Sport-Scan Daily Brief

Home , Alan Wirth, Dave Heaverlo, Ekpe Udoh, Golden Boy Promotions, Jack Savage, Kirill Maksimov

SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 7/7/2020 Anaheim Ducks Edmonton Oilers 1187399 NHL, NHLPA reach tentative agreement on return-to-play 1187424 Hub City musings: Hey, this is crazy enough to work plan and CBA extension 1187425 JONES: NHL checks all boxes when it comes to team 1187400 NHL says 23 players tested positive for COVID-19 since bubbles start of small-group workouts 1187426 JONES: Home-ice advantage not a factor for Edmonton 1187401 NHL, players tentatively agree on plan to return to ice, Oilers plus extension of CBA 1187427 Every Oilers AHL prospect rated by how close they are to the NHL Boston Bruins 1187402 NHL reaches tentative agreement on season’s return Los Angeles Kings 1187403 Jake DeBrusk's agent brushes off talk of hometown 1187428 NHL, NHLPA reach tentative agreement on return-to-play discount with Bruins plan and CBA extension 1187404 NHL playoffs continue to feel like they are very close to 1187429 NHL says 23 players tested positive for COVID-19 since reality start of small-group workouts 1187430 Kings GM Rob Blake has a lot to accomplish in offseason Buffalo Sabres and a lot of time to do it 1187405 Maiorana's Memories: Sabres rolled past the Leafs to 1187431 NHL, players tentatively agree on plan to return to ice, advance to the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals plus extension of CBA 1187406 Sabres Mailbag: Looking ahead to Kevyn Adams' first 1187432 REIGN COACHING SEARCH UPDATE, ANDREWS offseason as GM RETIRES, REIGNY DAY PODCAST Calgary Flames Minnesota Wild 1187407 Inside the historic Iginla-Nieuwendyk trade — and what if it 1187433 NHL season is one step closer never happened? 1187434 NHL, players reach agreement to start season Aug. 1 1187435 Wild to open training camp next week, return to play Aug. Carolina Hurricanes 1 1187408 Tentative dates set for the Carolina Hurricanes’ training camp, NHL’s return to play Montreal Canadiens 1187436 Stu on Sports: Happy 20th birthday to Canadiens' Jesperi Chicago Blackhawks Kotkaniemi 1187409 Blackhawks to start training camp in Chicago next week, 1187437 What the Puck: A shot at Alexis Lafrenière the best begin playoffs Aug. 1 scenario for Canadiens 1187410 NHL, NHLPA reach tentative agreement on Return to Play 1187438 A bursting bubble: Deciding who goes to Toronto won’t be plan and CBA extension easy for the Canadiens 1187411 Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews participates in Monday's voluntary practice Nashville Predators 1187412 If Brent Seabrook returns, where does he fit in 1187439 John Hynes’ guide to the Predators’ return-to-play training Blackhawks' postseason lineup? camp 1187413 Percentage of NHL's COVID-19 positive test results remains steady New Jersey Devils 1187414 Blackhawks add slick-skating Wisconsin defenseman 1187440 N.H.L. and Players Agree to Start Postseason Wyatt Kalynuk to the mix Tournament on Aug. 1 Colorado Avalanche New York Islanders 1187415 Avs’ Pierre-Edouard Bellemare may not see his family for 1187441 Ilya Sorokin won't be allowed to join Islanders for restarted weeks. But he’s “ready to make some sacrifices to win NHL season 1187416 NHL has had 23 positive COVID-19 tests during voluntary 1187442 NHL, players reach agreement to return to play, extend workouts CBA 1187417 NHL and Players’ Association tentatively agree on 2020 1187443 With the CBA extended, will Ilya Sorokin join the Islanders return to play plan, CBA extension this season? Columbus Blue Jackets New York Rangers 1187418 No fans? Possible remote broadcasts? NHL games will 1187444 Analyzing NY Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes qualifying certainly be different round series: Forwards 1187445 NHL, players reach agreement to return to play, extend Dallas Stars CBA 1187419 NHL announces start dates for qualifying round, training camp along with protocols for each Philadelphia Flyers 1187420 What did Stars players value in negotiations? Food, golf, 1187446 Kevin Hayes named Flyers’ Gene Hart award winner Olympics and more 1187447 NHL, players reach tentative return-to-play deal. Flyers would play in Toronto. Detroit Red Wings 1187448 Source: Former Flyers prospect Wyatt Kalynuk to sign 1187421 I'm predicting big 2020-21 season for Detroit Red Wings' with Blackhawks Tyler Bertuzzi. Here's why 1187449 2020 NHL playoffs: Key dates, coronavirus testing 1187422 NHL sets key dates in return to play plan protocols, more on return to play 1187423 Saginaw’s Cole Perfetti popular pick for Red Wings in 1187450 2019-20 Flyers season grades: Scott Laughton mock drafts 1187451 Kevin Hayes earns Flyers' 2019-20 Gene Hart Memorial Award Pittsburgh Penguins World Leagues News 1187452 Double Team: Kings, Penguins both lucky to have had Luc 1187481 Sport, cinemas and casinos among closures in Robitalle Melbourne's new coronavirus lockdown 1187453 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins sign forwards Zach 1187482 Some sports leagues, teams approved for coronavirus Nastasiuk and Nick Schilkey relief money 1187483 MLB coronavirus testing issues dangerous development San Jose Sharks 1187484 Sports jumps on PPP bandwagon, but big leagues take a 1187454 NHL, NHLPA agree to four-year CBA extension through pass 2025-26 season 1187485 Riders with a mix of concern, acceptance in first post- 1187455 Jerry Rice, Jeff Kent, Andre Iguodala and more: The Bay coronavirus races Area’s 20 best trades 1187486 The NBA should heed MLS's warning signs and move its restart from Orlando to Canada St Louis Blues 1187487 35 NHL players test positive, Nationals suspend camp as 1187456 NHL, players reach agreement on labor deal, rules for sports try to return amid coronavirus surge restarting, but it needs approval 1187488 Coronavirus: RFU could cut workforce by quarter after 1187457 NHL, players' association reach tentative deal on four-year pandemic extension to CBA 1187489 NCAA FOOTBALL: Coronavirus testing a stress threat for athletic budgets Toronto Maple Leafs 1187490 NASCAR races on at Indy after Johnson contracts 1187458 NHL says 35 players have now tested positive for coronavirus COVID-19 1187459 Don't get mushy on us, NHL arena ice 1187460 NHL bubble could be safest place to be in Canada SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129 1187461 The Leafs are the Best: An oral history of ‘The Passion Returns’ VHS video Vancouver Canucks 1187472 Ben Kuzma: Will COVID-19 protocols help prevent NHL bubble trouble? 1187473 Tyler Myers on testing concerns, leaving his family and the NHL’s return to play Vegas Golden Knights 1187462 Las Vegas reportedly misses out on hosting NHL restart 1187463 NHL, NHLPA tentatively agree on CBA extension, return-to-play plan 1187464 NHL Network to feature Golden Knights’ ‘classics’ on Wednesday 1187465 Robin Lehner unveils his newest Golden Knights-themed pads 1187466 NHL, union announce plan to resume play on Aug. 1 Washington Capitals 1187467 NHL, NHL Players' Association agree to tentative return- to-play plan, CBA extension 1187468 Life in the bubble: NHL details protocols for Phase 4 of return-to-play plan 1187469 NHL reports nine new COVID-19 cases, bringing total to 35 1187470 Report: NHL coaches won't be required to wear masks during games Websites 1187474 The Athletic / NHL reading room: 31 teams, 31 book recommendations 1187475 The Athletic / Wheeler: The top 50 drafted NHL prospects ranking, 2020 edition 1187476 Sportsnet.ca / NHL's impending labour peace a huge win amid difficult times 1187477 Sportsnet.ca / What life in NHL's 'secure zone' could look like when season restarts 1187478 Sportsnet.ca / Pavel Barber teaches technique of Auston Matthews' drag-release shot 1187479 TSN.CA / NHL, NHLPA on verge of labour peace; plan to resume games Aug. 1 1187480 TSN.CA / The ripple effect of home-ice advantage vanishing Winnipeg Jets 1187471 Five important storylines to follow as the Jets’ return to play nears 1187399 Anaheim Ducks CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 23: (L-R) Rob Blake and Luc Robitaille of the Los Angeles Kings attend the 2017 NHL Draft.

HOCKEY NHL, NHLPA reach tentative agreement on return-to-play plan and CBA extension Kings GM Rob Blake has a lot to accomplish in offseason and a lot of time to do it

Anyone who exhibits symptoms of COVID-19 during Phase 3 will be told By HELENE ELLIOTTSPORTS COLUMNIST JULY 6, 20203:26 PM to consult the team medical staff and self-isolate. Anyone who tests UPDATED8:21 PM positive will be isolated from the team. Players who test positive will be designated unfit to play and have “sustained an illness arising out of the course of his employment as a hockey player.” Club medical personnel The NHL and NHL Players’ Assn. on Monday announced they had will conduct contract tracing to determine who might have had contact reached a tentative agreement on a detailed Return to Play plan that with an infected player. would relaunch the season on Aug. 1, and at the same time said they have a Memorandum Of Understanding to extend their existing collective The protocol document for Phase 4 emphasizes each person’s bargaining agreement by four years, through the 2025-26 season. responsibility to obey all aspects of the protocol. “While comprehensive, the steps outlined in the Protocol cannot mitigate all risk,” it reads in part. In identical statements, the league and the union said formal training Teams will be situated in a Phase 4 Secure Zone that will include their camps will start on July 13, the third phase of the four-phase plan. That hotel, restaurants, their practice rink and “other demarcated areas” for will be followed by travel to the two playoff hub cities on July 26. The entertainment. Anyone who leaves the secure zone might have to qualifying round, part of the expanded, 24-team playoff format, will start undergo testing and a quarantine before they can re-enter. on Aug. 1, launching Phase 4. The two hub cities were not specified but the sites reportedly will be Edmonton and Toronto. The conference finals Players’ families will be permitted to join them during the conference and Stanley Cup Final will be held in one city. finals and Stanley Cup Final if those family members agree to daily testing and to follow medical protocols. The document also says social The agreement is subject to approval from the NHL’s board of governors excursions will be arranged if health standards can be maintained. and from the NHLPA’s executive board and full membership. Violations of the protocol can result in fines and/or loss of draft picks for The NHL halted its season on March 12 because of the COVID-19 teams, the termination of third party vendors’ contracts, and dismissal of pandemic. After considering completing the final 15% of the regular staffers from the Secure Zone. season schedule that remained when play was paused, the league and the union agreed instead to scrap the regular season and resume with LA Times: LOADED: 07.07.2020 postseason play.

Players will be permitted to opt out of Phases 3 and 4 “without discipline or penalty,” according to the protocol documents. Those players must notify their clubs, the league and the NHLPA within 72 hours of the end of the ratification process if they want to opt out.

The basis for a decision to move, postpone or cancel games “shall be whether the commencement or continuation of the Game[s] would likely create a material risk to Player health and safety and/or jeopardize the integrity of the competition,” the Phase 4 document states. If the NHLPA is unhappy with the decision it can pursue arbitration.

Staples Center before the final game of the Kings' 2019-20 season against the Ottawa Senators on March 11.

HOCKEY

L.A. not chosen as NHL hub city for revamped Stanley Cup playoffs

The NHL said 23 players had tested positive for COVID-19 since players were allowed to report to clubs’ training and practice facilities for voluntary, small-group workouts. The league said in a news release 396 players had reported for workouts and that 2,900 tests had been administered as of Monday. The league won’t provide names of those who tested positive.

“In addition, since June 8 [the opening of Phase 2], the League is aware of 12 additional Players who have tested positive for COVID-19 outside of the Phase 2 Protocol,” the release said. “All Players who have tested positive have been self-isolated and are following CDC and Health Canada protocols.”

Training camps will be held in each team’s home city with a maximum of 30 skaters and an unlimited number of goaltenders permitted to participate. Teams must give the league a list of participants by Thursday.

All players must submit to rigorous procedures that include COVID-19 testing 48 hours before they arrive at the training facility, testing every other day and following social distancing procedures. The use of hot and cold tubs, saunas and steam rooms is prohibited, and teams must follow strict cleaning and disinfecting requirements in their facilities. 1187400 Anaheim Ducks

NHL says 23 players tested positive for COVID-19 since start of small- group workouts

By HELENE ELLIOTTSPORTS COLUMNIST JULY 6, 202012:09 PM UPDATED5:29 PM

Anyone who exhibits symptoms of COVID-19 during Phase 3 will be told to consult the team medical staff and self-isolate. Anyone who tests positive will be isolated from the team. Players who test positive will be designated unfit to play and have “sustained an illness arising out of the course of his employment as a hockey player.” Club medical personnel will conduct contact tracing to determine who might have had contact with an infected player.

The protocol document for Phase 4 emphasizes each person’s responsibility to obey all aspects of the protocol. “While comprehensive, the steps outlined in the Protocol cannot mitigate all risk,” it reads in part. Teams will be situated in a Phase 4 Secure Zone that will include their hotel, restaurants, their practice rink and “other demarcated areas” for entertainment. Anyone who leaves the secure zone may have to undergo testing and a quarantine before they can re-enter.

Players’ families will be permitted to join them during the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final if those family members agree to daily testing and to follow medical protocols. The document also says social excursions will be arranged if health standards can be maintained.

Violations of the protocol can result in fines and/or loss of draft picks for teams, the termination third party vendors’ contracts, and dismissal of staffers from the Secure Zone.

In addition, the union and the league each can notify the other during Phase 3 or Phase 4 if one has reason to believe that player health and safety might be jeopardized. In that case, the league, union, NHL event medical director, NHLPA medical consultant and infectious disease experts would be jointly consulted. The basis for a decision to move, postpone or cancel games “shall be whether the commencement or continuation of the Game(s) would likely create a material risk to Player health and safety and/or jeopardize the integrity of the competition,” the Phase 4 document states. If the NHLPA is unhappy with the decision it can pursue arbitration.

LA Times: LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187401 Anaheim Ducks

NHL, players tentatively agree on plan to return to ice, plus extension of CBA

By ELLIOTT TEAFORD | PUBLISHED: July 6, 2020 at 3:21 p.m. | UPDATED: July 6, 2020 at 3:54 p.m.

The NHL and the league’s players reached a tentative agreement Monday on the resumption of the 2019-20 season while also extending their collective bargaining agreement by an additional four seasons. Training camps will begin July 13 and games will start Aug. 1 in Toronto and Edmonton.

No fans will be in attendance for any of the games or practices.

The league’s board of governors and the players’ association must now approve the agreements, which would ensure a return to the ice for the first time since the season was halted almost four months ago. The extension of the CBA would ensure labor peace through the 2025-26 season.

The top 12 teams in the Eastern Conference will be based in Toronto and play their play-in and playoff games at the Scotiabank Arena, home of the Maple Leafs. The top 12 from the Western Conference will be based in Edmonton and play in Rogers Place, home of the Oilers.

Edmonton will host the conference finals and the Stanley Cup Final.

Teams will travel to the hub cities July 26.

Neither the Ducks nor the Kings were included in the return to play plan, having finished outside the top 12 in the West. No date has been set for the start of the 2020-21 season, although it’s believed to be set for December at the earliest, several months after the customary early October start.

The NHL had considered 10 venues as hub cities, including Los Angeles. But the recent spike in coronavirus cases in some United States cities sent the league north of the border for the resumption of the season. The league paused play March 12 because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Cases in Canada have been on the decline in recent weeks.

Earlier in the day, the league announced a total of 35 players had tested positive for the coronavirus since testing began June 8. The league also said more than 2,900 tests on 396 players had been performed as of Monday. The players who have tested positive have self-quarantined.

No names have been or will be released by the league, the NHL said in a statement.

The opening of training camp represents Phase 3 of the league’s plan. Phase 2 called for the return of players to their team’s practice rinks, where they could work out on the ice and in the weight room in small groups. As many as 30 skaters plus an unlimited number of goalies can skate in Phase 3.

Rosters will be limited to 31 players, including goalies, for Phase 4, the resumption of play in what the NHL is calling Secure Zones in the two hub cities. Teams will be isolated from each other in hotels. Players can opt not to participate in either Phase 3 or 4 without penalty or discipline.

Each team will be restricted to 52 people in its traveling party, including players, coaches, athletic trainers and other staff members, and each will be tested daily. Game officials, arena workers and others who come into contact with the teams also will be tested.

The league and the players can cancel, move or postpone the games if the conditions represent a risk to the “health and safety” of the players or jeopardize the “integrity of the competition,” according to the NHL. There is no set number of cases that constitute an uncontrollable outbreak, however.

The NHL has said isolated cases are not sufficient to halt play.

The agreement between the league and its players was outlined in two documents totaling 47 pages.

Orange County Register: LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187402 Boston Bruins hotel restaurants and arenas; housekeeping, kitchen and prep staff; drivers and the ice crew. Anyone who has direct or indirect contact with players will be tested daily.

NHL reaches tentative agreement on season’s return ▪ At the start of the tournament, with 24 teams participating, the NHL could administer more than 2,000 tests per day, or 20,000 in the first 10 days of the restart. Every person will be tested three times, 48 hours By Matt Porter Globe Staff, Updated July 6, 2020, 6:05 p.m. apart, in the seven days before their charter flight to the hub city. Those coming from the US will not need to quarantine.

▪ Inside the bubble, each team may have a traveling party of 52, which Scotiabank Arena in Toronto is expected to be the site of Eastern includes no more than 31 players; and at least three coaches, two Conference play when the NHL resumes the season. trainers and a physician, equipment manager, massage therapist, active Monday brought the breezy promise of labor peace to rinks across North release therapist/chiropractor, content creator/social media person, America. security officer, and club compliance officer, the latter of whom reports daily to the NHL. The NHL and NHLPA agreed to extend their collective bargaining agreement by four years, through 2026, and came to accord on a full ▪ Teams must finalize their lists by Monday, July 13, when training camps framework for a summer return to play beginning Aug. 1 in two “hub” are expected to open in NHL home cities. cities, likely Toronto and Edmonton. ▪ Non-players should limit their close contact with players to “essential Both must be ratified by the NHL Board of Governors, the NHLPA interactions.” Executive Board, and the NHLPA in full. As we have seen in past battles ▪ There is no media access within the bubble, aside from allowing a — witness the 1994-95, 2004-05 and 2012-13 lockouts — nothing is select number of reporters to watch games from the upper levels of the guaranteed until the final stroke of the pen. building. As also will be the case in training camp, interviews will be done If the NHL and NHLPA continue to move in lockstep the next few days, via Zoom. and the COVID-19 situation allows, the Bruins would report to Warrior Ice ▪ Without approval from the NHL or NHLPA, no player who tests positive Arena for training camp on Monday, July 13, when the other 23 clubs or develops symptoms will be identified publicly. involved in the reimagined playoff tournament also would return to the ice in their respective cities. The 12 Eastern Conference teams and 12 ▪ An interesting wrinkle: Teams will assist players’ families with grocery Western Conference teams would travel to their designated “hub” cities delivery and errand services while the teams are at the hub cities. They on July 26, to be tested and sheltered until the round-robin and play-in will also help families access COVID-19 testing. games begin Aug. 1. The Stanley Cup would be awarded in late September, with the 2020-21 season likely to begin in January. ▪ Teams that violate the rules will be “significant[ly]” penalized, potentially including fines and/or the loss of draft picks. Players who do not comply The league will operate this summer under strict guidelines. Plans to with testing and monitoring will be kept from competition and may be reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection in “Phase 4″ include separating kicked out of the bubble. players and staff from the outside world, governing the behavior of anyone on the inside, disinfecting most everything, and administering ▪ While at their hub city, players will be staying in single rooms, on thousands of tests for the virus. designated floors. They cannot hang in each others’ rooms, but can do so at hotel bars and restaurants — provided they keep social distance. It is ambitious, considering the backdrop of rising COVID-19 cases in the The league is also planning “excursions” in and out of the bubble (such United States, where 18 of the 24 teams participating in the reimagined as golf) and setting up on-campus outdoor areas for recreation, along postseason tournament conduct their business. with movies and live music.

The NHL said that as of Monday, 23 players had tested positive for the ▪ The hotel pools will be open, but the saunas and steam rooms will be coronavirus out of the 396 who had reported to their club rinks for closed. If there’s another person in the elevator, no talking. optional workouts (and were being tested regularly). The larger number represents about 53 percent of the 744 players who will take part in the ▪ Masks are mandatory when a player is outside of his hotel room, except restart. for eating, drinking, training and playing. They don’t fit well over playoff beards, anyway. According to documents circulated internally on Sunday and shared publicly on Monday, the NHL and NHLPA agreed that players can opt-out Boston Globe LOADED: 07.07.2020 of the restart for any reason, by notifying the league in writing three days after the new agreement (and CBA) is ratified.

At any time before the Cup is lifted, the sides can postpone, delay, move, or cancel any games in the event conditions present a risk to “player health and safety” and/or the “integrity of the competition.” That could mean an outbreak among a club or clubs, though what constitutes an outbreak has not been specified.

A player testing positive for the coronavirus during the playoffs would not shut down the tournament. They (or anyone else inside the bubble) would be isolated, considering an outbreak could melt down the rest of the season.

The more noteworthy items from the documents:

▪ Speaking last Monday, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said the league had yet to notify the team whether players and staff would be able to leave the hub cities and visit their families, or welcome them there. From the memos: “Players’ immediate families will be allowed in the ‘secure zone’ for the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final, and cannot exit and re-enter unless the ‘most serious and compelling personal circumstances’ occur.‘ ” So, players who make the conference finals will be away from their families for at least five weeks.

▪ Players’ families will eventually be part of a large group of people tested for COVID-19 daily, via nasal swab. That includes everyone inside the bubble: players, team staff, on- and off-ice officials, league and NHLPA personnel, hotel staff, medical staff, security, bartenders and servers at 1187403 Boston Bruins A couple of forward peers from DeBrusk’s 2015 draft class, Brock Boeser (3 years, $17.625 million or $5.875 million AAV) and Travis Konecny (six years, $33 million or $5.5 million AAV), both now top $5 million per Jake DeBrusk's agent brushes off talk of hometown discount with Bruins season on second contracts they signed this past year. Kyle Connor signed a seven-year, $50 million deal ($7.142 million AV) at the high end while Mat Barzal enters this offseason as an unsigned RFA as well. Both Boeser and Konecny had numbers similar to DeBrusk prior to signing By Joe Haggerty July 06, 2020 5:39 PM those contracts, so DeBrusk knew what kind of payday awaited him if things were running along per usual.

While the NHL offseason has been put off until the late fall based on the Haggerty: NHL, NHLPA make progress on Return to Play plans Return to Play timeline, it’s still coming for the NHL and for salary cap- Boeser is in a bit of a different class given his upside and production, but strapped teams like the Boston Bruins. DeBrusk and Konecny would have been comparable players had The NHL is on the verge of approving a CBA extension with the NHLPA DeBrusk surpassed 20 goals and 40 points with another month of games that’s going to push out a flat salary cap for at least two seasons, and it played (which he certainly would have done with 12 games left in the could end up being three seasons based on the expected economic and season). revenue downturn. Some of it may depend on how this postseason shakes down for That means the NHL is going to have an $81.5 million salary cap ceiling DeBrusk. He was great two years ago with six goals and eight points in for at least the next few years, and the Bruins won’t have a ton of space 12 playoff games, but last season had fewer goals (4) with 11 points in based on the $63.5 million already paid out for salaries for the 2020-21 24 playoff games during Boston’s run to the Stanley Cup Final. NHL season. A great playoff performance for DeBrusk could give those postseason The Bruins will then have about $18 million in cap space to sign numbers a real boost prior to him cashing in on his second deal, or a restricted free agents Jake DeBrusk, Matt Grzelcyk and Anders Bjork as playoff struggle could drop him back under $5 million per season given well as unrestricted free agents Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara. The some of this past season’s inconsistencies. Bruins aren’t expected to pay out abnormally extravagant numbers to Either way it’s expected DeBrusk could be able to command something Bjork, Grzelcyk or the 43-year-old Chara, but it’s going to be a little dicey in that $5 million AAV neighborhood after averaging 20 goals per season when it comes to contracts for DeBrusk and Krug. in a league where goal-scorers still get paid. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Krug was looking at something in the Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 07.07.2020 neighborhood of $8 million per season on a long-term deal — either with Boston or with another team looking for a power play quarterback and elite point producer on the back end. The 23-year-old DeBrusk, meanwhile, has averaged 20 goals per season in his three-year NHL career and had 19 goals and 35 points in 65 games when the NHL regular season went on pause this year.

Haggerty: Will DeBrusk get paid by B's or another team?

DeBrusk has averaged 20 goals and 40 points per season with a high of 27 goals scored last year, and he’s essentially been a top-6 winger for his entire career in Boston. That had Edmonton Oilers radio analyst Bob Stauffer trumpeting him as “a $6 million a year player” when talking about DeBrusk’s future on an NBC Sports Boston Zoom call last week.

“I think Jake is a really good top-6 forward, top-6 winger. You guys saw him against the [Maple Leafs] and the Blues in the playoffs, he’s got a little bit of gamesmanship to him,” said Stauffer. “It’s interesting because he was such a late bloomer. The player I compared Jake to was Joffrey Lupul, who suddenly became a scoring star in junior hockey.

To me, I think Jake is a $5.5-6 million player. Maybe that money comes down a bit because of the cap. I think he’s a $6 million forward. He’s a guy that’s going to be capable of scoring 25-30 goals in a full season. That’s a $6 million forward to me.

One thing is for sure: If DeBrusk is a $6 million a year player and Krug is an $8 million a year player, then one of them is probably not going to be in Boston next season.

Interestingly enough, Stauffer had DeBrusk’s agent, Rick Valette from Octagon, on his Oilers Now radio show on Monday to talk about the future negotiations between DeBrusk and the Bruins. It didn’t sound like DeBrusk was going to be taking a hometown discount like some of the other B’s players have done in the recent past.

“I don’t really consider that at this point. Will it play into it? Maybe,” said Valette, when asked about the internal salary structure for the Bruins that sees Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand all on pretty team-friendly deals under $7 million per season. “I would hope not. That’s not typically how I would approach that. The one thing I would add to Jake is that you want to look at his playoff performance and what he’s done in the playoffs in big games. The Toronto series from a couple of years ago, for example. He’s a big-game performer and he’s been a top- 6 forward almost from the moment he stepped into the National Hockey League.

“Boston certainly has some internal things that they like to look at, but I’m going to try to not look at that. I guess that’s the way I would say it to you.” 1187404 Boston Bruins • The number of people scheduled to be tested daily in the NHL bubble includes: any player/coach/staff member, officials, ice crew, security, hotel bartenders, food service staff, arena food and beverage workers, NHL playoffs continue to feel like they are very close to reality hotel housekeeping, hotel kitchen staff and player transportation. That will add up to thousands of tests per day.

• Organizational failures to adhere to the Return to Play protocols “could By Joe Haggerty July 06, 2020 3:20 PM lead to significant financial penalties, and potentially the loss of draft picks” and could result in individual players being ineligible to play and

removed from the secured bubble. The NHL is getting close, everybody. • For NHL purposes, the league is going away from the term "hub cities" The league is finalizing plans for Phases 3 and 4 of the Return to Play and instead prefers the terminology Phase 4 Secure Zone, which makes protocol, and then it will need a few days to be approved by a vote from it sound like something out of a science-fiction movie. the entire NHLPA membership, but the NHL and NHLPA have got All of this is subject to being approved by a simple majority of the 700- everything in place to give the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs a shot this plus members of the NHLPA, of course, and that isn’t a slam dunk. It’s summer. likely to happen, but one suspects the final vote is going to be a close NHL training camps have now been pushed ahead to a planned July 13 one. Even with it being conditional, it feels like the NHL has done this opening date with qualifying round games set to begin on Aug. 1, and a about as well as could be expected under the circumstances. Stanley Cup winner planned for early October in the hub city of Haggerty: Why did NHL choose Edmonton for Cup Final? Edmonton. Games will be played in two hub cities, Edmonton and Toronto, in the first couple of rounds before the conference finals and The biggest question now is whether the NHL is going to be able to pull Stanley Cup Final will be shipped out west to the hockey hotbed of all of this off. Alberta. There will be a requirement for upwards of close to 20,000 tests per day UPDATE (Monday, July 6 at 6:30 p.m. ET): The NHL and NHLPA when there are 24 teams involved at the beginning of postseason play, announced Monday a tentative agreement on a number of key issues, and the testing will need to be rapid and universal throughout the 2-3 including a few notable dates involving the 2019-20 season. months that NHL teams will be playing. Already Major League Baseball is having issues with testing results getting backed up at the COVID-19 NHLPA, NHL Reach Tentative Agreement on Return to Play Plan, CBA testing facility they are using, and it’s creating a situation where MLB Extension; Set Dates for Resumption of Play https://t.co/QKnu4L2jWV teams are suspending practice until it gets resolved. pic.twitter.com/6ClJWYhQwH Could the same thing cause the NHL to come to a crashing halt? — NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) July 6, 2020 Let’s hope not, because the Return to Play has been about as carefully --End of Update-- considered as anything the NHL has ever done, and it really is beginning The level of safety guidelines and protocols is thoroughly amazing, all the to feel like there’s going to be playoff hockey in August, September and way down to daily testing for hotel workers and bus drivers for the October. There are still hurdles to be cleared to make the Stanley Cup players, and there will be strict rules designed to keep the bubbles Playoffs a safe, viable reality for everybody involved, but we’re saying secure while ultimately protecting all of those involved with putting the there’s a chance. games back on. Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 07.07.2020 Meanwhile, the NHL released information on current COVID-19 positive rates with 23 players out of 369 testing positive since opting into the voluntary Phase 2 practices.

Haggerty: NHL has aced the Return to Play challenge

There have been 35 total players who have tested positive for COVID-19 out of roughly 600 NHL players across the world, which means NHL players are testing positive at a rate of roughly 5.8 percent with zero containment rules put into place outside of the rink. This is actually encouraging news considering that the NHL upped the number of players allowed together on the ice from six to 12 over the last couple of weeks, and there has been no demonstrable spike or spread aside from a handful of St. Louis Blues players and personnel who tested positive last week.

But the Return to Play plan certainly has some interesting features including:

• Families will not be allowed to be with NHL players until the conference finals and/or Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton, so NHL players could be away from their families for as long as five weeks during the qualifying rounds and first two rounds of the playoffs.

• Players with underlying health issues will be examined by doctors and could be restricted from playing if it’s deemed unsafe for them. This will be interesting for NHL players with Type 1 diabetes like Max Domi and Kaapo Kakko.

• Players who need to leave the bubble during play — for childbirth or family emergency for example — will need to be confined to isolation for four days and need four negative test results before potentially being able to rejoin their team.

• NHL players have until three days after the Return to Play is ratified to notify their teams they're opting out of participating in Phase 3 or 4, under the protocols tentatively agreed upon by the NHL and NHLPA. There will be no penalty for doing so. 1187405 Buffalo Sabres Buffalo wrapped up the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals in a neat five games and will now await the winner of the Western Conference series between Colorado and Dallas.

Maiorana's Memories: Sabres rolled past the Leafs to advance to the Game 6 is Tuesday night in Denver, and if the Avalanche, already 1999 Stanley Cup Finals leading 3-2, win, the Finals will begin Saturday night at McNichols Sports Arena. If Dallas extends the series, the Finals will begin next Tuesday.

Sal Maiorana The first and only time the Sabres have competed for the Cup was in 1975, and seven players on the playoff roster weren’t even born yet.

But despite the youth on this team, they were a happy but very reserved During his 34 years as a sports writer for the Democrat and Chronicle, bunch in the locker room. There was no mass hugging, no champagne Sal Maiorana has had the great fortune to have covered countless being sprayed around. As Peca said, there is much work to do. memorable games, events and athletes. In a new column titled Maiorana’s Memories, he will re-live some of his favorite stories. Today, “We’re happy with what we’ve done, but we haven’t done anything yet,” a look back to 1999 when the Sabres beat the Toronto Maple Leafs to said defenseman Jason Woolley. advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. Well, for a team that entered the postseason with a mundane record of Dominik Hasek played the last three games against Toronto in the 37-28-17 and the seventh seed in the eight-team Eastern playoffs, Eastern Conference finals and won all three. they’ve actually done quite a bit.

If there was a telltale sign that things were going pretty well for the They have won 12 of 15 games, and have now eliminated Ottawa, Buffalo Sabres in the spring of 1999, that perhaps they were a team of Boston and Toronto. destiny, it was this. “It’s awesome,” said coach Lindy Ruff, who may have been more excited During their 5-2 victory over Toronto in Game 4 of the Eastern than his players. “After 24 years, western New York deserves it.” Conference finals at Marine Midland Arena which gave them a As has been the case throughout the playoffs, the Sabres got a vital commanding three games to one lead, Rob Ray scored a goal. contribution from an unlikely source in this game.

Yes, Rob Ray, the Sabres all-time leading pugilist whose statistics were This time it was Erik Rasmussen, who was wearing an Amerks sweater not measured in goals, assists and points, but in punches and penalty six weeks ago. minutes. Rasmussen backhanded a rebound past Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph for “That's just proof that anything can happen. There is a God," Sabres the go-ahead goal with 8:25 left to play in the third period, and Dixon defenseman Jason Woolley joked said after the Sabres moved within Ward’s empty-netter while Toronto was on a power play with 1:02 one victory of what would be just their second, and still last, appearance remaining clinched the victory. in the Stanley Cup Finals. “There’s 25 different heroes on this team, guys just step up at different "Obviously you're clicking on all cylinders when Razor gets a goal," times,” Curtis Brown said of Rasmussen. “You can’t rely on one line, or Sabres coach Lindy Ruff quipped. one guy, you need everybody going and that was huge for us.”

But Ruff was right. His team, considered by most in the hockey world as The Sabres thought they had scored the go-ahead goal about two an overachieving collection of spare parts that was built around superstar minutes earlier, but Vaclav Varada was denied by the replay judge who goalie Dominik Hasek, was on a legitimate roll. ruled he kicked the puck past Joseph.

They had begun the 1999 postseason as an after-thought seventh seed Undaunted, the Sabres struck right back as Brian Holzinger cruised down in the East, but had already wiped out Ottawa in four games, Boston in the left wing, braked, and fired a shot which Joseph stopped. However, six, and would soon dispatch Toronto in five. Joseph kicked the puck right to Rasmussen and he quickly pumped it They opened the series at Air Canada Centre without Hasek who was into the net. sidelined by a groin injury, yet with Dwayne Roloson in goal, the Sabres “Brian made the whole play, he got the puck in our zone and he skated managed a split, winning 5-4 before losing 6-3. the length of the ice and fired it on net,” said Rasmussen. “The puck Hasek returned and made 24 saves in a 4-2 victory in Game 3, then came across and I just went to the net and it fell on my stick. I just stopped 31 shots in the Game 4 victory, so when the Sabres traveled up slapped at it and it went in the back of the net.” the Queen Elizabeth Way for Game 5, they had no doubt they would Ward said the Varada ruling riled the Sabres, and it served as motivation wrap it up, and they did. to get the winner.

Here’s the story I wrote for the June 1, 1999 edition of the Democrat and “We knew we had to crank it up a notch, we knew we weren’t going to let Chronicle. that beat us,” he said. “The guys came out right after and had Finally, it’s the Finals! unbelievable shifts and we knew if we kept going, something was going to happen.” TORONTO – You would have thought the Prince of Wales trophy — the symbol of Eastern Conference supremacy — had just been dipped in Alexei Zhitnik was called for a holding penalty with 2:39 left, putting the poison. Leafs on the power play, but Toronto never got a shot off, and Ward lobbed one down the ice to snap the tension. When Colin Campbell, the Executive Vice-President of the National Hockey League, tried to present the handsome hardware to Buffalo After a scoreless first period, each team scored twice in the second. Sabres captain Michael Peca Monday night, Peca refused to touch it. Toronto took the lead when Steve Sullivan was credited with a power- “I’m holding it and I said to him, ‘You’re not going to take it are you?’” play goal that was tipped past Dominik Hasek by Zhitnik 33 seconds into Campbell said with a laugh. “He said, ‘Nope.’” the period.

Why not? After the Leafs had a goal by Sergei Berezin disallowed due to a crease violation, Brown tied it seven minutes later with a nifty backhander. “It wasn’t the Stanley Cup,” Peca said. “That’s the only one you work to hoist over your head. You don’t grow up as a kid working hard to hold the Toronto went ahead 2-1 when Kris King pumped in a rebound, but conference trophy over your head. It’s great to advance after the Varada answered by flipping his own rebound past a fallen Joseph on a disappointment last year, it feels good, don’t get me wrong, but there’s a power play at 16:44. lot of work ahead.” And then it was left for Rasmussen to decide the issue, and for Peca to That work will come in the Stanley Cup Finals, which is where the Sabres play possum at the trophy presentation. are heading for the first time in 24 years thanks to their pulsating 4-2 victory over the Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. “I knew this morning I wasn’t going to lay my hands on it,” he said. “It’s not the Cup. I got a picture beside it, it was exciting, but the big trophy is the one that everyone wants to hold and kiss and touch.”

Four more wins, and the Sabres will get to do all of that.

Democrat and Chronicle LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187406 Buffalo Sabres cap over the next three seasons – including $81.5 million for 2020-21 – which will make spending tight for some clubs.

The Sabres need to somehow extend Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Dahlin Sabres Mailbag: Looking ahead to Kevyn Adams' first offseason as GM over the next 12 months. They'll need all the cap space they can get.

Kevin Palmer: Are the Sabres actually going to apply analytics in hockey Lance Lysowski Jul 6, 2020 Updated 11 hrs ago 0 decision-making? If so, does this mean Rasmus Ristolainen is gone?

LL: Promoting Jason Nightingale to assistant director of scouting was an excellent first step, but I’m reserving judgment until we see if Adams One of Kevyn Adams’ first actions as general manager was a phone call hires data engineers and analysts. This can’t be a one-person job and to Jack Eichel. the entire organization needs to embrace the benefits of analytics, including the coaching staff. Adams described the conversation as brief, but he plans to again connect with the Buffalo Sabres’ 23-year-old captain. Actions will speak Krueger spoke about analytics early this season, but his lineup decisions louder than words, though. – including the reluctance to give Larsson more shifts with Jeff Skinner – made me question whether he was paying attention to the data. Ignore the speculation that Eichel could request a trade this offseason, Ristolainen had another ugly season, yet the coaching staff spoke as if but the Sabres need to show him they have a plan to turn this around. he morphed into a Norris Trophy candidate. Adams needs to ace this offseason and establish he’s the right person to push this organization over the finish line. Which leads me to the answer to your second question: No. We know Krueger will have influence over the roster and he made it clear that he This isn’t an easy time to run a hockey team, either. The NHL is views Ristolainen as an important part of this team’s core. reportedly instituting a flat salary cap over the next three seasons and there is some uncertainty regarding a start date for next season. You Rob Scheerer: Do you think Kevyn Adams will look to trade the pick at could argue there are more questions about the Sabres now than before No. 8 overall? Jason Botterill was fired on June 16. LL: No. I'm only moving the pick if it's possible to acquire someone as With that in mind, I answered questions submitted by our readers via talented as Tampa Bay center Anthony Cirelli. It better be a legitimate Twitter and email: No. 2 center who is capable of scoring 25 goals. Otherwise, you're trading a possible top-line forward for a fringe top-six piece. Ed Helinski: With the change at general manager and an apparent new management philosophy, which pending free agents are retained by the There are some excellent prospects in this draft, particularly at forward. Sabres? The Sabres might even be able to select a player who can contribute in 2021-22. Anton Lundell would be an excellent addition if Marco Rossi is Lance Lysowski: With coach Ralph Krueger likely having more say on gone. The prospect pipeline isn't strong enough right now and the Sabres how this roster is constructed, it’s difficult to envision a scenario in which need talented players on entry-level contracts, especially with a reported the Sabres don’t make a strong push to retain Zemgus Girgensons and flat salary cap. Johan Larsson. Does either player want to return, though? While both had an outstanding season under Krueger, they are pending unrestricted Good luck affording Eichel, Reinhart, Dahlin, Skinner and this established free agents and endured plenty of losing during their time in Buffalo. No. 2 center. Girgensons may have priced himself out of Buffalo, but Adams needs to recognize that Larsson is more valuable than a typical fourth-line center. Ross Clark: Any prospects that might fall to No. 8 that could surpass Dylan Cozens in the system? Wayne Simmonds fits a few needs for the Sabres, but is he strong enough defensively to play for Krueger? Adams was college teammates LL: It’s difficult to predict who is chosen after Alexis Lafreniere, Quinton with Simmonds’ agent, Eustace King. This deal makes sense if the price Byfield and Tim Stuetzle. The Sabres’ scouting staff likely will want two is right. Eichel wants veterans with toughness and Simmonds fits the bill. defensemen to be chosen within the first seven picks. Such a scenario could allow the Sabres to pick Lundell, Rossi, Lucas Raymond, Jack Jimmy Vesey is an interesting case. He would be a low-risk signing – the Quinn or Seth Jarvis. Any of these forwards would immediately become cap hit should be around $2.5 million – and he’s capable of producing among the top two prospects in the organization. more than the nine goals he scored this season. But Vesey never carved out a clear role on this team and the Sabres would be wise to dedicate Adam Gosse: Is Kevyn Adams happy with the Sabres’ goaltending their cap space to players with more upside. It’s also fair to wonder if situation or will he explore a potential upgrade? Vesey would be interested in returning. This is the first time he’ll hit the LL: Adams hasn’t spoken publicly about specific players on the roster. open market since August 2016. I’m sure his opinion is similar to Botterill’s: Linus Ullmark has No. 1 Fletcher Doyle: Why doesn’t Brandon Montour fit with the Sabres now? potential with a limited track record of success and Carter Hutton needs Will the team retain him for next season? to improve. I like both goalies, but there are some question marks here. The Sabres’ precarious salary-cap situation would make it difficult to give LL: Montour has elite skating ability and he makes his greatest impact a free-agent goalie term, and I don’t see them wanting to part with the when he’s allowed to join or lead the rush into the offensive zone. assets to acquire Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray, a pending restricted free Krueger doesn’t want his defensemen taking such risks. He would prefer agent. them to remain in position in the event of a quick counterattack. Sure, it’s possible that Krueger could alter the system to free Montour, Rasmus The more likely move is signing a goalie to a short-term contract and Dahlin and the other puck-moving defensemen on this roster. finding a team that will take the final year of Hutton’s contract. The Sabres can’t count on Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to arrive within the next Is Montour really worth $5 million as a restricted free agent if you’re two seasons, so a contingency plan is needed. limiting his impact offensively? I believe Montour is capable of being better defensively – playing him on the left side did not help matters this Thomas Larsen: Who will have more control: Kevyn Adams or Ralph season and he’s been on some bad teams in his career – but he hasn’t Krueger? made enough of an impact on the power play, either. The Sabres need to LL: Adams is the Sabres’ general manager. He’ll hire the staff and, decide which right-shot defensemen remain on the roster among a group ultimately, he’ll make the final decisions pertaining to the roster. That that includes Montour, Rasmus Ristolainen, Henri Jokiharju and Colin said, Adams will consult with Krueger and ownership. The former will Miller. They can’t have another season of playing seven on the blue line have a say in how this team is built. and Montour has enough value that the Sabres could trade him to acquire help up front. This model could work if Adams is allowed to execute his vision, not the vision of ownership or Krueger. Yes, all involved told the media they have Ralph Joseph: Does Kevyn Adams believe in contract buyouts? the same vision, but there will be some natural deviation as Adams hires LL: Adams hasn’t spoken about this specific topic, but a buyout wouldn't staff members and confronts the challenges of a long offseason. make sense this offseason. The NHL is reportedly instituting a flat salary Successful organizations don’t have the head coach or ownership meddling in significant personnel decisions. Adams’ approach will be nontraditional – we learned this by the consolidation of the pro and amateur scouting departments – and he has the knowledge to have success with this model. He’ll want a healthy amount of collaboration and communication, but there needs to be a clear leader of the Sabres’ hockey operations department.

Nathan Cohen: What do you think the Pegulas have to do to earn the trust back of Sabres fans and the community?

LL: Sabres fans won’t trust the direction of this franchise until this team is back in the playoffs, but the Pegulas also need to show they care. Implementing a fan advisory board is a solid first step. Improve the game-day experience by replacing the seats inside KeyBank Center and negotiate with Delaware North to lower the cost of concessions.

Ownership needs to continue to study how other teams are luring fans into arenas. Sure, winning always helps, but you need to get people excited to come to games. Make the atmosphere unique to Buffalo. Look back at Memorial Auditorium. What made it special to go to a game inside that building, aside from the talent on the ice? Make it a difficult place to play and find a way to have fewer opposing fans filling the 100 level.

My advice to the Pegulas would be to take responsibility for what’s gone wrong. They have done so in various forms in the past, but the message never seems to resonate with fans. Don’t blame previous general managers and coaches. Tell everyone you need to be better and that you will be. Then do everything within reason to put a winning product on the ice. Have patience and remember the Sabres used to be ingrained in this community. Find a way to connect the team to the fans again.

Jax: Where will the scoring come from next season?

LL: It’s safe to pencil in Eichel for 40 goals. Imagine what he’ll accomplish during this long offseason. Victor Olofsson should also see an increase in production if he’s healthy, and you can count on Reinhart to produce around 25 goals.

The biggest question is Skinner. If possible, Adams needs to acquire a reliable second-line center to skate alongside Skinner, who has seven years remaining on his contract. Counting on Cozens to fill that void would be a miscalculation. Cozens is not physically ready to play center in the National Hockey League, though I don’t see him returning to juniors.

Adding a center should help the team’s need for supplementary scoring. Dominik Kahun was an excellent addition at the trade deadline. Marcus Johansson would produce more if he’s allowed to play on the wing and maybe it’s time to consider moving Casey Mittelstadt to the left side.

Adams needs to go bargain shopping to address the need for forward depth.

Buffalo News LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187407 Calgary Flames Button takes it a step further, recalling Jackson telling him definitively “Jarome could play on our team right now.”

“He was right,” Button said. “Jarome was the best player in junior Inside the historic Iginla-Nieuwendyk trade — and what if it never hockey.” happened? Nieuwendyk had been one of the NHL’s premier centres at the time, the type of player who isn’t supposed to be made available by a franchise. By Sean Shapiro and Scott Cruickshank Jul 6, 2020 But coming out of lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign, Nieuwendyk, then-captain of the Flames, wanted a long-term commitment. General manager Doug Risebrough, citing the player’s history of injuries, was reluctant. Jarome Iginla was the NHL’s predominant power forward for more than a decade. He was the face of the Calgary Flames and later this year he’ll Agent Herb Pinder told reporters: “The language he used was that they be inducted as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. were trying to minimize their exposure. I said, ‘That’s not acceptable from Joe’s point of view.’ He didn’t get hurt falling off the turnip truck. It is the He’ll also be the first player ever drafted by the Dallas Stars to earn club’s role to share in the risk of injury. It shouldn’t just be the player’s enshrinement in Toronto since the franchise relocated from Minnesota to risk. Now, when you’re 33 and going a year at a time, that’s a different Dallas in 1993. issue than when you’re 28 and a star player.” Iginla’s time with Dallas was short-lived. He was drafted on July 8, 1995, The two sides met for arbitration on June 28, 1995, in Chicago. taking photos in a Stars jersey in Edmonton. Six months later on Dec. 19, 1995, he was traded to Calgary alongside Corey Millen for Joe The Flames, for their presenter, brought in Ontario lawyer Larry Bertuzzi Nieuwendyk. and used Benoit Hogue ($1.1 million) as one of the comparables. Pinder countered with Dave Andreychuk ($2.1 million) and Vincent Damphousse The swap would go down as one of the most important deals in NHL ($2.5 million). history. It helped shape both franchises, and, therefore, the NHL of the late 1990s and early 2000s. It’s impossible to discuss the late 90s NHL Nieuwendyk’s camp asked for $2.1 million. The Flames countered with without discussing Dallas and Nieuwendyk or to discuss the 2000s $1.4 million Cdn. without Iginla and the Flames. The arbitrator ended up siding with the player, deciding that $1.85 million “You don’t think about what a trade means for the hockey world when US for 1995-96 was fair. you make it,” then Stars assistant GM Les Jackson said. “We knew we were making a big trade for us. They knew they were making a big trade With promises to re-negotiate the deal — on a multi-year pact — both for them, just how big? You can’t pretend you knew it would turn out this parties agreed that Nieuwendyk, despite being at camp, wouldn’t dress way.” for any of the preseason games.

The trade turns 25 later this year, and like a lot of hockey stories, it starts The Flames then offered a three-year deal with an annual salary of $1.8 in Western Canada, where the Dallas scouting staff turned their focus on million — less than had been awarded at the arbitration. Demanding an the only player (so far) from the 1995 draft class who would eventually average of more than $2 million per season, Nieuwendyk returned to get a phone call from Lanny McDonald inviting him to Toronto. Ithaca, N.Y., and skated at his alma mater, Cornell, when the season started. NHL Central Scouting placed Iginla near the bottom of the first round in its projections. But the Stars had seen plenty of the kid — as a 16-year- The “C” was sewn onto Theo Fleury’s sweater. And, for one practise, old at the 1994 Memorial Cup and as a 17-year-old at the 1995 Memorial Ron Stern wore a black armband to protest management’s treatment of Cup, both of which Iginla won with the Kamloops Blazers. On top of that, Nieuwendyk. Dallas always had an affinity for players from Western Canada, a trend A swap appeared to be the only solution. that continues to this day. Said Al Coates, executive vice-president of the Flames: “You can “I will tell you exactly why we were able to get him at 11 and I will tell you compare it to a marriage that’s gone a little sour. You may get it back and exactly why teams had him rated lower than us,” said Craig Button, who you may not. In this particular case, he’s chosen to go to another was Dallas’ director of scouting at the 1995 NHL Draft in Edmonton. partner.” “Because there wasn’t a lot of flash and dash with Jarome. He didn’t wow you. He didn’t go end to end. But as you watched him, he was a strong All sorts of trade rumours had been attached to Nieuwendyk’s name — player in every single area of the game. A really good player who could featuring names like Kirk Muller, Ray Ferraro, Teemu Selanne, Dale play it any way you wanted. He was heavy. He was hard. Kill penalties. Hawerchuk and Wendel Clark. Score. Make plays. After Risebrough was sacked in November, L’Affaire Nieuwendyk landed “Jarome was a guy that we were very, very high on. But all I keep in Coates’ lap. thinking about? I could understand why (Montreal Canadiens general manager) Sam Pollock was adamant about drafting Bob Gainey. Shopping Nieuwendyk’s services, the Flames crafted a shortlist — 13 Because it was about substance. Bob Gainey went eighth overall (in possible destinations became seven which became three: the St. Louis 1973). Now, why would they take a 22-goal scorer from Peterborough? Blues, New York Rangers, and Dallas Stars. Substance. He factored into the game in so many different ways. As we The Flames refused to budge on one particular condition: any transaction were evaluating Jarome, that was in my mind — substance.” would include a top-flight prospect coming to Calgary. The Blues dropped In his draft year, Iginla produced 71 points in 72 regular-season games, out. then another 18 points in 21 playoff dates. At the 1995 Memorial Cup, he Which left Coates, late on the night of Dec. 19, 1995, on his office phone was named the most sportsmanlike player. (Minutes after the votes had with the league, the Rangers, the Stars — and barely any time before the been collected in the press box, he got into a fight at centre ice.) Christmas roster freeze. “And I was there, all by myself,” Coates told The “I’d like to tell you that we thought Jarome Iginla was going to be a Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek a year ago. “It was the loneliest feeling I ever superstar,” said Button. “We thought Jarome was going to be a really had.” strong power forward — 35 goals (a year). Guess what? We were wrong. From the Rangers, Coates expressed interest in defenceman Mattias He was way better than we projected.” Norstrom and goaltending prospect Dan Cloutier. New York balked.

The following season, 1995-96, a month before the trade with the That left the Stars. Flames, Button and Les Jackson had been scouting the WHL’s West Division. The morning after a Blazers game in one of the American cities “Jarome’s name came up pretty quickly,” Button said. “The Calgary — Spokane or Tri-City — the Stars staffers were having breakfast. Flames were pretty sharp. It became pretty clear as we started discussions that Jarome Iginla was the guy (they wanted) — and it made “I remember telling Craig and having the conversation that (Iginla) was us uncomfortable. It made us really uncomfortable. But Calgary was the best player in junior hockey,” Jackson said. “He was the type of pretty adamant.” player that you’d think about playing on your team right now.” In the days leading up to the move, Dallas GM Bob Gainey informed the “I’m a believer that if Ray had said yes to us, we would never have traded rest of the department that there were two paths. Jarome,” Button said. “Then who knows where we’re at?”

Getting a centreman to play behind Mike Modano — and losing Iginla. Either way, the Stars end up with a Hall of Famer, Iginla or Nieuwendyk, in an alternate reality. But what about Calgary? Or continuing to hunt for that veteran centreman — and keeping Iginla. What if the Flames accepted Todd Harvey instead of Iginla? What if they Button remembers Gainey saying: “Both scenarios are going to bring joy shipped Nieuwendyk to the Rangers? and disappointment. It’s incumbent upon us to understand who could have the greater impact on our group at this moment in time. Joe or In 1996-97 — in what would have been Iginla’s first full season in Calgary Jarome Iginla?” — Theo Fleury is already the last man standing from the 1989 Stanley Cup championship squad. This, in other words, was a right-now decision. To boost the group’s fortunes immediately. Even with Iginla and his 21 goals as a rookie, the Flames place 21st of 26 teams. The following season, Derek Morris, 19, arrives. Val Bure and “Once he framed it like that, it was pretty clear where we were going, Cory Stillman and Michael Nylander are there, too, and the team winds right?” said Button. “Nobody ever wants to give up a top prospect. Where up 22nd. we were at, we knew that it was a trade we were going to have to make — as painful as it was.” Then, in 1998-99, Fleury leaves.

As in any trade discussions, many options were brought up, including Iginla, beginning to round into form, had provided some glimmer of Todd Harvey, who had been the Stars’ first-round draft choice, ninth optimism in the so-called Young Guns era. overall, two years earlier. “When you consider where the Flames were — an absolute rebuild — One of the great what-if’s for Stars fans is the belief that they could have and what they were trying to do,” said Button, “not only do you have this traded Harvey instead of Iginla in the deal. Those there at the time player who’s high-end quality, now he becomes part of your core group disagree with that ever being a possibility. — the core piece in terms of moving forward. We know what he becomes as a player, we know what he becomes as a person. “Bob is a smart guy. If he could have kept Iginla, he would have,” Jackson said. “Harvey was negotiated and talked about, for sure. But “Acquiring Jarome Iginla, in my view, was exactly the same as when they when you are talking about getting a player like Joe, you have to give traded for Lanny McDonald (in 1981) — not only an excellent player, but something pretty good to complete that deal.” he becomes captain and face of the franchise. How many players you draft, you develop, you trade for … become the face of a franchise? The “When Al Coates says, ‘You better start talking about Jarome Iginla,’ face of the city?” well, now you start talking about other players — ‘Would this player and this player satisfy you?'” said Button, chuckling. “Al would get back to Button, who took over as Flames general manager in 2000 and remains you, ‘Yeah, when we’re talking about a player like Nieuwendyk, our a Calgary resident, knows Iginla well. minds are pretty made up on a player like Jarome Iginla.’ So then you rewind. “Another massive, massive part of Jarome — he always wanted to be part of the solution,” he said. “He never wanted out. He was never a “But Al and the Calgary Flames had a solid bead on Jarome Iginla. Try player who was looking to be airlifted somewhere else. He wanted to be as we might to try to get them off of Jarome Iginla in many different ways part of the solution here in Calgary, 100 percent … through his play, … he knew how interested we were in Joe.” through his leadership, through his personality, through his optimism.

Try to imagine a Calgary Flames world without Jarome Iginla — a world “How many people do you find like that?” without his 525 goals, his 1,095 points, his 55 fights. Great question. Without his 1,219 games in red. Without his rink-filling presence. Answer: Precious few. Imagining a Saddledome without No. 12 is not easy. Nor is it pretty, for obvious reasons. So without No. 12 in the lineup — and even with Todd Harvey or Mattias Norstrom in harness — it’s easy to picture the Flames floundering. Year Even with Iginla aboard, the Flames fell short of the postseason in 11 of after year. his 16 seasons. So having no access to his talents? Oh, boy. The result of which is the basis for another alternative reality — In the aftermath of the man’s deserved first-ballot induction into the stockpiling draft picks from the upper end of the first round. Because — Hockey Hall of Fame, try to chart the Flames’ fictional course over the especially following Fleury’s departure — they would have capsized. last couple of decades had Iginla stayed in Dallas. So start there — near the barrel’s bottom in 1999. As an exercise, this, no doubt, will end up serving as an appreciation. Let’s be frank, what would the Flames have done without him? By virtue of undoubtedly a string of shabby seasons, let’s award them top-five picks for five straight years. A likelihood when you think about it. One parallel universe, which leaves Calgary without their standout right- For our speculative purposes, the Flames get a player from the actual top winger, is actually anchored in reality. five.

In the summer of 1995, then assessing their roster against the rest of the 1999 — After Patrik Stefan goes first to Atlanta, the Sedin boys, second Western Conference, the Stars couldn’t help but notice rivals with 1-2 and third overall, find their way to Vancouver. So who else can the punches down the middle — the Colorado Avalanche with Joe Sakic and Flames add? Allow them to skip Pavel Brendl and, instead, snare Tim Peter Forsberg, Detroit Red Wings with Steve Yzerman and Sergei Connolly. Fedorov. (Real life — Calgary took Oleg Saprykin at No. 11) Dallas does have Mike Modano, then vulnerability — the gap on the centre-ice depth chart. 2000 — With the New York Islanders taking goalie Rick DiPietro first, the Flames, with the draft at the Saddledome, latch onto home-town boy “We needed another centre behind Mike,” Gainey said back in 2017. Dany Heatley with the second shout. “That was one of the biggest things we needed to compete for the Stanley Cup. Mike needed a second centre so teams couldn’t just focus (Real life — Brent Krahn at No. 9) on him all the time.” 2001 — Holding the first overall selection, the Flames bypass Ilya The Stars flirted with Ray Ferraro for that role in free agency, but couldn’t Kovalchuk and announce that they are proud to select Jason Spezza. outbid the New York Rangers, who signed the centre to a three-year deal (Real life — Chuck Kobasew at No. 14) worth $4.8 million. 2002 — Third overall, the Flames snare Jay Bouwmeester after Rick If that doesn’t happen, the Stars likely would have deployed a second- Nash goes to Columbus and Kari Lehtonen is nabbed by Atlanta. line featuring Ferraro with Iginla on his right-wing for at least a few seasons. (Real life — Eric Nystrom at No. 10) 2003 — Out of one of the deepest drafts in history, the Flames, picking You can confidently say the Stars would have been a threat in this third and desperately in need of a wide-bodied right-winger, reel in alternate reality, but they wouldn’t have been the juggernaut that was a Nathan Horton. Nieuwendyk injury in the 1998 playoffs away from going to three straight Stanley Cup finals. (Real life — Dion Phaneuf at No. 9) Keeping Iginla, however, would have led to a more fruitful reload and Concede, too, that the Flames’ other transactions shake out as they more sustained success for the Stars in the 2000s. The 2002-03 season actually did, including boss Darry Sutter prying Miikka Kiprusoff out of comes to mind in particular, where prime Iginla would have been a San Jose. Then lay out the options for an Iginla-free lineup in the parallel featured force on a line with Modano in a year where Marty Turco was universe of the 2003-04 season: the NHL’s best goalie (and was robbed of the Vezina Trophy by GMs).

Dany Heatley-Jason Spezza-Nathan Horton Dallas lost to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim that year in six games, as Martin Gelinas-Craig Conroy-Shean Donovan Games 1 and 2 both went to Anaheim in overtime. Just imagine if Iginla had able to even slightly impact that series. Maybe there is a banner Dean McAmmond-Steven Reinprecht-Chris Clark hanging in Dallas commemorating 2003.

Oleg Saprykin-Matthew Lombardi-Chris Simon While there’s no certainty Dallas would have won a Stanley Cup with Iginla, it’s probably a fair assumption to believe he would have been the Jordan Leopold-Robyn Regehr next captain of the Stars after Derian Hatcher. Maybe Dallas would have Jay Bouwmeester-Mattias Norstrom avoided the ugliness of giving and taking Modano’s captaincy away as it did in 2007, maybe without trading for Nieuwendyk the seed is never Andrew Ference-Rhett Warrener planted for him to later become GM — a position where Nieuwendyk was the one the forced to divorce Dallas from its biggest star before an Miikka Kiprusoff awkward season with Modano wearing No. 90 in Detroit. Dan Cloutier So No. 12 would likely be slated for jersey retirement and the Stars would A decent array of players, sure. have more individual trophies, but it’s not a certainty they would have won the most important trophy as they did with Nieuwendyk. But that’s with the understanding that the Flames make no missteps with those high picks. Out of 1999’s hole, could they have drafted their way to “It really is the trade that worked out well for both sides,” Jackson said. glory — and all the way to the 2004 Stanley Cup final? (A springtime run “That doesn’t really happen. Usually, someone made a mistake or ends that is nearly inconceivable, absent Iginla’s contributions.) up with egg on their face. We didn’t have to crack any eggs with this trade.” No telling. And that’s relying on a pretty dicey formula — being crappy enough to draw a half-decade’s worth of top picks and hitting on all of The Athletic LOADED: 07.07.2020 them. Just as easily the resulting first-rounders could have been named Patrik Stefan, Rick DiPietro, Alexandr Svitov, Joni Pitkanen, Nikolai Zherdev. Then what?

Fair to say, the Flames and their fans prefer what did occur when Nieuwendyk was shipped to Dallas — a teenager coming to Calgary and blossoming into a star, their city’s ambassador, right in front of their eyes.

So getting your head around the notion that Iginla never does show up?

“Go ahead and try to imagine it. All I can imagine is there’s a whole lot of disappointment,” said Button. “Here’s the analogy I would use. For me, I know there was a time in my life when I didn’t have kids — but I can’t imagine my life without my kids. It’s like trying to imagine the Calgary Flames without Jarome.”

When Iginla enters the Hockey Hall of Fame, he’ll enter as one of the greatest to never win a Stanley Cup.

Staying in Dallas could have rectified that, but it’s not as certain as you might think.

While it’s fun for Stars fans to dream about the potential of Dallas having both Iginla and Nieuwendyk, it’s highly unlikely as the reporting of this story has laid out. The deal really wasn’t going to get done with Todd Harvey as opposed to Iginla.

There are two trades that made the Stars’ championship window a reality: flipping Kevin Hatcher for Sergei Zubov and the swap for Nieuwendyk. Those moves helped turn Dallas into a destination in free agency. Ed Belfour in 1997 and Brett Hull in 1998 — the final pieces of the championship puzzle — were wooed by both cash and championship potential. Nieuwendyk was part of that “potential” pitch from Gainey.

Dallas would have been good without Nieuwendyk, but they wouldn’t have been the great team that won back-to-back Presidents’ Trophies in 1998 and 1999. The Stars’ Stanley Cup in 1999 also doesn’t happen without Nieuwendyk’s Conn Smythe performance (11 goals, 10 assists). Nieuwendyk was particularly effective in the Western Conference Final against the Colorado Avalanche. Without his presence the Avalanche likely have their third Stanley Cup that spring.

Iginla would have helped make the Stars good, but whether he would have helped make them great that quickly is the key question. Maybe the Stars still get Belfour in 1997 and maybe they would still pry Hull out of St. Louis in 1998. Even if that happened Dallas would still have a gap down the middle behind Modano. 1187408 Carolina Hurricanes

Tentative dates set for the Carolina Hurricanes’ training camp, NHL’s return to play

BY CHIP ALEXANDER

It’s all coming together for the National Hockey League.

Tentatively, that is.

The NHL and NHL Players Association announced Monday that they have reached a tentative agreement on the Return to Play plan and on a Memorandum of Understanding to add an additional four years to the term of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

As part of the agreement, the Carolina Hurricanes’ and the other team training camps will open July 13. The teams then will travel to the two hub cites — Toronto and Edmonton — on July 26 and the qualifying rounds will begin Aug. 1.

The agreement still needs approval from the NHL Board of Governors and the NHLPA Executive Board, and the full NHLPA membership. The NHL and NHLPA said the review and approval process should be completed in “the next few days.”

The Canes, who will hold their training camp at PNC Arena, will face off against the New York Rangers in Toronto in one of the eight qualifying rounds. The winner will advance to the 16-team Stanley Cup playoffs and the loser will be one of eight teams with a shot at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, with a 12.5-percent chance of winning it.

“It’s going to be go-time here soon. It’s going to be quick, it’s going to be different,” Canes captain Jordan Staal said in a media Zoom call last week. “When we do get going it’s going to be quick, it’s going to be fast and it’s going to need everyone involved and ready to work right away.”

The 2019-20 season was abruptly halted March 12 because of the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, which became a global pandemic. The Canes last played March 10, winning a road game against the Detroit Red Wings.

Minus a vaccine for the virus, the 24 teams — 12 in each hub city — in the Return to Play format will be sequestered in a “bubble” at the hub site. They will undergo rigorous testing for COVID-19 and other health precautions in the “Phase 4 Secure Zone” and safeguards will be taken in terms of hotel, meals and transportation.

Teams will be allowed a 52-person travel party, with no more than 31 players, in the Secure Zones.

Under the Phase 4 regulations, there will be no disclosure to the media or the public if a player tests positive test for the coronavirus unless there is prior approval by the NHL after consultation with the NHLPA.

The teams now are hosting voluntary training sessions at their home facilities in preparation for training camp. While players will have the opportunity to opt out of the competition without penalty, it’s expected most will decide to play.

“There’s just as much risk just living your life and kind of cruising through the grocery story than I think for the most part going to the rink,” Staal said.

“It’s going to be different, it’s going to be weird but there’s a lot of people in the world that are feeling the same thing in different scenarios. We’re hoping to get this thing going and play some hockey and get some normalcy back.”

News Observer LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187409 Chicago Blackhawks But even with all the adjustments, Hawks practices should look relatively similar to practices of the past. And that’s a substantial milestone in itself.

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 07.07.2020 Blackhawks to start training camp in Chicago next week, begin playoffs Aug. 1

The NHL and NHL Players Association have reached a tentative agreement, pending an official vote, on their summer Return to Play plan — as well as a four-year CBA extension.

By Ben Pope Jul 6, 2020, 5:02pm CDT

The Blackhawks may begin full team practices next Monday at their practice center, Fifth Third Arena. Victor Hilitski/For the Sun-Times

Chicago’s 124-day hockey drought finally will end next week.

The Blackhawks are set to begin training camp next Monday after the NHL and its players association reached a tentative agreement Monday on a return-to-play plan and an extension of the collective-bargaining agreement.

Although partial team practices have been taking place for weeks at Fifth Third Arena during Phase 2 of the NHL’s return plan — with Hawks captain Jonathan Toews the latest player to join those workouts Monday — this announcement paves the way for the official return of hockey.

After about two weeks of camp, the Hawks will travel on July 26 to their “hub city” for the playoffs — likely Edmonton, unless the NHL unexpectedly sends the Western Conference to Toronto. Qualifying- round matchups, including the 12th-seeded Hawks’ best-of-five series against the fifth-seeded Oilers, will start Aug. 1.

Those dates still must be ratified by the NHL’s Board of Governors and the NHLPA membership but are expected to pass easily. A passing vote also will extend the current CBA through 2026 — a rare and encouraging sign of labor peace for a league historically plagued by lockouts.

The Hawks haven’t held an official event since their 6-2 win over the Sharks on March 11, the night when the scope of the coronavirus pandemic quickly became visible to the sports world. A scheduled practice March 12 was canceled hours before the NHL paused its season.

The Phase 2 practices have been limited to six to 12 players, with no coach contact. But when Phase 3 starts Monday, “coaches, general managers and hockey operations personnel will be permitted to have direct in-person interactions with players and conduct activities in a typical preseason training camp fashion,” according to the league’s guidelines.

The Hawks also might see some old, familiar faces. Defenseman Calvin de Haan — out since December with a shoulder injury — is ready to go and already has been participating in workouts. Defenseman Brent Seabrook, also out since December, reportedly also might be cleared to practice soon.

Not all will be normal, though.

The Hawks will be limited at camp to 30 skaters (but unlimited goalies), and all players must be playoff-eligible. That means rookie-to-be Ian Mitchell, who signed his entry-level contract in April, can’t play or practice.

Players will be able to opt out of the restart altogether if they wish but must notify the league within three days of the official CBA vote passing.

COVID-19 testing will remain a regular part of the practice schedule. Hawks players not yet practicing at Fifth Third Arena will be tested 48 hours before joining the group. Players and those in contact with them will be tested every other day, with temperature checks occurring daily.

Media access to players will be limited to interviews via video conference, although reporters will be allowed in the building.

Those rules are just the most noteworthy of hundreds that will be implemented — and that’s not even looking ahead to the Phase 4 (hub city) portion of the restart, in which each team will be allowed to send 52 total players, coaches, trainers, executives and other employees. 1187410 Chicago Blackhawks

NHL, NHLPA reach tentative agreement on Return to Play plan and CBA extension

By Charlie Roumeliotis July 06, 2020 5:00 PM

One day after finalizing the protocols for Phases 3 and 4, the NHL and NHL Players' Association announced Monday that they have reached a tentative agreement on the Return to Play plan and Collective Bargaining Agreement extension that runs through the 2025-26 season and includes transition rules and a new critical dates calendar.

The tentative agreement is now subject to approval by the NHL's Board of Governors as well as the NHLPA's Executive Board followed by the league-wide NHLPA membership vote, which means the process could take roughly three-to-five days to finalize. Until then, it's only unofficially official.

The NHL released three key dates in advance of the Return to Play plan and CBA ratification:

July 13 — Formal training camps open

July 26 — Teams travel to hub cities

Aug. 1 — Start of qualifying round

If all goes as planned, Blackhawks training camp will open at Fifth Third Arena exactly one week from Monday before the team heads to Edmonton, where they will take on the Oilers in a five-game play-in series.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187411 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews participates in Monday's voluntary practice

By Scott King July 06, 2020 4:06 PM

On Monday, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews skated with teammates at the Hawks' practice facility for the first time since the NHL paused on March 11.

O Captain! @JonathanToews was spotted at voluntary practice today @FifthThird | #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/mDeQmkXqwC

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 6, 2020

Teams have been allowed to hold small, voluntary group workouts since June 8 in accordance with the NHL's Return To Play plan. Blackhawks players first started showing up at Fifth Third Arena in Chicago on June 10.

Patrick Kane and goalie Malcolm Subban, who have been regularly participating in the on and off-ice workouts since they began, were also on the ice with Toews Monday.

Training camps are scheduled to start on July 13 for teams competing in the NHL's 24-team playoffs held in Edmonton and Toronto, the two hub cities.

The postseason, which has the Hawks facing the Oilers in a best-of-5 play-in series is slated to begin August 1.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187412 Chicago Blackhawks

If Brent Seabrook returns, where does he fit in Blackhawks' postseason lineup?

By Scott King July 06, 2020 11:12 AM

According to a report from The Athletic on Saturday, Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook is making a run at returning for the team's July 13 training camp and the NHL's 24-team playoff format beginning August 1.

At the start of the league's postseason, the Hawks are slated to take on the Edmonton Oilers in a best-of-5 play-in series.

In taking on the league's top two leaders in points at the time of the NHL pause on March 11 (Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid), the Hawks will take all the help on D they can get.

Click to download the MyTeams App for the latest Blackhawks news and analysis.

Seabrook certainly has the experience of playing against and trying to shut down the NHL's best players on big stages and in big series during the Chicago's long Cup runs.

If he's fully recovered from his right shoulder and left and right hip surgeries, he could be a lot more mobile as well.

Where the veteran defenseman plugs into the lineup largely depends on how Calvin de Haan progresses. de Haan, who underwent right shoulder surgery in December, joined the Blackhawks for small group skates and off-ice workouts on Thursday and is expected to be ready for camp too.

If all goes well for de Haan and he's available for the series, along with Seabrook, you could expect to see the two together as the Hawks' second pairing, where they logged time before their surgeries.

Rookie Adam Boqvist had been playing on the right of Duncan Keith for a while before the pause. Seabrook and Olli Maata didn't complement each other very well when paired together, but Seabrook and de Haan were a sound unit earlier in the season.

So here's how the D pairings could look against the Oilers:

Keith-Boqvist de Haan-Seabrook

Maatta-Murphy

Youngster Lucas Carlsson could also be in on D with a strong showing leading up to the pause and Slater Koekkoek had some noticeable games on the Hawks' blue line as well this season.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187413 Chicago Blackhawks

Percentage of NHL's COVID-19 positive test results remains steady

By Scott King July 06, 2020 10:13 AM

On Monday, the NHL provided the results from the latest COVID-19 tests it administered.

In total, 396 players (slightly more than half the ones participating in NHL's 24-team playoff format) that have returned to practice or training facilities have been tested for COVID-19 through over 2,900 tests.

As of Monday, the total tests have resulted in 23 returning confirmed positive cases for the virus.

In the release, the NHL also stated that since Phase 2 began on June 8 the league is aware of 12 additional players testing positive outside of the Phase 2 protocol, who are said to be self-isolating and following CDC and Health Canada guidelines.

The numbers showed a 5.8 percent infection rate out of the tests given both inside and outside of group practices, roughly the same as last week despite an additional 1,400-plus tests taken over the past week.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187414 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks add slick-skating Wisconsin defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk to the mix

By Mark Lazerus Jul 6, 2020

The blue line has been the site of the Blackhawks’ most glaring weakness in recent years. It’s also the site of their biggest logjam of players.

Brent Seabrook is signed through 2023-24, Duncan Keith is signed through 2022-23 and Connor Murphy, Calvin de Haan and Olli Maatta are signed through 2021-22. Adam Boqvist, the eighth-overall pick in 2018, is all but cemented in the NHL lineup. Lucas Carlsson, 23, showed great promise in his first NHL stint earlier in the season. Ian Mitchell, 21, has signed and will be joining the mix next season. Another 2018 first- rounder, Nicolas Beaudin, made his NHL debut in March. Then there’s Slater Koekkoek, Dennis Gilbert, Alec Regula and Nick Seeler. Even if the Blackhawks buy out Maatta’s contract to help stay under the flat cap necessitated by the pandemic, they have no shortage of NHL-proven and seemingly NHL-ready options.

But Stan Bowman’s mantra throughout the years is that you can never have too many defensemen. So add another name to the mix: the Blackhawks are signing defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk, a seventh-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2017, to an entry-level contract, according to two league sources. Kalynuk decided to forgo his senior season at Wisconsin, and the Flyers failed to sign him during their window of exclusivity, making him a free agent.

“At this point, Wyatt thinks right now it’s better for him to turn pro, and I support that,” Wisconsin coach Tony Granato told the Wisconsin State Journal. “As much as we’d like to have him back here, part of college hockey and part of recruiting great players is the fact that you understand that, unfortunately, sometimes they are ready before their four years expire.”

The swift-skating 6-foot-1, 189-pound Kalynuk — one college source said Kalynuk reminded him a bit of former Blackhawks speedster Nick Leddy — is another gifted offensive-minded defenseman in the organizational depth chart. He was a team captain and power-play quarterback at Wisconsin as a junior and posted seven goals and 21 assists in 36 games. He was a first-team All-Big Ten selection. He had 25 points in each of his first two seasons with the Badgers.

Like Mitchell — and forward signings Matej Chalupa, Michal Teply, Evan Barratt and Andrei Altyrbarmakyan, Kalynuk will not be eligible to play during this summer if and when the NHL’s 24-team postseason tournament begins on Aug. 1.

The Athletic LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187415 Colorado Avalanche

Avs’ Pierre-Edouard Bellemare may not see his family for weeks. But he’s “ready to make some sacrifices to win that Cup”

The NHL is still working on an official Phase 4 return-to-play announcement to coincide with a new collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players Association

By MIKE CHAMBERS PUBLISHED: July 6, 2020 at 1:06 p.m. | UPDATED: July 6, 2020 at 7:36 p.m.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has put his two young children to bed almost every night for nearly four months since the NHL paused its season March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Avalanche center now faces the possibility of not being in the same room with his family for a minimum of five weeks if the Avs reach the Western Conference finals in the proposed 24-team playoffs.

The NHL announced tentative Phase 4 return-to-play dates and a four- year extension to the collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players’ Association on Monday. And according to a TSN report published late Sunday night, the league will conduct its 24-team playoffs in two “bubble” cities — Edmonton and Toronto. It will also not allow advancing teams to see their families until the conference finals.

The conference finals and Stanley Cup Final are expected to be played in Edmonton, according to TSN.

“It’s a difficult situation. As the parent of two, it’s going to be really mentally difficult to not see your family for a while. I have mixed feelings about it,” Bellemare said Monday in a phone interview. “But I’m ready to return to play. We have a great team. I’m ready to win the Cup. I’m ready to make some sacrifices to win that Cup.”

Bellemare, one of just three active NHL players from France, has been skating at Pepsi Center and doing off-ice workouts with his teammates since Phase 2 (voluntary training) began last month. The NHL announced Monday it has had 23 of 396 players test positive for COVID- 19 during Phase 2. An additional 12 players tested positive outside Phase 2 protocol.

Bellemare said he doesn’t know if the Avs will be sent to Edmonton or Toronto for the play-in/seeding round, first round and the quarterfinals. But he feels the excitement building with the Avs.

“It’s a different situation right now, but normally when you come to pre- camp, you’re already in town and you’re practicing on the ice in different groups. This is similar but I feel like the intensity is a little bit higher just because everybody realizes what’s at skate,” he said. “So everybody is trying to get back to feeling good on the ice but also thinking about getting that edge quick because it’s going to come fast.”

The Avs training camp is scheduled to begin Monday in Denver, and they will travel to their hub city July 26 where they will finish camp. The play- in/seeding round is scheduled to begin Aug. 1. Players will have their own hotel rooms and be tested daily via nasal swabs.

“The league is trying to do the best they can to please everybody, safety- wise, and we the players are probably not going to like the whole thing. But that’s my way to think,” Bellemare said. “Am I happy I’m not going to see my kids for a while if we go all the way? Absolutely not. But because of (the hockey) life, I can enjoy the life I’ve had for the last three months without worrying about money, because of the hockey life. So I can’t fully complain about it.

“But this is my way to think. You can’t take my words and think everyone on the team is thinking like this. You’re going to have 600 players in playoffs and we’re all going to think differently about it.”

The NHL said any player may opt-out of the return-to-play tournament “for any reason and without penalty.”

Denver Post: LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187416 Colorado Avalanche

NHL has had 23 positive COVID-19 tests during voluntary workouts

The league has tested 396 players during Phase 2 of its reopening

By MIKE CHAMBERS | PUBLISHED: July 6, 2020 at 10:50 a.m. | UPDATED: July 6, 2020 at 12:22 p.m.

The NHL announced Monday it has had 23 of 396 players test positive for COVID-19 during Phase 2 of its reopening, which is voluntary workouts at team facilities. An additional 12 players tested positive outside Phase 2 protocol.

The league is tentatively scheduled to begin Phase 3 — training camps — on Monday. The proposed 24-team playoffs could begin late this month or early August.

This story will be updated.

Denver Post: LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187417 Colorado Avalanche

NHL and Players’ Association tentatively agree on 2020 return to play plan, CBA extension

By Aarif Deen - July 6, 2020

The NHL and its players’ union have reached a tentative agreement on a return to play plan and a memorandum of understanding for a four-year collective bargaining agreement extension. The deal, which includes a new critical dates calendar, is subject to ratification from the NHL’s board of governors and the NHLPA’s executive board. The deal will also include a full NHLPA membership vote with a majority needed for approval. The vote is expected to take place over the next 3-5 days.

Among the most notable dates moving forward, the NHL will tentatively begin Phase 3, formal training camps, on July 13. Teams will transition to their hub cities no later than July 26 with the play-in round and round- robin games (Phase 4) beginning on Aug. 1.

The Avalanche will partake in the round-robin games with St. Louis, Dallas, and Vegas in Edmonton, which will host the Western Conference teams through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

The current CBA, set to expire on Sep. 15, 2022, would be extended by four years, through the 2025-26 season. Among the notable changes in the extension is an agreement to allow NHL players to participate in the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics pending an agreement with the International Olympic Committee. The extension also allows the league and the players to navigate the financial struggles due to the coronavirus pandemic. milehighsports.com LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187418 Columbus Blue Jackets happen. It’s pretty funny hearing it, too, like when one of the guys dives or there’s a foul."

New views No fans? Possible remote broadcasts? NHL games will certainly be different Without fans, expect to see the NHL experiment with new camera angles from locations where fan sightlines ordinarily would take precedence.

Want to see a club-level view from behind the net, like on a video game? Brian Hedger The Columbus Dispatch Jul 6, 2020 at 6:00 AM How about a roving camera that broadcasts from different seating sections, or a robotic camera mounted on a track outside the glass?

It has been 46 years, but Mike "Doc" Emrick still remembers the sight Perhaps a drone-mounted camera could be used for views just above the and lack of sound while broadcasting a hockey game inside a mostly lower seating bowl or way up in the rafters. Specifics are being tightly empty arena. guarded at the moment, but the advantages of utilizing an empty arena should be plentiful for TV broadcast crews. Emrick, the play-by-play voice of NBC’s top hockey broadcast crew, called games on the radio for the former Port Huron Flags of the National or local? International Hockey League in 1974-75, including a Sunday matinee he Local U.S. networks such as Fox Sports Ohio are expected to handle will not soon forget at the former Metro Ice Arena in Lansing, Michigan. broadcasts during the new qualifying round and the first round of the The building was under construction, had a seating capacity of only 900, traditional 16-team Stanley Cup playoffs. National broadcast crews are and the owner of the now-defunct Lansing Lancers — a team that didn’t then expected to take over for the remainder of the playoffs, as usual. even last a full season — for some reason preferred to host Sunday It’s unknown whether broadcast crews, local or national, will be allowed afternoon games in the fall. to attend in person. Multiple sources told The Dispatch that working "I was able to count the whole house," said Emrick, a six-time Emmy remotely is more likely. If so, the good news for those having to call Award winner and member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. "It games from a studio is that technology has improved greatly — making it was one of those 2 p.m. matinees and there were 35 people there. That’s easier to identify players by their jersey numbers at live speed. the closest I can approximate to what it might be like to call a game with "We’ve gotten more sophisticated, and the monitors are much clearer no crowd." now than they used to be," Emrick said. "Identifying players was tricky, Because of the coronavirus pandemic, which prompted the NHL to pause but I would assume that would be a little better now if we wind up not its 2019-20 season on March 12, there’s a chance Emrick might get to being able to go to the rink." make that actual comparison this summer. Fan interaction

Assuming the NHL can complete its season with a 24-team format split In April, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell improvised during the between reported hub cities Edmonton and Toronto, Emrick and other league’s remotely-conducted draft. He announced picks from his broadcasters might be calling games inside empty arenas. basement while standing in front of a video screen showing fans of each That’s assuming they’re even allowed into the buildings at all. team via teleconference.

It’s possible that NHL broadcasts will be called remotely, with live video The Premier League borrowed that concept for goals and big plays feeds sent to studios rather than having broadcasters at the games — during its broadcasts, showing fans cheering from within individual boxes something Fox did during a portion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and now dividing the screen. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the NHL adopt a does to broadcast NASCAR races. similar format.

The location of broadcasters isn’t the only possible change ahead for "Who knows what they’ll do?" said Jody Shelley, the Blue Jackets’ in- hockey. The NHL and its television partners in the U.S. and Canada are game analyst for Fox Sports Ohio who almost certainly will not broadcast crafting their plans for the resumption of play, and executives are between the benches during the games. "I’m sure they’ll try everything studying live broadcasts of sports in other countries — including the they possibly can to make it as much like the true product, or even English Premier League on NBCSN, which also televises NHL games. enhance it. It’s an opportunity to do that, you know?"

What they ultimately come up with will be eagerly anticipated and roundly Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 07.07.2020 discussed by fans, who have watched an endless loop of "classic games" and other filler for nearly four months. Watching live hockey again would be a welcome change and promises to be a unique experience.

Here are some things that might be included:

Lessons from abroad

The NHL is expected to play its games within "bubbles" in each hub city, and fans are not expected to be present. Broadcast and print media might also be prohibited, similar to restrictions with the Premier League in England and the Bundesliga in Germany. Those soccer leagues have returned to the field, without fans, and their broadcasts have provided interesting case studies for other sports.

Early Bundesliga games were shown without artificial crowd noise, making for an uncomfortable silence among the broadcasters’ chatter. Crowd noise has since been added, and it also is included in NBCSN broadcasts of the Premier League, including "cheering" and "jeering" for goals or officiating calls.

In fact, it’s hard to tell there isn’t a single soccer hooligan in the stadium until the camera pans up from the field, revealing ad-covered tarps blanketing large blocks of seating areas — something you might also spot during NHL games, considering the potential ad revenue.

"Once you stop staring at the stands and see that there’s signs there, you kind of forget there’s really nobody there," said Blue Jackets forward Riley Nash, a soccer fan who has watched Bundesliga and Premier League broadcasts. "Whoever’s doing the sound is also putting in different sound effects for when good things happen and bad things 1187419 Dallas Stars Qualifying round and playoffs at the hub cities

Teams are allowed to bring 52 people to the hub city, including a 31- player maximum roster. The group must also include at least three NHL announces start dates for qualifying round, training camp along with coaches, two athletic trainers, one team doctor, one equipment manager, protocols for each one massage therapist, one ART therapist/chiropractor, one content The qualifying round will begin Aug. 1 and training camp will start July 13. creator, one security representative and one club compliance officer.

Asymptomatic players who test positive must remain in isolation until testing negative in two straight days, or until 10 days have passed since By Matthew DeFranks 7:40 PM on Jul 6, 2020 CDT the first positive test. Symptomatic players who test positive will remain isolated until two positive tests after resolution of their fever, or three

days after symptoms have stopped given that the player has been in Hockey is poised to return in less than four weeks. isolation for 10 days since symptoms started.

The NHL and the NHL Players Association announced Monday that the What various people in different roles have to do as far as testing and league’s qualifying round would begin Aug. 1 if the league’s board of living situation at the NHL hub cities. pic.twitter.com/0F8DJHJLmg governors, the players’ executive committee and full union membership — Matthew DeFranks (@MDeFranks) July 6, 2020 agree to the plan. Training camp would start July 13 (previously scheduled to start Friday), and teams would travel to hub cities July 26. Players are not allowed to leave the “secure zone” (hotel, restaurants, arena and practice facilities) unless retrieving medical supplies, being The hub cities would be Toronto and Edmonton, The Associated Press examined by their doctor of choice, or other events such as the birth of a reported Monday night. Multiple reports have said the West teams would child, a wedding or illness/death in the family. Upon return, they must test be based in Edmonton. The collective bargaining agreement between the negative on four straight days. NHL and the union would be extended for four years as part of the deal. Should individuals leave the secure zone without permission, teams may For the Stars, that means a round-robin with St. Louis, Vegas and face “significant penalties, potentially including fines and/or loss of draft Colorado to determine Western Conference seeding would begin in less choices.” than a month. By finishing fourth (in points percentage) in the West during the regular season, the Stars qualified for the postseason, where Commissioner Gary Bettman can choose to postpone, delay, move, or they will face the winner of one of the four best-of-5 qualifying rounds. cancel any games based on “whether the commencement or continuation of the game[s] would likely create a material risk to player The NHL and NHLPA also released the protocols for training camp and health and safety and/or jeopardize the integrity of the competition.” That the postseason. would include an uncontrolled outbreak of COVID-19. The highlights: Each person will have their own hotel room (typically players on entry- Training camp at home cities level contracts must share rooms). Players’ families can stay with them at the hotel during the conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals. Teams can have 30 skaters and unlimited goalies during camp and must submit rosters to the league by Thursday. Stars general manager Jim Nill Access to players’ families was an issue brought up to Stars NHLPA said via text Monday afternoon that all Stars participating in training camp representative Jason Dickinson by his teammates: “It’s crazy to think you are in Dallas. have to spend all this time away from them right now, but at the end of the day, it’s a few months at most. I don’t think it’s going to be a deal Players have 72 hours from the ratification of the agreement to notify breaker, necessarily, but we also want to be able to spend some time their teams that they will not play. Players who choose not to take part [with them].” will not face discipline. That includes Stars defenseman Roman Polak, who expressed concern about returning to play this summer. People will be required to wear masks outside of their hotel rooms except players while exercising or on the ice, coaches behind the bench, officials Social distancing must be practiced through the facility except in the on the ice or broadcasters on the air. weight room, training room and dressing rooms, or during medical encounters. Players and coaches should “refrain from contact with others Teams will provide “grocery delivery and errand delivery” services to on the ice unless it is an essential part of the practice or drill.” players’ families when the players are away from home at the hub city.

Stars coach Rick Bowness wasn’t sure how to plan his drills for training Reporters will be allowed at the games, but will not be given greater camp given potential social distancing requirements, but he said the access that reporters not in the hub cities. All interviews will be team would focus on improving offensively. conducted virtually.

Players, staff and others who might come in contact with players (ice and Crews clean and prepare to cover the Dallas Stars ice after all NHL were building maintenance, and security) must be tested within 48 hours of suspended due to coronavirus on Thursday, March 12, 2020 at American entering the facility. They will be tested every other day, with results Airlines Center in Dallas. available in 24 hours. If results are not available within 24 hours, that Dallas Morning News LOADED: 07.07.2020 person will not be allowed inside the facility until a negative result.

Players and staff will self-report symptoms on an app less than two hours before entering the facility. When they arrive at the facility, they will be temperature checked and symptom checked again.

Teams are not permitted to disclose to the media any positive tests without approval from the NHL, which will consult with the NHLPA. The league announced Monday morning that 23 players (out of 396) had tested positive during voluntary small-group workouts.

Players must wear masks except when exercising or on the ice.

Players are not allowed to skate or work out at any other facilities. Players are not allowed to car pool, and steam rooms and hot tubs at the facility will be closed. Teams may not conduct fitness tests during training camp.

Reporters will be allowed at training camp, but interviews will be conducted via Zoom or another video conferencing platform. Reporters will enter a separate entrance from the players, and will be required to social distance from each other. 1187420 Dallas Stars When it came to extending the CBA, Dickinson said Stars players were focused on two main things.

“The Olympics and money,” Dickinson said. “It always comes back to What did Stars players value in negotiations? Food, golf, Olympics and money.” more Money in these proceedings means escrow. Under the terms of the CBA signed in 2013, the players and owners would divide hockey-related By Sean Shapiro Jul 6, 2020 revenue at 50-50. If players’ salaries exceeded the split — which they have — a percentage of those contracts is withheld in escrow to pay a debt back to the owners. That debt is even higher with the pandemic, and NHL players put the entirety of their final check from the 2019-20 season As the Dallas Stars’ representative on the NHLPA executive board, toward escrow. Jason Dickinson has spent much of his time discussing four key topics with teammates. NHL players didn’t go to the Olympics in 2018. Returning to the event in 2022 was important in these negotiations. As a team loaded with players Food, golf, the Olympics, and escrow. from across the world, Dickinson said the Olympics were brought up to All four relate to the announcement the NHLPA and NHL made on him many times in group and individual calls. Monday afternoon when they reached a tentative agreement on the “That was really big, especially with us having some European players return-to-play procedure and a four-year extension of the collective that would have been at the Olympics in 2018 and likely would be there bargaining agreement. for sure in 2022,” Dickinson said. “That’s something that even the players NHLPA, NHL REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT ON RETURN TO that really won’t ever go to the Olympics, like myself — I’m not making PLAY PLAN, CBA EXTENSION; SET DATES FOR RESUMPTION OF Team Canada — we understand that. We’ve had that dream before. So PLAY HTTPS://T.CO/QKNU4L2JWV we understand that dream and why it’s important we fight for that.” PIC.TWITTER.COM/6CLJWYHQWH The Stars have 10 players on their current roster who would likely be — NHL PUBLIC RELATIONS (@PR_NHL) JULY 6, 2020 included in the conversation for Olympic approval. Some of those players, like Miro Heiskanen, would be locks to represent their country in Dickinson said food and golf were key discussion points for Stars players a best-on-best tournament. when it came to the return-to-play procedure, while the Olympics and escrow dominated CBA extension conversations. The Athletic LOADED: 07.07.2020

We’ll focus first on the return-to-play plan, which would have NHL training camps open on July 13 and the season resuming on Aug. 1.

Stars players didn’t have too many pressing concerns for what happens at the rink. There were more questions about what would happen away from the ice for those in the hub.

“The big thing we had conversations about, and what everyone was key on, was not being stuck in just your hotel room the entire time you are away from the rink,” Dickinson said. “Guys wanted to make sure there were options to get something to eat and go somewhere in the bubble, and not just be forced to wait in their room for room service for each meal.”

Golf is a big leisure activity for the Stars. Dallas is one of the NHL markets where players can golf throughout the season. It’s been used as a team bonding activity and a stress reliever for many of the players. When it came to the luxuries of the bubble, having a golf course readily available was important.

“That came up a ton with the guys,” Dickinson said. “Even the guys who haven’t really golfed before have become golfers (being) in Dallas.”

Dickinson said there haven’t been enough specifics on food and golf, but he’s encouraged those it will be hammered out properly.

“There are a lot of things that we talked about that (the NHL) would like to do, but it was hard to give specifics right now,” Dickinson said. “Like what golf courses or what that would mean. The hubs also really hadn’t been finalized formally, so it’s not like they could say, ‘Hey, we’ve got this restaurant or this vendor set up for food.’ So it’s kind of an idea right now that still needs details they couldn’t work on yet.”

The other key to the return-to-play agreement for the Stars was allowing players to see their families, which is why the NHL is going to allow families into the bubble starting with the conference finals. Dickinson said he relied heavily on his assistant rep, Ben Bishop, for that topic, since Bishop has two young children and could better speak from that perspective.

That perspective is why Dickinson said Stars players aren’t holding any ill will toward Roman Polak, who has made it known he will likely be opting out of the return-to-play plan.

“When someone says they don’t want to play, that would be frustrating, because we are working to get back and play and as teammates, we want to finish this thing,” Dickinson said. “But when you look at Roman’s situation and it’s a family decision, we all respect that. What he’s doing is different than someone saying, ‘I don’t like you guys and I don’t want to play hockey with you anymore.'” 1187421 Detroit Red Wings

I'm predicting big 2020-21 season for Detroit Red Wings' Tyler Bertuzzi. Here's why

Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press Published 1:49 p.m. ET July 6, 2020 | Updated 8:05 p.m. ET July 6, 2020

Jeff Daniels and Dave Coulier announced the Detroit Red Wings' lineup against Chicago, much to players delight. Filmed March 6, 2020 in Detroit. Detroit Free Press

He led his team in goals and amassed a career high in assists and points.

In this edition of Detroit Red Wings' Fast Forward, a series that projects how a player will perform in 2020-21, the subject is forward Tyler Bertuzzi.

Bertuzzi, 25, began the 2019-20 season with a splash, posting two goals and three assists in the first two games. When the NHL paused the season March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic, he had 21 goals and 27 assists in 71 games, matching his goal output from 2018-19, which was his first full NHL season. His 48 points ranked second behind Dylan Larkin’s 53.

[ Why Steve Yzerman is encouraged by Red Wings prospect Moritz Seider ]

Bertuzzi has emerged as a rebuilding block since being drafted with a bonus pick in 2013, when the Wings acquired the 58th overall pick as part of the trade with San Jose to swap first-round picks (the Sharks selected defenseman Mirco Mueller at 18th; the Wings drafted Anthony Mantha at 20th).

Bertuzzi spent a little more than two seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins and was named playoff MVP in their 2017 Calder Cup championship (nine goals, 10 assists in 19 games). One of the reasons the Wings traded forward Tomas Tatar in 2018 was to create an opening to bring up Bertuzzi from the minors.

He was the team’s best player in the first half, which saw him accumulate 14 goals and 16 assists in 38 games at the time of the Christmas break. The longest he went without a point was a four-game stretch in late November. His play earned him an invitation to be the Wings’ representative at the 2020 All-Star Game.

[ Why Red Wings might have found a hit in Dmytro Timashov ]

Bertuzzi is a smart player, but he also brings grit and a knack for getting under an opponent’s skin. He’s generally a hard worker, but his production did drop in the second half (seven goals, 11 assists in 33 games after Christmas). He seemed to have righted himself just before the shut down, when he scored goals in three straight games.

Bertuzzi has hovered near 50 points two years in a row. That will help his cause in the offseason, as he’s a restricted free agent. He is coming off a two-year, $2.8 million contract ($1.4 million salary-cap hit) and is likely to be signed to a four- or five-year contract in the $4.5 million annually range.

Read: Red Wings' 2017 draft review: 11 picks, but only 2 projected for rebuild

Bertuzzi, 6-foot-1 and 199 pounds, isn’t a fluid skater, but makes up for it with grit and savvy. He’s effective in front of the net and at digging pucks out of corners. He has developed excellent chemistry with Larkin and Mantha.

He projects in the 25-goal, 55-point range for next season (based on an 82-game season, which the NHL has said there will be in 2020-21 even if the pandemic delays the start until January). If general manager Steve Yzerman makes improvements to the team — such as adding a puck- moving defenseman and shoring up goaltending — Bertuzzi could flirt with the 30-goal mark.

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187422 Detroit Red Wings

NHL sets key dates in return to play plan

By Ansar Khan

The NHL continues to take steps in its plans to restart a season paused on March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The league and the NHL Players Association on Monday announced the framework for phase 3 (formal training camps) and phase 4 (resumption of play). Protocols will come into effect once the CBA is ratified by both sides.

As part of the tentative agreement, training camps for the 24 teams participating in the restart will open on July 13. The clubs can arrive in the hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton by July 26. Games will begin on Aug. 1. Barring any setback related to Covid-19, the Stanley Cup will be awarded during the first week of October.

The tentative agreement is subject to approval by the NHL’s board of governors as well as the NHLPA’s executive board followed by the full NHLPA membership.

The Detroit Red Wings are among the bottom-seven teams not involved in the restart.

The best-of-five qualifying round will feature eight series:

Eastern Conference

Pittsburgh vs. Montreal

Carolina vs. N.Y. Rangers

N.Y. Islanders vs. Florida

Toronto vs. Columbus

Western Conference

Edmonton vs. Chicago

Nashville vs. Arizona

Vancouver vs. Minnesota

Calgary vs. Winnipeg

The top four teams in each conference receive byes into the first round but will play a three-game round-robin series to determine seeding. In the East, that includes Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington and Philadelphia. In the West, that includes St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas and Dallas.

Michigan Live LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187423 Detroit Red Wings the opposition’s defense and get looks. He wants the puck and uses great balance and strong quads to beat defenders one-on-one, get pucks back and maintain a high pace at both ends. A high-end stick-handler and elite-level game-thinker, he keeps pucks close to his body in his Saginaw’s Cole Perfetti popular pick for Red Wings in mock drafts carries and rarely over-handles, choosing instead to stop abruptly, shifts laterally and find a teammate.”

NBC Sports: Drysdale By Ansar Khan James O’Brien writes: “Largely believed to be the best defenseman in the

2020 NHL Draft, Drysdale should draw plenty of attention. Experts praise The first pick in the 2020 NHL entry draft is a given. Drysdale’s skating -- not just speed, but strong edge work -- as one of his best qualities. Experts diverge, however, on how much of an impact Most analysts and draft prognosticators agree on who the second and Drysdale can make. The Red Wings selected Moritz Seider during the third selections will be, though not necessarily the order. 2019 NHL Draft, so maybe they’d prefer a forward. But … honestly, they need a bit of everything after a profoundly disastrous season. The Red The real suspense in this year’s draft starts with the fourth pick. Wings simply need to pick who they believe is the best player available.” That is where the Detroit Red Wings were relegated to during the June Bleacher Report: Perfetti draft lottery. The list of players they might take includes centers Cole Perfetti of Saginaw (OHL) and Marco Rossi of Ottawa (OHL), Swedish For what it’s worth, the Red Wings passed on Saginaw forwards Brandon wingers Lucas Raymond (Frolunda) and Alexander Holtz (Djurgardens) Saad (selected 43rd by Chicago) and Vincent Trocheck (64th to Florida) and defenseman Jamie Drysdale of Erie (OHL). in 2011 to take Tomas Jurco at 35. Before that, they passed on defenseman T.J. Brodie in 2008 (114th to Calgary) in favor of Max Or maybe general manager Steve Yzerman will pull a surprise and take Nicastro at No. 91. someone projected to go lower, like he did last year with defenseman Moritz Seider. Michigan Live LOADED: 07.07.2020 Yzerman will not be selecting left wing Alexis Lafreniere of Rimouski (QMJHL). He will be the first player taken, barring a complete and utter shock. He will go to one of the eight teams that loses in the qualifying round of the playoffs, which will be determined during the second phase of the lottery (all will have a 12.5 percent chance of winning) later this summer.

The Los Angeles Kings, with the second pick, are certain to select either center Quinton Byfield of Sudbury (OHL) or winger Tim Stuetzle of Mannheim (Germany). The Ottawa Senators, selecting third, probably will take whoever is available of those two.

The Red Wings were disappointed to drop to fourth despite finishing 23 points behind the second-worst team when the season was paused on March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is still their highest pick since 1990 and should have a profound impact on their rebuild.

The Red Wings need scoring and they need help on the blue line. They also need a goaltender of the future and Yaroslav Askarov of St. Petersburg (Russia) is sure to be available at No. 4. But it seems unlikely the Red Wings would take a goalie that high.

Here is a look at some post-draft lottery projections on who the Red Wings will select at No. 4:

Sportsnet: Cole Perfetti, C-LW, Saginaw (OHL)

Sam Cosentino writes: “There are countless ties between Detroit and Perfetti. Most importantly, Perfetti spent the season a short drive away from the Motor City, allowing everyone in the organization to get multiple looks as well as get up close and personal to know him away from the rink. He’s equally as impressive a young man as he is a player. For Perfetti, his hockey IQ may be the best in this draft class. His awareness is uncanny. Anticipating a play in neutral ice or jumping the play to earn a breakaway is not uncommon.”

TSN: Jamie Drysdale, D, Erie (OHL)

Craig Button says: “It changes significantly from 1 to 4, but it doesn’t with respect to Jamie Drysdale, a No. 1 elite, complete, right-shot defenseman. You can build a winner with Jamie Drysdale on your blue line.”

Tankathon: Lucas Raymond, RW, Frolunda (Sweden)

Playing on a good team in Sweden’s highest league as a 17-year-old, his stats were not impressive (four goals, six assists in 33 games), but analysts rave about his offensive skills. At 5-10 and 165, he has been described as a great skater and slick puck-handler, an excellent playmaker with good hockey sense.

Draftsite.com: Perfetti

Bill Placzek writes: “Strong, skilled smaller center-wing who is always involved in the middle regions of all three zones, in the areas where the pucks frequent. When he steps on the sheet, he easily can be viewed as the smartest player out there, and one that can penetrate and puncture 1187424 Edmonton Oilers the league’s first choice, it’s not much of a stretch to suggest that without Edmonton there might not be any playoffs.

SICK LEAVE Hub City musings: Hey, this is crazy enough to work With privacy concerns ruling the day — players not wanting anyone to know they’ve tested positive — it’s unlikely we will be seeing any sort of injury updates from teams in the playoffs. Robert Tychkowski Not that we ever got much before, but it’s even less. They can’t say ‘Player A has an upper body, Player B has a lower body and we’re not telling you what’s wrong with Player C.’ So don’t expect many answers So the NHL’s Hub City protocol is pretty much what everyone expected it when it comes to why somebody isn’t playing or practising. would be — lock everything down, test, test, test, isolate, isolate, isolate, and test some more. But expect a lot of rumours. If a player isn’t on the ice, and wasn’t helped off with an obvious injury the day before, everybody is going to wonder By the looks of things, the safest place in North America is going to be and if it’s COVID. inside those “secure zones,” and that’s no surprise, either. I still don’t understand the shame some people are trying to associate Normally, there is an adversarial relationship between the NHL/owners with this. You can say a player has a normal flu, you can say he has a and the NHLPA, but this time both sides are on the same team. The concussion or a torn ACL, but somehow a virus with 12 million cases league and the owners can’t afford the financial and public relations worldwide has become a scarlet letter. damage they’d suffer if this biosphere collapses on itself, and players have to be especially diligent in avoiding a virus that can leave young, TANKS A LOT healthy people with permanent lung damage. The tank is back in play. In holding the draft lottery before the play-in Two powerful forces working together for the same goal reached it round, and establishing that one of the eight play-in losers gets the first quickly and convincingly. overall pick, the integrity of the process is now open to question.

Now, will their plan work? If you’re a team with no shot at a Cup, and nothing to be gained in terms of playoff gate revenue, and you’re not crazy about staring out a hotel It’s wildly ambitious, containing nearly 700 people (12 teams of 52, plus room window for two months, how hard will you want to fight back from a officials) in one enclosed space and having them play contact sports 2-1 series deficit? three times a day during a pandemic, but they’re getting games in all over the world now. We’re seeing soccer in Europe, baseball in Korea If you’re the Oilers, and you’re up 2-1 in the play-in series, but you’ve lost and travelling road shows jumping from city to city in motorsports and McDavid and Draisaitl to injury (maybe it’s covid, maybe it’s not, you’ll golf. never know), is it better to try and get through the first round, only to lose in the second? Or should you take a dive, and a 12.5 per cent chance With daily testing, temperature checks, isolation, intense cleaning and you become a dynasty again? mandatory masks, athletes entering those bubbles are safer than the vast majority of people going to work, or grocery shopping, in those same Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 07.07.2020 communities.

So, if the JW Marriott/Rogers Place Hub is the safest place in Edmonton, where some of the most rigorous testing in the world reveals that only one in every 5,000 people has it, (211 cases out of one million people), the odds are very good that they can pull this off.

If they make it here.

The one loophole the NHL still hasn’t closed is Phase 3, formal training camps, where no quarantine will be in place.

Players will congregate as full teams for daily workouts and return to the real world when they are done. They are expected to stay home, but the league can’t keep a leash on them, or their families.

If this thing fails, that’s where it’s most likely to happen, with a handful of teams having to shut down right before the playoffs start.

Every player on every team has to make sure he masks up, avoids the public until he gets inside the bubble, but it will be especially incumbent on Oilers and Leafs players to stay safe. The last thing the league needs is an outbreak in a hub arena.

GIMME A REASON

As Nancy Kerrigan once famously asked: “Why?”

We know Edmonton kind of became a hub city by default, because Vancouver hates everything that isn’t vastly overpriced and at least partially made out of granola, and because putting a pandemic safe zone in the US right now is like putting a cocaine rehab centre in Colombia.

We’re fine with that. People who’ve spent time in Edmonton get why it’s a nice place to live; stone throwers who haven’t are of no concern to us.

But we still don’t know why the Oilers, the city and the province have invested so much time and effort into this cause. The economic impact will be minimal, unless you own the JW Marriott, or a nearby restaurant that delivers, and all those outdoor watch parties the bars are talking about can happen no matter what locked and empty arena the Oilers are playing in.

Hopefully the Oilers and the city are getting something big in return for this because they’re doing the NHL a huge solid. Even though this wasn’t 1187425 Edmonton Oilers That’ll be a real devil in the details for a lot of them. When the time comes, the players will be able to be joined by their

families. JONES: NHL checks all boxes when it comes to team bubbles But dad is going to have to win a lot of hockey games before that can happen.

Terry Jones It won’t transpire at any stage in Toronto.

The families, while they will be able to join the player in his hotel room for the duration, won’t be allowed inside the bubble until the two Conference If you compare the detail between the NHL’s Double Bubble and the Finals and the Stanley Cup Final. consequences compared to what’s involved with the other pro sports league’s returning to play, it’s hard to suggest the NHL has missed much. That’s a long time for the kids to walk down Jasper Avenue to see Edmonton’s majestic Rocky Mountains. When the players get to Edmonton and Toronto hub cities to begin the coronavirus version of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the protection plan is Each team will have its own designated floor of a Phase 4 secure zone beyond comprehensive. hotel once the Hub Cities open. Players will have their own rooms. There will be team rooms included and the detail includes the nature of the The problem, however, is what happens between now and the time they “single-wrapped snacks and single-serve beverages.” arrive at those bubbles. The teams headed to the Hub Cities July 26 after the July 13th training With the variety of conditions involved with some teams currently skating camps will be limited to a roster of up to 31 players and a total of 52 and about to hold training camps, it’s a concern. personnel in the group including two trainers, a doctor and compliance officer in addition to players and coaches. We’ve already seen four players from the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues allegedly reunite for a few beers and cause the closure of Players will be allowed to opt out of proceedings like Los Angeles their facility as a result of positive tests from their trip to a bar. Dodgers pitcher David Price and others in baseball but must make up their minds in short order after the ratifications are complete. You can get this quote from just about anybody involved with building the NHL bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton but not likely for attribution: Identities of players who test positive are not to be disclosed, but good luck with that if Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid suddenly go missing “I think we’re going to be O.K. when we get the teams in the bubbles, but for 14-days. in the three weeks before they get there, I’m fearful of what could happen.” Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 07.07.2020 Sunday evening the NHL and NHLPA reached a tentative agreement on Phase 3 and Phase 4 of the Return To Play documents that still require ratification from both groups.

The details are exceptionally interesting with what’s going to happen in the start-to-finish Edmonton Hub that will include Eastern and Western Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final itself, first revealed by insiders Bob McKenzie of TSN and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and others when the tentative agreement was reached.

The bubbles, or secure zones, involve all areas of the hotel, arena, dressing rooms, practice facilities and other demarcated areas including dining destinations, hotel bar, busses and even designated golf courses. The Return To Play Protocol involves daily testing for players, team and league officials and restaurant, hotel and arena staff. The number of tests will end up being a hockey statistic for the ages.

And the document has teeth.

There will be serious repercussions if players and teams don’t attempt to live by all the protocols.

Maybe you wondered what would happen if a team gave up hope like the Detroit Red Wings did in a a one-sided playoff series in Edmonton in the ‘80s when a large number of Red Wings decided to have a few at Goose Loonies, an Edmonton night club that no longer exists.

“Individuals leaving … may be subject to consequences up to and including removal,” read one interesting paragraph detailing “significant penalties including fines and/or loss of draft choices.”

The details of the difference allowed when it comes to close contacts of players testing positive being “immediately removed and tested” and closely monitored for two weeks instead of everybody in direct contact automatically forced to isolate for 14 days and potentially shutting the whole deal down will be examined and debated by medical people.

There’s a detail protocol in place to deal with it that cleared with Alberta medical chiefs but not those in B.C.

In all, there are almost 100 pages of detail including the extent of the cleansing plan between periods. Bench area including flooring, bench surface, tops of the dasher boards, water bottle area and Plexiglass will be disinfected.

It’ll be interesting to hear the reaction of players who had expressed concerns about being separated from their families for longer than two or three weeks. 1187426 Edmonton Oilers As reported here in Friday editions, the NHL is taking “home dressing room advantage” away from the Oilers and Maple Leafs.

They won’t reside in their own room when the tournament begins. A JONES: Home-ice advantage not a factor for Edmonton Oilers home team and an away team will be designated for each game. The higher positioned team in the standings will be the home team with home dressing room, home bench, last line change, etc. for Games 1-2 and 5 in the ‘play-in’ best-of-five series and Games 1-2, 5 and 7 in the Terry Jones traditional best-of-sevens to follow.

It is believed the home team for the first and third games of the three- How do you create home-ice advantage for a potential 33 Oilers Stanley games-per-day schedule will get the Oilers dressing room and the other Cup playoff games in Edmonton — five in the ‘play-in’ series and the team the visitors room. For the middle game, the expectation is that the traditional seven in each of the other four? home team will get the Oil Kings room and the visitors the WHL visitors room. Not one game would have a single Oilers fan in the stands. That sort of alternating will allow a complete cleansing of each of the four Edmonton, dating back to those spectacular “annual” playoff series rooms following each game. against the Dallas Stars, became known for the spectacular scenes in the that Hockey Night in Canada’s Harry Neale called the greatest he Being familiar with the NHL’s No. 2-rated ice surface as ranked by the ever experienced. Those scenes were duplicated in the run to Game 7 of NHLPA and having knowledge of how pucks tend to come off the boards, the Stanley Cup Final of 2006. And they were replicated again in 2017 as etc., might make a tiny difference. But not so much, you’d figure, to swing the Oilers ended the 10-year decade of darkness by going to the division a series. final. If the organizers can create a scene that will find its way to transfer to the They won’t exist in a empty Rogers Place. teams in the bubble, it should add to the experience of everybody involved and benefit the home team most as long as they are inspired to But while the Oilers Entertainment Group awaits the official stay alive. announcements of the completion of the complicated plans including a newly constructed six-year collective bargaining agreement, word is Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 07.07.2020 leaking out of highly energetic plans being considered to create some of the home-ice advantage that’s going to be missing.

The idea is for Edmonton and much of the province to embrace what the fans aren’t going to be able to experience inside the building by creating it outside the building and hope it leaks its way into the bubble.

First and foremost, staying within all the health protocols, Edmonton organizers focus, now that the city has become the No. 1 Hub City, is to make the city come alive.

The big picture is for all 12 teams starting the Stanley Cup playoffs in the Edmonton hub to know it’s out there while knowing it’ll be the Oilers that create most of the buzz until they’re eliminated.

One of the activations I believe being explored includes paving the parking lot of the old Baccarat Casino beside Rogers Place and turning it into a giant drive-in theatre and a modified Jurassic Park the Toronto Raptors had going in the NBA Final last year.

While the Ice District will be in the bubble and for the exclusive use of the teams involved, when it gets down to four teams remaining Edmonton organizers would love to open that up for appropriately social distancing viewing parties come mid-September.

The Downtown Business Association is looking into several activations and the City of Edmonton is also apparently examining the idea of creating several other outdoor watch parties.

Being that most of the games will be in the afternoon and warm Alberta evenings, they could be safely done outdoors.

Imagine having an outdoor watch party where Edmonton’s Folk Fest is normally held?

Imagine an outdoor watch party on the Legislature Grounds? There are so many places in Edmonton to bring people together in a safe way.

And the Provincial government, I hear, is looking into an idea to have different communities adopt different teams and supply all manner of decorations including team car flags. Calahoo, home of defending Stanley Cup champion coach Craig Berube, would probably have dibs on the St. Louis Blues.

The concept would be for the communities to do their thing and perhaps set up Zoom calls to connect players with kids in those community, etc.

Back in 2006, Whyte Avenue became the cruising strip for fans. Three years ago it became 104th Ave., in front of Rogers Place. You know the Oilers aren’t going to discourage that from happening again with flags and honking the horns, etc. That energy and that sound can’t help but bleed into the bubble.

Whether there will be any home-ice advantage for the Oilers here in any other ways is highly debatable. 1187427 Edmonton Oilers Lagesson is waiver-eligible at the beginning of next season, meaning he’ll either make the jump to the majors or 31 teams will collectively decide that the cheap 24-year-old isn’t an NHL defenceman. The bet here is that he graduates. Every Oilers AHL prospect rated by how close they are to the NHL Lagesson’s primary virtues are defensive in nature: he’s big (6-foot-2, 207 pounds), physical without being prone to excessive penalties and was a key member of Bakersfield’s penalty kill. By Jonathan Willis Jul 6, 2020 An interesting point of comparison is to Brandon Davidson, who shared

many of the same virtues when he graduated to the NHL as a 24-year- Two months ago the AHL cancelled the remainder of its 2019-20 season, old in 2015. As similar as the scouting reports and roles are, Lagesson meaning Bakersfield’s 21-27-8 record stands as its final tally for the year. has been the more effective scorer all down the line. Davidson had 23 The Condors finished 28th in the league, their campaign kneecapped by points in 123 games over his final two AHL seasons; Lagesson has 37 in serious injuries and a wave of graduations to their parent team in 92 games. Edmonton. RD Evan Bouchard Despite the record, the season was not a write-off. Bakersfield had The Oilers briefly recalled Bouchard in February amid a blazing run to impressive prospects make gains over the course of the year and the close out the season. From Jan. 1 on, Bouchard scored 20 points in his Oilers will benefit from that development in seasons to come. final 24 games. Loathe though I am to mention plus/minus, he was also What is true is that this year’s crop of prospects will have to be plus-2 in that span on a team that over the same arc went 9-16-3. impressive indeed to match the performance of players from the 2018-19 Playing in a feature role at for a struggling team, Bouchard not only lit up team who made the jump this year. the AHL but was part of a unit that outscored its opposition.

Last May I rated the Condors in terms of NHL readiness in a series of Ordinarily that might be academic: Ken Holland’s standard operating categories (players were ranked alphabetically within the categories). In procedure is to give players lots of time in the minors, and Edmonton is in hindsight I’m reasonably happy with the predictions, but the most the historically atypical position of having lots of right-shot defence interesting bits are the ones I got wrong at the top of the list. Coming out options. Facing a flat cap, though, the option to plug in an NHL-ready of last season I had Joseph Gambardella and Caleb Jones poised to win defenceman with an $894,167 cap hit could be overwhelming. the jobs out of camp, jobs which were in fact won by Patrick Russell and Certainly Bouchard’s development this season warrants a real look in Ethan Bear. camp. He’s still primarily an offensive defenceman but a year in the Gambardella vs. Russell was always going to be close and wasn’t much professional ranks has done much to round out his defensive game. of an upset. I liked Gambardella’s skating over Russell’s size, but the two LW Tyler Benson were linemates and played extremely similar roles, with Gambardella getting the longer NHL look in 2018-19. Russell was clearly in the mix; It’s something of a disappointment that Benson was only able to find his critically he had a great training camp while Gambardella struggled to way into seven NHL games this season. He was excellent as an AHL find his feet. rookie in 2018-19 but with less support took a step back offensively this year. Bear vs. Jones was a bigger surprise to me, and although some of that was the result of training camp there are items that stand out in hindsight. He’s an intelligent player with good playmaking vision, an eye for detail I don’t have anything to repent of in Jones’s case: he had 11 points in 14 and strong work ethic, the kind of player who could make it as a bottom- games in the AHL and quickly found his way to the majors, where he six forward if the scoring doesn’t come. The knocks on him are that he earned a one-way contract extension. isn’t particularly fast or an especially good finisher, having scored on just eight percent of his shots in the AHL. What I was guilty of was underrating Bear. He’d proven his quality as a prospect in 2017-18 but last season dealt with a host of injuries. In Whether or not Benson makes the grade next year will probably come hindsight it’s abundantly clear just how much those affected his game. down to his camp performance. Edmonton, like most teams, is facing It’s a useful lesson to keep in mind when evaluating someone like significant cap pressure and if Benson looks ready his $808,333 cap hit Cooper Marody. could ease pressure. If he shows poorly, the team’s management is more likely to remember that he doesn’t have to clear waivers to be sent down. One of the other things Bear’s emergence reinforces is how important individual decisions and circumstances are. Cooper Marody. (Perry Nelson / USA Today)

Bear got the opportunity to perform in large part because Adam Larsson Recall candidates got hurt in the first game of the season; he was thrown into minutes which would not otherwise have been available. That Bear was the Although not favourites to make the opening night roster, each of these player chosen for the assignment is a direct reflection of the incredible players is a plausible NHL recall option next season and with a strong work he put in over the summer, something coach Dave Tippett camp could put themselves in the mix for a job. highlighted repeatedly in training camp. RW Josh Currie “First and foremost he came in great shape, came in great shape, Currie had a career season in 2018-19, earning a 21-game NHL recall in worked hard all summer,” Tippett said on Sept. 22. “I love his attitude. which he capably handled fourth-line work. In 2019-20 he played every He’s got a positive attitude; he’s upbeat all the time, wants to get better bit as well – perhaps better given the decline in the team around him – right now … He looks quicker, his mindset seems really clear and he’s and spent the entire season in the minors. The difference was not the out there working hard to try and find a position on the team.” player, but the team: a deeper Oilers club that added rather than It’s a lesson every prospect in Bakersfield should take to heart. The subtracted at the deadline had no room to give him a spin. 2019-20 season is a platform to build from, but decisions for next season Currie will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. If he’s willing to will be made in training camp, too. Bear is a fantastic example of a player stick the Oilers should keep him: he’s a very good shooter, plays a gritty who put the work in and was thus prepared to take advantage of an game despite modest size and showed in 2018-19 that he can hold his opportunity when it arose. own even on a line that gets lots of starts in the defensive zone. How many players from this year’s group are ready to make the same C Cooper Marody step from AHL to NHL? Right-shot centres are relatively rare and correspondingly valuable in the NHL-ready NHL, and Marody’s intelligence and offensive toolkit make him a These players are ready to take an NHL roster spot based on their AHL legitimate prospect despite modest speed. Marody delivered brilliantly as play in 2019-20, though that’s no guarantee they will start 2020-21 with an AHL rookie in 2018-19, scoring at better than a point per game clip the Oilers. before a playoff hit by ex-Oilers prospect Kale Kessy concussed him, ending his season. LD William Lagesson That injury set the theme for 2019-20. Marody was banged up in rookie Maksimov isn’t on track to play a top-six role in the majors but with a camp, had a lower body injury in November, got hit with a nasty virus and couple of solid developmental years he could still evolve into a quality finally suffered an upper body injury in mid-January that Bakersfield NHLer. coach Jay Woodcroft was describing as “week-to-week” a month later. C Brad Malone Injury is a common hazard for prospects, and it’s always hard to know in advance whether a player will come back improved or diminished in the Malone recently signed a two-year AHL deal with the Condors after aftermath. The hope is always for recovery and then improvement, and if spending the three previous seasons in the Oilers’ system on two-way Marody can do that he’ll contend for NHL minutes in 2020-21. NHL/AHL contracts. Over a 199-game NHL career he was a physical checker, though at the AHL level he’s also an offensive threat. He’s LW Joseph Gambardella especially well-regarded as a mentor to the organization’s up-and- comers. Patrick Russell took his job as a fourth-line forechecker/penalty killer, but Gambardella is still a reasonable option for the role. He’s less appealing LD Keegan Lowe following a less impressive AHL season in which he fell from 29 goals to just 14 in the same number of games. That may have been inevitable: he Bakersfield’s captain has spent the past two seasons entirely in the scored on 30 percent of his shots a year ago, and this year’s 15 percent minors. He’s been the best-conditioned player on the team two years clip was far more realistic. running and his leadership is certainly valued, but he seems to be getting further away from major-league duty rather than closer to it. Perhaps an C Ryan McLeod AHL contract makes more sense than another NHL deal?

McLeod is 6-foot-3, a plus skater and good defensively, which makes it C Luke Esposito easy to forget that he’s only 20. His rookie AHL season went OK: he got used in a lot of different situations (both offensive and defensive) and Minor-league rosters are a lot more fluid than their major-league split time between centre and the wing. Five goals and 23 points in 56 equivalents, and so there’s always a need for versatile players who can games isn’t terrible production, but ideally the 2018 second-rounder will slot into multiple positions and roles as needed. Esposito has evolved evolve into a more dangerous offensive player with more time in the into that sort of forward over two seasons with the Condors, which is why minors. Bakersfield recently signed the 26-year-old to a two-year AHL contract.

On loan LD Jake Kulevich

Just one player is currently slated to leave the AHL for a season The 27-year-old Kulevich is a handy player to have around on the blue overseas. line. Despite his age he doesn’t count as a veteran for AHL roster purposes, it’s not a big deal if he sits out games here and there, and he’s LD Dmitri Samorukov perfectly capable of stepping in and playing solid minutes next to a prospect. He’s been signed to an AHL contract for 2020-21. It still isn’t totally clear how the AHL will function next season amid continued coronavirus (and related revenue) concerns, but that won’t be LW Jakob Stukel an issue for Samorukov, who has signed a one-year deal in the KHL. From an NHL perspective this isn’t a big deal immediately: it took Originally drafted by the Canucks, Stukel went unsigned after flat Samorukov a while to find his way down on the farm and he’s still too raw development in the WHL. The Oilers brought him in to play in the ECHL to really qualify as a major-league option. He is, however, a 6-foot-3 and this year he pushed his way into regular minutes in Bakersfield. The defenceman who can skate and has a history of producing offensively. If speedy 23-year-old has already been signed to an AHL deal for next he has a good year overseas, there’s no reason he couldn’t be in the season and is a nice no-risk bet for a team light on pro-level forward NHL recall conversation upon his return. prospects.

AHL players Shane Starrett. (Anne-Marie Sorvin / USA Today)

Some of them are on two-way deals, while others are on pure AHL pacts, Likely out the door but in either case it’s reasonable to expect these players to start well The Condors have a lot of players on expiring contracts. These are the down the NHL organizational depth chart. ones who seem the most obvious candidates for departure.

LW Ryan Kuffner C Markus Granlund

Kuffner’s brutal rookie AHL season makes him easy to forget, but he was Granlund is expected to play next season in the KHL after falling out of a quality goal scorer at Princeton and a Hobey Baker nominee before he the NHL over the course of 2019-20. Despite the disappointing season, turned pro. The Red Wings liked his brains when they signed him; it’s he deserves credit for his play with the Condors: he helped fill the void reasonable to think Ken Holland still does. The Oilers don’t have a ton of down the middle and consistently generated offence without a lot of help. pro-level forward prospects so the pending RFA should get an opportunity this coming year. G Shane Starrett

RD Logan Day Things couldn’t have gone worse for Starrett after a brilliant 2018-19. If he’d continued laying waste to the AHL there was a brief window when Day won an NHL contract with a 34-point effort in 2018-19. He was he might have been able to push himself into a major-league audition. banged up to start 2019-20, and when he did play the scoring didn’t Instead he was hurt early and often and played poorly when he was able come the way it had a year earlier; he finished with just 16 points. He’s to make his way into games. He’s an unrestricted free agent and it’s hard an offensive defenceman who can be a little disordered in his own end. to imagine Edmonton trusting him as the organizational No. 3 after the Although he’s a useful piece on an AHL deal it’s fair to wonder whether year he just had. he’s really an NHL recall candidate. LD Brandon Manning RW Kirill Maksimov Skill-wise Manning is a competent enough depth piece. It would be a In the two seasons after the Oilers drafted Maksimov in the fifth round, he surprise if the Oilers brought him back after he was suspended five scored 34 and 40 goals in the OHL, with the result that in some quarters games in January for his use of a racial slur. expectations for the player were sky-high. If it was a mistake to get too enthusiastic about his junior numbers, it would also be a mistake to be RW Anthony Peluso broken-hearted over a five-goal AHL rookie campaign. Peluso, who had 14 points and 220 penalty minutes over a 148-game Maksimov is a 6-foot-3 forward who was used on the penalty kill and in NHL career, was brought in last summer to provide Bakersfield with a defensive zone situations this year, so he has a significant advantage physical presence. Now 31, he’s capable of filling that role in the minors over pure-offence types. Speed is an issue and that’s reflected to some but isn’t a candidate for major-league employment. degree in his low shot totals; he didn’t do a good enough job of getting RW Cameron Hebig himself into good shooting position. He also has room to improve as a finisher. Given his OHL bona fides one would expect him in future to After a great first half to his rookie AHL season Hebig has disappointed. cash in on more than 8.5 percent of his shots in the AHL. He split the year between Bakersfield and Wichita, scoring in the ECHL but playing a depth role for the Condors. He’s a restricted free agent this summer but won’t get another NHL contract.

RW Miles Koules

Koules was a pretty good finisher at his last AHL stop (in Cleveland) but lost his scoring touch this season, with just a single goal on 34 shots.

Bottom line

Edmonton’s farm team is in a period of transition. The 2018-19 Condors were a very good club, and have graduated a host of impressive prospects, players who have immediately improved the outlook for the Oilers. That team isn’t done sending skaters to the majors: the guys at the top of this list were part of that success too.

What comes next will depend on players who weren’t integral to that group. McLeod, who filled in capably enough in the 2019 playoffs, but also Maksimov and Samorukov and perhaps Kuffner. The new players slated to join Bakersfield will figure in prominently, too: Raphael Lavoie, Theodor Lennstrom and Markus Niemelainen.

It’s an untested and not immediately impressive collection of AHL prospects, but the same might well have been said of the host of mid- round picks who established themselves as NHL-ready players in Bakersfield over the last couple of seasons.

The Athletic LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187428 Los Angeles Kings designated unfit to play and have “sustained an illness arising out of the course of his employment as a hockey player.” Club medical personnel will conduct contract tracing to determine who might have had contact with an infected player. NHL, NHLPA reach tentative agreement on return-to-play plan and CBA extension The protocol document for Phase 4 emphasizes each person’s responsibility to obey all aspects of the protocol. “While comprehensive, the steps outlined in the Protocol cannot mitigate all risk,” it reads in part. Teams will be situated in a Phase 4 Secure Zone that will include their By HELENE ELLIOTTSPORTS COLUMNIST JULY 6, 20203:26 PM hotel, restaurants, their practice rink and “other demarcated areas” for UPDATED8:21 PM entertainment. Anyone who leaves the secure zone might have to undergo testing and a quarantine before they can re-enter.

The NHL and NHL Players’ Assn. on Monday announced they had Players’ families will be permitted to join them during the conference reached a tentative agreement on a detailed Return to Play plan that finals and Stanley Cup Final if those family members agree to daily would relaunch the season on Aug. 1, and at the same time said they testing and to follow medical protocols. The document also says social have a Memorandum Of Understanding to extend their existing collective excursions will be arranged if health standards can be maintained. bargaining agreement by four years, through the 2025-26 season. Violations of the protocol can result in fines and/or loss of draft picks for In identical statements, the league and the union said formal training teams, the termination of third party vendors’ contracts, and dismissal of camps will start on July 13, the third phase of the four-phase plan. That staffers from the Secure Zone. will be followed by travel to the two playoff hub cities on July 26. The LA Times: LOADED: 07.07.2020 qualifying round, part of the expanded, 24-team playoff format, will start on Aug. 1, launching Phase 4. The two hub cities were not specified but the sites reportedly will be Edmonton and Toronto. The conference finals and Stanley Cup Final will be held in one city.

The agreement is subject to approval from the NHL’s board of governors and from the NHLPA’s executive board and full membership.

The NHL halted its season on March 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. After considering completing the final 15% of the regular season schedule that remained when play was paused, the league and the union agreed instead to scrap the regular season and resume with postseason play.

Staples Center before the final game of the Kings' 2019-20 season against the Ottawa Senators on March 11.

NHL says 23 players tested positive for COVID-19 since start of small- group workouts

By HELENE ELLIOTTSPORTS COLUMNIST JULY 6, 202012:09 PM UPDATED5:29 PM

Violations of the protocol can result in fines and/or loss of draft picks for teams, the termination third party vendors’ contracts, and dismissal of staffers from the Secure Zone.

LA Times: LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187430 Los Angeles Kings as the Kings, who have yet to open their practice facility to players. He’s hoping the club, which has navigated financial impacts to all departments, won’t suffer more serious pandemic-related setbacks. And he doesn’t know when front-office members will be allowed to return to Kings GM Rob Blake has a lot to accomplish in offseason and a lot of their El Segundo offices full-time. time to do it “It’s interesting when you get put in these situations, everybody’s very comfortable on video conferencing,” Blake said. “I don’t think that was [the case] five months ago.” By JACK HARRISSTAFF WRITER JULY 6, 20206 AM Blake said the team is still in the “early stages” of its search for a new

coach of the Ontario Reign, their AHL affiliate. The process is being Rob Blake, the Kings’ vice president and general manager, will have headed up by director of player development Glen Murray and Reign plenty of time to contemplate the next — and potentially most important general manager Rich Seeley. — moves in his club’s continued rebuild. The team is targeting candidates who can help foster a revamped Blake’s offseason to-do list is long, from filling a minor league coaching development model that began to be put in place last season. But the vacancy to preparing for a majorly important draft. But with the Kings not uncertain schedule is creating unknowns in the coaching search. participating in the NHL’s 24-team restart plan, he might not be able to “We’re a little concerned with, are guys going to be available? What’s the start putting plans into action until “much further down the road,” he said. timing on all this?” Blake said. “But everything’s obviously being pushed “We’re one of those seven teams that’s a little bit in limbo on the start back and the unknown start dates. We’ll make sure we take our time.” date and everything.” Like with most things this offseason, Blake and the Kings don’t have The draft is perhaps the biggest long-term priority, especially after the much choice. A long summer first awaits. Kings received the No. 2 overall pick in the lottery last month. With consensus top pick Alexis Lafreniere probably be off the board, the Kings LA Times: LOADED: 07.07.2020 could be deciding between other high-level prospects such as centers Quinton Byfield, who had 82 points in 45 junior hockey games this season in the Ontario Hockey League, and Tim Stutzle, a German prospect who recorded five points in five games during last winter’s World Junior Championships.

Before the draft was officially postponed to this fall (a new date has not yet been finalized), the Kings had been preparing for the original June date. Now with several extra months of prep time, “You can narrow it down to three or four players where you’re really starting to zero in, instead of a group,” Blake said. “But you’re going to review all the prep you did leading up to this one more time to have it fresh on your mind.”

The delay will also give Blake and Mark Yannetti, the director of amateur scouting, more time to craft a draft strategy, a task at which Blake feels he has grown more adept every year since being promoted to general manager in 2017.

“I don’t think I really understood much of the [scouting] staff the first time around,” said Blake, whose draft responsibilities have greatly increased from his days as the team’s assistant general manager. “[Now], you understand Mark and the way he operates. You understand how they collect their reports and their data throughout the season, and then the selection process.”

The Kings’ three second-round picks and two each in the third and fourth rounds could create opportunities to move around the draft board too, much like they did last summer when they swung a deal with the Montreal Canadiens to move up in the second round and select Swedish prospect Samuel Fagemo.

“The thing that starts to take shape, probably most significantly last [year] and into this year, is the combination of sitting with Mark and going over the draft strategy,” Blake said. “That takes place as you put the plan in place with your team.”

At the NHL level, Blake doesn’t believe a potentially condensed free- agency period will have much effect on the club’s 2020-21 roster plans. He still expects to field a young roster that will come up well short of the salary cap.

He doesn’t foresee any issues in re-signing restricted free agents (the club has five such players who appeared with the Kings last year, including Nikolai Prokhorkin, Austin Wagner and Sean Walker) and he is already evaluating which minor league prospects could make the NHL jump.

Kim Davis, the NHL’s executive vice president of social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs.

“Some of these younger guys we’ve been able to see for a year in the American [Hockey] League, which gives you a little bit better projection of their time playing in the NHL,” Blake said. “You build your roster around that.”

Other questions are less clear. Blake is still waiting to see how much, if any, offseason training the league will allow for non-playoff teams such 1187431 Los Angeles Kings

NHL, players tentatively agree on plan to return to ice, plus extension of CBA

By ELLIOTT TEAFORD | PUBLISHED: July 6, 2020 at 3:21 p.m. | UPDATED: July 6, 2020 at 3:54 p.m.

No fans will be in attendance for any of the games or practices.

Edmonton will host the conference finals and the Stanley Cup Final.

Teams will travel to the hub cities July 26.

Cases in Canada have been on the decline in recent weeks.

No names have been or will be released by the league, the NHL said in a statement.

The NHL has said isolated cases are not sufficient to halt play.

The agreement between the league and its players was outlined in two documents totaling 47 pages.

Orange County Register: LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187432 Los Angeles Kings Listen In Below, new episodes drop weekly – LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 07.07.2020

REIGN COACHING SEARCH UPDATE, ANDREWS RETIRES, REIGNY DAY PODCAST

BY ZACH DOOLEY FOR LAKINGS INSIDER.COM JULY 6, 2020

Happy Monday, Insiders!

A few odds and ends as come out of the holiday weekend.

Coaching Search Update

For the first time with the Ontario Reign as their AHL affiliate, the LA Kings are looking for a new bench boss for their top developmental prospects. Following the news last month that the contract of Mike Stothers would not be retained, the organization as a vacancy at the position for the first time since 2014, when Stothers was hired to coach the Manchester Monarchs.

Kings General Manager Rob Blake provided an update on the status of the search in a recent conference call with local media –

Glen Murray and Rich Seeley head up that search. What they have done is compiled a list of criteria first and foremost, before even getting a list of candidates. Here’s your criteria, here’s what you look for in a coach. Now, we take the list of candidates, the ones that approached us, the ones that we wanted to approach, you put them in and you start bringing that number down to a manageable number. Currently, they’re in a stage where they’re conducting very similar type interviews to what we’re doing now. It’s more of, I wouldn’t classify as a total interview, but it’s more of an introduction, but it’s done virtually. They’ll take that group and they’ll get it down to a workable number, where we’ll do a future interview, and it may have be virtually, where we get a lot more in depth. At some point, we hope to have [candidates] out for a face-to-face and understand a little bit about their values and character.

With there currently being no set date for the start of a 2020-21 AHL season, there isn’t, at this time, any rush to the process.

Happy Trails, Dave Andrews

AHL President & CEO Dave Andrews officially had his last day in the position last week, in a move that had been known and announced for months prior. Andrews hosted his final AHL All-Star Classic in Ontario in January, but was not able to hand out the Calder Cup one final time this summer, with the league’s campaign cut short.

Andrews leaves an enormous legacy on the American Hockey League, with the expansion of the league into California, and the creation of the Pacific Division, just one of his many accomplishments in charge of the NHL’s top developmental league.

Andrews has spoken now several times in Ontario over the Reign’s five seasons in the AHL, including his trip in September 2018 as the league announced the Reign as the hosts of the 2020 midseason event.

While no longer in his current role, Andrews will remain active with the league as an advisor, and as a part of the AHL’s Strategic Return to Play Task Force, which sounds like a top secret search and rescue mission, but is actually just a group of executives tasked with getting the AHL back on the ice.

Taking over at the helm, as of Wednesday, is Scott Howson. Howson has been involved in both the NHL and AHL as a player and a general manager, and was the first ever President & CEO to appear on the Reigny Day Podcast. Howson and Andrews crossed paths as members of the Edmonton organization earlier in their respective careers, and the 60-year-old will be tasked with shaping the formation of the 2020-21 AHL season, the first of its kind in the current climate.

Speaking of the Reigny Day Podcast….

We’re still rolling throughout the summer! Recently, Kings and Reign PA Announcer Dave Joseph joined us to share a few of his favorite stories from between the penalty boxes, both in LA and in Ontario. We’ve recently had Ontario Reign alum Derek Couture on the show, as well as AHL veteran Mike McKenna and former voice of the Manchester Monarchs Ken Cail. 1187433 Minnesota Wild

NHL season is one step closer

Staff Report

ONE STEP CLOSER

If Monday’s agreement is approved:

• July 13: Formal training camps would begin.

• July 26: Teams would travel to one of two hub cities. The hub cities were not announced Monday but are believed to be Toronto and Edmonton.

• Aug. 1: Stanley Cup playoff round-robin and qualifying-round games would begin.

Star Tribune LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187434 Minnesota Wild Violations of the guidelines for camp and the rest of the season will result in penalties such as fines or loss of draft choices.

At any point if the NHL or NHLPA believes there’s a risk to player health NHL, players reach agreement to start season Aug. 1 and safety, such an uncontrolled outbreak of COVID-19, the two sides will consult with medical personnel and the NHL can decide to postpone, Sides settle on safety rules, agree on extension of CBA. delay, move or cancel training camp or games.

Star Tribune LOADED: 07.07.2020 By Sarah McLellan Star Tribune JULY 6, 2020 — 11:46PM

A summer session of NHL hockey is becoming more of a possibility.

The league and players association announced Monday they tentatively agreed to a return to play plan and to add another four years to the current collective bargaining agreement.

Training camps are scheduled to open next Monday, with the season starting back up Aug. 1.

These details still need to be approved by the NHL’s Board of Governors, the NHL Players’ Association executive board and the entire NHLPA membership, a review process that’s expected to take place over the next few days.

Finalizing the protocols for camp and games headlined the league’s efforts to salvage the season that was put on hold March 12 by the coronavirus pandemic. The NHL and its players agreed in May to a 24- team tournament to claim the 2019-20 Stanley Cup.

This format includes the top 12 teams from the Western and Eastern Conferences based on points percentage; the top four from each conference will face off against each other to determine seeding, and the remaining eight will play in a best-of-five qualifying round to advance. From there, a traditional four-round, best-of-seven playoffs will commence.

The NHL reportedly has chosen Edmonton and Toronto as its two hub cities to host the games, with the West descending on Edmonton and the East in Toronto. Teams will travel to their respective hub cities on July 26.

Just a point shy of a wild-card berth when the regular season stopped, the Wild is the 10th seed in the Western Conference and will take on No. 7 Vancouver in its qualifying matchup.

“We’ve all been extremely positive and optimistic that we’re going to be able to play and finish the season and award a Stanley Cup,” interim coach Dean Evason said in June. “We’re just excited about having the opportunity to battle for it.”

The team can invite no more than 30 skaters and an unlimited number of goalies to camp, but all players in attendance must be eligible to play the remainder of the season.

Players can opt out of playing without discipline and penalty. Teams must submit a list of players participating in camp no later than Thursday. Players determined to be at substantial risk of developing a serious illness because of exposure to COVID-19 will be deemed unfit to play.

During camp, testing for COVID-19 will be conducted on an every-other- day basis. Players must check their temperature and symptoms at home before leaving for the team’s facility, and they’ll also be evaluated when they enter the rink. They’re advised to stay at home as much as possible and to avoid unnecessary interactions with non-family members.

A maximum of 52 personnel per team will travel to the hub cities and live in a bubble-like atmosphere; these groups include a roster of no more than 31 players. Families can join players at the conference finals.

Once the games begin, players, team personnel and other essential workers on site — like officials, certain hotel staff members and food servers — will undergo daily testing.

Self-isolation, testing and contract tracing are steps the league plans to take if a player tests positive. Unless approved by the NHL and NHLPA, teams will not disclose a player’s positive test result.

Like the voluntary workouts that have been ongoing at team facilities, social distancing, face coverings and cleaning/disinfecting remain priorities in camp and during games. 1187435 Minnesota Wild

Wild to open training camp next week, return to play Aug. 1

By DANE MIZUTANI | Pioneer Press

After months of speculation, the Wild finally know when the will be back on the ice for actual games. At least for now.

According to a league release sent out on Monday afternoon, the NHL and the NHL Players Association have reached a tentative agreement on start dates of the Return to Play Plan.

As a part of the tentative agreement, teams will open formal training camp on July 13, report to hub cities on July 26 and, most importantly, start the qualifying round on August 1. That’s where the Wild will take on the Vancouver Canucks in a best-of-five series.

The winner advances to the playoffs with teams from the Western Conference reportedly playing in Edmonton and teams from the Eastern Conference reportedly playing in Toronto.

This announcement has been a few months in the making as the league suspended play indefinitely on March 12 to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Additionally, the NHL and the NHLPA have reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that adds an additional four years to the term of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement and includes transition rules and a new critical dates calendar.

This is now subject to approval by the NHL’s Board of Governors, as well as the NHLPA’s Executive Board followed by the full NHLPA membership.

“The respective review and approval processes will take place over the next few days,” the league release read. “There will be no further comment until those processes are completed.”

Any player choosing to opt out of participating in training camp and games has until 5 p.m. EDT on Tuesday to notify his team, according to the The Associated Press, though an additional deadline is expected after ratification.

As of Monday, a total of 23 players have tested positive for COVID-19 since the NHL began allowing players back into team facilities for small group workouts on June 8. That number was detailed in a separate league release, adding that the the NHL is aware of 12 additional players that tested positive for COVID-19 in that same time frame.

All players who tested positive have been self-isolated and the NHL said it will not be providing information on the identity of the players or clubs.

Pioneer Press LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187436 MontrealCanadiens

All grown up :' )

Stu on Sports: Happy 20th birthday to Canadiens' Jesperi Kotkaniemi Happy 20th KK! pic.twitter.com/cAnBhiDgsa

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) July 6, 2020

Author of the article:Stu Cowan • Montreal Gazette Price practises in Brossard

Canadiens goalie Carey Price practised for the first time Monday at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard as part of Phase 2 of the NHL’s Return Jesperi Kotkaniemi is no longer a teenager. to Play Plan.

The Canadiens’ — or the Laval Rocket — centre turned 20 on Monday. Price had been spending time with his wife and two young daughters at his in-laws home in Kennewick, Wash., since the NHL season was shut I admit I have a soft spot for Kotkaniemi, partly because I have a son who down on March 12 because of COVID-19. He returned to Montreal last is 19 and I find it remarkable how well Kotkaniemi has handled all the week. pressure he has faced since being selected third overall by the Canadiens at the 2018 NHL Draft. He has had to adjust to a new country, For the first time since Phase 2 started, the Canadiens had enough a new language, a new team and a smaller rink since leaving Finland as players Monday to form two groups for practice in Brossard. Price joined an 18-year-old and has done it all with a smile, a great sense of humour Paul Byron, Laurent Dauphin, Jonathan Drouin, Charles Hudon and and an intelligence, both on and off the ice, beyond his years. Michael McNiven in the first group. The second group included captain Shea Weber,Brendan Gallagher, Noah Juulsen and Jordan Weal. There are times while adjusting to his new life that Kotkaniemi has made me forget he was still a teenager — until I remembered he was the same The NHL and the NHLPA announced Monday afternoon that they have age as my son. reached a tentative agreement on a Return to Play Plan and Memorandum of Understanding that adds an additional four years to the Earlier this year, my son, who is in CEGEP, was working part-time at a term of the current collective bargaining agreement, taking it through the grocery store near the Canadiens’ practice rink in Brossard, packing 2025-26 season. bags, etc. One day while packing bags, my son looked up and realized it was Kotkaniemi’s groceries he was packing. Kotkaniemi was wearing a As part of the agreement, formal training camps are now scheduled to toque pulled down low and, surprisingly, nobody else in the store, start on July 13, teams will travel to the post-season hub cities on July 26 including the cashier, had recognized him. and the qualifying round — including a best-of-five series between the Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins — will start on Aug. 1.The tentative My son nodded at him and said quietly: “You’re Jesperi Kotkaniemi?” agreement is now subject to approval by the NHL’s board of governors, Kotkaniemi smiled back and said “yes,” seeming quite happy that my son as well as the NHLPA’s executive board, followed by the full NHLPA hadn’t blown his cover. membership.

My son told me the story after he finished work that day and it put a smile The NHL also announced on Monday that 396 players have reported to on my face. Two teenagers — one packing grocery bags and going to club practice facilities during Phase 2 and that 23 players have tested school, the other already a millionaire hockey player and basically a rock positive for COVID-19. The NHL added it is also aware of 12 other star in Montreal. positive COVID-19 tests that have been outside of the Phase 2 protocol.

But they were both still 19. My son is 6-foot-5 and Kotkaniemi is 6-foot-2, All players who have tested positive have been self-isolated and are and It can be an awkward age physically when you’re tall and still following CDC and Health Canada protocols.The NHL said it has done growing into your body. more than 2,900 COVID-19 tests on players so far, including more than 1,400 in the last week. That might partly explain Kotkaniemi’s struggles this season, posting 6-2- 8 totals and a minus-11 in 36 games with the Canadiens after gaining 10 Il est de retour. pounds during the off-season before being sent down to the AHL’s He's back.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/MKHlnq9soQ Rocket. With Laval, Kotkaniemi had 1-12-13 totals in 13 games and appeared to be finding his game before suffering what was supposed to — Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) July 6, 2020 be a season-ending spleen injury during a game in Cleveland on March 6. Nice gesture from Bouchard

Kotkaniemi has now recovered and looks like he will be available if the Tennis player Eugenie Bouchard made a very nice gesture on Sunday Canadiens want to use him if the NHL playoffs ever get started. When when she offered to pay for new hearing aids for one of her fans. coach Claude Julien was asked about Kotkaniemi’s status during a Toronto’s Morgan Jamie took to Twitter in an effort to raise money for conference call last Thursday, he said: “I think a lot of things have to fall new hearing aids, putting up for sale a signed Genie Army prize pack she into place before I can make those kind of decisions. What I’m happy had won through a contest, which included a signed hat, T-shirt and about is that he’s actually been deemed healthy. He had an injury at the postcard. end of the year that really set him back. So the fact that there was a stop to the season has given a lot of the guys around the league with long- Bouchard saw the tweet and offered to pay for the new hearing aids term injuries an opportunity to come back. So we look forward to seeing herself. When the company ProSound learned about Bouchard’s tweet him back with us and, at that time, I think we’ll be able to assess and they reached out to Jamie and said they would provide her with “top- decide which direction we’re going with all our players.” quality hearing aids” free of charge.

For Montreal fans who might already be writing Kotkaniemi off — or Bouchard tweeted that she would still send Jamie something. wishing the Canadiens had drafted Brady Tkachuk instead — give him some more time. Nice story.

In his first two seasons with the Boston Bruins after being selected No. 1 i’ll get your hearing aids please don’t sell this! dm me! overall at the 1997 NHL Draft, 6-foot-4 Joe Thornton had 19-29-48 totals https://t.co/bd24e1m239 in 136 games. Kotkaniemi has 17-25-42 totals in 115 games with the — Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) July 5, 2020 Canadiens. What might have been for Expos Sometimes it’s easy to forget how young Kotkaniemi is. Steve Gardner of USA TODAY wrote a story that was published Monday Happy birthday, Jesperi. on what might have been if there hadn’t been an MLB players’ strike in Il grandit si vite :' ) 1994.

Joyeux 20e anniversaire, KK! When the season was shut down on Aug. 12, the Expos had the best record in the majors and what looked like their best chance of winning a World Series.

“The Montreal Expos, with baseball’s best record (74-40) at the time of the shutdown, roll into the World Series thanks to one of the great young outfield trios in the game: Moises Alou in left, Marquis Grissom in centre and Larry Walker in right. All age 27,” Gardner writes about what might have happened if the rest of the regular season and playoffs hadn’t been wiped out by the strike.

“Youngster Pedro Martinez, just 22 when acquired the previous offseason, embraces the October spotlight and leads the Expos past the New York Yankees to the 1994 World Series title.”

Gardner also speculates on what might have happened after the World Series title, including a “stunning new stadium in downtown Montreal.”

A story for #Expos fans from USA Today: https://t.co/7OUxgiP8ld

— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) July 6, 2020

Baseball in Nashville?

Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY reported on Twitter Monday that former Expos GM Dave Dombrowski is moving to Nashville and joining Music City Baseball, LLC, in an attempt to bring a major-league team to Music City. Nashville is hoping to land an expansion franchise or have an existing team relocate to Nashville.

Dombrowski was GM of the Expos from 1988-91. He was later GM of the Florida Marlins (1993-2001), Detroit Tigers (2002-2015) and Boston Red Sox (2015-2019).

Now Dombrowski and Nashville will be competing with Montreal when it comes to getting a major-league team in the future.

Dave Dombrowski, former GM of the #RedSox, is moving to Nashville and joining Music City Baseball, LLC, in an attempt to bring #MLB to Nashville. The city is hoping to land an expansion franchise or have an existing team relocate to Nashville.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 6, 2020

Photo of the Day

A blast from the past with Jackie Robinson from 1949:

This Day, 70 years ago: Jackie Robinson is given his 1949 MVP Award.

Asked how he felt when he won it, he spoke honestly: “The sooner I can get out of baseball, the better...The strain of the last three or four years has done something to me.”#Pioneer pic.twitter.com/7V109TZkca

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 6, 2020

Video of the Day

It must be nice to hit a golf ball like this:

Tag a friend who's never hit a drive this straight. pic.twitter.com/y23VTIWqoy

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 6, 2020

Montreal Gazette LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187437 MontrealCanadiens developing a serious illness as a result of exposure to the novel coronavirus shall be deemed to be unfit to play and shall not be permitted to participate in either Phase 3 or Phase 4. A player may initiate a second opinion concerning his fitness to play status pursuant to What the Puck: A shot at Alexis Lafrenière the best scenario for Paragraph 5 of the Standard Player Contract.” Canadiens People with diabetes are generally listed by most health authorities as a high-risk group for catching COVID-19. Not having Domi would clearly be a major loss for the Habs. Author of the article:Brendan Kelly Publishing date:Jul 06, 2020 Montreal Gazette LOADED: 07.07.2020

Would you rather have the Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in this playoff series that the NHL prefers to not call a playoff series or would you like to see them lose and have a 12.5-per-cent shot at drafting Alexis Lafrenière?

That’s the big question on the minds of Habs fans right at this exact second and it has sparked quite the heated debate in backyards, on social media and wherever else Montrealers are gathering in proper socially distant fashion during these COVID-19 days. I’d much rather see the second option because I think snaring Lafrenière with the No. 1 pick at the NHL Draft would be a truly game-changing moment for the Canadiens and to have a one-out-of-eight chance of doing that would be the most exciting thing that has happened to this team since they last hoisted the Stanley Cup on that unforgettable evening in June of 1993.

You do really need a PhD in sports to understand these COVID-19 playoffs and the 2020 NHL Draft. But the short version of what’s happening is that all 16 teams participating in the best-of-five qualifying round have a chance at nabbing the No. 1 pick. Each losing team will end up with a 12.5-per-cent chance of getting the pick and that’s created some pretty wild possibilities. For example, one of those qualifying series pits the Edmonton Oilers, who finished fifth in the Western Conference, against the Chicago Blackhawks, who finished 12th.

This one’s going to be a doozie. Yeah, the Blackhawks — like the Habs — don’t deserve to be in these playoffs, but any team that includes Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane has a shot at winning a best-of-five series. That would be a crazy upset, but what’s even crazier is that would mean the Oilers — one of the best teams in the Western Conference — could possibly end up with Lafrenière. Imagine putting Lafrenière, a left- winger seen by most everyone as a generational talent, on a line with centre Connor McDavid, arguably the greatest hockey player on the planet right now, and Leon Draisaitl, who can play right wing and led the NHL in scoring this season.

The Oilers already have stars, while the Canadiens haven’t had a genuine, bona-fide star scorer since the 1990s and they haven’t had a superstar scorer since a fellow named Guy Lafleur was lighting up the rink in the ’70s. Lafrenière, who had 35-77-112 totals in 52 games with the QMJHL’s Rimouski Océanic this season, would transform this Habs team.

The other option is seeing how far the Canadiens can go in these playoffs. It’s true, as Habs management loves to mention, that anything is possible in the post-season. But the reality is that the chances of the Canadiens making much of an impact in the playoffs is presumably a percentage much lower than 12.5 per cent.

I get that professional athletes don’t lose on purpose and the Canadiens are going to go into this series to win it. They might even upset the Penguins, just like they did in the spring of 2010, especially if Carey Price plays as well as Jaroslav Halak did that year. Coach Claude Julien said as much last week on his conference call with the media.

“But there’s no guarantee, even if we go out in the first round, that we would have (Lafrenière),” Julien said. “So the only way to take a step forward is to go out there and play hard and play to win and try to do the best you can.”

As they will.

All I’m saying is it would be better to lose and have a sniff at Lafrenière.

Domi a question mark:The other question is whether Max Domi, who has Type 1 diabetes, will end up in the Habs’ lineup against Pittsburgh.

Here’s what TSN’s Bob McKenzie tweeted Sunday about the tentative agreement between the NHL and the players’ association:

“Players who, after consultation with Club doctor … and the Club’s infectious disease expert, are determined to be at substantial risk of 1187438 MontrealCanadiens Nick Suzuki Artturi Lehkonen

Paul Byron A bursting bubble: Deciding who goes to Toronto won’t be easy for the Canadiens Jake Evans

Dale Weise

By Arpon Basu and Marc Antoine Godin Jul 6, 2020 Jordan Weal

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

The NHL sent out the protocol for life inside the bubble of the two hub Lukas Vejdemo cities for the play-in round and subsequent playoffs on Sunday evening. Charles Hudon Each of the 24 teams involved in the play-in will be limited to having 52 people travel to the hub city, a number that is very easily reached when Ryan Poehling you consider how a team normally operates on the road. It is further Max Domi complicated by the mandatory roles the NHL and NHLPA determined that each team needed to fill in their protocol, thereby taking a spot away The first, most important variable here is Max Domi and whether he from someone a team might have wanted to bring. For example, some would be subject to the following clause found in the Phase 3 return to teams are questioning the need to have a security officer for each team, play protocol. especially since that person’s presence might prevent a member of the front office from joining the group, or even an extra player or someone “Players who, after consultation with Club doctor who conducted PPME else who normally travels and has an important role on the road. (Pre-Participation Medical Examination), and the Club’s infectious disease expert, are determined to be at substantial risk of developing a Drawing up that list of 52 people therefore becomes a real puzzle. serious illness as a result of exposure to the novel coronavirus shall be Seeing as the Canadiens are already working on theirs, we decided to try deemed to be unfit to play and shall not be permitted to participate in and do the same thing to identify areas that might become problematic. either Phase 3 or Phase 4. A player may initiate a second opinion concerning his fitness to play status pursuant to Paragraph 5 of the The Canadiens can bring up to 31 players to the tournament. But will Standard Player Contract.” they even get to that number? When a team cuts its roster to 23 players at the end of a normal training camp, it divvies up the roster spots Domi has type-1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease. At least one study in between forwards, defencemen and goalies as it sees fit. But when England found that type-1 diabetics have 3.5 times the odds “of dying in making those decisions, they are purely based on the quality of the hospital with COVID-19 compared to those without diabetes.” Based on players involved and how they fit together. This is more complex because the wording of the clause – “substantial risk of developing a serious it creates questions teams don’t usually have to ask. Do we keep an 11th illness as a result of exposure to the novel coronavirus” – Domi being defenceman just in case of injury if that means keeping an equipment deemed unfit to play is at the very least a possibility. manager at home? Do we bring an extra forward or our assistant general manager? The American Diabetes Association – in its FAQ section on COVID-19 – states that while there is no evidence that people with diabetes are more It’s a bit ridiculous that teams are forced to ask these questions, but in susceptible to contract the virus, if they do, the risk of complications is order to comply with the protocol, that is exactly what teams will have to higher, with one important caveat. do. “People with diabetes do face a higher chance of experiencing serious On the ice, certain factors aside from performance could influence which complications from COVID-19. In general, people with diabetes are more players the Canadiens decide to bring to Toronto. likely to experience severe symptoms and complications when infected with a virus. Your risk of getting very sick from COVID-19 is likely to be First off, we have to see if any of those players will decide to opt out of lower if your diabetes is well-managed.” the whole thing, as is their right without penalty. If a player is uncomfortable with the level of risk involved he could inform his team that Domi manages his diabetes extremely well, and he is obviously a highly he is removing himself from play this summer in the three days following conditioned professional athlete, so we will have to wait and see what the ratification of the return to play protocol and extension of the happens here. Domi has stated his desire to play when hockey returns, collective bargaining agreement. but it appears that decision might be out of his hands.

It is impossible to say right now if any Canadiens players will avail Jesperi Kotkaniemi themselves of this option. Kotkaniemi is attending training camp and is available to play. There is Secondly, there is an ideological decision facing general manager Marc little question as to whether he will be part of the Canadiens’ travelling Bergevin as to the composition of his team. Will he favour proven entourage, but him being inserted into the lineup is far from assured. commodities to maximize his chances of winning, or will he use the play- in round and anything that might follow as an opportunity to fast-track the Claude Julien was asked about his status last week and his response development of some of his young players? was very vague and non-committal. He began by explaining that a lot of details needed to be worked out before he could announce any kind of We find that the Canadiens could take the development approach without decision. Basically, Kotkaniemi will need to play his way into the lineup in sacrificing their chances of winning (we’ll demonstrate why a little later). training camp. But this ideological decision pops up at every position. This is not like the regular season where young players are sent to the minors to get more “What I’m happy about is that he’s actually been deemed healthy,” Julien ice time. In this situation, a minor role – or simply being on site with the said. “He had an injury at the end of the year that really set him back. team – is preferable to doing nothing at all. The fact that there was a stop to the season has given a lot of the guys around the league with long term injuries an opportunity to come back. Forwards So we look forward to seeing him back with us and, at that time, I think we’ll be able to assess and decide which direction we’re going with it with Brendan Gallagher all our players.”

Phillip Danault Kotkaniemi’s status is probably intimately tied to Domi’s, in that if Domi is Tomas Tatar unable to play, that would be a spot Kotkaniemi could potentially fill. Otherwise, if Domi is healthy and remains at centre, with Phillip Danault Jonathan Drouin and Nick Suzuki also playing in the middle, that doesn’t provide much of an opportunity for Kotkaniemi to play in the top nine. Julien could decide Max Domi to use him on the wing, as he did at the end of last season, or even have Joel Armia him centre the fourth line, but that seems unlikely. Which brings us to another factor to consider … Kids vs. veterans It will be worth monitoring a potential training camp battle for a spot on the right side of the third pairing between Cale Fleury, Noah Juulsen and If Kotkaniemi were to play on the wing, with Suzuki already firmly in place Christian Folin. It was Folin who held the job after Fleury was sent down and Jake Evans seemingly holding down the fourth-line centre role, then to the Laval Rocket, but the opportunity for Fleury to gain some the Canadiens are starting to look very young up front. Is that necessarily experience at a higher level of competition, facing an opponent where his a problem? Depends on your point of view. mobility will prove useful compared to Folin, could give Fleury a leg up on From our point of view, the more kids, the better. Find a way to squeeze this job. In Juulsen’s case, he’s only played one game since November Kotkaniemi in there somehow. Give Suzuki difficult assignments (say with the Rocket. He’s had a horrible run of injuries, which is one reason hello to Mr. Malkin, Nick). why the organization should seize every opportunity to allow him to catch up on the time he’s lost over the last two years. Juulsen has the potential There is a way for the Canadiens to look to the future without ignoring the to one day be a second-pair defenceman and probably has a higher present. Does having Kotkaniemi in the lineup instead of Dale Weise hurt ceiling than Fleury. But for the team to take such a leap of faith, Juulsen them that much? We don’t see much of a drop in quality by swapping will need to convince them it is worth it in camp. older legs for younger ones, with the added benefit of having a big part of your future playing meaningful games. We considered putting Ryan What to do with Alzner? Poehling in for the same reason, but ultimately decided that Jordan If the Canadiens go with youth, they will need to ask themselves if it is Weal’s ability to win faceoffs from the right side adds to his value. more valuable to have Folin and Karl Alzner as opposed to younger This would leave Poehling, Weise, Charles Hudon, Lukas Vejdemo and prospects like Josh Brook and Otto Leskinen, who will also be fighting for Laurent Dauphin as our extra forwards. a spot in the bubble and have more of a future with the team.

Tomas Tatar The rub is that defencemen, proportionally speaking, get injured more often than forwards, therefore the chances of the 10th defenceman Phillip Danault getting in uniform is probably higher than the same happening for the 17th forward. This factor might force the team to put development on the Brendan Gallagher back burner and keep Alzner over someone like Brook, who is clearly not Jonathan Drouin ready for NHL action.

Max Domi Brett Kulak

Joel Armia Jeff Petry

Jesperi Kotkaniemi Ben Chiarot

Nick Suzuki Shea Weber

Artturi Lehkonen Victor Mete

Paul Byron Cale Fleury

Jake Evans Goalies

Jordan Weal Carey Price

Defence Cayden Primeau

Jeff Petry Charlie Lindgren

Shea Weber No need to elaborate on Carey Price, who took part in his first practice session in Brossard on Monday. Ben Chiarot It is those backing him up who are of greater interest. Brett Kulak It should be a given the Canadiens will carry three goalies to guard Victor Mete against the risk of injury. We have serious doubts they would carry four, which is not good news for Michael McNiven, one of the first Canadiens Cale Fleury players to take part in the optional Phase 2 workouts in Brossard. Noah Juulsen That leaves Charlie Lindgren and Cayden Primeau, who will both be Xavier Ouellet aiming to serve as Price’s primary backup. Since Price will start every game, choosing his backup almost becomes more of a message the Christian Folin organization would want to send to the two goalies. If they opt for Primeau, it would not only be a reflection of the team wanting him to gain Karl Alzner as much experience as possible, but it would also send a message to In a competition that could last upwards of two months and would force Lindgren that he is no longer the organization’s No. 2 goalie. The players to go from zero to 60 in a very short period of time after months Canadiens are expected to address their backup goaltending in the of inactivity, we can expect injuries to start piling up. Having 10 offseason, but it remains to be seen if they are ready to send a message defencemen seems like the minimum number a team would need under like that right away to Lindgren, who has one year left on his contract. these circumstances. The Canadiens could always decide to bring more, Support staff but again, that would mean losing another member of the support staff in the bubble. You may have noticed that we have decided to bring 30 players to the hub city while the league allows 31. That is because, as mentioned in the Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, Ben Chiarot and Brett Kulak are locks, and introduction, some difficult decisions need to be made while adhering to Victor Mete should be as well once he is officially cleared medically. the minimum requirements set forth in the NHL/NHLPA Phase 4 Xavier Ouellet, who was in the lineup when play was suspended, document. probably won’t be when play resumes, but he will assuredly be in the To be clear, in addition to bringing a maximum of 31 players, teams are bubble. required to bring at least three coaches, two athletic trainers, one That leaves four spots and it’s going to be interesting to see if the physician (if available), one equipment manager, one massage therapist, Canadiens decide to favour younger players or veterans who aren’t one ART (Active Release Technique) therapist/chiropractor, one necessarily in the organization’s future plans but who would be more of a content/social media creator, one security official and one representative sure bet in a playoff-like environment. to serve as the compliance officer.

A battle on the right side If the Canadiens – or any team – were to bring 31 players, that would leave them with room for 21 more people, with 12 of them spoken for based on the minimums above. So that would leave us with nine extra One will definitely be filled by general manager Marc Bergevin, though spots. By bringing 30 players, we have opened up an additional spot for the rest of his front office – with the exception of Sedgwick – would need support staff. to be left out.

Coaches (7) The Canadiens will likely need sports science and performance director Pierre Allard as well as strength and conditioning coordinator Patrick The Canadiens have seven coaches, and we are bringing all of them. Delisle-Houde on hand to make sure the players are in peak condition. Four are behind the bench: Claude Julien, Kirk Muller, Luke Richardson and Dominique Ducharme. One is in the press box: goalie coach Then there is Alain Gagnon, who is omnipresent when the Canadiens are Stéphane Waite. Two others are in the room: video coach Mario Leblanc on the road as their team services coordinator, an all-encompassing title and assistant video coach Éric Gravel (also the team’s IT support that basically means Gagnon – or “Flower” as he is known – takes care person), who both normally travel with the team. of anything the team might need while away from home. He would be vital in a bubble situation to handle any problems that might – and almost All seven of these men are considered vital to the team’s success; we’re definitely will – arise inside the bubble. not leaving any of them behind. This takes up four of the extra spots in the bubble above the minimum requirement of three coaches. Finally, the 52nd person would be Paul Wilson, senior vice-president, public affairs and communications, to coordinate all the different media Athletic trainers (2) requirements that will need to be organized on a daily basis.

Pretty straight forward: head athletic therapist Graham Rynbend and his As you can see, there are a lot of people that go into the Canadiens assistant Matthew Romano (who is also the assistant physiotherapist) playing away from home, and some difficult decisions will need to be are in, seeing as the minimum number is two. made. It should be noted one name you don’t see on this list is owner Physician (1) Geoff Molson’s. In the unlikely event he wanted to come, someone would need to be dropped. Assistant general manager Scott Mellanby, who The Canadiens’ head physician, Dr. David Mulder, is 81 years old. He is seldom travels with the team, did not make the cut either. And in order to therefore at risk if he were to be infected by COVID-19. It is unclear what get to that magic number of 52, we had to make the difficult decision of the Canadiens – and more importantly Mulder himself – would decide to leaving one equipment guy at home and also bringing one player below do here, but it would seem sensible for him to stay home. His assistant, the maximum allowed. Dr. Dan Deckelbaum, would be a candidate to replace Dr. Mulder, especially considering that he is not only a trauma surgeon, but also an This is the kind of puzzle the Canadiens will be trying to assemble in the associate member of McGill University’s department of epidemiology, coming weeks. They have only laid down the four corner pieces. They biostatistics and occupational health. That might come in handy. The have a lot of work ahead of them. Canadiens could also opt not to bring a physician at all and rely on the The Athletic LOADED: 07.07.2020 NHL’s medical staff that will be in place.

It is important to note that if any team decides not to bring a physician, that does not give them an extra spot available inside the bubble. Their limit would then be 51, and not 52 people.

Equipment manager (2)

The Canadiens have one of the best in the business in Pierre Gervais, but they normally travel with Gervais’ assistants Patrick Langlois and Pierre Ouellette. We’ve decided the Canadiens will have to make do with two of them, so Gervais and one of his assistants. Since the Canadiens are technically not travelling in the sense they are staying in one city the whole time, this should make it easier to function with two equipment guys. A big part of this group’s job is unpacking and preparing the room when they arrive in a city and very quickly getting everything packed up and on a truck to leave after a game.

There are many other functions filled by equipment managers – sharpening skates, fixing equipment, drying gloves, getting sticks during a game, etc. – but because of the limited number of available spots inside the bubble, this appears like a compromise the Canadiens will have to make. They are still bringing one equipment manager above the minimum.

