The aftermath of yet another fruitless playoff run hasn't been easy for the Washington Capitals.
After earning a second consecutive Presidents' Trophy, and going all in to acquire top deadline prize Kevin Shattenkirk, Washington wilted once again in the second round of the playoffs at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The roster rearrangement has caused many to wonder how competitive Washington can be going forward - a notion general manager Brian MacLellan simply can't understand.
"People make it seem like we're a lottery team," MacLellan said, according to Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post. "I'm shocked by that. We've got good players. I want people to know: We've got a good team."
While the Capitals certainly lost plenty of talent this offseason, they can still roll out a forward corps featuring Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, complemented by Oshie and Kuznetsov. Not to mention, world-class netminder Braden Holtby is locked in Washington's crease for another three seasons. That core, at the very least, should be enough to compete for a playoff spot.
Still, on paper, as August approaches, a slight step backward in the standings may appear imminent for the Capitals - and how they recover from last season's disappointment shall be an intriguing storyline to monitor when the NHL returns in October.
— Belleville Senators (@BellevilleSens) July 25, 2017
The Belleville Senators finally have an identity.
The AHL club of the Ottawa Senators, which will begin its first season in Belleville, Ontario next year, unveiled its new look Tuesday, one that closely resembles the heritage emblem of the parent club.
The Senators arrive in Belleville after uprooting from Binghamton, N.Y., marking the return of hockey in the city after the OHL's Bulls left for Hamilton in 2015.
As for the old stomping grounds, that market will now be served by the newly-created Binghamton Devils, the minor-league affiliate of New Jersey, which will move west from Albany, N.Y.
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was clearly out of his element Tuesday while training with former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens, who, even at 43 years old, remains incredibly quick on his feet.
Now the question is, how would Owens fare on skates?
The Ottawa Senators were wrong to fear forward Mika Zibanejad's looming salary increase when trading him last summer; however, they still made the right call in swapping him for Derick Brassard.
Zibanejad and the Rangers agreed to a five-year extension on Tuesday worth an annual average value of $5.35 million, a reasonable figure the Sens would likely have been comfortable with had they kept their former first-rounder.
Brassard is under contract with Ottawa for only two more years, but has a cheaper cap hit at $5 million per season.
And production-wise, Brassard has been slightly more effective.
Zibanejad had an edge on Brassard in early career development, entering the the NHL on a full-time basis at age 19. Through 337 career games, the 24-year-old has recorded 188 points (0.56 PPG).
Brassard wasn't a regular member of the Columbus Blue Jackets until his third season, when he was 21, but he's put up 382 points in 644 games (0.59 PPG).
Zibanejad is set to take over the Rangers' first-line center duties from the departedDerek Stepan, so he could outpace Brassard in the points category going forward. However, Brassard is a superior defensive forward.
Brassard had a career-best Corsi For rating of 53.98 percent last season. The Senators averaged 52.58 percent of scoring chances and 55.56 percent of all goals scored when he was on the ice in 5-on-5 situations.
The Rangers averaged 54.69 percent of the 5-on-5 goals with Zibanejad on the ice, but he owned an individual Corsi For rating of just 49.3 percent.
More ice time for Zibanejad could also exaggerate the flaws in his defensive game.
Zibanejad should have an easy enough time accounting for Stepan's point production, but when it comes to filling the role of a true No. 1 center, he may find it difficult facing tougher competition.
What's more, the seemingly small difference in salaries separating the two players shouldn't be overlooked.
When it comes to re-signing Brassard after the 2018-19 season, the Sens will need every bit of that $350,000 and more in order to sign fellow free-agent-to-be Erik Karlsson.
Team Canada's roster for the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea is beginning to take shape.
Canada's men's national team will participate in two tournaments in Russia this August - the Sochi Hockey Open and the Tournament of Nikolai Puchkov - as an evaluation process for choosing the final names that will head to the Olympics.
When Chris Kontos took the ice at Tampa's Expo Hall on Oct. 6, 1992, nobody could have anticipated that the 29-year-old would erupt for four goals in the first game in Lightning franchise history. I recently spoke with Kontos, now 53 and the president of a digital service company in Midland, Ont., about his history-making night:
Let's start with how you wound up in Tampa Bay in the first place.
The year before, I was with the Canadian Olympic team, and on the way to Albertville, I was battling a small groin injury and the NHL had lent a couple of players to join the team. I guess I was low man on the totem pole - I was cut at the airport flying into Albertville.
Dave King was the (Canadian Olympic team) coach, but (Lightning head coach) Terry Crisp was the assistant - and there's your connection.
What were your initial thoughts on being part of an expansion team?
It was great. I was a seasoned player by then, I had played quite a few years. It was almost having nine lives ... I started with the Rangers, had a stint in Pittsburgh for a couple of seasons, then went to L.A., then the Olympic team. Either my eighth or ninth life was to get a shot in Tampa.
I wasn't a slouch of a player. Even though you get labeled as a journeyman, I was a first-round draft pick, I was skilled, I had talent. I felt I could help, it was just a matter of somebody opening a door. Crispy said, "Sign and come down, and see what happens." So I did.
Did you have a sense beforehand that you were in for a big night?
No, not really. I don't have the stats from training camp, but I was pretty consistent all the way through training camp, which is what opened the door for me to get into the starting lineup.
So let's go over the goals. Take me through the first one.
It was a power play. We were moving the puck around, and I think I just got to the side of the net into a seam where I just kind of went undetected. Rob Zamuner slap-passed it to me and I was at the right place in the right time and just passed it into the net.
On the second goal, you did a great job winning a battle on the half-wall and then headed straight for the net.
John Tucker threw it across to me and I just took a big whack at it. I think the defenseman was trying to block it, and everything kind of went into the net.
What are you thinking about at this point?
The Fairgrounds was sold out, the electricity was great ... you just kind of go with it. Everybody's happy, everybody's pumped. Ed Belfour was the Vezina winner the year before, and we're taking on the Chicago Blackhawks, and we're on the right side of the score.
On the third goal, you happen to swoop into the slot just as the puck is sitting there on a platter for you.
Those kinds of goals are just opportunistic; right place at the right time. I wasn't Brett Hull, I didn't have a 100-mile-per-hour snap shot that put the puck under the bar in the apex of the corner. Just get it on net, follow it up, and if there's a rebound ...
Even when I clinic kids nowadays, I say, "Just hit the net." I think that one went five-hole on Belfour. He came out and his legs were open and I threw a little sauce on it and it went just over his stick and between his legs. If he does get a piece of it, I'm still going toward the net for a rebound. I'd rather hit the net than miss it and have to backcheck. (laughs)
Describe the scene after you complete the hat trick.
My godfather from Clearwater was at the game with his family; he's a Michiganite but he's been down there for 35 years now. When I got the hat trick, he was so excited that he threw his hat on the ice, and the ushers, I guess they were instructed that, if anybody throws anything on the ice, throw 'em out. (laughs) So the usher was like, "Sir, come on, you're out."
I think even (general manager Phil Esposito) saw it and said, "No, no, no! In hockey that's allowed! When someone scores three, that's the tradition! You throw hats!" The Floridians were just so new to hockey; they had a steep learning curve in the beginning but they loved it, because they were right into it. And to start with a 7-3 win was a great way to kick it off.
So, with three in the bag and your team enjoying a four-on-three advantage late in the second, you strike again. Take me through that goal.
That one was just a reaction. Joe Reekie saw me at the side of the net and I just knew it was coming hard enough. I redirected it between my legs to where I thought it was going to hit the net and I squeezed it past Belfour.
I think I had pretty good hands as a player, I had gone on some runs before. I was actually more of a playmaker than a goal-scorer if you looked at my career production, but that's fine.
I can't help but notice that, when the camera pans to you on the bench after each goal, you look mostly indifferent. No smile. Not even a hint of a smile! What was that about?
I had been playing pro for 12 years. I wish I played every game like a 1,000-game player in the NHL, but it was a grind for me. I'd get called up, do my best, if the numbers or the politics weren't right, I'd get sent down. If the contract wasn't right, I'd go to Europe and play, and then come back because somebody else was giving me a shot.
It was a euphoric feeling, just the feeling of being back and trying to make a mark for myself so that I can stay in the NHL.
Where do you keep the pucks from that game?
They were in a drawer in my basement, and then we used to have a backyard rink, and I'm pretty sure they're in the lake now. I think the kids, when they ran out of pucks, would just go look for pucks and grab them. I don't know, I might have them. They had tape around them, but the kids didn't care.
