The New York Islanders ownership group is standing behind general manager Garth Snow and head coach Jack Capuano, but with an important caveat: This past season's success must be the new norm in Brooklyn.
Co-owner John Ledecky says he and Scott Malkin support the "hockey folks" within the organization 100 percent, but reiterated Wednesday the goal remains winning, especially after the club advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs during the last season of Charles Wang's tenure as majority owner.
"They have to keep performing, and we define performing as progressing," Ledecky said, according to Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post. "We won our first playoff series in 23 years, we made it to the second round. If the puck bounced a couple ways differently, we would have made it to the semifinals. But we’re eighth in the league in points over the last two years, we made the final eight, and that’s the standard now.
"They have to progress. You have accountability. There is accountability for performance. The fans demand that."
Still, the Islanders have a franchise center in John Tavares and a solid defense corps to build around, with several of Snow's draft picks set to begin making more of an impact at the NHL level.
The Metropolitan is one of the most competitive of the NHL's four divisions, and Snow, while endorsed by the new owners, will need to ensure his club keeps pace in order to remain one of the longest-tenured general managers
The 23-year-old entered the offseason as a restricted free agent and the new deal is believed to be one-way in nature, meaning he'll be in line for an increased role on the Bruins' blue line in 2016-17.
Miller, who was acquired as part of a trade involving Milan Lucic, appeared in 42 games with Boston last season, netting three goals and 13 assists to his credit. In 20 games with Boston's AHL affiliate, he scored four goals and added eight assists.
Miller won both the hardest shot and fastest skater competitions at the 2015 AHL All-Star Game, giving evidence to the skill set he brings to the table.
The two sides have one week to figure out a contract or end up in arbitration. But even as a third-party opinion looms, general manager Doug Armstrong remains unfazed.
"There’s not a lot of concern," Armstrong said, according to Chris Pinkert of Blues.NHL.com. "Schwartz is a restricted free agent for three more years, we know he’s going to be a Blue for three more years. If we could have gotten (his contract) done on a long-term deal before free agency started, I would know exactly what we could have spent (in free agency), but that hasn’t happened."
Armstrong headed into the offseason stating that getting Schwartz locked up would be his priority. Of course that has yet to be done, but even so, he feels Schwartz's value to the team is as high as anyone's.
Schwartz is coming off a two-year contract that paid him an annual average of $2.35 million. During that time he has combined for 36 goals and 85 points in 108 games, while also contributing 17 points in 26 playoff games.
However things play out between Schwartz and the team, fans should rest assured that Armstrong is confident in one thing:
"I know (he’ll be) under contract," said Armstrong. "I know this isn’t going to go into September."
The NHL's Las Vegas expansion franchise is in good hands.
Hiring George McPhee as the first general manager in the history of the yet-to-be named team, owner Bill Foley added an employee with over two decades of front-office experience.
McPhee began his career as an executive with the Vancouver Canucks, serving as vice president and director of hockey operations from 1992-97. He was then hired as GM of the Washington Capitals - a post he held from 1997-2014 - and, most recently, acted as a special adviser to New York Islanders GM Garth Snow.
Here are three reasons why McPhee is a safe bet to build a competitive roster in Sin City.
Building the Capitals
Fired by the Capitals two years ago, the 2016 Presidents' Trophy winners were largely built by McPhee, beginning with a massive fire sale during the 2003-04 season.
In the years to follow, McPhee called the following names at the NHL Draft, all of whom remain significant contributors to a Washington roster with legitimate Stanley Cup hopes in the next year or two:
A group of talent any GM would be happy to build around.
Trade record goes deeper than Erat
McPhee will likely never live down the decision to trade an up-and-coming star in Filip Forsberg for veteran goal-scorer Martin Erat back in 2013, and rightfully so - it was an awful deal from Washington's perspective.
Having said that, the decision to select Forsberg with the 11th pick in 2012 speaks to the decent track record at the draft table mentioned above.
More to the point, McPhee was able to come out on the other end of a lopsided deal or two.
To be fair, McPhee flipped THEO RUTH for Sergei Fedorov, Steve Eminger for John Carlson and Chris Clark/Milan Jurcina for Jason Chimera.
McPhee also traded Semyon Varlamov to Colorado for a first- and second-round pick in 2012, with the latter being used to select Forsberg. The deal may look questionable now, but at the time, it looked like a steal for the Capitals, especially with other capable goalies in the system.
Over the course of 17 years, any GM will have a series of hits and misses on the trade market.
Don't let Erat erase the positives on McPhee's resume.
Unfinished business
During McPhee's tenure with the Capitals, the club won seven Southeast Division titles, recorded eight seasons of 40-plus wins, and won the Presidents' Trophy in 2009-10, a year in which they set their record for most points in a season (121).
