CAROLINA HURRICANES

NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

Storm Advisory for August 16: NHL News, Rumors, Links and Daily Roundup

Hey, we’re about a month away from training camp! (But who’s counting?)

by Brian LeBlanc@bdleblanc Aug 16, 2017, 7:03am EDT

Reading Assignments

Justin Williams is embracing his elder statesman role on the Hurricanes roster. [NHL.com]

Yesterday was Boston Day on Adam and Joe’s Transplant Tuesday, so what better way to celebrate than by having the Hurricanes’ most recognizable Bostonian, Noah Hanifin, on the show? [WRALSportsFan.com (audio)]

And if you were worried about the Canes trading Hanifin for the apparently available David Pastrnak, Joe Haggerty looked at the Canes’ stat sheet from last year (although apparently none of the context) and poured cold water on that theory:

A new edition of the CanesCast is out, featuring youth & amateur hockey coordinator Shane Willis. [Hurricanes (audio)]

The Checkers have re-signed Mitchell Heard to a two-way AHL contract. (And, ergo, he’s eligible for the Canadian Olympic team!) [Checkers]

Bryan Murray’s legacy in hockey isn’t just limited to his teams on the ice. His fight with colon cancer raised awareness of the disease throughout the game. [TSN (video)]

Yep, it’s August: Steve Simmons used actual air time on an actual radio station to defend himself in light of Phil Kessel eating hot dogs out of the Stanley Cup. What a time to be alive. [Puck Daddy]

And meanwhile, Joshua Ho-Sang is just so zen about it all, man. [SBNation.com]

TODAY’S LINKS

https://www.canescountry.com/2017/8/16/16155564/storm-advisory-nhl-news-rumors-links-noah-hanifin-trade-justin-williams-steve-simmons-phil-kessel

CAROLINA HURRICANES

NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

1072290 Boston Bruins

Las Vegas hires Bruins radio voice Dave Goucher as TV announcer

Herald Staff Tuesday, August 15, 2017

The Bruins radio booth is getting a shake-up.

Dave Goucher, who has called Bruins games on the radio since 2000, will leave the club and move to Las Vegas to call games on TV for the expansion Golden Knights.

Goucher will be joined by former Bruins defenseman Shane Hnidy when he takes the reins as the TV voice of the new club.

Goucher is a graduate of BU who previously called games for the Providence Bruins before getting the job in Boston.

He’s not the first person hired away from the Bruins to join the Vegas club. Last year, the Knights hired former Bruins public relations official Eric Tosi as their VP of communications. The Knights also selected Bruins defenseman Colin Miller in the expansion draft in June.

There’s no word yet on who will replace Goucher in the Bruins radio booth along side analyst Bob Beers.

Boston Herald LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072291 Boston Bruins

Buckley: Why do Bruins struggle handling talented young players?

Steve Buckley Wednesday, August 16, 2017

The Bruins are starting to look like the University of Kentucky basketball program: Talented young players come and go in the blink of an eye, honing their skills and then moving on to bigger and better things.

For the Kentucky basketball players, “bigger and better things” means the National Basketball Association.

For the Bruins, it’s every other team in the National Hockey League.

The latest young, talented Bruin who may or may not be playing elsewhere next season — depending on whose tweets you’re reading — is right winger David Pastrnak. The 21-year-old had a sterling 2016-17 season, scoring 34 goals, but it’s the offseason that should worry B’s fans.

As always, it comes down to money. Pastrnak wants more of it. The Bruins, alas, are like the short-armed alligator in the Geico commercial.

The two sides haven’t been able to work out a new deal, leading to speculation Pastrnak could soon be past tense.

My mission today isn’t to break down the B’s depth chart, or give you a Popsicle headache with long, boring lectures about budgets and salary caps. Instead, I’ll simply pose a question: Doesn’t anybody grow old in a Bruins jersey any more?

Put another way, in 30 or 40 years, when aging Bruins alums are dusted off and asked to drop a ceremonial puck, or speak at a charity event or appear with 100-year-old Dale Arnold (still going strong thanks to

Awaken 180 Weightloss!) on the NESN pregame program, will there actually be any aging Bruins in our midst?

Yes, it’s looking more and more like Patrice Bergeron is going to be a Bruin for life, even if, at the end of his playing career, he pulls a Raymond Bourque and does a cameo with another team. But no sweat: The B’s could have him sign the symbolic one-day contract, as Vince Wilfork did last week with the Patriots, and we’d all have a group hug.

I’m not suggesting the Bruins are totally anonymous. David Krejci, Brad Marchand, Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask have been around long enough to know where the cool places are. But the point remains: If you’re a very talented, very young member of the Boston Bruins, don’t buy that hip Charlestown condo until you have an idea if you’re going to be around for a while.

What do Phil Kessel, Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton have in common? They’re all former first-round picks who played exactly three seasons with the Bruins and then were traded. Why they were traded — didn’t fit in with the system, too much partying, didn’t play nice with the other kids, Bruins didn’t want to pony up, etc. — isn’t important. Not for this discussion, anyway. What matters is that they all came to Boston, showed some promise, and then were shown the door.

And now look where we are: David Pastrnak is a former first-round draft Bruins draft pick who has completed his three seasons at the rock pile of the not-heavily-compensated. Now it’s his turn to want more dough. It may also mean it’s his turn to get traded, though the Bruins are saying that won’t be the case.

While reading about Pastrnak yesterday, I was reminded that just one night earlier I was at Fenway Park, watching rookie Rafael Devers bring life to an otherwise snoozefest of a game with two home runs. Devers is just 20 years old, and he’s been in the big leagues for less time than has elapsed since my car’s last trip through the car wash.

And Devers is the latest of a growing cast of young Red Sox players I’d be very pleased to watch play for the next 10 years. There’s nothing quite like seeing Jackie Bradley Jr. make those dazzling catches. Mookie Betts is kneeling the on-deck circle of superstardom. I believe Xander Bogaerts will get his health back and figure things out.

My point: The baseball connoisseur in me wants to write about talented young players as they grow and blossom and mature. I’ll happily rip them to shreds when they screw up, but great athletes make for great stories. Keep ’em coming.

Look, I get it: It’s the 21st century. Players come, players go. But I still found myself missing Phil Kessel a few years ago when, during a playoff game at the Garden, the then-Toronto Maple Leaf picked up a loose puck behind his own net and proceeded to go coast-to-coast with Orr-like precision. (Settle down: I’m not putting Kessel in the same class as the sainted No. 4; I’m just saying it was an Orr-like play.)

Kessel is a grizzled guy. He looks like he played with the great Johnny Bower on the ’58-59 Maple Leafs. Incredibly, he’s still just 29 years old. But he’s been so long an ex-Bruin that only a handful of his ex-teammates remain in the Boston dressing room.

As the Bruins determine whether Pastrnak’s playing skills make him worthy of a long-term deal for, say, $6 million per, they should also be determining what the kid’s name is worth.

We can agree Patrice Bergeron will be a Bruin for life. But he won’t be playing for life.

The Bruins should consider growing some veterans.

Boston Herald LOADED: 08.16.2017

CAROLINA HURRICANES

NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

1072292 Boston Bruins

Dave Goucher deserts B’s for Vegas

Herald Staff Wednesday, August 16, 2017

The Bruins radio booth is getting a shakeup.

Dave Goucher, who has called B’s games on the radio since the 2000-01 season, will be moving on to Las Vegas to call games on TV for the expansion Golden Knights. Goucher will be joined by former Bruins defenseman Shane Hnidy in the desert.

There’s no word yet on who will replace Goucher in the Bruins radio booth along side analyst Bob Beers.

A Boston University graduate, Goucher called AHL games for the Providence Bruins before getting the call to the NHL by the B’s.

Goucher’s not the first person hired away from the Bruins to join the Vegas club. Last year, the Golden Knights hired former B’s public-relations official Eric Tosi as their vice president of communications.

Vegas also selected Bruins defenseman Colin Miller in the expansion draft in June.

Boston Herald LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072293 Boston Bruins

Krug healthy, confident and 'not going to take a step back this year'

By Joe Haggerty August 15, 2017 2:09 PM

A year ago Torey Krug was still in the throes of a rehabilitation program following shoulder surgery and readying for a training camp already feeling behind everybody else. Those circumstances led to a bit of an understandably slow start for the 26-year-old defenseman, but Krug finished with his best all-around NHL season as he hits his playing prime.

The puck-moving power play maestro was also missed badly in the playoffs when he succumbed to a knee injury in the final few games of the regular season. Krug crossed the 50-point plateau for the first time in his career, topped 20 minutes of ice time per game while playing as a top-4 D-man all season and generally proved wrong any naysayers that felt a 5-foot-9 defenseman simply couldn’t survive in that kind of role.

So now that Krug has set that bar with last year’s performance, he’s not looking to take any steps back this season. That means the puck-moving D-man is again aiming his sights on playing top-4 minutes for the Black and Gold, and that could mean partnering up with 20-year-old Charlie McAvoy as he skates through his first full NHL season.

“That’s the kind of stuff guys like that to talk about headed into the season…who they’re going to play with and what they’re responsibilities are going to be,” said Krug. “From an individual standpoint it’s always about trying to take another step. I thought last year I gained more trust from the coaching staff and I’m not going to take a step back this year.

“It’s going to be a very similar role for myself and getting some help moving some pucks on the back end. That will always help me out. I’m looking forward to it. I just finished my first week of consecutive days on the ice this summer, and it’s definitely the best I’ve felt in a couple of years.”

There certainly could be a couple of different looks in NHL training camp as the Bruins decide how best to utilize a top-end, inexperienced talent like McAvoy while grooming him as a future No. 1 defenseman. The B’s could shift hard-nosed Kevan Miller over to his left side to give McAvoy a bit more of a rugged, experienced defensive presence to match his offensive abilities, or they could opt for Krug in the kind of puck-moving

pairing that could give other team’s mismatch problems. It remains to be seen if Krug and McAvoy could survive together as a pairing in the D-zone, but the school of thought would be that they’ll rarely be in that position if they’re doing their job skating, moving pucks and keeping possession firmly on their sticks.

Regardless of whether Krug ends up with McAvoy or in a more traditional pairing with Adam McQuaid as more of a third pair offering, he feels the time has come to for him to be one of the older guys acting as a bridge between grizzled veterans and the talented bunch of newcomers.

“I’ve been involved in certain meetings, and that says a lot along with talking to a lot of veteran guys through the summer while staying involved in the Boston community. I’m in the training program throughout the summer and you feel like you’re a part of everything. I’ve definitely had that feeling [of being a core player] from Sweens as well as from Bruce [Cassidy],” said Krug. “I’m serving as part of bridging that gap between the younger guys and the older guys.

“Going into my sixth year and having been a part of the team that got to the Stanley Cup Final, it’s not only about on the ice but it’s about socially as well. I try to bring those young guys in and help them feel comfortable talking to the older guys. That’s the kind of role I’m really taken on.”

Given Krug’s unending quest to improve himself in any way possible and his unwillingness to take a step back from last season, even more should be expected from a player that’s healthy, confident and ready to again produce the best season of his NHL career.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072294 Boston Bruins

Morning Skate: Pastrnak is not going anywhere

By Joe Haggerty August 15, 2017 11:58 AM

Here are all the links from around the hockey world, and what I’m reading while we’re getting to the funny part of the season for negotiations and hockey rumors.

*In the interest of self-promotion, here’s my hit with CSN New England’s Boston Sports Tonight on Monday night talking David Pastrnak’s contract negotiations and trade rumors. The bottom line is that Pastrnak isn’t going anywhere.

*In a double-dose, here’s FOH (Friend of Haggs) Mike Felger completely not trusting Don Sweeney to get good value if he were to ever trade David Pastrnak. Once again Bruins fans…I assure you that Pastrnak is going nowhere.

*Interesting study from Travis Yost about which players are best at getting close to the net, paying the price and reaping the quality chances that arise because of that skill.

*The Boston Bruins continue to be linked to Will Butcher once he officially becomes a free agent defenseman, but I just don’t see it with the B’s in any way, shape or form. He’s going to get stuck among a glut of good, young D-men and the B’s already have this type of defenseman in the form of Torey Krug. They don’t need another one.

*A number of rumors from around the NHL including just how comparable Leon Draisaitl and David Pastrnak are, and how the negotiations for the two players are linked together.

*ESPN ranks the NHL teams in term of their prospect pipelines, and the Bruins come in at 10th among the 31 teams. I think that’s a bit low given the wealth of top-notch prospects they have to go along with a player of star quality like Charlie McAvoy. I’d put them among the top-5 teams in the NHL right now given their wealth of strong prospects.

*Boy, that Phil Kessel is really putting some mustard on his trolling job. He must really relish his day with the Cup. Should I keep going?

CAROLINA HURRICANES

NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

*For something completely different: I’m officially at the point where I start reading anything related to Game of Thrones. Somebody please help me.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072295 Chicago Blackhawks

Hawks Talk Podcast: Bryan Bickell on journey with Blackhawks, battling MS

By CSN Staff August 15, 2017 5:27 PM

On the latest Hawks Talk Podcast, Bryan Bickell sits down with Pat Boyle and they discuss the retired player's journey to the NHL, which included being an Ottawa clubhouse assistant where he met future teammate, Marian Hossa.

Bickell admits when he finally knew he was a regular in the NHL, his incredible 2013 postseason performance and the historic 17 seconds in Boston.

Finally, Bryan gets emotional when discussing his MS diagnosis, his shootout goal in his final NHL game, and how his wife Amanda has been at his side throughout his entire hockey career.

Listen to the Hawks Talk Podcast below:

Tags: Boston Bruins, Bryan Bickell, Chicago Blackhawks, NHL

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072296 Chicago Blackhawks

Ranking every NHL team by prospect pipeline

Corey Pronman

To kick off my coverage of the top prospects outside the NHL heading into the 2017-18 season, I begin with a ranking of each NHL team's organizational prospect depth, sometimes referred to as its farm system or pipeline.

EDITOR'S PICKS

Way-too-early 2018 NHL draft rankings

Joe Veleno is the latest player to be granted exceptional status by Hockey Canada. Is he the top prospect available for the 2018 NHL draft?

2017 NHL draft grades

With the 2017 NHL draft in the books, Corey Pronman grades all 31 teams on their hauls. The Vegas Golden Knights hit the jackpot, adding four high-end prospects, but which other teams did well?

The state of the current NHL prospect crop is a little down after graduations from two great draft classes and a mediocre 2017 class. The two orgs that are nearly tied for first would have been around the No. 4-5 slot for me with the same group of talent in my 2016 farm rankings. In terms of tiers, there is a small drop-off after the No. 2 and No. 8 systems.

Two caveats to keep in mind:

For purposes of this ranking, a player is no longer a prospect if he has played 25 or more games in any NHL season, or 50 total in his career. Ultimately, the inclusion or exclusion of one player doesn't move a team up or down 12-15 spots, unless you're talking top-10 overall prospects.

If a player is not mentioned in the profile of the farm system, this does not mean that I failed to consider him. These profiles are brief summaries, with more detail to come in the team overviews.

How are these rankings devised? Star power is what drives NHL teams, and thus, my farm system ranking reflects that. Elite prospects provide substantially more value than high-end prospects, who provide substantially more value than above-average prospects, and so on. I also discount top goalie prospects more than the industry, so elite young goalies like Nashville's Jusse Saros and Washington's Ilya Samsonov aren't incredibly valuable in my eyes, but still provide a fair amount to their respective systems.

1. Philadelphia Flyers

Previous rank: 6

The Flyers don't have as much game-breaking talent as our No. 2 team does at the top of their system, but 2017 No. 2 overall pick Nolan Patrick is right up there; after Patrick, the Flyers have the cupboards lined with talent at every position. The group includes solid first-round picks, middle-round selections who have trended up, and an undrafted free agent in Philippe Myers who is one of the very best defense prospects in hockey. Not too long ago, the Flyers' farm system was a laughingstock, with C-grade college free agents making it into their top five. Today, they are in the best position of any NHL team in terms of adding young premium players to their roster.

ESPNChicago.com LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072297 Colorado Avalanche

Will Butcher to reject Avalanche, visit with Devils, Sabres, Golden Knights

By MIKE CHAMBERS | mchambers@denverpost.com | The Denver Post

Will Butcher, the Hobey Baker Award-winning defenseman from the University of Denver, will begin speaking with at least three NHL teams Wednesday when he intends to become an unrestricted free agent, according to a source.

The New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres and expansion Vegas Golden Knights have interest in Butcher, 22, who captained DU to the NCAA championship in April.

The Avalanche, which selected Butcher in the fifth round of the 2013 NHL draft, has exclusive negotiation rights with the player through 10 p.m. MDT on Tuesday. A college player has four years to sign with the team that drafts him, or he becomes an unrestricted free agent Aug. 16 of his fourth year.

According to Butcher in April, the Avalanche offered him his entry-level contract days after the Pioneers returned from Chicago with the national championship, but he declined to sign, saying he wanted to explore his options.

Butcher could hold a grudge against the Avalanche. At the 2015 NCAA Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla., Butcher confirmed the Avalanche told his agent the team had no interest in signing him. At the time, Butcher was a junior and a first-team All-American, but Colorado coach and vice president Patrick Roy wasn’t keen on undersized defensemen. Butcher is listed at 5-foot-10 and 186 pounds.

“I’m just going about my business at DU, being the captain next year,” Butcher told The Denver Post in June 2016, about the Avs dismissing him. “They’re doing their business how they want to do it. And I’m doing mine.”

Roy resigned last August, and the Avalanche showed heavy interest in Butcher throughout last season, with general manager Joe Sakic and members of his staff scouting most DU home games. The Avalanche finished with a league-low 48 points, by far the fewest in the club’s 21 seasons in Colorado.

CAROLINA HURRICANES

NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

On April 8, hours before DU took the ice for the national championship game against Minnesota Duluth in Chicago, Sakic told The Post he coveted Butcher.

“As soon as they’re done, he’ll have a contract offer,” Sakic said. “We hope to sign him. He’s had a tremendous year. Since the moment we drafted him, four years in college, he’s gotten better every year and he’s obviously hot, the Hobey Baker winner, and hopefully they can win the championship and we can sign him and have him be part of the organization.”

There’s still a chance Butcher eventually circles back to Colorado, but only after the player visits other interested teams.

Denver Post: LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072298 Colorado Avalanche

Putting Sin City on ice: Golden Knights eager to turn Las Vegas into a hockey town

By CANDACE BUCKNER | The Washington Post

LAS VEGAS — In the western suburb of Summerlin, Nevada, a planned community painted in hues of beige and brown and with a dizzying amount of roundabouts, there is an anonymous business park the Vegas Golden Knights temporarily call home. In the fall, they will move operations into a nearly $30 million practice facility. For now, an office building 14 miles from the Las Vegas Strip is where the NHL hopes its next ice age dawns.

When Kim Frank arrived in town last September as the team’s vice president of marketing, after working for the Washington Capitals and the Washington Wizards since 2007, the Golden Knights had a name but no identity. There was no logo. No uniforms. No players on the roster. Nothing in place that could help Frank do her job: sell the brand of hockey to a community in a sports desert.

“It’s a true start-up,” Frank says in the lobby of the Black Knight Sports & Entertainment offices, on a July morning when the oppressive heat surpasses triple digits.

“It’s new. It’s not moving a franchise. It’s a brand new expansion team,” Frank continues, “which means from the ground up.”

The Golden Knights will begin their inaugural season in October as the 31st team in the NHL but the first professional sports franchise in Las Vegas. Hockey is not an abstract concept to the more than two million residents; The Las Vegas area has plenty of emigres from across North America who now pay taxes in Clark County, residents who still have teams back home to root for. Minor league hockey had a long run in town as well, although Las Vegas’s WCHL and ECHL teams have since folded.

However, in a city more known for its spectacles, the entertainment ranging from roulette tables to limitless rum-and-Cokes to residencies for Donnie and Marie, building fluency in hockey begins with uncovering the ‘other’ Vegas — the one that lives in the shadow of the blinding lights of Las Vegas Boulevard.

“Sports teams give cities identities,” said Golden Knights general manager George McPhee, another Washington transplant who held the same position for the Capitals for 17 years. “It seems the residents of the city want to be known for more than the Strip.”

A billboard near Dean Martin Drive warns that The Raiders Are Coming, a tease in silver and black for the pending move of a pro football team, the Oakland Raiders, to Las Vegas. However, before the NFL stakes its claim here, for now, Las Vegas is a hockey town.

“We can own this one. We can do this,” says Asi Oba, a fireman whose unit is stationed near the T-Mobile Arena, where the Knights will play.

Originally from Cincinnati, Oba admits he’s never watched a minute of hockey in his 35 years but asked himself, “why not?” and decided to give

this game a chance. Recently, as Oba and his son, Amare, took in NBA Summer League action at the Thomas & Mack Center, they walked the concourse proudly wearing the black, steel gray and red of the Golden Knights.

“It brings something that we’ve never had,” Oba says, then repeats his singular draw: “I can own this.”

It’s a belief that was shared by thousands of residents in 2015 when owner Billy Foley, with no commitment from the NHL, needed to prove this market was viable for hockey.

“There was nothing (tangible here),” recalls Todd Pollock, the vice president of ticketing and suites, one of the first employees on the ground and tasked with running the season ticket drive. “We were selling the dream to people and painting a picture. ‘How cool would it be to have a team in town to call our own?’ ”

The league gave the Knights a target of 10,000 season-ticket deposits. Within a couple months, the team had exceeded that goal. By June 22, 2016, when the NHL rewarded Las Vegas with a franchise, 16,000 people had paid for the chance to secure future season tickets. Those deposits turned into more than 14,000 actual season-ticket holders.

One of the earliest pledges belonged to 23-year-old Las Vegas native Thomas Field. He wasn’t always a hockey fan. Field had to leave the Mojave Desert to fall in love with the game.

While attending and playing baseball at the University of Chicago-Illinois, Field watched the Chicago Blackhawks win two Stanley Cups. Field didn’t know much at first, confused about icing and offside violations, but witnessing a dynasty turned the novice into a lifelong follower.

“The Blackhawks were running the town at the time,” Field recalls. “Just going to games, it was so unique. There’s no experience like it.”

When he settled back home in Las Vegas, Field made his first major purchase out of college: $2,500 for a pair of Knights’ season tickets in the middle of section 220.

The Knights business operations know the statistics — Las Vegas welcomes more than 42 million visitors each year — but they want to draw their fan base from the Vegas that exists in the suburban terra-cotta sprawl of strip malls and look-a-like apartment complexes.

Even before the roster came together, the team held free stick giveaways for local kids and hosted events called “Hockey Is For Everyone,” which underscored who they were targeting for their core demographic. The team embraced communities that stretch throughout Green Valley, Spring Valley and Henderson, and as new inhabitants, staffers learned an early lesson: don’t pronounce it ‘Nevaahda,’ like a tourist.

Still, there’s no escaping Sin City for the Knights.

Before training camp, the team is expected to hold a session for players on the matter of gambling. Also, a gentlemen’s club, not affiliated with the Knights, has announced it will host hockey viewing parties. Minnesota Wild left wing Jason Zucker, the only Las Vegas native in the NHL, believes the team will have no choice but to take on some of the character of the city’s reputation.

In Nashville, hockey fans throw catfish on the ice. So, in Las Vegas, possibly poker chips?

“Because the city is such an entertainment city, they have to compete with that, and that’s a hard task but I think they’re ready for it,” Zucker says. “They’ve done a good job marketing the team and making sure the product is out in the public.”

McPhee, a career hockey man, had much to do with laying the team’s foundation in Las Vegas. For the first six months on the job, McPhee assisted Foley in everything from hiring candidates on the business side to picking out jersey designs. (“It took me a little bit longer to digest it,” McPhee said of the knight’s helmet that outlines a ‘V’ for Vegas). Then, McPhee dived strictly into hockey operations and drew upon many of the same principles from his Capitals era.

Before being fired in 2014, McPhee oversaw the Caps during their ‘Rock The Red’ revitalization, an experience that was helpful in his second time around, now as an architect of a fledgling franchise.

“I was told by several GMs that this would be the most positive hockey experience you’ll have because everyone is happy to be there,” McPhee says. “It’s a fresh start for everyone, whether it’s their first time with a

CAROLINA HURRICANES

NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

professional franchise or they got promoted away from another franchise or someone was fired and they’re getting a second chance with this franchise.

“And they were absolutely right,” McPhee continues. “This has been one of the most enjoyable years I’ve ever had in the hockey experience.”

After all, it’s Las Vegas. Some come to get hitched. The Knights are here for the honeymoon.

Denver Post: LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072299 Dallas Stars

Remember the gargoyles? Check out former Dallas Star Marty Turco's goalie mask, jersey collection

By SportsDayDFW.com Contact SportsDayDFW.com on Twitter:@SportsDayDFW

This video accompanies the upcoming SportsDayStyle magazine, which will be included with subscribers’ newspapers on Sunday, Aug. 20. The magazine offers a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of some notable Dallas-area athletes. To see more stories from this special section, click or tap here.

Goalie masks might be the most creative way any professional athlete can express some creativity without receiving some sort of punishment from the higher ups.

They went from not existing at all early on in hockey's history to having all sorts of designs.

Former Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco had his share of masks in his 11-year NHL career. Below is a video where he shows off some of his favorites.

He's kept some jerseys too. Check them out below.

Dallas Morning News LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072300 Dallas Stars

A behind-the-scenes look at former Stars goalie Marty Turco's remodeled 1938 home, artificial turf and all

By Mike Heika , Staff Writer Contact Mike Heikaon Twitter:@MikeHeika

This story will appear in the upcoming SportsDayStyle magazine, which will be included with subscribers' newspapers on Sunday, Aug. 20. The magazine offers a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of some notable Dallas-area athletes. To see more stories from this special section, click or tap here.

Let's get the awkward stuff out of the way right off the bat.

Yes, that is artificial turf in the yard of the new home of Marty and Kelly Turco.

And, yes, they like it.

When you remodel a 1938 home in University Park, there are a lot of tough choices to make, and the lawn was one of them. But the decision shows even before you get to the front door the cooperative spirit and the adventurous eye for decorating that the couple share.

"We both are willing to compromise, so we pick our battles," Kelly said. "All in all, I enjoy the process. It's good to have someone to bounce ideas

off of. You do really have to hash it out and talk through it and come to an agreement. We do that really well."

And their "new" old home is a testament to that. Turco, the winningest goalie in Stars franchise history, has always been known for his calm and innovation. His bride of 17 years said she's always enjoyed the process with the man who thinks big.

"She gets the tiebreaker on everything," Marty said. "I have a big input on style and color, so I do enjoy the process, but I also know when to back off."

Kelly added: "I hear from other couples, 'We've had so many battles, and we're ready to divorce,' but I couldn't even imagine that. It's been fun. I like it. We have similar tastes, and we work well together."

Marty said he eyed the property a few years back and kept watching it. The family lived in Highland Park, but this was an opportunity for a corner lot with more room. It also was an opportunity to create an environment where daughters Hailey, 15, and Katelyn, 13, and son Finley, 9, could invite friends over and bring life to the home.

"We want it to be a place where everyone is comfortable, we want it to be a place where the entire family can entertain, and we really think we've found that," Marty said.

The couple has done a pretty good job of making any place feel like home. Both were born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and started dating in ninth grade. Marty went to the University of Michigan, where he played hockey for four years and helped the Wolverines win two NCAA championships. Kelly went to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and earned a degree in teaching.

Remember the gargoyles? Check out former Dallas Star Marty Turco's goalie mask, jersey collection

Marty spent much of high school under the height of 5-5, so he wasn't expected to be an NHL player. He grew to 6-0, and his ascent at Michigan made him a viable pro candidate, but the couple's relationship was built on shared interest and trust, not on a big contract.

"We've been together and had nothing, so we're pretty good at adjusting to all of this," Marty said.

They moved to Coppell in 2000 when Marty started playing full-time for the Stars and have made their home here most of the time since. There was a brief run up to Chicago for a year with the Blackhawks, and summers in Ontario, but the couple are Dallasites now. And the house makes a strong statement about that.

The Turcos designed a house where they can be at home.

"It's hard to leave it," Marty said. "We like a clean design, but we also want it to be liveable. I don't want people to come in and be afraid to sit down. We're laid-back people, Canadians, y'know, and we want our house to reflect that."

Of course, getting that easy, lived-in feeling took a lot of work. They knocked down walls, painted a lot of things white, and added quite a bit of living space. Beams were put up, trusses moved. Along the way, decisions had to be made.

Kelly has used designer Amy Nolen on a lot of projects, so that helps, but the couple also like the fact that they are now veterans of redecorating. Five years ago, they said they wouldn't dare combine fabrics or metals, they wouldn't venture far from "the norm." Now, they feel comfortable embracing an eclectic style, and it shows in their home.

Photos: An inside look at Marty Turco's house, from Stars memorabilia to a giant dog painting

That mix-and-match strategy is also good for the whole compromise thing. Kelly got to design a unique dining room table. Marty got the lacquered finish on the cabinets in the adjacent bar. It works, because they don't stress.

Marty works with the Stars as director of corporate development and also is serving as the president of the C5 Youth Foundation of Texas. Kelly has always been a big help in the charitable functions and was a big reason Marty won the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2006 for his work in the community. So while the goalie who won 262 games for the Stars has long since retired, he still has plenty to do around the house.

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Which leads us back to the whole lawn issue, and the fact the master of the house doesn't have to get the mower out. It was a bold call, to be sure, but one that was weighed by the entire family.

"We had almost 150 trees and shrubs when we started, so it's still green and it still feels like a sanctuary, so putting in fake grass made a ton of sense," Marty said. "It's not that I'm against grass, but with this canopy of trees, it's hard to grow grass."

"It wasn't too hard of a decision," he added.

And maybe that's the statement the turf is really making, because it doesn't sound like many of the decisions were difficult at all.

--

Marty Turco

Born: Aug. 13, 1975, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

Age: 41

Drafted: By Stars 124th overall in 1994.

Turco played four years in college and two years in the minors before joining the Stars as the backup to Ed Belfour in 2000. He took over as No. 1 goalie in 2002 and served in that capacity until 2010. He finished his NHL career with the Blackhawks and Bruins, finishing 40th all-time in league history with 275 wins and tied for 20th all-time with a 2.36 goals against average.

Star of Stars

Marty Turco leads the Stars franchise in almost all regular season goaltending categories. His rankings:

Category No. Rank

Games 509 1st

Wins 262 1st

Saves 11,470 1st

GAA 2.31 2nd

Save percentage .911 2nd

Shutouts 40 1st

Assists 22 2nd

Penalty minutes 160 1st

Helping hands

Marty and Kelly Turco have been significant contributors to the Dallas Stars Foundation and several local charities since arriving in 2000. Marty currently serves as the president of C5 Youth Foundation of Texas.

The mission: "To change the odds for high potential youth, inspiring them to pursue personal success and preparing them for leadership roles in college, work and their communities."

To get involved in the charity, check out their website: www.c5texas.org/Get-Involved

Dallas Morning News LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072301 Dallas Stars

In tough season, Stars finding out social media not always so sociable; so how do they deal with it?

By Mike Heika , Staff Writer Contact Mike Heikaon Twitter:@MikeHeika

Editor's note: This story was originally published on January 28, 2017.

The morning mirror that is social media isn't near as fun when you're playing poorly.

At least that's what the Stars are learning this season.

Going from Central Division champions to battling to make the playoffs has been a bumpy ride for Dallas' hockey team. And while injuries and a slow start have contributed to a 20-20-10 record after 50 games, frustration also has played a significant role.

Sliding into the weekend like... #tGIF pic.twitter.com/3A2XHblxAh

— NHL (@NHL) December 16, 2016

Frustration exacerbated by exterior criticism.

"I actually stopped reading Twitter earlier in the year, because there was too much hating going on," defenseman John Klingberg said. "It does affect you.

"I think one of the reasons my season has turned around is because I stopped reading it and stopped using it."

Klingberg is 24 and has a history of celebrating his life on social media. He has sent out pictures of himself with a new cornrow hairstyle on summer vacation.

He and former Stars defenseman Jason Demers have had entertaining interactions on the team Twitter account. Klingberg has the perfect disposition to be a Twitter star. But that works a whole lot better when the team is winning.

"I think it is a big deal. I've told the team that if you want to create misery, go out and read stories and listen to social media," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "Ultimately, you are responsible for what you read. As much as they feel good when everything is going good and everybody wants to say the nice things, it goes two directions."

Cuts both ways

Part of the issue is that Twitter allows people to assess public blame for mistakes. In the past, you might yell at your TV or your dog if a player made a bad play. Now you can vent on Twitter and talk directly to that player if he has an account. That's where the laughs end.

Dallas Stars have fun with #HockeyGoesHollywood on Twitter in preparation for the NHL All-Star Game

"When I was coming up, there were a lot of guys surprised by me, by my play, saying I came out of nowhere, and I enjoyed that," Klingberg said. "Now, they're hating a little bit more, and I have had trouble with that.

"Mistakes happen, so it's hard when people are hating on you for one mistake. Obviously, with my type of game, I am going to make mistakes, but I just have to keep my confidence and play my game or else I won't be a good player."

And that would be where the social media can actually affect the game on the ice.

The Stars this season have had a lot of players "trying not to make a mistake." Stephen Johns, Patrik Nemeth and Jamie Oleksiak have each uttered that sentence this season, and they all said they're trying to find ways to change that mind-set.

Veteran Patrick Sharp, 35, said he does everything he can to not read or listen to anything said or written in the media.

"It affects everyone differently," Sharp said. "As a younger player, when you hear that negative critics, it can fuel a player to get better and prove people wrong or it can take the wind out of your sails. That's something that today's athlete has to deal with in regards to social media. Anybody can throw their opinion out there, and it can pick up steam in a hurry."

He added: "I'm sure it's an awesome tool, but as far as praise or criticism, I'll stick to inside the locker room."

Read Lindy Ruff's comments and you'll realize it's Ruff's head that isn't "on straight." What a knuckleheaded human. https://t.co/8g7V6eyKly

— BobSchaller (@BobSchaller) November 25, 2016

Ruff said veteran players had to deal with similar issues back in the day with newspapers, but now there are thousands of "columnists" out there ready to pick you apart.

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"I grew up with some pretty cruel print media, and it hurts when they go after you," he said. "Now, there's a deeper layer there. Everybody gets to take a cheap shot and nobody has to take responsibility for it. You can be a fictitious person, whatever you want to be."

That said, the younger players have been living in this environment since they got their first cellphone in their teens. They get "shade" for taste in music or fashion, and probably saw their share of "haters" in junior hockey or college hockey.

'Have to accept it'

"I think that's kind of the way the world is now, so as much as we don't like it, that's part of the job and we have to be able to accept it," said forward Devin Shore, 22. "I don't see a problem with it. I'm not mad at the way it is, I just think it's important to stay mentally tough.

Stars' Patrick Eaves talks movies, teammates and facial hair in Twitter Q&A

"No matter how much you want to stay away from it, you have to look at the reality ... it will be there."

In fact, it can be a good thing. Klingberg and Tyler Seguin have used it to make themselves more popular. Players also have been able to raise large sums of money or bring awareness to favorite charities.

"It brings so many great things for charity or even just to connect with fans, so that's an excellent part of it," goalie Kari Lehtonen said. "But you have to have a thick skin to jump in the pond where people say nasty things."

Lehtonen, 33, said he picks and chooses how he uses social media, and that's a big part of managing what you see or hear. But he added that he sees a whole different challenge than he faced just 10 years ago.

"There is a lot more opportunity to do something good and a lot more opportunity to screw something up," Lehtonen said.

"It's just a bigger responsibility for kids these days."

And though that responsibility seems more intense during a season filled with "screw-ups," it still is something that players can turn into a positive.

"You have to find your niche," Shore said. "If you love reading everything because you think it helps you, good. If you think you have to delete Twitter entirely, that's up to you. You have to find what gets you into the right headspace."

Dallas Morning News LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072302 Detroit Red Wings

Wings prospect Zablocki a pest with scoring punch

Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News Published 4:36 p.m. ET Aug. 15, 2017 | Updated 4:43 p.m. ET Aug. 15, 2017

Detroit — All you need to know about Red Wings prospect Lane Zablocki is by asking him after which NHL players he patterns his game.

The baby-faced, 5-foot-9, 190-pound forward, a 2017 third-round draft pick, doesn’t say Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby or Auston Matthews, or any of the exciting, high-scoring magicians.

No, Zablocki loves the way Andrew Shaw and Brad Marchand — two of the leading “pests” in the NHL — play.

“More Andrew Shaw, but yeah, I would say I kind of pattern my game against (those players),” Zablocki said at last month’s Red Wings’ development camp. “Just the physicality, being pests, those kind of things.

“I’ve always loved to do that.”

Zablocki looks as if he’s entering junior high, and needs to grow physically, but don’t let his appearance fool you.

He has the ability to get under opponents’ skin, agitate them to no end, but also score key goals.

Zablocki had six goals in six playoff games last season for Red Deer (WHL), after scoring 28 goals in 64 regular season games split between Regina and Red Deer.

If there’s a comparison in the Red Wings organization currently, Zablocki compares to Tyler Bertuzzi, also an agitator who has had three consecutive superb playoff springs for the Grand Rapids Griffins.

“I’m a hard, gritty forward, and I like to get under people’s skins,” Zablocki said. “I’m an agitator out there. But I also have an offensive side to my game.

“I like to hit, score, and bring a lot of excitement out there.”

Zablocki didn’t get to participate during the development camp as much as he’d like because of a rolled ankle he suffered leading up to the draft.

With the time off before the start of Red Deer’s training camp in September, Zablocki expected to be at full strength.

2017-18 DETROIT RED WINGS SCHEDULE

Zablocki wasn’t sure where he’d be drafted in June — most mock drafts had him going a touch later than the third round — but being selected by the Red Wings was a thrill.

“I really didn’t believe it at first,” Zablocki said. “It was all kind of surreal. It kind of sunk in later that day, and then the next week, and when I got to (Traverse City), it started to kick in after the first skate.

“I met with them (Red Wings) at the (NHL) combine and had a real good interview. I felt real confident coming out of there, that I knew going into the draft Detroit was definitely a place I could end up.”

And given the chance in the future, Zablocki expects to be the same type of player he is now.

“I’m not going to shy away from anything,” Zablocki said.

Brotherly advice

Evgeny Svechnikov knows what it’s like for a player in his draft year, the pressure and speculation involved.

Svechnikov was a 2015 first-round draft pick of the Red Wings, and now has the experience and knowledge to pass along to his younger brother, Andrei.

The younger Svechnikov is playing in Barrie (OHL) this season, and is projected to be one of the top few players to be selected in the 2018 Entry Draft.

Andrei (6-foot-1, 188-pounds), a sturdy, scoring winger just like Evgeny, had 58 points (29 goals, 29 assists) in 48 games for Muskegon (USHL) last season.

“I’m telling him to just work really hard and be himself,” Evgeny Svechnikov said. “He’s a real good player and he’s done everything (right). He has a good mindset.

“I just tell him to work hard.”

Butcher update

Will Butcher, a college free-agent defenseman, will meet with Las Vegas, Buffalo and New Jersey according to a report in The Denver Post.

Butcher (5-foot-10, 186-pounds) won the Hobey Baker Award (hockey’s Heisman Trophy) at Denver last season but couldn’t work out a contract with the Colorado Avalanche, the team which originally drafted Butcher, making him a free agent Tuesday.

The Red Wings have interest in Butcher, but it’s unclear how many other teams Butcher will visit.

Detroit News LOADED: 08.16.2017

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1072303 Detroit Red Wings

Prospect Kasper Kotkansalo was Red Wings fan before being drafted

By Brendan Savage bsavage@mlive.com

Kasper Kotkansalo was a fan of the Detroit Red Wings long before they selected him the third round of this year's NHL draft.

Give the credit to former Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula.

"My dad and I think Filppula's dad were like work buddies," said Kotkansalo, the 71st overall pick in the 2017 draft. "I think 2008 was the last Stanley Cup win. My brother got a Red Wings hat with Filppula's signature.

"I watched the playoffs and I was actually a forward back then so I liked a lot Filppula's style of play. So when I got the autograph and everything, for me and my brother that was a big difference maker."

It also didn't hurt that Kotkansalo and Filppula - who left the Red Wings in 2013 to sign with Tampa Bay as a free agent - are both natives of Finland.

But unlike Filppula, a forward who has split last season between the Lightning an Flyers, Kotkansalo is a stay-at-home defenseman these days.

At 6-foot-2, 196 pounds Kotkansalo has good size and strength, which he uses effectively against opposing forwards trying to enter his zone. He spent last season with Sioux Falls of the USHL, getting one goal and 11 assists to go with 43 penalty minutes and a plus-12 rating.

But his performance in the USHL didn't accurately reflect Kotkansalo's abilities, according to the scouting service Red Line Report.

"Baffling!" wrote Red Line Report, which ranked Kotkansalo 70th among draft-eligible players. "He's so much better than he showed in USHL."

What does Kotkansalo have to say about his game?

"I think I'm pretty good two-way defenseman," he said. "I think I can move the puck well, like first pass is good for me. Also, I like playing against other teams' top guys so that does make me a shut-down defenseman type of guy."

Kotkansalo, 18, already has plenty of international experience.

Before playing for Finland in this month's World Junior Showcase in Michigan, he represented his country four times in four age divisions at the World Junior Championships while also playing in the prestigious Ivan Hlinka Memorial.

In 30 World Junior games since 2014, he had four goals, 13 assists and a plus-18 rating.

Katkansalo helped Finland win the World Junior Championship in 2016. One of his teammates was fellow Red Wings prospect Vili Saarijarvi, who is also a defenseman and will begin his pro career this season with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Kotkansalo, whoi will play for Boston University this season, was at the Red Wings development camp last month and the skills tests gave him an idea of what he needs to improve if he wants to continue moving up the hockey ladder.

"It was like lateral movement was kind of tough for me," he said. "But I think as we get the test results, we also kind of know what to improve on, whether it's like the 10 yards or the 30 yards, if you got to improve on your start or something like that. The results will tell that.

"I had a meeting with the GM and the coaches ... and we were pretty much on the same page on what are my strengths and what I got to improve on. One thing is skating, like the mobility of the skating, and also getting shots through there so two big things for me."

Another thing he'll need to improve on if he ever makes it to Detroit is international relations.

The Red Wings have a long history of drafting and signing Swedish players - guys named Lidstrom, Zetterberg, Kronwall and Nyquist come to mind - and from listening to Katkansalo speak, there's no love lost between the Swedes and Finns.

The Swedes beat Finland 6-5 in overtime at the World Junior Showcase.

"Of course, yeah, I want to hit a Swede," Kotkansalo said at the development camp. "If it comes to that, I will hit a Swede, no question about that. But no, it's kind of we hate the Swedes and they probably hate us but we don't think about it in the locker room. It's only if we put the national team jersey on, then that's something else.

"I'd say very, very friendly hatred."

But hatred nonetheless?

"Yeah, big time," he said.

Michigan Live LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072304 Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings' 2016 top pick Dennis Cholowski signs with junior club

By Ansar Khan akhan1@mlive.com

DETROIT - Dennis Cholowski, the Detroit Red Wings' top pick in the 2016 draft (20th overall), has signed a standard WHL agreement with the Prince George Cougars.

The Red Wings have the option of having Cholowski, 19, play for their AHL affiliate Grand Rapids or sending him to the major junior ranks.

Cholowski, chances are, will return to juniors, where he can play a prominent role and better develop. He is not likely to crack a crowded Griffins defense that features Robbie Russo, Brian Lashoff, Vile Saarijarvi, Dylan McIlrath, Joe Hicketts, Dan Renouf, Filip Hronek and Libor Sulak.

Cholowski signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Red Wings on April 5, following his freshman season at St. Cloud State. He joined Grand Rapids but appeared in just one regular season and did not play any games during the Griffins' Calder Cup championship run.

The Red Wings could opt to assign him to Prince George following training camp or might have him start the season with the Griffins if a spot opens due to injuries. Once he's sent to the WHL he must remain there until the end of Prince George's season.

Prince George, which selected Cholowski in the 10th round (200th overall) in the 2013 WHL bantam draft, is anticipating having the 6-foot-1, 185-pound left-shooting D-man in their lineup.

"Dennis is a world-class player who we expect will log major minutes for us in all situations and our goal is to help further develop his game so that he's ready to take the ice for the Detroit Red Wings as soon as possible," Cougars general manager Todd Harkins said in a release.

"He is an extremely smart and well-spoken young man and he's going to fit in very well with our current roster and our coaching staff."

Michigan Live LOADED: 08.16.2017

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1072305 Florida Panthers

Florida Panthers' single-game tickets on sale Wednesday; mobile ticketing encouraged

Craig Davis Craig Davis

The Florida Panthers will begin selling single-game tickets for the 2017-18 regular season Wednesday at 10 a.m.

They can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com any time or the BB&T Center’s box office Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

“We have an excellent home schedule, an exciting young team and we’re expecting big things and a relentless competitive attitude from our hockey club,” Panthers President and CEO Matt Caldwell said.

The Panthers open the season under new coach Bob Boughner with a home-and-home set against the Lightning, Oct. 6 at Tampa Bay and following with a Saturday night home opener on Oct. 7.

The schedule features two home games against all Atlantic Division opponents.

The expansion Vegas Golden Knights, led by former Panthers coach Gerard Gallant, will make their first- trip to BB&T Center on Jan. 19. The 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins will visit on Oct. 20 and Feb. 24.

Joining a trend throughout sports, the Panthers are encouraging fans to utilize mobile ticketing on their phones rather than bringing printed tickets to games, but the latter remains an option at no additional charge.

The Montreal Canadiens, beginning this season, are charging extra to use printed tickets. Others, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, have policies similar to the Panthers.

But mobile ticketing is becoming the preferred method of sports ticketing, with advantages cited of better ensuring ticket authenticity, convenience and simplicity in receiving and managing ticket inventories and expediting entry into the building, as well reducing paper waste.

“Fans can still print their tickets at no addition cost as they have in the past. But we think the digital ticketing product is just going to be more convenient overall,” said Adam Summerell, Panthers senior director of ticket operations. “It’s kind of a one-stop shop for tickets, parking and any other items that may be included in the ticket.

“Everything is right there on the phone and allows people to access their tickets on the spot and get right into the building without having to print a ticket.”

The Miami Heat last week announced they will be the first NBA franchise to require mobile-only entry for home games during the upcoming season.

That is likely the wave of the future in the industry, but the Panthers elected not to take that step this season.

Summerell stressed that whether working on their desktop through Panthers Account Manager or using the app on their mobile device, they will continue to be able to resell and transfer tickets.

“The desktop experience stays pretty much the same,” Summerell said. “Even on mobile, people are able to transfer their tickets and share them with friends or colleagues, and then they also do have the ability to resell them if they do choose to do that.”

For those purchasing Panthers single- or multiple-game plans, tickets can be claimed by using the NHL mobile app or by accessing FloridaPanthers.com/accountmanager via e-mail and password.

Among other highlights of this Panthers home schedule: Thanksgiving week will bring visits by the Maple Leafs (Nov. 22) and Chicago Blackhawks (Nov. 25); then in December, a four-game holiday homestand, with games against the Minnesota Wild (Dec. 22), Ottawa Senators (Dec. 23), Philadelphia Flyers (Dec. 28) and Canadiens (Dec. 30).

There will also be matinee games against the Flyers on March 4 at 3 p.m. and the Edmonton Oilers on March 17 at 2 p.m.

Promotional and group nights include:

Military Appreciation night, Nov. 2 vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets; The Viktor E. Dash run to fight cancer, Nov. 4 vs. the New York Rangers; Star Wars Night, Dec. 1 vs. the San Jose Sharks; Pride Night, Feb. 9 vs. the Los Angeles Kings; and Autism Awareness Night, April 2 vs. the Carolina Hurricanes.

Various multi-game plans are currently on sale with deeper discounts than single-game purchases. For more information, visit FloridaPanthers.com/TicketCentral.

Sun Sentinel LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072306 Minnesota Wild

Here's your master plan for watching the Timberwolves and Wild this year

By Michael Rand AUGUST 15, 2017 — 12:21PM

The NBA schedule came out Monday, and the NHL schedule is already out. That means my yearly obsession with comparing the Timberwolves and Wild schedules is in full swing.

I will now attempt to transform a bunch of notes, circles and scribbles into some coherent information you can use (or choose to ignore, whatever, it’s your life).

*Let’s start with some good news: After the Wolves and Wild played on the same date a whopping 41 times last season — yes, that’s half the schedule in both the NBA and NHL — things are quite a bit better for fans of both teams who don’t want to have to choose which one to watch on a given night. This year, they only have 30 shared dates. That’s 11 fewer than last year and three fewer than two seasons ago.

What that means is there are 134 dates from early October until mid-April in which either the Wolves, Wild or both are slated to play. Last year, there were only 123 such dates because of all the overlap.

Of those 30 shared dates, 11 of them are home games for both teams while 19 involve one or both of them being on the road. But of those 11 shared home dates, the Wild plays in the afternoon twice while the Wolves have night games: Nov. 24, which is the Friday after Thanksgiving (Colorado at Wild, 3 p.m., Miami at Wolves, 7 p.m.) and Saturday, Dec. 16 (Edmonton at Wild, 2 p.m., Phoenix at Wolves, 7 p.m.). Go ahead and try a day-night doubleheader.

*Back-to-back: The NBA started its schedule earlier this year to prevent teams from having to play as often on back-to-back nights, but the Wolves actually increased their back-to-backs from 14 last year to 15 this year. That said, their 14 back-to-backs were among the fewest in the league last season and 15 is a common number this year. The Wild also has 15 back-to-backs this season. The Wolves will rack up plenty of air miles, though. Per this site, they will travel 55,319 miles on road trips this season — the most in the NBA.

*Road trip: Speaking of the road, fans of the Wild and Wolves have a couple of good options for dual getaways this season. The Wild plays in Los Angeles against the Kings on Tuesday, Dec. 5; the Wolves play at the L.A. Clippers the next night, Dec. 6; then the Wild plays at Anaheim on Dec. 8. Or, if you’d rather wait until early April, there’s this: Wild at Anaheim on April 4; Wild at Kings on April 5; Wolves at Lakers on April 6 (Wednesday through Friday).

*Circle your calendar: Here are five interesting games for each team:

Wolves: Oct. 20 vs. Utah (home opener, Ricky Rubio’s return); Nov. 15 vs. San Antonio (good early test vs. perennial Western Conference contender); Jan. 8 vs. Cleveland (only home game vs. LeBron James and maybe Kyrie Irving); Feb. 9 at Chicago (Jimmy Butler’s first game

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NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

back in Chicago vs. the Bulls); March 11 vs. Warriors (only home game this season vs. Golden State).

Wild: Oct. 28 vs. Pittsburgh (only visit from defending Stanley Cup champs); Nov. 4 vs. Chicago (first home game against rival Blackhawks); Nov. 25 at St. Louis (first game against the Mike Yeo-coached team that knocked Minnesota out of the playoffs last year); Dec. 14 vs. Toronto (only visit from fun young East team); Dec. 16 vs. Edmonton (up-and-coming, exciting team in the West).

*Season-defining date: On Jan. 10, around the midpoint of both the Wolves and Wild seasons, the Wolves have a home game vs. Oklahoma City and the Wild plays at Chicago. The outcome of either/both won’t make or break the season, but each should be good measuring sticks and markers of progress for two teams with playoff aspirations. Remember, the Wolves and Wild have only made the playoffs in the same year one time in their dual history: the 2002-03 season. Vegas, by the way, has the over-under for wins set at 46.5 for the Wild and 45.5 for the Wolves. Will I be dumb enough to do this again? Stay tuned.

Star Tribune LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072307 New Jersey Devils

Devils to meet with defenseman Will Butcher, report says

By Chris Ryan cryan@njadvancemedia.com,

The Devils will meet with soon-to-be free agent defenseman Will Butcher, according to a report from the Denver Post.

Butcher, the 2017 Hobey Baker winner as college hockey's top player, will become a free agent after the Colorado Avalanche lose his rights at midnight on Wednesday, Aug. 16. According to the report, Butcher will also meet with the Buffalo Sabres and Las Vegas Golden Knights.

Butcher declined to sign with the Avalanche back in April and he was expected to explore his free agency options. He was a 2013 fifth-round pick by the Avalanche before he played four seasons at the University of Denver. He finished with 37 points in 43 games will leading Denver to the NCAA title in his senior season.

Why Butcher makes sense for Devils

The Devils made a big push for defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk in free agency in July before he signed with the Rangers. Outside of the addition of Mirco Mueller, the Devils' defense has not changed drastically during the offseason.

After allowing 2.94 goals per game last season --sixth-worst in the NHL -- the Devils haven't found much to bolster the blue line yet. But adding Butcher would give them another option.

While the Devils will reportedly meet with Butcher, the window on signing prospect Alex Kerfoot appears to be closing. The Devils own Kerfoot's rights until Aug. 16, when the former Harvard center can also become a free agent.

The Devils talked with Kerfoot throughout the offseason in an attempt to sign him, but no deal has been reached.

Back in July, Devils general manager Ray Shero said the idea of signing Kerfoot after he hit the open market seemed unrealistic.

"You never say never. I can only chase this so much. I really like Alex as a kid, he's a good player and really good kid," Shero said. "Whatever he does, he knows I hope he signs here for all of the reasons we told him about opportunity, development, what we're trying to do and how we value him.

"But again, he makes that ultimate choice, and he has that right, which I respect. The only thing we can do is explain to him where he is with us and opportunities to go forward."

Star Ledger LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072308 New Jersey Devils

Devils won't sign Kerfoot but will meet with Butcher

Andrew Gross, Staff Writer, @AGrossRecord Published 7:02 p.m. ET Aug. 15, 2017 | Updated 7:03 p.m. ET Aug. 15, 2017

Hang on Devils’ fans, less than a month until training camp, so there will be more frequent news coming.

For now, I’m still on vacation, taking my accumulated time off before things get busy again.

However, popping in today with a couple of tidbits.

One, as had been expected, the Devils will not be signing center Alex Kerfoot, their fifth round pick in 2012 who played four seasons at Harvard and had 16 goals and 29 assists as a senior in 2016-17.

Devils now have all RFAs but Severson re-signed

Devils: What is Damon Severson worth?

Devils general manager Ray Shero had said on several occasions the Devils wanted to sign the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Kerfoot but as the offseason progressed and Kerfoot came closer and closer to being an unrestricted free agent, as he will be at the end of today, it became clearer and clearer that was the path Kerfoot wished to pursue.

Shero has also said that if Kerfoot did become an unrestricted free agent, it would be unlikely the Devils will then sign him. So Kerfoot does indeed to be headed toward starting his path to the NHL with another franchise.

However, the Devils are reportedly one of the teams defenseman Will Butcher, who won the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey's top player, will visit when he officially becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Butcher, 22, was the Avalanche’s fifth-round pick in 2013 but, like Kerfoot, has declined to sign with the team that drafted him.

Butcher played four seasons at the University of Denver and the 5-foot-10, 186-pound, left-handed shot would be a nice fit for the Devils. He’s shown a knack for offensive production, with seven goals and 30 assists in 43 games as a senior in 2016-17.

The Devils certainly need all the help they can get on the back end.

Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reported today Butcher, after rejecting the Avalanche, will visit the Devils, Sabres and Golden Knights. It seems Butcher, looking for the quickest path to the NHL, will be speaking to teams where he could conceivably make the opening day roster out of his first training camp.

****

Speaking of defensemen, the Devils and restricted free agent blue liner Damon Severson have still not come to terms. As written earlier this offseason, Shero did not foresee any problems getting his restricted free agents re-signed.

All have, save for Severson.

Still, I do not anticipate this being a situation that leads into training camp, or costs Severson any preseason time.

As I’ve written, this is more a matter of finding a term of contract that best benefits both player and team.

****

Some older news…

1. The Devils’ all-time leading scorer, Patrik Elias, will have his No. 26 retired on Feb. 24 before the Devils host the Islanders at Prudential Center. Elias will become the fifth Devil to have his jersey retired after Ken Daneyko (3), Scott Stevens (4), Scott Niedermayer (27) and Martin Brodeur (30).

2. The Devils will have an ECHL affiliate this season, entering into a one-season agreement with the Adirondack Thunder. The Devils had an informal agreement with Adirondack the past two seasons.

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Bergen Record LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072309 New York Islanders

Prokhorov pressuring Islanders to play at Nassau Coliseum

By Josh Kosman August 15, 2017 | 9:37PM

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, looking to protect a $165 million investment in the Nassau Coliseum, is pressuring the New York Islanders to play a significant number of games at the Long Island arena in the 2018-2019 season, The Post has learned.

Prokhorov, who owns Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, promised Nassau County that a professional hockey team would play at the recently renovated suburban arena — a promise that helped the billionaire’s Nassau Events Center in 2013 win a contract to manage the facility.

But no professional hockey team now plays at the 13,900-seat Uniondale, NY, arena and local officials might move soon to hold Prokhorov’s NEC in default, sources tell The Post.

Charles Wang, who owned the Islanders in 2013, had agreed to play some games at the Nassau Coliseum, but sold the team in 2014.

Barclays Center’s pressure on the Islanders to play some games on Long Island comes as the team — which drew an average crowd of 13,101 last season — and the arena negotiate a new lease at Barclays, a source said. Either side can exit the lease during January 2018.

The NHL has approved a Sept. 17 Islanders preseason game at Nassau Coliseum — but has not addressed the question of whether it would approve regular season games there as well, the source said.

Both Barclays and the Islanders have reasons to want to rework their long-term lease. Barclays would like to lower the back-breaking $55 million a year in guaranteed payments to the team. As for the Islanders, they would like increased flexibility on exiting the lease.

Team owners are said to be looking at building a new arena, perhaps near Belmont racetrack.

The Islanders declined to comment. The NHL did not return calls.

New York Post LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072310 New York Islanders

Islanders to host NHL Centennial Fan Arena on Long Island

By Newsday.com sports@newsday.com

As part of the NHL’s 100th anniversary celebration, the Islanders will host the NHL Centennial Fan Arena in September.

The event will be held on Saturday, Sept. 16 at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow as the Islanders take the ice for the first day of training camp and on Sunday, Sept. 17 at NYCB Live, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum before their preseason opener against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The free fan event will include the Stanley Cup, a museum truck, video truck and Zamboni virtual reality experience. There will also be a blowout merchandise sale, interactive games and an obstacle course.

The event runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072311 Philadelphia Flyers

ESPN analyst ranks Flyers' farm system No. 1 in NHL

By CSNPhilly.com Staff August 15, 2017 11:25 AM

After popping at WJCs, Mikhail Vorobyev sees 'good opportunity' with Phantoms

Ron Hextall never told fans to "trust the process," but apparently any faith in the Flyers' GM has been vindicated.

At least that's the case if you believe ESPN NHL writer Corey Pronman's latest farm system rankings (it's an Insider story, so apologies in advance). Pronman has the Flyers' farm ranked as No. 1 in the NHL.

"The Flyers don't have as much game-breaking talent as our No. 2 team (Coyotes) does at the top of their system," Pronman writes, "but 2017 No. 2 overall pick Nolan Patrick is right up there; after Patrick, the Flyers have the cupboards lined with talent at every position."

Pronman credits the Flyers with nailing his first-round picks (Patrick, Ivan Provorov), grabbing middle-round prospects that have blossomed (Shayne Gostisbehere, Oskar Lindblom) and specifically mentions Phil Myers, an undrafted defenseman that has become "one of the very best defense prospects in hockey."

For so long, the Flyers' organization was perpetually in "win-now mode," but the late Ed Snider hired Hextall away from the Kings and eventually made him GM, knowing that Hexy was taking a broader view of the organization. Instead of trading away young talent and draft picks for aging veterans, Hextall restocked a dreadful farm system to get the team where it is today.

"Not too long ago, the Flyers' farm system was a laughingstock, with C-grade college free agents making it into their top five," Pronman said. "Today, they are in the best position of any NHL team in terms of adding young premium players to their roster."

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072312 Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins among teams after Hobey Baker Award winner Will Butcher

JONATHAN BOMBULIE | Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, 2:54 p.m.

University of Denver defenseman Will Butcher was scheduled to hit the open market at midnight Tuesday night, triggering a feeding frenzy of NHL teams looking to sign the Hobey Baker Award winner.

The Penguins are one of the teams in pursuit, according to a source.

Butcher, a 22-year-old from Wisconsin, was named the top player in college hockey last season after recording 37 points in 43 games.

As per NHL collective bargaining agreement regulations, college players who do not sign with the team that drafted them by Aug. 15 after their senior year become unrestricted free agents. Butcher was the Colorado

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NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

Avalanche's fifth-round choice in the 2013 draft, but he declined to sign with them.

Last season, the Penguins were among the runners-up in the sweepstakes for Hobey Baker winner Jimmy Vesey of Harvard. Vesey signed with the New York Rangers and put up 16 goals as a rookie. The Penguins got Notre Dame forward Thomas Di Pauli as a consolation prize instead. Di Pauli missed most of his rookie season in Wilkes-Barre with injuries.

Because of the strict nature of NHL entry-level contracts, teams courting Butcher will be offering contracts with similar, if not identical, terms and salaries. Their sales pitches, then, focus on other factors.

The Penguins could be attractive to Butcher for a few reasons.

First, they're the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

Second, they won those championships with major contributions from players fresh out of the college ranks.

But with eight defensemen on one-way contracts, the Penguins can't legitimately offer Butcher an NHL job right away.

According to the Denver Post, Butcher was scheduled to meet Wednesday with the New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres and Vegas Golden Knights, three teams that might have an easier time dangling such a carrot.

With the Penguins, Butcher would fill a cavernous void on the team's depth chart just below NHL level.

Having used eight of their 12 picks in the last two drafts on defensemen, the Penguins will have a slew of prospects coming along at the position in a few years. In the meantime, though, Derrick Pouliot is the only defense prospect the Penguins have who could be considered on the brink of breaking into the NHL.

Butcher is known for his high-end skating and vision. Because he is 5-foot-10, 190 pounds and offensive-minded, there are concerns about how his defensive game will play against NHL competition.

While Butcher is the clear headliner in the college free-agent class, a couple of other prospects of decent pedigree will join him in free agency. Most notably, centers Alex Kerfoot and Dominic Toninato will attract plenty of NHL attention.

Kerfoot, a New Jersey draft choice, had 45 points in 36 games for Harvard last season. The Penguins are not believed to be in hot pursuit, however, as Kerfoot is expected to head to the Western Conference, perhaps signing with his hometown Vancouver Canucks.

Toninato, a Toronto draft pick, had 29 points in 42 games for Minnesota-Duluth. The Penguins have some interest in Toninato, but they're not desperate to add college forwards at this time because they have already signed two players from that category in recent months.

Last March, they signed NCAA leading scorer Zach Aston-Reese out of Northeastern, and he appears close to graduating to NHL duty. In July, they signed center Adam Johnson from Minnesota-Duluth, and the front office is excited about his two-way potential.

Aston-Reese and Johnson weren't bound by the Aug. 15 deadline because they were undrafted.

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1072313 Pittsburgh Penguins

2017-18 Penguins Prospectus: Chad Ruhwedel

SAM WERNER

Penguins Prospectus is an offseason project by Post-Gazette hockey writers Jason Mackey and Sam Werner that each weekday through Sept.

15 will examine 28 parts of the organization. Players and team personnel will appear according to when they played, coached or managed their first game with the Penguins, starting with Antti Niemi and ending with Sidney Crosby

Chad Ruhwedel, defenseman

Shoots: right

Height/weight: 5-foot-11, 191 pounds

Age: 27

Date of Penguins debut: Dec. 20, 2016 in a 7-2 win against the Rangers

2016-17 stats: Had two goals and eight assists in 34 regular-season games. Played in six playoff games, with no goals and no assists.

Contract situation: Signed a two-year extension (running through 2018-19) this offseason, with an average annual value of $650,000.

HAT TRICK (THREE KEY NUMBERS)

48.5: Ruhwedel’s Corsi For percentage (CF%) this season, the highest of his career.

47.6: Ruhwedel’s offensive zone start percentage this season, the lowest of his career.

31.2: Shots against per 60 (SA/60) for Ruhwedel, fourth-lowest among Penguins defensemen with at least 20 games played.

WHAT WE LEARNED

The flier the Penguins took on Ruhwedel last summer — a one-year, two-way deal for a guy with 33 NHL games under his belt — ended up being a pretty solid investment. He topped that total this regular season alone, setting career highs in games played (34), goals (2), assists (8) and +/- (+9).

Ruhwedel was barely on the radar as a defensive call-up even when the season started, as Derrick Pouliot, David Warsofsky and Steve Oleksy all saw NHL minutes before Ruhwedel did.

He finally made his Penguins debut Dec. 20, and scored his first NHL goal three days later in a 4-1 win against the Devils.

Ruhwedel bounced back and forth between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre for most of January and early February, but finally stuck around with the big club starting Feb. 17. He was a healthy scratch to start the playoffs as the Penguins got some injured guys back, but was forced back into action for the first four games of the Ottawa series. Unfortunately for Ruhwedel, his season ended in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final when he was concussed on a hit from Bobby Ryan.

Ruhwedel proved this season that he’s perfectly capable as an NHL depth option along the Penguins’ blue line. He played primarily with Ian Cole on the Penguins’ bottom defensive pair and, while the duo’s possession numbers weren’t great (47.9 CF% together), they were overall pretty serviceable as a third pairing.

There’s nothing about Ruhwedel’s game that would necessitate clearing a lineup spot for him, but he’s smart with the puck and seems to fit well in coach Mike Sullivan’s system. And as a rare right-handed shot, he might even have a bit more value.

The Penguins apparently thought so, too, rewarding Ruhwedel with a two-year, one-way contract extension earlier this offseason.

2016-17 HIGHLIGHT

Ruhwedel scored only two goals this season, but both of them were pretty memorable. The first came in just his second game as a Penguin, and it marked the first goal of his NHL career.

But for these purposes, let’s go with Ruhwedel’s second career goal, which came in a much more memorable setting.

In this year’s Stadium Series game against the rival Flyers, the Penguins were leading 3-2 late in the third when Ruhwedel floated a shot in from the point that Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth never appeared to see. The puck got past Neuvirth, and Ruhwedel helped secure a 4-2 victory in front of 67,000 fans at Heinz Field.

WHAT’S NEXT?

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NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

If everyone is healthy (not necessarily a sure thing, especially given Kris Letang’s status) Ruhwedel will likely start the season as the Penguins’ seventh defenseman, which feels about right given what Ruhwedel showed us last season.

The ideal scenario for him and the Penguins would honestly probably be something similar to this past season: Play around 30ish games as an injury replacement on the bottom pairing. If there’s any sort of long-term injury to one of the defensive regulars, the Penguins might want to make a move, but as a temporary injury fill-in, Ruhwedel is perfectly capable. You probably don’t want him playing 50 games (or seeing significant playoff action) but he probably warrants being on an NHL roster, albeit perhaps on the fringe.

The one-way deal Ruhwedel signed this offseason is probably more of a reward for his contributions last season than an indication that he’ll spend all season in the NHL, but it certainly seems like an indication that the Penguins at least expect him to start the year with the big club.

Perhaps the most interesting situation involving Ruhwedel to keep an eye on this season will be how he is used as opposed to some of the Penguins’ other defensive depth options. At 27, it’s probably fair to say that Ruhwedel is what he is at this point, which is fine. But the Penguins do have some younger options (possibly with higher potential) that they’d probably like to see get a crack at some point. So what, then, is the calculus of going with Ruhwedel versus, say, Derrick Pouliot?

Yes, it feels like we’re going to be saying “The Penguins are really optimistic this is the year Derrick Pouliot breaks through” every August from now until the sun engulfs the earth. But maybe this is the year! The Penguins do want to give Pouliot another shot, and that could come at the expense of Ruhwedel.

Still, even if there’s some depth chart movement around him, Ruhwedel seems like a safe bet to be in the Penguins’ blue line conversation all season. He provides a safe, stable option as a seventh or eighth NHL defenseman who’s perfectly capable of stepping in for a stretch when called upon.

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1072314 Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins to pursue highly touted college prospect Will Butcher

JASON MACKEY

As expected, the Penguins will make a pitch to try to land former University of Denver defenseman Will Butcher — the reigning Hobey Baker Award winner as college hockey’s top player — a source confirmed to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette early Wednesday morning.

Butcher had until midnight Tuesday to work out a deal with the Colorado Avalanche — the team that drafted him in the fifth round in 2013 — but failed to do so, rendering him a free agent. The Penguins are one of several teams to express interest.

Butcher (5-10, 190) produced 43 points in 37 games this past season and plays a two-way game that would fit the Penguins’ system and offer an upgrade to their organizational depth at the position.

With eight defensemen on one-way NHL contracts, though, Butcher does face a sizable roadblock in terms of playing time for the 2017-18 season. Butcher’s agent, Brian Bartlett, told the Post-Gazette back in July that his client is thinking bigger-picture.

Phil Kessel is a two-time Stanley Cup champion.

“That’s not what we’re looking to hear — that you can step right in,” Bartlett said. “Will’s a very grounded and bright kid.

“It’s not who can get him there the fastest. It’s really who’s got a plan for him to be an NHL player for a long time if he puts in the work.”

According to the Denver Post, Butcher is already slated to meet with the Devils, Sabres and Golden Knights. The extent of the Penguins’ interest — and whether there will be an in-person meeting — is not yet known.

Butcher is a 22-year-old Sun Prairie, Wisc., native whose puck-moving approach helped Denver to an NCAA championship this past season.

If the Penguins do wind up signing Butcher, it would track with what they’ve done of late. They employ plenty of college players and recently picked up Zach Aston-Reese, Adam Johnson, Thomas Di Pauli and Ethan Prow in similar fashion.

The process of landing a college free agent in hockey doesn’t necessarily come down to money. It’s more about fit and what the player sees in the organization.

They could slot high on Butcher’s list because of how they’ve been able to develop young players such as Jake Guentzel, Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust, Matt Murray, Brian Dumoulin and more. They’ve also had success within the college ranks and relying on American-born players.

Matt Murray, right, and his friend Alex Vaillant joke before a tennis match at Thunder Bay Community Tennis Center on Monday in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Having won the past two Stanley Cups also doesn’t hurt, a point that’s probably already known by Butcher and his camp.

“Pittsburgh has a good development model,” Bartlett said in that July interview. “They’re also back-to-back Stanley Cup champs. Those things are always interesting for free agents.”

Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.

Post Gazette LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072315 St Louis Blues

Blues hockey ownership takes St. Louis comptroller to court over financing

By Mike Faulk St. Louis Post-Dispatch 4 hrs ago (…)

The owners of the Blues professional hockey team are asking a judge to order the St. Louis comptroller to sign off on a $64 million financing agreement for Scottrade Center renovations.

The deal was approved by the Board of Aldermen in a 15-12 vote in February, but St. Louis Comptroller Darlene Green has refused to sign the agreement, saying it would hurt the city’s credit rating. Green’s signature is needed for the city to sell bonds to fund the project.

A statement attributed to the ownership group, Kiel Center Partners, issued Tuesday said “the Office of the Comptroller simply does not have the authority to veto bills passed into law by the Board of Aldermen and the Mayor.”

The Blues are seeking what’s called a writ of mandamus, a court order directing a government official to fulfill his or her duties. Green’s stance suggests the law gives her discretion not to sign.

Green’s spokesman said she is waiting to see a copy of the legal filing before commenting on it. Tuesday’s filing comes four days after opponents of the Scottrade Center renovations filed suit Friday to have the public financing ordinance deemed unenforceable.

+1

Darlene Green, comptroller of the city of St. Louis.

Blues owners say they have met with Green and her staff multiple times over the last six months to attempt to get her signature on the agreement. They say Green instead tried to negotiate a different financing plan.

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NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

Kiel Center Partners has taken on additional loans to complete the first phase of renovations while the dispute with the comptroller remains to be settled. Under the agreement approved in February, the city-funded renovations were to take place in annual phases over three years.

“This is an essential project for St. Louis,” the Blues ownership statement read. “However, without the promised financing, the completion of this work and our ability to keep and pursue major events that are critical to jobs and our economy is severely at risk.”

Combined with interest, the cost to the city for the renovations over 30 years is estimated at $105 million. The plan includes $50 million from a Community Improvement District tax on sales at Scottrade Center over the next 30 years.

To help pay off the debt, $55 million from a 5 percent tax on ticket sales would be used. With debt payments on Kiel Opera House renovations ending in 2021, the $800,000 dedicated annually to that project would shift to Scottrade Center payments thru 2048, totaling about $21 million.

Part of the debt payment still will come from general revenue.

The Blues are also seeking state financing for future Scottrade Center renovations, an effort that could be complicated politically by the standoff with Green and the lawsuit to stop the ordinance from being enforced.

The Blues registered 14 lobbyists with the Missouri Ethics Commission during the 2017 legislative session, a comparatively high number among professional sports teams in Missouri.

The city’s contributions would fund new seating throughout the stadium, a new scoreboard hung in the center of the stadium, sound system and lighting upgrades, renovated locker rooms, renovated concession stands and new administrative offices. Various entryways and facades would also get makeovers.

Kiel Center Partners holds the lease to Scottrade Center through 2042, but the facility is owned by the city. Blues owners intend to contribute $50 million out of pocket over the next 20 to 30 years for additional improvements beyond the other renovations, Blues Chief Executive Chris Zimmerman said in January.

Also Tuesday, the Blues filed a motion seeking a different judge in the lawsuit brought last week. The case was originally assigned to Judge Robert Dierker Jr.

The city of St. Louis, the Blues and Kiel Center Partners are among the defendants named in the lawsuit filed Friday. It was filed on behalf of Alderman Cara Spencer, former state Rep. Jeanette Oxford and former city counselor James Wilson.

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072316 Tampa Bay Lightning

Lightning's Erik Condra on impact of late Bryan Murray

Joe SmithJoe Smith, Times Staff Writer

For Lightning wing Erik Condra, the recent passing of Bryan Murray hit home.

Murray, who died of colon cancer Saturday at the age of 74, was the general manager of the Ottawa Senators when Condra first broke into the NHL. Condra, 31, was picked in the seventh round by Ottawa in 2008, playing for the Senators from 2010-2015 after a college career at Notre Dame.

"He gave me my first opportunity to play in the NHL," Condra said Tuesday. "He's just a great hockey mind. You always think of hockey, but he was also a great person. He would try to stay away as much as he could (as a GM), but when you're in tough times, he'd come in and make his presence known. He always seemed to be on the players' side, always wanted to hear what you had to say, listen to your opinion.

Sometimes, people in that position can be stubborn, but was open and willing to learn."

Murray's death has been mourned all over the hockey world. Murray was the GM for the Red Wings (1990-94) when current Lightning GM Steve Yzerman was a player there. Murray also GM'd the Panthers (2994-98), Ducks (2001-04) and Senators (2007-16), while coaching in Detroit (1990-93), Florida (1997-98). Anaheim (2001-02) and Ottawa (2005-2008).

While Condra missed Murray's time as coach in Ottawa, he said his teammates would tell him how Murray was "one of the best coaches those guys had."

"He was huge in (Ottawa)," Condra said. "The whole city loved him, players loved him, community loved him, reporters loved him. I'm sure (his death) is a big blow to Ottawa, but they'll remember the great things about him. He had a big impact.

"When he had stage four colon cancer, he was a huge advocate of getting tested."

Condra is still rehabbing from late June back surgery to repair herniated disks. He said he isn't skating yet, so it's too soon to tell if he'll be ready for Lightning training camp when it opens in mid-September.

"Everyone is in mid-summer form and you're just getting out of surgery needing to rehab," Condra said. "It's been a slow summer, but things are moving in the right direction."

Condra appreciates the slower summer considering his whirlwind season that included eight different callups to the Lightning; he didn't see his family much, so he's spent a lot of the offseason in Minneapolis hanging with wife Ryan, son Callan, 3, and daughter Ellery. 1.

Condra, entering his third year of a three-year deal with Tampa Bay, spent most of the season with AHL Syracuse, eventually getting named Crunch captain. Condra had 15 goals and 33 assists in 55 games, the Crunch advancing to the Calder Cup finals.

"It was a fun ride, playing a lot of hockey," Condra said. "It was a good group of guys, the guys that came down (from Tampa) played well and those six or seven guys (from) Tampa, give them a lot of credit. But it was really fun ride (in Syracuse), when you play with young guys they kind of rejuvenate you."

Those young guys are who Condra will have to compete with for a roster spot in training camp. Yanni Gourde signed a two-year, one-way deal worth $2 million. Cory Conacher re-signed on a two-way deal. There's a pretty full forward group, not counting those from juniors expected to push in camp (Brett Howden, Taylor Raddysh, Anthony Cirelli).

"My main focus is to stay healthy and go from there," Condra said. "I can't really think about what's going on until I'm healthy and 100 percent. I'm going to focus on that and see what happens."

Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072317 Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs defenceman Marchenko returning to KHL next season, agent confirms

By MARK ZWOLINSKISports reporter

Alexey Marchenko is going home to play hockey — for now.

The Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman, who was claimed off waivers from Detroit in February, will play in the Kontinental Hockey League next season, according to a release from his agent, Dan Milstein.

Milstein added that the 25-year-old Russian, who appeared in 11 games for the Maple Leafs last season, hopes to return to the NHL at a later date.

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NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

Marchenko was picked up last February after the Leafs placed fellow defenceman Frank Corrado on waivers. It was a chance for Marchenko to reunite with long-time Red Wings coach and current Leafs bench boss Mike Babcock and add depth to the Leafs’ blue line.

But Marchenko’s former team, CSKA Moscow, let it be known last April they intended to try and bring back several former players for the 2017-18 season, including Marchenko.

Marchenko, who was born in Moscow, played four seasons with CSKA before his NHL debut with Detroit in the 2013-14 season.

It’s likely Marchenko will earn more money in the KHL than the $1.45 million (U.S.) he would have made with Toronto this season.

He was placed on waivers by the Leafs on Monday.

Toronto Star LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072318 Toronto Maple Leafs

Golden Knights hustle to make Las Vegas fluent in hockey

By CANDACE BUCKNERThe Washington Post

LAS VEGAS—In the western suburb of Summerlin, Nevada, a planned community painted in hues of beige and brown and with a dizzying amount of roundabouts, there is an anonymous business park the Vegas Golden Knights temporarily call home. In the fall, they will move operations into a nearly $30-million (U.S.) practice facility. For now, an office building 14 miles from the Las Vegas Strip is where the NHL hopes its next ice age dawns.

When Kim Frank arrived in town last September as the team’s vice president of marketing, after working for the Washington Capitals and the Washington Wizards since 2007, the Vegas Golden Knights had a name but no identity. There was no logo. No uniforms. No players on the roster. Nothing in place that could help Frank do her job: sell the brand of hockey to a community in a sports desert.

“It’s a true start-up,” Frank says in the lobby of the Black Knight Sports & Entertainment offices, on a July morning when the oppressive heat surpasses 40 C.

“It’s new. It’s not moving a franchise. It’s a brand new expansion team,” Frank continues, “which means from the ground up.”

The Golden Knights will begin their inaugural season in October as the 31st team in the NHL but the first professional sports franchise in Las Vegas. Hockey is not an abstract concept to the more than two million residents; The Las Vegas area has plenty of émigrés from across North America who now pay taxes in Clark County, residents who still have teams back home to root for. Minor league hockey had a long run in town as well, although Las Vegas’s WCHL and ECHL teams have since folded.

However, in a city more known for its spectacles, the entertainment ranging from roulette tables to limitless rum-and-Cokes to residencies for Donnie and Marie, building fluency in hockey begins with uncovering the “other” Vegas — the one that lives in the shadow of the blinding lights of Las Vegas Boulevard.

“Sports teams give cities identities,” said Golden Knights general manager George McPhee, another Washington transplant who held the same position for the Capitals for 17 years. “It seems the residents of the city want to be known for more than the Strip.”

A billboard near Dean Martin Drive warns that The Raiders Are Coming, a tease in silver and black for the pending move of a pro football team, the Oakland Raiders, to Las Vegas. However, before the NFL stakes its claim here, for now, Las Vegas is a hockey town.

“We can own this one. We can do this,” says Asi Oba, a fireman whose unit is stationed near the T-Mobile Arena, where the Knights will play.

Originally from Cincinnati, Oba admits he’s never watched a minute of hockey in his 35 years but asked himself, “why not?” and decided to give this game a chance. Recently, as Oba and his son, Amare, took in NBA Summer League action at the Thomas & Mack Center, they walked the concourse proudly wearing the black, steel grey and red of the Golden Knights.

“It brings something that we’ve never had,” Oba says, then repeats his singular drawl: “I can own this.”

It’s a belief that was shared by thousands of residents in 2015 when owner Billy Foley, with no commitment from the NHL, needed to prove this market was viable for hockey.

“There was nothing (tangible here),” recalls Todd Pollock, the vice president of ticketing and suites, one of the first employees on the ground and tasked with running the season ticket drive. “We were selling the dream to people and painting a picture. ‘How cool would it be to have a team in town to call our own?’ ”

The league gave the Knights a target of 10,000 season-ticket deposits. Within a couple months, the team had exceeded that goal. By June 22, 2016, when the NHL rewarded Las Vegas with a franchise, 16,000 people had paid for the chance to secure future season tickets. Those deposits turned into more than 14,000 actual season-ticket holders.

One of the earliest pledges belonged to 23-year-old Las Vegas native Thomas Field. He wasn’t always a hockey fan. Field had to leave the Mojave Desert to fall in love with the game.

While attending and playing baseball at the University of Chicago-Illinois, Field watched the Chicago Blackhawks win two Stanley Cups. Field didn’t know much at first, confused about icing and offside, but witnessing a dynasty turned the novice into a lifelong follower.

“The Blackhawks were running the town at the time,” Field recalls. “Just going to games, it was so unique. There’s no experience like it.”

When he settled back home in Las Vegas, Field made his first major purchase out of college: $2,500 for a pair of Knights’ season tickets in the middle of section 220.

The Knights business operations know the statistics — Las Vegas welcomes more than 42 million visitors each year — but they want to draw their fan base from the Vegas that exists in the suburban terracotta sprawl of strip malls and look-a-like apartment complexes.

Even before the roster came together, the team held free stick giveaways for local kids and hosted events called “Hockey Is For Everyone,” which underscored who they were targeting for their core demographic. The team embraced communities that stretch throughout Green Valley, Spring Valley and Henderson, and as new inhabitants, staffers learned an early lesson: don’t pronounce it ‘Nevaahda,’ like a tourist.

Still, there’s no escaping Sin City for the Knights.

Before training camp, the team is expected to hold a session for players on the matter of gambling. Also, a gentlemen’s club, not affiliated with the Knights, has announced it will host hockey viewing parties. Minnesota Wild left wing Jason Zucker, the only Las Vegas native in the NHL, believes the team will have no choice but to take on some of the character of the city’s reputation.

In Nashville, hockey fans throw catfish on the ice. So, in Las Vegas, possibly poker chips?

“Because the city is such an entertainment city, they have to compete with that, and that’s a hard task but I think they’re ready for it,” Zucker says. “They’ve done a good job marketing the team and making sure the product is out in the public.”

McPhee, a career hockey man, had much to do with laying the team’s foundation in Las Vegas. For the first six months on the job, McPhee assisted Foley in everything from hiring candidates on the business side to picking out jersey designs. (“It took me a little bit longer to digest it,” McPhee said of the knight’s helmet that outlines a ‘V’ for Vegas). Then, McPhee dived strictly into hockey operations and drew upon many of the same principles from his Capitals era.

Before being fired in 2014, McPhee oversaw the Caps during their ‘Rock The Red’ revitalization, an experience that was helpful in his second time around, now as an architect of a fledgling franchise.

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“I was told by several GMs that this would be the most positive hockey experience you’ll have because everyone is happy to be there,” McPhee says. “It’s a fresh start for everyone, whether it’s their first time with a professional franchise or they got promoted away from another franchise or someone was fired and they’re getting a second chance with this franchise.

“And they were absolutely right,” McPhee continues. “This has been one of the most enjoyable years I’ve ever had in the hockey experience.”

After all, it’s Las Vegas. Some come to get hitched. The Knights are here for the honeymoon.

Toronto Star LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072319 Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs' Marchenko clears waivers, signs in KHL

lance-hornby BY LANCE HORNBY, TORONTO SUN

Mike Babcock thought he could make a difference with former pupil Alexey Marchenko.

But the former Red Wings draft pick, claimed on waivers by Babcock's Maple Leafs late last season, was passed over by every NHL team as of noon Tuesday and is headed back to the KHL.

The Russian website Sport-Express said the 25-year-old defenceman was set to sign a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow after clearing NHL waivers. Marchenko spent four years with CSKA before coming to North America in 2013.

Agent Daniel Milstein didn’t burn Marchenko’s NHL bridge, however, tweeting Tuesday “he has decided to continue his career at home in Russia. He intends to come back to the NHL in the future”.

Marchenko's departure takes more than $1 million off the cap-strapped Leafs and opens up a contract spot for someone other than imminent RFA signing Connor Brown.

Marchenko played 11 games for Toronto, none in the playoffs, recording a goal and an assist.

Per source Alexei Marchenko is set to sign a 3-year deal with CSKA of the #KHL #TML

— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) August 15, 2017

Alexey Marchenko of Toronto Maple Leafs has decided to continue his career at home in Russia.He intends to comeback to the NHL in the future

— Dan Milstein-Hockey (@HockeyAgent1) August 15, 2017

Toronto Sun LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072320 Toronto Maple Leafs

No summer break for determined defenceman Dermott

BY LANCE HORNBY, TORONTO SUN

The long odds for a youngster to win a spot on the Leafs defence this season meant a short summer for Travis Dermott.

The second-round pick from 2015 has been a “full-timer” at the club’s practice facility as Leafs begin moving back to town, with a rookie tournament at Ricoh Coliseum about three weeks away.

Dermott, Andrew Nielsen and Rinat Valiev all received some playoff experience with the Marlies, going two rounds last year. But the parent club not only improved depth in returning to the NHL post-season, it further tweaked the blueline for 2018 training camp with newcomers.

Dermott and the others will be taking on incumbents Morgan Rielly, his projected partner Ron Hainsey, Nikita Zaitsev, Jake Gardiner, Connor Carrick, Martin Marincin and Swedish rookies Calle Rosen and Andreas Borgman. This year’s top pick, Timothy Liljegren, showed promise at the world junior summer showcase in Plymouth, Mich., too.

That’s why Dermott is an eager participant in summer workouts, sopping up all he can on and off the ice. The praise Dermott received last year from general manager Lou Lamoriello won’t guarantee him a six-seven-eight spot next month.

“It’s good to hear they’re confident with my game and where I’m going so far and have that in the back of my head. But I still know there are a bunch of really good defencemen here that I’m going to have to be better than to make a spot.

Consistency, that’s the biggest part. Making sure I’m at my best every game so that when I do make a little mistake, just rebound quickly and make sure I don’t live off that for the rest of the game.”

In Dermott’s first AHL season, the left-handed shot battled injury and a more physical brand of play to earn 24 points in 59 games and another five in playoffs with gradually more responsibility.

“I’m working hard trying to get that little edge,” the stocky Newmarket native and former Connor McDavid teammate with the Erie Otters said, “on things such as my diet and sleep patterns. We have a nutritionist here a couple of times a week if I have any questions. I didn’t really know how big a part that was until I started seeing changes everywhere, instead of just seeing them in the gym.

“It’s just more counting calories, which everyone should be doing, not just pro athletes. It was cool seeing my calorie intake and how many were burning off during my workouts and when I’m on the ice. I made sure I wasn’t losing anything but getting everything I could out of my workout.”

He hopes it will truly pay off in September at main Leaf camp.

PUSHING BUTTONS

Though workouts are in the informal stage without assistant coaches, the club asked 30-year-old Marlies veteran Rich Clune to chaperone a group of young Leafs including second-year forwards Zach Hyman and Brown.

When Clune isn’t in the Marlies lineup, he has become known as the farm team’s drill sergeant, exhorting kids to stay sharp and not get down on themselves if they’re sitting, a frequent frustration on AHL rosters. Clune also gets seniority to pick the pump-up music to the exercises. He praised Brown and Hyman and his Leafs group for getting an early start every day to their program.

THE GOAT RETURNS

Centre Fredrik Gauthier, who suffered that gruesome leg injury in the AHL playoffs, returned to the ice this week.

It’s still expected he’ll miss the start of training camp and regular season as he recovers from surgery, with an NHL spot further in doubt after Toronto acquired Dominic Moore to fill Brian Boyle’s spot on the fourth line. Gauthier has played 28 Leafs games the past two seasons with four points and was projected to be out six months at the time of his injury.

BABS WILL MISS MURRAY

Babcock was in Moscow when Ottawa Senators executive Bryan Murray passed away on the weekend after his long battle with cancer. But he told nhl.com of his great respect for the man who gave him his first big league job with Anaheim in 2002.

“He loved his family first, hockey people second, he touched a lot of lives and gave a lot of opportunity to many people over the years,” Babcock said. “He told me, ‘Mike, everybody on the team has to be important’. In

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other words, everyone has to have a role. I live by that now. I really believe in that.”

“I’ve worked for Bryan, Ken Holland (with the Wings) and now Lou Lamoriello and you can’t meet classier people than that. I know the Babcocks are forever indebted to Bryan for the opportunity we were given.”

LOOSE LEAFS

Forward Martin Dzierkals, a third-round pick of the Leafs in 2015, has signed a one-year AHL deal with the Marlies ... The 20-year-old Dermott on the Leafs adding the 36-year-old Hainsey: “He’s pretty cool. I’ve watched him a little bit and he’s a pretty good player, another guy I can learn a couple of things from.” ... St. Catherines native and ex-NHLer Rob Davison, the Marlies new assistant coach, spent the past couple of years working with teams in Austria and the KHL.

Toronto Sun LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072321 Vegas Golden Knights

Top college free agent Will Butcher eyes Golden Knights

By Steve Carp Las Vegas Review-Journal

Highly regarded collegiate defenseman Will Butcher has decided to let time run out with the Colorado Avalanche and is considering the Golden Knights as a place to continue his career.

The deadline for drafted college players to sign an entry-level contract with the NHL team that selected them was Tuesday. According to his Boston-based agent, Brian Bartlett, Butcher will not sign with the Avalanche, which drafted him in the fifth round of the 2013 entry draft and held his rights for four years.

“We anticipate talking to several teams in the next couple of days,” Bartlett said Tuesday. “I would think a lot of teams would be interested in a young, puck-moving defenseman. Ultimately, it’s about finding the best situation for Will to continue his hockey career.”

With his draft rights lapsing, Butcher becomes an unrestricted free agent.

In addition to the Knights, Butcher, 22, reportedly plans to speak with the New Jersey Devils and the Buffalo Sabres. The Denver Post was the first to report Butcher’s plans.

Butcher captained the University of Denver and helpedthe Pioneers to the NCAA championship in April. A left-handed shot, he scored seven goals and had 30 assists this past season. He was selected as college hockey’s best player in winning the Hobey Baker in April.

Golden Knights general manager George McPhee said the team would pursue any NCAA free agent if that player could help the team. The Knights have 42 players currently under contract. The NHL maximum is 50.

Bartlett said he has been doing his homework on Las Vegas and whether playing for the Knights would be a good fit. One of his other clients is Knights forward Alex Tuch, and he said his two clients will talk about the Knights.

“Alex has had a taste of life there when he was at the development camp,” Bartlett said of Tuch. “He loves it there.”

Bartlett said he believes Butcher has visited Las Vegas at least once. But he has not been beyond the Strip.

“I was telling Will there’s more to Vegas than just the Strip,” he said. “There are a lot of positives to playing there. The biggest is you’re part of something new and you’re getting in on the ground floor, which is interesting.

“They’ve got a lot of defensemen, but they probably need some defensemen who aren’t 28 years old.”

Bartlett said he anticipates the process for Butcher to decide on where to play won’t be a dragged-out process..

“Will’s going to be on a number of conference calls Wednesday, and if there’s an opportunity that’s compelling, we’ll pursue it,” Bartlett said. “I think with talking to the teams and visiting a couple of the cities, it will take about a week to get it done.”

LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072322 Vegas Golden Knights

Golden Knights announce veteran broadcasting team

By Steve Carp Las Vegas Review-Journal

The Golden Knights are looking for youth on the ice. But when it came to the broadcast booth, they wanted experience.

The team announced Tuesday its broadcast teams for television and radio, and the selection of Dave Goucher, Shane Hnidy and Dan D’Uva represents more than 30 years of pro hockey broadcasting experience.

Goucher, who has been the Boston Bruins’ radio play-by-play voice and has also worked in television, will be the Golden Knights’ TV play-by-play man. Hnidy, a former defenseman who played 11 years in the NHL and has been working Winnipeg Jets games on both radio and TV since 2012, will serve as the TV analyst for the Knights games on AT&T SportsNet.

D’Uva, who has been the radio voice of the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch since 2012, will be the play-by-play man for the Knights’ radio broadcasts on Fox Sports Radio 1340 AM. He will work solo for the first season.

The trio were chosen from among more than 200 applicants.

“It’s exciting,” said Goucher, 48, who had been with the Bruins since 2000 and called the Bruins’ Stanley Cup run in 2011. “It’s a chance for me to grow as announcer and the move to television will help grow my career.

“I’ve known Shane from his two stints with the Bruins and his knowledge of the game is tremendous. I look forward to us working together.”

Hnidy said he wants the telecasts to be fun while also being informative.

“It’s unique to get to be part something on the ground floor,” Hnidy, 41, said. “I played in Nashville and Atlanta in their first year so I know what it’s like to be in a new market. Hockey has been my life. I want to help grow the game and put the Golden Knights on the map.

“I know Dave and there’s an instant credibility and comfort level. Anytime you know the people you’re going to work with it helps.”

For the 32-year-old D’Uva, who has been broadcasting hockey since his high school days and taught broadcasting at Syracuse University, getting to the NHL is the culmination of the dream. But is also brings with it added responsibilities in trying to entertain and educate a fan base in a non-traditional hockey market.

“It’ll give me a chance to build that intimate relationship with the listener,” D’Uva said from New Jersey. “I expect us to have a fun and entertaining broadcast and hopefully the listeners will learn something every night.”

D’Uva said he understands the special relationship fans have with announcers.

“Radio is an intimate medium,” he said. “It’s about establishing a relationship with each listener.

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“It’s important that I get to know the fans of Las Vegas and connect with them. If I can paint a picture that fairly, accurately and objectively tells the story of the Golden Knights, then I’ve done my job.”

LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072323 Vegas Golden Knights

Golden Knights name first TV, radio broadcasters

By Jesse Granger (contact)

The Vegas Golden Knights have hired their first television and radio broadcasters, team President Kerry Bubolz announced today.

Dave Goucher will call TV play-by-play alongside color commentator Shane Hnidy on AT&T SportsNet, while Dan D’Uva calls radio play-by-play on FOX Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM.

Goucher worked as a radio announcer for the Boston Bruins since 2000 and was named Massachusetts Sportscaster of the Year in 2013 and 2014.

Hnidy has been a part of the Winnipeg Jets broadcast team since 2011 as a color commentator on TSN Television, part of the broadcast team on TSN Radio 1290 AM and doing in-studio pregame and game recaps for TSN.

Hnidy played in the NHL from 2000 to 2011 for the Ottawa Senators, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild.

As a defenseman, he played in 550 NHL games during his career, registering 16 goals and 55 assists for a total of 71 points and 633 penalty minutes.

The Neepawa, Manitoba, native was a member of Atlanta’s and Nashville’s inaugural playoff appearances. In addition, he was a member of the Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup championship team. He retired in 2011.

D’Uva has been the radio and TV play-by-play voice of the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch since 2012.

“We are thrilled to have Dave, Shane and Dan on board as our first-ever broadcasters,” Bubolz said in a statement. “Each of them brings a wealth of hockey experience and will be an integral part of making Golden Knights broadcasts enjoyable and insightful. They will not only be great announcers in the broadcast booth but also great community ambassadors, bringing the great game of hockey to the Las Vegas community.”

LAS VEGAS SUN LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072324 Washington Capitals

Unprecedented D.C. sports equinox could happen if Nats reach World Series

By Scott Allen August 15 at 11:55 AM

While millions of Americans eagerly await the temporary darkness of next week’s total solar eclipse, an even more rare phenomenon looming on the horizon began to come into focus on Monday. D.C. sports fans might need more than special sunglasses to enjoy it should it come to pass.

On Oct. 30, 2016, there was at least one MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL game on the same day for only the 16th time in history. The Cubs defeated the Indians in Game 5 of the World Series that Sunday, which also featured 11 NFL games, eight NHL games and seven NBA games. Such an occurrence has been dubbed a sports equinox, a term popularized by The Post’s Reuben Fischer-Baum during his time at FiveThirtyEight.

Following the release of the NBA’s regular season schedule on Monday, there are three potential sports equinoxes on the calendar this year. They all fall within a 10-day span in October, and they’re all dependent on baseball playoff games that, in a pair of best-of-seven series, may not be necessary.

Thursday, October 19

MLB (1 game): NLCS Game 5 (if necessary)

NBA (3 games)

NFL (1 game)

NHL (9 games)

Sunday, October 22

MLB (1 game): NLCS Game 7 (if necessary)

NBA (3 games)

NFL (11 games)

NHL (1 game)

Sunday, October 29

MLB (1 game): World Series Game 5 (if necessary)

NBA (7 games)

NFL (11 games)

NHL (3 games)

Of the 16 previous sports equinoxes, Phoenix is the only city to have its NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams play on the same day. On Nov. 4, 2001, the Cardinals, Suns and Coyotes all lost, but fans in the Valley of the Sun probably didn’t care much about those results, as the Diamondbacks defeated the Yankees in Game 7 of the World Series on Luis Gonzalez’s ninth-inning single off Mariano Rivera.

Now get this: Barring games that are postponed and rescheduled for whatever reason, D.C. is the only city that could join Phoenix in the exclusive four-games-in-one-day club this year.

The only NFL game on Oct. 19, the first potential sports equinox of 2017, is between the Chiefs and Raiders. Kansas City hasn’t had an NBA team since 1985, while Oakland doesn’t have an NHL team and its MLB team plays in the American League. The only NHL game on Oct. 22, the second potential sports equinox, is between Vancouver and Detroit. The Canucks are the only franchise from the four major professional sports leagues in Vancouver, while Detroit won’t be participating in the NLCS.

That leaves Oct. 29, when the Redskins host the Cowboys, the Wizards play at Sacramento and the Capitals visit Calgary. Game 5 of the World Series is also scheduled for that day, and while the Nationals have never won a postseason series, they’re a virtual lock to qualify for the playoffs and it’s not impossible — nor a jinx — to imagine them in the Fall Classic. Game 5 will be hosted by the team that finishes with the worse regular season record.

Last year, the Redskins played a game on the same day as a Nationals playoff game for the first time, and both teams emerged victorious. D.C. sports fans have celebrated multiple D.C. sports trifectas involving Wizards and Capitals playoff wins in recent years, and there was that superfecta in May 2015 featuring the Capitals, Nationals, Wizards and D.C. United. This could arguably be the biggest day in D.C. sports history. You should probably put in your vacation request for Oct. 30 now.

There were no instances of MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL games on the same day from 1986 until 2001, because the NBA season regularly started after the World Series ended during that span. Phoenix’s superfecta in 2001 came after baseball’s playoffs were delayed by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which resulted in the first three November games in baseball history. The NBA is starting nearly two weeks earlier

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than previous years this season to reduce the number of back-to-back sets, which should make sports equinoxes more common in the coming years. For now, they remain as elusive as postseason success for D.C. sports teams.

Previous Sports Equinoxes

Oct. 17, 1971

Oct. 15, 1972

Oct. 22, 1972

Oct. 14, 1973

Oct. 21, 1973

Oct. 15, 1978

Oct. 14, 1979

Oct. 12, 1980

Oct. 19, 1980

Oct. 27, 1985

Nov. 4, 2001

Nov. 1, 2009

Nov. 2, 2009

Nov. 1, 2010

Nov. 1, 2015

Oct. 30, 2016

Washington Post LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072325 Washington Capitals

With short-term future secure, Caps' Grubauer eager to get to work

By Tarik El-Bashir August 15, 2017 11:26 AM

The days leading up to the expansion draft in June were jittery ones for Caps backup goalie Philipp Grubauer, who suspected there was a decent chance he’d get selected by the Golden Knights.

“A little stressful,” Grubauer acknowledged Tuesday following an informal practice at Kettler Capitals Iceplex.

“We were on the phone every day or like every couple of minutes basically.”

Being left somewhat in the dark was an nerve-racking experience, even for someone who makes a living dealing with stressful situations on the ice.

“Nobody knew what was going on,” he said, referring to his camp’s attempts to figure out which direction Las Vegas GM George McPhee might chose. “We just kinda watched from Germany.”

Grubauer said he learned of his fate—McPhee ended up selecting defenseman Nate Schmidt instead—about a day before the Golden Knights’ picks were revealed during the league’s annual award show.

“Whatever happened, happened,” Grubauer said. “Everybody was a little bit surprised. But I’m glad I got to stay here in Washington another year.”

A couple of weeks later, Grubauer, who entered the offseason as a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, agreed to a one-year, $1.5 million contract extension with Washington.

With the start of training camp still a month away, Grubauer said he decided to join the Caps’ informal skates a few weeks earlier than usual

to take advantage of the team’s facility and staff and ensure that he’s as sharp as possible when camp begins. The almost daily 70-minute sessions are run by strength and conditioning coach Mark Nemish and they’ve started to ramp up in recent days as more players trickle back into town.

“We wanted to come back little bit earlier, practice here and train here with Nemo,” Grubauer said. “The facility provides us with a great, great opportunity to get ready for training camp. And there were a couple of guys are here so I wanted to come back a little bit earlier than usual to prepare myself.”

When camp begins, the Caps’ goaltending tandem will remain unchanged—Braden Holtby will be the starter and Grubauer will be the backup—but there will be a handful of new faces in the locker room. Karl Alzner, Justin Williams, Marcus Johansson, Daniel Winnik and Kevin Shattenkirk have moved on and will be replaced by younger, less experienced players as the Caps squeeze a more top-heavy roster underneath the salary cap.

Grubauer echoed John Carlson’s recent comments on this summer’s roster retooling, saying he hopes the infusion of new blood might be a good thing for a Caps’ team that saw little change the previous two years.

“We’re going to be a little younger than last year,” Grubauer said. “If you go through the league, like Toronto is a little bit younger, Edmonton is a little bit younger, so I think that’s where the trend is going. I think that could really be our advantage—some new blood, some new energy.”

As far as Grubauer’s personal goals for the upcoming season, the 25-year-old aims to pick up where he left off last season. In fact, it could be argued that he was the league’s best No. 2. Among goalies who played in at least 20 games, Grubauer had the second best goals against average (2.04) and was tied for the fourth best save percentage (.926).

“Just be patient, work really hard and be successful out there, be ready to go every time,” Grubauer said, asked how he intends to approach another season as Holtby's backup. “I want to be ready to follow where I left off last year, keep improving and working hard, get better every day and we’ll see what will happen.”

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072326 Washington Capitals

The 25 most important players for the Caps: No. 24 Chandler Stephenson

By J.J. Regan August 15, 2017 7:40 AM

Every player on an NHL team plays a role. Some roles are bigger than others. The Caps will look to their prospects to take carry a bigger load than in recent years while there while the team’ leaders and superstars will continue being tasked with leading the way.

Jill Sorenson, Tarik El-Bashir and JJ Regan are counting down who the 25 most important players for the Caps will be in the 2017-18 season.

Today’s player: No. 24 Chandler Stephenson

Chandler Stephenson has all the tools to be an NHL player. He is a good skater, has good speed and at 6 feet, 204 pounds, he certainly looks the part. Now he just has to put it all together.

Stephenson, 23, has played in 13 NHL games with zero points to his name, but his performance in the playoffs with the Hershey Bears last season suggests he may be ready for the jump.

While he has the tools, however, what Stephenson does not have is a clear spot in the lineup.

The Caps have two spots on the fourth line up for grabs, but Stephenson is only one player in a very crowded competition that includes players like

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Nathan Walker, Riley Barber, Devante Smith-Pelly, Anthony Peluso and Travis Boyd.

But in addition to all the tools Stephenson has in his arsenal, there are two other factors that will likely play in his favor. First, he is no longer waiver exempt. In previous years that may have hurt him.This year, however, given that he is largely seen as NHL ready, that could likely mean he stays on the NHL roster from the very start, giving him a leg up on other prospects whom the team can still send to the AHL without fear of losing them to waivers.

The second factor is Stephenson’s position. Though he can play wing, Stephenson is primarily a center. The Caps are stacked down the middle with Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Lars Eller and Jay Beagle. Stephenson will be one of if not the team’s top choice as a replacement should one of those players goes down with an injury. Given the team’s remarkable run with health the past few seasons, chances are their luck will run out sooner rather than later.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 08.16.2017

1072327 Winnipeg Jets

Hnidy heading to Vegas to become Golden Knights TV analyst

Mike Sawatzky By: Mike Sawatzky

Shane Hnidy, the former NHL defenceman who has carved out an excellent career as a hockey analyst on Winnipeg Jets broadcasts, is heading for the bright lights of Las Vegas.

Hnidy has been hired as a television analyst for broadcasts of Vegas Golden Knights games beginning this fall, the Free Press has learned.

Hnidy joins play-by-play man Dave Goucher on the TV broadcasts while Dan D'Uva will be the radio play-by-play announcer. Goucher was most recently the radio play-by-play man of the Boston Bruins while D'Uva held a similar position with the American Hockey League's Syracuse Crunch.

The 41-year-old Neepawa product has been a part of the Jets radio and television broadcasts on TSN 1290 and TSN3 since the franchise relocated from Atlanta in time for the start of the 2011-12 NHL season. He became the Jets full-time TV analyst in 2014, partnering with long-time play-by-play announcer Dennis Beyak.

Hnidy's final season as a player came in 2010-11, when he signed as a free agent with the Boston Bruins and suited up for three regular-season games and three more in the post-season during the club's run to a Stanley Cup championship.

In 550 regular-season games over 11 seasons, the defenceman scored 16 goals, 71 points and added 633 penalty minutes.

Hnidy's replacement wasn't immediately known but it is believed three members of the TSN stable, analysts Ray Ferraro, Jamie McLennan and David Poulin could joins the Jets TV broadcasts on a rotating basis. In addition, former Jets analyst Mike Johnson, currently with NHL Network, and Trevor Kidd, a Dugald product and 11-year NHL veteran, could also be candidate for the position. Kidd did work on pre- and post-game segments on TSN 1290 Jets broadcasts last season.

TSN 1290 program director Chris Brooke confirmed Hnidy's departure in a release Tuesday afternoon.

"As part of our original broadcast team, Shane developed quickly and in a very short period of time became a smart, perceptive and insightful colour analyst on our radio and TV broadcasts," said Brooke. "From all of us at the Bell Media Winnipeg operation I wish to extend our best wishes to Shane and his family as they set out on this new hockey adventure in Nevada."

In May, the expansion Golden Knights announced a partnership with Roots Sports Rocky Mountain to become its official local television station. This came on the heels of a radio deal struck with the Lotus Broadcasting for the team's radio rights.

Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 08.16.2017

1072328 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Oilers, Leon Draisaitl would be beyond foolish to part ways

Mark Spector

The most telling pressure points for me, when it comes to Leon Draisaitl’s protracted contract negotiations with the Edmonton Oilers, is this:

Why on earth would the player ever want to play elsewhere? And why would the team ever allow him to do so?

On what other team would Draisaitl be able to, A) play nightly with the pending “Best Player in the NHL?” Or B) Get second-line centre minutes with a first-line centre that commands as much attention from opposing lineups as Connor McDavid does?

We’re not saying Edmonton is the only team in the National Hockey League that gives us the feeling that a Stanley Cup championship is imminent. There are a few teams like that (Toronto, Dallas, Calgary) and a few other mainstays (Pittsburgh, Chicago, Washington, Anaheim) that could win it any year as well.

But find me a landing spot for Draisaitl that has a better chance than Edmonton of putting a ring on his finger. There isn’t one, and the big German is in on the ground floor of this project, and quite possibly could be wearing a letter in that photo, if the Oilers ever do gather around Big Stanley after a victory in June.

So if we start there, that the player clearly wants to play in Edmonton and the team obviously counts on him as a huge part of their future, should that not alleviate a major portion of the angst over a contract negotiation that looks likely to stretch into September?

As Flames general manager Brad Treliving likes to say, when asked about any of his contract negotiations, “We’ve got it down to two areas we don’t agree on: money and term.” No doubt, those are the areas of concern between Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli and Draisaitl’s agent Mike Liut, just as they were last summer when Calgary star Johnny Gaudreau went through the summer unsigned, finally agreeing on Oct. 10 to a six-year, $40.5 million deal.

After canvassing a few people throughout the hockey world — Liut and Chiarelli aren’t talking — our findings were not surprising.

Accepted logic says Liut is looking for either an eight-year deal or a two-year deal. The player wants long-term security — at a number likely too high for the team’s liking — or he wants to get back to the plate again as soon as possible on the next contract, after a couple more seasons as a Top 10 NHL scorer.

Assuming Chiarelli isn’t biting at Liut’s seven- or eight-year number, his absolute line in the sand is that Draisaitl’s second contract must expire while the player is still a restricted free agent. That simply has to happen, from Chiarelli’s standpoint, which mandates that the “bridge deal” be no longer than three years.

That, of course, is likely one year longer than Liut would fancy. And then, of course, there is the money on any short-term deal.

Chiarelli can see the day when his payroll is driven by the McDavid-Draisaitl entry, the same way Chicago’s is dictated by Toews-Kane, and Pittsburgh’s by Crosby-Malkin. He would rather push that back as far as he can however, and frankly, assuming Draisaitl signs a shorter term deal this time, his next one will likely be a seven-or eight-year contract.

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There could also be some organizational caution being exhibited here, although Chiarelli’s experience likely negates that. Remember, the Oilers are a team that presented each of Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with long-term, rich deals on just their second contracts.

As we appraise them today, only Hall has lived up to that value. The other two have not borne out to be good deals for the team.

General managers are trending away from awarding that long-term deal too early to anyone less than a bonafide franchise player. Chiarelli will give Draisaitl the dollars, but not with the term. If Draisaitl wants term/security, he’ll have to buy it by giving back some dollars.

Today, we are still in stand-off country, with Draisaitl posting workout videos on his Instagram account wearing Oilers workout clothes. There have been no Group II free agent offer sheets, and most importantly, the player (we suspect) has no interest in signing one.

Following up @drtwofive and @grybes02 #hardos

A post shared by Leon Draisaitl (@drat_29) on Jul 27, 2017 at 1:47pm PDT

Draisaitl is still only 21. He’ll likely make well in excess of $100 million in his career. He is McDavid’s preferred linemate, and he’s playing on a team with arguably the brightest future in the entire NHL. He’d be crazy to leave, and the Oilers would be even crazier to allow that to happen.

So he’ll sign with Edmonton, likely before camp opens on Sept. 14. Or before the first regular season game on Oct. 4.

But he’ll sign, Oilers fans. You can chill.

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Sportsnet.ca / A stud defence prospect for cheap? Let the Will Butcher bidding begin

Luke Fox

The Colorado Avalanche are about to officially lose the rights of the type of player the Colorado Avalanche could really use right about now: a blue-chip defence prospect.

Will Butcher is the reigning Hobey Baker Award champion, an excellent mover of pucks, the captain of an NCAA championship team, and a 22-year-old who can sign to any one of the 31 NHL teams he chooses once the clock strikes midnight.

NHL teams hold NCAA players' rights "through and including" Aug. 15 so midnight tonight is the first time other teams can express interest.

— Brian Bartlett (@BBarts) August 15, 2017

That Butcher must join the league at an entry-level price means the phone of his agent, Brian Bartlett, will be buzzing. Such was the case of star college graduates like Jimmy Vesey, Kevin Hayes, and Justin Schultz in recent Augusts past.

A steadily improving standout for the University of Denver, Butcher was selected by the Avalanche back in fifth round of the 2013 draft but never signed a deal with the team that finished in last place in 2016-17.

According to the Denver Post, Butcher wasn’t offered a deal from the Avs until April, after he was an NCAA champion.

Unlike the bulk of NHL rookies, he now has the power to choose his own adventure.

Butcher put up an impressive 37 points over 43 contests as a slick-passing senior and, in late July, Bartlett announced that his client would be exploring all options.

Butcher is far from the only NCAA prospect who will turn UFA this week — centres Alex Kerfoot (Harvard) and Dominic Toninato (Minnesota-Duluth) should also field some interest — but he’s certainly the best bet to make an impact on the NHL club that lands him.

The defenceman, who’s been praised for his two-way game and leadership, is eligible for a two-year contract worth $925,000 per season, plus performance bonuses.

Considering Butcher grew up in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, it’s no surprise that the nearby Chicago Blackhawks are reaching out, especially after their blue line took a hit with the departures of Nicklas Hjalmarsson, Brian Campbell and Trevor van Riemsdyk.

Among Butcher’s many suitors, we’d expect inquiries from the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild, Buffalo Sabres, and New Jersey Devils as well.

The Toronto Maple Leafs freed up a roster spot by waiving KHL-bound defenceman Alexy Marchenko Monday and are known for leaving no stone unturned.

The Post reported Tuesday that Butcher plans to speak with the Devils, Sabres and Vegas Golden Knights as early as Wednesday. The Knights currently have 11 defencemen under NHL contract and will need to trade or demote some members of their blue line before the season opens.

Bartlett is publicly saying the player is open to all offers and will not rule out a return to Colorado.

“He’s in a unique position, so he has the opportunity to take advantage of it,” Bartlett told BSN Denver last month. “Those things don’t come around too often.”

A list of drafted College players who's club rights expire on Aug 15, 2017. pic.twitter.com/zKnKvsE7NB

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) August 9, 2017

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Sportsnet.ca / NHL Rumours: Pastrnak waiting on Oilers’ Draisaitl contract?

Luke Fox

It’s a gorgeous mid-August day. The only ice of importance should be floating in your Arnold Palmer.

So, naturally, your mind is on hockey rumours.

Here’s the latest buzz being generated on the unsigned (Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrnak, Jarome Iginla), the unextended (Paul Maurice), the untraded (Matt Duchene), and the unimpressed (Evgeny Kuznetsov).

Pastrnak waiting for Draisaitl to make him richer? Or is a trade on deck?

All due respect to your Connor Brown paranoia, but of the 19 restricted free agents who remain jobless in mid-August, the most important contract negotiations are those involving Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl and Boston’s David Pastrnak — two versatile, explosive, 21-year-old point producers coming off career seasons.

According to CSNE.com Bruins insider Joe Haggerty, Pastrnak’s camp is waiting on Draisaitl to set the financial bar for second-most dangerous forward on a team.

Boston and Pastrnak, Haggerty notes, had made progress on a long-term deal around six years at $6 million per, which would slide him under Brad Marchand’s $6.125 million cap hit. The big money earned by Connor McDavid, Ryan Johansen and Evgeny Kuznetsov this summer could benefit Pastrnak, who could end up making more than the more accomplished Marchand after all.

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That former NHL general manager and current NHL Network analyst Brian Lawton tweeted the possibility of a Pastrnak trade Monday did little to calm the nerves of Bruins fans, a group who has seen its share of dynamic 21-year-olds moved ahead of their prime.

With what I am hearing I would not be surprised if David Pasternak @NHLBruins is traded. #contractproblems @NHLNetwork

— Brian Lawton (@brianlawton9) August 14, 2017

“I’m sure they can get this worked out,” Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask told the Boston Herald Monday. “That’s the game nowadays: These young guys, when they come out of their first contract, they’ve had great success and they want to get paid. That’s just the world we live in. I guess sometimes with the cap situations, it can put teams in a tough spot.

“He’s proven he can be top goal-scorer in the league and he wants to get paid. You can understand both sides of it. I have no idea what he’s asking, what the situation is. But I’m sure they’re going to find a solution at some point.”

We recently asked former Bruin Dominic Moore, who had a front-row seat to the Czech’s breakout campaign, just how good Pastrnak is.

“He’s one of those run-and-gun kind of guys with nothing to lose. He plays a happy-go-lucky style. He’s incredibly athletic and gifted. Guys like that are always learning, too,” Moore said.

“He had a long streak in the season where he didn’t score a goal. He can put too much pressure on himself. Guys like that are at their best when they’re free, with nothing to lose.”

Haggerty reports that the notion of Draisaitl making $9 million a year is too rich, and that he can see both RFA forwards settling more in the $7 million to $7.5 million range, using Vladimir Tarasenko’s 2015 contract as a comparable.

Funny that Peter Chiarelli could have an affect on the Bruins’ big summer re-signing.

Here’s Haggerty’s take on Lawton’s tweet: “By all accounts the Bruins currently have no appetite for trading Pastrnak, and this first volley of rumors would appear to be more about message-sending in negotiations rather than actually shipping out another elite young hockey player. If the trade stuff goes beyond that, then Don Sweeney, Cam Neely and the rest of the Bruins organization will begin destroying all the goodwill they built up with a pretty solid end kick to their season last year.”

David Pastrnak trade rumours?

Makes sense. pic.twitter.com/8L9fBkgY2p

— The Hockey Gods! (@HockeyGods) August 15, 2017

Jets’ Maurice remains unsigned beyond 2017-18

The notion of a lame-duck head coach or GM doesn’t quite fly in today’s NHL. Even if the man in charge enters a season on the hot seat, he’s usually given an extra year on his deal to help soothe egos and keep those dasdardly rumour mongers at bay.

So the Anaheim Ducks extended Randy Carlyle and the Columbus Blue Jackets took care of John Tortorella this summer, well in advance of camp opening.

Winnipeg’s Paul Maurice hasn’t enjoyed the recent success of those previous two bench bosses, however, and does not have a job in place beyond 2017-18.

Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free Press examined the situation, throwing out a few possibilities for the delay.

With head coach salaries on the rise, does Maurice want a juicy raise? Or more than a one-year extension in term? Is Cheveldayoff hesitant to give an extension to a coach who has yet to deliver a post-season win over three-and-a-half seasons?

“Paul has my full support,” Jets GM Kevin Chevaldayoff assured at the Jets’ season-ending press conference.

“Every contract I’ve ever done took about 10 minutes,” Maurice said.

That was more than four months ago.

“Actually I haven’t heard anything lately,” Jets spokesman Scott Brown told Wiecek. “But it’s not a topic I ask about until told.”

It’s a topic worth monitoring.

Iginla fit for the Oilers?

As unrestricted free agent Jarome Iginla continues to weigh his options, fans and content-makers are happy to push the future Hall of Famer toward certain teams.

Like, the Edmonton Oilers, on a one-year, bonus-heavy deal and a bottom-six role. Hey, he was born there! And, oh, how Flames fans would hate it.

David Staples of the Edmonton Journal is not entirely convinced, though.

“If Iginla is willing to play a Grumpy Old Man role (third line wing and second unit power play), it’s possible he could help the Oilers. He will amp up the pressure on Puljujarvi and Slepyshev to compete for and earn a spot. But if the two younger players were to win this competition, would Iginla be OK sitting in the press box? Would he be OK playing 50 or 60 games in a more limited role, taking on that Matt Hendricks roster spot?” Staples writes.

“I like the idea of more depth and more competition, but team chemistry is also crucial. If Iginla expects to be a top-six forward or to hell with it, he’s not a good fit here. But if his mindset is to do all he can and anything he can to help a young team on its path to Stanley Cup contention, then he might be able to help.”

We prefer the idea of Iginla going full Team Canada this winter instead.

How the Red Wings can soothe their cap issues

Detroit currently sits atop the league’s Cap Trouble leaderboard, reaching about $3.95 million above the ceiling, and that’s with RFA Andreas Athanasiou unsigned. (Johan Franzen’s $3.95 million cap hit will be stuffed on long-term injured reserve, though.)

Never say never, but few hockey men not named Ken Holland are pegging the Red Wings as a playoff contender this season, which makes his cap situation all the more concerning.

Big spenders better be big winners.

MLive.com takes a look at ways the Wings can get cap compliant.

Tomas Tatar, Luke Glendening, Ryan Sproul and Niklas Kronwall are all recovering from injuries, so there may be opportunity to place another player on LTIR before the season begins. Sproul, Riley Sheahan, Darren Helm, Peter Mrazek, and Mike Green could all be used as trade bait if/when a competing team loses a player to injury in camp — although we see Green, especially, as more of a deadline rental.

Failing that, Detroit may be forced to waive a player like Sproul at the risk of losing a 24-year-old right-shot D-man.

Lawsuit may dampen St. Louis arena improvements

The Scottrade Center’s proposed $64-million makeover will have to hurdle a legal snag.

Alderwoman Cara Spencer, former state House Rep. Jeanette Oxford and former city counselor James Wilson name the city, the St. Louis Blues and the Blues’ ownership group, Kiel Center Partners, in a lawsuit arguing that the publicly funded renovation project is unconstitutional, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Kiel Center Partners said in a statement to the Associated Press that it considers the lawsuit “frivolous.”

Will Alex Ovechkin join former NHL stars Ilya Kovalchuk, Andrei Markov and Pavel Datsyuk on a Russian national squad that may have its best shot at Olympic gold since 1988?

It’s a question that will undoubtedly pop up at training camp and could linger into January.

The “easiest” way for Ovechkin to make good on his vow to participate at PyeongChang Games, Lyle Richardson of Spector’s Hockey points out in a column, might be retirement. (Hey, Kovalchuk and Datsyuk did it.)

Ovie could easily become the KHL’s most handsomely paid sniper, but such a move his would mean turning his back on a guaranteed $40

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million the Washington Capitals have committed to him through 2020-21. That kinda cake buys a lot of dreams.

Ovechkin appears to be holding his breath for a last-minute change of heart on NHL policy, but this could get sticky.

“It is an individual club decision on whether he would go,” NHLPA chief Donald Fehr said last month.

Tocchet: ‘Animal’ Chychrun won’t be out for a year

We’re thinking the new Arizona Coyotes coach will be good with the quotes.

Rick Tocchet recently spoke to NHL.com and offered up some strong words on prospect Dylan Strome’s big-league hopes.

“I don’t’ want him to come in and think we’re going to stick him on the checking line and play three minutes a game,” Tocchet told the league’s site. “If he’s going to make our team, we’ve got to play him and let him be creative with the puck … I want him to be able to hang on the puck and make plays. I don’t want him to all of [a] sudden try to be a checker or a guy who just keeps dumping the puck in because he’s nervous or whatever. I want him to make plays.”

Although there is no estimate for the return of defenceman Jakob Chychrun, who underwent knee surgery for a training injury this month, Tocchet is certain he’ll be back sometime in 2017-18.

“He’s just a beast,” Tocchet said. “If this happened to somebody else, you might have a guy who’s out for the year. I don’t know the timeframe, but it’s not for the year. It’s something that he’s going to bounce back [from]. He’s an animal. It’s almost like we’ve got to crank this kid down a little bit.”

Duchene rumours will not go away until he does

With Matt Duchene opening up about his frustration, we have to wonder if the push for a trade will intensify as training camp approaches.

The Penguins and Predators continue to be linked to the centre in rumours, and now the Sabres have popped into the conversation.

Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen — firmly in go-for-it mode — was asked by NHL.com if he’s still in the hunt for Duchene.

“If there’s a good player available that helps our team, we’ll look at it. It has to make sense for us in the long term as well as the short term. We’re not going to sell all our assets to try and get better for this year or the next little while. We have to keep our long-term options in mind,” Kekalainen said.

With the off-season departures of so many core contributors, some analyst types believe the Presidents’ Trophy winners have taken a step backwards this summer.

This ticks Evgeny Kuznetsov off.

“I don’t like when people say we’re a bad team right now,” Kuznetsov told NHL.com during the European Player Media Tour. “That’s bull to me. It’s not about the names. It’s about the guys when they come together.”

Departing free agents will be replaced with youth from within the Caps’ system. Get familiar with names like Jakub Vrana, Nathan Walker, Madison Bowey, and Christian Djoos, all of whom are in their early 20s.

“Our goal is to get a playoff spot,” Nicklas Backstrom said. “We should go one step at a time, get ourselves in the playoffs, and then we’ll go from there. As you know, everything can happen in the playoffs.”

Mazanec leaves Predators

When Czech goaltender Marek Mazanec filed for arbitration with the Nashville Predators this summer, GM David Poile promptly placed him on waivers, as if to prove that no NHL team wanted to pick him up.

Though Mazanec and the Preds did settle on a one-year, $650,000 contract in late-July, the 26-year-old netminder has instead opted for the KHL, where he’ll see more ice time and be closer to home.

Mazanec inked a one-year deal with Slovakia-based HC Slovan Bratislava, the club announced Monday.

Czech goalie Marek Mazanec @mazanec222 signed one year deal with #hcslovan @khl #VerniSlovanu pic.twitter.com/Od7yvYBNuv

— HC SLOVAN Bratislava (@hcslovanba) August 14, 2017

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Sportsnet.ca / A stud defence prospect for cheap? Let the Will Butcher bidding begin

Luke Fox

The Colorado Avalanche are about to officially lose the rights of the type of player the Colorado Avalanche could really use right about now: a blue-chip defence prospect.

Will Butcher is the reigning Hobey Baker Award champion, an excellent mover of pucks, the captain of an NCAA championship team, and a 22-year-old who can sign to any one of the 31 NHL teams he chooses once the clock strikes midnight.

NHL teams hold NCAA players' rights "through and including" Aug. 15 so midnight tonight is the first time other teams can express interest.

— Brian Bartlett (@BBarts) August 15, 2017

That Butcher must join the league at an entry-level price means the phone of his agent, Brian Bartlett, will be buzzing. Such was the case of star college graduates like Jimmy Vesey, Kevin Hayes, and Justin Schultz in recent Augusts past.

A steadily improving standout for the University of Denver, Butcher was selected by the Avalanche back in fifth round of the 2013 draft but never signed a deal with the team that finished in last place in 2016-17.

According to the Denver Post, Butcher wasn’t offered a deal from the Avs until April, after he was an NCAA champion.

Unlike the bulk of NHL rookies, he now has the power to choose his own adventure.

Butcher put up an impressive 37 points over 43 contests as a slick-passing senior and, in late July, Bartlett announced that his client would be exploring all options.

Butcher is far from the only NCAA prospect who will turn UFA this week — centres Alex Kerfoot (Harvard) and Dominic Toninato (Minnesota-Duluth) should also field some interest — but he’s certainly the best bet to make an impact on the NHL club that lands him.

The defenceman, who’s been praised for his two-way game and leadership, is eligible for a two-year contract worth $925,000 per season, plus performance bonuses.

Considering Butcher grew up in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, it’s no surprise that the nearby Chicago Blackhawks are reaching out, especially after their blue line took a hit with the departures of Nicklas Hjalmarsson, Brian Campbell and Trevor van Riemsdyk.

Among Butcher’s many suitors, we’d expect inquiries from the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild, Buffalo Sabres, and New Jersey Devils as well.

The Toronto Maple Leafs freed up a roster spot by waiving KHL-bound defenceman Alexy Marchenko Monday and are known for leaving no stone unturned.

The Post reported Tuesday that Butcher plans to speak with the Devils, Sabres and Vegas Golden Knights as early as Wednesday. The Knights currently have 11 defencemen under NHL contract and will need to trade or demote some members of their blue line before the season opens.

Bartlett is publicly saying the player is open to all offers and will not rule out a return to Colorado.

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“He’s in a unique position, so he has the opportunity to take advantage of it,” Bartlett told BSN Denver last month. “Those things don’t come around too often.”

A list of drafted College players who's club rights expire on Aug 15, 2017. pic.twitter.com/zKnKvsE7NB

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) August 9, 2017

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Sportsnet.ca / Heartfelt ‘Gino Odjick’ song pays tribute to a Canucks hero

Luke Fox

The miracle is that Gino Odjick is alive to hear his own tribute song.

A beloved Vancouver Canucks enforcer and giver of breathing room to Pavel Bure, Odjick was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder in June of 2014. He had suffered a heart attack and flatlined for nearly a minute. His death was expected within months, maybe weeks.

“They sent me from Vancouver back to Ottawa so I could go home to die,” Odjick told CBC News in March, thinking back to the doctors’ bad news. “Everything is in remission. Everything is good.”

Odjick turned to an experimental new treatment for his illness and is savouring each day. “Now, I’ve just got to keep hoping it doesn’t come back for the next 20 years.”

Canadian singer-songwriter Geoff Berner has released “Gino Odjick”. The song, plucked from the artist’s forthcoming Canadiana Grotesquica album, celebrates the soul of scrapper, heart over talent, capturing Odjick’s spirit with the chorus, “I’m just fighting to stay in the game.”

The tune also fires a shot at Mike Keenan, the Mark Messier captaincy, and wonders if Odjick was tempted to jersey the Pope.

“Odjick, an Algonquin, was a fan favourite because he played with such passion and determination,” says Berner, an accomplished accordion player and novelist. “The song is about someone who survived a violent system while keeping his dignity and becoming a leader in his community.”

The tune is accompanied by a mashup video by Andrew Pearson, who uses vintage news and game game footage of Odjick. It was originally written for Dave Bidini’s Hockey Day in Canada event in Whitehorse in 2011.

“Three years ago, doctors told Odjick he had an incurable condition, amyloidosis, and was likely to die within a few months. He underwent experimental treatment in Ottawa and, miraculously, survived with a clean bill of of health,” Berner says. “This incredible reversal only added to Gino Odjick’s mythical status with fans.”

Odjick, 46, continues his recovery in Vancouver and undergoes monthly checkups. He is featured in the 2017 enforcer documentary Ice Guardians, which raised money for the Gino Odjick Foundation.

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Sportsnet.ca / NHL Rumours: Pastrnak waiting on Oilers’ Draisaitl contract?

Luke Fox

It’s a gorgeous mid-August day. The only ice of importance should be floating in your Arnold Palmer.

So, naturally, your mind is on hockey rumours.

Here’s the latest buzz being generated on the unsigned (Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrnak, Jarome Iginla), the unextended (Paul Maurice), the untraded (Matt Duchene), and the unimpressed (Evgeny Kuznetsov).

Pastrnak waiting for Draisaitl to make him richer? Or is a trade on deck?

All due respect to your Connor Brown paranoia, but of the 19 restricted free agents who remain jobless in mid-August, the most important contract negotiations are those involving Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl and Boston’s David Pastrnak — two versatile, explosive, 21-year-old point producers coming off career seasons.

According to CSNE.com Bruins insider Joe Haggerty, Pastrnak’s camp is waiting on Draisaitl to set the financial bar for second-most dangerous forward on a team.

Boston and Pastrnak, Haggerty notes, had made progress on a long-term deal around six years at $6 million per, which would slide him under Brad Marchand’s $6.125 million cap hit. The big money earned by Connor McDavid, Ryan Johansen and Evgeny Kuznetsov this summer could benefit Pastrnak, who could end up making more than the more accomplished Marchand after all.

That former NHL general manager and current NHL Network analyst Brian Lawton tweeted the possibility of a Pastrnak trade Monday did little to calm the nerves of Bruins fans, a group who has seen its share of dynamic 21-year-olds moved ahead of their prime.

With what I am hearing I would not be surprised if David Pasternak @NHLBruins is traded. #contractproblems @NHLNetwork

— Brian Lawton (@brianlawton9) August 14, 2017

“I’m sure they can get this worked out,” Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask told the Boston Herald Monday. “That’s the game nowadays: These young guys, when they come out of their first contract, they’ve had great success and they want to get paid. That’s just the world we live in. I guess sometimes with the cap situations, it can put teams in a tough spot.

“He’s proven he can be top goal-scorer in the league and he wants to get paid. You can understand both sides of it. I have no idea what he’s asking, what the situation is. But I’m sure they’re going to find a solution at some point.”

We recently asked former Bruin Dominic Moore, who had a front-row seat to the Czech’s breakout campaign, just how good Pastrnak is.

“He’s one of those run-and-gun kind of guys with nothing to lose. He plays a happy-go-lucky style. He’s incredibly athletic and gifted. Guys like that are always learning, too,” Moore said.

“He had a long streak in the season where he didn’t score a goal. He can put too much pressure on himself. Guys like that are at their best when they’re free, with nothing to lose.”

Haggerty reports that the notion of Draisaitl making $9 million a year is too rich, and that he can see both RFA forwards settling more in the $7 million to $7.5 million range, using Vladimir Tarasenko’s 2015 contract as a comparable.

Funny that Peter Chiarelli could have an affect on the Bruins’ big summer re-signing.

