record in 16 games to go with a 3.51 goals-against average and an .882 save percentage.

    Ideally, Anaheim would find a way to give both Gibson and Stolarz about 41 games each to generate healthy competition, but that’s not likely– especially with Gibson’s high profile around the league as one of the better goaltenders that’s just stuck in the unfortunate rut of a rebuilding team.

    Ducks General Manager, Bob Murray, had one thing to do this offseason and that was to not do anything, so he did (nothing, that is).

    Let things play out on their own and Anaheim will either show forward progress or get a chance to speed up their rebuild with another top-10 draft pick in 2022.

    At best they’ll be 6th in the Pacific Division and ahead of their counterparts in northern California– the San Jose Sharks. At worst they’ll be stuck in 8th.

    Offseason Grade: C

    If subjectivity had any influence on an offseason grade, Murray and the Ducks would get an “A” for doing what was recommended– virtually nothing. Seriously.

    It’s time for Anaheim to figure out what they have, where they still need to make a few improvements and otherwise to let their youth get experience and grow in their game.

    The Ducks recognize their situation and they have enough patience for now to be smart about things.

    With about $14 million to spend in cap space this season, Anaheim can be a trade deadline broker flipping and retaining salary on expiring or short-term contracts while yielding the profits of prospects and draft picks– that is how you rebuild.

    Even better, they’ll have about $44.4 million to spend next offseason, though with Getzlaf, Rakell, Lindholm and Manson headlining their pending-unrestricted free agent class.

  • Trading Frederik Andersen is the wrong idea

    Something’s brewing in Toronto and it’s the annual “let’s talk trading Frederik Andersen because surely he’s the reason for a lack of playoff success as a team in recent years”. Ah, the sight of Maple Leafs in the fall.

    Andersen is entering the final year of his five-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs that he signed back on June 20, 20216– shortly after his rights were traded to Canada’s largest city by the Anaheim Ducks for a 2016 1st round pick (Sam Steel) and a conditional 2017 2nd round pick (Maxime Comtois).

    His cap hit is a reasonable $5.000 million, but on a roster that’s currently projected to spend $82,549,325– which, you know, is slightly over the league’s $81.5 million upper limit– something’s got to give.

    If Maple Leafs General Manager, Kyle Dubas, was serious about trading Andersen heading into the season, he likely would’ve found a partner by now and made a deal– regardless of stagnant revenue streams due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

    But sure, let’s say the Leafs are set on trading Andersen in order to become cap compliant.

    First of all, who are you going to get in return?

    And second, the playoffs would be out of the picture altogether.

    The answer to the first question is easy since most of the free agent goaltenders have been scooped up and Toronto’s not likely to take a flyer on Cory Schneider, Craig Anderson, Jimmy Howard or Ryan Miller.

    In 2010, maybe. In 2020, definitely not.

    None of those goalies had a goals against average better than 3.10 or a save percentage better than a .907.

    One of those goalies, however, had those stats exactly and it’s the one that spent last season as a backup in 23 games with the Anaheim Ducks (Miller).

    Naturally, Dubas would have to look to trade Andersen instead, which means you might be looking at a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights for Marc-Andre Fleury or (let’s get crazy) send Andersen back to the team that originally drafted him before he re-entered the draft and was taken by the Ducks in the 3rd round (87th overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft– the Carolina Hurricanes.

    Why the Hurricanes? Because James Reimer, of course.

    Andersen had a 29-13-7 record in 52 games last season (all starts), while amassing a 2.85 goals against average, a .909 save percentage and three shutouts in the process.

    Though he recorded two more shutouts in 2019-20 than he did in 2018-19, his goals against average and save percentage were worse than his 2.77 GAA and .917 SV% in 60 games two season’s ago.

    It’s important to remember, however, that in Toronto had guys like Ron Hainsey and Nikita Zaitsev on the blue line to help suppress the oncoming attack in 2018-19.

    Hainsey joined the Ottawa Senators in free agency on July 1, 2019, while Zaitsev was packaged with Connor Brown and Michael Carcone in a trade with (you guessed it) the Senators on the same day for Cody Ceci, Ben Harpur, Aaron Luchuk and a 2020 3rd round pick that originated from the Columbus Blue Jackets (Alex Laferriere).

