#GREG WYSHYNSKI YOU’RE GOING TO HELL

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so much of being a sports fan is just having intense one-sided beef with a random journalist

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David Pastrnak vs. Boston Bruins enters ‘greasy’ territory

Boston Bruins president Cam Neely figured he had “the comp.”

Now, as anyone who watches HGTV can tell you, the comp is essential. You buy the house, you invest in the house, but you really can’t set the price on selling the house unless someone else in the neighborhood sold their abode within the range of what you’re looking to ask — the “comp’ if you will. Once you secure the comp, you know what your property is worth within the framework of the marketplace – above and beyond what that value is to you.

With it came to winger David Pastrnak, a restricted free agent, Neely’s comp was Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg, who signed a six-year deal with $36 million last summer. That was after two outstanding seasons in which he scored 26 and 33 goals, and 63 and 64 points in 82 games. Pastrnak, after all, had one outstanding season: 34 goals and 36 assists in 75 games as a 20 year old last year. (Forsberg was 21 when he signed his deal.)

As has been widely reported, the Bruins had had a deal on the table for Pastrnak for some time. It can be six years or it can be seven years. The cap hit is about $6 million. That’s Forsberg money.

But Forsberg money was last year’s comp.

The new comp is Leon Draisaitl. And that’s a problem for the Bruins.

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Draisaitl, 21, has played three seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, but his contract was cemented based on last season: 29 goals and 48 assists in 82 games, much of that credited to riding the wing of Connor McDavid.

For that, he earned an eight-year contract with $8.5 million against the cap. And just like that, the financial landscape in the NHL for 20-year-old offensive stars was shifted.

“To be honest with you, we haven’t really gotten a response on what they’re looking for,” Neely told the Boston Herald. “I know when they talked early on, they had some parameters to work around, some comps that I think both sides felt were fair at that particular time, so an offer was made but there really wasn’t much dialogue after that. So I think it’s kind of pointless for us to negotiate against ourselves. But I feel confident we can get something done. I think David has expressed that he loves it here and wants to play here. We want him here for as long as it makes sense for us.”

As far as the Oilers’ deal with their young star?

“We’re looking at those comps, not so much our own team. What did those players do prior to getting contracts and how does it stack up against David? I know everyone’s talking about the Draisaitl contract, and rightfully so they were waiting to see what was going to happen there. But that’s one player.”

This is true. Except Draisaitl has 137 points in 191 NHL games, and Pastrnak has 123 in 172 career games.

In other words, these two players have the same points per game average (0.72) in their careers, despite one of them spending parts of two seasons with arguably the best player in the world.

The Bruins and Pastrnak’s agent J.P. Barry were supposed to talk on Friday. But TSN’s Darren Dreger believes that things might get “greasy” between the two sides on money, as he told WGR in Buffalo:

“You look at some of the comps that exist out there. Again, Leon Draisaitl’s $8.5 million. Is Pastrnak that much less of a player than Draisaitl? Draisaitl is a center, so we’ll give him a premium nudge there. But the point production is pretty close in terms of entry-level players. Then you look at [Vladimir] Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues, which is, again, I think a fair comp. His AAV is at $7.5 million.

“So I think that this could get greasy. I think that this negotiation between David Pastrnak and the Boston Bruins, unless the Bruins change their position and they come off their number, this could be headed in a dark direction.”

The Boston Bruins have about $10.2 million in cap space for next season with 43 contracts. Pastrnak is the lone unsigned RFA. Give him Draisaitl money, and the Bruins are a hell of a lot closer to the ceiling than they want to be.

(There’s something absolutely delicious about Peter Chiarelli creating the Bruins’ current cap situation and their current headache with Pastrnak as Leon Draisaitl’s general manager. Revenge, thy name is Chia.)

Does Pasta deserve Draisaitl money? Not really. Draisaitl is a special case – as Dreger notes, he’s being paid first-line center money to be a second-line center behind Connor McDavid.

Pastrnak is a brilliant player, no doubt, but the Oilers having confidence in Draisaitl anchoring a second line is much different than how the Bruins likely feel about a winger whose breakout season came on a line with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron.

(And how much of this is fueled by Neely not wanting to give Pastrnak more than his linemates?)

Will Pastrnak get Draisaitl money? Great question. And one that the player and his agent are probably more happy to answer now than they were before the summer. Because while Edmonton isn’t exactly in the neighborhood, they gave them an undeniable “comp” for Boston.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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Leon Draisaitl deal another overpayment from Oilers GM (but potentially good one)

The general rule of thumb for long-term contracts in the NHL: Players trade money for term, and general managers trade term for money.

Leon Draisaitl, 21, got both in his eight-year, $68-million deal with the Edmonton Oilers announced on Tuesday, giving him an $8.5 million cap hit through the 2024-25 season. It’s another classic overpayment from general manager Peter Chiarelli, who you might know from such hits as the David Krejci extension in Boston and the Milan Lucic deal with the Oilers.

The question this time is whether overpayment is justified.

This is the fourth-highest second contract of the NHL salary cap era, a list populated by Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. In three of those cases, they signed deals after having won the Hart Trophy.

OK, let’s bring this into a tighter focus on Draisaitl: It’s an overpayment if you judge the deal on accepted dogma and Draisaitl’s current trajectory as a player; it’s completely reasonable if Draisaitl ends up being the Malkin to Connor McDavid’s Crosby in a burgeoning Oilers Dynasty.

Let it be said that Draisaitl is a fantastic young star, and that the Oilers were lucky the rest of the NHL has an allergy to offer sheets. He completed his third season by setting a career-high with 77 points (29G, 48A). He had 16 points in 13 playoff games. He has 137 points in 191 career games.

This is No. 1 center money. Actually, it’s more than that: There are only five centers who will make more against the cap than Draisaitl next season: Jonathan Toews ($13.8 million, 29 years old), Anze Kopitar ($13 million, 29), Evgeni Malkin ($9.5 million, 31), Sidney Crosby ($8.7 million, 31) and Steven Stamkos ($8.5 million, 27).

Together, this group has 11 Stanley Cups, four Conn Smythe trophies and three Hart trophies.

No. 9 on that list is Ryan Johansen, the 25-year-old Nashville Predators forward who has proof of concept as a No. 1 center for two different teams. He’ll make $8 million against the next season.

The Edmonton Journal noted that:

“One big difference is that Nashville paid for just one RFA year and seven more expensive UFA years. This is why Draisaitl getting a RyJo contract would be generous on the part of the Oilers, even if you happen to think Draisaitl will be a better player than RyJo over the next eight years.”

That Draisaitl got more than Johansen, then, would drag this contract from generosity to overcompensation. Again, based on the typical dogma for these kinds of things.

But the Oilers, we can agree, aren’t a typical situation.

They’re Connor McDavid’s team, which means it’s assumed that they’re going to challenge for a Stanley Cup, and probably win one, within the next eight years. Crosby played for the Cup in his third season, and won his first in his fourth season. Next season will be McDavid’s third in the NHL.

You don’t have to pay McDavid’s winger $8.5 million annually to convert passes from a hockey deity. That person should make Chris Kunitz money. Hell, that person should play the Oilers for the privilege. But eventually, these wingers might earn that much because their stats are undeniable and the market dictates it. Draisaitl, who skated with McDavid last season, isn’t there yet.

But if you believe Draisaitl is a top-line center playing behind the best player in the world, giving you an unparalleled one-two punch in the Western Conference, then eight years and $8.5 million annually does make a modicum of sense. Because why dither around with bridge contracts and incremental gains if you feel this championship team will be built on the backs of McDavid, 20, and Draisaitl, 21? Why not lock up Draisaitl now, knowing that today’s overcompensation is tomorrow’s justifiable cost after their first Stanley Cup?

In a sense, Chiarelli might have learned a thing or two after (over)paying for success with the Boston Bruins: If you’re going to have ante up later, might as well do it sooner. Paying for potential could bite you in the ass, but it’s a better recipe for sustainability than paying David Krejci a $7.25 million hit for six seasons based on previous success. You know what you have with your two best players for the next eight seasons. There will be no surprises.

Yes, by any logical measurement of these types of contracts, Leon Draisaitl was just overpaid by his general manager. And yes, a top-heavy team in salary – they’ll have $21 million tied up in McDavid and Draisaitl beginning in 2018-19 – leads to migraines on your cap as the rest of the team asks for its reward.

That their combined cap hit is also that of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane with the Chicago Blackhawks would seem like a harbinger of things to come. Then again, Toews and Kane were paid for what they had accomplished, not what they might.

But that’s the gamble: That the McDavid Oilers will win a Stanley Cup or two, and that Draisaitl can anchor his own line rather than excel best with McDavid.

It’s a heavy bet.

But then when have you known a lottery winner to be frugal?

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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Confused outrage over NHL Olympics boycott

It’s never a good thing when an enraged heart and an engorged sentimentality dominate logic and practicality, but that’s about where we are with the debate over the NHL’s decision to pull out of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Take Monday’s Associated Press report that reconfirmed what had already been confirmed by USA Hockey: That any player on an NHL contract would not be allowed to play in the Olympics.

That goes for NHL players, AHL players on NHL contracts and everyone else with an NHL deal. It’s the reason why USA Hockey cautioned veteran players and college players thinking about the Olympics that signing an NHL deal would end those dreams. And while the NHL is the one driving this, USA Hockey is the one obeying the will of its “partner.”

Cue the outrage over the NHL keeping minor league players from their own Olympic dreams, including the odd notion that interest would be exponentially higher if, like, Cal O’Reilly or some other Marlie were playing for Team Canada. Which is ridiculous, unless we’re talking about Brooks Laich.

Cue the misstating of the actual story, which is that minor league players are very much eligible to participate in the Olympics IF they’re on minor league contracts. AHL President David Andrews reiterated that with Yahoo Sports this week, saying that “AHL contracted players may go if assigned by their club.”

So, Zack Stortini Nation: our boy is very much eligible for the Olympics should the Charlotte Checkers allow him the chance.

