Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips August 11, 2020

Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets 3, Maple Leafs 0, Game 5: Five Takeaways PAGE 06: Columbus Dispatch: Alexandre Texier’s play in Blue Jackets’ playoff series bodes well for future PAGE 08: The Athletic: Familiar foes: A roundtable discussion of Blue Jackets-Lightning playoff rematch PAGE 13: The Athletic: 2020 NHL playoff preview: Blue Jackets vs. Lightning PAGE 18: Associated Press: Tenacious Blue Jackets shift momentum to advance in playoffs PAGE 20: NBC Sports: Lightning vs. Blue Jackets: 5 things to know about their First Round series

Cleveland Monsters/Prospects

NHL/Websites PAGE 23: The Athletic: Pronman’s Mock Draft: Projecting the first round of the 2020 NHL Draft PAGE 27: The Athletic: Wheeler: 10 thoughts after the second phase of the NHL Draft Lottery PAGE 31: The Athletic: Predictions unplugged 2.0: Anonymous NHL scout, coach & exec pick series winners PAGE 36: The Athletic: Takeaways from the NHL’s return: Playoff expansion and round robin fallout PAGE 40: The Athletic: Down Goes Brown: The draft lottery power rankings, Part 2 PAGE 46: The Athletic: Player and coach poll: Should the NHL keep the 24-team playoff format? PAGE 49: The Athletic: Pronman: How Alexis Lafreniere would impact the 8 teams up for the No. 1 pick PAGE 51: The Athletic: As more NHL teams hit the offseason, get ready for a potentially wild one PAGE 54: Sportsnet.ca: Conn Smythe Power Rankings: Price, Aho, Toews among standouts PAGE 56: TSN.ca: Weeks: Garrett Rank sees U.S. Amateur as substitute for NHL playoffs

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Columbus Dispatch / Blue Jackets 3, Maple Leafs 0, Game 5: Five Takeaways By Brian Hedger – August 11, 2020

Clearly, he’d lost it. After barely answering three postgame questions a couple days earlier and then not speaking with reporters at all the day before, Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella finally emerged Sunday to meet the press. Actually, he emerged within the NHL’s Toronto quarantine "bubble" to Zoom with the press during a video conference from a hotel conference room, but why quibble with details? The point is that Tortorella addressed what happened at the end of his team’s colossal meltdown Friday night in the final 3:57 of regulation during a shocking 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs – including an unthinkable three straight 6-on-5 goals allowed without the Jackets scoring a single empty- netter. One might expect the coach of such a team, who then disappears for a day, to resurface with a dazed look on his face and several fist-sized patches of hair missing. Tortorella? Fresh as a daisy. Nonplussed. "Torts" was raring to go for Game 5 on Sunday night, which was the first winner-take-all scenario in the Jackets’ postseason history. Also, he revealed later Sunday that goalie Elvis Merzlikins – the poor guy who allowed all four goals during the Game 4 collapse – was hurt to the extent that he couldn’t play or back up Joonas Korpisalo. The good news, though, was that defensemen Zach Werenski and Ryan Murray were both going to gut through injuries that had caused them to miss all of Game 4 (Murray) or just the most critical parts (Werenski) – which actually counted as "good news" only by the most basic definition. At least the Jackets had all the momentum. (long pause) Say what now? The Jackets had the momentum going into Game 5? Hey, it’s 2020, there’s a pandemic still raging and there are "Murder Hornets" the size of Volkswagens giving "Ted Talks" in the Pacific Northwest. Why not? If the coach of an NHL hockey team coming off an epic failure to close out a playoff series wants to think all the momentum belongs to his team because of it … just roll with it, right? "Oh, we’re fine," Tortorella told reporters Sunday, roughly eight hours before puck-drop. "We’re fine. We feel we have the momentum." Oh, do you now? As the words left his mouth, you could practically hear the cackles of the Toronto media contingent – and, perhaps, the media contingent in other parts of North America and the world.

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He wasn’t finished. "No matter what happened there, I think … you know, momentum’s a funny thing," Tortorella said, sounding like a college psychology professor. "If you want to give it back to ’em, you lose it. If you don’t want to give it back to ’em, you keep it on your side. That’s kind of a psychological thing. So, we’re good. We’re good and ready to play." You know that famous scene in the classic comedy film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," where King Arthur takes apart an insanely resilient knight one limb at a time? Well, Tortorella was the knight on that Zoom call, only this time the conflict ended with King Arthur being told, "Actually, I think I’ll have your leg." That, in essence, is what happened Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena, where the Blue Jackets used "momentum" from a nightmarish, gut-wrenching defeat in Game 4 to finish off the Maple Leafs by a fitting final score of 3-0 – the final goal, just as fittingly, scored by captain Nick Foligno into an empty net. Now, that’s psychology in action right there. "We’re not changin’," Tortorella said, concluding his mid-day psych lecture. "We (threw) it away on a couple of bad plays and just within a couple of minutes (in Game 4). We thought we played a good game and we’re going to go play the same way." That’s exactly what they did, too, and because of it the Jackets advanced to the official Stanley Cup playoffs for a seven-game quarterfinal rematch against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The series-opener is 3 p.m. Tuesday, the first of three afternoon starts in the first four games. What could possibly happen to top the series that just ended? Beforewe find out, here are five takeaways from a memorable night in Blue Jackets history: A wealth of goaltending Speaking of psychological challenges, remember that "Bob" guy who used to guard the Blue Jackets’ net? Well, Sergei Bobrovsky’s long gone now, getting paid a king’s ransom by the Florida Panthers, and the Blue Jackets are doing just fine without him. Korpisalo and Merzlikins have done nothing but impress this season, including their first tastes of the playoffs. Aside from the nightmarish fluke ending in Game 4 for Merzlikins and a three-goal hiccup for Korpisalo in Game 3, the Jackets’ goalie tandem was first rate against the Maple Leafs. Toronto’s Frederik Andersen was strong start to finish, but the Jackets’ duo was better – including Korpisalo pitching shutouts to start and finish the series. "We’re not in the bubble if we don’t have those two guys," Tortorella said. "We were all nervous, as the season started, when we had some departures. ‘Bob’ left and all that stuff, and we were nervous about what our goaltending was going to be. We don’t have a sniff of being here if it’s not for those two guys." Well put.

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Foudy’s big night Watching him zip around the ice, weaving between Maple Leafs and creating scoring chances, it felt like the first four games of the series were just a tune-up for Liam Foudy to unfurl the performance he had. Skating against his childhood favorite team, not far from his hometown of Scarborough, Ontario in the Toronto suburbs, Foudy introduced himself to the hockey world on a big stage. This was the NHL’s only game going Sunday night and the 20-year old speedster looked comfortable in the spotlight. It was just the seventh NHL game he’d ever played, including the first two in the regular season, but you could see his poise and confidence grow with every shift. That is great news for the Blue Jackets, who are thrilled to have a guy with his kind of wheels, guts and talent. After nearly scoring a couple different times in the first two periods, Foudy’s first goal in an NHL game provided the Jackets with a 2-0 lead at 11:40 of the third. He also had one of his front two teeth on the upper rack cracked or pushed back to complete his transition into a full NHLer. "It was amazing," Foudy said. "Growing up being a huge Leafs fan, always (rooting) for them, and being able to come here and play in a series against them … and beat them and score my first NHL goal, it’s something I’ll never forget. It’s a special moment." All hands, on deck Getting back to Werenski and Murray, the two each contributed in their own way. Murray only skated 11:46 on the third defense pairing, not registering a single number on the official score sheet, but was solid defensively and made a couple nice plays to keep shifts alive in the offensive zone. Werenski played 22:44 on the top pairing and netted the game’s first goal with a clever wrist shot that he flipped toward the net from the blue line. Boone Jenner cut toward the net, drawing defenseman Tyson Barrie with him, and Werenski’s shot skipped off the Maple Leafs’ defender for a 1-0 lead 6:29 into the game. It was his first goal of the postseason and turned out to be the winner. The Jackets clung to that slim lead most of the game before Foudy’s goal in the third provided insurance. Werenski appeared to injure something in his upper chest/shoulder area mid-way through the third period in Game 4, after being tripped by Toronto’s Mitch Marner, but he looked fine in Game 5. That was an encouraging sight with the Lightning licking their chops in the on-deck circle. The rematch Speaking of the Lightning, there couldn’t have been a more intriguing match-up for either team. After what the Jackets pulled off last year, sweeping one of the NHL’s most historically good teams in the regular-season, who doesn’t want to watch David vs Goliath, Part Deux? You can’t even find that in the Bible. Just like last year, the Lightning are now dealing with an apparent leg injury to star defenseman Victor Hedman – whose mobility issues from an injury were noticeable in the first game of last year’s series. It was also a convenient excuse as to why, perhaps, the Jackets were able to escape a 3-0 hole in the first period to win by a 4-3 score.

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By the way, does any of that sound familiar? It should, because winning or losing 4-3, in a game that one team leads 3-0, is becoming sort of a hallmark for playoff hockey in Columbus. Getting back to the Lightning, there is also a question about the health and availability of star forward Steven Stamkos It would be surprising if he misses much time, but it’s definitely something to watch – along with Stamkos’ unsettled dispute from a gloved sucker punch he landed on Foligno’s face in Game 3 of last year’s series. Style points Following Game 5, Tortorella was asked about Boone Jenner, a gritty center who makes up for his lack in foot speed with a farm-bred strength that allows him to toss NHL defensemen around like they’re bales of hay. "Jenns is ugly," Tortorella said, meaning that phrase as a compliment. "He’s ugly at times, but I don’t think I’ve seen a more competitive player in these types of situations. So, he was a big part of it in this series." That quote applies to the Blue Jackets as a whole. All series, various members of the Toronto media, and others, bellyached about how "boring" and "unimaginative" the Blue Jackets are when playing their patented brand of disciplined, defensive hockey. They’ve been cast as brutes with no skill, not even deserving to be on the same ice as the Maple Leafs and their multitude of elite skill players. The Blue Jackets, of course, are still alive in the playoffs because of their grit and goaltending, while the Maple Leafs are done. Their bubble has burst early, again, despite racking up impressive numbers in every category but wins. The final game wasn’t much different than the previous four, either. Toronto hung onto the puck most of the game, finished with a 33-22 edge in shots and fired off more total shot attempts. The Blue Jackets kept it close in scoring chances – 24-21 favoring the Maple Leafs, according to NaturalStatTrick.com – and finished with a slight edge in high-danger chances (8-7). It was another "ugly" game on their part, but they probably felt it was a thing of beauty. The Jackets’ primary style of play again proved successful in the "grind it out" nature of the playoffs and now they’re moving ahead. Also, if you asked their coach, they had all the momentum.

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Columbus Dispatch / Alexandre Texier’s play in Blue Jackets’ playoff series bodes well for future By Brian Hedger – August 11, 2020

He couldn’t contain the grin. Asked at the outset of the Blue Jackets’ playoff training camp about skating with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Oliver Bjorkstrand, two of the team’s top forwards, Alexandre Texier’s face lit up. "I think that’s a good line, you know?" he said, laughing. "I’m just trying to play my game and enjoy the time with them, and work hard try to play good defensively because P-L and Bjorky, they’re pretty good offensively." Texier is not so bad himself. In fact, he was one of the Blue Jackets’ top forwards in the best-of-five series against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the qualifying round of this year’s 24-team playoff format. He even played his way back up to Dubois’ line as the series progressed, while Bjorkstrand dropped to right wing on the third line. Going into Game 5 against the Maple Leafs on Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena, the 20-year-old from Grenoble, France, had become a key player in the series. Texier had even garnered the attention of the Toronto media, which has a number of elite Maple Leafs talents to observe. Texier isn’t exactly drawing comparisons to Maple Leafs stars Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner or John Tavares, but his play showed that he can be a solid top-six talent in the NHL for years to come. Maybe even a center. "I think he can be both (a wing or center)," said Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who pulled off a trade at the 2017 NHL draft to select Texier in the second round (No. 45 overall). "We kind of planned on him being center. He’s playing on the wing now. "He’s another young guy that seems to be getting better every game, and there’s so much potential that we see in him as far as his career goes." Going back to that first week of training camp last month, that’s how Texier wound up on a line with Dubois and Bjorkstrand, who led the team with 21 goals prior to suffering a fractured left ankle in late February. The idea was to see if Texier’s two-way game was capable of keeping him on a line that coach John Tortorella wanted to use a lot. The question was answered in the series, as Texier became one of the Blue Jackets’ only forwards who could consistently hang on to the puck against the Maple Leafs and also get it back. He also made some nice plays, including one of his two assists in the first four games to spring Dubois for a breakaway in Game 3 late in overtime. Dubois completed the first postseason hat trick in franchise history with a backhand under the crossbar, and the Jackets took a 2-1 series lead. Plays like that only further Kekalainen’s belief that he has a future NHL center on his hands. "He’s a very good playmaker," Kekalainen said. "He’s strong with the puck, he’s very solid defensively, but he can play both positions which is also a luxury for us."

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It makes life easier for a coach too. "If Tex can play there (with Dubois), it can kind of give me an opportunity to balance some lines out," Tortorella said during the first week of camp last month. "If we’re going to have an opportunity to be successful, he needs to be a big part of this."

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The Athletic / Familiar foes: A roundtable discussion of Blue Jackets-Lightning playoff rematch By Aaron Portzline and Joe Smith – August 11, 2020

It was perhaps the biggest upset in the history of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Columbus Blue Jackets barely made it into the field of 16 in 2019, and their reward was the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning, a buzzsaw outfit with serious Cup aspirations. You know what happened next. The Blue Jackets didn’t just upset the Lightning, the swept them out of the first round with smothering checking and opportunistic goal scoring. For the Blue Jackets, it marked the high-water mark for the franchise, the first playoff series win in franchise history. The Lightning have had lower lows as an organization, but in terms of shock and disappointment, this was unlike anything they had experienced in a long, long time. They were humbled and frustrated, vowing to go back to the drawing board with the same coach and same core for another run in 2020. Well, here we are. The Blue Jackets and Lightning meet again, though much has changed over the last 15 months. On Monday, The Athletic’s Joe Smith (Tampa Bay) and Aaron Portzline (Columbus) discussed some of the key elements of this series and what to expect when the puck drops at 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday for Game 1. Here was their conversation: Portzline: Joe Smith, we meet again! (Not literally, of course.) That first-round sweep last spring was such a shocker to many, and probably nobody was more surprised than the Lightning themselves. So how do they view this rematch? Is this a dream scenario, the chance at redemption they’ve been wanting for 15 months? Or would they rather avoid Columbus in the first round? Smith: They’re likely not going to say it publicly, but I’m sure there’s a part of them that loves this challenge of coming full circle. Coach Jon Cooper has told the group since last summer’s humbling and embarrassing early exit to “own” what happened, let it drive them all season. The Lightning were asked about what happened against Columbus in every road arena they visited all season, so the idea of beating the Blue Jackets to start their Stanley Cup quest would provide some satisfaction. But I don’t think revenge is the be-all, end-all narrative here. The Lightning feel they’re a much different team, with a half-dozen new players, and it’s the same with the Blue Jackets. Tampa Bay feels it’s a mentally and physically stronger group than the one that was stunned last spring. Now comes the true test, however, as I think there are some ways where Columbus might be a tougher matchup than Toronto would have been because of their style and blue line. I know a lot of the stars have left, but how much has the Blue Jackets’ approach changed since last year? I mean, it is a John Tortorella-coached team, right?

