The New York Rangers made the biggest splash of the day when free agency opened on July 1, in a move that's still resonating with captain Ryan McDonagh.
Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk joined the Rangers on a four-year, $26.6-million contract, carrying a cap hit of $6.65 million.
"I think everybody was pretty excited when we heard the news (he was joining the Rangers), and we're looking forward to seeing him at camp and having him contribute to the success of this team," said McDonagh, according to Jessi Pierce of NHL.com.
While his defensive play has been questioned in the past, Shattenkirk's specialty is well known to his new teammates.
"I think everybody knows how strong he is on the power play," said Brady Skjei.
Shattenkirk is one of the NHL's best when it comes to power-play production, totaling 146 power-play points in 490 regular-season games. He'll help a Rangers special teams unit which scored just three times in 39 opportunities in the 2017 playoffs.
McDonagh isn't typecasting his new teammate.
"His skill set, his experience and just his all-around ability as a player is a huge asset to any team he's on ... He plays the puck well whether you are down a man, up a man or even strength. He's a guy you can count on to excel whatever unit you have him on," said the captain.
With Shattenkirk expected to join McDonagh on the Rangers' top defensive pairing, it'll be an overdue reunion according to the incumbent leader of the defense corps.
"Being able to play with him in past tournaments and teams, I know the type of guy he is and he's going to fit right in with our room perfectly. We were drafted the same year (2007) and we've been in the league together the same amount of years, so I'm just excited to have this chance to play together," said McDonagh.
James Bisson celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1992-93 season with a look back at the most memorable moments of the greatest campaign in NHL history. This edition focuses on the Toronto Maple Leafs, who gave fans one of the most entertaining - and ultimately heartbreaking - seasons on record:
Ask a Maple Leafs fan of a certain vintage what he or she remembers most from the 1992-93 season, and you probably won't hear about Doug Gilmour's career-best campaign or Dave Andreychuk's late-season goal binge. Nikolai Borschevsky's franchise-altering playoff goal? Pat Burns' Jack Adams Award-winning coaching performance? Those likely won't spring to mind, either.
No, if you ask that question of a die-hard Leafs fan, you should expect to hear all about Wayne Gretzky, Kerry Fraser, and the blown high-stick call that cost the Maple Leafs a dream Stanley Cup encounter with the Montreal Canadiens.
Yet, to boil the entire 105-game campaign down to that one moment does a great disservice to a Maple Leafs team that arguably remains one of the franchise's best in the last 50 years. And while the Game 6 non-call remains a bitter memory to most fans, the Los Angeles Kings still needed what Wayne Gretzky called "the best game of my career" to finish Toronto off.
While fans couldn't have imagined that their team would reach the Stanley Cup final following a dismal 67-point showing the season before, there was reason for optimism.
Gilmour, who had joined Toronto the season before in a blockbuster deal with Calgary, recorded 49 points in 40 games with the Maple Leafs and looked ready to take a major step forward. Burns was brought in to replace Tom Watt, and instantly brought respectability to the Toronto dressing room after a successful four-year stint with the Canadiens.
Yet, despite improving both on the ice and behind the bench, Toronto languished for the first half of the season, sitting at 16-17-7 following a 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 6, 1993. Less than a month later, Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher pulled the trigger on an other major deal - acquiring Andreychuk, goaltender Daren Puppa, and a 1993 first-round pick from Buffalo in a trade that sent netminder Grant Fuhr to the Sabres.
The trade invigorated the Leafs. Andreychuk scored 25 goals in 31 regular-season games with his new team, while Gilmour racked up 53 points over that same span en route to a 127-point campaign, setting franchise records in assists (95) and points while finishing tied for seventh in league scoring with Sabres superstar Alexander Mogilny.
Most significantly, Toronto caught fire the rest of the way, going on a 20-9-3 run to establish a then-franchise record for victories (44) and points (99). While the offense came to life after Andreychuk arrived, the defense was the real catalyst for the team's dramatic turnaround, as the Maple Leafs allowed the second-fewest goals in the league.