    The Leafs made the trade to save $4.500 million in cap space that they then turned around and gave to Ceci. Kind of.

    Trading Zaitsev wasn’t necessarily about saving money in the immediate future as much as it was about lopping off his contract from the books before his modified no-trade clause kicked in.

    The now 29-year-old Russian defender is under contract through the 2023-24 season with Ottawa, whereas Ceci was a restricted free agent at the time and agreed to a one-year deal with the Leafs.

    Dubas had to protect his club’s ability to integrate young prospects on the blue line and remain competitive in future trade or free agent markets, so Zaitsev was a casualty of league parity.

    That, or fans, coaches and media members alike were tired of watching him in Toronto.

    Meanwhile, the Leafs went in a different direction for their blue line last season with the additions of Ceci in the Zaitsev trade and Tyson Barrie at a discount as their alleged biggest prize in the Nazem Kadri trade with the Colorado Avalanche.

    While Sens fans knew what Toronto was getting themselves into with Ceci’s playing ability as a bottom-pairing defender, Barrie experienced a significant drop-off in his game.

    Barrie amassed 14-45–59 points in 78 games with Colorado in back-to-back seasons with at least 55 points before the trade and was a minus-3 in 2018-19. He put up 39 points (five goals, 34 assists) in 70 games with Toronto and was a minus-7.

    For the record, Ceci had 7-19–26 totals in 74 games with the Sens and was a minus-22 in 2018-19, then mustered eight points (one goal, seven asissts) in 56 games with the Leafs– but at least he was a plus-7.

    So it’s not entirely Andersen’s fault for instability in front of him.

    The defensive depth wasn’t the same from 2018-19 to 2019-20 in front of Andersen, and, of course, Toronto fired Mike Babcock and promoted Sheldon Keefe as head coach after Fleury made a big save on Nov. 19, 2019 in Vegas.

    Which is actually the perfect segue back to what it would mean for the Leafs to trade Andersen.

    If Dubas flipped Andersen to the Golden Knights for Fleury strictly because of the “playoff experience” narrative, well, it’s worth noting that despite his improved performance from 2019’s 3-4 record, 2.70 GAA, .909 SV% and one shutout in seven games to 2020’s 3-1 record, 2.27 GAA and .910 SV% in four games, Robin Lehner still outperformed Fleury.

    Lehner amassed a 9-7 record in 16 games for Vegas in the 2020 postseason with a 1.99 GAA, a .917 SV% and four shutouts in that span.

    Andersen is 31, while Fleury is 36.

    In simple terms, one is still in their goaltending prime and the other is in the twilight of his playing days– even if he is able to return to form after the second-straight season of faltering numbers.

    Fleury’s first season in Vegas saw him rock a 29-13-4 record in 46 games with a 2.24 GAA, .927 SV% and four shutouts despite missing time due to injury.

    In 2018-19, Fleury was overplayed. He notched a respectable 35-21-5 record, 2.51 GAA, .913 SV% and eight shutouts in 61 games, but couldn’t remain hot enough against the San Jose Sharks in the 2019 First Round.

    In 2019-20, Gerard Gallant and, later, Peter DeBoer handled his number of games better, playing Fleury 49 times, but the 36-year-old netminder amassed a 27-16-5 record with a 2.77 GAA, .905 SV% and five shutouts.

    Season-by-season, Fleury has shown signs of regressing.

    Even if he is able to win one more Cup, his role on that team is likely best suited as the backup, if not at least in the 1B role of a 1A/1B tandem.

    In his last three seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Fleury faced 4,677 shots against and made 4,292 saves (.918 SV%) while amassing 16 shutouts from 2014-17.

    In his first three seasons with the Golden Knights, Fleury’s faced 4,520 shots and made 4,135 saves (.915 SV%) while racking up 17 shutouts.

    The ageless wonder would be a great addition to the Maple Leafs if Toronto could only have Andersen and Fleury.

    But there’s a little pesky number that ruins any hope of swinging a deal unless Dubas is willing to part with larger pieces in a true “hockey trade”.

    It’s Fleury’s cap hit.