(Whether AHL teams will actually do this is another issue, considering their own needs and pressure from the parent clubs.)

Again, think about this logically regarding AHL players on NHL contracts: Does the League really want the Edmonton Oilers to have to tell Connor McDavid he can’t represent Canada but Joey LaLeggia can because the former is in the NHL and the latter is in the AHL?

And if one of the driving arguments for the NHL staying home is ���we take all the risk but get little of the benefit,” why on earth would they ship their safety net to South Korean for three weeks? So Malcolm Subban can blow out his knee playing goal for Canada in an exhibition tournament, Tuukka Rask does the same for the Bruins in March, and it’s the Anton Khudobin Show for the Boston Bruins the rest of the way?

I don’t know. It seemed pretty obvious that if the NHL isn’t going, anyone paid via an NHL contract wasn’t going. But that’s just me.

Speaking of “all the risk but get little of the benefit,” the other example of a raging heart trumping pragmatism was the heat generated by a recent Montreal Gazette column, written by the Impossibly Named Dick Pound.

“IOC’s Dick Pound rips NHL for its Olympics decision in op-ed column,” proclaimed Sportsnet, and that he did, as well as assigning an enormous amount of import to a tournament in which the NHL has participated a grand total of five times.

“The Olympic tournaments finally became events in which the best players in the world participated. The game continued to grow internationally and the fan base became global,” wrote Pound, who probably also credits the World Baseball Classic with MLB’s popularity in Japan.

Let’s take a look at the guts of this, shall we?

I “get” the economic argument. But I also believe that there are at least two larger interests in play.

OK, let’s stop right there.

Dick Pound is the senior active member of the International Olympic Committee. He “gets” cute in this column by ironic-quoting words like “negotiations” to describe the talks between the NHL and the IOC, the inference being that the NHL didn’t do so in good faith, one supposes. What he doesn’t do, of course, is turn the microscope around and point it at his own organization’s stubborn avarice, which is actually why we’re in this pickle.

And that’s odd, because Pound has never been one to shy away from calling out the Olympics for its corruption.

The first is a responsibility for growing and promoting an exciting game, which is important for the sport, its players and spectators throughout the world. It is not sufficient for the NHL to be content with plucking the low-hanging financial fruit, but to fail to invest in the future of the game. 

This is in reference to the NHL’s desire to go to China in 2022, but not South Korea in 2018.

Now, one can argue the merits that the Olympics “grow the game,” which has always seemed born from two American wins in 1980 and the myth-making that followed it. One can argue that two weeks every four years doesn’t grow an established sport any larger than it already is. The Golden Goal is an important part of the Sidney Crosby Story, but he was already Sidney Crosby.

(As a sidebar to all of this: “Growing the game” would seem to benefit from true parity and the formulation of new, sudden stars on such a large stage. Something an NHL-less Olympics would seem to create, for what it’s worth.)

But Pound is conflating “growing the game” with “growing the brand,” and that’s the NHL’s aim as much as it’s the IOC’s aim in protecting the Olympic brand at all costs. When it comes to growing the brand, one major sticking points between the NHL and the IOC has been placing NHL branding on Olympic hockey, and sharing in NHL/Olympic merchandise. The NHL sees growing the brand as growing the game, and good luck getting the IOC to share in that (financial) growth, even if it means something as simple as NHL signage on Olympic rinks.

We continue:

The second issue is the NHL’s decision to actively prohibit individual players, who want to represent their countries at the Olympic Games, from doing so. Aside from being heavy-handed and an abuse of its economic power, it is disrespectful to the rights and dreams of those players.

“An abuse of its economic power…” what the hell does that possibly mean?

That the NHL can mandate that its players play to the specifications of their contracts and at the will of the NHL, and that’s wrong? That the NHL will use the Olympics as a bargaining chip in CBA negotiations?

Also, as usual, when it comes to sharing the wealth, the IOC is going to run to the safe space of “the dreams of athletes” every single time.

We continue:

While I can see that it might be legitimate to try to discourage such participation, I believe it is (among other things) bad business to forbid or prevent such individual choices. Again, one does not have to be much of a prophet to predict that the NHL Players Association will exact a significant price for the NHL’s intransigence regarding the players when the next Collective Bargaining Agreement discussions begin. That, too, is bad business for the NHL — all of its own making.

Well, yeah, lockouts suck. On that we can agree.

But here’s what’s also bad for business: Shutting down your league in the middle of its season, loaning your assets to another business so it can profit from it, shouldering all of the risk and getting little to no palpable reward from it – either from the Olympics themselves, or the impact on the NHL in their aftermath. From gate to ratings, there is no Olympic Effect for the NHL. They’ve had ample time to study this.

So yes, it’s bad business when you’re helping drive an event that generates billions on billions on billions of dollars thanks in part to your brand – hockey is second to figure skating as far as Winter Olympics prestige sports – and seeing no benefit from it, especially in an Olympiad where the host city inspires such apathy.

The Olympics generated $9.3 billion in marketing revenues during the 2016 Rio Games. The IOC gets 10 percent of revenues from the Games. It’s much easier to spout off about crushing the dreams of athletes than having the IOC justify this incredibly unbalanced partnership with the NHL, beyond empty platitudes about “growing the game” and “let them play!”

But then the IOC has perfected the art of using the “Olympic Dream” as a monetary steamroller to crush logic and practicality. Ask Rio.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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John Tavares, John Tortorella and NHL on NBC (Puck Daddy Countdown)

  (In which Ryan Lambert takes a look at some of the biggest issues and stories in the NHL, and counts them down.)

6 – Extending John Tortorella

Okay, so let’s say you think John Tortorella is a good coach that will take your team to the next level. You’re objectively wrong about that, but let’s say you think so.

He’s entering the last year of his deal. And you extend him… one year?

That’s weird, right?

I think maybe, and there’s no way to be sure because this is the kind of thing no one would admit, this is basically a bridge contract. “We think you could be good but let’s see what you’ve got when the power play doesn’t shoot 25 percent for two months.”

I mean look, this team is gonna take a step back this season. That’s basically guaranteed. Anyone who thinks the kids collectively improve enough to manufacture enough points to cover a 16-game winning streak and a couple other white-hot runs may want to see a doctor about a potential head injury. So if you’re anticipating a step back — and you should be — then you can also determine, ah hey, we don’t really like this coach after all. And then you cut bait in, say, January or something, and you only owe him whatever next year costs you, versus if you sign him to a three-year extension and you’re on the hook for all that money.

I think it’s smart. If you’re going to extend him. Which you shouldn’t.

 5 – Facing reality

Just yesterday, John Tavares reaffirmed to TSN that he is committed to returning to the New York Islanders and staying there and blah blah blah. Great place to play, hope we can get something done. That whole thing.

I’m starting to worry this is going to be the big league-wide storyline for the huge bulk of the season, until Tavares either re-signs or gets traded. And god help us if the Islanders inexplicably choose to go the Steven Stamkos route and both not-re-sign and not-trade him. I can’t handle that and I’m not even close to being an Islanders fan. Bemused observer, maybe. I try to not-watch their games. Not a fun team.

Anyway, if you’re the Islanders and you’re not sure you can get him re-upped by, like, U.S. Thanksgiving, I think you gotta pull the trigger on a trade. It’s a trade you’re basically guaranteed to lose, since Tavares is like the seventh- or eighth-best center in the league and no one would even be able to give you fair value if they wanted to. But if it’s “Take the ‘L’ and make a trade that basically engenders a blow-it-up philosophy” or “Take the ‘L’ when he signs somewhere else on July 1 and get nothing back,” there’s no way to justify the decision.

The closer you get to the deadline — hell, if it’s even the Christmas roster freeze and the trade hasn’t happened — you’re not getting as much back. Period. History bears that out.

Obviously the team’s preference should be to not-trade him. I’m not saying they should just be done with it. They need a goalie, probably. Another middle-pairing defenseman. Some help up the middle. But those are addressable problems. Not having John Tavares is not an addressable problem unless you just say, “Looks like we’re tanking for the next five years.”

Frankly, if he wants a Kane-and-Toews-level contract, you have to give it to him. It should basically be a blank check, not because he’s necessarily worth $10.5 million, but because he’s worth $10.5 million to that team in particular.

It’s a tough situation. Tavares might just want to go, and he’s obviously not gonna say that to TSN on Aug. 1. But the Islanders need to be exploring all options right now, and the second they have a firm idea one way or the other, they gotta smash either the button marked “sign” or “trade” because goofing around in the in-between might work out for a good organization like Tampa, but the Islanders don’t even have a rink, let alone a clear path to being reasonably competitive. 

4 – The national NHL audience

Proof the league does not care about you unless you’re a fan in one of two divisions came in the form of the latest national TV lineup, which is extremely bad even by the NHL’s criminally diminished standards.

Like how much must the NHL disdain its fans when, in its 99 games on NBC Sports, it will put the Detroit Red Wings — a team both horrible at hockey and awful to watch — in 12 of them? Another eight for the Sabres. Seventeen for a Chicago team that really might be pretty rotten. A whopping 16 for a Flyers team that honestly I don’t think their fans even want to watch that often.

Meanwhile, three Leafs games and three Oilers games. That’s it.

As always: Just invest in Center Ice so you don’t have to watch Milbury grouse his way through another tedious intermission shoutfest. Watch the games you want.

3 – No-trades

A big hullabaloo came up last week when someone pointed out how many mediocre, late-20s/early-30s Red Wings are on no-trade clauses right now. “Can you believe it?”

Can I believe that Ken Holland thinks The Culture is what made the Red Wings successful and believes his own hype and doesn’t know how to properly manage a roster? Yeah, I guess I can.

But because of all those no-trade clauses, I started to remember something. Wasn’t there some other mediocre team a few years ago that had like half the roster on no-trades and effectively ensured they’d be rotten for a lot longer than they otherwise would have been?

Ah yes, it was the Calgary Flames. In the handful of years before they finally wised up and traded Jarome Iginla two years too late. And it wasn’t just Iginla or Miikka Kiprusoff who got these kinds of deals. Something like nine or 10 Flames ended up with some form of NMC or NTC in their contract. Curtis Glencross had a no-movement clause! I couldn’t tell you why. And we know how all that turned out.

For the record, Detroit currently has 10 players with some kind of no-trade clauses: Frans Nielsen, Gustav Nyquist, Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm(???), Mike Green, Danny DeKeyser, Nik Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson(???), Trevor Daley, and Jimmy Howard.

So yeah: The Red Wings are the late-Darryl Sutter/early-Jay Feaster Calgary Flames. Good luck with that.

2 – Alternate histories

Speaking of, I gotta tell ya: I feel like a real dumbo.

Last week Greg sends me a text like, “Do you want to do an alternate history ‘What if’ kind of thing about the Flames?” I couldn’t think of a good one in the first 10 minutes that wasn’t totally obvious (“What if they never traded for Kiprusoff?” “What if the Gelinas goal counted?”) so I passed. Not that subterfuge is necessarily the point of the exercise, but I just didn’t think there was a lot there for that particular team on the surface.

And immediately thereafter, I thought of about 10 good what-if alternate-history scenarios for other teams, as well as the Flames, and now I have serious regrets about saying “No thanks.” I want to do one for every damn team in the league. I want this to be my summer project.

Instead, I blew it. And I came up with 31 — that’s right, I have a Vegas one — anyway. You can email me and I could tell you all of them. Don’t actually email me, of course. Not the point. But what I’m saying is I have them in the chamber.

What a dope!

1 – Brett Pesce

The Hurricanes locked up another very good young defenseman for a long time yesterday, nailing down Brett Pesce for six years at $4.025 million per, on a contract that starts after 2017-18. For those scoring at home, that means they have Pesce and Jaccob Slavin signed for a combined $9.325 million through 2024.

Add in Justin Faulk getting just $4.833 million through 2020, and whatever Noah Hanifin ends up signing for, that’s a really really solid top-four that maxes out at just 27 years old and probably costs you about $18 million. Come on!

Hopefully Scott Darling works out better than Cam Ward and Eddie Lack. If so, look out for the damn Hurricanes over the next two or three years.

(Not ranked this week: Not signing Jagr.

Okay I get it. It’s a speed thing. He’s slow, the Penguins are fast, and the Penguins just won the Cup twice in a row. So now that means Jagr isn’t a player or something.

What a silly argument. Not that I don’t see where it’s coming from, but the league didn’t become Fast Now in the playoffs. It was Fast all last season and the few before it too. Jagr, despite being slow and old, finished among the top 20-something players at his position in scoring, and that was with his key linemates missing decent chunks of last season. Aleksander Barkov missed 21 games. Jonathan Huberdeau missed 51. Jagr still finished with 46 points and huge possession numbers.

This is a crazy theory I’m working on, but it’s almost like….. he’s good no matter what speed he plays at. I dunno, folks!)

Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

(All statistics via Corsica unless otherwise noted.)

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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Can Kevin Shattenkirk handle New York pressure?

There’s a version of “The Kevin Shattenkirk Story” that ends with the guy from New Rochelle hoisting the Stanley Cup over his head as a member of the New York Rangers, his favorite team as a child. He sacrificed money and contract security to live out a dream that incredibly came true. John McEnroe gives him a thumbs-up from the stands. Margot Robbie winks at him. Jimmy Fallon unfortunately left during the second period.

But there’s another version of “The Kevin Shattenkirk Story” that plays out much differently, like one of these twisted “Twilight Zone” tales whose basic premise can be boiled down to this:

Be careful what you wish for.

Kevin Shattenkirk wanted New York, and New York’s got him. So now we all wait to see what it does with him.

Playing for the Rangers doesn’t put a player in the media acid bath that is Montreal or Toronto (when Toronto has its knives out and isn’t in the midst of puppy love like it is now). But the stakes are higher, and the tabloid culture is more intense, than it was in St. Louis, for example. The Rangers don’t get the attention that the NFL does or baseball does or the Knicks get when the Knicks are in full-on circus mode. But there is attention, there is pressure and the coverage can be harsh if there’s blood in the water.

There’s also a time-honored tradition in New York media to treat acquisitions more harshly than homegrown talent, like high profile free agents for example. The combination of hype and investment combine to create expectations that are rarely met, and inevitably that player is labeled a bust.

But Shattenkirk knows all this.

“As a local boy, I grew up around it. I was able to read the newspaper and the news every day, experience it from a fan’s point of view,” he said.

Which makes the four-year, $26.6 million contract the defenseman signed with the Rangers on July 1 so interesting: It’s anything but overpayment for the top free agent of the summer, especially in term. Hell, Karl Alzner has more contractual security than Kevin Shattenkirk. Who saw that coming?

“You have to give Kevin credit on this one. He wanted to come here,” said Rangers GM Jeff Gorton. “I think that term deal was out there for him. He left money on the table.”

To that end, Shattenkirk doesn’t arrive in New York with a massive contract attached to him like an anchor. Sure, there are going to be expectations and knives out if he doesn’t perform. But this isn’t Brad Richards Part Deux, or even something as grandiose as the Chris Drury and Scott Gomez signings.

Rightly or wrongly, Shattenkirk is the Kid From New York Who Gave Away Money To Play For His Favorite Team.

“A lot of factors outside of money and term came into play. That’s what ultimately made the decision for me,” he said. “Obviously there were sacrifices to be made. But in my mind, those are the things you leave on the table to live out a dream like this.”

Again, he has no delusions about what he’s getting into here. If Kevin Shattenkirk has a playoff run as ordinary as the one he had with the Washington Capitals this spring – Gorton said the Rangers “thought he was playing better than some people in the media, perhaps” – then fans and writers and talking heads will take notice, and it won’t be pretty.

“I have to manage that myself. There’s going to be a lot of pressure, but that’s something that’s exciting to me. You can’t replicate that anywhere else in this league,” said Shattenkirk.

“I think it would have been hard for me to deal with it as a young player in this league. But I’m 28 years old and had a little bit of pressure during my career so far, so it’ll be a challenge but it’s something that I’ll work to.”

Shattenkirk was five years old when the Rangers last won the Stanley Cup. He’s made the decision to give up money, term and other considerations for a chance to see them do it again – and be a part of it.

“No matter where you go, you’re trying to win a Stanley Cup. To me, there’s no better place to do that than New York,” he said.

The pressure’s on.

—

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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An open letter to Nashville Predators fans and their crushing heartbreak

This one’s for that kid.

That young Nashville Predators fan that stomped off to bed on Sunday night, pissed off at the world after watching the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup in Music City, which wasn’t supposed to happen because, like, the Predators never lose there. The fans for whom hockey life totally sucks at the moment, because Sidney Crosby won all the trophies and that is a cruel sight that not even the most twisted episode of “Black Mirror” could conjure of you’re a Nashville fan.

This is just a note to say that I understand. A lot of us do. We’ve been there. It’s pretty much the worst.

Lemme take you back to 1988. Phones had cords. It was weird.

That was the season when the New Jersey Devils made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. As Peter Laviolette would term it, they were the “last ones through the door,” clinching a playoff seed on the last day of the season. And then they began a playoff run that hooked me for life as a hockey fan: a Cinderella team upsetting opponents they weren’t supposed to beat (the Islanders and the Capitals), all the way to the conference final, where they lost to the Boston Bruins and our Stanley Cup hopes were dashed.

The Devils at that point were a team – stop me if you’ve heard this one, Nashville – many said shouldn’t exist. The greatest hockey player who ever lived called them a “Mickey Mouse franchise,” meaning cartoonishly amateur rather than an indelible brand beloved by millions. And so each win felt like something more than a playoff victory. It felt like a giant pulsating middle finger to everyone who had talked smack about the team for years. Mostly Rangers fans.

As the team pushed further into the playoffs, the bandwagon expanded. Friends who didn’t care about the team suddenly did. The atmosphere at games became decidedly more festive. You saw more Devils stuff wherever you looked, much of it awesome and pirated, like that “WE WANT STANLEY IN NEW JERSEY!” shirt my dad had.

(Admittedly, no pirated merch can touch those sweet-ass SMASH hats everyone was rocking.)

And then they lost. In seven games to the Boston Bruins. And when you’re a kid, you’re not thinking about the puck possession numbers, mostly because Jim Corsi was still playing in Italy at that point. You’re thinking about anger. Straight up anger. Anger at the other team, because they couldn’t be that good and they were just lucky and they didn’t deserve this.

And you’re angry at the NHL, because of course they don’t want your scrappy little franchise to win a Stanley Cup and knock off the black and gold darlings on the other side of the ice. And when Predators fans scream to the heavens about Crosby bouncing P.K. Subban’s head off the ice with no penalty and the absolutely terrible no-goal call in Game 6 thanks to an early whistle, I hear echoes of the Devils’ coach being suspended because a fat referee fell down after a game in ’88.

You feel like the world’s against you. Like you’re invited to the party but never allowed to be the guest of honor.

And that sucks.

So I get it. We all get it – everyone that’s lived and died with their team during that first hashtag-glorious reach at that Holy Grail, only to watch them fall short. While many of us are cool with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ second straight Stanley Cup – a hell of an achievement in the cap era – many of us are also thinking about the Predators fans whose days were dictated by how this hockey team played on the previous night, and who helped turn this Stanley Cup Final into a celebration the likes that many of us have never seen, from catfish to concerts to whatever the hell that balloon guy was.

This is the part where I’m supposed to say it gets better and just be patient and your day will come to watch the Predators hoist the Cup. And yeah, it did get better for young Greg as a Devils fan – I saw them do it in person, in Game 4 in 1995, and then do it twice more. But it took seven long years. It took one of the best general managers in the history of the NHL and the incredible good fortune of landing a few Hall of Famers and any number of other things breaking the right way. It doesn’t happen to every franchise. This might be as good as it gets for Nashville, for a while. (Although given the ages of this team’s core, that’s not likely.)

But abject optimism isn’t the point. The point is that now you’ve gotten a taste of this, you will live every day knowing that they could win the Cup. And this is going to make the foreseeable future really, really fun, until the inevitable cynicism settles in that the team will never win anything. Or perhaps I’ve just spent too much time in Washington.

So cheer up, Predators fans, young and old. Remember that others envy your heartbreak today. Remember how good the highs made you feel. Bank the frustration for later, so if they ever do hoist the Cup it’ll feel all that more cathartic. And just let it be known that you have a community of fans acknowledging all you’re going through after Game 6, and feeling a kinship with you. If only because we also want Mike Milbury fired.

— Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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Erik Karlsson nearly pulled off the impossible vs. Penguins

There’s going to be a time – and frankly, we might be already living in it – when doubting the greatness of Erik Karlsson is going to seem as pointlessly archaic as doubting the necessity of the telephone.

(To wit: “Karlsson doesn’t play defense” is basically the new “we have plenty of messenger boys,” which was how Sir William Preece dismissed the phone in 1878.)

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Karlsson played 39 minutes and 33 seconds in the Ottawa Senators’ Game 7 double-overtime loss on Thursday night, all of it on a fractured foot, just like the 534 minutes and 27 seconds in total that he played in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He’s the only player to cross 500 minutes in ice time in this postseason, averaging 28:07 per game.

“I’m going to go back to Ottawa and will reevaluate what I have to do to get healthy next year,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how you’re feeling at the end of the season.”

Karlsson had two assists in Game 7, and could have had about a dozen more. He brilliantly set up Mark Stone’s game-tying goal in the second period, using a short pass to spring him in the slot. In the third, he blasted a shot that rang off the post, then off the back of Matt Murray, and then right to Ryan Dzingel for another goal that answered a Penguins’ tally in short order.

He was all over every zone on the ice, dangerous on each of the 49 shifts he took in Game 7. One got the feeling that if the Senators were going to win this thing, the puck was going to be on Karlsson’s stick at some point during the sequence.

Instead, he was on the bench when Chris Kunitz’s floating shot found its way over Craig Anderson’s shoulder for the series-clincher.

“We lost to a better team, unfortunately,” said Karlsson after Game 7. “We did what we could, when we needed it the most. In the end, we came close, but not close enough.”

They came close because of Karlsson. With due respect to Craig Anderson’s goaltending heroics and Bobby Ryan’s offensive resurgence and Guy Boucher’s “bore them to death and/or unleash hell” coaching style, the Ottawa Senators were one goal away from the Stanley Cup Final because of one 27-year-old defenseman from Landsbro, Sweden.

He had 18 points in 19 games, including 15 at even strength, tied for most in the NHL postseason. His Corsi percentage (56.95) was the best in the postseason, for players that had more than 200 minutes of ice time.

Again, it’s comical to think that Karlsson ever had his doubters. He won the Norris twice, and had some clinging to the idea he was one dimensional. He makes countless defensive players every season, but that one turnover or that one time Auston Matthews dances by him on opening night get the spotlight.

All of it ignores the simple fact that, as coach Guy Boucher noted during this series: “Erik was our best defensive defenseman all year.”

There’s a lot we all got wrong about Ottawa, and one of the primary things was that Boucher’s system would somehow crush the creativity of Karlsson. Sure, his numbers dropped from last season – his even strength points fell by 14, for example – but the relationship between the two worked, to the point where Boucher saw Karlsson as a model on which other players should base their play.

“Erik has obviously terrific attributes that you can draw from,” he said. “And if you’re trying to be Erik, you’re probably not going in the right direction.”

The hockey world looked down its nose a bit at Ottawa in this series. Part of that was a desire to see the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators face off in what could be an highly competitive (and highly watched) Stanley Cup Final. And part of it was not wanting the Senators in that series, because of a perceived lack of interest in them nationally and their, at times, tedious style of hockey.

But Karlsson was a reason to root for them. To see what he did on that next, grander stage. To get another few games of his brilliance. To add his name to those of Lidstrom, Niedermayer, Stevens, Robinson and Orr as defensemen who were playoff MVPs.

Although, truth be told, his name should already be among them.

—

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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Mike Sullivan, Penguins coach, has some heavy lifting ahead

Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan has been endlessly impressive in his two seasons at the helm.

Obviously there’s proof of concept with the Stanley Cup last year, using a system that stressed speed and skill, allowing his stars to shine and asking his defensemen to just get the puck the hell out of the defensive zone as quickly as possible. Then, in the 2016-17 regular season, he kept a steady hand on the wheel through injuries and guided the Penguins to second in the Metro.

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He out-coached his friend John Tortorella and the Columbus Blue Jackets in Round 1. He out-coached Barry Trotz and the Washington Capitals in Round 2, but did a little more than that: He helped the Penguins stay poised after slipping to a Game 7, and replicated the template that beat the Capitals in that arena twice earlier in the series.

So far, there isn’t a template for beating the Ottawa Senators, as the Penguins have done it only once. We saw glimpses of it in Game 2 – smart dump-ins that used the Penguins’ speed to establish a forecheck, some added pressure from the defense, scoring the first (and only) goal.

Then in Game 3, the Penguins were knocked on their asses.

Sure, you can’t account for a fortunate bounce that gives Mike Hoffman a goal just 48 seconds in the game, but you have to give credit to Sullivan’s counterpart, Guy Boucher, who brought the house in the first period in ways the Senators hadn’t before. (Mark Methot doubled his playoff points in one period.) He also boldly matched Erik Karlsson against Sidney Crosby, perhaps sensing what we all sense about Sid Post-Niskanen Incident, which is that Karlsson could very well win that matchup.

Unless the Senators went into full collapse, the game was over after the first period. So Sullivan tried to paint a sunny picture with the Penguins play after it was already four-to-goose.

“Listen, we had a fair amount of scoring chances. It’s not that we didn’t have chances to score. I think the score of the game is not an indication of how the whole game is played out. So it’s not like we didn’t do anything right out there. We had a fair amount of scoring chances we didn’t convert on,” said Sullivan.

OK then.

Sullivan is a great coach. The great ones mould and shape their game plans to overcome new challenges. They adapt on the fly. Frankly, the most intriguing individual heading into Game 4 isn’t on the ice, he’s behind the bench: What will Mike Sullivan do?

Does he swap Marc-Andre Fleury for Matt Murray, or does he run the risk of witnessing their beloved veteran turning into a pumpkin in two straight road games and potentially costing them the series? Loyalty or logic? Or is loyalty the logical move?

Can he, once again, figure out a combination of players to overcome the tremendous manpower disadvantage the Penguins currently have due to injury? They played Game 3 without Justin Schultz, Bryan Rust and Patric Hornqvist, all of whom scored in Game 7 against the Washington Capitals. They played with seven defenseman, trying to compensate for an injured Trevor Daley returning to the lineup and the absolute exhaustion that has to be dogging guys like Ian Cole at this point.

“This is the circumstance we’re in. We’ve been in it for a long time. We know we have capable guys that can step in and get the job done, and we’ve got to find ways to win. That’s our challenge, and that’s our expectation. We’re not worried about it,” said Sullivan after Game 3. “We’re going to use the guys that we have. We’re going to try to put them in positions to be successful. And then we’re going to learn from each experience, and then we’re going to move by it, and we’re going to attack the next game.”

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On top of all of that, can he continue to chip away at a defense that’s limited the Penguins to two even-strength goals in three games, having scored 26 goals at 5v5 in their previous 12 playoff games?

“This is the nature of, when you’re playing a seven-game series, you have to have the ability to respond. There’s no doubt in my mind this group of players will,” he said.

The Penguins, and their coach, will respond. But after three games, it’s a legitimate concern for Pittsburgh that no matter how its coaching staff regroups for Game 4, the players might have too many miles and too many bruises on them in the postseason to overcome these Senators.

—

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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NHL TV ratings, Ryan Kesler and Phil Kessel (Puck Daddy Countdown)

(In which Ryan Lambert takes a look at some of the biggest issues and stories in the NHL, and counts them down.)

7 – THE RATINGS!!!!!

One of the things that has been pervasive in hockey over the past few weeks has been the smug chortling from Canadians like, “Oh ho, the ratings for NBC will be really bad if it’s a Ducks/Senators final, haha,” as though: a) anyone outside of an NHL or NBC boardroom should give a rat’s ass, and b) the real loser wouldn’t be the hockey fans who have to sit through up to seven games of the stultifying, ugly hockey both teams are capable of playing.

Like honestly, this is one of those things I cared about when I was 14 and wrestling ratings were a thing. The Monday Night Wars. I was a WWF guy, myself (though I also watched Nitro!) and so to see my preferred brand of pro wrestling pull ahead was something of a personal vindication. In retrospect, it was dumb to feel this way.

Again, I was 14.

So why does Canada care? As though they have some sort of provenance over Hockey Caring, after the Senators didn’t sell out a home playoff game, and after ratings for Sportsnet’s coverage are repeatedly abysmal. (Apparently they’re just fine from these playoffs, but guess what: It’s because the Leafs and Oilers made it for the first time in a million years.)

Point being: Who cares however many million people? If you’re the only one in the United States watching a game, what’s the big deal?

Go back to worrying about whether the Senators are Hashtag Canada’s Team.

(They’re not, by the way.)

6 – Battle of the Ryans

Not that I’m choosing sides here because their names are both so so good, but Ryans Johansen and Kesler are in a bit of a feud.

It’s not hard to see who has the moral high ground, though. Kesler chicken-wing elbowed Johansen right in the chin — and shocker: he didn’t get a call from DOPS about it — and Johansen was steamed. Understandably so.

Of course, Johansen did a dumbass thing by complaining about it, because when you tell a goalie “cut it outttttt!” and there’s no discipline forthcoming from someone in a position of authority, the bully is only gonna turn up the heat on you. Perhaps Kesler will resort to the “I’m not touching you” trick in future meetings. I hope so.

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To be clear: Kesler should have been suspended for last night’s Game 3. Johansen is right that the stuff Kesler gets away with — and in fact, gets praised for on every broadcast and every article from a non-Nashville outlet about this series — is beyond the pale. There’s no way it should happen in today’s game.

But it’s the playoffs so it’s going to. Peter Laviolette would be wise to use last change to free Johansen from his tormentor as much as possible, not just because Kesler might try to pants him during the national anthem, but also because he’s very clearly leasing space in Johansen’s head at this point. Which is, of course, the plan.

Why play into it?

5 – The Stars goaltending situation

“Hmm,” thought Jim Nill as his team’s season prematurely smoldered, “I have two goalies who are very bad and over-30 and quite expensive. It’s a real problem. What to do, what to do?

“Ah, I know. As a GM who people used to think was very smart but who let two middle-pairing UFA defensemen walk for nothing in the offseason because of how expensive my two bad, old goalies are, I will sign a bad, old goalie for a lot of money. And a lot of years. And I will be sure to give up an asset to do it!

“And sure, I could wait until the playoffs are over and see if I can get, say, Marc-Andre Fleury, or maybe one of Detroit’s goalies. But what’s the fun in that?

“So who can I get who fits the bill? Has to be a UFA. And preferably he’d already be pretty close to 31. And he’d have to be coming off a career-worst season. And if possible, it would be ideal to get someone who was also plagued by lower-body injuries, which are particularly bad for goalies because they aren’t easy to recover from. Especially if they’re really tall!

“And what, if — and maybe I’m being crazy here — what if we also didn’t really have a good plan for how to deal with the two other old, bad goalies I still have on the roster?

“Jimmy, that just might work!”

Ben Bishop. Who will be 31 in November. Got six years and a little less than $5 million per. And all for the low, low price a fourth-round pick and a goaltending logjam that will be almost impossible to work out without dead cap space.

Beautiful.

4 – The Penguins goaltending situation

The good news for the Penguins, though, is that Marc-Andre Fleury continues to play some very good hockey in Matt Murray’s stead. That gives them approximately a million options for the next two seasons.

The question is whether teams will be willing to accommodate a team that has gone to two straight Conference Finals (and perhaps more before this postseason is all over) that might need some cap wiggle room. As I said in the mailbag yesterday, there really aren’t a lot of teams that need goaltending help, and a $5.75 million backup probably isn’t ideal as part of a going concern.

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But if Dallas is willing to give up all that to get Ben Bishop, imagine what a desperate team would give up for a goalie who only has two more years left and is coming off what will probably be, at worst, a .925 postseason save percentage.

Not ideal, but not terrible.

3 – Jason Botterill

First of all, you don’t get to all of a sudden decide to say, “My name is pronounced this other way,” after decades in hockey. This is Jason “It’s pronounced Kroag now” Krog and Brad “Marsh-AND” Marchand all over again. This isn’t on us, Jason!

But second of all, shoutout to a college hockey guy finally getting his shot to run a team. Of course, that team happens to be the Buffalo Sabres, at a time when their blue line is made up of a bunch of guys I wouldn’t trust to protect my computer at Starbucks while I went to the bathroom for a second. And also their owner is a huge fanboy who thinks he knows anything about hockey, when in fact he does not.

So congrats on the job and everything, but uhhh, good luck.

Phil Kessel of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

2 – Angry Phil Kessel

A million individual blessings to America’s most beautiful and kind hockey boy, Phil Kessel, who loves to shout at his teammates and score goals and be perfect in all ways.

Kessel’s goal on Monday night to win that horrid 1-0 game and even the series was his 29th in his playoff career. And despite playing in Toronto for a bunch of years, that puts him in fairly exclusive company.

Since Kessel’s career began, he’s one of only 20 guys to score at least 29 playoff goals. But again, because his teams were so bad, you have to keep in mind he’s only played 60 playoff games, compared to the 85-plus for literally everyone in front of or behind him.

So how’s this one for a stat: Out of the 231 players to appear in at least 50 playoff games since 2006-07, Phil Kessel — who plenty of people hated and called an out-of-shape loser right up until he won a Cup — is first in goals per game, at 0.48.

That’s ahead of playoff choker Alex Ovechkin, but also playoff Clutch Performer Daniel Briere.

So, y’know, stay angry, Phil. It’s working!

1 – Watching paint dry

Okay so an interesting lesson anyone on Twitter has learned in recent weeks is that you should not under any circumstances express your extremely correct opinion that the Ottawa Senators play boring-ass, defense-only-ass, Ambien-ass hockey.

They do. Everyone knows that it is boring and no one besides Senators fans should enjoy it. In general, you want to be scoring about one goal per period. Ottawa’s offense is well below that number, and it should come as no surprise that they’re last in the playoffs in goals for per 60.

This isn’t a value judgment, by the way. To say they are boring is not to say they don’t deserve to be in a conference final. When you have a minimally talented team and you’re trying to get wins, you use whatever tactics work. Obviously. Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference Final are a great example: Ottawa scored three goals in six-plus periods and held the Penguins to two. Now, this is a badly banged-up Penguins team. And they’re still only 1-1 in the series.

But the best Ottawa can do is hope to make every game a coin flip, especially at this point of the postseason. The idea that you’re going to get reliable results in the form of really close games that go one way or the other is preferable to playing run-and-gun, because everyone on earth knows the Penguins would shred them playing run-and-gun.

Point is, of course Ottawa fans don’t think this is boring. Either playing to come back from a 2-1 deficit or protect a 1-0 lead is going to make you really goddamn nervous. That gets the adrenaline pumping, and if your heart is racing for the last 20 minutes of every game, you’re going to feel like, “Wow I just sweated my way through a really intense hockey game.”

But believe me when I say, if you don’t have skin in the game, you’re gonna find this hockey boring as hell. It’s by design and everything, but that doesn’t make it aesthetically pleasing. Try not to equate “unimaginably tense for you” with “enjoyable for everyone.”

(Not ranked this week: The Nashville anthem guy.

My man, this is like Harry Zolnierczyk complaining to the media that Filip Forsberg is getting the big minutes. Figure it out.)

 Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

(All statistics via Corsica unless otherwise noted.)

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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Alex Ovechkin, Capitals stars finally shine vs. Penguins

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Confidence is never exactly in abundance for the Washington Capitals in the second round of the playoffs. Especially when the Pittsburgh Penguins are on the other side of the ice.

Yet when it came to a struggling Alex Ovechkin, one of his teammates and his head coach were both convinced he’d make an impact with the team facing elimination in Game 5 on Saturday night – and he did.

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Ovechkin was coming off his worst performance of the 2017 postseason: Failing to score, mustering only four shot attempts and taking two minor penalties in the Capitals’ Game 4 loss against a Pittsburgh Penguins team that was missing Sidney Crosby.

Ovechkin slammed his effort, saying he made “stupid decisions.”

Over the next three days, Ovechkin’s playoff performance was criticized by pundits on NBC, while others in Canada and in Washington wondered aloud if the Capitals would be a more successful playoff team if they traded the best goal scorer of his generation.

But Evgeny Kuznetsov, Ovechkin’s teammate? He believed in him, to the point where he guaranteed that Ovechkin would score in Game 5.

At 7:47 of the third period, just 27 seconds after Kuznetsov himself gave Washington a 3-2 lead, Ovechkin ripped a shot from high in the zone past Marc-Andre Fleury for his fifth of the playoffs – a critical bit of breathing room for a Capitals team that played with a previously unseen confidence in the third period of their 4-2 win, avoiding elimination and beating the Penguins with Sidney Crosby back in the lineup.

“You still don’t trust me?” said Kuznetsov, when asked about his prediction. “I know him pretty well. Lots of talk around and I know he gonna step up for sure. You can see how he plays today. That’s our captain.”

Ovechkin was one of several star players who led the Capitals over Pittsburgh on Saturday night. For the first time in the series, they had the big names carrying play and the goaltender who was stopping everything: Goals from Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom, and clutch netminding from Braden Holtby (20 saves) in the third period.

“When your top guys make a difference, it motivates everybody to want to go to the next level, as far as their game. You’re sitting next to a guy who elevated his game, you better elevate your game,” said coach Barry Trotz. “That’s what good leadership does. Our leaders led.”

Count the head coach among those leaders.

Trotz had been outmaneuvered for most of the series by the Penguins’ Mike Sullivan, and the hockey punditry thought he lost his damn mind before Game 5. He was dropping Ovechkin down to a third line with Lars Eller and Tom Wilson, taking his most lethal offensive weapon and placing him with two checking forwards.

But Trotz believed that’s what his team, and his star captain, needed.

And he believed that Ovechkin would understand.

“I talked to him. I was saying we need to change it up. Top players make people better. I said to him that it’s no different than Phil Kessel playing on the third line for [Pittsburgh]. It had a lot of impact for the Penguins, throughout the playoffs. Before this game, we had one assist from our bottom six guys.”

Against the Penguins in Game 5, Eller had two assists and Ovechkin had a goal. Meanwhile, Andre Burakovsky, who was elevated to the team’s top line, responded with a goal and an assist on Backstrom’s snipe.

All the coach wanted to accomplish was better offensive balance, and that’s what was achieved. “It was more [about] our lineup, getting more contributions. No different than Pittsburgh. They have multiple lines that can contribute,” he said. “I was looking to give us a little more depth, scoring. When we met as a coaching staff, we wanted to get more scoring throughout our lines, and tonight we did.”

As bold, desperate lineup decisions go, Trotz had to feel pretty good about this one.

“I think it worked. We won the game,” said Burakovsky.

Winning two more against the Penguins will be a tall order. Hell, the Capitals won Game 5 last season too, only to be eliminated back in Pittsburgh in Game 6.

Crosby, held without an even-strength point, will be better. Evgeni Malkin, whose line did a horrendous job establishing pressure in the Capitals’ zone all night, will be better. And while he was human for the first time in Game 5, Fleury has played some of his best postseason hockey at home.

But if the Capitals’ leaders lead, as they did in Game 5, they’ve shown what Washington is capable of accomplishing in the postseason.

“I live for these moments, for those type of games,” said Kuznetsov.

And what’s his prediction for Ovechkin in Game 6 on Monday night?

“He’s gonna score two goals.”

—

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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NHL Awards 2017: The winners, the finalists and the unworthy

The Professional Hockey Writers Association, NHL Broadcasters Association and the NHL’s general managers have all shipped off their ballots this week for their respective NHL Awards voting.

As a PHWA member, it’s an honor to have a vote. I respect the dissenting opinions from some corners of the journalism world that writers having influence over contractual bonuses for players who win awards does blur the line a bit. I disagree with it, but I respect it.

I think having an independent panel voting for these awards elevates them from being an extension of the NHL’s marketing department. Having been a voter for several awards cycles, I’ve been impressed with how seriously most PHWA members take this task. (I think social media and analytics have both been influential to that end, keeping us honest and giving us added insight into the various candidates.) It’s been a real treat to see the Selke Trophy, for example, be awarded for more than plus/minus and faceoff percentage.

Is it embarrassing to look at the vote totals after the awards and see a few cast in lazy ignorance or homerism? Totally. But ultimately, the PHWA gets the finalists and the winners right. Most of the time. And even when we don’t, there’s at least an argument to be made for the winner.

The PWHA has asked members not to post their full ballots before the ceremony in June, out of fear that really smart hockey bloggers who may or may not have been employed at one time by an NHL team might piece together the winners weeks before they’re announced.

So I’ll take my cue from PWHA elder Scott Burnside and present my top three for each award and “how I think things might shake out” at the awards in Vegas.

The winners are my choices. The finalists are in alphabetical order. Keep in mind all awards and PHWA voted unless noted, and that our ballots include the top five for each award.

And here … we … go.

Hart Trophy

Winner: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

My Finalists: Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets; Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins; McDavid.

Off My Ballot: Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks

I’ve never understood the allergy some voters have for putting goalies in the Hart conversation. Sometimes it’s “they have their own award” and sometimes it’s “well, a goalie should win the Hart every year if that’s the case,” as if that’s somehow a bad thing and/or something that could be easily corrected with a change in the award’s language to “skaters only.”

But Bobrovsky was superb during the Jackets’ streak and he was superb when the bloom came off their rose. He played a career-best 63 games, and he’s probably going to win the Vezina and give John Tortorella the Jack Adams.

That said, this comes down to Crosby vs. McDavid, and it’s always been no contest for me.

The Oilers are a playoff team because McDavid played a full season and won the Art Ross while doing everything he could to drag the team along. And if this is where you tell me that Cam Talbot deserves the credit for the Oilers’ success, then I’ll respectfully ask how Crosby can have impacted the Penguins to the extent McDavid did the Oilers with Evgeni Malkin finishing third in the NHL in points per game, having played 7 minutes and 44 seconds with Crosby this season.

Congrats, Connor, on the first of many.

Norris Trophy

Winner: Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks

Finalists: Burns; Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning; Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators.

Off My Ballot: Kevin Shattenkirk, Washington Capitals

I tried, folks.

I really did.

Tried to find a reason not to go along with the yearlong coronation of Burns by the Canadian media, like that idiocy with Drew Doughty last season. Tried to make the case for Karlsson. Tried to make the case for Hedman – hell, I’d been going around saying he’s my winner for weeks.

Then I sat down, crunched the numbers and … wow, what a season.

But when you get down to it, no one was better than Burns as a defenseman in 2016-17. His offensive season, in terms of goals and shots, hasn’t been seen in 25 years. From a possession standpoint, he had a 14.77 Corsi-for relative to his teammates (per 60), which was best in the NHL for all skaters.

While Hedman falls just short – props for his season away from Anton Stralman, proving once and for all he’s not just a product of that pairing – I know there are analytical arguments to be made for Karlsson. Some of his metrics were affected by a changing role this season, and there’s something laudable about his sudden shot-blocking prowess. (His 59 takeaways were six better than Burns, and Burns led the NHL with 153 giveaways.)

I’d have no problem if Karlsson won, but I do have a problem with the undercurrent of support for him that wants atone for the times he didn’t win but should have.

That’s dumb. That’s how you end up with Al Pacino winning an Oscar for “Scent of a Woman.” It’s as insidious a motivation as Burns being preordained to win back in September 2016.

The more you dig into the numbers, the more impressed you are with Burns’s season. Karlsson, in the end, is the better defenseman, and we suspect will be remembered as such in 20 years. But this is a special season for Burns, and the award simply covers this season.

This isn’t a lifetime achievement award. Well, except if you’re Drew Doughty.

Vezina Trophy

Winner: Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets

Finalists: Bobrovsky; Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild; Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals

This is the general managers’ award, so these are just my finalists if I had a vote.

Bob wins, in a walk. I suspect Dubnyk made a strong enough impression before his season fell apart. Holtby had a better season than Carey Price, but I assume the GMs will still give that final spot to Price, which is a mistake. All in all, I wish there was a way Cam Talbot could snag that third nomination, given his Herculean goaltending performance for the Oilers.

Calder Trophy

Winner: Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

Finalists: Patrik Laine, Winnipeg Jets; Matthews; Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets.

Off My Ballot: Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes

I love Laine, but he had to win a significant offensive category to even make this a debate. Matthews hit 40 goals and 29 assists and 69 (nice) points to lead the NHL’s rookies. Laine barely won the points-per-game argument, too. Matthews always had the intangibles in his favor, and now he has the hard numbers too, so it’s done.

Werenski over Matt Murray, by the way, because 49 starts isn’t a high enough workrate from the Penguins goalie in comparison to previous Calder-winning goalies like Steve Mason (61) and Andrew Raycroft (57).

Jack Adams Award

Winner: Mike Babcock, Toronto Maple Leafs

Finalists: Babcock; Bruce Boudreau, Minnesota Wild; John Tortorella, Columbus Blue Jackets

The broadcasters vote this award on, and so these are just how I would have voted.

Babcock winning here isn’t a lifetime achievement award, although one could see it that way. Unlike the other two, he didn’t have the benefit of Vezina-caliber goaltending for most of the year. He did some of the best coaching of his career in working with a rookie core, turning Nazem Kadri into a Selke contender, papering over some lackluster defenders and the like. If he wins, it’s for this season, even if this should be, like, his third Jack.

Boudreau’s influence on Minnesota’s offense was demonstrable and ridiculous. And while no one will ever accuse me of being a John Tortorella guy – and as much as his team’s success was a product of his goaltender – there’s no denying his impact on and off the ice.

Lady Byng Trophy

Winner: Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames

Finalists: Gaudreau; Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks; Oscar Klefbom, Edmonton Oilers.

Off My Ballot: Who cares?

Johnny’s a sweet boy. Oscar played defense and never took penalties. Hossa’s a kind gentlemen.

So in summary, the writers should cede this award to the NHL Officials Association, who are the ones best qualified to choose which players are the most gentlemanly.

But if you wanted an award on which players are the biggest [expletives], the writers are here for you. We’re experts.

Selke Trophy

Winner: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins

Finalists: Bergeron; Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild; John Tavares, New York Islanders 

Off My Ballot: Ryan Kesler, Anaheim Ducks

Tavares is one of those candidates I’m really pulling for, because he had an absolutely outstanding season defensively. Plus, you know, with the Islanders these days, I just want to bring him some semblance of joy.

But Bergeron, even in what some are considering a down year, is so far and away the best defensive forward in hockey this season to suggest otherwise is blasphemy. The man has earned his Lidstrom-like run with this award.

Who are your award winners and finalists? Hit us up in the comments.

—

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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Puck Daddy’s 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs Picks: Who wins it all?

The 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs are finally here!

The NHL’s current playoff system gave us uncertainty until the final weekend; inequitable circumstances for successful teams, like the Montreal Canadiens drawing the New York Rangers in the first round; and, alas, nearly none of the rivalry matchups that seemed so possible down the stretch, i.e. the Battles of Ontario, Alberta and California.

What we’re left with are some intense matchups, some oddly compelling ones and five Canadian teams that somehow won’t cannibalize each other in the opening round for once.

So who wins in Round 1? And who eventually hoists the Holy Grail?

Puck Daddy presents its 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs prognostications, featuring editors Greg Wyshynski, Sean Leahy, Jen Neale and Josh Cooper; columnist Ryan Lambert; staff writer Justin Cuthbert; and fantasy writer Steve Laidlaw of Dobber Hockey.

Here’s how we see the first round shaking out:

And now, some additional predictions and views on the 2017 Playoffs:

Which series are you most looking forward to and why? 

Greg Wyshynski: The Edmonton Oilers, with the boundless young dumb energy of a teenage boy fumbling with his first bra strap, taking on last year’s crusty old conference champions, the San Jose Sharks. Connor McDavid’s first spin in the playoff spotlight. Strap in.

Sean Leahy: I’m looking forward to two series. The first is Penguins-Blue Jackets because there’s never any love lost between these teams. The fans hate one another. The players hate one another. Torts and Sullivan are good pals, but for the next two weeks they won’t be. Then there’s also Sharks-Oilers, which gives us Connor McJesus’ first foray into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Will Cam Talbot hold up? How many points will McDavid amass? How long will Joe Thornton’s beard be by the end of the series?

Jen Neale: The Blue Jackets and Penguins, and it’s a shame they’re meeting so early. The two teams have established a pretty good regular season rivalry. Outside of Pittsburgh, who doesn’t love watching Brandon Dubinsky really, truly piss off Sidney Crosby? This is going to be physical and ugly.

Josh Cooper: I like the storyline of St. Louis coach Mike Yeo vs. his old team with the Blues against the Minnesota Wild. If the Blues win that series it will be devastating for the Wild – an organization that fired Yeo last season and ended up replacing him with Bruce Boudreau in the summer.

Ryan Lambert: I’m psyched for Chicago/Nashville. Been rooting for it all year. Those are just two very good, entertaining teams. I think Chicago remains a little overrated in terms of their overall quality, but they’ve come on a bit in the past month or two, process-wise. meanwhile, Nashville has been a solid team all year, held back only by a lack of a serious top line like it had last season.

Chicago actually dominated the season series, winning four of five, and by a combined score of 20-14. But take out empty-netters and it was 17-14. Pretty close. These are two evenly matched teams that play fun hockey. Should be a great series.

Justin Cuthbert: The contrast in form in the two-three matchup in the Pacific Division between the Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks makes it the most captivating series for me. Connor McDavid and crew soared over the finish line while the defending Western Conference champion Sharks, perhaps now feeling the effects of last season’s run, staggered across. It’ll be fascinating to see if the Sharks have a reserve, and if postseason know-how levels the playing field. 

Steve Laidlaw: Columbus vs. Pittsburgh – This matchup was madness two years ago and the gap between the two has shrunk, especially with Letang out. Watching Dubinsky antagonize Crosby for two weeks will be wonderful.

Give us one team you think could be the sleeper pick in this year’s playoffs and why?

Greg Wyshynski: Nashville. Everyone’s preseason darling – P.K. Subban is a hell of a drug – could be one of those teams that finds itself in the playoffs, especially after a big series win. Like the one I’m foolishly predicting will happen in Round 1 against the Blackhawks.

Sean Leahy: Can you call the Sharks a dark horse in the West? I think I’m calling the Sharks a dark horse in the West.

Jen Neale: The Oilers. I can’t believe I’m writing that. This isn’t your mama’s Oilers. Connor McDavid isn’t the sole producer on the team. Leon Draisaitl had 77 points. There are two 50-plus and two 40-plus point scorers. Cam Talbot earned 42 wins without completely breaking down. Patrick Maroon had 27 goals (!!) when his career high was 11 to that point. They’re still missing a ‘game changer’ on the blueline but they can make a pretty good run in the West.

Josh Cooper: I like the Anaheim Ducks as a team that could do some damage. Not having Cam Fowler hurts but if there’s a team that can withstand the loss of a player like Fowler on defense, it’s the Ducks – a group that’s loaded with blue liners.

They’re big, physical, fast and play the type of hockey that can go far in the playoffs. I think they’ll make the Western Conference Final but an appearance in the Cup Final wouldn’t surprise me. 

Ryan Lambert: I can see the Bruins getting on one and making a deeper run than many might expect given their record. They have a good goalie and one of the more impressive top lines in the league. Moreover, their process all year has been solid as hell, and the ability to play Ottawa and then the winner of Montreal/New York is as good a playoff pull as anyone is gonna get. I’m not saying it’ll happen, but it for-sure could.

Justin Cuthbert: The St. Louis Blues, considered the longest shot to win the Stanley Cup in the minds of oddsmakers, outscored opponents 44-24 at five-on-five since dismantling some at the trade deadline. Strong form and low expectation equals upset potential. 

Steve Laidlaw: Columbus – No one seems to give them much chance of getting through the Metro gauntlet and perhaps rightfully so but the banged-up Penguins are ripe to be upset, and we all know Washington’s playoff woes. Plus, Bobrovsky was the best goalie in the league all season. If he stays hot, he can steal a series or three.

What is your Stanley Cup Final, and how does it play out?

Greg Wyshynski

EAST: Capitals

WEST: Wild

STANLEY CUP CHAMPION: Capitals in 7. Hey kids, if you’re following along, that’s Bruce Boudreau losing a Game 7 to his former team.

CONN SMYTHE: Braden Holtby

Sean Leahy

EAST: Capitals

WEST: Sharks

STANLEY CUP CHAMPION: Capitals in 6 (picking the Caps always seems to work out!)

CONN SMYTHE: Braden Holtby 

Jen Neale

EAST: Penguins

WEST: Blackhawks

STANLEY CUP CHAMPION: Blackhawks in 7

CONN SMYTHE: Jonathan Toews

Josh Cooper

EAST: Capitals

WEST: Blackhawks

STANLEY CUP CHAMPION: Blackhawks in 7

CONN SMYTHE: Jonathan Toews

Ryan Lambert

EAST: Capitals

WEST: Blackhawks

STANLEY CUP CHAMPION: Capitals in 6

CONN SMYTHE: Braden Holtby 

Justin Cuthbert

EAST: Capitals

WEST: Blackhawks

STANLEY CUP CHAMPION: Capitals in 7

CONN SMYTHE: Nicklas Backstrom

Steve Laidlaw

EAST: Capitals

WEST: Blackhawks

STANLEY CUP CHAMPION: Capitals in 6

CONN SMYTHE: Alex Ovechkin

—

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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Mike Babcock, Toronto Maple Leafs MVP and coach of the year

With a three-goal and three-point cushion in the rookie scoring race, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs likely has the Calder Trophy wrapped up – hell, he’s within 0.05 of slaying the Patrik Laine points-per-game argument. The hype train has now pulled into the “Hart Trophy vote” station; he’s not going to win, but he’s going to get votes, for certain.

But at this point I’m less concerned with Matthews getting his due and more concerned with Mike Babcock finally getting his. Because when they give out the Jack Adams Award this season, and if the Maple Leafs are a playoff team – and there’s a 97.6-percent chance of this, despite the loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night – it needs to be in Babcock’s hands.

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We all know the Jack Adams is won or lost on the strength of a coach’s narrative, because the broadcasters vote on the award and they care more about three-minute vignettes with broad strokes of story than they do the minutia of the stats.

Babcock, for perhaps the first time, has a story to tell: The Leafs were not expected to make the playoffs, they’re likely going to make the playoffs, they don’t have a goalie carrying the team and he’s had to herd cats with the number of young players that have thrived from start-to-finish on this journey.

So you have the coach overcoming the odds and a surprise team. But he also has an air-tight case for the Jack Adams and, in turn, as the catalyst for the Leafs’ success. This is true both in intangibles and in real numbers.

You can find the intangibles in nearly every story written about Babcock this season, and his handling of the young roster.

From the Detroit News:

Matt Hunwick, a 31-year-old veteran defenseman from Warren, is, like many veterans over the years, impressed with the attention to detail and preparation Babcock and his assistants brings to the task. “With the amount of preparation they put in and the amount of film they watch, there’s really no stone unturned,” said Hunwick, who also played at Michigan. “And, with his philosophy, he’s got a game plan every night and we’re expected to execute it to the fullest, and I think that’s part of the reason we’ve been so successful this year.”

From the Toronto Star:

“The passion he brings for games . . . it’s amazing,” said centre Brian Boyle, who joined the team Leafs last Wednesday after a deadline deal with Tampa Bay. “The knowledge he has of other people throughout the league, you have to love the game to know what he knows.”

From Sportsnet:

Babcock may not be everyone’s cup of tea–Chris Chelios recently told a Detroit radio station that veteran free agents didn’t want to play for him here – but his level of preparation and willingness to tell it like it is undoubtedly make his teams better. And the Leafs are currently better than anybody imagined.

“Babs is a very intense guy and he demands that everyone kind of plays his way,” winger Matt Martin said. “It doesn’t matter who you are. You’re going to play the way he wants you to play or you’re going to get some sort of punishment for it. …[Chelios] was here for a long time and I’ve only been with him for three-quarters of a year now, but he is hard and he demands that guys play the right way and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

So he’s got that master motivator, attention to detail thing down. He always has, mind you, but it just becomes all the more obvious when the team isn’t in the midst of a playoff streak like the Detroit Red Wings were. It feels like he’s building something, rather than being a caretaker for it, and that perception makes a different when it comes to award time.

But it’s not just testimony that validates Babcock’s season.

Through 79 games, the Maple Leafs have a team shooting percentage of 8.32. That’s seventh best in the NHL this season, behind the Washington Capitals (9.36) and the Minnesota Wild (9.24).

If this holds, Babcock’s Leafs will have one of the highest shooting percentages in his tenure in the NHL. Corsica tracks team shooting percentage at 5-on-5 back to the 2007-08 season. From then until now, Babcock’s had one team shoot this well: The 2011-12 Red Wings, who had Jiri Hudler at 19.7-percent and Valtteri Filppula at 16-percent. (Wow!)

The Leafs’ shooting percentage last season was 6.36, so this is a bit of an improvement. Ditto their scoring chances (52.14 percent, up from 49.10 percent from last year). Ditto their expected goals-for per 60 minutes, a great scoring metric from Emmanuel Perry; as defined in laymen’s terms by NHL Numbers: “They calculate the likelihood that each shot taken will lead to a goal and use that to calculate the expected goals for a team. So, if a team generates 20 shots that each have a 5 percent chance of being a goal, they would accumulate one expected goal.”

The Leafs’ expected goals last season at 5-on-5 was 2.38 per 60 minutes, and that’s jumped to 2.82 this season.

So what’s changed? Well, let’s start with the obvious: Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner arrived and are the first, third and fourth-leading scorers on the team. Nazem Kadri improved by 14 goals, thanks in no small part to Babcock casting him well.

The offensive spark extends to special teams, where the Leafs are clicking at 24.4 percent compared to 15.4 percent last season, even if they’re going to end up with about 20 fewer power-play chances. (Hey, kids don’t always get the calls.) They crash the crease and do it well, which has always been a Babcock hallmark.

Which brings us to the essential question: How much of this is Babcock?

I like Dimitri Filipovic’s take on Babcock: He gave the Leafs the structure and the template, and then the talent started really arriving to make it work in Year 2. You can’t give him credit for how damn good the Leafs’ Trinity of rookie scorers has been, but you can give him credit for the structure on and off the ice that’s helped them flourish. When’s the last time a team had three rookies at its core and none of them really hit the wall? It’s extraordinary.

But the fact remains, it’s a young team, and Babcock’s led them to what we all assume is going to be a playoff spot. It’s still a team trying to figure a few things out. They give up too many shots per game (32.8). Their team GAA is 2.84, 21st in the NHL, and another reason why Babcock’s Jack Adams candidacy differs than that of John Tortorella, Bruce Boudreau and Barry Trotz, who are all likely to have coached Vezina finalists.

They’re also 31-1-9 when leading after two periods: a .756 winning percentage that’s 25th in the NHL, by far the lowest for any playoff team. So they’re still learning this whole winning thing. And yet Babcock has them in the playoffs.

Look, I have no idea why Babcock hasn’t won a Jack Adams. At this point he’s Al Pacino, wondering how the Academy missed him in “The Godfather Part II” and “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Serpico” and hoping that the 2017 Leafs are his “Scent of a Woman.”

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One reason he hasn’t won has been the assumption that the Detroit Red Wings were a machine and he was just walking around it with a clipboard in case one of the gears started sparking and smoking. Part of it is the Jack Adams Award’s slavish dedication to the obvious: ‘Hey this was a bad team and now it’s a good team and the only difference is PATRICK ROY!’

Part of it is, no doubt, Babcock’s utter lack of humility, which is actually one of this greatest attributes: Not only because he’s earned that swagger having accomplished what he has in the NHL and internationally, but because without he wouldn’t have been the first free agent who willfully accepted the challenge (and, well, the eight years of millions of dollars) to come to Toronto.

Much like it’s become increasingly impossible to deny Matthews the Calder and deny that the Leafs Are Actually Good, it’s hard to deny that Mike Babcock has done the best coaching job in the NHL this season, and should be rewarded as such.

—

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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Alex Ovechkin vs. the Blackhawks’ Company Men on Olympics

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin earned a lot of notoriety for sticking to his guns and saying that he’s still going to the Olympics even if the NHL isn’t. He’s been emboldened by his owner, Ted Leonsis, who has stated that he would support Ovechkin, goalie Braden Holtby and center Nicklas Backstrom if they left midseason to represent their countries in 2018.

Of course, that doesn’t address John Carlson or Evgeny Kuznetsov or T.J. Oshie (if he’s still there) and Philipp Grubauer, who would no doubt represent Germany in goal should they qualify and leave the Capitals with a third-stringer for three weeks of a still-happening NHL regular season.

Also, we’ll go ahead and assume that the Capitals will still charge full-price for these tickets to watch the de facto Hershey Bears while the star attractions attend the Olympics …

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All of this is to say that it’s great some owners have supported their players, but to allow one to leave would be to allow all to leave and that’s complicated. Which is why, from the moment the NHL announced it wasn’t going to the 2018 Games, we assumed it will play the role of wet blanket and enact some kind of rule that’ll prevent any of the players from going so owners like Leonsis can tell players like Ovechkin that their hands are tied by that nasty Gary Bettman and, oh well, just wait until 2022.

Earning less notoriety, but arguably more interesting, were the reactions from the Chicago Blackhawks’ players that were asked about the NHL pulling out of the Olympics.; in which some rather outspoken players sounded very much like Company Men.

Here’s Jonathan Toews:

Toews on NHL Olympic decision: "It just seems like it comes down to what can they get out of us when the next CBA negotiation rolls around." pic.twitter.com/WB66V2BL6A

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) April 4, 2017

There’s some pointed comments here about how the NHL is using this issue to play CBA hardball with the players, but we’ll come back to that first line:

“You have to respect your employers, your owner’s decision.”

That’s something you pretty much never hear when the players go to the negotiating table, is it?

Then you have Duncan Keith, via the Sun-Times:

“It’s a tough position as a player,” said Duncan Keith, who has won two gold medals with Canada. “You want to be respectful of the team and your owner who pays you the money, but you also want to be patriotic every chance you can, and play for your country. It’s a tough decision.”

Again, shout-out to Rocky Wirtz and the Blackhawks, and not a call for mutiny.

We know what you’re saying: These guys have their gold medals. What about those who don’t, like Patrick Kane?

From the Chicago Tribune:

KANE: "You’d rather be there, but you kind of understand where the NHL is coming from, but we’ll see what happens from now until then."

— Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) April 4, 2017

Kane and Toews both said they would not leave the Blackhawks midseason to go play in the Olympics.

— Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) April 4, 2017

Oh.

So what did Rocky Wirtz actually say about Olympic participation? From the Sun-Times:

“It’s 17 days of the season you’ve got to shut down,” owner Rocky Wirtz said last month. “I really don’t have an opinion on it, but it’s a tough time of the year. I’d love to see if they could do it in the summer when it doesn’t disrupt the season. Obviously, the players like it because very few of them actually go, and they get 17 days off. I think it’s not really fair for the fans, but I’ll let the league decide.”

 And “the league,” i.e. owners like Wirtz, have apparently decided not to go.

The players don’t feel this is a settled issue, even though every indication is that the NHL has made it one. It won’t be if the players extend the CBA, which they won’t; and it won’t be if the IOC gives the NHL the concessions it’s looking for, and good luck with that.

So if this is it, and the NHL isn’t going to South Korea, get ready for one hell of a showdown. No, not the NHL vs. the players leaving for the Olympics – the Company Men that put team over country vs. those players who put country above all else.

—

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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Puck Lists: 9 games to watch down the stretch

PUCK LISTS are lists of hockey things. They run every Thursday on Puck Daddy.

Most teams only have between eight and 10 games left on the schedule, and playoff races are getting interesting.

As mentioned the other day, it’s not necessarily that we need to be watching which team is or isn’t going to make the playoffs at this point. Almost every spot seems assured, and the Leafs might soon have the last one sewn up as well — but rather the seeding teams will enjoy in this dumbass playoff format.

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As Jarmo Kekalainen bemoaned the other day, a team with one of the three or four best records in the league is guaranteed to be bounced out in the first round of the Metro divisional playoffs, and another will probably go in the second. Moreover, the overall quality of some of the higher seeds in the league makes it increasingly important to avoid those first-round matchups by finishing second or third in your division, in both conferences.

It’s dumb as hell, but it means that a lot of the regular-season games remaining have a lot of meaning. Which I guess is a kind-of-good thing for the league?

Anyway, here are some games with big playoff implications that you should all have circled on your calendar.

10 – Montreal at Ottawa (March 25)

The Sens are three points back of the Habs with a game in hand, and by the time they play on Saturday, that could make things very interesting indeed.

At this point it’s probably a better idea to want to lose this game, because it seems to me you’d rather finish second in the Atlantic and play one of either the skidding Bruins or the streaky Maple Leafs, rather than the damn New York Rangers and, potentially, Henrik Lundqvist again.

It’ll be interesting to see if Montreal, with its slight advantage right now, decides to, uhh, “rest” Carey Price a little down the stretch. Winning the division is nice, but advancing to the second round is probably nicer at the end of the day. This should be a race to the bottom.

9 – Chicago at Pittsburgh (March 29)

Oh yeah, it’s a cross-conference game with big implications.

At present, Chicago is two points back and the Capitals have a game in-hand, but still very much in the hunt for the Presidents’ Trophy. Not that it will necessarily matter to them to win or not-win the award since they’re going to play the last playoff team in the West regardless.

This one of several very important ones the Pens have down the stretch (and I guess when you’re this close to the No. 1 seed in that particular division, every game is important). The fact that it’s in Pittsburgh is great news; the Penguins only have four(!) home regulation losses.

And unlike Chicago or Montreal, the ability to finish first in the Metro, so as to avoid one of Washington or Columbus, and instead play the No. 8 Eastern team, is huge.

This game kinda matters for Chicago, implications-wise, but it’s absolutely critical for Pittsburgh to take two points against a very good team.

8 – Nashville at St. Louis (April 2)

These two teams are both basically in the playoffs, and tied for the third slot in the Central with 82 points in 72 games.

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And I’m not sure there’s a good answer here, but would you rather play Chicago as the second wild card, San Jose as the first, or Minnesota as the No. 3 team in the Central? If it’s me I go Minnesota (Dubnyk seems to be slipping), San Jose (good but with some holes), and then Chicago (because good lord they’re on one right now).

That means actually winning this game is vital for both teams. The problem for the Blues, then, is this: They’re 1-3 against Nashville this season, and have been outscored 14-7. The fact that this game is in Nashville probably doesn’t help either.

5-7 (three-way tie) Ducks at Oilers (March 30), Calgary/Anaheim home-and-home (April 2 and 4)

The middle of the Pacific is a big mess. Edmonton and Anaheim played last night, but entered that game tied with 87 points in 72 games. The Flames were a point back with an extra game played.

Now things are a little more muddled, but still incredibly close. That Ducks/Oilers rematch on March 30 is a wonderful appetizer that might allow the Ducks to pull ahead for good.

The main course is that home-and-home. You pull ahead in what are effectively two four-point games, and you get the honor of playing Edmonton, rather than San Jose. As good as Connor McDavid and Cam Talbot have been this year, you’d rather go up against the Oilers than the Sharks 10 times out of 10.

4 – Columbus at Chicago (March 31)

Same deal as that Pittsburgh/Chicago game above, but a few days later in the season, so we’ll know a little more about how the Presidents’ Trophy and Metro races going. Columbus also has a game the night before in Carolina. Not a fun turnaround.

3 – Columbus at Washington (TONIGHT!)

The rest of these games are just gonna be head-to-head Metro matchups but tonight’s game is interesting for a lot of reasons.

Columbus fans love to talk about how they beat the Capitals earlier in the year when they were on that PDO bender. But the Caps still took three points out of six in the season series, and they haven’t played each other in a while. Their first two games were in mid-November, and they didn’t play again until Jan. 5, when the Caps ran them out of the building 5-0. This is their first meeting since.

The Blue Jackets are also playing the second night of a back-to-back, and while travel from Columbus to DC isn’t exactly grueling, it’ll be interesting to see how this one shakes out.

2 – Washington at Columbus (April 2)

The return engagement, baby, and it comes in a brutal stretch for Columbus. They play an all-road back-to-back in Carolina and Chicago on March 30-31 (see above). Then they have one day off before they host Washington. Two days after that, it’s.

1 – Columbus at Pittsburgh (April 4)

There are a few games left in the season for both teams (including another all-road back-to-back for Columbus to close it out) but this might end up being the Penguins’ opportunity to put the Blue Jackets down for good in the race to the top of that division.

Meanwhile, Washington has a slightly easier schedule than these two teams down the stretch, so this might end up being a great preview of a Pens/Jackets playoff series that Columbus will lose in six games ha ha ha.

Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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