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Portzline: Indeed. This is very much a Tortorella team. They go at each other and they air out their differences now and then — did you see Tortorella and Pierre-Luc Dubois go at it on the bench in Game 2? — but they are firmly on the same page, and the players play their butts off for him. This is a different team, though. The offensive firepower that left with Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene was only partially replaced by Gustav Nyquist, and it’s noticeable. If anything, the Blue Jackets have to be even tighter as a team with their five-player checking, even more patience with the puck and even more need to stay above the puck defensively to limit transition and chances. As of right now, the Blue Jackets don’t have Josh Anderson (shoulder) in the lineup, so that’s a HUGE difference from the 2019 Lightning series, too. You’ll recall he’s a big part of the Columbus forecheck. He’s with the club in Toronto and skating with them, but there’s no word on his availability for the series. That brings us to the Lightning’s injury woes. What do we know about Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and others as this series dawns, and which one of those injuries is the most concerning? Smith: Those are some important questions with complicated answers. There’s a good chance the Lightning open this series without the two franchise cornerstones in Stamkos and Hedman. Stamkos, still dealing with the ebbs and flows of rehab from early March core surgery, looked like he’d be ready after practicing with the team for the first week in Toronto. But Stamkos has remained sidelined, though he’s skating on his own, during the past week, including sitting out all three round-robin games. He’s out “indefinitely,” as Cooper put it, but there’s a chance he could play in this series. Hedman, on the other hand, looked worse. The way the Norris winner frustratingly pounded the glass on his way off the ice suggested he knew this ankle/leg injury was serious, but his status for Game 1 won’t be determined until Tuesday. Hedman’s loss would be much bigger, as the Lightning are as deep as they’ve been in years up front, but the 6-foot-6 Swedish defenseman drives play at both ends of the ice. As Cooper has often put it, “As Heddy goes, we go.” If Hedman is out, expect a heavy dose of Ryan McDonagh, who has looked healthier and stronger than he did during the season, and Mikhail Sergachev, who has grown into a two-way force. Zach Bogosian and likely Braydon Coburn would draw in, as Hedman’s partner, Jan Rutta, also is “unfit to play.” Speaking of the blue line, it seemed like Seth Jones and Zach Werenski were beasts during the qualifying round against the Leafs. Think they’ll stay together and take on Tampa Bay’s top line of Palat-Point- Kucherov, or will they get split up? How does that combo not only shut down stars like Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner but also put up their share of points, too? Portzline: Werenski and Jones are magnificent, and it feels like the NHL is waking up to what the locals here have been witnessing for the last couple of seasons. It’s a really special thing, those two. There’s no way Tortorella will split them up. Actually, it’s probably assistant coach Brad Shaw’s call, but the talk of splitting them up has largely faded in recent years. They’re just so good together. As limited as the Blue Jackets are at forward — taking nothing away from a very competitive group, but they aren’t the most skilled — the defense helps to overcome that. Jones and Werenski can play like forwards. They’re the team’s “engine,” as Tortorella likes to say. But they don’t do all the heavy lifting by themselves. Columbus’ second pair is a true shut-down pair, with Vladislav Gavrikov on the left and David Savard on the right. The Lightning’s top forwards can expect to see a lot of them. Many readers in Tampa will be sounding out Gavrikov’s name right now

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because he didn’t play in the series last spring, but he has quickly elevated into a top-four role. He and Savard have meshed wonderfully, and they’re really difficult to play against. If Ryan Murray can stay healthy, he brings a No. 1 defenseman’s skill to the third pairing. He has worked with Dean Kukan, mostly, who’s an Anton Stralman-type player. The blue line is where most of the stars on the roster reside. But they’ll have their hands full in this series, we know that. What have the Lightning done to change their look up front? What are some of the changes Blue Jackets fans can expect to see? Smith: The Lightning, even without Stamkos, are very deep up front. The top line of Palat-Point- Kucherov has been dominating for a good part of the round-robin play. Point, now one year removed from double hip surgery, has never looked faster. He and Kucherov, the Hart Trophy winner, have a unique chemistry, and Palat is the perfect complement, a two-way player who does a lot of the dirty work. The Alex Killorn-Anthony Cirelli duo should be familiar, with Tyler Johnson on their wing. What makes this group different is its depth in the bottom six, with two trade-deadline additions, Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow, on the third line, centered by Yanni Gourde, who has looked much more confident since getting put back in the middle. Both Coleman and Goodrow provide a physical presence (and are not afraid to drop the gloves), and Tampa Bay is hoping they can chip in with some secondary scoring. With Stamkos out, rookie Mitchell Stephens has been put in the lineup at 4C. He has speed, is strong on the forecheck and will likely be taking a lot of the team’s big defensive-zone faceoffs on the right side. What will be telling to me is how patient the Lightning’s skilled players can be with the Blue Jackets’ structured system. They can’t afford to turn the puck over like last year, which really played into Columbus’ game. I know the Blue Jackets lost some star power up front with Panarin and Duchene. But why should the Lightning be worried about Dubois? And who the hell is Liam Foudy? The kid certainly made an impression against the Leafs. Portzline: Dubois is hard to miss. He has been called a beast, an ox and a moose. I plan to ask him which of those he prefers, but all are apt. He took over Game 3 against Toronto and looked like the dominant player the franchise has always hoped he’d be. He doesn’t have that kind of impact on every game, of course. That’s the next hurdle for him. But even on his bad days, he’s a competitive, difficult player to go up against because of his size and strength. Foudy has been a really interesting story, a really necessary development for this team, actually. He made his NHL debut in the regular-season meeting between these two teams, but he has come a long way since then. The confidence has grown, and so has the coaches’ trust in him. He’s on the power play now, and he’s playing what amounts to a top-six role at even strength. His calling card is speed. The kid can absolutely fly, and that speed is really important (obviously) against teams like Toronto and Tampa. Another guy who has emerged is winger Alexandre Texier, who didn’t play a huge role in the playoff series a year ago but has started to come on in these playoffs. He’s playing well over 20 minutes a night. The Blue Jackets lost a lot of skill and offensive talent when Panarin and Duchene left as UFAs. Certainly, Foudy and Texier don’t replace them at this point in their careers, but the club needs them to be generators. Another young player to keep an eye on, another burner, too, is Eric Robinson. He’s playing a fourth-line role, but he can stretch a defense and go wide on a defenseman.

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The Jackets have basically moved on from Alexander Wennberg being a key part of this offense. Maybe that’s a little harsh, but they can’t wait anymore for him to get back to being an impact player. His role has shrunk while others have taken off. One guy they need to get going is Oliver Bjorkstrand, who was their leading goal scorer during the regular season but went without a point in the Toronto series. Needless to say, that can’t continue. Are there players for the Lightning who need to step it up, or are they all systems go? Smith: Well, if Hedman is out an extended period, you’re going to have to see defensemen like McDonagh and Sergachev step up. McDonagh came back from a broken ankle and was dealing with concussion-like symptoms during the regular season, but he has looked better of late. He has been a No. 1 defenseman before and can handle the workload, though there’s no replacing Hedman. Sergachev’s emergence should continue, and he should rack up some points running the top power play. Up front will be a place where you’d like to see the new guys, Coleman and Goodrow, make an impact. Coleman has two 20-goal seasons but has yet to score a goal since he was acquired from the Devils at the deadline (just one assist in nine games before the pause, no goals in three round-robin matchups). Their style is made for playoff hockey, and here we are, so I think those two guys could be X-factors. Portzline: The Blue Jackets have had a really interesting year at the goaltender position. Sergei Bobrovsky’s gone, of course, but Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins combined to give them better goaltending (at least statistically) than they got from Bobrovsky last season. Korpisalo book-ended the qualifying series with shutout wins over the Leafs and had a .956 save percentage in the series. Merzlikins came on in Game 3, made 57 consecutive saves well into Game 4, then allowed three goals on three shots in that wild-ass comeback by the Leafs. Now the Blue Jackets are saying that Merzlikins is hurt and that we should all prepare for Korpisalo to be between the pipes. He looked really good against Toronto, but Tampa Bay seems like a bigger challenge to me. What has Andrei Vasilevskiy been like since we last saw him? He looked pretty sharp in the round-robin games, eh? Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo went 2-1 with two shutouts and a 1.45 goals-against average in the series against the Maple Leafs. (Sergei Belski / USA Today) Smith: Andrei Vasilevskiy looked pretty good overall in the round robin, starting and finishing all three games. There were some weird goals he allowed, “seeing-eye singles,” as Cooper put it, largely due to some traffic in front. But he made some big-time saves when they needed them, especially in overtime and the shootout against the Capitals and in the third period against Boston. There’s no question that the Vezina Trophy winner’s play in this series will be crucial, especially if Hedman is out for an extended period. Vasilevskiy was one of the few Lightning players after last year’s sweep to say, “I have to be better,” and Tampa Bay won’t be able to survive with him racking up an .856 save percentage like he did in the first round last year. Vasilevskiy had a slow start to the year but really turned things around from December on, tying a franchise record with an 11-start winning streak. He fueled Tampa Bay’s 23-2-1 run that rocketed them near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. The 26-year-old certainly has the ability and playoff experience to carry his team on a run, and that’s how legacies are formed.

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I was wondering if you thought the Blue Jackets’ intense five-game series with the Leafs would give them an advantage over the Lightning in terms of playing more playoff-style games instead of the round robin? There’s a reason Tampa voted against the 24-team format in the first place. Or did this series take too much out of them for a short turnaround? Portzline: I’ve been pumping this theory since this format was revealed — that the teams coming out of the qualifying series will have an advantage at the start of the first round because they already have played multiple games at a “playoff” pace. I watched some of the round-robin games, and while nobody was dogging it, it didn’t seem to have the desperation of the best-of-five series. So, yeah, I think Columbus and the other qualifying winners have an advantage, at least in the early part of the series. But, Joe, I should get out of the prediction business. Heck, we all should. That qualifying series was incredibly unpredictable — just so many tidal-wave momentum changes. The Lightning know what the playoffs are like. They know they have to dial it up. I don’t think they’ll have any problem getting ready to play Columbus. They didn’t really know the Blue Jackets last spring. Columbus was supposed to be just a speed bump on their way to glory. But after what happened last spring — a sweep? seriously? — the Lightning now have an emotional attachment to this series that will likely benefit them. Last one from me, Joe: What does the horizon look like for this core group in Tampa, and how important is this playoff run considering what lies ahead in a stagnant salary-cap world? Are changes coming one way or another? Is this Cooper’s last run if the Lightning underperform? Smith: The window doesn’t close after this season, but there certainly will be some significant changes and tough decisions on the roster. The Lightning were already headed for their biggest cap crunch in years, and now the flat cap for the next couple of seasons will only make things more challenging. They already have $76 million committed to just 15 players and have to dish out hefty raises to pending RFAs Cirelli and Sergachev, not to mention re-signing Erik Cernak. The healthy amount of no-trade clauses handed out limits the team’s flexibility trade-wise, but there will be some familiar faces from this core likely shipped out to save money this offseason (like J.T. Miller was last summer to Vancouver). There’s a reason GM Julien BriseBois went for it at the deadline, trading a couple of first-round picks and top prospect Nolan Foote to land Coleman and Goodrow, saying he wanted to give his team every chance to get it done this summer (plus the two forwards are on cap-friendly deals for next season). This is arguably the most talented and deep roster the franchise has ever had, but at some point, you can’t afford everyone. As for Cooper, I don’t think this is his last run. The longest-tenured coach in the NHL is in the first year of a three-year, $10 million extension signed before the playoffs last year. BriseBois has been bullish on him, and so has owner Jeff Vinik. So I don’t believe it’s Cup or bust for Cooper this year, but another one-and-done, and I’m sure it’ll have the organization rethinking a lot of things. But enough talk, let’s get this series rolling. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

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The Athletic / 2020 NHL playoff preview: Blue Jackets vs. Lightning By Dom Luszczyszyn and Harman Dayal – August 11, 2020

It’s the first-round matchup the entire hockey world will be fixated on. Tampa Bay has seen this film before, and it didn’t like the ending. After the 62-win Lightning were swept by the wildcard Blue Jackets in one of the biggest upsets in NHL history last year, the two teams meet once again. For the Lightning, this will mean an opportunity to exorcise their demons — the type of emotional bounce-back that could prove they’re ready to finally go the distance in the playoffs. Columbus, on the other hand, is all too well versed in the role of the underdog spoiler. What the Blue Jackets may lack in elite talent they make up for with a never-quit team identity that sees them consistently defying the odds. This group is the very definition of “greater than the sum of its parts” and the resilience they displayed in the regular season — staying in the race despite being hammered by injuries to key players — is admirable. Columbus will outwork you, get timely scoring from its top-six and then form an impenetrable defensive shell to win games. So while the odds will tell you one story, bet against the Blue Jackets at your own peril. Questions have been raised about how healthy the Lightning will be entering this series. If Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman are both able to return, Tampa Bay’s chances rise to 79.4 percent and if neither draws back in, the club’s odds drop to 66.9 percent. In this case, we split the difference with our probability but just keep that variance in mind depending on whether they’re able to factor into the series or not and when. It should come as no surprise that the Lightning are heavy favourites on paper but everyone in the hockey world knows that will just motivate the Blue Jackets further. The key to this series may really come down to who’s able to dictate the flow of play. Will the Blue Jackets be able to goad the Lightning into a slower, more methodical style of play where time and space are limited or will Tampa Bay’s speed and skill finally take over and kickstart a track meet where the two sides go end-to-end trading chances? We know how integral the first goal is, but it’s doubly important in this series. If the Lightning find ways to hit the back of the net early in games, the Blue Jackets will be forced to open up and chase the game — playing right into the former’s hands, whereas the opposite will occur if Columbus can garner an early lead. You’d expect Tampa Bay’s arsenal of endless talent to penetrate Columbus’ defensive armour and gain an advantage at some point, but we’re all still wondering if that will actually materialize on the ice. Tampa Bay’s profile is already well-established — they’re a force to be reckoned with in the regular season. Carrying an embarrassment of riches offensively, the Lightning paced the NHL by scoring nearly 3.5 goals per game. They have the play drivers to create zone time, the playmakers to break defences down and get to the middle and the shooters to convert. It bears mentioning, however, that the Lightning’s offence dried up in the round-robin, scoring just seven total goals through three games. Take that for whatever you think it’s worth.

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We talk about the Lightning as an offensive powerhouse, but they’ve also shown admirable results on the defensive side of the ice. They’re a top-5 team in limiting shot attempts and expected goals against at 5-on-5 and sixth-best in the NHL at suppressing actual goals. This is the key area where the Lightning really separate themselves from the Maple Leafs team the Blue Jackets faced in the qualifiers. Columbus’ roster, meanwhile, comprises responsible two-way forwards and an extremely sturdy blue line and you see that reflected in its defensive results. The Blue Jackets don’t mind spending time in their own zone without the puck, but they’re incredibly stingy defending the middle and benefited from its goaltending tandem of Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins rounding into form in the second half. Despite all the praise Columbus earned defensively, it will face a significant challenge trying to score goals. The Blue Jackets barely generated enough offence against the Leafs, generating just 1.86 expected goals and scoring just 2.16 actual goals, while going blank on the power play. And remember, that was against a very shaky Leafs defence. Where Columbus pulled away in the qualifying series was in between the pipes. For as well as the Blue Jackets defended, it’s not as if the Leafs didn’t get their fair share of chances, it was really Korpisalo and the absurd .980 5-on-5 team save percentage that stole the series. Between Korpisalo and Merzlikins, the Blue Jackets saved 6.8 goals above expected in five games at 5-on-5. For context, only four goalies saved more than that mark over the entire season. It’s a huge ask, but the Blue Jackets will need a similar performance in goal to win Round 1. Overall, the regular season results point to Tampa Bay having a rather substantial leg up on Columbus, but we’ve seen and heard this story go the opposite way in the postseason before. In total, there are 13 wins separating these two teams on paper when fully healthy. It’s as wide a gap of any series which is to be expected from the league’s deepest team and one that has a reputation for hard work more than skill. It’s the same story as last year, only this time you can make an argument the gap is even larger as Tampa Bay looks even deeper and the Blue Jackets lost some serious talent in the offseason. This is a mismatch. But when it comes to any series featuring the Blue Jackets, just throw out whatever it says on paper because it probably doesn’t matter. More elite talent? Doesn’t matter. More skilled depth? Doesn’t matter. The Leafs just learned that the hard way in the qualifying round, struggling to break through Columbus’s defensive shell, but it’s a lesson Tampa Bay already learned last season all the same. Will this time really be any different? It’ll be a good litmus test for the model in helping to answer whether certain team archetypes have an advantage over others, something I looked into a little bit last week with regards to the best offences facing off against the best defences. From what I found, good defences have a tendency to play above their weight class against good offences, shrinking expected talent gaps by forcing offensive teams to grind out victories and play the game their way. The hard way, earning every inch. It’s how Columbus beat Tampa Bay last year and Toronto this year. Make no mistake it’ll be the game plan here. It’s Columbus hockey and if you’re a skilled team, it’s a beyond frustrating brand of it meant to completely douse any semblance of offence. The team is relentless in its puck pursuit and forecheck featuring wave after wave of guys ready to work their asses off. So we can talk about Tampa Bay having players as skilled as Nikita Kucherov, one of the league’s best forwards who has scored at a 100-point pace or better in three straight seasons. Or Brayden Point, an