    He carries a price tag of $7.000 million against the salary cap through next season (2021-22) and, like Andersen, has a modified no-trade clause.

    Vegas is also feeling the stress of the salary cap, considering they’re currently on the books for $82,474,104 and need to dump salary before the season can likely begin in January.

    No, Max Pacioretty’s $7.000 million cap hit or Jonathan Marchessault’s $5.000 million cap hit won’t do the Leafs any favors if Toronto somehow decided they’d be fine with Dubas including a piece of their core– like Mitch Marner’s $10.893 million cap hit, for example– in the hypothetical transaction.

    Both teams would still be over the cap unless they’d be able to make separate trades elsewhere to shed salary.

    Even still, if someone is trying to pry Fleury from Vegas, they’re likely asking the Golden Knights to retain some salary or involve a third team in the deal for that sole purpose.

    So if Fleury’s out, what about Reimer? You know, the last guy to bring “stability” to the crease in Toronto before Andersen.

    Reimer hasn’t posted a sub-2.50 goals against average since his 2.49 with the Maple Leafs in 32 games prior to being traded to the Sharks ahead of the 2016 trade deadline.

    He also hasn’t bested his .918 SV% from the time he spent with the Leafs that season.

    It might be tempting to resort to Reimer as a starter, but he’s been worse than Andersen at a fraction of the workload that the current Leafs starter gets from year-to-year.

    Thanks to the pandemic shortened regular season last year, Andersen played under 60 games for the first time since his days in Anaheim.

    Toronto’s defense is nothing like Carolina’s defense.

    Despite Reimer’s impressive 14-6-2 record in 25 games with the Hurricanes last season, there’s no guarantees he’d be able to match that or better with Morgan Rielly taking on the roles of Jaccob Slavin, Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei and Co. combined for the Maple Leafs.

    Besides, Jack Campbell’s 3-2-1 record in six games with Toronto last season came with a 2.63 GAA and a .915 SV%, which, on its own is about the same as Reimer’s 2.66 GAA and .914 SV% with the Canes last season, but at a cheaper price for a backup caliber goaltender (Campbell is signed through 2021-22 at $1.650 million per season, while Reimer is a pending-UFA at season’s end with a $3.400 million cap hit).

    But remember Campbell spent last season with the Los Angeles Kings and Maple Leafs and finished 2019-20 with a combined 11-12-3 record in 26 games for Los Angeles and Toronto, while amassing a 2.80 GAA and a .904 SV% in the process.

    Unless Dubas signed Michael Hutchinson and Aaron Dell to compete with Campbell and (hypothetically) Reimer to save some money by trading Andersen this season, then Toronto’s goaltending woes would only get worse.

    That’s right, we haven’t even started talking about who the eventual “goalie of the future” might be for the Leafs, but that’s a subject for another time (spoiler alert: the jury is out on that one for now).

    It’s ride or die with Andersen this season.

    And next summer’s free agent goalie market doesn’t look like it’s any better.

    Unless a familiar Maple Leafs draft pick returns to Toronto, but he still wears No. 40 on the Boston Bruins for now.

  • Pastrnak scores all four in Boston’s, 4-2, win over Anaheim

    A four-goal afternoon– the first of his career– for David Pastrnak was enough to lift the Boston Bruins over the Anaheim Ducks, 4-2, Monday afternoon at TD Garden.

    Jaroslav Halak (2-1-0, 1.69 goals against average, .951 save percentage in three games played) made 30 saves on 32 shots against for a .938 SV% in the win for Boston.

    Ducks goaltender, John Gibson (3-2-0, 1.82 GAA, .941 SV% in five games played) stopped 19 out of 23 shots faced (.826 SV%) in the loss.

    Pastrnak became the 19th Bruin in franchise history to have a four-goal game. Prior to Monday, Patrice Bergeron had the most recent four-goal game in franchise history in a, 7-1, win at home over the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 6, 2018.

    Bergeron and Pastrnak are the only members on the current roster for Boston to have scored four goals in a game.

    No. 88 in black-and-gold became the first Bruin to score four in game in the month of October since Dave Andreychuk had a four-goal effort in a, 7-3, victory on home ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 28th, 1999.