And dating back to his Canucks' days, McPhee was part of the brain trust that led the team to a Smythe Division title in 1992-93 and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 1994 (a seven-game loss to the New York Rangers.)
McPhee has had a hand in a healthy measure of success as an executive in the NHL, but without the coup de grace of winning a Cup to show for it.
Hockey's greatest prize is something he's still clearly gunning for.
"Our mission here is clear: we're going to build an organization and a team that people in Nevada and Las Vegas are going to be proud of," McPhee said at a press conference in Las Vegas Wednesday. "We're going to do it quickly and we're aiming at the Stanley Cup."
Success out of the gate is rare for expansion franchises, but McPhee is expected to have a wealth of talent to choose from come the expansion draft, with the task of working within the salary cap and the team's budget ahead of him.
Whether McPhee can indeed build a winning team in Las Vegas remains to be seen, but his track record with the Capitals coupled with his desire to push through his inability to take a team all the way puts the odds in the franchise's favor.
Two obstacles are standing in the way of Las Vegas' NHL franchise and its quest to find a name.
The amount of nicknames that have already been trademarked and the league's insistence on not using gambling references have kept the team's owner, Bill Foley, from approving a moniker for the new club.
"I didn't realize how complicated it was, and it is complicated," Foley said Wednesday at a press conference introducing general manager George McPhee, according to Yahoo Sports' Greg Wyshynski. "We have a lot of names in mind, but they're trademarked."
"(There are) various athletic teams and entities that may have a name that we're interested in," Foley said, adding that Las Vegas is working with Adidas and the NHL to resolve the trademark issues.
"Our goal is to have a logo and a team name ASAP. But we've got to do it properly. And we have to make sure that we have the right trademark."
There's also the betting issue.
"The league has made it very clear that the name really should not be associated with gambling and so on," Foley said.
That essentially rules out any playing card-related names like Aces or Black Aces, while the trademark issues would explain why the franchise hasn't been able to secure the rights to "Black Knights," Foley's preferred choice.
That's the name used by the U.S. Army, which would require negotiating with the government.
Foley also confirmed Wednesday that there won't be a name-the-team contest, because it would take too long and he's eager to move forward.
'We need a name," he said. "We need to get this done, and we need to get it behind us."
The 26-year-old appeared in 48 games with Bern SC of the Swiss-A league in the 2015-16 season, recording a team-high 22 goals and 52 points.
Conacher began his NHL career with the Lightning in 2013 after a successful stint with the team's then-AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. He scored nine goals and added 15 assists for Tampa before being traded to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for goaltender Ben Bishop.
He later spent time with the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders before being assigned to the AHL, and eventually heading over to Europe.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Newsday Sports' Arthur Staple reports the deal carries an average annual worth $612,500.
After playing just two regular season games for the Islanders this past season, Quine suited up in 10 postseason contests, finishing with one goal and five points. His double-overtime winner in Game 5 of the Islanders' first-round matchup against the Florida Panthers was a turning point for the team, who took the series in six.
Quine spent the rest of the season in the American Hockey League, where he managed 19 goals and 48 points in 56 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
The 23-year-old appeared in 62 games with the Blues' AHL team last season, recording 17 goals and 29 assists. He scored four goals and added two assists in 13 games with the Blues.
Rattie was drafted 32nd overall by the Blues in 2011, and that the new deal is one-way in nature suggests he'll be counted on to make a meaningful contribution at the NHL level in 2016-17.
While the terms were not disclosed, Tim Wharnsby of CBC.ca reports it's a two-year deal that will pay him $2.5 million next season and $2.75 million in 2017-18.
After managing just 15 goals and 33 points during his first three years in the league, Miller broke out this season scoring 22 goals and 43 points in 82 games.
The 23-year-old was scheduled to have an arbitration hearing Aug. 2.
Las Vegas' NHL franchise named longtime Washington Capitals executive George McPhee the club's first general manager Wednesday.
"I was looking for a guy who was going to (have a) dedicated, take-no-prisoners, want-to-win attitude," said owner Bill Foley during a press conference, according to Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "This has been an exhaustive process. George had all the components I was looking for."
McPhee steps into the job after serving as general manager of the Capitals from 1997-2014. He helped Washington capture the Southeast Division seven times, while also making a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season.
He most recently spent time with the New York Islanders, with whom he served as a special advisor to general manager Garth Snow.
While his team will be constructed from scratch via an expansion draft, McPhee is already setting high expectations.
"Our mission is clear, we're going to build a team Las Vegas can be proud of. Our goal is simple - to win the Stanley Cup," McPhee said. "We'll do our homework, scout everybody, and select the right players.
"I want to win now, too. We may have an opportunity other expansion teams haven't had before to put a successful team on the ice."
McPhee's first piece of business will be to fill out the rest of his staff, a process he says will begin next week. As for the team's coach, that decision will be a more lengthy process.