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elite center who broke out for 92 points last season. Or Steven Stamkos, one of the game’s best scorers over the last decade. Or Anthony Cirelli, who has emerged as a Selke Trophy threat. Or any one of their supporting forwards who provide top six value like Alex Killorn, Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, Blake Coleman or Yanni Gourde – guys that have the ability to score around 50 points. There’s a lot of fire- power here, and there’s more from the back-end too. Victor Hedman is one of the game’s best defencemen at both ends of the ice. Mikhail Sergachev has emerged as a legitimate number one defenceman in terms of value. Kevin Shattenkirk has bounced back after a rough stint in New York. Hell, they also have Ryan McDonagh too who’s a pretty great defenceman himself. It’s a laundry list of riches, more depth and star-power than any other team in the league and we can spend all night talking about all of them, but again, will it even matter? This time, I think it will. Tampa Bay is not Toronto, and it’s certainly not the Tampa Bay team that lost last season. While Columbus can be a frustrating team to play against, Tampa Bay is one that can be extremely overwhelming. The Blue Jackets employed a bend, don’t break strategy against the Leafs that seems like it will break far more often against a better, more complete version in the Lightning – especially if the team isn’t fortunate enough to get .980 goaltending at evens again. The Blue Jackets look built to beat teams like the Lightning, but there’s probably a breaking point where the talent discrepancy between two teams is enough to overcome the stylistic challenges presented. This feels like such a series. Well, it would be if Tampa Bay was fully healthy. Stamkos is still out indefinitely and Hedman’s injury did not look good – both are massive pieces of the puzzle in Tampa Bay, worth 6.6 combined wins (and likely more with Hedman’s usual ice-time). The difference in series win probability is pretty monumental at 12 percentage points and it’s in that chasm where the skill gap mattering probably lies. At 79 percent, it’s hard not to love Tampa Bay’s chances despite what happened last season – the difference is just too big to overlook. At 67 percent, some doubt begins to creep in whether Columbus’s work ethic can make that up, and it’s about where this model would’ve put last year’s series between the two clubs which likely offers little solace for Tampa Bay. But while those injuries for Tampa Bay are massive, there’s a reason the team is still favoured: The Lightning have the requisite depth to fill in the sizable holes left by those two players. Up front, the emergence of Cirelli as a legitimate top-line calibre centre allowed the team to shift Stamkos to the wing during the season, meaning they still have a strong one-two punch with Cirelli and Point. He has a knack for controlling the tempo of a shift which manifests to a strong defensive game. His 1.94 expected goals against per 60 was one of the best marks on the team and elite league-wide. While Stamkos’ absence is daunting, the Lightning still have more than enough capable top-six calibre forwards ready to step in who have shown in the past to be efficient scorers. It could give a player like Gourde a shot to step back into the top nine and prove his mettle. He was one of Tampa Bay’s most effective forwards from 2017 to 2019 but has slid down the depth chart since. On the back-end, losing Hedman is massive, but the team still has three top-pairing calibre defencemen and a pretty solid top four even without Hedman. Most teams don’t have that luxury. Sergachev is ready for the limelight after living in Hedman’s shadow and can fill in well on the top power play. At evens, his 55 percent expected goals rate was as good as Hedman’s this season. Plus, McDonagh and the rugged Erik Cernak have proven to be a strong shutdown pairing in the past, allowing the Sergachev and Shattenkirk pairing to focus primarily on offence.

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There’s one other thing about Tampa Bay that makes them different from last year’s version: The snarl the Lightning have since added. In the offseason, it was Pat Maroon and at the deadline, it was Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow – all players who can play well, tilt the ice to varying degrees, and do it with an edge. It’s an element they lacked in last year’s series against the Blue Jackets and it’s clearly been an element they’ve made a conscious effort to improve for this very occasion. Coleman is the most promising addition of the bunch. He’s a versatile player who has made a name for himself in analytics circles for his ability to drive play on a weak Devils team over the past couple of seasons, though it hasn’t translated immediately in his first nine games as a member of the Lightning. These aren’t the same Bolts as last season. They’re deeper, better, stronger and have emphasized being more than just their skill. Last season was a wake-up call and it’s likely they’ve learned from past mistakes. These aren’t the same Blue Jackets as last season either though, and it’s hard to tell whether that helps Tampa Bay’s chances of winning. On the one hand, there’s a team that lost a transcendent offensive star and a capable top line centre. The Blue Jackets without Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene aren’t nearly as scary on offence this time around and their numbers show it. Hell, they made the Leafs defence look decent for much of the series finishing with the fourth-lowest expected goals rate of the playoffs so far. That’s not the best sign and if Tampa Bay goes up in any game, the team has the defensive fortitude to hold on to that lead – not like last year where a blown lead in Game 1 changed the entire course of the series. That was a big focus for the Lightning this year and that makes things even more difficult for Columbus to score just enough goals to win four games. On the other hand, last year’s Blue Jackets weren’t exactly a defensive juggernaut. At 5-on-5 they were 13th in expected goals against and 19th in actual goals against, but they seemingly knew there was only one way to beat Tampa Bay in the playoffs. They had a plan, they executed it flawlessly, and it worked. With the exodus of their star talent, there was only one option for the team: Doubling down on team defence and Columbus has had a year to hone its craft. Last year’s version of the Blue Jackets was scarier on paper than this one, but this one has much more defensive might. That starts on defence where the team has three capable pairs that can shut things down. Seth Jones was on for just a single goal against versus the best Leafs forwards and he’ll be ready for another tough challenge against the Lightning. The second pair of Vladislav Gavrikov and David Savard weren’t on for any and had elite defensive results this season creating a strong top four that’s able to handle the Lightning’s immense depth. And the forwards have bought in too. Nick Foligno played some Selke calibre defence this season and the team is loaded with players who may not be as gifted on offence as anyone on the Lightning, but have the ability to suppress it. That two of the team’s best offensive wingers, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Cam Atkinson, have some of the more sparkling defensive numbers speaks volumes about how this forward group operates. Still, they will need some offence and that means getting more out of a player like Bjorkstrand who saw his minutes cut after going pointless in five games against Toronto. Pierre-Luc Dubois showed a national stage why he’s the next big thing in an electric series against Toronto and Atkinson had five points, but the team will need more from the supporting cast. It’s unlikely they can keep another potent offensive team to a sub-two percent shooting percentage at 5-on-5 and that means finding some goals themselves.

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Defence first remains the mantra and the Blue Jackets do extremely well to insulate their goalies. They make their goaltenders look better than they actually are which is why Korpisalo isn’t regarded fondly by my model. He’s allowed 27 goals above expected over his last three seasons, the 10th worst mark in the league. But with goaltending, anything can happen in a short series and even lesser goalies can come out looking herculean. He was frighteningly good against the Leafs which goes to show how much volatility there is in projecting goaltending results. You may as well pick a number out of a hat. Just ask Andrei Vasilevskiy who sported an abysmal .856 save percentage in last year’s sweep in a year where he won the Vezina Trophy with a .925. That little goaltending detail often gets glossed over in the narrative from last year’s stunning series and that, more than any other oft-cited reason for victory, is probably why Tampa Bay lost. That’s not a number any team can win with. Against this Blue Jackets team, I’d suspect Vasilevskiy stops a few more shots this time around and that alone is the biggest reason to believe things will be different this time. The Bottom Line This is a very scary Lightning team, and that’s even without Stamkos or Hedman. With them, this should be no contest. While Columbus may seem like their personal kryptonite, I’m more than ready to double down on a massive talent disparity trumping a style designed to mitigate it. It’s not often you get a second chance and it’s difficult to see a team like Tampa Bay wasting it. But hockey is a funny little game, one where any gap in talent can be easily closed from any combination of hard work, grit and a lot of lady luck. Columbus has the first two, it’s a matter of finding the third in a rematch of last year’s David vs. Goliath matchup. Will Lightning strike (out) twice?

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Associated Press / Tenacious Blue Jackets shift momentum to advance in playoffs By Staff - August 11, 2020

TORONTO (AP) — The Columbus Blue Jackets’ successful playoff series against Toronto was a microcosm of their tumultuous, up-and-down season.

Plagued by injuries to key players in the regular season – including both goaltenders at different times – Columbus pieced together lines with rookies and managed to get within striking distance, earning a No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference qualifying series when play resumed after the coronavirus pause.

Inside the bubble in Toronto, the Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs traded shutouts in the first two games. Game 3 saw Columbus come back from a 3-0 deficit to win in overtime. Then they blew a 3-0 lead in the final four minutes of Game 4 and eventually lost in overtime to set up a decisive Game 5.

Then, with the series momentum seemingly leaning in Toronto’s favor, Columbus shut out the Leafs 3-0 Sunday night to advance to the round of 16 and play Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team the Blue Jackets swept in the first round of the 2019 playoffs.

Quite a ride so far.

”Stretches we played really well,” coach John Tortorella said of the qualifying series. ”You know, as you keep moving on, the hockey gets more into a grind. We’re playing Tampa, a very good hockey club with lots of weapons.

”We’re going to have to get better in a lot of things, not just defense, but we have to make some more plays, we’ve got to have our forecheck better,” he said. ”So as you move along here and teams are starting to get knocked out here and you start playing these other teams, the game is going to be better so we have to join in.”

The Lightning are suddenly facing injury issues. Star defenseman Victor Hedman went down with an apparent right ankle injury in a 4-1 robin-robin-closing loss to Philadelphia on Saturday, and captain Steven Stamkos has yet to play since sustaining a lower body injury last month. It’s unclear if either will be available for Game 1.

Tortorella said his players didn’t get down after blowing the big lead in the last four minutes of Game 4 and then going down in overtime on an Auston Matthews goal.

”We were confident in the way we’re playing,” Tortorella said. ”We didn’t want that to happen (in Game 4). (Stuff) happens, I guess. But right from the get-go as we started preparing for this game, we knew how we were playing, we just wanted to get back to our game as quickly as possible when we started Game 5.

Joonas Korpisalo stopped 33 shots for the Blue Jackets after being pulled for Elvis Merzlikins before the Blue Jackets went on to win in overtime in Game 3. Merzlikins got the start in Game 4 and was solid until the late flurry of Toronto goals.

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Merzlikins was listed as unable to play in Game 5, giving Korpisalo the start and he responded with another shutout. There was no word on Merzlikins’ condition or whether he’ll be able to play Tuesday,

”I think we felt confident coming into the game, and obviously in Game 4 we kind of lost ourselves for a little bit, but we felt confident about where our game was at,” said defenseman Zach Weresnki, who opened the scoring for Columbus on Sunday. ”So we didn’t even have to get settled in, we knew how we had to play and how we had to execute our game plan.”

The Blue Jackets contained Toronto’s high-octane offense, limiting it to just 19 shots through two periods and 33 overall Sunday, two nights after allowing 53.

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NBC Sports / Lightning vs. Blue Jackets: 5 things to know about their First Round series By Adam Gretz - August 11, 2020

The First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs begins August 11. Before the NHL postseason resumes play, PHT will preview each of the eight opening round matchups, including Lightning-Blue Jackets

1. Lightning get their chance at redemption Depending on your outlook this is either the perfect matchup for the Lightning or some kind of cruel joke that will only further their postseason frustration. A year ago the Lightning were the best team in the NHL, steamrolling the league on their way to a record-tying 62-win regular season that made them the clear Stanley Cup favorites entering the playoffs.

They responded by losing four consecutive games to the No. 8 seed Blue Jackets in what was one of the most stunning postseason upsets in recent memory. Even though this particular Tampa Bay core has yet to win a championship, they have not been total failures in the playoffs. They have consistently been one of the final four teams standing in the playoffs and have always been right on the verge of winning a championship only to let it slip right through their fingers. But last year’s postseason showing was an emphatic failure that is still kind of hard to believe.

Now they have a chance at redemption with a rematch against Columbus.

Make no mistake, the pressure is all on Tampa Bay in this series. This is still a team that is expected to win a championship and is the superior roster on paper. But as the Blue Jackets have shown over the past two years none of that really matters when it comes to their early postseason matchups.

2. The health of Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman could be huge factor for Lightning There are so many factors that go into winning a championship. Talent. Luck. Getting the right matchups. And, of course, health. That could be the biggest concern for the Lightning at the start of this series as the status of Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman remains uncertain. Stamkos has not played in a game since Feb. 25, while Hedman was injured in the Round-Robin phase of the return to play.

Stamkos is an elite player and obviously makes the Lightning offense significantly more dangerous when he is in the lineup, but they have enough scoring depth up front that they could probably get through this series without him.

Hedman is an entirely different story, though.

Without Stamkos they have other top-line players that can carry the offense. They do not have another Hedman on their blue line. For as good as Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Andrei Vasilevskiy may be, Hedman is the engine that drives this machine. He plays huge minutes, he is a force at both ends of the ice, and is one of the league’s best all-around players. There is a noticeable difference in Tampa Bay’s play when he is not there.

3. Don’t sleep on the Blue Jackets Even after their offseason free agency exodus that saw Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt

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Duchene, and Ryan Dzingel leave town, there was still a lot of reason for optimism with this team. It is still a team capable of doing some damage. There is talent here, and in a lot of the right areas. Let’s start with the strength of the roster and look at their blue line where they boast one of the league’s top defense pairings in Seth Jones and Zach Werenski. Individually each one is a bonafide top-pairing defender, but when you put them together it creates one of the most dynamic and productive duos in the NHL. Including the best-of-five series against Toronto, the Blue Jackets outscored teams by a 40-22 margin this season (it was 5-1 against Toronto) when they were on the ice together during 5-on-5 play. They can dominate a game.

At forward, Cam Atkinson has been one of the league’s most overlooked goal-scorers for several years. Since the start of the 2015-16 season his 139 regular season goals places him 25th in the entire league, sandwiched directly between Filip Forsberg and Patrik Laine. He had a quiet regular season, but had a big qualifying round performance against Toronto.

Then there is Pierre-Luc Dubois, Columbus’ hero from Game 3 against Toronto and one of their most promising youngplayers. He just turned 22 years old a little more than a month ago and is already blossoming into a top-line, two-way center. He is already a tank of a forward and is just now entering his prime years in the league.

4. Another big moment for Joonas Korpisalo There was no bigger question mark in Columbus at the start of the season than goaltending. They had just lost what was one of the league’s best goalies (a two-time Vezina Trophy winner) and were replacing him with two unproven starters in Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins. It would be an understatement to say they both exceeded expectations this season.

While the Blue Jackets are a stingy team defensively and boast an elite top-pairing, goaltending still played a crucial role in the team’s ability to stay in the playoff hunt and get through Toronto in the qualifying round. Even though Korpisalo was briefly sat down against the Maple Leafs he still finished the series with a .956 save percentage and two shutouts, including the deciding Game 5 series clincher. They may need him to be even better against Tampa Bay.

What makes his play even more important is they may not have Merzlikins to turn to if needed. He was injured in the Toronto series and it is not yet known how long he will be sidelined.