    He (Pastrnak) was also the first to score all four of his team’s goals in a game in the win.

    Boston improved to 5-1-0 (10 points) on the season and temporarily moved up to 1st in the Atlantic Division while the Buffalo Sabres were in action against the Dallas Stars Monday afternoon.

    Meanwhile, Anaheim fell to 4-2-0 (8 points) and dropped to 3rd in the Pacific Division by virtue of the Vegas Golden Knights holding the tiebreaker in the standings (goal differential), since the two teams have the same record and have not faced each other yet this season.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made one change to his lineup from Saturday night’s matchup with the New Jersey Devils, scratching Connor Clifton in favor of Steven Kampfer on defense.

    Kevan Miller (knee) and John Moore (shoulder) missed their sixth game of the season due to lingering injuries from last spring, while Par Lindholm, David Backes and Clifton were healthy scratches for the Bruins.

    Prior to the game, the Bruins held a moment of applause and celebration for former blue liner, Ted Green, who died on Oct. 8 at the age of 79.

    Shortly after being on the receiving end of an open-ice hit from Kampfer, Ducks defender, Michael Del Zotto slashed Bruins forward, Brett Ritchie, and was charged with a minor infraction at 4:10 of the first period.

    Eight seconds into the ensuing power play, Pastrnak (3) scored with a one-timer on a pass from Bergeron from the faceoff dot to Gibson’s right side.

    Boston cycled the puck from the initial faceoff, which led to Pastrnak’s appearance in the open for the goal.

    Bergeron (4) and Torey Krug (2) had the assists on the goal at 4:18 and the Bruins led, 1-0.

    Late in the period, Bergeron slashed Ondrej Kase and was sent to the penalty box with a minor at 17:16. Anaheim did not convert on the resulting power play.

    Heading into the first intermission, Boston led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 11-8. The B’s also held the advantage in takeaways (1-0), giveaways (4-3), hits (11-10) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while both teams had four takeaways aside.

    Anaheim was 0/1 on the power play after 20 minutes, while the Bruins were 1/1 on the skater advantage entering the second period.

    David Krejci left the action during the first period with an undisclosed injury and did not return to the game.

    Early in the middle frame, Pastrnak “tripped” Maxime Comtois and the Ducks went on the power play at 4:40 of the second period, but Anaheim wasn’t able to capitalize on the phantom call.

    Moments later, Kampfer took a trip to the sin bin for a legitimate hooking penalty against Max Jones at 9:28, but again the Ducks were unsuccessful on the skater advantage.

    Shortly after killing off Kampfer’s minor, Boston pounced at even strength on a rush.

    Pastrnak (4) received a pass from Brad Marchand and released a one-timer past Gibson to give the B’s a two-goal lead, 2-0, at 11:38.

    Marchand (4) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s second goal of the game.

    About a minute later, Sam Steel was penalized for holding Joakim Nordstrom at 12:50, but the Bruins weren’t able to take advantage of their second power play of the day.

    Late in the period, Rickard Rakell (2) snapped a shot wide of Charlie McAvoy and past Halak on the far side to cut Boston’s lead in half and get Anaheim on the scoreboard, 2-1, at 17:52.

    Adam Henrique (1) and Cam Fowler (1) had the assists on Rakell’s goal.

    A minute later, McAvoy sent the puck clear over the glass and received an automatic delay of game penalty at 18:53.

    Boston would be on the penalty kill heading into the third period.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins led, 2-1, on the scoreboard and were being outshot by the Ducks, 24-17– including a, 16-6, advantage in shots on goal for Anaheim in the second period alone.

    The Ducks also led in blocked shots (8-4), takeaways (5-4) and hits (18-17) entering the second intermission, while Boston held the lead in giveaways (8-4) and faceoff win% (56-44).

    Anaheim was 0/4 on the power play and the B’s were 1/2 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Pastrnak (5) scored his hat trick goal in Monday afternoon’s action off a faceoff in the attacking zone after the Ducks iced the puck.

    The puck bounced off an Anaheim skater right in front of Pastrnak for the unassisted effort at 2:20 of the third period and the Bruins led, 3-1.

