The Ottawa Senators were labeled coach killers in recent years, after cycling through seven bench bosses in 12 seasons since Jacques Martin's eight-and-a-half-year reign ended in April 2004. They may have finally found their long-term fit in Guy Boucher, but at the very least, he seems to have found his fit with them.
“When you get a new coach you never know how it’s going to connect and this is the first time I’ve seen a guy come and collect a stick from everybody," winger Bobby Ryan said, according to Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch.
Boucher asked for sticks from each player so he could remember his first Senators team, which formed a very strong bond over the past nine months. The club took the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins to double overtime in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. It was a trying season on a personal level for a number of Senators, including Craig Anderson, whose wife was diagnosed with cancer, and Clarke MacArthur, whose career was thought to be in jeopardy due to concussions.
Ottawa hired Boucher in May 2016, marking his return to an NHL bench more than four years after being fired by the Tampa Bay Lightning. One year later, Boucher brought the team to within a goal of the franchise's second Stanley Cup Final berth. The Senators went 38-35-9 and fell short of the playoffs one year ago, under then-head coach Dave Cameron.
Ottawa's prolonged postseason run came much to the chagrin of many hockey fans and the media, who labelled the Senators "boring." The alleged slow play was a product of Boucher's strong defensive system, one that was fully embraced by the aforementioned Ryan.
It might be a weaker draft class, but that doesn't mean clubs wouldn't like their swing at the first overall pick.
New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero sat down for a one-on-one interview with TSN's Pierre LeBrun and said he's already received calls on the No. 1 selection, according to LeBrun.
After finishing the regular season with the fifth-worst record in the league, the Devils shocked the hockey world by jumping up to grab the top selection at the draft lottery.
Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings (Western Hockey League) is the top-ranked prospect entering the draft, according to NHL Central Scouting, though No. 2-rated Nico Hischier of the Halifax Mooseheads (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) is also highly coveted.
It's kind of amazing that Crosby, last year's Conn Smythe winner, gets only one vote. His 20 points rank second among all postseason skaters.
Who you got?
Conference finals, overall results
Your hardworking and extremely handsome editors fared pretty well in the third round, thanks to all of us picking Pittsburgh to advance over Ottawa. (Sorry, Senators fans.)
Editor
3rd-round score
Overall
Gold-Smith
2/2
8/14
Hagerman
2/2
9/14
Livingstone
1/2
6/14
Ian McLaren
1/2
6/14
O'Leary
2/2
7/14
Sachdeva
2/2
9/14
Vaswani
2/2
9/14
Wilkins
2/2
11/14
Wegman
2/2
9/14
Mr. Wilkins is a prophet, and after a respectable 5-for-8 first round, he's been perfect ever since. He's got the the Predators winning the Cup and Rinne the Conn Smythe. So congratulations in advance, Nashville.
Contract negotiations between the Ottawa Senators and goaltender Mike Condon's camp of haven't gone smoothly.
General manager Pierre Dorion spoke at the team's end-of-year press conference Monday and he didn't shy away, saying talks with Condon's agent "haven't been very good," according to TSN's Brent Wallace.
Dorion will meet with Condon's agent this week to make an offer.
If things don't pan out, Dorion said he could bring back netminder Andrew Hammond, according to Wallace. Hammond played just six games with the club this season putting up an ugly 4.08 goals-against average and a .837 save percentage.
Condon played a pivotal role with the Senators this season after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins following Nicholle Anderson's cancer diagnosis.
Playing in 41 games during Craig Anderson's absences from the team, Condon went 19-14-6 with a 2.48 GAA, .914 save percentage, and five shutouts.
It was widely known that Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson was playing with two hairline fractures in his left heel, but during Ottawa's end-of-season press conference, general manager Pierre Dorion said Karlsson was playing with muscle damage in his ankle in addition to the foot issue, according to TSN's Ian Mendes.
This makes it even more remarkable that Karlsson played as well as he did during the postseason. In 19 games, he recorded two goals and 16 assists with a plus-13 rating while averaging over 28 minutes per night.
While Karlsson was certainly Ottawa's best player during their postseason, their second best player, goaltender Craig Anderson, was also battling injuries of his own. Dorion said Anderson's back was in "terrible shape" during the second round against the Rangers, per Mendes.
Karlsson and Anderson weren't the only two to be battling injuries, though. Dorion announced the following injuries at the presser:
The 30-year-old was expected to be a game-time decision after Sullivan stated as such Sunday saying he was "definitely encouraged" by Hornqvist's progress.
The veteran forward will be a key cog in breaking through the Predators elite defense corps, while his offensive contributions will go a long way as well.
There hasn't been any word of an injury for Guentzel, so it's possible his game-time decision could be the result of being a healthy scratch since Patric Hornqvist (upper body) is set to return to the lineup. Hornqvist hasn't played since Game 1 of the conference finals.
Guentzel was a hero for the Penguins during the first two rounds, scoring nine goals - including three game-winners - and totaling 14 points in 12 games. However, he was virtually invisible in the conference finals, picking up just two assists in seven games against the Senators.
The Stanley Cup Final is upon us, with the puck dropping on Game 1 between the Penguins and Nashville Predators on Monday at 8 p.m. ET in Pittsburgh.
Below, cast your vote on which team you believe will raise the most brilliant trophy in pro sports, and then check out theScore's Stanley Cup Final preview content.
Erie Otters goaltender Troy Timpano got a little carried away on Sunday night.