5. Prediction: Lightning in 6 games The Blue Jackets are a good team, and were a great story this season to overcome all of the free agent departures and the injuries that could have sunk them even lower. But Tampa Bay is not going to let this happen again. They will find a way, get their redemption, and maybe start their run toward the championship that keeps eluding them. No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 7 Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday, Aug. 11: Columbus at Tampa Bay, 3 p.m. ET – NBCSN Thursday, Aug. 13: Columbus at Tampa Bay, 3 p.m. ET – NBCSN Saturday, Aug. 15: Tampa Bay at Columbus, 7:30 p.m. ET – NBCSN Monday, Aug. 17: Tampa Bay at Columbus, 3 p.m. ET – NBCSN *Wednesday, Aug. 19: Columbus at Tampa Bay – TBD

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*Friday, Aug. 21: Tampa Bay at Columbus – TBD *Saturday, Aug. 22: Columbus at Tampa Bay – TBD

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The Athletic / Pronman’s Mock Draft: Projecting the first round of the 2020 NHL Draft By Corey Pronman Aug 10, 2020

We have most of a draft order set, and the NHL Draft is two months away, but we are also weeks away from European leagues beginning the 2020-21 season, so new information will start to come in that could reshape the draft. As of now, here is my projection of how the first round of the 2020 draft will go. Check out all of Corey Pronman’s coverage of the 2020 NHL Draft, including his ranking of the top 122 draft-eligible prospects. 1. New York Rangers, Alexis Lafreniere, LW, Rimouski-QMJHL Nothing is 100 percent certain in the NHL Draft, and other possibilities do have remote chances, but I would say it is very likely the Rangers will pick Lafreniere with the No. 1 pick. I’m sure arguments will be presented about their organizational depth at center vs. wing, but I don’t see that moving the needle. 2. Los Angeles Kings: Quinton Byfield, C, Sudbury-OHL When I talk to sources around the league, they think Byfield is the direction the Kings will eventually go, but nobody feels overly confident about it. I do think the Kings will spend some time in the coming weeks seriously debating whether to pick Byfield or Tim Stutzle. Talking to people around the league, it is a coin flip between which player those in the industry think is better. 3. Ottawa Senators: Tim Stutzle, LW, Mannheim-DEL Ottawa’s decision at three will likely come down to whichever of Byfield or Stutzle are available. Those two plus Lafreniere have clearly distinguished themselves in the eyes of most NHL scouts. 4. Detroit Red Wings: Cole Perfetti, C, Saginaw-OHL The draft starts to get interesting and more wide-open starting with Detroit’s pick. I’ve heard Lucas Raymond mentioned with the Red Wings, but a fair amount of sources seem to think the team likes Cole Perfetti a lot. His elite skill and hockey IQ with average feet and size has a lot of resemblance to Brayden Point, who Detroit GM Steve Yzerman picked during his tenure in Tampa Bay. 5. Ottawa Senators: Lucas Raymond, LW, Frolunda-SHL The only name I’ve heard linked to Ottawa in the past few weeks at No. 5 has been Raymond. Sources think Jamie Drysdale will be hard for Ottawa to pass up at this slot, but Ottawa has used its first-round picks in the past two drafts on right-handed defensemen in Lassi Thomson and Jacob Bernard-Docker, albeit neither close to the caliber of Drysdale. 6. Anaheim Ducks: Alexander Holtz, RW, Djurgarden-SHL Anaheim has been hard to pin down, but sources around the league think it will value Holtz because of his elite goal-scoring ability, as the Ducks have a pressing need for that type of player. If Drysdale doesn’t go in the top five, though, it will press them at this spot to go with the defenseman. 7. New Jersey Devils: Jamie Drysdale, D, Erie-OHL New Jersey is a team I’ve heard all kinds of rumors about the past few months, likely due to the lack of certainty internally as to the future of management. If Drysdale gets this far I think he makes the Devils’

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decision for them. Otherwise, I think there will be a real debate as to whether to go with Marco Rossi or Jake Sanderson. 8. Buffalo Sabres: Marco Rossi, C, Ottawa-OHL Buffalo’s been a tough team to project because of recent management and scouting changes. There’s a lot of rumors but that group has a lot of new faces so I think they are still trying to figure out what direction they are going in. A lot of people I’ve talked to have mentioned Rossi or the two Swedes as the likely choices. 9. Minnesota Wild: Iaroslav Askarov, G, SKA-VHL Minnesota has a lot of organizational needs. I don’t think it is going goalie all the way; as in, if Drysdale or Rossi get to this spot, I see them as very realistic options for the Wild. Sources around the league think the Wild will need to have real conversations about Askarov at No. 9 without a clear goalie of the future. Kaapo Kahkonen won goalie of the year in the AHL but NHL scouts don’t consider him a true high-end prospect. 10. Winnipeg Jets: Jake Sanderson, D, USNTDP-USHL Even though the Jets used a first-round pick on defenseman Ville Heinola last season, it’s clear looking at their organizational depth they need some top-end defensive talent, and most in the industry considers Sanderson that and the best player available at this slot. If Sanderson goes before this, I see Braden Schneider as another option. 11. Nashville Predators: Jack Quinn, RW, Ottawa-OHL I’ve heard Nashville’s name linked to a few forwards, like Portland’s Seth Jarvis and HIFK’s Anton Lundell, but if Quinn is still there at No. 11, he makes a lot of sense. He plays the game with a ton of skill and is very competitive, checking off the boxes of the kind of player Nashville tends to like at forward. 12. Florida Panthers: Braden Schneider, D, Brandon-WHL The rumor for the past few weeks was that Florida was looking to add a defenseman in the draft, but given they had a GM change the day of the lottery, it’s safe to throw that intel in the trash. I had Schneider and Kaiden Guhle as the options here, but I will need to circle back on this over the next few weeks. 13. Carolina Hurricanes: Seth Jarvis, C, Portland-WHL When you look at some of the recent Hurricanes picks, players like Jarvis makes a lot of sense. He’s full of speed, skill and hockey sense and would fit into the mold they’ve been targeting of late. If Quinn is available at No. 13, he makes a lot of sense too. I also think this is an option for Askarov. They invested a high pick in another Russian goalie, Pyotr Kochetkov, last year in the second round, but his development has been so-so since then and they need a goalie of the future. 14. Edmonton Oilers: Dylan Holloway, C, Wisconsin-Big 10 Holloway was a name I heard rumored that Edmonton liked but they didn’t seem to be in the mix range- wise, something that’s changed as a nature of the unique year. He’s a center but also can play on the wing and is an excellent skater who you could imagine skating with Connor McDavid and playing fast with him, although Holloway doesn’t have true top-end offensive touch. This is another potential landing spot for Askarov. 15. Pittsburgh Penguins: Anton Lundell, C, HIFK-Liiga Trying to put together intel on the Penguins mid-first round preference was a bit of a pivot for me but I

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had sources direct me to Lundell and Lukas Reichel as options for them. This organization has a pressing need for defense, so Guhle here wouldn’t surprise me either. 16. Montreal Canadiens: Kaiden Guhle, D, Prince Albert-WHL I heard Jake Sanderson’s name linked to the Habs in the past few months when I thought they were picking top 10, and lately Guhle’s name has been mentioned as he’s a Sanderson-lite version as a big, mobile, physical defenseman with some offense. 17. Chicago Blackhawks: Dawson Mercer, C, Chicoutimi-QMJHL Chicago tends to target skill and hockey sense in its draft picks, attributes that Mercer has in bunches. I think fellow Canadian centers Connor Zary or Seth Jarvis, if he gets to No. 17, also make sense for those reasons. Russian winger Rodion Amirov had a strong summer tournament for Russia’s U20 team and some scouts think he moved his way into the mix in the teens, which would also make sense for Chicago and the kind of player they like. 18. New Jersey Devils: Lukas Reichel, LW, Berlin-DEL The more conversations I have with NHL scouts about Reichel, the more I realize I should not underestimate where he could go in the draft. He’s a player who checks a lot of boxes in terms of attributes, had a great season and had a good performance with Germany’s U20 team this summer. 19. Calgary Flames: Connor Zary, C, Kamloops-WHL I’ve heard a lot of centers mentioned with Calgary, such as Zary, Lundell and Holloway, which the Flames’ depth chart could use. It wouldn’t shock me to see them take a big swing at the often-injured Hendrix Lapierre at this spot, as well. 20. New Jersey Devils: Hendrix Lapierre, C, Chicoutimi-QMJHL The bets made by a lot NHL sources are that Lapierre, who some NHL scouts felt was a top 10 lock in September but had a myriad of injury issues, will end up in New Jersey or Ottawa because both have multiple first-round picks. 21. Columbus Blue Jackets: Rodion Amirov, LW, Ufa-MHL Amirov had a great showcase last week for Russia, was generally thought of before as good value around this spot, and is a very skilled and fast forward who makes a lot of sense based on how Columbus has drafted in recent years. The Blue Jackets also haven’t used a high pick on a defenseman in a while and, if they went that route, I could see William Wallinder here. 22. Ottawa Senators: Jacob Perreault, RW, Sarnia-OHL The Senators have a very deep pipeline of young talent and, while they could use a goal-scorer like Perreault, they have the luxury to go clear best player available and a lot of scouts think Perreault is that guy at this slot because of his dynamic skill and shot, even if he’s not that quick. 23. Dallas Stars: Mavrik Bourque, C, Shawinigan-QMJHL I can already hear Dallas fans yelling at me to give them a forward, so settle down, I’m slotting a very high scoring center to the Stars in Bourque who has tremendous offensive ability. I think Ridly Greig makes a lot of sense here, as well. 24. New York Rangers: Ridly Greig, C, Brandon-WHL The Rangers have an extremely deep pipeline, but if you had to nitpick it, you would argue they could use another very good center. Greig has a ton of skill and grit, and either he or Bourque make a lot of sense for the Rangers at No. 24.

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25. Philadelphia Flyers: Noel Gunler, RW, Lulea-SHL The Flyers have the luxury of good young depth so they don’t have to get picky, and Gunler is both a goal-scorer and arguably the best player available at this slot. He’s highly skilled with a bullet shot, but has warts in terms of his speed and consistency. He’s a great gamble, though, for an organization like Philly that has the depth to take a big swing. 26. San Jose Sharks: Marat Khusnutdinov, C, SKA-MHL The more NHL scouts I talk to the more I get the sense Khunutdinov could sneak into the first round. San Jose of late has shown a willingness to invest in Russians, and it could use a true scoring center or two in the pipeline. 27. Colorado Avalanche: William Wallinder, D, MODO-Allsvenskan Colorado doesn’t have a clear organizational need as a top team and several top prospects. When I look at the type of players they typically like, which are usually, big, quick athletes, Wallinder and Justin Barron make a lot of sense. But I could see the argument that they have too many defensemen. 28. Vegas Golden Knights: Justin Barron, D, Halifax-QMJHL Barron is a divisive player among NHL sources. Some think he’s a lock to go in the top 20, and some say no way he goes in the first round. Those types of players are the kinds George McPhee usually likes to gamble on and defense is a position Vegas could use depth at. Barron is a tremendous skater, but the amount of offense he has is the question. 29. Washington Capitals: John-Jason Peterka, LW, Munich-DEL Peterka wasn’t that sharp for Germany’s U20 team a few weeks ago, but he is a player with a lot of speed and skill who scouts remain highly interested in. Washington has loaded on defense and goalie prospects through 2019, and while Connor McMichael has emerged as a top prospect, the pipeline could use some more offensive firepower. 30. St. Louis Blues: Sam Colangelo, RW, Chicago-USHL Colangelo is a very skilled goal-scorer with size who makes a lot of sense for the Blues and what they like to target. Noel Gunler, who I slotted at No. 25, is a very similar player who, if he got to No. 30, would make a lot of sense too. 31. Anaheim Ducks: Brendan Brisson, C, Chicago-USHL I think Brisson will go in the first round, but in discussions with teams over the summer, the approximate No. 20 range that I thought in the spring seems unlikely and the No. 25-35 range seems more like his practical spot. The Ducks may prefer a defenseman with their prospect depth chart if Wallinder or Barron get to this area, but I don’t see a lot of top defensemen available here if the draft plays out this way.

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The Athletic / Wheeler: 10 thoughts after the second phase of the NHL Draft Lottery By Scott Wheeler – August 11, 2020

They didn’t create this as an event, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman stated in his introductory remarks on the broadcast. This, he insisted, was about taking care of business. Then, a couple of minutes later, a man dressed in a black suit unveiled a briefcase of pingpong balls and Bettman was asked to confirm the logos on each of them as they were placed into a bingo-looking machine. Then the mystery man pressed a button on a device, the bubbles bounced around for what felt like an eternity and the Rangers ball slipped out when it was time to draw. It couldn’t have been more of an event if they’d tried. When it was over, Alexis Lafrenière found out he was two months away, almost to the day (the first round of the draft is expected to take place on Oct. 9), from becoming the next face of an Original Six franchise in one of the world’s biggest sports markets. When the dust settled, the first 15 picks of the 2020 NHL Draft were locked in (or 14 of them were, but more on that later) and there was a lot to unpack. 1. No, he’s not going to change positions The first thing that came to mind when the Rangers won was: “That’s going to be fun.” The second thing was their sudden depth at left wing and the likelihood that Rangers fans are going to ask me whether Lafrenière can switch to centre, given all that talent. Even knowing that they’ll have three left wingers who should all play at the top of the lineup in Lafrenière, Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider, my answer to that question remains the same as it has in each of the other hundred times it has been asked of me this season: No! The Rangers have done this whole rebuild rather quickly. That was true before they landed the No. 1 pick and it’s definitely true now. Put a nice bow on the whole process, work toward contention and don’t worry about roster construction or handedness. Lafrenière has played the wing his whole life. If there were a time for him to make the switch, it was years ago. He’s at his best when he’s on the left side, he’s always going to be at his best there, so build a plan that gets the most out of him in that role. You tinker with a player like Kreider before you even think about changing a player like Lafrenière, with all due respect to Kreider. Hell, Panarin shoots right. The Rangers will figure it out because it’s a good problem to have. 2. No, they’re not going to draft Quinton Byfield because of that left wing depth, either Don’t look back! 3. It’s a good day to be Lafrenière We fuss a lot about the lottery — its mechanics, the fairness for the teams involved. We don’t often consider the player in those conversations. And the outcome this year is good for one person above all others: Lafrenière. He must be thrilled. He enters a young, exciting team in a large market and gets an opportunity to compete for a playoff spot as a rookie. He doesn’t get that opportunity in Detroit or Ottawa or Anaheim or any number of other potential landing spots. He doesn’t have to wait for his team to fill around the edges and catch up to him. It’s going to be in lockstep from the beginning. Even better:

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He gets a few months to get comfortable in Manhattan, where he can begin training with his teammates and learning the system so that when the puck drops on his rookie season in December or January, he gets to hit the ground running. The combination of his late birthday (he turns 19 a couple of days after the draft), his 193-pound frame (word is he’ll be closer to 200 by opening night), his already powerful puck possession game and his versatile offensive skill set don’t hurt his odds at challenging for the Calder Trophy, either. 4. Lafrenière’s nearly (nearly!) peerless statistical context Beyond what we know of Lafrenière’s tools from a skills-based evaluation, there are additional insights to be gleaned from his production relative to that of his peers. And no matter how you chop up the data, his draft year was one of the best seasons we’ve seen in recent memory. There, in the context of this year, he graded atop the CHL’s draft-eligible players in virtually every statistical category. (Only Marco Rossi’s 0.50 primary points per game on the power play risked surpassing him in any of the major rate stats we have available.) In the context of this year, he also finished no worse than fourth in any of the rate stats among QMJHL players of all ages when you expand to include draft-year-plus-one (DY+1), DY+2 and DY+3 players. But his track record is even more impressive relative to his peers of the last decade: Lafrenière’s season still ranks atop all QMJHL draft-year seasons since 2010 — ahead of names like Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin and Nikolaj Ehlers, and often by wide margins — in all but one category. (Timo Meier was a slightly higher-volume shooter in his draft year.) And, maybe to the surprise of some, those numbers stand up well when you expand from all QMJHL draft-year seasons to all CHL draft-year seasons of the last decade, in which his performances still slot ahead of names like Mitch Marner, Andrei Svechnikov, Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin and Leon Draisaitl. (You’ll notice that no additional shooters surpassed Lafreniere and Meier there, either.) The long and short of it is simple: After Connor McDavid’s 2014-15 season, Lafrenière’s year is basically peerless. Even if you account for his advanced age, there’s probably an argument for Lafrenière as the second-best prospect to come out of the CHL in the last 10 years. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if he hits all of the major Schedule A bonuses available to rookies (20 goals, 35 assists, 60 points and 0.73 points per game are the markers). If he does, his $925K salary could balloon an additional $825K. The Rangers will have to consider that in their cap planning. 5. The kind-of, sort-of winners One of the things that got lost in conversation around the upsets we saw in the qualifying round series was the ripple effect they would have on some of the draft slots a little further down the board. The Wild had the 11th-worst regular-season points percentage. The Jets had the 12th-worst regular-season points percentage. If the NHL hadn’t returned, or if it had entered into a 16-team playoff instead of a 24- team one, those teams would have drafted in line with where they finished the regular season. Because the NHL didn’t do that, and because the Canadiens, Coyotes and Blackhawks pulled off upsets, some teams got to move up a few slots in the draft, even without winning it. The Wild will pick ninth. The Jets will pick 10th. In a draft that runs, for me, eight players deep, there’s a good chance one of those players now falls into one of those teams’ laps when they otherwise wouldn’t have. They could get really — and I mean really — good players there. If you’re reading this as a fan of one of those teams, study up on the draft’s top forwards, who are more likely to fall than the draft’s top two defencemen. I wouldn’t be

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surprised if the Wild or the Jets have a chance to draft Alexander Holtz or Marco Rossi, two of my favourites. 6. A shoutout to the Hurricanes The Hurricanes already have a top-five prospect pool. They didn’t pick until 28th overall in the 2019 draft and still walked away with Ryan Suzuki, Jamieson Rees, Patrik Puistola and Anttoni Honka — who are all top-100 prospects a year later — as well as the 5-foot-7 Domenick Fensore, who is one of a kind and might just make it. They acquired the supremely talented Dominik Bokk by trade to give themselves another high-skill roll of the dice. Their depth on defence is so strong that Jake Bean, another top-50 prospect, can’t even crack their NHL lineup after injuries to key pieces. Now, a week after having swept the Rangers, their fleece of the Maple Leafs in a salary dump for Patrick Marleau has resulted in a top pick in a deep draft. I have more faith in the Hurricanes using the Leafs’ 13th overall pick effectively than I do in any team’s amateur scouting operation hitting in that range (and it’s a tricky range). 7. Who’s going to take Yaroslav Askarov? Askarov, the draft’s top-ranked goalie, is the first round’s wild card. Where he gets pick could change a lot about the picks that follow. Having a set draft order doesn’t typically give us clear-cut indications of where the forwards or the defencemen are going to go. The top players at each position typically go in the range we expect them to, with the odd faller each year. But goalies? Their draft slot typically depends on a team’s needs. And with Askarov expected to be picked inside the first half of the first round, like Spencer Knight was a year ago, we now know that one of the 15 ordered picks that are now set will be used on him. So, who makes the most sense? The Wild could go that direction at ninth overall, though I’d probably take the best available forward if one of my top prospects falls. I like what they have coming at forward, with players such as Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Alexander Khovanov and Adam Beckman representing real long-term options, not to mention the emergence of Kevin Fiala. And although they could realistically target a defenceman, Jamie Drysdale and Jake Sanderson could be gone. That could make Askarov really appealing there. Even if you think Kaapo Kahkonen is the future in net, there’s no ignoring Alex Stalock’s and Devan Dubnyk’s ages. If the Wild pass, the Oilers are the most likely team to take the plunge without hesitating at No. 14. Askarov would be a huge get there for an organization that could really use him. 8. The Penguins have a decision to make The Penguins have seven days to decide what they’re going to do with their first-round pick (No. 15), which they can give to the Wild now or next year. If I’m the Penguins, I keep this year’s pick and forego 2021’s. They’ve got one of the weakest prospect pools in the league — it could really use an injection — and they’re still in win-now mode, which means they have to believe that they’re a playoff team next year and that the pick they’d have to give up then will be later than the one they’d give up now. That seems like a no-brainer to me. I like the 2021 draft’s depth, particularly on defence (where this draft is weak), so there might be an interesting debate to have there, but they should still use this year’s pick and lose next year’s. 9. Apologies to the Predators Of the eight teams that could have won the lottery, the Predators are probably the team that had the strongest need for a player like Lafrenière. The Penguins, Oilers, Leafs, Jets, Rangers and Panthers have one thing in common: star power up front. The Wild have that aforementioned youth coming up front.

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But as good as Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene are and as good as Philip Tomasino may become, they aren’t McDavid or Draisaitl or Panarin or Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin or Auston Matthews — or even Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov or Mark Scheifele. So the impact Lafrenière could have on an organization like the Preds was likely several degrees more pronounced. He would have immediately become one of their most talented forwards. If the outcome wasn’t going to favour Team Chaos (the Oilers, Leafs or Penguins), I have to admit I was pulling for the Preds. 10. Even a curmudgeon could have enjoyed that It was hokey, it was overdone, it was all of the things the NHL said it wouldn’t be — and I still loved it. How could you not? Sports are entertainment, and the NHL’s 2020 lottery draw(s), for all of its quirks, was just that. — Have any lingering questions? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll be sure to answer them.

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The Athletic / Predictions unplugged 2.0: Anonymous NHL scout, coach & exec pick series winners By Craig Custance Aug 10, 2020

In answering his phone, perhaps anticipating the call, the NHL scout from version 1.0 of our playoff Predictions Unplugged joked: “Are you calling me to congratulate me on my first round?” Hockey people are nothing if not good-natured. And all things considered — the fact that we polled this panel back in June before we were even sure there would be games, plus the number of upsets — the scout’s 4-4 record during the play-in round wasn’t so bad. “It was OK,” he said. If you missed the first version, we asked an NHL scout, coach and executive to pick the winners in each of the play-in series to come up with a consensus on who would advance. Overall, the consensus had a record of 4-4, with the best pick being the prediction that the Arizona Coyotes would upset the Nashville Predators. Nobody picked the Canadiens over the Penguins. Or the Blackhawks over the Oilers. But this is 2020, where getting half right isn’t half bad. Now, with the actual benefit of seeing these teams play and forming more concrete opinions, the same three panelists were invited back to do the same exercise for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Let’s dive in: Western Conference No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. No. 8 Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks found a way to eliminate Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers but that didn’t earn them a lot of faith amongst the panelists. Vegas got the sweep in picks with this panel viewing them as a Stanley Cup favorite. “I just think they might be the team to beat out West,” said the executive. “They seem to be in a great spot.” “It’s not like I dislike Chicago, I just think (Vegas) is the overall better team,” said the scout. It’s that Golden Knights’ depth, something the Oilers didn’t necessarily have, that the coach thinks will ultimately give the Blackhawks issues. “They solved a specific problem on Edmonton and I don’t think they have that specific problem to solve on Vegas,” said the coach. “Vegas is wave after wave. If you can solve one wave on Edmonton, you’re going to have success.” Coach’s pick: Vegas in five Executive’s pick: Vegas in six Scout’s pick: Vegas in six Consensus advancing team: Vegas Golden Knights No. 2 Colorado Avalanche vs. No. 7 Arizona Coyotes “What a great series,” said the coach when we got to this one. He loved the matchup of Colorado’s skill

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and talent against an Arizona team that has consistently shown a lot of will and an ability to block out external distractions to play well for coach Rick Tocchet. Even so, he picked Colorado in a fairly short series — five games. “But I think they’re all going to be close games,” he said. “Arizona was really impressive with their team game. I thought their goalie played great,” said the executive. “Tocchet did a great job. I just don’t know if they have another one in them right now.” Coach’s pick: Colorado in five Executive’s pick: Colorado in six Scout’s pick: Colorado in five Consensus advancing team: Colorado Avalanche No. 3 Dallas Stars vs. No. 6 Calgary Flames There still wasn’t a ton of love for the Flames, even though they went against the panel’s prediction and beat the Winnipeg Jets. For the most part, the praise went to the Stars. “Dallas is going to eat them alive,” said the coach. “I have a lot of respect for that team (Dallas), even though I hate them. I hate them but they’re good,” he said. “Their (defense) — I don’t think Miro Heiskanen gets talked about enough. John Klingberg, I don’t know why he doesn’t get more recognition. Esa Lindell, he’s really good.” The coach continued, “I just think they’re deeper than Calgary. I don’t think that Jamie Benn is going to get scared of (Milan) Lucic or those guys. They have some answering that Winnipeg didn’t have to the (Matthew) Tkachuk problem. Winnipeg going in needed to solve Tkachuk and they didn’t solve him from the first shift.” Coach’s pick: Dallas in five Executive’s pick: Calgary in six Scout’s pick: Dallas in seven Consensus advancing team: Dallas Stars No. 4 St. Louis Blues vs. No. 5 Vancouver Canucks The Blues didn’t win a game during the round robin but the panel was pretty zen about the performance. These are the reigning champs and the consensus was that they have the ability to find their game against the Canucks. “I don’t think they played their best hockey last week but I think the coach and their veteran approach — they almost knew what they were getting ready for,” said the executive. “They know they’re going to have to go through good teams no matter what. I don’t think they lost sleep in the round robin.” “St. Louis is going to take them down,” said the coach. “St. Louis is fucking amazing.” The Blues swept the picks but that the panelists went out of their way to praise the Canucks. This is going to be a really good team, if they’re not already. “I really like Vancouver. That’s a team that is very close to being elite. But they’re not there yet,” said the coach. “And I’ve always hated them. Now, I’ve come 180 on them. (Elias) Pettersson is a stud. Bo Horvat is like Mark Messier. They have so much going for them.”

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Coach’s pick: St. Louis in four Executive’s pick: St. Louis in five Scout’s pick: St. Louis in five Consensus advancing team: St. Louis Blues Eastern Conference No. 1 Philadelphia Flyers vs. No. 8 Montreal Canadiens The Canadiens pulled off the biggest upset of the play-in round but at least one panelist was more curious about Pittsburgh’s performance than impressed with what Montreal did. “I didn’t think Pittsburgh played well,” said the scout. “And I don’t know why.” The exec felt like Carey Price was worth two wins in this series but was really impressed with the Flyers. “They’re playing great hockey and they’re going to be tough to beat,” he said. “They have depth. They’re good down the middle. They’re playing fast, they’re playing competitive. They’re playing a team game clicking on all cylinders.” “Philly is playing great,” agreed the coach. “I’m not surprised with Philly. They have been on a roll all season. I think (Alain Vigneault) simplified their game … AV is a really good bench manager. He manages the game really well. Carey Price may get one but I’ll take the Flyers in six.” The coach also wanted to point out an under-appreciated move by Philadelphia Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher, when he picked up Derek Grant from the Ducks for Kyle Criscuolo and a 4th-round pick in 2020. “The Derek Grant pickup doesn’t get enough respect,” he said. “That’s a big man who can skate. He can win faceoffs. He can play on your penalty kill. I liked that move.” Coach’s pick: Philadelphia in five Executive’s pick: Philadelphia in six Scout’s pick: Philadelphia in five Consensus advancing team: Philadelphia Flyers No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 7 Columbus Blue Jackets This might be the premier series. A rematch of one of the biggest upsets in NHL playoff history. A Blue Jackets team that has proven it can beat just about anyone. A Lightning team that, from top to bottom, is the most impressively constructed team in the league. Two of the most entertaining, if not most talented, coaches in the league. “I thought the Blue Jackets played very well, very good system hockey and it worked against a very skilled team,” said the scout. “But when (Toronto) had (John) Tavares and (Mitch) Marner and (Auston) Matthews together, they dominated. Like every shift. As good as Columbus was playing, for a line to dominate like that, even though they didn’t score, sooner or later, if a line dominates like that, they’re going to score … That line could have scored five or six goals. That worried me a little bit about Columbus’ future going down the road.” That said, the more the scout talked through it, the more he seemed to talk himself into Columbus. “The pair of (Zach) Werenski and (Seth) Jones were on the edge of spectacular,” he said. “That’s 30 minutes where you don’t have any concerns. I think it’s too close to pick. I think Columbus has an equal chance of winning. I like their game for the playoffs and to recover from the loss in Toronto and come out and play a pretty solid game after that crushing defeat was quite spectacular.”

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Said the coach: “This is Tampa’s time. If they’re going to win it, they have to win this year.” Coach’s pick: Tampa Bay in six Executive’s pick: Tampa Bay in six Scout’s pick: Tampa Bay in seven Consensus advancing team: Tampa Bay Lightning No. 3 Washington Capitals vs. No. 6 New York Islanders The executive, while giving Barry Trotz his due respect, felt like the Capitals had too much experience and firepower to go with a talent advantage. “When the Islanders ran into the wall last year, it’s because they just weren’t a good enough team,” he said. “That’s what I see this year. Extremely well-coached, I just don’t think they have the team to win the series.” But the coach picked this series as the biggest upset, in part because of Trotz’s ability to get the most out of his teams. “(Todd) Reirden is fine but this is like a chess master vs. his student. It’s like Mr. Miyagi vs. Ralph Macchio,” said the coach. “The Islanders are really well structured. They force you to do things you don’t want to do. If their PK is tight, they’re going to win. I just think, Washington, they seem ready to implode. I don’t know why, I’m probably going to be wrong but I think Islanders win this one.” Coach’s pick: Islanders in seven Executive’s pick: Washington in five Scout’s pick: Washington in six Consensus advancing team: Washington Capitals No. 4 Boston Bruins vs. No. 5 Carolina Hurricanes This might be the most challenging series to project. It’s easy to see how well the Hurricanes played in the qualifying round along with the Bruins’ struggles in the round robin and pick Carolina. But this is still the Bruins. A team that knows how to turn it on when necessary. “For me, this is the toughest one because of how impressed I was with Carolina last week. Still, I’m going to give the Bruins the benefit of the doubt, similar to St. Louis,” said the executive. “They know this is when the real hockey starts.” The coach felt like the Bruins’ play in the round robin was a good wakeup call for the veterans and they’ll come in ready to go. “You take the pride of Bergeron, the pride of Chara — those guys, there is some serious pride with them,” he said. “I think they’re probably embarrassed. But it wasn’t like they got shitkicked either. I wouldn’t put too much thought into it. It’s like their preseason. I think they were just saving up some gas.” That said, there was plenty of praise for the Hurricanes. “Sebastian Aho is a star. That guy is a star. Jaccob Slavin is a star that people don’t talk about enough. I like what those coaches have done,” said the coach. “Rod (Brind’Amour) has done a great job with a kooky owner who doesn’t want to pay for oatmeal. All the shit he’s had to deal with behind the scenes. The way they play — the discipline and the structure, they’re the same as the Islanders. They’re just good.”

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Coach’s pick: Boston in six Executive’s pick: Boston in seven Scout’s pick: Carolina in seven Consensus advancing team: Boston Bruins

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The Athletic / Takeaways from the NHL’s return: Playoff expansion and round robin fallout By Scott Burnside - August 11, 2020

That wasn’t just hockey returning. That was hockey returning in a tidal wave. Was it just 10 days ago that the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers skated onto the ice at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for a noon faceoff to formally mark the NHL’s ambitious, nay, audacious, return to play schedule? In between that one and Sunday night’s emotional 3-0 Columbus victory over Toronto in Game 5 of the qualifying round, 42 other games were played in Toronto and Edmonton. There was heartbreak and disappointment and maybe something worse than disappointment. There was the utter frenzy of the Columbus-Toronto series, shocking upsets of the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins. There were hat tricks where staff tossed hats onto the ice from empty seats in Edmonton and, yes, it was a bit weird to hear the Columbus goal song reverberating in Toronto and Chelsea Dagger blasting in Edmonton when the Blackhawks scored, which was often. But weird is the new normal for players, coaches, media and, of course, the fans alike. There were tales of life in the bubbles, everything from the New York Islanders’ epic ping-pong tournament to how to keep the ice fresh under a constant barrage. There were Tim Hortons’ trucks and family videos and picture walls that reminded of us how we have entered a brave new world. Perhaps the biggest discovery of all is that the greatness of this past week led some to ask if there would be an expansion of the playoffs so that this isn’t just a one-off? As The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun noted last week and as it was put to me by one source familiar with the future of such matters, don’t expect the magic of this qualifying round format to be replicated anytime soon. Commissioner Gary Bettman has long been an opponent of expanding from the normal 16-team playoff grid. And the players, in general, aren’t clamoring to add more games, especially at the end of a grueling 82-game regular season, one source familiar with the players’ mindset on such things. “I just think that our playoffs are so grueling as it is,” the source said. To add more games, even if it was a short best-of-3 or even a one-game play-in layer. “I have a hard time with it,” he said. “Personally I think we’re positioned well.” But, as the NHL grapples with a flat salary cap for the foreseeable future and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic remains unknown in terms of the economics of the game, it stands to reason that the idea of adding a play-in element will at least get some airing moving forward. Specifically, is there a way to leverage more revenue out of having a best-of-3 (or single game) play-in round featuring teams in the No. 7-10 spots in the conference before beginning the normal four-round, best-of-7 affairs? That would be the key factor. But it would have to be a compelling argument and even then it looks like expanding the playoffs beyond this summer’s experiment is still a long-shot moving forward. While the 2020 playoff might not spark a change to future NHL postseasons, let’s look back at some key moments in a week we won’t soon forget, and how the end of the qualifying rounds and round robin games is as much a beginning as an ending.

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Let’s remember this for a long time Let’s start with Matt Dumba and his powerful speech at the start of the Edmonton-Chicago series, articulating beautifully how hockey hasn’t been for everyone, that racism exists in the sport and that social injustice is everyone’s fight. We had Dumba on our Two-Man Advantage podcast shortly after the formation of the Hockey Diversity Alliance led by Akim Aliu, Evander Kane and other veteran Black hockey players. It’s hard to describe what it took for Dumba to make that statement, and while some on social media complained that other players didn’t kneel for the national anthem as Dumba did during the U.S. anthem, the image of Malcolm Subban and Darnell Nurse flanking Dumba as he knelt, their hands on his shoulders in solidarity, was a striking moment. Several days later Tyler Seguin and Jason Dickinson of the Dallas Stars knelt alongside Robin Lehner and Ryan Reaves of the Vegas Golden Knights. So, what now? As meaningful as those moments were, they have to be the beginning, not some sort of isolated snapshots. The Washington Capitals announced during the qualifying rounds that they had established a new initiative aimed at addressing racial equality and diversity in hockey. New Jersey goalie Cory Schneider addressed the issue, praising those players who knelt and expressing optimism that these moments will make it easier to have future discussions about these issues in NHL dressing rooms. It will never be fast enough but maybe this seminal return to hockey will in the future be recognized as a seminal moment in the league’s racial consciousness. Round robin yawn This isn’t a criticism but merely an observation. Watching the round robin games next to the qualifying round series was like seeing a day-old hamburger and a nice filet side-by-side. In short, one part of the competition was appetizing and the other not so much. Not that all of the play-in games were memorable or even dramatic, but they were real and there was always a sense of urgency that simply didn’t exist for the vast majority of the round robin participants. Part of that was the schedule. The top four teams in each conference were not taxed in the way the play-in teams were with back-to-backs. Round robin teams had the luxury of resting players who were dinged up. The idea of the round robin was to reward those top teams that could elevate their play quickly with more favorable matchups in the first round. In that sense, Vegas and Philadelphia were the clear-cut top teams in each conference, while other teams looked only mildly interested in the proceedings. Now we’ll see if that has any bearing on continued playoff success. “There’s no reason for any player not to have passion to play unless you don’t have passion to play,” a longtime coach said of the tepid play. “There’s no excuse. You’ve all been off. Now you’re really going to see who’s got what.” Round robin fallout The big question now is what happens to those teams like St. Louis, slumping Dallas and sputtering Boston now that the ante is about to be upped considerably with the start of the “first” round of the playoffs, a traditional best-of-7 affair? Can the two Stanley Cup finalists from 2019 – the Blues and Bruins – find their emotional footing against teams that have already been through the fire? The Blues and Bruins went a combined 0-5-1 and were outscored 20-11 in the round robin, and both finished fourth in their conference. That means the Blues will take on a Calgary team that walked through Winnipeg in four games, while Boston faces a surging Carolina team that swept the New York Rangers and is getting Dougie Hamilton back on the blue line. “Thank God it’s a best-of-7,” said one longtime NHL coach as he considered the desultory play of some of those round robin teams. Still, he didn’t think there will necessarily be a natural carry-over to meaningful playoff games, especially for experienced teams. “Boston knows what time it is,” the former coach and executive said. “Sometimes you’ve got to get slapped up side the head before you wake up and that’s what’ll happen.” Another longtime NHL

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player and executive took the opposite view suggesting that teams like Boston, St. Louis and Dallas squandered an opportunity to get up to speed and now face the prospect of having to take two or three games to find the right compete level. He predicted at least half of the first-round winners would be lower seeds who are coming off qualifying round series. Decline of an empire, Part 1 What is the line that separates an aberration from a full-on decline? When does epic failure cross from learning experience to full-blown crisis? Those are questions being asked in Pittsburgh after the Penguins lurched their way to an embarrassing four-game series loss to the plucky Montreal Canadiens. The biggest question going into the series, the team’s goaltending, didn’t really matter in the end as Matt Murray was fine in the first three games and Tristan Jarry was excellent in relief in Game 4 when coach Mike Sullivan made the switch. Instead, the Penguins followed up on last spring’s miserable sweep at the hands of the New York Islanders with an even more alarming performance. Superstar Evgeni Malkin managed one assist and was a non-factor, meaning captain Sidney Crosby and his linemates had to shoulder an even greater load. There was no depth scoring to speak of. The power play was a mess. Defensively the team was lackadaisical and the coaching decisions curious at best. Since the team’s Stanley Cup win in 2017, the Penguins were beaten in the second round by eventual Cup champion Washington, swept by the Islanders and now thumped by 12th-seeded Montreal. Hard to look at this team as anything other than one in steep decline, which puts the pressure squarely on the shoulders of GM Jim Rutherford, who has never been afraid to make decisive moves. Decline of an empire, Part II OK, maybe the Nashville Predators aren’t an empire but they are definitely a team that has squandered considerable talent. After falling to Pittsburgh in the 2017 final, they were beaten by Winnipeg in the second round, dumped by Dallas in the first round and now punted by a middling Arizona team in four games in the play-in round. What is most troubling is that this is a talented team that seems critically devoid of leadership, a team that seems easily derailed by adversity. They are also confronting a lack of development of young players. I think the world of John Hynes, who was brought in midseason to replace Peter Laviolette behind the bench. Perhaps a full training camp will give Hynes the opportunity he needs to change the culture in Nashville, but one longtime NHL coach and executive was skeptical that would be enough to turn this ship around. “I don’t know how John’s going to coach that team,” one longtime western-based scout said. “They’ve got a lot of baggage.” Fixing the problem I suggested to a longtime NHL player and executive that, with the salary cap flat for the foreseeable future, life was going to get very difficult for those teams that haven’t been able to turn talent into playoff success – teams like qualifying round casualties Toronto, Florida, Edmonton and Pittsburgh. He disagreed. With a caveat. He felt that given the harsh realities of the limited cap space general managers will now be in a position where they’re going to have to swallow hard and look at moving key pieces. In order to do that, though, some GMs are going to have to admit they’ve made mistakes. Toronto, for instance, “is a wrongly-built team,” the source said. “And it’s only going to get worse.” If that means admitting that William Nylander’s deal is wrong for the Leafs and he has to be dealt, then GM Kyle Dubas has to own that and make a move that restores order to a top-heavy, defense-thin lineup. There may not be a better opportunity, the source predicted, for teams to make those dramatic roster moves. “You should have lots of willing dance partners,” he predicted. “You should be able to drill down and find what you need out there.” Nashville, for instance, “should be willing to trade half their damn team,” the source suggested.

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Remember when… Everyone wanted Marc Bergevin fired in Montreal? And Stan Bowman was a bumbler who had ruined the Blackhawks? At least that was part of the narrative as both teams sold off pieces at the trade deadline and confronted another year outside the playoffs. Of course that’s not how it turned out and both teams benefitted from the pause as young players still learning their craft during the regular season returned more mature, physically and emotionally. Chicago’s Kirby Dach, the 19-year-old who was taken third overall in the 2019 draft, had four assists in the Blackhawks’ upset of the Oilers. Calder finalist Dominik Kubalik, 24, had six points in four games. Artturi Lehkonen, 25; Nick Suzuki, 20; and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, 20, combined for four goals, three assists and a combined plus-11 in the Habs’ four- game upset of Pittsburgh. Rebuilds are never easy, especially in markets where success or history have raised expectations, but this pause allowed Montreal and Chicago, among others, to accelerate the learning process for their young stars. “You can really see now the young players who’ve given some thought to what they’ve gone through over those four months,” one former coach said. Goalie buttons Maybe it’s guesswork, maybe it’s luck or maybe guys like John Tortorella simply know what they’re doing. The Jack Adams finalist did a masterful job of negotiating his goaltending rotation, surprising many by starting Joonas Korpisalo, replacing him mid-series with Elvis Merzlikins and then going back to Korpisalo for Sunday’s deciding game. Rod Brind’Amour went with James Reimer in Game 3 of Carolina’s sweep of the Rangers, and now both Petr Mrazek and Reimer have seen action as both could be pressed into service against Boston – although I’m guessing Mrazek gets the start in Game 1. Vegas used both Marc-Andre Fleury and Robin Lehner in the round robin and the emotional choice to start against Chicago would be the face of the franchise, Fleury. But he’s not been the best goaltender of the two, which suggests Lehner should start. One source said he thinks Vegas coach Peter DeBoer has no emotional attachment to anything but winning. “He doesn’t care,” about hurt feelings or loyalty, the longtime scout said. Another longtime talent evaluator and analyst wondered is there anyone better than Fleury to take that kind of decision in stride if it is Lehner? No. The three-time Cup winner shared time with Murray in Pittsburgh during their Cup runs in 2016 and 2017, and wants nothing more than to win a fourth Cup regardless of who is between the pipes. What about this? And that? And this? With the first of four rounds of traditional best-of-7 series about to get started there are no shortage of questions about lineup decisions that will confront coaches across the NHL spectrum. Will Max Pacioretty be ready to go against Chicago after spending the round robin rehabbing in Vegas? (It looks like he will and that makes Vegas, a favorite to win the Cup even more dangerous.) Can perennial Norris Trophy finalist Victor Hedman and/or Steven Stamkos go for Tampa against Columbus as the Lightning try to shake off the “choker” label affixed to them last April when they were swept by the Blue Jackets? (There seems to be no assurance either will be ready for Game 1, which is more than a little problematic for a Lightning team that struggled to generate offense against Philadelphia.) What about John Carlson, another Norris Trophy finalist, who hasn’t yet played a game since the return to play? How would his absence impact Washington? (Needless to say, it would be huge as the Islanders are a pressure team and, if Carlson can’t suit up, it’s going to put additional pressure on the Caps’ defenders.)

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The Athletic / Down Goes Brown: The draft lottery power rankings, Part 2 By Sean McIndoe Aug 10, 2020

It’s draft lottery day in the NHL. Again. We did this once already, back in June, and the results were … well, they were interesting. Having a placeholder team win the first overall pick created a bizarre scenario where the chance to pick left winger Alexis Lafreniere would be “won” by a qualifying round loser. We just didn’t know which one. Tonight, we find out. It’s a crucially important moment because Lafreniere is an extraordinary prospect who should have an immediate impact on whichever team lands him. Now, instead of winding up on a truly needy franchise like the Red Wings or Senators, he’s going to go to a team that’s already good — and maybe very good. That seems like something worth breaking out a ranking for. We already did this part too, back in June, when we were rooting for unintentional comedy and Team Chaos. We got our wish, but perspectives may have changed. So rather than make multiple lists, we’re just going to do one big one, covering all eight teams from a variety of angles to see if we can figure out who neutral hockey fans should be rooting for tonight. We’re looking for five factors: How much they need it It’s of course true that every team in the league could use a star winger, especially one on an entry-level deal. But the whole idea behind basing draft order and lottery odds on the standings, I’m told, is that we’re supposed to want to help the very worst teams. That won’t happen this year – sorry Detroit – but we can still hope that Lafreniere doesn’t go to a team that’s already stacked, either now or in terms of their future. How much they deserve it A tricky category since nobody “deserves” to win a random drawing. But some teams warrant it more than others, especially the ones that haven’t had much lottery luck or don’t often pick high. Outrage factor It’s the nature of lotteries that whichever team wins will be happy and everyone else will be mad. But how mad? It goes without saying that the madder, the better. League impact Think big picture. Would this result be good news for an NHL that will have a new star to market and a revenue deficit to make up? Alternate reality comedy potential A unique category this year, thanks to the weird lottery setup. The league is basically drawing a series here, meaning that whichever team beat the lottery winner in the play-in round will have cost themselves Lafreniere. This will be funnier for some teams than others. I also reserve the right to award or subtract bonus points if I see fit. Let’s see where this takes us. 8. Florida Panthers How much they need it: 5/10. The Panthers have a ton of young talent, especially up front, led by

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Jonathan Huberdeau (who’s a left winger) and Aleksander Barkov. Based on their results over the years, though, there’s no question the Panthers could use some additional help. How much they deserve it: 3/10. They’ve already won the first overall pick in the lottery three times, although they only used the pick once, trading it in 2002 and 2003. They still have Aaron Ekblad to show for their 2014 win but haven’t picked higher than tenth since then. Outrage factor: 2/10. Minimal, even given their lottery history. There’d be the usual grumbling from hardcore Canadian traditionalists who are mad the Panthers even exist, but that’s about it. League impact: 5/10. The Panthers are a small market, but they’re one the league would like to see on firmer ground. Alternate reality comedy potential: 4/10. The Islanders could have used Lafreniere, and it would have been mildly amusing to watch Senators fans realize they just lost a protected first-round pick. Bonus points: +1 for the Panthers being the only team with a history of trading the first overall pick, which would let us at least pretend there was a possibility of a draft floor blockbuster coming. But -1 for all the “Lafreniere will sell a lot of tickets when they move to Quebec” jokes. Total: 19/50. With no high scores in any category, this would be a perfectly acceptable but not- especially-interesting result, which means nobody who isn’t a Panthers fan should be rooting for it. 7. Edmonton Oilers How much they need it: 8/10. An elite winger to play with Connor McDavid? Yeah, I’d say they could use a guy like that. How much they deserve it: -5/10. That’s right, minus-five. They’re already a reasonably good team, at least according to this year’s standings. Far more importantly, they’re basically the poster child for NHL lottery luck. They’ve had the first overall pick four times in the last decade, three of those thanks to lottery wins. And that includes by far the biggest lottery win of the cap era when they jumped past Buffalo and Arizona to win the Connor McDavid sweepstakes in 2015. That was the year I did my first ever lottery rankings. Here’s what I wrote then: “Look, I’m all for fairness and integrity, but if the Oilers win the lottery, then the league absolutely has to scrap the results and run it again. Don’t even delete the footage or try to cover it up — just have Bill Daly walk into the frame screaming, ‘Take two!’ while angrily stuffing ping-pong balls back into the machine.” Then they won, McDavid stared into the abyss on live television, and five years later he’s won one playoff round. We can’t let this happen to Lafreniere. The league absolutely needs to “forget” to put the Oilers’ ball into the machine. Outrage factor: 10/10. People will be beyond furious. It would be kind of amazing. League impact: 2/10. A McDavid/Draisaitl/Lafreniere combo could lead to a cap-era dynasty. Dynasties are fun. Dynasties in one of your smallest markets, not as much. Alternate reality comedy potential: 4/10. The Hawks aren’t all that good and could use an elite prospect to build the next wave around. But they needed some postseason success too, and they seem pretty fine with how it all worked out. Bonus points: +3 because the Oilers winning would cause such a leaguewide meltdown that there’s a good chance we’d finally get the Gold Plan.

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Total: 22/50. There’s a certain “some people just want to watch the world burn” appeal to an Oilers win, which is why they don’t rank dead last. But come on, this can’t happen. If the Oilers win tonight, it is proof that the hockey gods hate us and we should scrap the lottery system completely. (You’re all with me on this, right? Of course you are. Let’s enjoy that feeling of unity, because you’re all going to be really mad at me in a minute.) 6. Toronto Maple Leafs How much they need it: 3/10. They’re already stacked with young talent up front, including on the wings. They get a few points here because a flat cap means they’re going to desperately need some contributors on cheap deals, but in terms of pure talent, they need Lafreniere less than just about anyone in tonight’s drawing. How much they deserve it: 3/10. They’re the Leafs, so their fans are always sad, and somewhat amazingly they’ve only picked first overall twice in franchise history. But they won the Auston Matthews lottery just four years ago. Outrage factor: 9/10. It wouldn’t quite be Oilers-level bad, but it would be very close. League impact: 8/10. Toronto is the league’s biggest Canadian market and generates a ton of revenue, and they’d make so much more if they were legitimate Cup contenders who could win a playoff round. The league would probably prefer an American destination, but if Lafreniere lands up north, then this would be the spot the bean-counters would prefer. Alternate reality comedy potential: 3/10. The Blue Jackets could use a young star, but if the Leafs win the lottery, nobody will be laughing. Bonus points: -1 because every Maple Leaf fan knows there’s no way this is actually happening. Total: 25/50. Did you like the blatant reverse-jinx attempt there? I figured you would. 5. Nashville Predators How much they need it: 6/10. They haven’t been able to get over the hump, and now they seem to be drifting backward. They’re not a bad team, at least not yet, but they’re the oldest in the lottery, and could certainly use a nudge back in the right direction. How much they deserve it: 8/10. They’ve only had one top-five pick since taking David Legwand second overall in their first draft. That was Seth Jones, who went fourth in 2013 and is no longer with the franchise. They’ve never been a lottery winner, for any spot. Outrage factor: 3/10. I feel like the Predators are good enough that there’d be at least a few murmurs about how this isn’t how lotteries are supposed to work, but not so good that anyone would be really upset about it. League impact: 4/10. Nashville isn’t one of the league’s key markets, but they’ve been surprisingly successful and it would cool to see that continue. Alternate reality comedy potential: 6/10. When you lose to Taylor Hall in a qualifying round, you absorb his super-powers, good to know. Bonus points: +1 for the possibility that going on four decades without a Cup, David Poile would immediately trade the pick for a 34-year-old veteran.

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Total: 28/50. The Predators are right in that zone where we could all be a little mad for one night but then settle down and be OK with it. 4. New York Rangers How much they need it: 5/10. They’re a good-ish team coming out of a rebuild with one of the very best prospect pipelines in the league, although Kaapo Kakko had a disappointing year. They also already have an MVP candidate who’s still in his prime playing the same position as Lafreniere, so they can’t rank that high. How much they deserve it: 9/10. They weren’t great this year, and wouldn’t have made the playoffs under regular circumstances, so you can’t complain that they’re too good to win. And they’ve only had the first overall pick once in franchise history, way back in 1965, and have only picked in the top three once in the last 50 years. That was last season, so they have had some recent lottery luck, but Kakko hasn’t exactly been giving off the “future franchise player” vibe yet. Outrage factor: 5/10. Some fans would grumble about the league rigging things for a big market, but it would be half-hearted because they didn’t have a great season. League impact: 10/10. The league always wants a big U.S. market like New York to do well. But with a new U.S. TV deal on the horizon, well, you do the math. Alternate reality comedy potential: 2/10. The Hurricanes are a good team and have already picked in the top seven in eight of the last 18 years, so if anyone would rather take a Cup run over a top prospect, it might be them. Bonus points: -1 for that one guy in your Twitter feed who’d want to share a conspiracy theory so dumb it would make you lose IQ points. Total: 30/50. The Rangers check a lot of boxes. 3. Winnipeg Jets How much they need it: 6/10. The Jets are already a decent team with a mix of veterans, stars in their prime and a few guys with upside still to show, but they’ve been stagnating lately. The holes are on the blue line, though, and Lafreniere wouldn’t help there. How much they deserve it: 10/10. Just two years ago, the Jets looked like legitimate long-term contenders. But just in the last year, they’ve had one of their two best defencemen force a trade, the other best defenceman walk away from the game, one of their best forwards get injured a few shifts into the postseason, and another forward get hurt later in the same game. It’s been a rough stretch. On top of that, while they did luck into the second overall pick a few years ago, fans in Winnipeg have only got to see their team pick first once in 47 years, including the WHA years. That was all the way back in 1981 – stay strong, Dale – so they’ve been waiting a while. And oh yeah, their fans lost their team for 15 years. We can all get on board with this, right? Outrage factor: 2/10. Does anyone hate the Jets? Maybe a few fans in Atlanta, but otherwise I’m not sure anyone would object to them winning. League impact: 2/10. Much like the Oilers, having Lafreniere land in a smaller Canadian market would feel like a missed opportunity.

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Alternate reality comedy potential: 9/10. The Flames have somehow never drafted in the top three, so it would be pretty funny to see them realize they missed out on Lafreniere while they’re getting swept by the Stars. Bonus points: +3 because I really want the Jets to rank as high as possible and it’s my list. Total: 32/50. They’re definitely the best Canadian option, by far. 2. Minnesota Wild How much they need it: 7/10. They’re not a bad team, but they’re certainly not great. That’s the Wild brand – never too high, never too low. And while the arrival of Kirill Kaprizov is going to be exciting, their prospect pipeline isn’t much beyond that. How much they deserve it: 10/10. They’ve never picked first. They’ve never picked second. They haven’t picked in the top five since 2005, or in the top ten since 2012. They’ve never had a Calder finalist. They’re the only franchise in the league other than Vegas that’s never had a Hall-of-Famer. If the Wild can’t score a perfect ten in this category, there’s no point having it. Outrage factor: 1/10. Even the angriest fly-off-the-handle-over-anything hockey fan you know would be like “The Wild? Sure, that’s fine.” League impact: 7/10. It’s a great hockey market and a marginally less-great business one. They wouldn’t be doing cartwheels at the NHL headquarters, but this wouldn’t be too bad. Alternate reality comedy potential: 9/10. Did you know that the Canucks have never once had the first overall pick? No? Then apparently you’ve never spoken to a Canucks fan for more than 30 seconds. Bonus points: +1 if playing with Lafreniere would convince Mikko Koivu to come back. Total: 35/50. You’re nodding along because the Wild are a great pick. Now you’re realizing that there’s still one more team to go. Now you’re trying to remember who hasn’t been mentioned yet. Now you’re getting angry … 1. Pittsburgh Penguins HOLD ON, I CAN EXPLAIN How much they need it: 2/10. They’re by far the best team in the lottery, and they already have two MVP-calibre stars up front. Both of those guys are getting up there, though, and years of win-now mode means the farm system is pretty barren. How much they deserve it: 4/10. This is where it’s going to get really contentious. Let’s break down both sides of this. For a lot of fans, the Penguins are a zero in this category, if not down with the Oilers in the negatives. First, they’re already really good, and the lottery isn’t supposed to reward good teams. More importantly, they have a long history of landing legendary superstars, starting with Mario Lemieux and continuing through Jaromir Jagr, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. But look it up: only one of those came from a lottery win. Lemieux was an old-fashioned tank job in the pre-lottery days, Jagr was a fifth overall pick and they got Malkin second overall because they finished dead last and then lost the top pick in the lottery to a division rival. Sure, Crosby was a huge win, but even that came in a leaguewide lottery where all 30 teams had a chance. The Penguins have never won a traditional end-of-season lottery, and they haven’t picked in the top five since 2006.

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And as far as them being a good team, well, yeah. They’re really good. They shouldn’t be in the lottery at all. I’m with you. But do you remember why they’re in the lottery? Because a pandemic led to a paused season and an expanded postseason field that screwed the Penguins hard. We can talk all we want about how the NHL bends over backward for Pittsburgh, but here’s the reality: The Penguins were the seventh-best team this season, and they still had to play a coin-flip qualifier in a format where the top eight teams got byes. What? How is that fair? It isn’t, and it cost them what might be one of their best remaining shots at another Cup in the Crosby era. If the consolation prize for that is a longshot lottery win, OK, I can live with that. I’m not giving them a high mark in this section, because yeah, they had Sid and Mario. I get it, and we even had some fun with that in the original power rankings. But the full volume of your spittle-flecked “They don’t deserve it!” rage is misdirected here. Outrage factor: 10/10. Think how annoyed you are right now, and it hasn’t even happened yet. I’ve literally seen multiple fans over the last few days who’ve vowed to never watch hockey again if the Penguins win, and I think I believe them. That’s a ridiculous overreaction, for the reasons we just described, but those voices are out there. And they’re going to be very, very loud if the Pens get Lafreniere. League impact: 9/10. It’s pretty close to an ideal scenario, as Sidney Crosby could gradually pass the torch to a new star in an important market. Alternate reality comedy potential: 10/10. The Canadiens haven’t had a French-Canadian star since … who, Pierre Turgeon or Vincent Damphousse? Denis Savard? Do they even count? I think the real answer might be Guy Lafleur. Now one comes along, just as Marc Bergevin is desperately flailing around to try to land an elite forward to build around. If we find out that a qualifying round upset cost the Habs Lafreniere – especially if they just lose in the next round or two – it will never stop being funny. Bonus points: +2 because of how great it would be to watch a young Lafreniere playing his early peak years alongside Crosby or Malkin on a contender instead of being sentenced to trying to single-handedly drag some terrible team into the playoffs every year like we all apparently decided the sport’s best prospects should be. Total: 37/50. Mash that “meh” button all you want, you babies, you’re either on Team Chaos or you’re not. You can’t ride with us this far and then bail out when things get scary. It’s 2020, the playoffs are in August, nothing makes sense, nobody’s been happy in five months and we need to damn well steer into the skid. Bring the chaos. Embrace it. Do your worst, hockey gods. Alexis La-Pen-ierre, let’s do this.

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The Athletic / Player and coach poll: Should the NHL keep the 24-team playoff format? By Joshua Kloke Aug 10, 2020

Like so many other professional sports leagues trying to exist in the middle of a global pandemic, the NHL has had to get creative. When the league’s regular season went on pause on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the playoff picture was still hazy, with multiple teams still within striking distance of the playoffs. Every team had at least 11 games to play. And so to account for the range of possibilities, the NHL and the NHLPA decided to alter their traditional 16-team playoff format and adopt a 24-team format by adding eight qualifying series. In terms of entertainment value, these series have all far outweighed the seeding round-robin games among the top four teams in each conference. There have been plenty of upsets, with teams that probably would not have qualified for the playoffs like the Canadiens and Blackhawks toppling the Penguins and Oilers to enter the next round. And so as the league, like the rest of the world, tries to figure out what life will look like post-pandemic, the question is worth considering: Should the NHL keep the 24-team playoff format? The Athletic polled players and coaches from around the league to gauge their feelings on an expanded, 24-team playoff format by asking if the NHL should keep the current format and if they can see the merit in doing so. In total, we asked eight NHL coaches and 24 players for their thoughts. We asked players and coaches from teams who lost their qualifying round, who won their qualifying round and those who were in the round robin. Let’s check out the results, and see what those players and coaches had to say. What would seem like a simple yes or no question eventually took on a life of its own. Some players and coaches have no time for this year’s format and made their opinion abundantly clear with terse responses. “No,” Capitals goalie Braden Holtby said, shaking his head. “The system we had before is the best way.” Others felt that while the 24-team format should not stick around, the caveats added to their answers compelled us to add a new category to capture their responses. “I like the traditional way it is,” Flames forward Dillon Dube said. “They’ve been doing it for so long and it works really well. But for the circumstances this year, I think it was unbelievable how they did it. The play-in rounds were exciting. There were some underdogs that came through it and it makes hockey a lot more exciting.” And so we broke the answers up into the four categories: Yes, Indifferent/Unsure, No, and No, but with some sort of caveat. Let’s look at the few who answered yes. It’s no surprise that in a league so tied to its traditions that few people would prefer change. Heck, even one of those very few wanted to add a caveat of his own.

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“Maybe not 24, but maybe 20. It’s different this year, but I love it,” Canadiens forward Phillip Danault said. “We didn’t make the playoffs two seasons ago, so I think it’s the hockey gods coming back here.” The clearest vote in favour of keeping this format came from Islanders head coach Barry Trotz. “The league is so tight. And the league has grown over my time with the number of teams that it should be a heavy consideration,” Trotz said. “The difference between a Presidents’ Trophy (team) and an eighth-place team in the playoffs is one win a month. If you think about that, that’s a bad week, bad two weeks a year and you don’t make it. There’s too much parity in the NHL. Whatever the league decides, I’ll be fine with it, but I think it’s something the league will consider for sure and I’d be in favour of it.” A few players were just stumped by the question and admitted to not really caring either way. And that’s fair, given that this question came during the middle of a playoff series when their attention might be elsewhere. Islanders forward Leo Komarov, one of the league’s most underrated quotes, perhaps best summed up those feelings. “I just play hockey. I don’t really care what’s going on,” Komarov said. “Whatever the NHL decides, we just play.” The answers that fell in the “No, but …” category did so for a variety of reasons. Some players, such as Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman, appreciated how hard it was for the NHL to be doing what it is doing right now. “I like the way it was before. But we’re in uncharted waters. This is hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime experience, playing during a global pandemic. For us, we accept that it’s a little bit different this year, but I think moving forward, it should be back to the old way,” Hedman said. Many voiced a similar sentiment as Hedman, acknowledging that as much as they want to return to the old playoff format, the NHL has made the best of the situation. “This was the best outcome for this year, but in terms of normal circumstances, the playoffs are fantastic with 16 teams,” Maple Leafs defenceman Justin Holl said. Some acknowledged the heightened entertainment value. “It’s probably been a lot of fun to watch. These are unique circumstances so it’s called for a unique format. I don’t think anything was wrong with the old format,” Coyotes goalie Darcy Kuemper said. “The NHL has done a really good job of creating an exciting playoff format, especially when there are no fans in the building,” Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson added. Andersson’s teammate, Flames forward Mikael Backlund, acknowledged how other hockey leagues use a play-in round. “In Sweden, they started to use that play-in in the SHL, so I guess it could be a suggestion,” Backlund said. Finally, Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer had a take that’s worth just appreciating on its own. “I think if you had 24 teams make the playoffs every year a lot more coaches would keep their job, I can tell you that, so I like it from that aspect,” DeBoer said.

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He likes the elimination games but admits he’s a traditionalist and still prefers the 16-team format. “But this definitely gives you something to think about.” Want to make many in the NHL squirm in their chair? Threaten to mess with tradition. Because the word “tradition” was brought up repeatedly by those who answered with a resounding “No.” “I’m a traditionalist. When it comes to the way the playoffs have been set up and the respect for how hard it is to win the trophy,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. “The regular season is such a long, gruelling marathon that you should get rewarded for your 82-game season.” “To be able to earn your spot in the top 16 is special,” Bednar added. “Every team that earns one of those spots has a chance to win it.” “I like the 16-team format. I like the best of sevens. I’m a bit of a traditionalist. I like the way it’s been. It’s a difficult enough trophy to win,” Flames head coach Geoff Ward said. It’s not just coaches who want to see the NHL return to a 16-team playoffs. “It’s been this way for so long that I don’t think it would be a great change,” Islanders defenceman Nick Leddy said. “I’m old-school. How’s that for an answer?” Coyotes forward Derek Stepan said. “You play 82 games for a reason. You’ve got to have some sort of carrot at the end of that schedule.” “For me personally, to be in the playoffs with the normal standards and the normal amount of teams, I like that format better,” Oilers defenceman Oscar Klefbom said. The more people we heard from, the more people wanted to make it clear: The Stanley Cup is a difficult trophy to win, and they’d rather keep it that way. “Having been there a couple of times, to win four rounds, to win a best-of-seven series, that’s a big challenge,” Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said. “To add this to an 82-game schedule, it would be really challenging for players, their bodies, their physical health. Making the team in today’s NHL, there’s going to be 32 teams soon, 16 teams get in, 16 teams don’t, 82 game schedule, that’s challenging enough. To win the big prize, to win what everybody wants to win, to win four rounds, it’s the most demanding trophy there is in my estimation. I don’t want to take anything away from the other sports. “To add another step to it after an 82-game schedule, I don’t know.” “No. I don’t know how much more I could say. What makes the Stanley Cup special for me, the hardest part about winning the Stanley Cup is getting to the playoffs. The 82 games or however many, all that lead up gets you the right to play for the Staley Cup. For me, you can’t add more teams,” Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “There’s no way I would increase it.” And it’s unlikely the NHL will, at least in the short term. Yes, more playoff teams might mean more playoff revenue for those teams. And it might mean more excitement in the playoff round. But the pushback the NHL might get from the traditionalists around the league if they tried to change the playoff format might be too loud to ignore. Because some, like Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau, just don’t see any reason to change. “Don’t fix what’s not broken,” Gaudreau said.

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The Athletic / Pronman: How Alexis Lafreniere would impact the 8 teams up for the No. 1 pick By Corey Pronman – August 11, 2020

Phase 2 of the 2020 NHL Draft lottery gives each of the eight teams eliminated in the qualifying round a 12.5 percent chance to win the first-overall pick in the draft after a placeholder team won that slot in Phase 1 of the lottery. So now we look at what winning the pick would mean to each organization, presuming they would all pick Alexis Lafreniere. Edmonton Oilers: The Oilers are a good NHL team with two of the best players in the league in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. After those two players, the team is good but not particularly deep; and the farm system is average at best, and arguably below-average. It’s hard for an NHL team to become great on the backs of a couple of players, so creating more depth by adding Lafreniere changes the roster a lot. With Lafreniere and with decent goaltending, that is a roster you can envision as a threat in the playoffs. I know Oilers fans have heard this song before and I’m sure they are aware adding Lafreniere is no guarantee of becoming a top team, but the current Oilers are different than the team of five or six years ago. This is a good team that is a few pieces away, not one at the beginning of a long rebuild. Florida Panthers: Florida is a team that needs help. Its roster is average and its farm system is average. And while it has some very good young players in the pipeline like Owen Tippett, Grigori Denisenko and Spencer Knight, none of them are on the team or project as true elite NHL players. Lafreniere would take a team that is lacking direction and give it something to work with. He would help fill the void of a possibly departing Mike Hoffman and Evgeni Dadonov, provide cap flexibility in the short-term, and give a potential star to build around for the long-term to go with Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau. I don’t think he solves every problem and the team will still need more to become a true top NHL organization, but the direction to contending would become a lot clearer than where it is right now. Minnesota Wild: When you look at the Wild roster and farm system, the question that comes to mind is where is the star power? Is Kevin Fiala trending toward that territory? Perhaps. Are Zach Parise and Ryan Suter still in that caliber? Probably not in the twilight of their careers, but they’re good players. Could either Matt Boldy or Kirill Kaprizov become a star? I could see it but I wouldn’t bank on it. This is an average NHL roster with an average farm system with a lot of its top players getting up there in age. Lafreniere wouldn’t fix all of Minnesota’s woes, but it would be a first step in the right direction. With Lafreniere, the questions are: What are the next steps to becoming a top team? How much more do they need? How do they continue to become younger and cheaper? Those questions are much more favorable for Minnesota as opposed to wondering how you turn the current group into an elite team. Either way, I think the path forward could be long and difficult for the Wild, but Lafreniere could help skip a few rough years. Nashville Predators: Nashville had a solid season and has talent on its roster, but it wasn’t a top team in the league and is trending toward the middle of the league. There could be unique benefits to adding Lafreniere to Nashville, in that a lot of its best players are defensemen, and one of them, Roman Josi, led the team in scoring by a margin of 17 points. The team’s top players aren’t young, but they’re not old either, giving this team a possible argument to become a contender again with the right pieces added quickly. Lafreniere would plug right to the top of Nashville’s lineup, and he would provide dynamic elements up front to go with Josi, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm on defense. To become a top team