    Almost 100 seconds later, Comtois was guilty of holding Charlie Coyle and sent to the penalty box at 3:37.

    The Bruins capitalized on their third power play of the day as Marchand sent the puck through the low slot for Pastrnak (6) to redirect while getting his stick in the crease upon the puck’s entrance into the blue paint for his fourth goal of the game.

    Marchand (5) and Krug (3) tabbed the assists on the power play goal at 4:34, as Boston took control of the game, 4-1.

    Late in the period, Halak misplayed the puck behind his own net, leaving the goaltender defenseless as Nick Ritchie fished the loose puck to his teammate.

    Henrique (2) scored while Halak struggled to get back in front of the net and the Ducks cut the lead to two goals.

    Brett Ritchie’s brother on the opposing team, Nick Ritchie (2) had the only assist on Henrique’s goal at 16:08 and the Bruins still led, 4-2.

    With about three minutes left in the action, Anaheim’s head coach, Dallas Eakins, pulled Gibson for the extra attacker.

    Almost 90 seconds later, Eakins used his timeout after a stoppage to instruct his players what to do in the event of anything in effort to try to comeback and tie the game, but it was to no avail.

    Boston’s defense stood tall and things got a little out of hand when Ryan Getzlaf lost his composure and got into a tangle with Chris Wagner after a stoppage at 19:41.

    Both players received roughing minor penalties and the teams finished the game 4-on-4.

    At the final horn, Halak and the Bruins picked up the, 4-2, win on home ice over the Ducks, despite trailing in shots on goal, 32-23.

    Anaheim left TD Garden leading in hits (26-24), while Boston finished the afternoon leading in blocked shots (12-10) and giveaways (13-7).

    Both teams were split even (50-50) in faceoff win%.

    The Ducks went 0/4 on the power play, while the Bruins were 2/3 on the skater advantage.

    Boston wraps up their three-game homestand (2-0-0) against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday before the Bruins travel to Toronto for a home and home series on Oct. 19th at Scotiabank Arena and Oct. 22nd at TD Garden.

    It will be Boston and Toronto’s first meeting since their 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round matchup.

  • DTFR Podcast #168- 2019-20 Season Preview: Pacific Division

    DTFR Podcast #168- 2019-20 Season Preview: Pacific Division

    The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2019 was announced, a major shakeup in the Board of Governors may be ahead, extensions were signed, Jake Gardiner joined the Carolina Hurricanes and it’s time for our DTFR Podcast season previews (starting with the Pacific Division).

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  • Anaheim Ducks 2019-20 Season Preview

    Anaheim Ducks

    35-37-10, 80 points, 6th in the Pacific Division

    Missed the postseason for the first time in seven years

    Additions: F Andreas Martinsen, F Blake Pietila, F Andrew Poturalski, D Michael Del Zotto, D Jani Hakanpaa, D Chris Wideman, G Anthony Stolarz

    Subtractions: F Adam Cracknell (KHL), F Kalle Kossila (signed with TOR), F Corey Perry (bought out, signed with DAL), F Kevin Roy (signed with FLA), F Ben Street (signed with NJD), D Jake Dotchin (signed with STL), D Jaycob Megna (signed with VGK), D Trevor Murphy (KHL), D Andrej Sustr (KHL), D Andy Welinski (signed with PHI)

    Still Unsigned: D Keaton Thompson, G Chad Johnson

    Re-signed: F Chase De Leo, F Justin Kloos

    Offseason Analysis: The Anaheim Ducks have about $8.500 million in cap space currently with no restricted free agents unsigned and not a worry in the world.

    Well, except for the fact that their core is aging, Ryan Kesler may be shelved on the long-term injured reserve for the season and there’s a new head coach in town to try to spur a bounce back after the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

    After Corey Perry’s offense dried up, injuries piled up and a dismal season carried on, General Manager Bob Murray made the difficult decision to return to his front office post only and leave the double duties as GM and head coach in the past.

    Dallas Eakins returns to the NHL head coaching scene after posting a 29-44-9 record in 2013-14 with the Edmonton Oilers, prior to a 7-19-5 start in 31 games the following season before being fired.

