Random Thoughts: Busy week for NHL
By Jason Gregor
6 years agoThe next four days should provide a lot of discussion. The NHL player awards are tonight. Will Connor McDavid get the Trifecta?
The expansion draft will coincide with the awards and we’ll see who the Las Vegas Knights select, but the bigger story will likely be who they don’t choose and what trades they make. Some of Vegas’ trades will be announced this evening, while the rest will be officially announced on Thursday, but I suspect most will leak out before they are announced officially.
The expansion draft will coincide with the awards and we’ll see who the Las Vegas Knights select, but the bigger story will likely be who they don’t choose and what trades they make. Some of Vegas’ trades will be announced this evening, while the rest will be officially announced on Thursday, but I suspect most will leak out before they are announced officially.
The trade freeze ends Thursday morning, and then the focus shifts to the NHL draft in Chicago. Will we see more trades than usual, because GMs have been talking more leading up to the expansion draft? I’ll take a cautious approach and hopefully be surprised, rather than expect many deals and be disappointed.
Chicago is hosting the draft and they made a huge announcement this morning. Marian Hossa will not play hockey this year.
Hockey fans will have no shortage of story lines to follow over the next four days.
Hossa released this statement earlier today.
“Over the course of the last few years, under the supervision of the Blackhawks medical staff, I have been privately undergoing treatment for a progressive skin disorder and the side effects of the medications involved to treat the disorder. Due to the severe side effects associated with those medications, playing hockey is not possible for me during the upcoming 2017-18 season. While I am disappointed that I will not be able to play, I have to consider the severity of my condition and how the treatments have impacted my life both on and off the ice.
The Chicago Blackhawks organization, including Rocky Wirtz, John McDonough and Stan Bowman, and my agent, Ritch Winter, have been very supportive throughout this entire process. I would also like to thank my teammates and the amazing Blackhawks fans for their understanding. With respect to the privacy of my family, I will not be commenting any further on my health.”
It is a very unfortunate situation, and Elliott Friedman reported Hossa has an allergic reaction to the equipment he wears.
It doesn’t sound very promising, but the timing of the announcement will raise some eyebrows.
Hossa has four years remaining on his 12 year contract. He made $59.3 million the previous eight seasons, but the next four years he will make only $4 million, one million per season. I don’t doubt Hossa has this condition, however, it is fair to question the timing of the announcement. He dealt with it in previous years, but now with his salary sliding down to $1 million/year he doesn’t want to risk it any more. I can understand it. I don’t doubt there are side effects, and only the Hawks medical team and Hossa know how dangerous or painful it is to endure.
Hossa scored 26 goals last season, his second highest goal total in the last five seasons. So he can still play. It’s not like he couldn’t help the Blackhawks on the ice, and I can understand if the health risk isn’t worth the reward for him now that his salary is significantly lower, but instead of retiring Hossa will go on LTIR and that is a massive sayings for the Blackhawks. Had Hossa retired the Blackhawks would have faced a cap recapture penalty of $3.675 million off their cap number for the next four seasons. In this scenario Hossa still gets his money, but not the irritation, while Chicago avoids hefty cap penalty.
Taking the season off gives Chicago some cap flexibility. And I expect this will be a four-year skin problem for Hossa. I’m sure some NHL teams won’t be happy, and even though Hossa’s condition seems valid, the timing doesn’t look great. I hope Hossa’s long-term health is okay, but the Blackhawks cap situation just got a lot better over the next few seasons. It isn’t the first time we’ve seen a team find unique ways to circumvent the salary cap.
I also expect Stan Bowman to make a big move on Friday. Chicago is hosting the draft, the Hawks suddenly have more cap space and they are still stinging from being swept in the first round by Nashville.
QUICK HITS…
- I had a few conversations with people around the league and one person within the Oilers organization, and they all expect the Oilers to lose Griffin Reinhart in the expansion draft later tonight. “I believe he will be a solid third pairing defender. He isn’t flashy, and he’s taken longer than expected, but I believe he’ll be a regular NHLer for many years,” an NHL scout said on Monday. It likely won’t be with Edmonton though.
- With defensemen Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones, Ziyat Paigan and Ryan Mantha in the system, the Oilers will draft a skilled forward at #22. Their high-end offensive skill outside of the NHL roster is very low. They need to draft a forward they believe can become a top-six player in three or four years.
- “When I played with Ray Bourque I couldn’t understand how any other D-man won the Norris trophy,” said Adam Oates. “I saw Bourque play every day. I saw how much he played and how skilled and physical he was. He was a beast. It wasn’t that I didn’t respect other players, but when you see a guy play at a high level every single day no other defenseman I played against was better. It is hard to know how good a player is when you only see them a few times a year,” continued Oates. He was referring to voting for NHL awards. He said whether you are a player, a GM or member of the PHWA there will always be some sort of bias, even if you try to be impartial and do a lot of research. I agree with him, but it still makes no sense to me that in 1986 when Wayne Gretzky scored 215 points the NHLPA didn’t vote him as the most outstanding player.
- With the draft on Friday and NHL free agency starting next Saturday, July 1st, it will be interesting to watch what the non-playoff teams in the west do to improve. Winnipeg missed the playoffs by seven points, the Kings eight, Dallas by 15, Arizona by 24, Vancouver by 25 and Colorado by 46. Which one of them to you believe has the best chance to return to the playoffs, and if they do which team comes out? There is usually at least one change, and often two, but right now there doesn’t look like an obvious choice among the eight playoff teams you’d pick to fall out of the playoffs. Dallas and Winnipeg must improve their goaltending, while LA needs to add some scoring. The Kings would be my choice to return to the postseason, and if I had to pick a team to slide out today I’d take the Flames, but that’s only because I have to pick one.
- The Nation is throwing a FREE Nation Appreciation Night presented by West Edmonton Mall on Friday at the Pint Downtown. Get all the details on the swag bags and giveaways here.
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