Sport-Scan Daily Brief
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 11/16/2020 Buffalo Sabres 1196001 Inside the NHL: Division realignment will be bad news for the Sabres 1196002 Sabres offer more hints ahead of reverse retro jersey reveal 1196003 Sabres set to reveal reverse retro jersey for 2020-21 season Edmonton Oilers 1196004 Craig MacTavish gives Ryan McLeod high marks after coaching against him 1196005 Oil Spills: Dominik Kahun enters Oilers' lineup 1196006 Lowetide: Let’s make a final call on the Oilers’ 2015 draft class Montreal Canadiens 1196007 College hockey: The other Caufield scores for Wisconsin Ottawa Senators 1196008 Senators owner Eugene Melnyk excited about season, says league has all options on table Vancouver Canucks 1196010 Canucks prospects tracker: Hoglander at the ready, 'Truss' the process Websites 1196011 With COVID-19 cases surging, Flames GM Treliving sees major challenges in scouting NHL prospects Winnipeg Jets 1196009 YOU BE THE BOSS: Jets fans say don’t trade Laine, do trade Roslovic and make things happen this season, or els SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129 1196001 Buffalo Sabres Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim in getting an extra amount of work awarded to teams who did not play in the summer bubbles. A much tougher division and nine or 10 months off without a game don't Inside the NHL: Division realignment will be bad news for the Sabres strike me as a recipe for snapping a playoff drought. As for the schedule, it seems like something from 56-65 games is the Mike Harrington Nov 15, 2020 Updated 15 hrs ago most talked-about range. One help would be for teams to play a baseball-like series against an opponent, whereby they travel to a city and play two or three games against the same team over a period of four or five days. We're at mid-November now and the NHL remains in limbo. The party line is Jan. 1 is the target for a start date, although that gets more The NHL tried it in a few spots coming out of the 2005 lockout but the dubious in this view by the day, both in mere execution and dealing with idea never really took hold for a variety of reasons. It would certainly protocols related to the pandemic. seem to make perfect sense now, cutting back on flights and bus trips. The devil might be in all the details, whenever they're announced, but No 82-game run again for Krueger one thing that seems quite clear is temporary realignment is coming this season and it's going to feature a Canadian division. The certainty of a shortened season means Sabres coach Ralph Krueger is assured of going 0 for 3 when it comes to leading a team through a full If you're thinking about the Sabres breaking their ghastly playoff drought, 82-game schedule. this is unquestionably bad news. Krueger's lone year in Edmonton was the 2013 lockout season when the From an entertainment standpoint with teams not expected to cross the schedule was just 48 games. The Sabres played 69 last season before border, we'll certainly miss games against Montreal and Toronto as well the schedule was cut short in March and it doesn't appear likely they'll as the two Jack Eichel/Connor McDavid showdowns and the pair of approach that number this season. Rasmus Dahlin/Elias Pettersson matchups when Buffalo meets Edmonton and Vancouver, respectively. So it will be interesting to see how Krueger, and all coaches, approach this season. You have to stem the tide when things aren't going well in a From a television standpoint when it comes to the league's megadeal more forceful manner to get your club turned around. with Sportsnet, the competition could be fierce. Losing streaks are going to be magnified with a shorter schedule and "If that is the case, an all-Canadian division, I think it would be pretty Krueger has listed the team's pair of six-game skids last season as key unique," Montreal winger Brendan Gallagher told the Canadian Press. reasons the playoff drive got derailed. In a short schedule, coaches will "Pretty neat you get to see those other teams a little bit more and have have to do more to shake their teams out of skids rather than letting their an appreciation for what they do. And at the same time, there’s a little bit teams play their way out of trouble. of pride involved when you’re playing for your Canadian division. I’m sure everyone would have a little bit of motivation." Free agents remain Taking the Leafs, Canadiens and Ottawa Senators out of the Atlantic It feels like August in a normal hockey calendar. Free agency has come Division as well as Winnipeg from the Central and the Western Canada and gone and things are exceptionally quiet as teams take stock of their teams out of the Pacific sparks complete shuffling of all four groups. cap figures and likely ponder what their revenues will be. Especially if they're not going to have fans. Obviously, the Canadian Division will consist of Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. A likely Things are quite a bit different this year, however, with the flat cap and configuration for a Pacific Division would thus be Vegas, Arizona, the pandemic-induced revenue shortfall leaving plenty of quality free Anaheim, San Jose, Los Angeles, Colorado and two other teams from agents on the market. the Central (I would say Dallas and St. Louis). The list is led by Florida winger Mike Hoffman, who had 29 goals last The Sabres are thus going to be left as part of some sort of composite of year and 36 the year before. Forwards in general were pushed out of the the teams left in the Atlantic and the eight teams from the Metropolitan market by a run on goaltending and Hoffman is often looked at as a one- Division. And that's not good. dimensional player with little success, only having won a playoff series over his seven seasons in 2017 during Ottawa's run to the Eastern Buffalo might get a respite this year from being in the same division as Conference final. Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay – a team to which they've lost 20 of the last 24 meetings, including seven straight – but could suddenly be It would appear Hoffman's best bet might be to go all Taylor Hall with a thrust against much tougher competition otherwise. one-year deal and a bet on himself for another run at free agency next summer. I still say here, Columbus or Boston, which will likely start the Instead of multiple games against Florida, Ottawa and Detroit, don't be season without Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, would be good bets. surprised to see the Sabres stay with Boston and then get grouped with Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the three New York City-area Others looking for deals include Nashville forward Mikael Granlund, teams that include the rugged Islanders and on-the-rise Rangers. Florida center Erik Haula, Washington winger Ilya Kovalchuk, Arizona center Carl Soderberg, Ottawa winger Anthony Duclair, Dallas winger The Metro is coming off a season in which seven teams had 79 points or Corey Perry, Edmonton winger Andreas Athanasiou, Calgary better and competed in the Return to Play, with only New Jersey not defenseman Travis Hamonic, former Sabres winger Conor Sheary of getting there. The Atlantic had just three 79-plus teams (Boston, Tampa Pittsburgh and Islanders winger Matt Martin. Bay and Toronto). (Haula or Soderberg would have been on my list for the Sabres ahead of If you're pitting the Sabres against the current Metro Division, which team Cody Eakin but when you give Zemgus Girgensons $2.2 million a are they finishing ahead of? Even with Taylor Hall and Eric Staal. Lindy season, that's going to cut into your budget for outside help.) Ruff-led New Jersey perhaps. Any others? It's bleak to ponder them climbing past teams like the Capitals, Flyers, Penguins or Islanders. Former Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, Boston captain Zdeno Chara and longtime Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson have to decide about playing or "The Sabres made some nice moves but that's going to kill them," said retiring. It seems inconceivable Chara would not be back with the Bruins, one longtime Atlantic Division observer. "They were ready to make a especially after Torey Krug signed with St. Louis. move in this division. But against that kind of competition? Good luck to them." A lot of one-year deals in the offing. Some of these guys might have to take training camp tryouts. Not what they envisioned when free agency It was not unrealistic to think the Sabres would be climbing the ladder in opened last month. the Atlantic. But now they have to deal with realignment and don't underestimate their inactivity. Sharks bite back on construction The Sabres have not been on the ice since March. Whenever training Odd news that popped out of San Jose on Thursday as the Sharks drew camp starts, they are expected to join Ottawa, Detroit, New Jersey, San a line in the sand and said they might be forced to look elsewhere if massive development by Google and other companies cause Buffalo News LOADED: 11.16.2020 infrastructure problems in and around SAP Center. “We definitely do not want to leave,” Jonathan Becher, president of Sharks Sports & Entertainment, told the San Jose Mercury News. “This is our home. This is where we want to be.