Toronto drew a tough first-round matchup with the rival Detroit Red Wings, who finished four points ahead of the Maple Leafs in the competitive Norris Division. The home team won each of the first four games of the series, but Toronto pulled ahead on Mike Foligno's goal 2:05 into overtime in Game 5. Detroit responded with a 7-3 rout in Toronto two nights later.
The Red Wings led 3-2 late in Game 7, but Gilmour converted with 2:43 remaining in regulation to force OT. And in extra time, Borschevsky scored one of the most memorable goals in franchise history:
The Maple Leafs endured a similarly exhausting series with the St. Louis Blues, who had knocked off the division-leading Chicago Blackhawks in the opening round behind the goaltending of Curtis Joseph. Gilmour's now-famous swerve-wraparound goal in double-OT lifted Toronto to a Game 1 win, but the Blues responded with wins in Games 2 and 3.
Toronto posted convincing 4-1 and 5-1 victories in Games 4 and 5 to take a series stranglehold, but Joseph was at it again in Game 6, turning aside 40 of 41 shots in a 2-1 triumph that sent the series to a seventh and deciding game. And it was then that Joseph's magic finally ran out, as the Leafs shelled him for four first-period goals en route to a series-clinching 6-0 rout.
With a trip to the Stanley Cup final on the line, tensions were understandably high, as the Leafs and Kings kicked things off in Toronto. And while the Maple Leafs emerged as 4-1 victors, the game was remembered for something else - specifically, Kings defenseman Marty McSorley doing this to Gilmour:
The ensuing melee resulted in 57 minutes in penalties, countless cups of liquid tossed onto the Maple Leaf Gardens ice, and the two head coaches nearly coming to blows (leading to a hilarious postgame rant in which hockey personality Don Cherry refers to Melrose as "Billy Ray Cyprus," a not-quite-accurate shot at Melrose's Hall of Fame hockey mullet.)
The Kings earned a split in Toronto with a 3-2 victory in Game 2 on Tomas Sandstrom's goal with 7:40 remaining. Los Angeles pulled ahead with a 4-2 home win in Game 3, while the Leafs responded with a 4-2 triumph in Game 4. That set the stage for a thrilling Game 5, in which Toronto's Glenn Anderson scored 19:20 into OT to put the Leafs within one game of their first Stanley Cup appearance in 26 years.
Things looked good in the early going for the Leafs, who went ahead just 58 seconds into the game on an Anderson goal and jumped back in front nearly four minutes into the second frame after Tony Granato had evened the score just past the midway point of the first. But three straight Toronto penalties - two by Foligno - led to three Kings goals and a 4-2 L.A. lead after two.
Yet, just when it looked like a seventh game was inevitable, Wendel Clark took over. His second goal of the game with 8:52 left in regulation made it a one-goal affair, and he stunned the Great Western Forum crowd with just 1:21 left, converting a Gilmour feed to complete the hat trick. Neither team scored over the final 81 seconds, resulting in a second straight overtime game.
Then, in the early moments of extra time, this happens (or, in the eyes of Kerry Fraser, doesn't happen):
Gilmour went down immediately after taking Gretzky's stick to the chin - but none of the officials witnessed the infraction, as Fraser explains in his captivating recount of the incident for the Players' Tribune in 2016:
I’m starting to think, Did I miss this? I skated to my linesmen and said, “Guys, help me out.” Rob Finn had the balls of an elephant. He said, “Kerry, I didn’t see it. I was looking through their backs.” Kevin Collins, who had conducted the end zone face-off said, “Well … I dunno.” I had to make a decision. In referee school, they hammer it into you: Call what you see. Don’t guess. The honest to God truth is, I didn’t see it. I had to eat it. I said, “No penalty.”
The non-call would change everything. Gretzky scored the overtime winner a short time later, sending the series back to Toronto for a seventh game. Despite the Maple Leafs' best efforts, Gretzky would not be denied his first Stanley Cup appearance in a Los Angeles uniform, recording a hat trick to send the Kings to a 5-4 win and a berth in the championship round.
It was a gut-punch finish to what remains one of the most entertaining seasons in Toronto sports history. The Leafs would reach the conference final twice more over the next 25 years, but failed to advance to the Stanley Cup on both occasions. And while the future in Toronto is bright at the moment, fans of that 1992-93 team will always wonder what might have been.
For the Washington Capitals to shed the title of playoff chokers, the change must come from within.
General manager Brian MacLellan expects it will.
Veteran forward Devante Smith-Pelly was the lone player brought in this offseason on a one-year, $650,000 contract. Forwards Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie, and defenseman Dmitry Orlov were all re-signed to long-term contracts worth more than $5 million annually.
Despite the team's efforts and willingness to spend this summer, the Capitals still suffered significant losses, which could challenge their ability to compete for a third consecutive Presidents' Trophy, let alone make it out of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 1997-98.
MacLellan points to the Capitals' crop of young defensemen he believes are ready - or very close to ready - to making a significant impact at the NHL level, a group he calls "an organizational strength."
The Caps selected 6-foot-1, 175-pound defenseman Lucas Johansen 28th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft.
“I really like Johansen, and whether it’s now or six months from now or a year from now, I think he’s going to be a factor,” MacLellan said.
The success of the Capitals' seventh-round selection in the 2012 draft could afford the team the luxury of being patient with Johansen, who won't turn 20 years old until November.
Christian Djoos excelled in his sophomore season in the AHL, scoring 13 goals and adding 45 assists in 66 regular-season games. He ranked third on the team in points and posted eight points in 12 playoff games.
"I guess the knock on him is size (6-foot, 162 pounds), but I don’t think Schmidt (6-foot-1, 194 pounds) is a big guy,” said MacLellan.
The options don't end there. Defensemen Madison Bowey and Jonas Siegenthaler were second-round selections in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Tyler Lewington was a seventh-round pick in 2013 and spent the past two seasons in the AHL.
While replacing Schmidt may not be "a huge deal," the winners of a NHL roster spot will also be charged with helping to change the growing rhetoric of playoff failure clinging to the team's retained core.
Spooner and the Bruins were apparently nearly $2 million apart in talks as of Monday, with the forward seeking $3.85 million and the club offering $2 million, as Friedman previously reported.
The 25-year-old center notched 11 goals and 39 points in 78 regular-season games for the Bruins last season, adding a pair of assists in four playoff contests.
James Bisson celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1992-93 season with a look back at the most memorable moments of the greatest campaign in NHL history. This edition focuses on Pittsburgh Penguins legend Mario Lemieux, who stunned the hockey world in more ways than one:
Mario Lemieux did it all during his NHL career.
The towering center won three Hart Trophies as the league's most valuable player, six Art Ross awards as the NHL's top scorer, and a pair of Stanley Cup titles in the early 1990s. Just how good was Super Mario? He was immediately inducted into the Hall of Fame upon his initial retirement in 1997 - then came back and played parts of five seasons at an elite level.
Yet, despite years of dominance on par with Wayne Gretzky himself, one Lemiuex season stands out above the rest - not only because of what he accomplished on the ice, but also because of what he endured off it. Imagine a player in today's NHL scoring 160 points in just 60 games - and then imagine that player doing so despite missing nearly two months due to cancer treatments.
Prior to the shocking announcement that Lemieux would be stepping away from the Penguins to treat early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma, the 27-year-old was on pace to become just the second player in NHL history to record 200 points in a season. He opened the year with 12 consecutive multi-point games, and finished October with 36 points in just 11 contests.
His torrid scoring pace tailed off somewhat in November - though 29 points in 15 games can hardly be considered a swoon - but Lemieux ratcheted things back up in December, recording eight goals and 28 (!) assists in 12 games to go into the new year with 101 points in 38 games - on track to challenge Gretzky's incredible record of 215 points in a single season.
But just as Lemieux steamrolled his way past the 100-point plateau, he noticed a lump in his neck. Having studied cancer years earlier when his agent's sister-in-law died of the disease, Lemieux knew he had to get it checked out. And when he did, he was floored - a doctor confirmed he was dealing with early stages of Hodgkin lymphoma.