That night kick-started an amazing run in which you scored 18 goals in your first 18 games, prompting me to ask for (and receive) your jersey from my parents as a Christmas gift. What was the key to that run?
I was just doing what I always tried to do. If you look back, when I was in Los Angeles, I went on a bit of a run in the playoffs, and felt like if I was given the opportunity, I thought I could produce. But that's not always the case in hockey. There's all kind of factors that determine whether a guy plays, or doesn't play, or what line he plays on, or how much power-play time he gets.
That's just the way it is. It's no different than a Broadway play where there's the star actors and the supporting actors and the guys behind the scenes. There's a hierarchy - and sometimes you can get into a good position and sometimes you can't.
The Lightning had one of the more interesting seasons of any expansion team in history. What stands out most for you from that year?
The team wasn't built on star-studded names. Crisp had the guys working 100 percent every night. There were a lot of one-goal games. We just did our best.
Mike Fisher has been mulling retirement since his Nashville Predators lost Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It appears the free-agent center is nearing a decision as to whether he wants to return for another NHL season.
"He is on vacation, and I have been away and (focused on preparing for arbitration hearings)," Predators general manager David Poile told Adam Vingan of the Tennessean. "I'm hoping to talk to him later this week to see where he's at. I'd say by next week, we should have an update."
Even in his age-36 season, Fisher was still a valuable player for the Preds. He scored 18 goals, tallied 42 points, and won 54.9 percent of his faceoffs.
With Nick Bonino now in the fold, Fisher would be able to slot in as the team's third-line center - a much more fitting role for the 37-year-old.
With few remaining centers left in free agency, the Preds would likely turn to in-house options Calle Jarnkrok, Colton Sissons, or Frederick Gaudreau to fill the third-line vacancy left by Fisher if he opts for retirement.
Hockey Canada unveiled the management team Tuesday that will be tasked with building the country's Olympic roster for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Former NHL goalie Sean Burke, currently scouting for the Montreal Canadiens, will serve as general manager, while Martin Brodeur, assistant GM of the St. Louis Blues, will be part of the management team.
Former Vancouver Canucks bench boss Willie Desjardins will coach the club.
Burke and Brodeur will work alongside Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney, president and COO Scott Smith, and vice president of hockey operations Scott Salmond.
Filling out the rest of Desjardins' coaching staff will be assistant coaches Dave King, Scott Walker, and Craig Woodcroft.
"This is an exciting time for Hockey Canada and for our national men's team program, and it will be an exciting season for Canadian hockey fans," said Renney. "The goal is always to field the best possible team in all upcoming competitions, including this February when we hit the world's biggest sporting stage in Pyeonchang. The faces on our Team Canada rosters may be different than in previous years, but the expectations will be the same; with the addition of Sean, Martin, Willie, Dave, Scott, and Craig, we have assembled some of the best hockey minds out there to help us meet those expectations of on-ice success."
In the 2018 Games, no NHL players will be loaned to their respective countries. Due to that wrinkle, Canada will compete in various tournaments starting in Russia in August in order to properly evaluate potential players.
"These first two events allow us to continue a player evaluation process that began last season with our Deutschland Cup and Spengler Cup teams," said Salmond. "We will continue to look at the best available players to us - these two tournaments being the next opportunity to see some of the talent we can select from."
Canada is looking to capture gold in men's hockey for the third straight games and the fourth time since 2002.
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 centers around Manon Rheaume, who became the first woman to compete with a men's North American pro sports team when she played an exhibition game for the Tampa Bay Lightning:
The final line score might not look that impressive: two goals against on nine shots in 20 minutes of an exhibition game. But for Manon Rheaume, all that mattered was the real result: the 20-year-old had made history as the first woman to appear in a men's professional hockey league.
Not bad for a woman who played in just one major junior game in her career - a stint with the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in which she received a rude awakening to live action, as she explained to NHL.com's Arpon Basu in a 2012 interview:
I think I finished the second period and I started the third, but I got a slap shot in the third period and it cut my mask. My cage broke and it cut my eye. As I'm playing, I could barely see because the blood was coming in my eye, but I didn't know I was cut at the time and I was wondering what was going on. I kept playing until the whistle, and when the whistle blew I took my helmet off and I had blood all over me. They had to take me out of the game to get stitches.