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Nashville will need Lafreniere plus possibly two-out-of-three of Dante Fabbro, Philip Tomasino and Eeli Tolvanen to really hit, but a path to contending again becomes visible. New York Rangers: When I looked at the Rangers’ rebuild a year ago I thought it was going in the right direction but there was work to do. As in any rebuild, some players are going to surpass expectations and some will fall short. Vitali Kravtsov and Lias Andersson trended down, but Adam Fox and Nils Lundkvist trended up in a big way. You look at how the team performed this season and how talented some of the top young players are – like Fox, Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil – not to mention plenty of other talented young players on the roster, and it’s a rebuild going the right way with emphasis. I see a group that can become a good NHL team. With Lafreniere added, it elevates from strong group to contender caliber. The team still lacks elite, young centers. But if 27-year-old Mika Zibanejad maintains his level of play for a decent period of time, Chytil, who I like a lot, could be a very strong No. 2 center to go along with two star-caliber wingers in Kakko and Lafreniere. That’s a group to go along with the rest of a roster and prospect pool that could make some noise. Pittsburgh Penguins: Pittsburgh’s plan in recent years has been to move picks and prospects for short- term help with the hope that the scouts can find value in the draft. That plan has worked to an extent, as the team has drafted players like Jake Guentzel, Matt Murray and Bryan Rust in the mid-rounds. But eventually that plan will fail just due to the odds of getting good players without high picks (the farm looks rather barren at the moment) and the core players it has relied on for so long continue to age. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are heading to their mid-30s, so even if Lafreniere becomes an NHL star, realistically the window will only last a little longer. But adding Lafreniere alleviates the pressure of finding immense value in the fourth round or in free agency, and adds another young, cheap, impact player into the Penguins’ lineup who can extend the contending window for a few more years. Toronto Maple Leafs: Toronto was one of the top scoring teams in the league with a lot of extremely talented forwards, so adding Lafreniere would turn that group into arguably the best group of forwards in the league. When you consider the age of Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner, an 18-year-old Lafreniere in this group has the makings of something special, if they can make it work within the confines of the hard salary cap. Toronto has done a good job in the past two drafts, with picks like Rasmus Sandin and Nick Robertson looking like great prospects who could create cap flexibility. Lafreniere on an entry-level deal could let Toronto get creative while staying highly competitive. Winnipeg Jets: Winnipeg has come down from being a true contender to more of a solid but not spectacular team. It has some very good young players like Patrik Laine and veterans like Mark Scheifele, but this roster isn’t as imposing as it used to be. You add to that the fact its farm system looks below- average and this looks like a team trending toward being a playoff bubble team and out of the contending window. Adding Lafreniere to this group likely could turn back time a few years and bring this team into relevance as a group that could make noise in the playoffs. Some of the structural issues that remain in terms of its defensive group and lack of depth in the farm will keep it from projecting as a true contender for the long-term, but Lafreniere gives it a few more years to fix those issues.

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The Athletic / As more NHL teams hit the offseason, get ready for a potentially wild one By Craig Custance – August 11, 2020

During the third week of February, contract talks between the New York Rangers and Chris Kreider gained momentum. His longtime agent, Matt Keator, firmly believed that if Kreider got to free agency in the summer, he’d have plenty of options. But both sides gave every indication that there was a path to getting a deal done before the looming trade deadline, well before he’d ever hit the market. On Monday, Feb. 24, word got out that the Rangers and Kreider had agreed to a contract extension. It was a seven-year deal, worth $6.5 million per season, that kicks in next season. It was seen as a pretty fair deal for both Rangers GM Jeff Gorton and Kreider. Just over two weeks later – 18 days to be exact – the NHL shut down. With its return came an entirely new economic system. A salary cap that was slated to grow to as high as $88.2 million next season in projections shared by the league to its GMs in March, is now locked in at $81.5 million for a while. “This cap will be $81.5 million for at least the next two years,” an Eastern Conference GM said. “And $82 million in Year 3. That’s three years of no growth.” So Kreider, and other potential free agents who got their deals done right before the pause, look like the smart ones right now. It’s going to look a lot different for those left behind. And for the general managers trying to construct their roster with these new constraints. “I’d like to say that Chris and I knew what was going on and planned it out. No one knew this was going to happen,” Keator said during a chat last week. “We’ve talked about it, there’s definitely some relief that we were able to get it done when we got it done.” Right now, it’s anybody’s guess how this offseason is going to play out. Some sources see the potential for a ton of trades and players on big contracts coming at a discount. Others predict players getting squeezed in contract negotiations because of the flat cap. One agent didn’t want to hear any of it. “Bullshit. It’s the old smoke and mirrors. They’ve got everyone mesmerized by the cap,” he said. “There’s more money in the system (than in previous years). But are some teams mismanaged internally? Fucking right.” With the qualifying round of the playoffs wrapped up, more teams will now be in roster construction mode instead of playing. Like everything else in 2020, this offseason has the potential for real chaos. First, there’s the issue of the flat cap. General managers plan years in advance and there was every indication that they’d have more money to work with – both in the short term and long term. Now, teams are jammed up. “The marketplace is going to be suppressed. What you were planning for is not what is it going to be,” Keator said. “I think it’s going to be very interesting to see how teams react. I think it will force trades. It will force players to evaluate whether or not they’re going to take a shorter-term deal and let the marketplace heal itself or lock-in with security and maybe for less money.”

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There’s another unknown. Owners are losing money. There’s still not a clear path to getting fans back into the building for the 2020-21 season in a gate-driven league. So there are some agents and executives who believe that, on top of a flat cap, there will be teams slashing payroll spending. One team executive said they’re making their budgets for next season based on a projected 25 percent capacity for attendance. And even that might be high. “That may be optimistic,” he admitted. There are some agents who look at a team such as the Dallas Stars, owned by someone invested in the hotel and restaurant industry, and wonder whether they’ll be spending as close to the cap as they did this season. And would anyone blame Florida Panthers ownership if they decided to cut costs after another early flame out? There’s no doubt that many teams will be on a much tighter budget. As Lightning owner Jeff Vinik put it in his conversation with The Athletic’s Joe Smith: “We’re losing a shitload of money, to be honest.” Teams with cap space will have a premium but there’s no guarantee they’ll spend it. When asked if there would be a lot of movement, one Eastern Conference executive said he wasn’t sure how eager teams with cap flexibility would be to spend it. “Maybe, maybe not. Can the teams with space now afford to spend that space or are they even going to be given the flexibility to spend that space,” he said. “For example, Ottawa is going to be the lowest budget team in the league again. They might have 10 kids under the age of 23 in the lineup next year. Teams are struggling. What you’re going to see next year is a lot of entry-level contracts in the NHL.” The anticipation is that cost-cutting won’t come at the cost of the premier players. In free agency, the top names such as Taylor Hall and Alex Pietrangelo are still expected to get theirs. “Let’s face it, teams can still pay star players,” an agent said. “But some guys have mismanaged their teams and it’s costing them a chance to get a star player.” This agent said he knows of at least one example where a potential free agent and a team have a deal in the drawer and the general manager just has to move some salary to make it happen. But even in the deals that get done, people around the league expect them to look differently. “I think you may see a lot more one-year contracts,” another GM said. “You’re going to see more good players looking for jobs as we get closer to training camp because teams are going to be forced to drop players.” Those players getting squeezed the most, as is often the case, will end up being the middle class. One source called the $4 million player on the third line or even the second pair a luxury teams won’t be able to afford. “It’s going to kill the $2-4 million players. I think those guys are out,” an executive said. This executive also predicts it’ll impact young players who aren’t absolute locks to be impact players. Teams might not be willing to take the chance on projecting as much for their good but not great young players. In assessing the young defenseman market, he used Tampa’s Mikhail Sergachev as an example. Sergachev is a restricted free agent on a team that’s going to have to make some tough decisions. “You’re going to see some guys who have some name value, like a Sergachev, maybe he doesn’t get as much as he thinks he’s worth or maybe he signs a one-year deal. People will get creative,” he said. “The

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guys like Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar – don’t worry about it. The Sergachevs, ehhhh, does he really deserve it? They’re going to ask hard questions.” Another agent projected that we might not see a huge drop in salaries but it might be mutually advantageous to keep deals short this offseason. Even for the best players. “We won’t see as many eight-year deals for the next couple years,” he said. “Simply because the biggest impact is going to be in the next two years in terms of escrow. Guys are going to want to push money back. It’s also beneficial for teams to push money to when their revenues are higher.” It’s going to look different. It has to. If money is tight, it’s going to take more creativity than ever to improve rosters. “Teams are going to know that each other are on a fixed budget for two years,” an agent said. “How are you going to improve your team? You’re going to have to do it by trade.”

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Sportsnet.ca / Conn Smythe Power Rankings: Price, Aho, Toews among standouts Mike Johnston – August 11, 2020

Hockey fans were treated to nine consecutive days of non-stop games that resulted in several series upsets, some intriguing round-robin results and a plethora of highlight-reel goals, hits and saves. Perhaps most important of all was the zero positive COVID tests that came back from the thousands of tests administered in the bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto. There were some memorable individual performances, too, so even though the Stanley Cup Playoffs haven’t officially started we’ve decided to rank the top Conn Smythe Trophy candidates following the qualifying round. If you’re a gambler you would have noticed the under frequently hit, so it shouldn’t surprise you that there are a number of goalies on the list. From the Stanley Cup Qualifiers to the Stanley Cup Final, livestream every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, blackout-free, on Sportsnet NOW. 1. Carey Price, G, Montreal Canadiens Pittsburgh’s biggest fear came to fruition. Playing a .500 team that had no business being in the playoffs shouldn’t have been a problem – on paper – but since that team could lean on perhaps the best goalie in the sport it became an entirely different task. Price finished the series with a .947 save percentage and 1.67 GAA and a shutout. Price is so good at handling the puck and passing it’s like having a third defenceman on the ice at all times. He also plays with some feistiness – just watch his battles with Sidney Crosby in front of the net – yet is able to remain poised. “We know we backed in and nobody gave us a chance, but we took that with a grain of salt and proved them wrong,” Price said after blanking the Penguins in the series-clinching game. 2. Sebastian Aho, C, Carolina Hurricanes Aho had 38 goals in the regular season (sixth most in the league) and picked up where he left off in the post-season. The Finnish star notched eight points in Carolina’s three-game sweep of the New York Rangers and is a threat at both ends of the ice every shift. Connor McDavid’s ridiculous goal against the Blackhawks got heaps of praise and for good reason, but Aho definitely had the runner up for best goal of the qualifying round when he won a puck battle against Jacob Trouba, absolutely undressed Tony DeAngelo and beat Igor Shesterkin backhand. Phenomenal. 3. Darcy Kuemper, G, Arizona Coyotes Kuemper’s .933 save percentage and 2.77 GAA don’t do his performance justice. He faced more shots than any goalie in the qualifying round, averaged 38 saves per start, and kept his team in games when Nashville was pouring on the pressure. He takes away the bottom of the net extremely effectively, so unless he’s screened or there’s a tip you have to beat him up high. Kuemper finished fifth in Vezina voting last season and put up a career-best .928 save percentage and 2.22 GAA this season, though he missed time with injuries both years, and we saw what he’s capable of against the Preds. He’ll likely need to be his team’s best player if they hope to upset the Avalanche.

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4. Jonathan Toews, C, Chicago Blackhawks Toews won the Conn Smythe Trophy a decade ago in his third season and the Chicago captain turned back the clock with a dominant series against Edmonton. Fellow former Conn Smythe winner Duncan Keith also had a strong showing versus the Oilers but it was Toews who led the way as the Blackhawks pulled off the upset. He finished with four goals and added three assists while winning 55.3 per cent of his faceoffs. When Toews is winning puck battles down low, look out. 5. Cam Talbot, G, Calgary Flames Sure, he didn’t have to deal with a fully healthy Winnipeg offence after Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine went down with injuries, but Talbot brought his A-game against the Jets. Flames head coach Geoff Ward said his goalie was the series MVP after posting a .945 save percentage and 1.51 GAA in four starts. “It was a huge confidence boost for me when the coaching staff and the guys had the confidence in me to go with me in Game 1,” Talbot said. “I just tried to go in and give us a chance to win and make that decision look like a good one. I’ve got to thank them for that opportunity, and I’m trying to take it and run with it for now.” 6. Mark Stone, RW, Vegas Golden Knights He’s a possession beast who a had team-high five points to go with an impressive 65.8 Corsi For percentage. The Golden Knights appear to be once again a legitimate Cup contender and Stone has been the team’s best player. He wasn’t around during Vegas’s magical inaugural season but he shone with them in the playoffs last year before that heartbreaking, controversial Round 1 exit. Through 10 total playoff games in a Golden Knights uniform, Stone has eight goals and 17 points while also dominating defensively. 7. Carter Hart, G, Philadelphia Flyers The sophomore netminder started two of Philly’s three round robin games, stopping 57 of 59 shots faced. The soon-to-be 22-year-old stopped Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn on breakaways, which went a long way towards Philly securing top spot in the East. He shows patience and skill well beyond his years and now faces his childhood hero, Carey Price, in a battle of two of Canada’s best goalies. 8. Anthony Beauvillier, LW, New York Islanders The 23-year-old Isles winger writes “Have Fun” on his stick and he did just that against the Panthers. Beauvillier recorded points in each qualifying round game, including two clutch goals in the deciding Game 4. “I just think right now that Beau is just enjoying playing good hockey, and he’s getting rewarded for it with production,” Barry Trotz said. “He is skating on the puck, he’s working, he’s just focused on his job in that moment. I think that’s the maturity of a good young player in Beau.” Honourable mentions: Joonas Korpisalo, Jacob Markstrom, Sean Monahan, Andrei Svechnikov, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Shea Weber, Quinn Hughes, Ryan O’Reilly

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TSN.CA / Weeks: Garrett Rank sees U.S. Amateur as substitute for NHL playoffs By Bob Weeks – August 11, 2020

There aren’t many people who would prefer being holed up in a hotel for two months to playing at Bandon Dunes, but if he had his choice, Garrett Rank would choose the former. Still, playing in the U.S. Amateur at one of the world’s most highly regarded golf destinations isn’t all that bad. Rank, who works as a referee in the NHL, wasn’t picked to be one of the officials to work the postseason series playing out in Toronto and Edmonton. There were 10 refs chosen for each city who are all living inside the bubble created by the league to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “I was disappointed not to go back [to work],” said Rank. “That’s my job and that’s what I’d like to be doing. It’s tough not to get picked but it does free me up to play golf.” Instead of calling penalties, the Elmira, Ont., was calling tournament organizers, trying to get into some of the elite amateur tournaments. Playing in these events is something he does most summers when the hockey season is over, but this year he was uncertain of his schedule. That meant some last-minute planning, including whether he would be allowed to enter the United States. “I kind of had my anxieties about crossing the border and what things would be like in the U.S.,” he said. “But I reached out to Corey [Conners] and Taylor [Pendrith] and they gave me their advice. I haven’t been to any downtowns and have been wearing a mask.” Rank, 32, plays against college-aged players in most of the major events – many of whom go on to professional careers. He’s one of the old guard when it comes to fields in these tournaments, but he’s enjoyed enough success to know he is still competitive. Last year, he captured the Western Amateur, a 118-year-old tournament one of golf’s most prestigious titles. Rank knows that time is running out on his amateur career and that was another reason why he elected to head south and tee it up. “I didn’t want to lose another year of my prime,” Rank stated. “I’ve probably got two, three or four more years where I can be competitive against these young guys.” He started off playing the Sunnehanna Amateur in Johnstown, Pa., where he missed the 54-hole cut. He then ventured to the Western Amateur in Carmel, Ind. He failed to advance to the match-play portion of the event. Rank admitted his play at those tournaments wasn’t up to his high standards, something he chalked up to competitive rust. This week he’s in Bandon, Ore., for the U.S. Amateur, where he hopes to improve on his play. The event is being held on two of the six courses at the facility, Bandon Dunes and Bandon Trails. This year’s national championship, one of the few still being run by the United States Golf Association, has a few wrinkles to it owing to the pandemic. There was no qualifying for the championship. Instead, the USGA went to an all-exempt field, picking a number of streams through which players were awarded

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spots in the tournament. Rank earned his based on his place in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, where he sits 37th. For Rank, competing at the highest level on some gorgeous courses will be a pretty good substitute to working the NHL playoffs. Other Canadians in the field are Noah Steele of Kingston, Ont., Matthew Anderson of Mississauga, Ont., and Hamilton, Ont.’s Johnny Travale. The golfers have two rounds of stroke play followed by six rounds of match play. TSN will broadcast the match-play portion, starting with the round of 64 on Wednesday and on to the 36-hole final on Sunday.

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