Following his team's 4-3 loss to the Windsor Spitfires in the Memorial Cup final, the 19-year-old hurled his stick at a cameraman who was capturing shots of the defeated Otters bench.
Obviously realizing what he'd done, Timpano penned an apology for the incident after the game.
"I'd like to apologize for my postgame incident with the cameraman passing by our bench," Timpano posted on his Twitter feed. "My emotions got the better of me and I regret my reaction towards the camera. Certainly, not in my character to do something like this. Again, my sincere apologies."
Timpano is coming off his fourth year in the league and remains eligible to return to the Otters next season, where the quest to capture the Memorial Cup will begin again.
With the offseason underway for a number of teams and the remainder to join them in a few weeks, we're looking at what's in store for each club in the coming months.
2016-17 Grade: B-
One would think a 102-point regular season would be worth more than a wildcard postseason berth, but that wasn't the case for the Rangers in 2016-17.
Ironically, New York's path through the Eastern Conference playoffs benefited from lower seeding, but a six-game elimination at the hands of the underdog Ottawa Senators in the second round wrapped the Rangers' campaign in disappointment, as they closed out another season with failed Stanley Cup aspirations.
The Rangers employed a high-powered offense and had Henrik Lundqvist in goal, but, going forward, their aging D corps - which was ultimately New York's undoing when it counted - clouds the legitimacy and longevity of their championship window.
Free Agents
Only Mika Zibanejad's contract is pressing, but New York has several contracts to depth forwards to address.
Player (Position)
2017-18 Status
Age
2016-17 Cap Hit
2016-17 Points
Brandon Pirri (F)
RFA
26
$925K
18
Matt Puempel (F)
RFA
24
$900K
9
Mika Zibanejad (F)
RFA
24
$2.625M
37
Jesper Fast (F)
RFA
25
$950K
21
Tanner Glass (F)
UFA
33
$1.45M
2
Oscar Lindberg (F)
RFA
25
$650K
20
Adam Clendening (D)
RFA
24
$600K
11
Brendan Smith (D)
UFA
28
$2.75M
9 (4 with Rangers)
Magnus Hellberg played just two games for the Rangers last season, spending the majority of his season with the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack.
Player (Position)
2017-18 Status
Age
2016-17 Cap Hit
'16-17 SV%
Magnus Hellberg (G)
UFA
26
$625K
.929
2017 Draft Picks
For the first time since 2012, New York possesses a first-round pick. However, they'll have to wait until round four to make another selection, barring a trade.
Round
Picks
1
1
4
1 (From FLA)
5
1
6
1 (From VAN)
7
1
Summer Priorities
1. Sign Zibanejad
Zibanejad's first season on Broadway was limited to 56 games due do a broken fibula suffered in November, but the 24-year-old Swede managed 37 points, and added nine more in 12 postseason contests.
Acquired last summer from the Senators for Derick Brassard and a seventh-round pick, Zibanejad proved he's worthy of being a top-six center in the NHL, and is due a raise. A player of his caliber (0.61 points per game over his last three seasons) can feasibly fetch around $4 million in today's market, and that's certainly a reasonable cap hit given his production.
Zibanejad missing 26 games may have saved the Rangers some money this summer, but rewarding one of their top offensive players appropriately is a must.
2. Buyout Dan Girardi or Marc Staal
(Photo Courtesy: Getty Images)
It isn't going to be easy, but the Rangers need to move on from one of their veteran blue-liners to free up cap space, and ultimately ice a better roster.
Both Girardi and Staal own no-movement clauses, meaning exposure to Vegas is out of the picture. If general manager Jeff Gorton could actually find a suitor for either of their egregious contracts, the player would have to be willing to waive their NMC in order to facilitate a trade.
The only other option is a buyout, and while it would be a tough pill to swallow for cap purposes, both Girardi (33) and Staal (30) have seen a steady decline in productivity. The duo looked out of place and slow in the postseason, and the stay-at-home style that earned them both long-term contracts is working its way out of the sport.
Buying out Girardi would cost the Rangers a portion of his cap hit on the books as dead money for six seasons, while Staal's exit would cost New York for eight years. Biting the bullet might be the only way to upgrade.
3. Trade big offensive name for top defenseman
Should Gorton go ahead and execute the idea above, the next step should be orchestrating a deal to bring in a top-four defender at the cost of a prominent forward, which could greatly help the balance of his roster.
You get what you give, and the Rangers have some bait to dangle to teams looking to improve up front, namely Rick Nash and Derek Stepan.
Nash might not be the 40-goal man he used to be, but he's fully capable of filling a top six role on the wing. He'd have to waive a no-trade clause, and his $7.8-million cap hit might scare some teams away, but with only one season left on his contract, a match could be out there.
Stepan, meanwhile, has four more seasons on his current deal, owning a cap hit of $6.5 million with a no-trade clause. The 26-year-old pivot has a career points per game of 0.7 and routinely matches up against the opposition's top lines. There's always a market for that type of player.
2017-18 Outlook
The bottom line, frankly, for the Rangers is simple: they're good, but not quite good enough.
However, improving the blue line with younger, more mobile bodies - even at the expense of a top attacker - is a worthwhile risk if New York plans on accomplishing more than winning just one playoff round in 2017-18.
It will take roster tinkering, but if executed properly, the Rangers can definitely compete in the East, and take a few more shots at earning a Stanley Cup with Lundqvist still in the picture.