Here’s Haggerty’s take on Lawton’s tweet: “By all accounts the Bruins currently have no appetite for trading Pastrnak, and this first volley of rumors would appear to be more about message-sending in negotiations rather than actually shipping out another elite young hockey player. If the trade stuff goes beyond that, then Don Sweeney, Cam Neely and the rest of the Bruins organization will begin destroying all the goodwill they built up with a pretty solid end kick to their season last year.”

David Pastrnak trade rumours?

CAROLINA HURRICANES

NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

Makes sense. pic.twitter.com/8L9fBkgY2p

— The Hockey Gods! (@HockeyGods) August 15, 2017

Jets’ Maurice remains unsigned beyond 2017-18

The notion of a lame-duck head coach or GM doesn’t quite fly in today’s NHL. Even if the man in charge enters a season on the hot seat, he’s usually given an extra year on his deal to help soothe egos and keep those dasdardly rumour mongers at bay.

So the Anaheim Ducks extended Randy Carlyle and the Columbus Blue Jackets took care of John Tortorella this summer, well in advance of camp opening.

Winnipeg’s Paul Maurice hasn’t enjoyed the recent success of those previous two bench bosses, however, and does not have a job in place beyond 2017-18.

Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free Press examined the situation, throwing out a few possibilities for the delay.

With head coach salaries on the rise, does Maurice want a juicy raise? Or more than a one-year extension in term? Is Cheveldayoff hesitant to give an extension to a coach who has yet to deliver a post-season win over three-and-a-half seasons?

“Paul has my full support,” Jets GM Kevin Chevaldayoff assured at the Jets’ season-ending press conference.

“Every contract I’ve ever done took about 10 minutes,” Maurice said.

That was more than four months ago.

“Actually I haven’t heard anything lately,” Jets spokesman Scott Brown told Wiecek. “But it’s not a topic I ask about until told.”

It’s a topic worth monitoring.

Iginla fit for the Oilers?

As unrestricted free agent Jarome Iginla continues to weigh his options, fans and content-makers are happy to push the future Hall of Famer toward certain teams.

Like, the Edmonton Oilers, on a one-year, bonus-heavy deal and a bottom-six role. Hey, he was born there! And, oh, how Flames fans would hate it.

David Staples of the Edmonton Journal is not entirely convinced, though.

“If Iginla is willing to play a Grumpy Old Man role (third line wing and second unit power play), it’s possible he could help the Oilers. He will amp up the pressure on Puljujarvi and Slepyshev to compete for and earn a spot. But if the two younger players were to win this competition, would Iginla be OK sitting in the press box? Would he be OK playing 50 or 60 games in a more limited role, taking on that Matt Hendricks roster spot?” Staples writes.

“I like the idea of more depth and more competition, but team chemistry is also crucial. If Iginla expects to be a top-six forward or to hell with it, he’s not a good fit here. But if his mindset is to do all he can and anything he can to help a young team on its path to Stanley Cup contention, then he might be able to help.”

We prefer the idea of Iginla going full Team Canada this winter instead.

How the Red Wings can soothe their cap issues

Detroit currently sits atop the league’s Cap Trouble leaderboard, reaching about $3.95 million above the ceiling, and that’s with RFA Andreas Athanasiou unsigned. (Johan Franzen’s $3.95 million cap hit will be stuffed on long-term injured reserve, though.)

Never say never, but few hockey men not named Ken Holland are pegging the Red Wings as a playoff contender this season, which makes his cap situation all the more concerning.

Big spenders better be big winners.

MLive.com takes a look at ways the Wings can get cap compliant.

Tomas Tatar, Luke Glendening, Ryan Sproul and Niklas Kronwall are all recovering from injuries, so there may be opportunity to place another player on LTIR before the season begins. Sproul, Riley Sheahan, Darren Helm, Peter Mrazek, and Mike Green could all be used as trade bait

if/when a competing team loses a player to injury in camp — although we see Green, especially, as more of a deadline rental.

Failing that, Detroit may be forced to waive a player like Sproul at the risk of losing a 24-year-old right-shot D-man.

Lawsuit may dampen St. Louis arena improvements

The Scottrade Center’s proposed $64-million makeover will have to hurdle a legal snag.

Alderwoman Cara Spencer, former state House Rep. Jeanette Oxford and former city counselor James Wilson name the city, the St. Louis Blues and the Blues’ ownership group, Kiel Center Partners, in a lawsuit arguing that the publicly funded renovation project is unconstitutional, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Kiel Center Partners said in a statement to the Associated Press that it considers the lawsuit “frivolous.”

NHL retirement could be Ovechkin’s ticket to Olympics

Will Alex Ovechkin join former NHL stars Ilya Kovalchuk, Andrei Markov and Pavel Datsyuk on a Russian national squad that may have its best shot at Olympic gold since 1988?

It’s a question that will undoubtedly pop up at training camp and could linger into January.

The “easiest” way for Ovechkin to make good on his vow to participate at PyeongChang Games, Lyle Richardson of Spector’s Hockey points out in a column, might be retirement. (Hey, Kovalchuk and Datsyuk did it.)

Ovie could easily become the KHL’s most handsomely paid sniper, but such a move his would mean turning his back on a guaranteed $40 million the Washington Capitals have committed to him through 2020-21. That kinda cake buys a lot of dreams.

Ovechkin appears to be holding his breath for a last-minute change of heart on NHL policy, but this could get sticky.

“It is an individual club decision on whether he would go,” NHLPA chief Donald Fehr said last month.

Tocchet: ‘Animal’ Chychrun won’t be out for a year

We’re thinking the new Arizona Coyotes coach will be good with the quotes.

Rick Tocchet recently spoke to NHL.com and offered up some strong words on prospect Dylan Strome’s big-league hopes.

“I don’t’ want him to come in and think we’re going to stick him on the checking line and play three minutes a game,” Tocchet told the league’s site. “If he’s going to make our team, we’ve got to play him and let him be creative with the puck … I want him to be able to hang on the puck and make plays. I don’t want him to all of [a] sudden try to be a checker or a guy who just keeps dumping the puck in because he’s nervous or whatever. I want him to make plays.”

Although there is no estimate for the return of defenceman Jakob Chychrun, who underwent knee surgery for a training injury this month, Tocchet is certain he’ll be back sometime in 2017-18.

“He’s just a beast,” Tocchet said. “If this happened to somebody else, you might have a guy who’s out for the year. I don’t know the timeframe, but it’s not for the year. It’s something that he’s going to bounce back [from]. He’s an animal. It’s almost like we’ve got to crank this kid down a little bit.”

Duchene rumours will not go away until he does

With Matt Duchene opening up about his frustration, we have to wonder if the push for a trade will intensify as training camp approaches.

The Penguins and Predators continue to be linked to the centre in rumours, and now the Sabres have popped into the conversation.

Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen — firmly in go-for-it mode — was asked by NHL.com if he’s still in the hunt for Duchene.

“If there’s a good player available that helps our team, we’ll look at it. It has to make sense for us in the long term as well as the short term. We’re not going to sell all our assets to try and get better for this year or the next little while. We have to keep our long-term options in mind,” Kekalainen said.

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Matt Duchene has some sweet hands : pic.twitter.com/CCksNnMCNR

— From The Faceoff (@FromTheFaceoff) August 12, 2017

Daily reminder: Jaromir Jagr needs a job

31 General Managers, $218,525,971 of total cap space between all teams and Jaromir Jagr is still unsigned. pic.twitter.com/faxbSygM3n

— The Hockey Gods! (@HockeyGods) August 11, 2017

Kuznetsov hears your Capitals hating, and he does not approve

With the off-season departures of so many core contributors, some analyst types believe the Presidents’ Trophy winners have taken a step backwards this summer.

This ticks Evgeny Kuznetsov off.

“I don’t like when people say we’re a bad team right now,” Kuznetsov told NHL.com during the European Player Media Tour. “That’s bull to me. It’s not about the names. It’s about the guys when they come together.”

Departing free agents will be replaced with youth from within the Caps’ system. Get familiar with names like Jakub Vrana, Nathan Walker, Madison Bowey, and Christian Djoos, all of whom are in their early 20s.

“Our goal is to get a playoff spot,” Nicklas Backstrom said. “We should go one step at a time, get ourselves in the playoffs, and then we’ll go from there. As you know, everything can happen in the playoffs.”

Mazanec leaves Predators

When Czech goaltender Marek Mazanec filed for arbitration with the Nashville Predators this summer, GM David Poile promptly placed him on waivers, as if to prove that no NHL team wanted to pick him up.

Though Mazanec and the Preds did settle on a one-year, $650,000 contract in late-July, the 26-year-old netminder has instead opted for the KHL, where he’ll see more ice time and be closer to home.

Mazanec inked a one-year deal with Slovakia-based HC Slovan Bratislava, the club announced Monday.

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TSN.CA / Leafs' 'father figure' on D focuses on reaching next level

By Kristen Shilton

At just 23, Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly is already one of the club’s longest-tenured members, a (jokingly) self-proclaimed “father figure” among an influx of unseasoned youths.

In reality, the four-year NHL veteran has simply cut his teeth on the lows (disappointing regular seasons, a 30th-place finish) and highs (last season’s playoff berth) of a franchise that’s been in transition. With those days seemingly behind them, Rielly and the Leafs are in search of their next levels.

Toronto started the hunt in July by punctuating a relatively quiet off-season with the talked-about signing of soon-to-be 38-year-old forward Patrick Marleau to a three-year, $18.75 million contract. His acquisition dwarfed Toronto’s only other free agent signings so far: centre Dominic Moore (one year, $1 million) and defenceman Ron Hainsey (two years, $6 million). But as a whole the new additions are just one reason why, with one month to go until training camp opens, Rielly is in some happily uncharted territory.

“Just the mentality, that feeling amongst the guys going into a year, it’s extremely different than in any other that I’ve been a part of,” Rielly told TSN.ca recently. “Those were very strong moves. They send a clear message to our players and the rest of the league that we feel we’ve got

a team that can compete. When you look at Marleau as an example of a great guy who wants to compete for a championship later in his career, to come to our team, that speaks volumes.”

Being a contender takes a whole team effort and, to that end, head coach Mike Babcock told NHL.com last week the Leafs brought Hainsey in to pair with Rielly to help him reach the “upper echelon” he’s capable of. The 36-year-old Hainsey has averaged 21 minutes a night over 907 career games, and brings shot blocking and penalty-killing abilities. With his age and skill set, having him in the Leafs’ top-four is fine, if not exactly optimal. But what he offers Rielly, who was paired with rookie Nikita Zaitsev for much of 2016-17, is an experienced right-hand man who could allow him to get more involved offensively.

Alter: Hainsey on top pairing isn't surprising due to Leafs lacking depth

The Athletic T.O. Maple Leafs Reporter David Alter, joined Gareth Wheeler on Toronto Today to discuss the potential of Ron Hainsey playing alongside Morgan Rielly on the Leafs top pairing and what the Leafs can do to fill holes on defence.

“When you hear your coach make comments like that, it definitely makes you want to be better. Maybe it might add a little pressure on me to play well and live up to that,” Rielly said of Babcock’s public vote of confidence. “Going into camp you want to be in the best shape you can be and prove them right, so I’m looking forward to doing that. If I do wind up playing with Hainsey I think we’ll be able to complement each other very well and hopefully make each other better.”

Rielly said he and Hainsey have spoken already via text ahead of training camp, to which Rielly is counting down the days. He’s spent the bulk of the off-season in his hometown of West Vancouver, able to train at 100 per cent with no residual issues from a high-ankle sprain suffered in January. Even with the injury, Rielly led all Leafs skaters in ice time, averaging 22:10 per game, and added six goals and 21 assists in 76 games. This year, unlike last fall, Rielly will have an entire training camp to work with Hainsey and the Leafs staff to prepare without a distraction like the World Cup of Hockey.

The Leafs will be banking almost solely on growth from within if they continue to stand pat on defence before October, although they have made an effort to upgrade, most notably going deep into trade talks with the New York Islanders for Travis Hamonic. Toronto did lure Swedish defencemen Calle Rosen and Andreas Borgman across the pond in May, but also lost Matt Hunwick who departed in free agency to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Roman Polak remains a UFA as he recovers from a knee injury suffered in the postseason against Washington. The Leafs also placed Alexey Marchenko on unconditional waivers Monday to terminate his contact and allow him to return to the KHL.

With the top four defensive spots seemingly spoken for by Rielly, Hainsey, Jake Gardiner and Zaitsev, that leaves Martin Marincin (who has failed to take hold of a regular spot despite Babcock’s chances) and Connor Carrick (whose ice time by the postseason dwindled dramatically) as the most likely options to round out the opening night roster – but not before they beat out the competition, including Leafs’ top prospect Travis Dermott. At 20, he’s something of a wild card going into camp. Dermott posted 24 points with the AHL Marlies last season while establishing himself as the club’s best blueliner. Praising Dermott as a “talented, mobile young defenceman,” Rielly has seen him this off-season in Toronto’s gym working hard to make the jump. If he can, Dermott (or the quick emergence of Rosen or Borgman) could well be the (non) trade pieces the Leafs end up calling upon.

“Going into a new year with the guys we had last year, we know one another, we know what each other likes to do,” Rielly said. “I think when you look at the strides we were able to make last year, they’re only going to get bigger and become more important next year. For myself, for [Carrick], for [Gardiner], we’re all pretty young guys and we’re all really motivated to get better. Having that playoff experience gave us a taste of what that’s like and to look around the room and see how much each guy cared about it, it was a cool feeling. I’m really looking forward to the growth of our team and the growth of our young guys."

Still, potentially starting five of six defenders who were part of an oft-maligned group from a season ago wouldn’t come without some risk. Toronto gave up 2.85 goals per game last season – the most by any team that made the playoffs – and made a habit of blowing third-period leads. If not for their remarkable health (Rielly’s six-game absence with his ankle sprain was the most significant among defencemen, while only 10 games were lost to injury among top-12 forwards), the Leafs could easily have been on the outside looking in at the postseason.

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NEWS CLIPPINGS • Aug. 16, 2017

Already determined to see his team avoid that fate this spring, Rielly is focused on what he himself can control – and that's being at his best.

“It’s important during the off-season that you take a step back to look at where you were playing very well and how you can repeat that,” Rielly said. “But then you also have to look at the other side of the coin and where you weren’t really happy with what you were able to do and you have to ask yourself, ‘what can I do to not let that happen again?’ There’s lots [I can do better]. My job is to be the best I can be and that’s knowing what those [issues] are and putting in the time to improve on them. I think I’ve really been able to do that.”

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TSN.CA / Report: Leafs' Marchenko signs with CSKA

TSN.ca Staff

Alexey Marchenko is headed back to Russia, but his agent Dan Milstein said he hopes to return to the NHL in the future.

The Toronto Maple Leafs waived the defenceman on Monday and he cleared on Tuesday.

Igor Eronko of Russia's Sport-Express reports Marchenko will sign a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the KHL.

Marchenko, 25, played in 25 games with the Leafs upon being picked up on waivers from the Detroit Red Wings on February 4. He scored one goal and posted one assist with Toronto, he had six assists in 30 games with the Red Wings. He was signed through this season at a cap hit of $1.45 million.

A seventh-round pick in 2011, Marchenko owns four goals and 17 assists in 121 career NHL games.

CSKA Moscow president Igor Esmantovich said in April the team hoped to lure back former players of the club over the off-season, including Marchenko. Mikhail Grigorenko and Roman Lyubimov, who were both also mentioned by name by Esmantovich at the time, signed signed deals with CSKA in July.

Marchenko, a native of Moscow, played four seasons with the KHL club before joining the Red Wings for the 2013-14 season.

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TSN.CA / Which NHLers are best at getting close to the net?

By Travis Yost

A tried-and-true way of generating scoring chances and goals? Get as close to the net as possible.

That’s easier said than done in the modern era of hockey where defences are exceptional at pushing attacking forwards to the perimeter.

Still, there are some players who have mastered the art of attacking through the heart of centre ice. Some use lightning-quick agility to duck around defenders. Others use brute strength and force to position themselves well for tape-to-tape passes and rebound opportunities. It’s certainly not a one-size-fits-all type of talent, but it is a valuable one.

Let’s be clear. Attacking at the front of the net is a repeatable talent. Shot locations for individual forwards do not fluctuate extensively year-over-year, meaning that the forwards who do routinely work their way inside of the defence continue to do so over long periods of time.

If you pulled out every regular forward’s average shot location at even-strength situations in a given year and compared it to the same forward’s average shot location in the subsequent year, you’d quickly see how persistent these distances are. The graph below speaks for itself:

Embedded Image

The names in the lower-left quadrant aren’t particularly surprising. Connor McDavid already may be the best in the league at worming his way around less mobile defenders. Ryan Kesler is similarly effective, though the shots he’s generating are mostly from him winning puck battles in traffic and out-positioning his defender.

The other side is interesting, too. I called out a couple of names in Claude Giroux and Mike Hoffman, if only to show that average shot distance is not the same for every player. Giroux has never been known as a sniper (over his career he’s a little more than 10 per cent). Combine that with increasingly disparate shot distances, and you have to wonder how much these ridiculously long shot distances are plaguing his goal-scoring rates. Conversely, I’m not sure you have to wonder about Hoffman’s longer distances here. Hoffman has one of the better shots in the entire league and, like most snipers around the league, he really just needs the right angle and right location (his preference is usually just outside of the dot) to beat goaltenders on a regular basis.

Now that we know shot distance is a repeatable talent, we can easily tease out which skaters in the league are the best (or worst!) at generating shots from around the net. Below is a breakout of some of the shortest and longest shot distances for forwards over the last four years.

Embedded Image

A few names stand out to me on both sides of the aisle. For starters, I look at Colin Wilson – a player who lives in front of the net and has shot about 12 per cent over the course of his career – as something of a steal for Colorado. Remember, they acquired him from Nashville for just a fourth-round pick. That’s pretty darn good for a guy who has averaged about 40 points per full season over the course of his career.

Chris Kreider (we already knew this!) and Tyler Bozak are also interesting names here. Bozak has been something of a polarizing player for most of his career, but one thing you really can’t knock is his ability to generate offence. Bozak’s scored like a top-six forward for a few years now and that’s at least partially driven by a ridiculous 15-per-cent conversion rate over 800 shots. I’d put Bozak in the ‘crafty and elusive’ category as it pertains to the short shot distances, by the way.

On the long shot distance side, there’s a clear divide between snipers – Mike Hoffman, Alex Ovechkin and Jack Eichel – who know their sweet spot on the ice, and the guys who have seen ruinous or degrading goal-scoring rates because of how frequently they are pushed out of the premier scoring areas. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Ryan Getzlaf and whether he follows a similar pattern as Giroux has in Philadelphia. Getzlaf has managed just 13 and 15 goals, respectively, over the last two seasons. He’s still an elite playmaker, but he’s not nearly the effective goal-scorer he once was.

One last note: Shot distance is just one of many drivers affecting the probability of a goal being scored. Things like shooting angles, screeners, sequential passing, shot type and game state all explicitly drive the likelihood of a puck finding the back of the net. But there remains tremendous value in identifying the guys who can cut through the middle of the most dangerous scoring area on the ice, and average shot distance is extremely helpful at identifying this type of player.

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