    The Oilers were 6th in the Pacific Standings at the time of Eakins’ dismissal in the 2014-15 season, which was technically better than their 7th place finish in the Pacific a season prior.

    Eakins turned his career around enough to earn this second chance behind the bench of an NHL team after coaching the San Diego Gulls (Anaheim’s AHL affiliate) since the 2015-16 season– leading them to a 36-24-5-3 record last season and an appearance in the Calder Cup Playoffs’ Western Conference Final against the Chicago Wolves.

    Though the Gulls lost in six games to the eventual runners up to the Calder Cup champion, Charlotte Checkers, Eakins carries the deep postseason run coaching experience and much of the same young players with him to the big show on the Ducks roster.

    Anaheim is at a crossroads.

    John Gibson is too good of a goaltender to go through a rebuild, while the rest of the roster screams “wild card at best”.

    Cam Fowler, Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm are all that remains from the days of one of the most underrated defenses from year-to-year, while Anaheim’s offense is going through growing pains.

    This team will either exist in mediocrity as they did last season or be worse until it gets better. There doesn’t see to be much indication otherwise, based on the lack of moves made in just one offseason.

    The Ducks acquired Nicolas Deslauriers– a bottom-six forward that’s probably better suited in the top-six in San Diego– in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens that saw Anaheim sending a 2020 4th round pick to the Habs in return.

    Perry’s buyout costs Anaheim $2.625 million against the salary cap this season, $6.625 million next season and $2.000 million from 2021-22 through 2022-23.

    At least if things get tight and Kesler isn’t good to go the LTIR will eat up Kesler’s $6.875 million cap hit through 2021-22 (if his career is in jeopardy as it very well might be).

    For now, the Ducks are hoping for Troy Terry to have the breakout season everyone’s waiting for, as well as the emergence of Max Jones, Sam Steel and Maxime Comtois as NHL regulars (hopefully) sooner rather than later.

    Anaheim needs more speed, skill and most importantly more goals for and fewer goals against.

    Offseason Grade: D+

    There’s really no pressure heading into this season for the Ducks. They won the Cup in 2007, became dominant in the regular season from 2012-15 (and, as a result, a Cup contender) and have been cooling ever since (with the exception of their 2017 Western Conference Final run– losing in six games to the Nashville Predators).

    Since then, Murray hasn’t done anything to stop nature in its course as age has caught up to the big and burly roster Anaheim crafted to (almost) perfection. That said, there were no major additions or subtractions this offseason– even with the loss of Perry (who’s cap hit left him un-tradable).

  • DTFR Podcast #163- Cap’n Crunch

    DTFR Podcast #163- Cap’n Crunch

    The salary cap isn’t going up as much as everyone hoped. Also, there were plenty of trades, buyouts and extensions handed out in the last week. Nick, Colby, Cap’n and Pete examine each move and pick 2019 NHL Awards winners.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • DTFR Podcast #162- Battle For Gloria (Part Four- The Blues Have Won)

    DTFR Podcast #162- Battle For Gloria (Part Four- The Blues Have Won)

    The Battle For Gloria concludes. The Jeff Skinner extension is analyzed. What to do with Corey Perry? As well as everyone’s favorite game returns.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • DTFR Podcast #141- The Midseasonies

    DTFR Podcast #141- The Midseasonies

    Nick and Connor talk the latest trades, Torts drama (and latest record), Casey DeSmith’s extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins, as well as a tribute to the careers of Rick Nash and Josh Gorges who both announced their retirement this week.

    Additionally, what’s up with the Edmonton Oilers and St. Louis Blues this season and why can’t they just pick a side? Plus, it’s time to hand out awards for being slightly more than halfway through the 2018-19 regular season. #FlamingNotToFlamingHot

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • DTFR Podcast #139- They Ran Out Of Beer!

    DTFR Podcast #139- They Ran Out Of Beer!

    A bunch of minor trades were made in the last week, the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game rosters were released, as well as the 2019-20 outdoor game schedule. Nick and Connor also discuss the legacy that was the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic and the 2019 IIHF World Junior Quarterfinal upsets.

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    *Editor’s Note: Of course, after recording this week’s episode, the Philadelphia Flyers claimed G Mike McKenna off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks.