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Canadians, The Walking Wounded

Hockey Canada. Once the pride of a nation, once the destination for coaches, trainers, and players alike, has seen a massive shift in its countrywide perception in the last few months. In May of 2022, Hockey Canada settled a case with a woman who alleged that she was sexually assaulted by eight CHL players, some of whom were members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior Team at a gala event in London Ontario.

Hockey Canada almost immediately reached the settlement and paid the young woman more than $7.6 million from the National Equity Fund, whose funding is largely derived from minor hockey league registration fees.

The organization has been subject to massive public scrutiny and resentment, as it is estimated that 22% of households in Canada have a child registered in hockey, meaning approximately 10.1% of children in Canada are involved with Hockey Canada in some way.

The parents of those children are rightfully outraged and in the case of children in hockey, Jeff Marek put it perfectly in 32 thoughts;

“I think a lot of hockey parents feel this way, and there is this fear that if your son or daughter is in a high-level hockey loop somewhere down the road, one of the decisions you’re going to be faced with is how comfortable am I with surrendering my child to this sport, to go elsewhere…

…and one of the questions you ask as a parent is, is something bad going to happen to him or her, or, what type of people are they going to turn into? And I think that that’s a lot of trust that hockey parents put into Hockey Canada.” -Jeff Marek, Sportsnet.

This country as a whole has been wounded by Hockey Canada, and one individual has been wounded beyond reconciliation, beyond all apology and settlement. Poet Mary Havran once wrote…

“Whatever time, whatever place, or in whatever manner

Those who contributed to your loss of Innocence

Or at whose hands you were first Wounded

Do not hold the power to heal you

And they never will.

Even should they acknowledge and repent

You would still be walking through life wounded

Your initial Innocence still lost

Only you can sooth the hurts,

Bind the wounds, reclaim your rightful share of Innocence

Only Your Indomitable Spirit Can Prevail

Yours the choice to reject surrender and to overcome

You, accepting the role of Hero of your own life,

Who, in casting off from the past,

Becomes the Captain of all future voyages

Becoming one with the rest of us

We, the Walking Wounded"

-From The Poem “Walking Wounded” By Mary Havran

I believe that this poem greatly relates to the betrayal that many Canadians feel after the allegations of sexual assault against the 2018 Canada World Junior Team were made public. The initial feeling of anger, sadness, and most of all, empathy for the victim

“Those who contributed to your loss of Innocence

Or at whose hands you were first Wounded

Do not hold the power to heal you

And they never will.

Even should they acknowledge and repent

You would still be walking through life wounded

Your initial Innocence still lost”

I often think of this line when reading Hockey Canada’s “Open Letter to Canadians” in which they completely refused to acknowledge their part in the case.

No matter how much Hockey Canada tries to apologize, repent, or make any kind of reparations, it will all mean nothing if real change is never truly enacted.

It is not a crime to cheer for Canada in this upcoming World Junior tournament. It is not socially unacceptable to want these young Canadian athletes who had nothing to do with the 2018 alleged assault to succeed. In this upcoming tournament, we will be cheering for Canadian Hockey, not Hockey Canada.

We will be cheering for all the goodness within hockey. The friendship, the comradery, the passion and love for the game, and for the pride of our nation. Not for the terrible actions that have tainted the name of the sport in Canada.

But those actions will not be forgotten.

Thanks to the heroic voice of the survivor coming forward and bringing these allegations to light, and the fantastic reporting from journalists like Rick Westhead, this story will not die and fade into obscurity. The hockey world and Canada will remember what has happened, and we will always be left asking why.

Why was such an awful thing, such a heinous crime, committed under the banner of an organization that has held the trust of Canadians for decades? And why would they attempt to cover it up?

But even though we may never have the answers, we as a country, have the right to consolidation. As Mary Havran so eloquently wrote,

“Only you can soothe the hurts,

Bind the wounds, reclaim your rightful share of Innocence.

Only Your Indomitable Spirit Can Prevail”

The last line, specifically pertaining to Canadians. Only we can enact change. Only we can hold those criminals accountable, and only our indomitable spirit can prevail. And the spirit of Canadians will prevail. We will, as a country, move forward. We will demand change within Hockey Canada, and as long as we continue to bring this story to the forefront of hockey news, and demand answers, we will see change.

And it would appear as though there is change coming to the leadership of Hockey Canada. Although it will likely be slow and arduous, many powerful people within Canada have spoken up to address the issue.

Leading up to and during their hearing in front of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Hockey Canada has been widely affronted by some of the most important and powerful people in the country.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke ahead of the hearings, saying “...Hockey Canada needs to do an awful lot as an organization in order to gain back the trust of Canadians. Their behavior over these past years and indeed over these past months has been not worthy of an organization that embodies so many hopes and dreams of young Canadians... There needs to be a real reckoning with the kind of behavior we saw from that organization.”

Conservative party of Canada MP John Nater said on July 29th “Those who oversaw the cover-up of alleged sexual assaults cannot be trusted to be the ones to implement the necessary structural changes at Hockey Canada.”

And finally, one of the most powerful people in the sport of hockey and Order of Canada member Sheldon Kennedy made an especially impactful statement regarding the situation.

Hopefully, these words will mean something. Hopefully, we will see a massive organizational shift within Hockey Canada and the very culture of the sport of Hockey. As Canadians, we cannot let them wound us any longer. As Canadians, only our indomitable spirit can, and will prevail.

-Dave

/Special thanks to Rick Westhead and Mary Havran.

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An in-depth look at the Flames/Panthers Trade, and What it Means For Both Teams

The trade broke at 11:05 pm on July 22nd, sending both Flames and Panthers fans alike into a frenzy.

The Flames were left with an uncertain future after Johnny Gaudreau departed Calgary to sign a long-term deal in Columbus. Shortly afterwards, RFA Matthew Tkachuk made it clear that he was unwilling to re-sign with the Flames, demanding a trade to a small list of American teams, eventually ending up in Florida.

It was easily the biggest trade since Jack Eichel was dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights in November of last year, with some fans even equating the deal to the Gretzky-to-L.A. trade for Jimmy Carson in 1988, since it marked the first time since then that two 100+ point players were traded for one another.

Panthers star Jonathan Huberdeau, top pairing defenceman Mckenzie Weegar, forward prospect Cole Schwindt, and a 1st round pick in 2025 headed to Calgary in exchange for Tkachuck who had already agreed to an 8-year, 76 million dollar contract extension with the Panthers.

The Flames also threw in a conditional 4th-round pick in 2025.

What does this mean for both teams? The answer varies drastically from club to club.

Firstly, Tkachuck brings an incredibly unique skill set to the Panthers lineup along with a big personality. Not only is he a highly skilled puck-handler, but he is a physical presence on the ice, looking to hit anything that moves, and willing to drop the gloves at any time.

With a Proj. WAR of 91% and coming off a career season with 42 goals and 104 points, he is certainly worth the $9.5 million per year. He will have a chance to put up strong offensive numbers in a Panthers lineup that prioritizes offense.

Last season, Tkachuk was playing on arguably the best line in the NHL with Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm where he scored 42 goals. Was this a flash in the pan? it’s hard to say. It is worth noting however, that in his last three seasons before that, Tkachuk put up an average of 28 goals and 43 assists for 71 points per year at a 0.865 ppg pace.

Would Panthers fans be happy if Tkachuk went back to being a 30-goal, 70-point player? Likely not at the number he’s currently signed for.

The Flames, however, despite being backed up against a wall with only a few options, were able to get a massive return for Tkachuk.

Jonathan Huberdeau was the main piece heading the other way in this deal and is currently coming off a 115-point season with 30 goals and 85 assists

Huberdeau is regarded as one of the best passers in the NHL, utilizing his teammates to their full potential and guiding them to elite levels of play. He does however have average defensive numbers that are likely a symptom of playing in an environment with a lack of defensive structure like Florida and will need to adapt his game in order to fit in within Darryl Sutter’s system.

The other key piece in this deal is defenseman Mackenzie Weegar.

In recent years, Weegar has been a top 20 defenseman in the NHL, quietly flying under the radar of most fans while playing in Florida, where Aaron Ekblad often commands attention.

Both his offensive and defensive analytics are fantastic, and despite the way many Panthers fans have showered Aaron Ekblad with praise in the past few seasons, Weegar was easily their best defenseman this past season.

Weegar effectively ran Florida’s transition game last season even when Ekblad was absent, and when he was healthy the two made for one of the best D-pairings in the entire NHL, rivalled only by the likes of Devon Toews and Cale Makar and Charlie Mcavoy and Hampus Lindholm.

I believe that the deal would have been fair as a one-for-one swap. Tkachuk for Huberdeau. You take my 100+ point winger and I’ll take yours. The fact that Calgary was able to not only get Huberdeau, but also one of the best defensemen in the NHL, a young prospect, and a 1st round pick is highway robbery in my opinion.

The Flames Direction

With this trade, the Flames have demonstrated that they aren't at all ready to enter a rebuild. They could’ve simply sold Tkachuck for multiple high-value draft picks and prospects and then continued to sell other valuable assets like Elias Lindholm and Jake Markstrom. Instead, they decided to acquire the best players available, highly upgrading their defence with Weegar, and boosting their offence after the departure of Johnny Gaudreau with Jonathan Huberdeau.

Although it is worth noting that both Huberdeau and Weegar are unrestricted free agents this upcoming offseason, and could very easily sign somewhere else, leaving behind massive holes in the Flames lineup and reminding Flames fans of the heartbreak after the departure of Johnny Gaudreau.

If the two decide not to resign and the Flames lose them for nothing, it could be a miserable offseason.

The Flames could also, should they have a poor season on the ice, trade the two at the deadline for a boatload of assets, effectively beginning the dreaded rebuild on a high note. It would be difficult to imagine the enormous amount of value either Huberdeau or Weegar could command from a team looking to make a run at the cup, and bundled together in a package deal with salary retained, the return would be monumental.

Alternatively, they might be able to use the first-round pick from Florida to acquire another highly skilled player to somewhat rebuild the Tkachuk-Gaudreau-Lindholm line that was recently dismantled, once again bolstering their lineup and looking to contend again.

Overall, it seems the Flames are looking to once again be Cup contenders, with no interest in a rebuild.

The Panthers Direction

Of course, the Panthers are looking to make the push past the second round. Last season they made it out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1996 before being quickly swept in four games by the reigning back-to-back cup champions Tampa Bay Lightning on their way to their third straight Stanley Cup Final.

It was a very disappointing year for the Panthers after not only winning the President's trophy with an remarkable 58-18-6 record and 122 points, but they spent an enormous amount of assets at the deadline to acquire the likes of Ben Chiarot and Claude Giroux.

Due to their near prodigal spending both last season and in this particular deal, the Panthers won’t be drafting in the first round until 2026.

It’s safe to say that they don’t intend to see the draft lottery anytime soon. They are in the prime of their Cup Window.

How will this trade affect this league as a whole next season? How will the Flames adapt to these massive changes to their lineup? Will the Panthers and Matthew Tkachuk look to win a second straight president's trophy?

All will be covered here at the Highbutton

-Dave

\Player Cards and graphics courtesy of @JFreshHockey on Twitter

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3 Teams That Won NHL Free Agency

Although in most years free agency opens on July 1st, its substitute on July 13th this season didn't fail to deliver on what was promised. With 155 signings and over $900 Million in contract dollars having been spent by teams around the league since 12 pm on July 13th, the hockey world has been sent into a tailspin.

It’s been nearly impossible to keep track of all the trades and signings, but a few teams have stood out from the rest of the pack as the clear winners of the bloodthirsty free agent frenzy.

These are, in my opinion, the three teams that came out on top of free agency.

#3; Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes may have just lucked into one of their most fruitful free-agency days as a franchise. First off, in a desperate attempt to shed cap space the Vegas Golden Knights looked to the Hurricanes to unload Max Pacioretty, an experienced sniper with a long history of 35-goal, 65-point seasons.

And how much did he cost Carolina? Nothing. In fact, the Hurricanes were also able to net young defenseman Dylan Coghlan along with Pacioretty for Future Considerations, which in this case, likely means nothing.

After the Canes were eliminated in game seven of the second round at the hands of the New York Rangers last season, head coach Rod Brind’amour was quoted in saying ‘I always think (we’re) good. It’s just, do we have elite goal scorers? Maybe not”

It’s safe to say that Brind’amour should be more than happy to have an elite goal scorer like Max Pacioretty stepping into his locker room next season.

The other notable trade the Hurricanes made was with the San Jose Sharks, in which they acquired Brent Burns at 34% salary retained (remaining cap hit $5.280M) and Lane Pederson in exchange for prospects Steven Lorentz, Eetu Makiniemi and a 3rd round pick in 2023.

While acquiring a 37-year-old defenseman with 3 years remaining at a 5.28 million dollar cap hit is certainly a risk, the bottom line is that the Hurricanes were in need of a puck-moving defenseman after the departure of Tony Deangelo to Philadelphia, and if there’s one thing Brent Burns excels at, it’s moving the puck forward and creating offense.

In addition to the two high-profile trades made, the Hurricanes also added some additional depth up front with the signing of Ondrej Kase.

Kase had a terrific bounce-back year with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season after a long concussion history, scoring 15 goals and 27 points in 50 games as an impact player on the 3rd line. He can drive offence, he can kill penalties, and he can get involved physically. He’s everything you want in a third-line winger and the Hurricanes were able to sign him for 1 year at $1.5 million. An excellent contract for Don Waddel and company, and an excellent offseason overall by Carolina.

#2; Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators had possibly the busiest offseason of any NHL team. At the draft, they acquired highly sought-after trade target Alex Debrincat for far below market value. The Sens paid a first, second, and future third-round pick for a 24-year-old two-time 40-goal-scorer at an incredibly cheap 6.4 million dollar cap hit.

Debrincat fits in incredibly well with the Senators young forward group and is fully capable of scoring 50 goals in a season with the right linemates and offensive opportunities. And he was not the only addition the Senators made upfront.

Ottawa also employed the services of highly sought-after veteran UFA Claude Giroux, who spent the end of last season with the Florida Panthers where he put up 23 points in just 18 games after the trade deadline.

The 34-year-old has been an elite player in the NHL for the last decade, averaging 21 goals, 42 assists, and 63 points per year over his last 10 seasons. So it’s safe to say that Giroux is likely good for 20 goals and 60 points with the Sens.

He comes in on a three-year deal with an AAV of $6.5 million per year and brings not only offensive production but valuable NHL experience to a young developing team.

Apart from the two offensive stars they acquired, they also made some steady improvements in their goaltending department.

It was obvious that Matt Murray wasn’t working out in Ottawa. He had a 15-25-3 record with a .899 SV% and a 3.23 GAA since signing there in 2020. They were looking all offseason for a way to unload Murray’s 6.25 million dollar cap hit and reportedly almost gave up their 7th overall pick to the Buffalo Sabres in such a deal. They eventually, however, traded Murray along with a 2023 third-round pick and a 2024 seventh-round pick in exchange for future considerations.

Shortly thereafter, the Senators acquired Cam Talbot from the Minnesota Wild for 24-year-old goaltender Filip Gustavsson.

Trading a developing talent for an experienced starter was some tidy work by Pierre Dorion and the Sens.

Speaking of tidy work, Ottawa was also able to lock up Josh Norris to an 8-year, 63.8 million dollar deal with an AAV of 7.975 million. Norris, the Senators top-line centre, scored a whopping 35 goals and 55 points in just 66 games last season, putting him on pace for over 50 goals and nearly 70 points in a full 82-game season.

Looking around the league, there aren’t very many top-line centres capable of scoring over 50 goals in a season. And the ones that are capable of such a feat make far more than $8 million per year. This extension has the potential to be seen as one of the best value contracts in the NHL by the time it’s winding down in 8 years.

Overall, the Ottawa Senators had a fantastic offseason adding two extremely skilled top-six forwards for the cost of zero assets from their current roster, revamping their goaltending department, and locking up another key piece of their core on a long-term deal. It’s clear the Senators are looking to contend for a playoff spot next season and with the team they have in place, it’d be hard to imagine them doing anything short of it.

#1; Detroit Red Wings

Looking around the NHL, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more intelligent, patient, and experienced GM than Steve Yzerman. Although he left the Lightning in 2019, their back-to-back championships are largely thanks to him and his masterful architecture.

Yzerman had his busiest offseason to date, signing multiple lucrative deals that aim to propel the Red Wings to playoff contention this upcoming season.

Firstly, he acquired the highly sought-after 27-year-old goaltender Ville Husso from the Blues for just a 3rd round pick, a shockingly low price for a young goaltender with an extremely promising future.

Husso was signed to a four-year deal immediately after he was acquired with an AAV of $4.75 million, cementing the Red Wings young goaltending tandem of Husso and Nedeljkovic for next season.

Husso had a breakout year last season, with a 25-7-6 record and a .919 SV% and 2.56 GAA, but with St. Louis already committed to Jordan Binnington long term, he was prepared to test unrestricted-free-agency before he was traded to Detroit. It’s likely that Husso could’ve gotten upwards of $5 million AAV on the open market.

In addition to the goaltending help, Yzerman also recruited the services of Andrew Copp, David Perron, and Dominik Kubalik on the front end while suring up Detroit’s defense by adding Ben Chiarot and Olli Matta.

Copp, being the most expensive acquisition, scored 21 goals and 32 assists for 53 points through 72 games played last season split between the Jets and Rangers. In New Yorks run to the Eastern Conference final, Copp put up 14 points in 20 games and proved an invaluable contributor at the 2nd line centre position.

The 28-year-old signed with the Red Wings for five years at $5.625 million per year, a very reasonable cap hit for a 20-goal, 50+ point second-line centre.

David Perron signed for two years at $4.75 million AAV. An incredibly skilled left winger who is usually good for 20 goals and 60 points a season. At 34 years old, Perron also brings a strong veteran presence to the team, and can probably show young sniper Lucas Raymond a thing or two about putting the puck in the net.

Dominik Kubalik was not tendered a qualifying offer by Chicago, giving the Red Wings the opportunity to sign the 26-year-old to a two-year deal with an AAV of $2.25 million. Say what you want about his issues with defensive responsibility, but Kubalik has shown he’s capable of scoring 30 goals and 50 points. If he can score even half that with Detroit this contract is a steal.

Moving on to the defensive additions, Ben Chiarot was one of the most sought-after defensemen at the trade deadline last season. The big bruiser stands at 6’3, 226 pounds averaging nearly 50 penalty minutes and 120 hits per season, with over 150 in each of his last 3 seasons.

While not the most effective puck mover, Chiarot is a monster to play against in his defensive zone and makes an intimidating addition to the Red Wings top four.

Olli Maatta, the fifth and final notable free agent addition to the Red Wings, is a responsible stay-at-home defenseman. The 27-year-old Fin patrolled the blue line for Pittsburgh through their back-to-back Cup Championships where he was routinely trusted with defending on crucial D-zone draws and killing penalties before later being moved to Chicago in 2019.

Maatta will likely play a bottom 4 role in the defensive structure of the team and will be relied upon heavily on the penalty kill.

The reason the Red Wings take the number one spot here isn’t just because I myself have a massive admiration for Steve Yzerman, but because the Red wings were able to address every area of need in an efficient and relatively cost-effective way.

The Senators added two star forwards capable of putting up points, and addressed an in-crease crisis by essentially swapping out Murray for Talbot. They haven't, however, added anything of substance on defense, whereas Detroit has.

The Red Wings added Copp, Perron, and Kubalik upfront, they added Chiarot and Maatta on defense, and acquired Husso in net to truly round out their entire roster, giving them the most complete body of work out of free agency.

Overall, all three of these teams dominated free agency, drastically improving their rosters from last season. Detroit and Ottawa could both challenge for playoff spots in the Atlantic after missing by 33 and 34 points respectively last season as they begin to wrap up their rebuilds and enter their Cup windows. Carolina on the other hand may just have gone from a regular playoff team to an imposing cup contender, having added increased offensive firepower while giving up little to nothing in return.

How will all these high-profile signings turn out? Will they prove fruitful for their franchises? Or come back to bite them where it hurts? At the end of the regular season, I'll look back at these three teams to see how their offseason acquisitions affected their performance.

All of that can be found here at The High Button.

-Dave.

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The Complicated Nature of Goaltending in Edmonton

In Edmonton, the position of full-time, reliable starting goaltending has long stood vacant. Since the departure of Grant Fuhr in 1991, there’s been a revolving door of goaltenders, none of whom have truly established themselves as a reliable number one option consistently.

This is a retrospective of Oilers Goaltending since 1991.

The Fuhr Trade

On September 19th, 1991 the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers finalized a blockbuster trade that involved 7 players, two of which later were inducted into the hall of fame. The Oilers sent Grant Fuhr, Glen Anderson, and Craig Berube to Toronto in exchange for Vincent Damphuis, Scott Thornton, Luke Richardson, and Goaltender Peter Ing. 

It was Fuhr who backstopped the Oilers to five Stanley Cups throughout the franchise's golden years, providing above-league-average goaltending for an entire decade.

This marked the beginning of the post-Gretzky struggles for the Oilers franchise, as they saw another star of their ‘80s dynasty traded away for younger players and draft picks.

It would be a long and uncertain chapter in the Oilers' history, and the situation in goal would be even more challenging.

The Ranford Years

Fuhr wasn't the only high-profile trade the Oilers would make that season, as a deal with the Rangers would send long-time captain Mark Messier packing just a month later as the Oilers continued to dismantle the dynasty that once was. For the 91-92 season, the Oilers were backstopped by a duo of Bill Ranford and Peter Ing. (with brief appearances by Norm Foster and Ron Tugnett) Ranford was the bonafide starter who played 63 regular-season games and posted a 3.58 GAA and a .884 SV% while the league average at the time was 3.37 GAA and .888 SV%. The Oilers finished with a 37-37-6 record in 3rd place in the Smythe Division and 11th in the league overall.

As for the following season, it didn't get much better. In fact, it was the worst season in Oilers franchise history.

It was a full tank year, as the Oilers continued to dismantle the dynasty of the ’80s trading away names like Kevin Lowe, Bernie Nicholls, Craig Muni, and Essa Tikkanen

 The 1992-93 Oilers once again relied on Bill Ranford as the starter, this time backed up by Ron Tugnutt. The season was a complete disaster with a 26-50-8 record and a goal differential of -95. Ranford was once again below league average with a 3.84 GAA and a .884 SV% and Tugnutt was even worse with a 4.17 GAA and a .879.

The Oilers would continue to struggle throughout the ’90s and wouldn't make the playoffs again until 96-97. During that drought, Edmonton went through 5 different goaltenders in Fred Braithwaite, Wayne Cowley, Joaquin Gage, and Bob Essensa before GM Glen Sather made a blockbuster that would finally remedy the atrocious goaltending issues of the past decade. On August 4th, 1995 Sather pulled the trigger on another blockbuster goalie deal, acquiring Curtis Joseph from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for two first-round picks. 

The Joseph Years

The following year Sather would trade Bill Ranford back to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Mariusz Czerkawski, Sean Brown and a first-round draft pick to recoup one of the ones he had given up in the Joseph deal.

Two months into the season, with his rights owned by the Edmonton Oilers but no contract, Joseph joined the Las Vegas Thunder, of the IHL, in order to stay in shape. Halfway through the season, he signed a three-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers for $2.3M per year and joined the team.

Cujo had an immediate impact on the Oilers roster, guiding the team back to the playoffs for the first time in four seasons with an impressive .900 SV% and a 3.00 GAA, finishing just 5th in Vezina voting in 96-97 and 20th in Hart voting the following season. 

Joseph was a breath of fresh air for the Oilers, yet he wouldn't resign in Edmonton at the end of his contract, opting to sign a four-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs for $24M in 1998.

The end of the Joseph years marked the beginning of the goaltending turmoil the Edmonton Oilers still find themselves in to this day, as the very next year in 1998-99, the former backup to Curtis Joseph Bob Essensa was relied on to play 33 games alongside Mikhail Shtalenkov whom the Oilers acquired in a trade from the expansion Nashville Predators.

Shtalenkov and Essensa had a combined .899 SV% and a 2.76 GAA, while the league average for the two categories was .908 SV% and 2.56 GAA.

Not a great start to the post-Cujo era.

From 1999 to 2010 the Edmonton Oilers shuffled through goalies at breakneck speed, with a total of fifteen different netminders playing games for them in just ten years.

The most consistent throughout those years, however, was young Finnish goaltender Jussi Markkanen who the Oilers drafted in the 5th round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, and promptly threw into an NHL crease 101 days later.

Markkanen and Roloson 

How’d that go? About as well as you’d expect. In the five seasons Markkanen played more than 20 games for Edmonton he put up a .902 SV% and a 2.76 GAA while the league average during that stretch was .907 SV% and 2.64 GAA.

Despite the subpar play of the early 2000s, the Oilers did manage to make it all the way to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2006 despite being the #8 seed in the western conference, all thanks to the unbelievable play of Dwayne Roloson.

During that cup run, it was Roloson who took the reigns as the Oilers’ starting goalie. He had an incredible run through the first three rounds posting a career-best sustained .925 SV% including a 24-save shutout in game six of the second round against the San Jose Sharks, sending the Oilers to the Conference finals and beyond where they would face off against the Carolina Hurricanes.

It was late in the third period of game one when Andrew Ladd gathered the puck in the offensive zone and drove hard to the net, and with Oilers defenseman, Marc-Andre Bergeron draped all over him, he collided hard with Roloson resulting in a series-ending knee injury.

This is where Jussi Markkanen had to come in. Throughout the next six games, Markkanen posted a 924 SV% and a 2.16 GAA with a 16-save shutout in game 6, but it wasn't enough to will the Oilers to a win in game seven, as they lost 2-1.

To this day many fans swear that if Roloson hadn't sustained that injury, the Oilers would have another Stanley Cup banner in the rafters. 

After such an incredible run to the finals, Roloson could have tested the unrestricted free agency market in the summer of 2006 but opted to re-sign with the Oilers on July 1, 2006, on a three-year contract.

The next season Roloson and Markkanen were back in as a starter/backup duo. The 37-year-old Roloson continued his success posting a .909 SV% and 2.75 GAA while Markkanen had a less impressive .886 SV% and a 3.14 GAA. The Oilers would not make the playoffs for the next 10 years until 2017. 

In that time, the Oilers would go through goaltenders such as Mathieu Garon, Nikolai Khabibulin, Devan Dubnyk, Jeff Deslauriers, Martin Gerber, Yann Danis, Ilya Bryzgalov, Ben Scrivens, Viktor Fasth, Jason Labarbera, Richard Bachman, Laurent Brossoit, Anders Nilsson, and eventually, Cam Talbot.

At the 2015 NHL draft the Oilers, in a desperate attempt to bring some stability to their constantly revolving goaltending carousel, paid the Rangers a second, third, and seventh-round pick for career backup Cam Talbot.

The Cam Talbot Campaign

Talbot was perhaps the biggest name on the goaltending market that offseason, coming off an impressive 23-game stretch in which Talbot took the starting role in New York after Henrik Lundquist was out of the lineup with a serious neck injury. Throughout that stretch, Talbot played 23 out of 25 games and posted a fantastic .929 SV% and a 2.21 GAA.

Looking at those numbers, it’s easy to see why the Oilers would be interested in Talbot. He put up solid numbers in his first three years as the Oilers’ starter. Through 196 games he posted a .914 SV% and a 2.65 GAA with 11 shutouts and was able to bring the Oilers back to the playoffs for the first time in 11 years in 2017 and finished 4th in Vezina voting. 

So it seemed the Oilers had finally found their answer in goal as in addition to the Talbot trade, the Oilers had just signed a promising goaltender in Mikko Koskinen out of the KHL. That was until February 2019 when for some reason the Oilers traded Cam Talbot to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for goaltender Anthony Stolarz.

Stolarz, a career backup, would only ever play six games with the franchise.

Smith And Koskinen

This brings us to the 2019-20 season when the Oilers signed Mike Smith to a one-year deal, presumably to back up their new star goaltender Mikko Koskinen. Little did they know Smith would prove to be the far better of the two options over the next three seasons posting a .913 SV% and a 2.17 GAA to Koskinen’s .907 SV% and 2.98 GAA. 

In summary, let's take a look at the current state of goaltending. Mike Smith has one season left on his two-year extension he signed at the beginning of the season but has hinted that he may consider retirement this offseason. Alternatively, Smith's contract could remain on LTIR for the entire season if retirement isn't the case.

It appears that Mikko Koskinen has parted ways with the Oilers and the NHL, having recently signed a deal to play in the DEL in Switzerland next season. 

It’s safe to say that the Oilers have an uncertain situation in net for the coming years.

For the next upcoming piece, we'll take an in-depth look at what the Oilers can do next in the goaltending department, as after a long and exciting playoff run, what happens next may be the difference between prolonged playoff success and championship contention, and fading into mediocrity.

- Dave

[highbuttonsports]

Leafs Off-season Preview: Part Two: Defense and Goalies

The other day we covered the Leafs’ forward group and discussed the possible changes we would see up front. Obviously that is where the majority of changes to the Leafs’ roster will be, but there could be some changes on the blueline, but most significantly and most certainly between the pipes.

On the blueline, the Leafs only have 3 free agents, two of which are RFAs. Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin are both RFAs and need new contracts. Based on the amount they have played and where they have played, I would not expect either of them to sign long-term deals. Instead, expect them to get 2-year bridge deals for similar money. Liljegren took his game to a new level when Giordano arrived and they were paired together. He looked very comfortable and finally looked like the prospect the Leafs had hoped he would be. Sandin on the other hand, was also having a great season and took massive steps forward in his development, until he suffered a knee injury in mid-March. Once healthy, he was unable to get into any games against Tampa as Keefe felt it would be unfair to throw him into intense playoff games without being up to speed. It could have hurt the team more than it would’ve helped. I am surprised though, that Keefe did not choose to go 11 forwards and 7 defensemen in game 6 or 7 seeing as he cited Holl as being put into the lineup for his penalty killing. Liljegren was much better at 5 on 5 and his skating could’ve helped the Leafs’ transition against Tampa. Additionally, it would’ve let Keefe ride the “Core 4” more and against weaker line matchups. Hindsight is 20/20 though right?

Elliot Friedman reported a few weeks ago on his 32 Thoughts podcast that while Sandin is an RFA, and the Leafs like his development, he may not be content being a 7th defenseman. The left side of the Leafs, with the resigning of Giordano is slammed and Sandin appears to be at the bottom of the list. The Leafs tried to play him on the right side with Rielly at points during the season, but that did not work out. Do the Leafs help Sandin in the offseason and transition him to the right side? Or are they going to trade Muzzin back to LA, as it has been reported. I don’t think the Leafs will move Muzzin given how impactful he has been in the room and on the ice. He was probably the Leafs’ best defenseman against Tampa and provides a physical element the Leafs don’t have much of on the blueline.

The more likely candidate to be moved is Justin Holl. WIth 1 year left at $2M for the season, Holl has struggled the past two seasons. Sure, his penalty killing is solid, but his 5on5 play has been atrocious at times. He seems to have lost a step and is thinking the game slower, waiting too long for plays to develop. The Leafs wouldn’t have to include a “sweetener” in any deal for Holl given his contract, he’s a right shot and he can play top 4 minutes, although not well. The other piece to the Leafs’ blueline is Ilya Lyubuskin. He was immediately inserted beside Rielly on the top pairing and actually played fairly well. Not known for his playmaking or puck handling skills, he does bring a lot of physicality and toughness to the blueline and is solid defensively. TSN’s Chris Johnston believes that Lyubushkin will be back on a low cost deal in Toronto. He made $1.35M last season so a raise should not be more than $2M per season. I don’t know about you, but I would rather have Lyubushkin at $2M than Holl.

Potential Free Agents

The Leafs don’t necessarily need to add on the blueline unless the price is right. They have a few Marlies like Kristians Rubins and Mac Hollowell that could push for the 8th spot. Dubas will likely be looking at bargain deals or players coming off of injury that are looking for another shot, as he did last year with Kase and Bunting. One player that has been linked to Toronto in the rumour mill is PK Subban. Coming off of an 8 year deal that paid him $9M per season, Subban is now 33 and could sign a Spezza type deal to play at home and try to win a cup. His offensive play has declined in the last few seasons, and he would be a bottom pairing fit and possibly slide into the powerplay to give the Leafs a shooting threat from the blueline. Another blueliner that could fit into the Leafs’ blueline is Colin Miller. He only played in 38 games with the Sabres last season as they went with their younger players to get them experience. At 29, he would bring more physicality and toughness to the blueline and would replace Justin Holl in a penalty killing role. On top of that, he’s from Dubas’ favourite prospect spot, Sault St. Marie. Put him at the top of the list if the price is right.

Goaltending

The biggest offseason question mark for the Leafs is who will be their starting goalie next season. The Leafs clearly want to rid themselves of Petr Mrazek’s $3.8M yearly salary to give themselves some more flexibility. Should they be able to shed his contract, they could put that money towards resigning Jack Campbell. There have been reports out there that Campbell is seeking $5M per season on a long term deal. Full power to him as this will be his first and likely only chance to cash in in free agency, but if I am Dubas, the most I would give Campbell is $4.25M per year for three years. If Campbell doesn’t like that deal, then the Leafs have to look at other options. Chris Johnston reported last week that the Leafs, if they are unable to resign Campbell, they will be looking at goalies that will cost between $1M and $2M and are reclamation projects or under the radar goalies that haven’t broken through yet. I’m not sure that’s the best way to take a step forward next season, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Targets for the Leafs in that group are Ville Husso, Braden Holtby and Scott Wedgewood. My pick out of those three is Husso. He’s only 27, is coming off of a $750K contract, and only has half a season of being the starter so he won’t have a ton of bargaining power. Holtby could be brought in as a backup to whoever the Leafs deem their starter and would provide a stable and reliable presence when needed. Regardless, the chances of the Leafs starting next season with 2 new goalies is very high and it will be interesting to see who exactly the Leafs will choose to carry the load.

- Smitty

[highbuttonsports]

Leafs Offseason Preview: Part One - Forwards

Welcome to another offseason of hope and change Leaf fans. As we still lick our wounds from another first round exit, we also have to prepare ourselves for a much different looking team than we saw last year. The Leafs showed a tremendous amount of growth against Tampa in the playoffs this year, and should have won that series. If it wasn’t for some horrible reffing and a couple of bonehead plays at certain moments in game 6, the Leafs could be in the Cup final. As Stamkos said when they sent the Leafs home, the Leafs were the toughest team they have played in the playoffs the past 3 years. The Leafs dominated the series if you look at the underlying numbers and the fact that they are the only team to make Vasilevskiy look human, making him post a below average ,897 save percentage. The Leafs are also the only team that Tampa has faced to outscore Tampa (24-23). Unfortunately, the Leafs are the scapegoat to the Eastern Conference as 3 of the last 4 teams to eliminate them in round one, all in 7 games of course have gone to the Stanley Cup Final. Maybe one of these years, the Leafs will find their own scapegoat the way Colorado did this year with St. Louis.

For everyone saying to “blow it up” or to “trade Nylander” I remind you again that it took McDavid 7 years and a bunch of missed playoffs to do anything in the playoffs and it took Mackinnon 9 years to get out of the second round. It also took Ovechkin and the caps 12 years to make it past the second round. Sometimes patience is a virtue, and Dubas and Shanahan understand that. As much as you think progress hasn’t been made, the Leafs looked like and were the better team against Tampa. They played a completely different game in this year’s playoffs. They were physical and doing all the little things they needed to do to win. The big guys showed up when they were needed, and the Matthews that showed up should be a full season Matthews. He was more physical than anyone had seen before and seeing him play that way carried through the lineup with Marner, Kase, Egvall, Mikheyev, Kerfoot and so on. This was the best Leaf team we have ever seen and this is Keefe’s first FULL 82 game season behind the bench. All that said, the team will look considerably different next season due to cap restraints, so let’s dive into who stays, who goes and potential targets for the Leafs to pursue, starting with the forwards.

With the “Core 4” not going anywhere, as confirmed by Kyle Dubas and Brendan Shanahan in their end of season press conference a few months ago, expect a similar approach to filling out the forward lines as last year. Dubas and Co. will be going small game hunting, looking for bargain deals and players that have yet to break out, as they did with Bunting, Kampf and Kase last year. However, there will be some notable changes to the forward group as the Leafs will need cap room. Up front the Leafs have a few UFAs and RFAs and it will be almost impossible to bring them all back.

UFA:

Mikheyev

Blackwell

RFA:

Engvall

Kase

The most notable of the forwards is UFA Ilya Mikheyev, who from January to the end of the regular season was scoring at a 30 goal pace and took his game to another level in the playoffs. While he didn’t convert on a ton of his chances in the playoffs, he did score some big goals for the Leafs against Tampa. Coming off of a 2-year contract that was paying him $1.65M per season, he is in line for a big raise and may have played his way out of Toronto. According to his agent Dan Milstein, he is open to working out a new deal to stay in Toronto, but Evolving Hockey has his salary projection at $3.4M per season. That seems a little too rich for the Leafs given their cap crunch.

Colin Blackwell was considered a throw in when the Leafs acquired Mark Giordano from Seattle at the deadline, but fit in very well in the Leafs’ bottom six and personally, I would like to see him back to fill a fourth line role. He’s not the biggest guy, but he plays a physical style of game, uses his speed well and is tenacious on the puck. He would more than fill the void left by the retiring Jason Spezza. He had a cap hit of $725K this past season, and it should not cost much more than that to retain him if the Leafs see a fit for him.

Engvall and Kase are both interesting cases. Engvall had an up and down season, but was effective alongside Kampf on a third line, shut down role. He had trouble converting on numerous chances, but found a more physical game in the playoffs. With his size, he needs to adapt a more physical game the entire season and he could be a much more effective player. He has arbitration rights and is coming off of a contract that paid him $1.25M per season. He will be due for a raise, but it shouldn’t be more than $2M. Anything more than that and he is overpaid. He will be back with the Leafs next season, it is just a matter of how much it will cost and who the Leafs will have to move out to make room for him. Kase on the other hand, has already begun discussing a contract extension with the Leafs, per his agent. He was brought in on a 1-year “prove it” deal last offseason that paid him $1.25M for the year. Kase was effective when healthy, but missed 30 games this season due to various injuries, including multiple concussions. He is similar to Blackwell in that he plays physical, tenacious and has good speed, but he also has a better finishing ability. It sounds like Kase will be back with the Leafs, as long as the price is right. I personally would like to see him back, but at nothing more than $1.5M.

Let’s not forget about the Swiss Army Knife, Kerfoot. He is loved by the team, Keefe and Dubas because he plays in all situations, all over the lineup. He is entering the final year of his deal at $3.5M and could be moved to create more flexibility for the Leafs up front. Given how much the Leafs and staff like him though, I can’t see him being moved, especially if the Leafs decide they want to try Tavares on the wing to minimize how much teams attack his footspeed. Kerfoot could be the guy that gets put at center between Tavares and Nylander. He rebounded nicely this year putting up 51 points and played in all 82 games and secondary scoring is something the Leafs need more of.

Dubas said that he would like some of the team’s prospects to finally make the jump the NHL so they will be given every opportunity to take a roster spot, but I do expect Nick Robertson to finally find a full time role with the Leafs - as long as he can stay healthy. Another prospect that I would expect to finally make the full time leap is Joey Anderson, who has played 6 games for the Leafs since coming over in the Andreas Johnnson deal a few years ago.

Potential Free Agents:

The Leafs won’t be going big game hunting during free agency, but there are a few forward options that the Leafs should take a look at. One of them is New Jersey’s Miles Wood. At 26 years old, Wood can play both wings and would provide the Leafs with another top 6 winger with some grit and physicality to their game. While he is a restricted free agent, he played just 3 games last season after having hip surgery. Given the severity of his injury and the fact he played 3 games, the Devils may not like the idea of having to issue him a qualifying offer of $3.25M to retain his rights. On top of that, he has not performed to what you would expect someone making almost $3M would, having registered just 50 points in his last 125 games. Should he become available, the Leafs should look at him for another “prove it” type deal that the gave Kase last season.

Another RFA the Leafs could look at is Dominik Kubalik on Chicago. With the Hawks admitting to a full rebuild, Kubalik’s name has been thrown around as a trade piece. Again, the Hawks may not like the expensive qualifying offer they would need to submit to retain his rights, but the Leafs should inquire about his rights anyways. He is another winger that would bring some size to the Leafs’ top 6 and can put the puck in the net. The Leafs may be able to lock him up on a short term deal for less than his $3.70M cap hit the past few years.

Further down the list there is Tyler Motte, who was just eliminated by Tampa in the Eastern Conference Finals. Motte was in and out of the lineup for New York and Vancouver this season, only skating in 58 games total. He would provide the Leafs with a solid fourth line option that can kill penalties and is defensively responsible. He would come cheap too as he just finished a 2-year deal worth $1.225M per season. At 27 years old, he could become a longer term fix for the fourth line as well.

Dubas and Co. have a lot of work ahead of them this offseason to make the team better, with less money. If there is anyone that can do it though, it’s Dubas as he proved that last year. Stay tuned for Part 2 of our offseason preview where we look at the blueline and goaltending. We’ll follow that up with a draft preview and some explore some of the Leafs’ options with their first round pick.

Cheers

Smitty

[highbuttonsports]

Passing Blame? Fehr, Others Blame Miscommunication

Late last week, on Good Friday of all days, the NHLPA released the findings of the independent report conducted to determine if anyone was at fault in the handling of Kyle Beach and Brad Aldrich. The report, conducted by Toronto-based law firm Cozen O’Connor, identified that no one person was at fault and that due to miscommunication, the reported assault of Kyle Beach and Black Ace 2 was not investigated further. When the report was released, it was also made known that the players were split about the findings of the report and more specifically the findings that Fehr and others were not at fault in any sense due to “miscommunication”.

If you read the report, there is plenty of evidence pointing to the fact that Fehr was fully aware of the allegations at the time such as the emails from both Kyle Beach’s agent and the agent of Black Ace 2, as well as a conspicuous phone call between Joe Resnick, the agent for Black Ace 2 that occurred 3 hours after Resnick sent an email to Fehr regarding the allegations raised by Ross Gurney (Kyle Beach’s agent). Fehr claimed he had no recollection of that phone call until he was shown the phone records, but did not recall what was discussed. Common sense would say that the phone call was in relation to the email he received earlier in the day from Resnick, but given that Fehr is a lawyer he stuck to his “lawyer talk” and passed the blame to Dr. Shaw who was part of the NHL’s Substance Abuse and Behavioural Program.

Dr. Shaw stated that USA hockey would be contacted by someone regarding their hiring of Aldrich in 2011 when Beach made his comments, but nothing was done. According to the report, Fehr also assumed that someone else would be contacting USA Hockey, but neither occurred and no one contacted USA Hockey at the time.

Based on the information in the report, if you ask anyone with common sense, Fehr was well aware of the allegations that were made and simply turned a blind eye, only to pass the blame to others that had been contacted or in contact with him regarding the allegations to save his own ass. You can understand why the players are split over the findings of the report as many likely believe this is the case. The report essentially identified that blame was passed around in a circle so much that nothing ended up being done and Aldrich was able to abuse more young players with USA Hockey and other hockey programs. Without a doubt the NHLPA and Donald Fehr specifically failed Kyle Beach, Black Ace 2 and anyone else that was assaulted by Aldrich in the following years simply because of negligence and attempts of sweeping the issue under the rug. It wouldn’t be surprising if Fehr’s days as the leader of the NHLPA are numbered after the release of this report.

- Smitty

[highbuttonsports]

Oilers Playoff Preview

The Edmonton Oilers' regular season has officially come to an end with no shortage of ups and downs. They now look ahead to their first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Kings.

The Oilers’ finished with a 49-27-6 record and secured second place in the Pacific Division and 12th place in the NHL with 104 points.

But how did they fare against their first-round opponents? In order to determine that, we have to look at their record against the Kings throughout this regular season.

In four matchups between the two divisional rivals this season, the Oilers came out on top 3 times. However, wins and losses don’t tell the full story. Edmonton just barely outscored the Kings 13 to 12, and in fact, were outshot in every single game, and were overall outshot 146 to 114.

Most shocking of all these statlines are the powerplay numbers between the two teams. Despite having a total of 10 power-play opportunities the Oilers were unable to capitalize on any of them. The Kings however, were able to score 3 power-play goals on 16 attempts, giving them an 18.75 PP% throughout the season series.

So what is it about the Kings' penalty kills that seems to be able to so easily stifle one of the best power plays in the NHL? L.A’s penalty kill isn't particularly effective in its own right, in fact, it’s below league average at 76.65%.

The Kings' first PK unit currently consists of perennial Selke finalist Anze Kopitar, Alex Iafallo, Alexander Edler, and Sean Durzi.

Perhaps it’s the Kings' aggressiveness that can break up cross-seam passes from Mcdavid to Draisaitl for his patented short side one-timer, or maybe it’s the tight box-style defense they play in their own zone that effectively limits net-front traffic and shots on goal.

Regardless of the specific reasons, it’s safe to say that special teams will play a huge part in this upcoming series and the Kings may just have Edmonton’s number when it comes to killing penalties.

After watching these two divisional rivals battle it out four times this season, it’s clear to see the Oilers have massively improved since game one. In that first game against the Kings in which they were blown out 5-1 at home, Edmonton’s game was severely lacking in multiple areas. They played a wide-open game that allowed both teams to experiment offensively. After giving up a goal within the first 3 minutes, The Oilers went on to give up two straight off the rush and seemed completely incapable of defending their own blueline.

The Kings on the other hand seemed to play a relatively tight game within their own end. They were able to stand the Oilers up at the blueline on more than one occasion and won nearly every puck battle along the boards. Such a tough, grinding style of hockey was simply too much for Dave Tippet's offensively-minded Oilers.

Enter Jay Woodcroft.

Shortly after Tippet’s departure, the Oilers were able to flatten the Kings 5-2 and didn't look back, going on to take the next two of their matchups. Their 4-3 win on March 30th was perhaps one of their best performances of the season, proving that they could beat the Kings at their own game.

Unlike their recent games against L.A, Edmonton was playing like a playoff team. Everybody was getting in on puck battles, everybody was pitching in on defense, and everybody was making their physical presence known. Evader Kane was able to thrive in this system as he used his size and speed to effectively cyle the puck towards the front of the net and generate offense with his linemates.

Throughout this season, the Oilers and Kings haven't been too different. Of course, stylistically they are near polar opposites but looking at their wins, losses, and points proves their similarity. The Oilers once again went 49-27-6 and secured 11th place in the NHL with 104 points while the Kings went 44-27-11 with 99 points at 14th place overall. Both teams took turns holding on to second and third place in the Pacific division.

As a result of this, the series will be nothing short of electrifying. McDavid and Draisaitl will likely be able to turn on their superhuman talent and score at will, while the Kings despite having a well-structured defensive style of play, lack superstar talent. Specifically Drew Doughty.

A Kings’defense without Drew Doughty is comparable to the Oilers' offence without Draisatl. Such a commanding force on the ice with a palpable impact off the ice and in the locker room, his absence is a heavy blow to the Kings, one that may just be the deciding factor of this series.

What can we take away from this regular season retrospective? That these two teams are relatively evenly matched. Their styles almost perfectly contradict each other in a way that provides a close, competitive game nearly every night. Expect multiple games to go to overtime, and expect this series to go all the way to six or seven games, as it has the potential to be one of the most intriguing and electrifying matchups of the first round.

The Oilers are a team of seemingly limitless talent, speed, and raw skill looking to prove themselves playoff-worthy vs the young up and coming Kings, who still, by virtue of their veteran leadership group, have not forgotten what it takes to go all the way in the postseason and seem to be hungry to give it another shot

Regardless of who wins, there will be no shortage of entertainment in this matchup

-Dave

[highbuttonsports]

NHLPA Director Donald Fehr’s Involvement In The Kyle Beach Case

On Friday, April 15th, 2022 the NHLPA released an independent report by Toronto-based law firm Cozen O’Connor examining Executive director of the NHLPA Donald Fehr’s handling of the Kyle Beach situation that took place in 2010 within the Chicago Blackhawks organization.

A full summary of the events that transpired between Kyle Beach and Brad Aldrich can be found here

Not long after the story was made public and Beach was interviewed by Rick Westhead on TSN, Fehr released a statement regarding Kyle Beach in October of 2021, which included a public apology.

“Kyle Beach has been through a horrific experience and has shown true courage in telling his story. There is no doubt that the system failed to support him in his time of need, and we are part of that system. Mr. Beach stated that several months after the incident he told someone at the NHLPA the details of what happened to him. He is referring to one of the program doctors with the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. While this program is confidential between players and the doctors, the grave nature of this incident should have resulted in further action on our part. The fact that it did not was a serious failure. I am truly sorry, and I am committed to making changes to ensure it does not happen again.”

Shortly after making the above statement, Fehr recommended that an independent investigation was to be launched into the NHLPA’s handling of the situation, specifically Donald Fehr’s involvement in the scandal.

During his interview with Rick Westhead in October of 2021, Kyle Beach mentioned Fehr by name, and stated that he had “turned his back on the players.”

"I believe two different people talked to Don Fehr. And for him to turn his back on the players when his one job is to protect the players at all costs, I don’t know how that can be your leader. I don’t know how he can be in charge.”

The subsequent report published by the NHLPA on Friday found that Fehr was in fact not guilty of any wrongdoing in the handling of the Kyle Beach case, as the report concluded with “In sum, after a thorough examination of the contemporaneous record…we cannot identify any individual wrongdoing or institutional failures of policy or procedure by either Fehr, NHLPA personnel, or the SABH program concerning the handling of Beach’s reports.”

However, this does not mean that there isn't still some interesting information of note within the 20-page report, and quite possibly, a contradiction between two of Fehr’s statements regarding his recollection of the situation.

The report mostly revolves around the testimonies of Donald Fehr, Ross Gurney Kyle Beach's then-agent, player agent Joe Resnick who was a representative of Black Ace 1 at the time, and Dr. Brian Shaw, a psychologist serving as one of two administrators for the Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program (SABH).

Here is a timeline of the events discussed in the report;

MAY 2010; Events of the Kyle Beach situation unfold

NOV 2010; Beach Learns of Aldrich’s employment with USA Hockey

NOV 2010; Gurney calls Resnick to inquire about Black Ace 1 and Aldrich

DEC 2010; Gurney calls Fehr in order to get word to USA hockey about Aldrich

DEC 2010; Gurney calls Resnick relaying to him that the NHLPA would help with contacting USA Hockey about Aldrich

APR 2011; The Resnick Email

APR 2011; The Fehr/Resnick Call

2021; Fehr provides the Resnick Email to Beach’s Lawyers and comments on it

To Begin, The report clearly states that the most confounding piece of information across the entire case revolves around a single phone call made by Gurney to Fehr in late December 2010 after, at some point in November of that same year, Kyle Beach learned that Brad Aldrich had secured a role working in some capacity for USA hockey.

Beach wanted to warn USA hockey about the person they were hiring, as the report states

“The whole motivation and thrust of the call was to get word to USA Hockey about Aldrich”.

This specific call is the first point of contact with the NHLPA regarding Aldrich, and is the main point of contention between Fehr and Gurney, as Fehr denies having any recollection of the call whatsoever while Gurney is quite clear that he did in fact make this call and even goes into detail about the very language used throughout.

“While Gurney acknowledged that he described the issue with Beach and Aldrich to Fehr in only general terms, and did not go into any of the graphic details relayed in the Jenner Report, he is adamant that he used either the term “pedophile” or “sexual predator” to describe Aldrich. Indeed, we interviewed Gurney on a second occasion to ensure that we were correct on this point, and Gurney is certain that he used one of those terms.”

Although this call was later confirmed to have indeed taken place, Fehr has consistently denied any memory of it.

“Fehr, an experienced lawyer, repeatedly made the point that if Gurney had either described Aldrich as a pedophile or sexual predator or requested him to contact USA Hockey, he would have remembered it.”

This call is incredibly important to the entire report. And, Fehr’s limited recollection of that very call is very important towards the end of the report and could provide crucial evidence to Fehr’s exact knowledge of the reports.

“Gurney also recalled that he contacted Joe Resnick, a representative of Black Ace 1, at some point after his call with Fehr. Although he was less confident about what was said in this call than he was about his call with Fehr, Gurney believed that he relayed to Resnick that the NHLPA would help with contacting USA Hockey and in getting Beach help. Resnick generally recalls having a conversation with Gurney about Aldrich, although he does not recall what was said in more than general terms.”

*Important to note; ‘Resnick is sure that if Gurney had related or inquired about anything sounding in a sexual space concerning Aldrich, he would remember that clearly now and would certainly have taken different action in response.”

Four months later, on April 18th, 2011, the final point of contact with the NHLPA regarding Aldrich is made in an Email sent from Joe Resnick to Don Fehr directly, and just three hours later, a phone call is made from Fehr’s office phone to Joe Resnick.

Below is a reconstruction of the Resnick Email based on the information provided in the Cozen O’Connor report.

This Email from Resnick to Fehr “provides the clearest objective evidence that the NHLPA was alerted in some way about concerns about Aldrich, and corroborates Gurney’s account that he called Fehr about the subject.”

Three hours after receiving this Email, Fehr called Resnick. “we cannot be certain that any of these communications related to Aldrich, although it seems likely that the April 18th call from Fehr’s cell phone to Resnick mere hours after Resnick’s email is related.”

*Important to note; “Resnick is adamant, however, that he was never aware of any allegations of sexual misconduct, and could not have been trying to relay them to Fehr because he did not know there were any sexual allegations to report.”

This Email and later call are the last point known of contact with the NHLPA regarding Aldrich. The next reference to the entire situation came a full ten years later when Fehr, at the request of Beach’s lawyers, discovered Resnick’s Email, and after finding said Email, made some very interesting comments.

Here is where a major contradiction in Don Fehr’s statements arises

Throughout the report, it is constantly stated that Donald Fehr has no recollection whatsoever of his call with Ross Gurney, a call in which Ross Gurney is certain he described Aldrich as a “Sexual Predator” or “Pedophile”.

However, In response to requests for information from Beach’s lawyer, he observed that he “didn’t recall anything about this” but did “have a memory of something related to sexual or other abuse in Chicago’s organization.” When asked what that email referred to, Fehr told us that he did not know and does not recall anything on the subject beyond what he described in the email. He stated: “I don’t remember anything more than something nagging at the back of my mind, but I don’t know what it is.”

This of course raises the question, how could Fehr have a “nagging at the back of (his) mind” about “something related to sexual or other abuse in Chicago’s organization” if the only conversation regarding any such matter, (the Fehr/Gruney call) had completely escaped his recollection?

Remember, that “Resnick is adamant, however, that he was never aware of any allegations of sexual misconduct, and could not have been trying to relay them to Fehr because he did not know there were any sexual allegations to report.”

So, with this information, we can conclude that the only way Don Fehr could have possibly had a “memory of something related to sexual or other abuse in Chicago’s organization.” would be if firstly, the call with Ross Gurney did in fact take place, and secondly, if Fehr did in fact remember Gurney referring to Aldrich as a “Sexual Predator” or “Pedophile” in said call.

It seems as though Donald Fehr may have misspoken when claiming that he had no recollection of the call taking place, as his comments regarding the Resnick Email 10 years later prove otherwise.

What does this all mean?

It could possibly mean that after the Fehr/Gurney call, Fehr who had heard Aldrich described as a Sexual Predator, for whatever reason, simply took no further action on the subject, and failed to contact USA hockey about Aldrich. As was stated in the report,

“Fehr did not walk away from the call understanding that he, the union, or Dr. Shaw was expected, much less had agreed, to reach out to USA Hockey on Beach’s behalf.”

Regardless the reason why Fehr failed in such a way may never be known, but with the findings of this report, we can certainly say that Donald Fehr failed. He failed Kyle Beach, he failed all NHL players and agents alike, he failed Black Ace 1, and failed countless other victims that Aldrich would go on to sexually abuse after his employment with the Chicago BlackHawks.

Donald Fehr doe not deserve to be Executive Director of the NHLPlayers Association any longer.

-Dave

[highbuttonsports]

The Ever-Shifting The Hart Trophy Race

In the first months of this NHL season, the battle for the league's most valuable player was constantly changing hands. For a while, the Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin seemed to have a stranglehold on both the Vezina and the Hart as he boasted an incredible .937 SV% (save percentage) through his first 40 games but has since fallen off since mid-March with a .906 SV% in his last seven games played.

Although Shesterkin could very well still earn a nomination, the focus has since shifted to the seemingly inhuman point production of Connor McDavid and the unbelievable goal-scoring pace of Auston Matthews.

McDavid has continued to play the best hockey of his career this season, currently sitting at 42 goals and 66 assists for 108 points in just 71 games played this season. It’s his fourth time eclipsing the 100 point-plateau and would certainly be his fifth if it weren't for the 2019-20 season being cut short for reasons we’re all familiar with.

McDavid is currently on pace to score 123 points this season. An incredible feat that will surely net him the Art Ross trophy, but points aren't everything when it comes to providing value to your team.

Meanwhile, in Toronto, Auston Matthews is not so quietly making Maple Leafs history. He has recently broken the franchise record with 58 goals in just 67 games played and is now on pace to net 66 goals on the season, a feat that hasn't been achieved since Alex Ovechkin in his third year.

Matthews has all but run away with the Rocket Richard trophy, which would make him the first back-to-back winner since Ovechkin in 18-19 and 19-20.

Once again we reach the dilemma that we reach every year when discussing the Hart trophy. What makes a player valuable to his team?

A good criterion that is often brought to the forefront of this conversation is a purely hypothetical one. If this player were taken away from his respective team, how would that team do without him?

It also raises its own question. Should we really be judging a player's value based on a hypothetical scenario that has yet to come to fruition? Or should this trophy be based solely on what we can truly measure?

For example, many fans would make the argument that if you were to take away Connor McDavid’s goals this season, the team would only have 213 goals on the season taking them from 6th in goals for to 19th, just above the Vancouver Canucks who currently sit at 5th place in the Pacific and 18th in the NHL.

So looking at his goal contribution, taking McDavid away from the Oilers would likely result in that hypothetical team missing the playoffs. However, should McDavid sustain a significant injury that would keep him out of the lineup long-term, we can’t assume that the rest of the team would behave the same way with him healthy.

Hypothetical scenarios such as this one are, and can only ever be pale imitations of real life. When we’re contemplating a scenario like this one, we try to consider all possible variables that could affect the way the team would play. We would have to look at overall team morale, consider the emotional effect the absence of the team captain would have on each individual player, possible injuries that may or may not happen as a result of increased ice-time, and every other possible effect that losing McDavid would have on the players in the locker room.

If McDavid were to sustain some kind of injury that would keep him out of the lineup for the entire year, not only would his teammates behave differently with their captain absent, but management would also behave differently. Would Ken Holland still fire Dave Tippet? Would he still be able to sign Evander Kane? Would he aquire Brett Kulak at the trade deadline? Would he make other moves with an additional $12.5 million in cap space?

Would the increased ice time take a toll on Leon Draisaitl? What if he sustained a season-ending injury as well? See where we end up when we entertain these unrealistic hypothetical scenarios? We end up with only more questions. Questions that are, by their very nature, impossible to answer. A player’s deservedness for a trophy cannot be based on a hypothetical scenario that is impossible to fairly determine.

Let’s focus on judging players based on statistics we can actually measure.

As their respective player cards show (courtesy of @JFresh on Twitter), both players are offensive superstars who provide immense value to their teams in the offensive zone and on the rush.

Neither player kills penalties, so those two categories seem to even out, but the most noticeable difference between the two cards is the single red box on McDavid’s side. EV defence measures through WAR(wins above replacement) how effectively a player limits on-ice scoring chances against his own team. In this case, Matthews is clearly the better defensive player.

There’s nothing wrong with McDavid’s focus on offence as it very well contributes to him being able to produce more points for his team, but if we’re talking about value, true value comes from a player who can contribute at both ends of the ice and in all situations.

If a player's coach can rely on him to score goals and put up points, that’s great. But if that same coach can rely on a player to score goals and defend a lead, that’s true value.

Both players are generational talents and both players deserve to be nominated for the Hart trophy this season. But, by metrics we can actually measure and not false hypothetical scenarios, Auston Matthews deserves it just a little bit more.

-Dave

[highbuttonsports]

Ilya Mikheyev: Playing his way out of Toronto?

After what was a decent rookie season for the Leafs before his wrist injury threatened his career, Mikheyev struggled in his second season, still trying to regain the form he had prior to the wrist injury. Fast forward to this season, after asking for a trade during the offseason, Mikheyev was promised the Leafs would find a spot for him to play more. The first half of the season, Mikheyev bounced around line combinations while Keefe was trying to find combinations that worked. He also missed some more time with injury. As Kase was struggling with staying healthy himself, Mikheyev was put on a line with Kampf and Engvall which has become arguably one of the best third lines in the league. Not only has that line flourished since the calendar turned to 2022, but Mikheyev seems to have found a new level to his play as well.

Currently at 15 goals on the season, only playing in 41 games, Mikheyev is on a 31 goal, 45 point pace for a full 82 game season. Not only has Mikheyev found his scoring touch, but he has become an integral part of the Leafs top ranked penalty kill. When he is on the ice on the PK, the Leafs are outscoring opponents, yes the Leafs are outscoring their opponents on the penalty kill with Mikheyev 5-3. Not only that, but the high danger scoring chances with Mikheyev on the ice during the PK are almost even – 11 for the Leafs and 13 for their opponents. He leads the Leafs, and league with 4 shorthanded goals as well.

Since the calendar turned to 2022, Mikheyev has found his scoring touch, has learned how to use his speed and size more effectively and his confidence is through the roof. As great as it is to see him finally succeeding and playing an important role for the Leafs, he’s almost certainly playing his way out of Toronto. I say that because the cap is only going up by 1 million and that money has already been spent on Rielly’s extension. The Leafs also need to give out new contracts to Sandin, Liljegren, Engvall, Kase and Campbell. At 1.65million and a UFA, Mikheyev could be looking at a contract worth somewhere between 2.75 and 3.25 million per season. Unless money is moved out (Kerfoot, Mrazek) it would seem unlikely that Mikheyev stays, as he is the only UFA skater of that group mentioned above. Hopefully the Leafs can find a way to keep him, but it will be an interesting offseason nonetheless for Dubas and Co., trying to navigate yet another unfriendly cap crunch.

- Smitty

[highbuttonsports]

The Edmonton Oilers Best Modern Comparable

The Pittsburgh Penguins of 2016-2017 are incredibly similar to the Edmonton Oilers in a lot of ways. Both have had the unbelievable fortune of drafting two highly elite centres in back-to-back drafts, and have naturally placed the two at the centre of the team's overall construction. The most noticeable difference however, is that the Penguins have had a multitude of successes with their core, and have captured three Stanley Cup championships.

With the inherent similarities between the two teams and the repeated success of the Penguins, it stands to reason that the Oilers could learn a few things from them. Mainly on how to cultivate a winning culture within an organization that translates to sustainable success in both the regular season and playoffs.

While Jim Rutherford was the GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins, he had a specific philosophy. As long as he had a core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, the Stanley Cup was always within reach. To give those core players the best possible chance to win, he surrounded them with impact players that could help them achieve that ultimate goal. That would of course come at the cost of selling future assets such as high draft picks for current results, but that's what winning teams do.

Many parallels can be drawn between the two teams, starting with the most obvious, the two core centres that both organizations have built around.

The first comparison is quite easy to make. Through their first six seasons, their stats have been almost identical. In fact, Connor McDavid tied Sidney Crosby as the 8th fastest player to reach 500 career points in NHL history in just 369 games played last year.

They’ve both cemented themselves as generational talents and, in their own times, have each been widely regarded as the best player in the world. The biggest difference between the two, however, is their individual accomplishments.

Throughout their first six seasons, Connor McDavid did actually score more points than Crosby, 574 to Crosby’s 572, and scored at a slightly higher pace with 1.41 PPG (points per game) to Crosby’s 1.39. And in the category of individual achievements, McDavid still has Sid beat. Connor won two Hart trophies, three Art Ross trophies, and was a four-time member of the NHL’s first All-Star team. Crosby through that time was able to capture one Hart, One Art Ross, one first All-Star team spot, and one Rocket Richard trophy.

Despite the mountain of achievements Connor McDavid currently sees himself sitting on, through those first six seasons Crosby still has him beat in a few key categories. They are playoff experience and a Stanley Cup Championship.

Crosby won the Cup in just his fourth season in 2009, after going all the way to the Stanley Cup final and losing to the Detroit Red Wings the year prior.

What Connor McDavid is yet to experience is just what it takes to win a championship. Crosby went through all the hardships of missing the playoffs in his first season in the NHL and saw just how hard an athlete has to work to be the best player in the world. He was able to experience how much effort it takes to make it all the way through three rounds of tough playoff hockey and reach the Stanley Cup final in 2008, and furthermore, saw that he had to do even more to win a championship.

Through all of these experiences, Crosby earned his stripes as a battle-tested NHL veteran and developed one of the most highly regarded work ethics in all professional sports.

Often hailed as the game's ultimate grinder, Sid isn’t afraid to do the dirty work for the Penguins, clearing pucks from corners, making plays behind and in front of the net, and always helping the defense on the backcheck. A culture of tough, grinding, and exhausting play has been instilled in every player on the team because of his signature style of hockey.

The culture and work ethic of the Pittsburgh Penguins is palpable from even watching them play, guiding them to back-to-back championships. A culture that seems absent within the Oilers organization.

Moving on to the other two star centres on their respective teams, when looking at their stats, Evgeni Malkin and Leon Draisaitl are remarkably similar.

From Leon Draisaitl’s 20-year-old season to his 24-year-old season, he recorded 165 goals and 246 assists for a total of 411 points in just 386 games played, scoring at a 1.064 PPG pace. Over that same span, Evgeni Malkin recorded 158 goals and 260 assists for 418 points in 358 games played, giving him a 1.18 PPG pace.

The two are incredible point producers, as Leon Draisaitl seems to be mimicking a young Malkin on the scoresheet night after night. Both are incredibly versatile players who can be deployed in all areas of the ice, and consistently elevate the players around them, turning everyone on the ice into an increased offensive threat.

Beyond the shocking similarities between the team’s offensive superstars, and even beyond all the players on the ice are the minds in the boardrooms. Both Ken Holland and Jim Rutherford are incredibly experienced GMs in this league and have both seen their fair share of championships, with seven Stanley Cup rings between them.

However, one area that Rutherford undoubtedly has Ken Holland beat is cap management skills.

When the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2017, the NHL’s salary cap was set at $73M. Sidney Crosby’s 8.7 million dollar cap hit made up 11.9 percent of the Penguins entire salary cap while Evgeni Malkin’s 9.5 million dollar contract made up 13 percent, making their combined cap hit about 25%. Add Kris Letang to that core, and the three took up a total of 35% of the team’s overall cap space.

In the Oilers case, Draisaitl and McDavid’s contracts make up a combined 26 percent of the team's overall salary cap. Add Darnell Nurse whose current salary takes up 6.9 percent of the Oilers cap, and we get a total of 33% for the core. If we were to stop the comparison there, it would seem that the Oilers have managed their cap to almost perfectly mirror the 2017 Penguins championship team. But if we explore further, the similarities begin to taper off.

Next season, Darnell Nurse’s extension will kick in, bumping his current 5.6 million dollar cap hit up to a whopping 9.25 million per year. And just like that, the core three take up 37 percent of the team's overall cap rather than their previous 33 percent.

What if we add one more player to this core to make it a nice even number? Core four seems to roll off the tongue much better than core three, so let’s look at another pair of players that closely mirror each other.

With the recent signing of Zach Hyman to a long-term deal this summer, it seems like he could serve as the Oilers' more expensive version of Chris Kunitz.

The two players have a lot in common. Both are extremely tough and unafraid to get into dirty areas of the ice and work hard to shovel the puck to their teammates but are also unafraid to hold on to the puck if it could lead to a potential scoring chance.

Looking at their production from their 26 to 29-year-old seasons, it becomes abundantly clear just how similar the two are. During that stretch, Hyman put up 79 goals and 76 assists for 155 points through 226 games with a +40 rating. During that same stretch of time, Kunitz put up 88 goals and 116 assists for a total of 204 points in 312 games with a +62 rating. While Kunitz did produce more points overall, their PPG numbers are nearly identical.

Hyman scored at a 0.67 PPG pace through that stretch, with 0.35 GPG (goals per game) and 0.34 APG (assists per game). Through the same amount of time, Kunitz scored at a 0.65 PPG pace with 0.28 GPG and 0.37 APG. Remarkably similar.

So what's the most noticeable difference between the two? Their cap hit.

Ken Holland signed Zach Hyman to a huge seven-year 38.5 million dollar contract with an AAV of 5.5 million. The relatively large contract takes up 6.7 percent of the Oilers' available cap space and made Hyman their third-highest paid forward.

With the 2016-17 Penguins, Chris Kunitz made 3.25 million against the cap and made up 5.3 percent of the team's total cap space.

So if we consider Hyman to be a part of the core of the current Edmonton Oilers and Chris Kunitz as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins core in 2016 and 2017, then adding up their cap space is a lot different.

As was previously stated, in 2017 the Penguins' core four of Crosby, Malkin, and Letang made up 35% of the team’s overall cap space. When we add Chris Kunitz, that number jumps up to about 40%

In the Oilers' case, however, the current core three of McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nurse (factoring in Nurse’s cap hit next season) already make up 37% of the team's cap space. Adding Zach Hyman to the mix bumps the total cost of the four-player group next year to a whopping 43% of team cap space. (Considering the cap will go up by $1M)

While an extra three percent of cap space may not seem like much to the average team, the Oilers have a particularly difficult cap management situation. Looking at the team’s defense, it becomes abundantly clear that there was little to no regard for conserving cap space. Many of these trades and signings seem to have been made either through ill advice, or gross incompetence. Possibly both.

So if they were being directly compared to the Penguins Championship team, one could make the argument that the Oilers have the core in place, and all they need now is to surround them with a capable supporting cast. But one crucial part of this team has been completely overlooked by the Oilers for years now. Goaltending.

They have their Crosby (McDavid), they have their Malkin (Draisaitl), they have their Letang (Nurse), and their Kunitz (Hyman). But one thing they’ve never had is a Marc-Andre Fleury.

Ken Holland failed to acquire a goaltender this offseason and signed Mike 38-year-old Mike Smith to a two-year extension. He has gone on to play in just 19 games this season and suffered more than three significant injuries. He also, after witnessing one of the worst duo’s in the NHL put up a combined .899 SV%, decided against acquiring a goaltender at the deadline.

Above all else, the Edmonton Oilers are an incredibly frustrating team. Their poor cap management, their lack of deadline spending, their excess offseason spending on players who make little to no impact on the team’s overall success, and most of all their refusal to move future assets to build a contending team now. Ken Holland has consistently said that he does not wish to “mortgage our future” to win today. Jim Rutherford with the Penguins had a very different approach. While he had Malkin and Crosby, every year was a “go for it” year, and it’s because of that aggressive philosophy that the Pittsburgh Penguins were able to win back-to-back Stanley Cups.

What future could they possibly be planning for that could ever come close to the pure talent and skill of their current core? What future does this organization have without Connor McDavid? Without a capable or even league-average starting goaltender?

Watching with a helpless gaze are thousands of fans as Ken Holland continues to drive this team further and further into mediocrity, and in the process, may as well be driving Connor McDavid to the airport himself.

Ken Holland is not the GM for this team, or any team operating in this century. With the way he has run this club the past few years, it seems as though this group will always fall short of the success of the Pittsburgh Penguins of 2016 and 2017, and the comparison will forever remain lopsided.

-Dave

[highbuttonsports]

Dan Hamilton – USA Today

Leafs Much Better Defensively Since Trade Deadline

Prior to the trade deadline, the Leafs had allowed 4+ goals in basically every other game since the calendar turned to 2022. Not just due to below average goaltending, but very poor defensive play and structure. Sure, the Leafs have continued to outscore their defensive woes, just like they have in seasons past, but it’s not something they can do in the playoffs, given the completely different rulebook that favours rough, physical teams.

It had been a topic of conversation all season about how the Leafs needed to upgrade their blueline and Dubas was not naive to it. First he went out and traded for the Russian Bear Ilya Lyubushkin who immediately found a home next to Rielly on the top pairing. A big, physical defenseman who has twice as many hits as the next defenseman on the Leafs roster since joining the team, has given Rielly the ability to be more offensively free. Dubas was not done there, on deadline day, he brought in Toronto boy Giordano to solidify the Leafs’ backend. Giordano has fit nicely onto the third pairing playing with Liljegren, giving him a much needed veteran presence to guide him through difficult stretches. With a healthy Muzzin returning eventually, the Leafs may have their best defense corps in years for playoff hockey. Lyubushkin, Muzzin, Giordano and Brodie and to a lesser extent Holl, are all big guys that can play a more physical style of game and clear the front of the net. In the four games since Giordano has come over, the Leafs have given up 4 goals just once (versus Boston last night) and Liljegren and Gio have an expected goals for of 82.9%, which, in the small sample size is the highest of any defensive pairing in the league to play 50 minutes together. Yes the sample size is small, but there is no doubt his presence has brought some much needed stability to the backend, in particularly to the third pair.

On top of being a much better team defensively 5 on 5, the Leafs’ penalty kill has been outstanding as of late and is fourth overall in the league at 84%. I am not sure when the penalty kill philosophy changed to be so aggressive, but it has worked very well thus far and is something the Leafs will desperately need in the playoffs given officiating will become much worse than it already has. That’s a story for another day, but we’ve covered it quite a bit this season here at High Button.

As the Leafs await Campbell’s return, the hope is that this rib injury is what plagued him since the all-star break and that time off will have given him time to get back to his early season abilities between the pipes. As long as the Leafs get average or slightly above average goaltending, there is no reason they can’t and shoudn’t make it through one round of the playoffs this year.

Overall though, this Leafs team is structured much better defensively with their deadline acquisitions than in years past and should be much better equipped to handle the physicality of playoff hockey in a couple weeks time.

- Smitty

[highbuttonsports]

Oilers Deadline Evaluation

Monday, March 21st at 3 pm EST marked the NHL trade deadline this season. It may have also marked a crucial point in Edmonton Oilers history. The Edmonton Oilers made just two acquisitions, addressing defense and depth scoring.

Firstly, The Oilers acquired 28-year-old Brett Kulak from The Montreal Canadiens in exchange for William Lagesson, a conditional second-round pick in 2022, and a 2024 7th round pick.

The Canadiens also retain 50 percent of Kulak’s salary, giving him a cap hit of $925,000

The conditions on the 2nd round pick state that if the Oilers make the Stanley Cup Final this year, the Canadiens will receive their 2023 2nd round pick instead.

Lagesson, a 26-year-old Swedish D-man was given limited ice time in the Oilers system. Since joining the club in 2019, he has only played in 57 games for the franchise, averaging 12:52 minutes per night and only tallying 6 assists through that time.

With the direction the team was heading, adding multiple defensemen this offseason, granting a greater role for Evan Bouchard, and even calling up prospects like Philip Broberg and Markus Niemelainen, it was clear that Lagesson was on the outside looking in, likely the 7th or even 8th defenseman.

In return, The Oilers acquire a very capable young defenseman. The 28-year-old Edmonton native has over 300 games of NHL experience and 23 games of playoff appearances. Throughout his career, Kulak has had decent numbers in a second/third pairing shutdown role. With 3 goals and 10 assists for 13 points on the season, relatively good Corsi numbers, decent plus-minus stats, and lots of physicality, Kulak is certainly an upgrade to the Oilers blueline.

The Oilers also traded a 4th round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for 34-year-old centre Derick Brassard at 50% salary retained.

Brassard has only played in a bottom 6 depth role in the last few seasons, so it is easy to assume that he wouldn't have more than a fourth-line centre role in Edmonton and is, by all means, a depth acquisition.

The 6’1 forward has 6 goals and 10 assists for 16 points on the season with the Flyers and could potentially add some much-needed depth scoring to the Oilers bottom six.

With Ryan Nugent Hopkins set to return to the lineup on Thursday, he will likely slot in nicely as the third line centre. Beyond that, Devin Shore would be moved down to the fourth line, and Ryan Mcleod would likely be moved to the fourth line left wing while Brassard steps in as the fourth line centre.

With these two trades, the Oilers have certainly gotten better, but how much better? Fans have been quick to point out that the Oilers failed to acquire a goaltender at the deadline. A crucial detail to note on that front, however, is that the Oilers didn't exactly fail to acquire one, they made a conscious decision to pass on the opportunity.

Since Dave Tippet was fired and replaced with Jay Woodcroft, Mikko Koskinen has put up a .905 SV% and a 2.70 GAA with a single shutout in 10 games played. His goaltending partner, Mike Smith has put up an .867 SV% and a 2.66 GAA in 9 starts.

In 2021-21-22, the NHL’s league average SV% is .909 and the average GAA is 2.87.

So to be clear, Ken Holland looked at this goaltending tandem, who have been performing below league average expectations all season, and have already shown that they are incapable of playing a full season without missing significant time due to injury, as Mike Smith has missed time with seven different injuries this season.

Ken Holland saw this tandem and decided that they were the duo that was going to take them on a long playoff run. It doesn't take a genius hockey statistician to see that that was a serious lapse in judgement.

On March 20th and 21st, seven different goaltenders were traded. Some of the names included Marc-Andre Fleury, Scott Wedgewood, Andrew Hammond, and Kaapo Kahkonen, all of who have better stats than both Smith and Koskinen this season. None of these goaltenders were traded for more than a conditional second-round pick or a prospect, and Scott Wedgewood was acquired by the Dallas Stars for a Conditional 4th, virtually the same price the Oilers paid for Derick Brassard.

So there were in fact, many options to improve the Oilers in net, Holland just decided against it.

How will these deadline decisions impact the Oilers heading into the final stretch of the regular season? Will these moves be enough to elevate the team to Cup contention, or will they once again sink to the depths of mediocrity?

-Dave

.

[highbuttonsports]

What Are The Oilers Exactly?

The Edmonton Oilers throughout this season and seasons past, have consistently struggled to define themselves with an overall team identity.

While Leon and Connor already make up most of their offense, their team identity should not simply revolve around “we’ve got the two best players, you don’t”.

It takes a lot of things going right to win a Stanley Cup. Looking back at some of the previous Stanley Cup Champions, we can see each of their team’s overall culture and identity shine through their names etched in silver, and see what it really takes for a team to win the Cup.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning, back to back Stanley Cup Champions, have a culture. They’re heavy, punishing, suffocating, and fast up the ice. Always playing above the puck and having no problem giving it up for a short time in order to execute a more intricate play.

During their last two Stanley Cup runs the Lightning have used the same strategies and they’ve succeeded. A key strategy they love to use is fast boardplay. They use the boards as a means to get the puck to the opposite point or down low below the goal line rather than potentially coughing up a bad pass towards the middle of the ice and creating a turnover. It’s a smart yet simple strategy that was enough to secure them back to back championships.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The only other back-to-back Cup winners of the modern era, the Pittsburgh Penguins have had possibly one of the most interesting and well defined cultures of any team in the modern era. And it all starts with their captain.

Ask anyone in the hockey world, and they’ll tell you that the hardest working player in the NHL is none other than the Penguins captain Sid. Crosby is often renowned as the game's ultimate grinder. He does the dirty work for the Penguins, digging pucks out of corners, playing behind and in front of the net, and always digging in to help the defense on the backcheck. This style of play has permeated throughout every player on the team and created a culture of tough, grinding, and exhausting play.

When they lose the puck, they want it back, and they play so tough and quick that they’re going to make you give it up. They swarm the puck and force turnovers better than any team, and their identity is so clear and engrained within the teams culture, that every young player that pulls a penguins jersey over their head, understands the assingment. They play like a penguin.

Washington Capitals

If you play in Washington, every time you get a chance to hit someone. You hit them. The Capitals paved their own path to the Cup by way of brute force, and punishing high-end skill.

The Caps, like the Tampa Bay Lightning, loved to use the boards to cycle the puck and retain possession. Unlike the Lightning however, they are by all accounts a puck possession team. They love to play with the puck, love to continuously cycle the puck looking for an opening to blast a shot through traffic, mainly from Alex Ovechkin on the top of the left side hashmark. When they lose the puck, they ruthlessly swarm the carrier and use body contact to force turnovers constantly.

How does all this relate back to the Oilers? Simple. Looking at all of these qualities shown by some past champions, how many of them can also be used to describe the Oilers current style of play?

Zero.

How many Cup winning teams have offensively relied completely on two players that make up almost 40 percent of team scoring? Zero.

Even after Jay Woodcroft took over from Dave Tippet, the Oilers still don’t play like a playoff team. They're not overwhelmingly difficult to play against, they rarely grind on the boards and look to take the puck from their opponents, and they don’t particularly like to use the boards to cycle the puck around in the offensive zone, often throwing a risky pass through the centre ice, resulting in turnovers.

In addition to their style of play not lining up with that of most Championship teams, their overall roster construction is incredibly poor when judged against contending teams.

Looking at the top of their capfriendly page, it’s not unusual to have close to 25% percent of a team's Cap locked up in two superstar players. The Tampa Bay Lightning have 21 percent of their Cap tied up in the contracts of Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point. The Leafs have a shocking 28 percent locked up in just Mattews and Marner. And in the Oilers case, certainly no-one would challenge allocating that amount of money to two of the top 5 players on the planet. But it’s there where the Cap structure seems to fall off a strategic cliff.

The Oilers have 17.9 million dollars tied up in Mike Smith, Kyle Turris, Devin Shore, Duncan Keith, Zack Kassian, and Tyson Barrie. That’s 21.9 percent of the entire team's Cap space.

Looking around the League, around 22 percent of overall Cap space could get you a lot. For example, the Calgary Flames (Edmonton's arch rival) have allocated 22.9 percent of their cap to Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, and Johnny Gaudreau, one of the best lines in hockey.

In the Tampa Bay Lightning's case, 22 percent gets them Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. Or better yet, spend another 1.2 percent and you have Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Erik Cernak, and Jan Rutta. The top four defense core that held the line for the Lightning in back-to-back cup wins.

It’s shocking to me and fans alike that Oilers management has legitimately looked at these numbers and decided that this is indeed the absolute best use of the team's cap space.

So what are the Oilers exactly? It’s hard to say. One thing we can say by looking at overall team habits, style of play, and salary cap structure is that they show zero signs of being anywhere close to winning a Stanley Cup, regardless of how many scoring titles and Hart trophies Leon and Connor win. This team, the way they play, the way they’ve been built, cannot win in the playoffs.

-Dave

[highbuttonsports]

Dan Hamilton - USA Today

Mo Money, Less Problems

At the start of the season, all the talk around the Leafs centered on another poor playoff outing, how Jack Campbell would handle a starter’s workload and what the future held for the longest tenured Leaf, Morgan Rielly. The talk quickly turned into firing Keefe and trade everyone because of the tough start the team got off to. Through the first 8 games of the season, where the Leafs were 3-5-1 Rielly had only managed a total of 4 assists and questions became louder with regards to the Leafs moving him because of the development of Sandin. Thankfully, all of those talks were put to rest on October 29th when Rielly signed an 8 year, 60 million dollar extension with the Leafs, which all but cements him playing his entire career for the blue and white. Once again, Rielly took a hometown discount for the Leafs, leaving millions of dollars on the table given what the free agents garnered during last year’s free agency period (if only a certain number 16 did the same).

Since signing his contract extension, it looks like Rielly has been playing free and relaxed. I guess 60 sheets in your bank will do that to someone. He’s been playing with a newfound level of consistency and energy. I can’t remember the last time I saw Rielly jump up into plays as much as he has since signing his extension. I’m not sure if he was playing safe, or safer, not knowing what his future held this season and beyond or what, but he has been the Leafs’ best defenseman more often than not. Not only has he continued to log big minutes and play in all situations, but he has found his offensive abilities since the extension, having put up 41 points in the 46 games since, including the highlight reel goal he scored a couple weeks ago against Pittsburgh.

Although the Leafs’ defensive coverage has been, ummm, questionable?, more recently, Rielly and Brodie have been the one constant for the team. Sandin and Liljegren have been good for the most part but are still experiencing growing pains, being full-time NHLers, Dermott has been a hit and miss and the pairing of Holl and Muzzin that was outstanding last year, has just been a shell of itself this season. Rielly and Brodie have basically carried the load for the back end as we enter the final third of the season and the peace of mind that Rielly has gotten from signing his extension has clearly helped. He no longer has to worry about the off-ice issues or listen to constant reports of where he’ll end up or what his next contract would be. He has been able to only focus on hockey and it clearly shows. I still think Rielly is one of the most underappreciated and underrated defensemen in the league considering he has been a top pairing defenseman since his rookie season and it still baffles me how he wasn’t even nominated for the Norris trophy in 2019 when he posted a career high 72 points. Still only 27, there is potential for a few Norris trophies to find their way to his trophy case.

- Smitty

[highbuttonsports]

World Class Athletes On World Politics

“Obviously it’s a hard situation, I have lots of friends in Russia and Ukraine. And it’s hard to see the war. I hope soon it’s gonna be over and there's gonna be peace in the whole world.”- Alex Ovechkin

When Alexander Ovechkin is asked to speak on world politics, specifically the Russian invasion of Ukraine, what is he meant to say?

Reporters that ask Ovechkin whether or not he supports Vladimir Putin or his unprovoked attack on Ukraine have completely lost sight of the bigger picture, ignoring the athlete’s personal safety and security and that of his family by seeking a provocative quote to entice readers and fill their quotas.

Obviously reporters expect Ovechkin to take a strong stance on the issue, condemning the acts of the Russian government and standing with the innocent people of Ukraine. They overlook the fact that by even asking that question, they put him and his entire family in grave danger.

We as North American citizens tend to look overseas at many geopolitical issues strewn about many broad breadths of the social landscape, through the lens of someone who has enjoyed the benefits and freedoms of living under a democratically elected government for their entire lives. We assume that Russian citizens are afforded the same rights and freedoms as we are. The reality is quite the opposite.

Russia is not a democratic state. It is by all definitions a fascist, ultranationalist oligarchy with an ex-KGB operative at its peak. Overseeing and ensuring (through brutal force) that his citizens are kept closely in line with his ideals, beliefs and worldview. Freedom, true freedom, has not existed there in quite some time.

Despite that, Ovechkin did address the issue;

“Obviously it’s a hard situation, I have lots of friends in Russia and Ukraine. And it’s hard to see the war. I hope soon it’s gonna be over and there's gonna be peace in the whole world… My family’s over there… I don’t wanna see nobody get hurt, nobody get killed, I hope it’s gonna be over and we’re gonna be living in a good world.”

It's worth noting that more than 2000 anti-war protesters have been arrested in St. Petersburg alone. The total number of anti-war protesters arrested in Russia is likely far more, as the Russian Government is no stranger to silencing those who oppose its ideals.

Alexei Navalny, leader of the Russia of the Future party and the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation made news in 2020 when running against Vladmir Putin’s government. He released several online videos and documentaries on the Russian government and it’s supporting Oligarchs, calling the current Russian Government, “a party of crooks and thieves'' which became a popular appellation for the party in many activist circles, and was used frequently in anti-Putin protests across the country.

After years of public disdain for the Russian government, in August 2020 Navalny was hospitalized after being poisoned by a deadly Novichok nerve agent, which he claimed was the work of Vladmir Putin and the Russian Federal Security Service.

He was later imprisoned after returning to Russia in January of 2021 and sentenced to two and a half years in Vladimir Oblast, a corrective prison encampment known for its strict rules and severe punishments, where Navalny’s lawyer’s claim he has suffered “unlawful and inhumane treatment”.

How does all this relate to hockey? If a blatantly obvious assasination attempt can be made on Navalny, a popular politician and political activist, is it that far-fetched to think that the Russian Government would be above doing the same against popular athletes who oppose their ideals?

Put yourself in Ovechkin’s place for a moment. You are Russian. You have a President who, by all means, is a war criminal who has a long and fairly recent history of murdering those who publicly disagree with him. You have a young family, two toddlers, and a wife living in Moscow, where the Russian Federal Security Service (the same organization accused of poisoning Navalny) is never far away.

Despite that, Ovechkin has already put himself and his family at risk by even answering the questions he has been asked.

What we have seen in the past few days is a man in a terrible situation. If Ovechkin truly supported Putin and his war of aggression, he has been given every opportunity to say so publicly following Ukraine’s invasion. And yet, he hasn't. He has pleaded for peace and an end to war, something a devout Putin supporter simply would not vocalize.

What we are seeing, is not a fascist, or a Putin supporter. We are seeing a person. An Athlete, a husband, and a father, who is under immense pressure from all areas of his life. A person who deserves our compassion and patience.

-Dave