Lemieux began radiation treatment later that month, fully expecting to not only beat the disease, but to return to action later in the season. Doctors were equally optimistic, suggesting Lemieux would be back following his three-to-four-week radiation treatment schedule.
Still, fans and teammates wondered how it would all play out. Would Super Mario be back that season? How long would it take him to rediscover his elite form? Could he lift the Penguins back atop the NHL standings and make a run at a third consecutive Stanley Cup title?
Lemieux answered most of those questions on March 2, in his triumphant return to the Penguins in a game against the state-rival Philadelphia Flyers. He looked like he'd never left, scoring a goal and adding an assist despite undergoing his final radiation treatment earlier that day.
Yet, as great as it was to be back, Le Magnifique had work to do. He trailed Buffalo Sabres star Pat LaFontaine by 12 points in the scoring race - and with Pittsburgh going just 11-10-2 in his absence, the Penguins needed a big finish from Lemieux to land the top spot in the conference.
To no one's surprise, Lemieux obliged.
After being held without a point in a March 5 loss to the New York Rangers, he proceeded to rack up 46 (!!) over his next 15 games, scoring 22 goals and adding 24 assists. The highlight: Lemieux scored eight goals in a two-game span on March 18 and 20, prompting linemate Kevin Stevens to tell the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Dave Molinari:
(LaFontaine) is probably a little bit nervous right now. If he can hang onto this lead, it’s a credit to him, but I’ve still got my money on Mario to beat him. And I think he will.
The Penguins won every one of those 15 games to move within one of equaling the league-record winning streak. And with the Rangers on tap again, Lemieux put together a game to remember:
Though he didn't have a point in the rematch with New York the following night, the Penguins still prevailed for their record-setting 17th straight victory. Lemieux added two goals and an assist in the regular-season finale - a 6-6 tie with the New Jersey Devils - to wind up with 69 goals, 91 assists, and a 12-point edge over LaFontaine to win the scoring title.
Yet, despite leading the Penguins to the top record in the NHL, a third straight Stanley Cup championship - which would have been a hell of a capper to the season - was not in the cards. Pittsburgh cruised past the Devils in five games in the opening round, but squandered a 3-2 series lead to the New York Islanders and lost a 4-3 stunner in Game 7 on David Volek's goal 5:16 into overtime.
Still, there was no debating which player was the league's best that season. In addition to capturing his fourth scoring title, Lemieux won his second Hart Trophy while earning the Lester B. Pearson Award for MVP as voted on by the players. He also won the Bill Masterton Trophy, given to the player who "best demonstrates the qualities of perseverance and sportsmanship."
It was a fitting end to an incredible season for Lemieux, who showed the kind of perseverance that made his 1992-93 performance one for the ages.
Team Canada general manager Sean Burke and his staff will have their ears to the ground for the rest of the NHL offseason.
Burke was named general manager of Canada's hockey team at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and will now be tasked with assembling a roster devoid of any NHL players.
It presents a difficult task for Burke and Co. and with a smaller crop of players to choose from, Burke insists he would consider veteran forwards Jarome Iginla and Shane Doan if both go unsigned by NHL clubs.
"I don't think you would ever have to sell them," Burke told TSN 1050 radio on Tuesday. "I know that those are two players that have served their country in hockey a number of times and both have been impactful players for Team Canada and have enjoyed those experiences.
"Obviously both near the end of their NHL careers and not sure where their minds are as far as how much they think they have left to play in the NHL. But those are guys we will definitely consider, guys that we'll definitely think a lot about and we'll wait to see how those situations play out."
Both Iginla and Doan have Olympic experience and for the time being remain unrestricted free agents as they appear to be deciding on their playing careers, with retirement a realistic possibility.
As for the rest of the roster, Burke insists "most" of the team will likely be made up of players from the KHL.
"Most of our players will be guys that come from Europe, playing in the KHL," Burke said. "I guess if you are looking at it in at a rating system, it is probably the second best league in the world next to the NHL. A lot of our players are guys that were high draft picks guys that ended up playing in Europe for various reasons, but are excellent hockey players playing very well in other leagues.