Massage therapist (1)

Claude Thériault fills the minimum requirement for the Canadiens here.

ART therapist/chiropractor (1)

Donald Balmforth is the Canadiens’ head physiotherapist, which applies here.

Security officer and content/social media creator (2)

It is unclear who would fill these roles, but you would have to assume they will be filled at the minimum requirement and no more than that.

Compliance officer (1)

It is also unclear as to who would fill this role, but our bet would be vice- president hockey operations and legal affairs John Sedgwick. The compliance officer is essentially in charge of ensuring everyone on the team is following the very strict rules for living in the bubble and files a daily report to the NHL demonstrating that all regulations are being followed.

This leaves us with five spots available. 1187439 Nashville Predators “Not a lot of the forwards have had great years, but I think there’s some things tactically that we were not able to implement as much that I think might benefit the personnel that we have to be better in the area. Those are some of the things that we’ve discussed with some of the players — John Hynes’ guide to the Predators’ return-to-play training camp how we can help utilize them to their strengths.”

On defense, Hynes emphasized protecting the slot, changing the Predators’ approach to defensive-zone coverage to better prevent high- By Adam Vingan Jul 6, 2020 percentage scoring chances. Instead of man-to-man defense that left them vulnerable when there were breakdowns, the Predators transitioned to a layered defensive scheme. Two months into his tenure as Predators coach, John Hynes felt the team was making progress. Then COVID-19 forced the NHL to pause the Like most everything else, it was a work in progress when the regular season. season ended. The Predators were below average at limiting those scoring chances but were bailed out by their goaltenders, specifically It can be difficult for a coach hired in-season to put his stamp on the team Juuse Saros. he inherited, which is why the past few months without games have been helpful for Hynes, who replaced Peter Laviolette on Jan. 7. Even-strength defense under John Hynes

“First and foremost, I think it’s having a much better understanding of the % of opposition shot attempts blocked team and the roster,” said Hynes, who coached the Predators to 16 wins 30.3 (5th) in 28 games. “We’ve done a real thorough job of talking about the players, rating the players, analyzing the roles of the players, Passes to slot against expectations of the players. It was really good, because I did have an opportunity to work with the guys for three months, so there’s a little bit of 12.8 (18th) meat on the bone and some experience with them to talk about where Slot shot attempts against they have been, where they were when we ended and where we see them moving forward. That’s been thoroughly done, and I feel good 23.2 (25th) about that. Opposition OZ possession time “I also had the opportunity to have lots of in-depth conversations with players, whether it’s about just getting to know them better, what they 6:25 (27th) need, what I need, how they felt going through the coaching change. Shot attempts against That’s been really beneficial because you wouldn’t have had that opportunity to do it. Knowing the personnel, communicating with the 65.6 (28th) personnel and having a plan moving forward has been probably the No. 1 thing.” “If we tighten up a few areas and become more automatic, I think defensively, we’ll be stingier and harder to play against,” Hynes said. “I Training camps for the 24 returning teams are reportedly scheduled to think offensively five-on-five, it’s really a heavy emphasis on generating, open July 13. The extra time that the Predators will have to continue winning territory, getting to the inside of the ice and trying to have a learning the ins and outs of Hynes’ system could make a significant strong combination of not only providing offense from our (defensemen) difference as they enter the postseason. but really getting the forward group up and running productively.”

“When you go through a coaching change, I think that sometimes with Special teams improved incrementally after the coaching change. A the systems, you’re a little bit in between,” Hynes said. “There were times frequent criticism of the Predators’ power play under Laviolette was that it when it was very good, but there were other times when it wasn’t so was too static, predictable and reliant on point shots. Hynes wants the natural, particularly when you’re in your first 10 or 15 games with a new power play to be more fluid, which he believes will lead to higher-quality team and haven’t had training camp and exhibition games to make it scoring opportunities. become automatic.” He was pleased with the progress made by the penalty kill, which One of Hynes’ first priorities was to improve the quality of the Predators’ improved from 74.1 percent to 79.3 percent under his watch. offense. Statistically, their attack became less dangerous as they adjusted on the fly. Power play under John Hynes

The Predators struggled to get the puck into the slot area, and when they Inner slot shots did, they were among the worst teams at taking shots from there. As a 0.49 (13th) result, their goal production declined. Controlled entry success % Even-strength offense under John Hynes 65.1 (15th) OZ possession time Passes to slot 5:54 (13th) 1.44 (17th) Shot attempts Goals scored 60.8 (14th) 0.22 (19th) Shot attempts from slot True shooting % (goals/shot attempts) 19.8 (25th) 5.9 (21st) Goals scored “Power play, we’ve really looked at the personnel and setups and usage,” 2.21 (25th) Hynes said. “We’ve analyzed some of the best power plays in the league Passes to slot and what the common threads are to those power plays that make them dangerous, so we have some slightly different tactics and mentalities to 10.8 (29th) be able to bring into our group that’ll be new and should help both those units get up to a higher level. “Our offensive game, it needs to be more threatening, more inside,” Hynes said. “We’d like to be able to spend more time in the offensive “I think near the end, the last few games, the penalty kill was really zone. We need to generate more high-danger chances and put teams on coming along. I think building confidence in that unit and some habits and their heels and be able to get to the inside of the ice. I think we’ll be a pressuring more, pressuring better, spending less time defending in that more threatening offense, particularly with some of the forwards that we area will be important. But I think we can build off of the mentality and the have. attitude that we had before the break on the penalty kill.” Penalty kill under John Hynes

DZ entry denial success %

47.7 (1st)

Inner slot shots against

0.43 (12th)

% of opposition shot attempts blocked

27 (17th)

Goals against

0.25 (20th)

Passes to slot against

1.67 (24th)

When Hynes took over behind the Predators bench, he immediately recognized that changing the players’ mindsets would be an intensive process. The Predators made strides in that area, appearing more cohesive and resilient as the second half of the season progressed.

Hynes sees that as an advantage as the Predators prepare to resume play.

“For the group, they had gone through a tough stretch, then they go through a coaching change,” he said. “I think mentally and team-wise, belief-wise, identity-wise, it was going in the right direction. It wasn’t where it needed to be every night. It probably wasn’t where we wanted it to be statistically all the time, but a big factor is finding ways to win, finding ways to continue to get better. It was coming along, and our game can certainly get better and grow.

“A lot of times, before your tactics or systems or numbers really turn in the right direction, there has to be a little bit of success, buy-in and belief, guys really figuring out the differences in the coaches and the systems. In talking with the players, there was more familiarity with everything that was going on. That brought some success, belief and identity to what we’re going to do, and I think that will benefit us.

“I’m excited to be able to get back and have the training camp and build on the three months that we’ve had together.”

The Athletic LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187440 New Jersey Devils Edmonton offered both a connection to hockey’s future — its Rogers Place arena opened in 2016 with a nearby entertainment district — and the game’s past, having been nicknamed “the city of champions” during the Oilers’ run to five Stanley Cups in the 1980s. The fifth-seeded Oilers N.H.L. and Players Agree to Start Postseason Tournament on Aug. 1 will host the No. 12 seed Chicago Blackhawks in their playoff matchup.

The two sides agreed to extend the current collective bargaining The playoffs will open with a five-game play-in series followed by a agreement, setting the stage for a resumption of play that will reportedly conference-based first round with a three-game round robin format to be hosted in Edmonton and Toronto. determine the top four seedings. Teams qualified for the postseason based on their points percentages at the time the season was

suspended, and will be reseeded after each round of the playoffs. The By Andrew Knoll July 6, 2020 location of the Stanley Cup finals has not been determined. Players can opt out of Phase 3 and 4 by notifying their team in writing within three days after the agreement is ratified.

The National Hockey League and its players’ union announced on New York Times LOADED: 07.07.2020 Monday that the two groups agreed on a four-year extension to the current collective bargaining agreement, a pivotal decision that paves the way for hockey to resume play amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As part of the deal, the sides set dates for the so-called Phase 3 and 4 of a return to play protocol. The start of formal training camps is slated for July 13, with teams traveling to two hub cities starting July 26. The existing C.B.A. and Monday’s extension will carry the league through the next two Olympics — N.H.L. players will participate after not playing in 2018, pending an agreement with the International Olympic Committee — and through a period of uncertainty until salary cap numbers and escrow percentages can be more definitively planned.

The league reportedly selected Edmonton and Toronto as the two so- called hub cities that will host its proposed return to play, but is awaiting approval from the players’ union. An expanded 24-team playoff would unfold with the Western Conference teams vying in Edmonton and the Eastern Conference side of the bracket contested in Toronto, starting Aug. 1.

Latest Updates: Global Coronavirus Outbreak Updated 2020-07- 07T09:37:16.770Z

Months into the pandemic, many U.S. cities still lack testing capacity.

Brazil’s president, a noted virus skeptic, says he will be tested after developing symptoms.

Australia’s second-largest city will be locked down for six weeks.

The selection of the two Canadian cities was made over the course of a month, after the N.H.L. whittled down a list that initially included 10 potential hub cities. The pool was reduced to five — Las Vegas, Chicago and Los Angeles were the other candidates — after considering public health statistics and other data.

In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters last week that Canada had likely surmounted the worst of the outbreak. He also said that conditions in the United States — which has seen upticks in cases since reopening significant portions of its economy — were causes for concern and could help guide Canada as they incrementally reopen following the quarantine period.

Selecting a hub city in the United States would have required work with not only local and provincial officials but authorities on the national level in Canada in order to permit movement across the border between the two countries, which has been restricted heavily during the outbreak. The current restrictions prohibiting nonessential travel between the two countries expire July 21, before the tournament begins.

The N.H.L. said public health concerns trumped location in choosing the sites. It ultimately placed the Eastern teams, including the Maple Leafs, in Toronto, and the Western ones, including the Oilers, in Edmonton.

Toronto, the largest and most diverse city in Canada, is a market critical to the future of hockey. Hosting the Eastern Conference there gives the eighth-seeded Maple Leafs an advantage in these recast playoffs, where they will play the ninth-ranked Columbus Blue Jackets in a best of five play-in series. Toronto had reported fewer than 15,000 confirmed Covid- 19 cases and around 1,000 deaths as of July 1.

Thanks largely to its favorable public health conditions, Edmonton surged past early favorites Las Vegas, where the league usually holds its annual awards in the summer, and Vancouver, whose health officials reportedly had conflicted with the league over protocols if a player tested positive for the virus. There were just over 8,000 confirmed cases and about 150 deaths in Edmonton as of July 1. 1187441 New York Islanders

Ilya Sorokin won't be allowed to join Islanders for restarted NHL season

Ilya Sorokin warms up before the men's ice Ilya Sorokin warms up before the men's ice

By Andrew Gross

Ilya Sorokin will not be able to play for the Islanders if the 2019-20 season resumes, and whether the top Russian goalie prospect ever will don the team jersey remains unclear.

The NHL and the NHL Players’ Association announced on Monday a tentative agreement on a wide-ranging return-to-play format and collective bargaining agreement extension. Under the new agreement, which still must be ratified by both sides, unsigned draft choices such as Sorokin, a third-round pick in 2014 whose KHL contract expired on April 30, will not be eligible to compete in the NHL this season.

However, the unsigned draft picks are eligible to sign an entry-level deal and have the first year considered completed — or burned — by the conclusion of this season. So Sorokin could sign a one-year entry-level deal and be able to sign a more lucrative deal as a restricted free agent for next season.

Sorokin, who will turn 25 on Aug. 4, is a former KHL playoff MVP who led CSKA Moscow to the league’s championship. Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov, a fellow Russian, has called Sorokin the best goalie not playing in the NHL.

However, would Sorokin want to wait until December or January — when the next NHL season is expected to start — to play again? The KHL season was suspended during its playoffs in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, that league’s training camps typically open in early September.

Sorokin demanded a lucrative deal to re-sign in the KHL. And just because he indicated his desire to come to North America upon the conclusion of his KHL deal, that’s not a slam-dunk that he wants to play for the Islanders if he believes he might split too much time with Varlamov, who is in the first season of a four-year, $20 million deal.

That could force Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello to decide the best course is to trade Sorokin’s rights to another NHL franchise.

The two sides have talked since Sorokin’s KHL deal expired, but both were waiting for clarity on whether Sorokin would be eligible for the rest of this NHL season.

That has been the case in the past for unsigned draft choices. For instance, defenseman Cale Makar, a likely candidate for this season’s Calder Trophy as the NHL rookie of the year, joined the Avalanche for last season’s playoffs after completing his college season at Massachusetts-Amherst.

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187442 New York Islanders The CBA extension was necessary for the return-to-play plan in order to reconcile the tremendous loss of revenue caused by the pandemic and with no fans in the stands for the foreseeable future.

NHL, players reach agreement to return to play, extend CBA Under the current CBA, players and owners split hockey-related revenue 50-50, with players owing escrow in order to maintain the even split.

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 07.07.2020 By Andrew Gross

The NHL and the NHL Players’ Association have finalized a landmark agreement that, if ratified by both sides, would detail and regulate the return-to-play format as well as ensure labor peace through at least 2026.

Under the return-to-play agreement for 12 teams from each conference, formal training camps will open on Monday, teams will travel to two hub city quarantine bubbles — expected to be Edmonton and Toronto but not officially announced — on July 26 and the best-of-five qualifying series will begin on Aug. 1.

The Islanders, seeded seventh in the Eastern Conference, will face the 10th-seeded Florida Panthers and the No. 11 Rangers will meet the sixth-seeded Carolina Hurricanes for a berth in the 16-team playoffs.

The extension to the collective bargaining agreement is for four years. The current CBA was set to expire on Sept. 15, 2022.

The NHL’s Board of Governors, the NHLPA’s executive board and then the full NHLPA membership must vote on the tentative agreement.

“The respective review and approval process will take place over the next few days and there will be no further comment until those processes are completed,” the NHL and NHLPA said in a joint statement.

Under the return-to-play/CBA agreement, unsigned draft picks such as Russian goalie Ilya Sorokin are not eligible to compete this season, but can sign an entry-level deal and have the first season counted in order to become a restricted free agent with a more lucrative contract sooner. Sorokin was a third-round selection of the Islanders in 2014 who has indicated his desire to play in North America after his KHL contract expired on April 30.

The 2019-20 season was paused on March 12 with 189 regular-season games remaining because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet amid the good news was a reminder of how uncertain things remain.

The NHL on Monday reported 23 positive test results for COVID-19 from the tests administered to the 396 players who have reported to their team facilities for voluntary small-group workouts.

This week’s positive rate of 5.8% is a slight improvement over last week’s initial report, when the NHL said there were 15 positive tests among 250 players (6.0%).

“In addition, since June 8 [the opening of Phase 2], the League is aware of 12 additional Players who have tested positive for COVID-19 outside of the Phase 2 Protocol,” the NHL said. “All Players who have tested positive have been self-isolated and are following CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and Health Canada protocols.”

The NHL said it will continue to provide regular updates on the number of tests administered to players and those test results. However, the NHL said it “will not be providing information on the identity of the Players or Clubs.”

The Tampa Bay Lightning were temporarily forced to close their practice facility for five days in June after three players and additional staff members tested positive.

The Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues reportedly canceled their practice on Friday after multiple members of the organization tested positive.

The return-to-play agreement sets the maximum number of players at training camps at 30 skaters and an unlimited number of goalies.

NHL rosters will be at a maximum of 31 players once each of the 24 teams travels to its respective hub city. Teams can bring a maximum of 52 people overall to the bubble. That includes three coaches, two trainers and one content creator/social media individual. Media not affiliated with the teams will not be allowed in the bubble. 1187443 New York Islanders

With the CBA extended, will Ilya Sorokin join the Islanders this season?

By Arthur Staple Jul 6, 2020

The NHL and Players’ Association came to an agreement Monday evening on a collective bargaining agreement extension, which will lead to ratification votes over the next few days and get things rolling toward training camps next week and postseason hockey next month, COVID-19 permitting.

With that done, the next question from every Islanders fan becomes: Will Ilya Sorokin be a part of this Islanders season?

Yes … and no.

League sources said Monday in the immediate aftermath of the NHL and NHLPA announcing the agreement that Sorokin and the handful of unsigned draft choices who were signed or hoped to sign during the lockdown may sign contracts that begin in 2019-20 to count toward service time, but may not play in the upcoming tournament. That could complicate matters even if the Islanders and Sorokin agree to sign his one-year entry-level deal for this season, thus allowing the 24-year-old goalie to become a restricted free agent for next season and make significantly more than the $925,000 he would make on his ELC, albeit with bonuses that could bring it to $3.775 million.

The Islanders appear ready to sign Sorokin for 2019-20, given the contact between Lou Lamoriello and Dan Milstein, Sorokin’s agent.

“We have been in communication almost daily,” Milstein told The Athletic, “but neither of us had any clarity on the issue. Now we need to present the situation to Ilya and decide what he wants to do.”

Sorokin is in Moscow, where his CSKA team was the favorite for a second straight KHL championship when the pandemic shut down that league in March. Even signing his one-year deal with the Islanders can’t save the talented young goalie from a dilemma: He likely won’t be able to play a pro game anywhere for upwards of 10 months should the NHL not start the 2020-21 season until January, and provided he does not sign with a non-KHL European club, that would include an out clause to join the Isles. KHL contracts normally don’t contain such clauses.

“It’s good that they will allow him to burn the year,” said Milstein, who was still waiting to get full confirmation on the wording of the new rule. “But that is not the goal; the goal is to play. He doesn’t want to go an extensive period of time without playing.”

Milstein was unclear on whether Sorokin could sign and come over to attend at least part of the Islanders training camp that’s set to begin July 13. The new CBA isn’t official until the Board of Governors and the full player membership of the NHLPA vote to approve it, which could run until Thursday; Sorokin would have to sign, get a visa and presumably quarantine once he arrives in New York before joining his new club.

An executive from another NHL team with a player in a similar situation told The Athletic that his team was told its unsigned draft choice could not join its club for the camp or travel to the hub city as per the new CBA agreement.

The Islanders will depart for Toronto, the Eastern Conference hub city, on July 26. If Sorokin is permitted to stay on Long Island and do on-ice work, possibly with some of the Islanders’ prospects who would not be among the 31 players allowed to travel to the hub city, he might be more enticed to come over and stay through the summer and fall in anticipation of signing a new deal and working toward being one of the regular goalies for 2020-21.

So one hurdle has been cleared in the Sorokin-Islanders saga. But questions still remain, the biggest one being: When will the Isles and their fans finally see their goalie of the future?

The Athletic LOADED: 07.07.2020 1187444 New York Rangers The other question mark for the bottom six is the availability of Brendan Lemieux. He plays with a much-needed edge and has a knack for drawing penalties, but sources have confirmed that a suspension for an illegal hit in what turned out to be the regular-season finale will carryover Analyzing NY Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes qualifying round series: for at least one tournament game. Forwards Lemieux's replacement will likely be Greg McKegg, who is capable of centering the fourth line in between either Di Giuseppe or Howden and former Hurricane Julien Gauthier. Vincent Z. Mercogliano Gauthier could be an X-factor. He was selected by Carolina in the first

round of the 2016 draft and scored 37 goals in 44 games for their AHL As we await the NHLPA's approval of new health protocols and a affiliate in Charlotte this season. He was traded to New York in February Collective Bargaining Agreement extension, let's precariously begin to and was just finding his footing when the season paused. look ahead. Carolina Hurricanes There's still a chance that the coronavirus throws a wrench into the Carolina’s offense, as far as the forwards are concerned, is powered by NHL's plan for a 24-team tournament to conclude the 2019-20 season, three guys — Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen. but it's fun to think about what it will look like if it does come to fruition. Each eclipsed 60 points in 68 games this season, with Aho leading in With that in mind, I've been taking time to break down the potential both total points (66) and goals (38). qualifying series between the New York Rangers and Carolina The duo of Aho and Svechnikov, in particular, represents major upside. Hurricanes. Aho will turn 23 in late July and Svechnikov recently turned 20, so they’re SALARY CAP: What does a flat cap mean for the Rangers in 2020-21? just scratching the surface of their potential. But they’re both already established as offensive forces with high-skill levels. ROSTER PROJECTION: Update on arrival of NY Rangers players Svechnikov, who was drafted second overall in 2018, went viral this Each day this week, we'll analyze the strengths and weaknesses for both season with multiple “lacrosse goals” in which he lifted the puck on his teams. Let's begin with the forwards: stick from behind the goal and whipped it in behind the goaltender’s back. New York Rangers At 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, the talented Russian possesses a great The driving forces are Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad — a duo that combination of size, speed, hands and playmaking ability. He rated tops has quickly become one of the NHL's best. among Carolina forwards this season in both Goals Above Replacement Panarin is a legitimate Hart Trophy candidate after tying for third in the (14.2) and Wins Above Replacement (2.5), according to Evolving league with 95 points in 69 games, while Zibanejad is the Rangers' do-it- Hockey. all centerman who finished the season on a goal-scoring tear to amass a The trio of Svechnikov, Aho and Teravainen developed into a feared top career-high of 41 in just 57 games. line for the Hurricanes this season and will be a handful for the Rangers They began the season powering a dominant top line, but it wasn't long to deal with. In their four head-to-head matchups, they combined for before Rangers coach David Quinn decided to separate them. The result seven points, including three goals from Aho. was two highly productive lines, as Panarin gelled with center Ryan But heading into the February trade deadline, there was a desire to Strome and Zibanejad thrived with familiar linemates Chris Kreider and improve the second and third lines. That’s why the ‘Canes acquired Pavel Buchnevich. Vincent Trocheck from the Florida Panthers in exchange for four players. Kreider was selected to his first-ever all-star team this season thanks to a The 26-year-old managed a modest two points in his first seven games midseason run of 32 points in 30 games, which ultimately convinced the with Carolina, but he has a track record of putting up points. He posted a Rangers to extend his contract prior to the February trade deadline. He 75-point season in 2017-18 before missing time in 2018-19 due to injury. fractured his foot three games later, but the coronavirus pause allowed for plenty of time to heal. Kreider was one of the first players to report Trocheck’s 38 points (11 goals and 27 assists) this season ranks fourth and skate for Phase 2 of the NHL's "Return to Play." among Hurricanes’ forwards behind the Big 3. At the time of the pause, he was centering the second line in between 23-year-old Warren Foegele The top-six forwards should be locked in for the series against the and 21-year-old Martin Necas. Hurricanes, but the bottom six will need to step up. If the ‘Canes stick with those combinations, Trocheck would be the oldest There are question marks. player in an inexperienced top-six. But the bottom six should feature One was answered recently, with doctors declaring that Kaapo Kakko veterans Jordan Staal and Justin Williams, who have played in a can safely play, if he chooses, despite having Type 1 diabetes and celiac combined 243 playoff games and won a combined three Stanley Cups. In disease. fact, Williams was on the only Stanley Cup-winning team in franchise history in 2006. The No. 2 overall pick in last year's draft experienced predictable growing pains, collecting 23 points (10 goals and 13 assists) in 66 games while Carolina’s best defensive forwards are Staal, Nino Niederreiter and struggling with his defensive assignments. But Quinn noted in a recent Jordan Martinook, who bring physicality and a grinding mentality that has interview with MSG Network that he believes the time off may have defined the bottom six. Teravainen also grades out as a solid defender. benefited the rookie. Who has the edge? "I think he feels recharged," Quinn said. "Talking to him during this The Hurricanes' top line of Svechnikov, Aho and Teravainen is scary pandemic, I sense a little bit more pep in his step. Even though he’s over good and probably the best unit in this series, but the Rangers' ability to in Finland, he’s a little bit more engaging. I think he’s getting more have Zibanejad and Panarin each lead their own highly productive line comfortable. I think this might actually, in his mind, be the start of his gives them a slight advantage. second season." Both teams will have to overcome youth, but Carolina's is concentrated in Kakko should play alongside fellow former first-round pick Filip Chytil, their top six, including a second line that has had very little to develop who matched Kakko's 23 points (albeit in six fewer games) and solidified chemistry since acquiring Trocheck. the role of third-line center. Bergen Record LOADED: 07.07.2020 The left winger on that line is more of an uncertainty, with Phil Di Giuseppe and Brett Howden the leading candidates. Neither offers much offensive production, but both bring a high motor and have earned Quinn's trust. 1187445 New York Rangers The CBA extension was necessary for the return-to-play plan in order to reconcile the tremendous loss of revenue caused by the pandemic and with no fans in the stands for the foreseeable future.