That high heater to the mush might have knocked her out of action, but it did nothing to sour veteran Tampa Bay scout Jacques Campeau, who sent general manager Phil Esposito a tape of Rheaume's performance from that night. Esposito was suitably impressed - and that was before he discovered that she was, in fact, a female.
With the expansion Lightning set to begin their inaugural season that fall, Esposito realized that bringing in a woman could generate big publicity - so he did just that, inviting Rheaume to camp in Tampa Bay.
Rheaume was no stranger to high-level hockey. She allowed just two goals in three games played while leading Canada to gold at the 1992 IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Tampere, Finland, posting a .957 save percentage in the process. But this was different - much different. And at 5-foot-3 and 135 pounds, she and her small stature stood out in a big way.
Esposito dealt with criticism from within the organization over the decision to bring Rheaume to camp. He outlined his response to Basu:
I said, 'Guys, we're an expansion team. We're not going to win (anything) anyways. We need the publicity.' Why do you think I drafted Brent Gretzky in the third round (of the 1992 NHL Draft)? We had to get people in the building. My whole strategy was once we get them in the building to see the game, we've got them. I did what I had to do. No matter what it took, we were going to get it done.
As for Rheaume, she recalled being so nervous "I could barely breathe" in an interview with Lonnie Herman of the Lightning's official website in 2010, but received a wonderful surprise prior to stepping onto the ice for an exhibition game against the St. Louis Blues:
I had a big bouquet of flowers from a Quebec radio station and a card saying 'you can do this, we’re all behind you.' It made me feel great. I had my parent’s support and my friend’s support but to have my home town sending me this and telling me that they are behind me, it made me feel better and helped take the nerves away.
Rheaume showed some early jitters, allowing a Jeff Brown goal from 35 feet out; it still sticks with her, as she shared with Basu:
The long shot (by Brown), I was not happy with that. It was a long shot, it was a little bit outside the blue line, it hit the inside of one pad and the inside of the other pad and went in. It was just one of those fluky goals. But as upset as I was about this goal, every year when I watch the NHL it happens three, four or five times a year. It could have happened to anybody, it just so happens that it happened to me. But, obviously, there was so much on me that day - I wish I had that one back.
A Brendan Shanahan one-timer eluded her later in the period, but that was it - she stopped everything else that was sent her way, leaving to a warm ovation before giving way to Wendell Young for the start of the second period.
Rheaume went on to sign a pro contract with the IHL's Atlanta Knights and suited up for two games with the team, stopping 29 of 36 shots. She would also spend time in the ECHL and the WCHL before calling it quits to focus on her family. Her best stint came with the ECHL's Nashville Knights in 1993-94, when she went 3-0-0 with a 3.64 GAA and a .901 SV% in four games.
While Rheaume's achievement hasn't since been repeated at the NHL level, she inspired countless young girls to take up the sport - and other women have enjoyed success at a professional level even without reaching the top league in the world. Hayley Wickenheiser is the most notable example, playing 23 games for Salamat of Finland's second-division league in 2002-03.
Rheaume told Herman the significance of her accomplishment 25 years ago at Expo Hall in Tampa took a while to sink in:
I had no clue that my life would change the way it did. To be honest with you, I didn’t understand the impact it would have until later in life. Now I have young girls coming up to me and saying, ‘you inspire me.’ I never imagined it would affect so many people’s lives. I had no clue.
Mueller's deal is for two years and will pay the 22-year-old $775,000 this upcoming season and $925,000 in the 2018-19 season. Blandisi's contract is a two-way deal for two years and will pay him $660,000 and $700,000 in those respective years. Finally, Wedgewood will earn $650,000 on a one-year, two-way contract.
Mueller was acquired from the San Jose Sharks during the draft in a deal that also included a swap of draft picks. In 54 career games over the last three years, he's tallied two goals and six points.
Blandisi is coming off his second season split between the Devils and their American Hockey League affiliate in Albany. In 68 games at the NHL level, the 23-year-old has put up eight goals and 26 points.
Wedgewood missed most of the 2016-17 season with an injury and played exclusively in the AHL, but made a strong first impression in the NHL in the prior campaign: He suited up in four games, going 2-1-1 with a .957 save percentage and a 1.25 goals-against average.
