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The Ottawa Senators announced temporary staff reductions due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic Thursday.
"Effective April 5, which would have marked the end of the Ottawa Senators NHL season, our full-time workforce will be reduced, and the hours of some of the staff will be furloughed," Capital Sports & Entertainment said in a statement Thursday.
The company created an unemployment plan that will supplement employee insurance benefits until July. Of those employees who are not temporarily laid off, some will be placed on furlough and some will have their salaries reduced. There will be no interruption in employees' access to health benefits.
Senators owner Eugene Melnyk previously pledged to pay the income for part-time and hourly arena staff of both the NHL club and the AHL's Belleville Senators through to the end of their respective seasons. On Thursday, Melnyk extended that commitment to pay these employees what they would have earned for all scheduled event shifts through the month of April.
"Our employees have continued to work with dedication during these difficult times," Melnyk said. "We want to thank them for their continued loyalty by providing support, as we all face extraordinary challenges. Although the sports and entertainment industry is being impacted severely, we will pull through by staying committed together."
The 2019-20 NHL season was officially suspended March 12 due to the spread of the virus. Several teams around the league have also agreed to pay employees who've been affected by the pandemic.
P.K. Subban is in favor of having every team compete in a league-wide postseason when the NHL returns from its hiatus.
"It was kind of floated around. I remember around the pause time when everything kind of shut down, I saw a few things on social media and I like that," the New Jersey Devils defenseman said while appearing on ESPN's "First Take" on Thursday.
"For my team specifically, we were pushing to make the playoffs down the stretch, so I would like to see our team have an opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup, but obviously as days go by ... if (the resumption of the season) did happen, I would love to see a 31-team playoff and give those pesky Devils an opportunity (to bring) the Stanley Cup back home to New Jersey, so I'd love to see that."
It remains to be seen how the league will conclude the campaign. Whether it resumes at all, how many teams would be involved in the playoffs, or whether the rest of the regular season would be scrapped are all questions that understandably remain unanswered.
Some stars, like Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, have said they'd be open to going straight into the playoffs upon a resumption of the season. However, Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov believes his club deserves a chance to try to qualify for the postseason, as the team sat three points behind the third-place Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division with a game in hand when the league halted operations on March 12.
The 31-team playoff is one of many radical ideas being suggested during the pause. At least one team has reportedly submitted a proposal that included a tournament for lottery teams to compete for the first overall pick.
Subban's squad had the third-worst record (28-29-12) in the Eastern Conference when the NHL postponed the season.
Hunter Drew locked both hands to the steering wheel of his white Kia Forte -one at 10 o'clock, the other at 2 o'clock as if he were taking a driving test. He cranked the windshield wipers to maximum speed and directed his focus straight ahead, his eyes wide and heart racing.
He was terrified. A few moments earlier, the San Diego Gulls' rookie defenseman had lost control of his vehicle in the middle of a Colorado blizzard. His car, purchased in California without winter tires, had been moving gingerly on a winding road through the Rocky Mountains. No issues - until he hit one particular hill.
"I spun out twice on both sides," Drew said in a recent interview. "If I would have gone over to the right side 5 feet, I was going off and into the mountains. On the left, I was about three inches from T-boning a car."
"I just caught myself. Luck of the draw," the 21-year-old continued, reliving the close call from March 19. "It was the scariest thing I've ever been a part of."
Drew salutes Gulls fans San Diego Gulls
Now isolating at his family home in Kingston, Ontario, Drew laughs off the incident over the phone. It took him three long days to arrive in Canada. The AHL, like the NHL and the rest of the sports world, has been paused to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Gulls players were forced to travel home - more than 2,700 miles in Drew's case - on short notice.
It's fitting, really, that a simple Point A-to-Point B road trip turned into an unpredictable journey that produced a memorable story. Drew's career could be characterized similarly. Four years ago, he was a hockey nobody. "I was done," he said. On Monday, the Anaheim Ducks announced Drew, a quintessential late bloomer, had signed a three-year, entry-level NHL contract.
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It was spring of 2016 and Drew had come to terms with his apparent ceiling as a hockey player. He'd spent the previous two seasons with the Junior B/C team in nearby Gananoque, earning the odd call-up to the Junior A Kingston Voyageurs. His options that fall were limited. He'd almost certainly have to pay to play, which is not the most attractive proposition for an 18-year-old looking to make something of himself.
Drew turned his attention to education, enrolling in a business program at hometown college St. Lawrence, with mom and dad footing the tuition bill. That payment sealed it: His lifelong pursuit of hockey was effectively over.
Well, kind of. The family had already paid for a summer trainer. Drew figured it wouldn't hurt to stay in shape - why waste the money? - so he hit the gym.
One day, Drew's training partner rang up his Junior A coach on the sly to tell him about this kid who had recently quit hockey. The coach pitched Drew on his program in Nova Scotia soon after. He would have to pay to play, but some expenses would be reimbursed at season's end. Attracted by a new adventure, and with nothing to lose, Drew agreed to a tryout in the fall.
Drew skating for the Islanders Darrell Theriault / Charlottetown Islanders
Before he could leave for Nova Scotia, though, Drew was offered a second out-of-province tryout, this time for a major junior club. Charlottetown Islanders GM/head coach Jim Hulton and scout Rob Ridgley - both Kingston guys - had watched Drew compete in a three-on-three scrimmage with and against local pros at a preseason tuneup event. Impressed, the Islanders extended the raw blue-liner an invite to QMJHL camp.