"We'll maybe have an opportunity for the odd AHL guy who is maybe the higher-end guy on a AHL contract. We're not sure if that will present itself or not. There might be a guy in college, one guy in college somewhere who is a free agent college player, a guy that is a very good college player. You see these guys come out of U.S. colleges and sign and have an impact in the NHL right away, we might find a guy like that."
Canada will take part in five pre-Olympic tournament games to evaluate players. Time will tell if the roster includes at least two former Olympians.
The goaltender signed a one-year, $4-million contract that will keep him in the Sabres' crease for at least the 2017-18 season, at the end of which he'll once again become a restricted free agent.
In an interview with WGR 550 in Buffalo on Tuesday, Lehner admitted signing for a longer term would have been nice, but in his mind, he's in it for the long haul.
"At the end of the day, I think my decision the whole time is I want to be in Buffalo," Lehner said. "I like this city a lot. I want to keep building with this team. I'm happy I got another year here. One year or longer term - long term would be nice. One year is fine too.
"I'm confident in my abilities to be a good goalie in this league. If it's one year on paper, that's fine. I'm obviously a restricted free agent one more year after this. I'll take it year-by-year, try to focus on the season, and we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens next year."
Lehner was acquired by the Sabres in 2015 with a view to installing him as the No. 1 goalie coming out of a serious rebuild. That process has not gone as planned, leading to the firing of general manager Tim Murray and head coach Dan Bylsma at the end of last season, both of whom have since been replaced by Jason Botterill and Phil Housley, respectively.
Lehner has spoken to both new hires and is excited about Housley's more defensive-minded approach. His hope is that the changes on and off the ice will benefit the team, and, by extension, his contract situation moving forward.
"Again, I'm not going to approach it to have a good season to get my long-term deal ... obviously, there's a business aspect to the game too, but I think team success kind of leads to personal success here.
"We talked a lot last year about a lot of different areas that we needed to improve on – personal and as a team. It's like a little puzzle. There's a lot of pieces you've got to get in place here and I think piece by piece it's getting better. But we'll just have to keep working and see where it takes us."
In two seasons with the Sabres, Lehner has posted a record of 28-35-13 with a .921 save percentage.
A 2012 mid-round pick by the Winnipeg Jets, the Michigan native was given no shortage of opportunity in 2016-17, appearing in 56 games and posting a 26-19-4 record.
While the 24-year-old gets a passing grade in the team categories, individually he did not stack up as well. At .907, his save percentage ranked 19th among the 21 netminders with at least 50 starts, while his 2.89 GAA didn't fare any better, sitting second-last among his peers.
On Monday, Hellebuyck inked a one-year extension in Winnipeg, a deal which will see him earn $2.25 million next season and will serve as his chance to show why he deserves to remain part of the team's future.
"It's all on the line," Hellebuyck told Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun on Monday. "I learned a lot, got a whole lot better (last season), but I have a whole lot more to give. I got more to offer than what I showed last year. I look forward to doing that this year ... I owe these guys my best every night."
Hellebuyck saw the bulk of work in Winnipeg's crease last season, ahead of Michael Hutchinson and the experienced Ondrej Pavelec. But he'll have a new veteran voice in his corner this year after the Jets recruited former Philadelphia Flyers netminder Steve Mason in free agency, who was brought in on a two-year pact.
"I'm going to learn from (Mason)," Hellebuyck said. "He's a veteran guy who's been through the ropes. I'm going to take what I can from him. And you know what? It's going to push us both as goalies."
Mason can certainly relate to Hellebuyck, who put his name on the NHL map in 2008-09. That season, a 20-year-old Mason posted 33 wins in 61 games to drag the Columbus Blue Jackets to their first-ever playoff appearance. He was later rewarded with rookie of the year honors.
As he heads to Winnipeg, Mason may not see the crease as often as he did in his rookie campaign, especially with Hellebuyck motivated to shine when called upon.
"I'm going to (give) every ounce of effort I can on the ice to prove that I belong here and show them that last year was a fluke," Hellebuyck added. "I know I have more to give and I'm going to do that this year and prove it."