Drew, who was never drafted to the OHL, had slipped through the cracks of Ontario's elite hockey system. A potentially big opportunity awaited on tiny Prince Edward Island. "He saw something in me that a lot of people didn't see," Drew said of Hulton.
Drew showed up to his first camp with mediocre puck skills, decent but unspectacular skating, and a soft shot. His above-average size, willingness to play a physical game, and organizational fit - right-handed defensemen are in short supply at all levels - landed Drew a spot on the Islanders' blue line.
"He just had a lot of things where it made you go, 'Man, we've got to keep this kid around. There's something about him,'" said Charlottetown assistant coach Guy Girouard, who works closely with the team's defensemen. "You can't quite put your finger on it, but you know he can probably help us."
As a rookie, Drew appeared in 42 of 68 regular-season games, registering three assists in a dual role as a D-man and occasional winger. The Islanders, whose stacked roster featured NHL picks Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Daniel Sprong, and Filip Chlapik, made it deep in the 2017 postseason. Drew wasn't quite ready for prime time, dressing only once in the squad's 13 playoff contests.
The downtime allowed him to get a head start on an important offseason of weight training and skill development. Once Drew had settled in Kingston for the summer, he hit the ice 8-to-10 times a week in an effort to improve all facets of his game. His dad, Brian - who had already convinced Drew to drop junior-level lacrosse to focus on hockey - insisted on a slower pace. Brian worried Drew might burn out or sustain an injury in July.
Drew heeded Brian's advice - and it paid off. He opened the 2017-18 campaign looking "like a different player," Hulton said. "Assertive with the puck. Comfortable. Confident. Making skilled plays. Jumping up into the play." Suddenly, Hulton's spare defenseman was capable of shouldering top-four duties.
Drew handles the puck for the Islanders Darrell Theriault / Charlottetown Islanders
Post-practice sessions with Girouard helped inch Drew away from the "raw" label. Over time, he began to master basic footwork and hand-eye coordination drills, such as accepting passes in his skates and knocking pucks out of the air while skating backward. He was flashing pro potential.
"His game grew so much in a short period of time that it caught us all by surprise. You had to keep raising the bar and he always wanted more," Hulton said. "Part of the reason why he's had that success is because he's been able to keep that chip on his shoulder as the underdog. It's served him really well."
Drew, who finished with eight goals and 31 assists across 64 games in his sophomore season, would actually surprise himself on occasion by pulling off a fancy deke. An in-game toe drag amused the Islanders bench and put a smile on his face. "It's almost like it all fell in place for me," Drew said.
The Ducks selected the 6-foot-2 Drew in the sixth round, 178th overall, in 2018. Though he knew getting drafted as a 19-year-old was a possibility, Drew wasn't holding his breath. One of his agents, Darrell Young, broke the news via phone after waking him up from an afternoon nap. The Drew family was understandably elated. The QMJHL walk-on was now an NHL draft pick.
"Walking on is not that rare. Walking on and being drafted pro a couple of years later is very rare," Hulton, a longtime junior coach and manager, said.
"It's a great story," Gulls head coach Kevin Dineen said. "Any time you hear that - that somebody's at a crossroads and decides to stick with it and finds success - it's a pretty neat deal."
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Dating back to the Brian Burke era, the Ducks organization has put a premium on toughness. They're a little old school, drafting and developing players with, in Dineen's words, "plenty of testosterone and a level of abrasiveness."
Nicknamed "Bam Bam" as a toddler, Drew fits in nicely. He takes pride in sticking up for teammates and has the receipts. In 2017-18, his breakout season in the QMJHL, Drew led the league with 159 penalty minutes and nine fights, for better or worse. The next year, in three fewer games, he finished with 141 penalty minutes and six fights.
"He's almost like the boy you'd want your daughter to marry, but not the guy you'd want your son to play in a hockey game," said Andrew Maloney, Young's colleague at Maloney & Thompson Sports Management.
This past season, his first exclusively against grown men, was a transition year. Jumping from junior to pro can be arduous on the sport's most talented players. It was especially difficult for Drew - who split his time between AHL San Diego (29 games) and ECHL Tulsa (five games) - because he had to relearn where the line between productive and unproductive toughness lies.
Drew's confidence sagged at times. Instead of establishing himself physically during play, he was taking penalties after whistles. His unpolished skill set made him a target, too. Opponents used their pro speed to force him into vulnerable defensive positions. "There's a different learning curve for every player," Dineen said, "and I think it goes doubly so for defensemen."
Make no mistake, there's optimism in Dineen's voice. The veteran bench boss is well aware of the quantum leaps that Drew made in Charlottetown. An inquisitive learner, Drew's leaned on Sylvain Lefebvre, San Diego's defense coach, in the same way that he leaned on Girouard. He's moldable, and that alone is a huge asset.
Drew signing his NHL contract Handout
Dineen has been pleasantly surprised by Drew's offensive upside. His shot, previously a negative on his scouting report, is now feared. He can make a clean first pass out of the defensive zone under pressure or exit the zone himself. There's always going to be more simplicity than complexity in Drew's game, but he's trending in the right direction. He's by no means just a fighter.
Drew wasn't a special talent in minor hockey - heck, he got cut from his Bantam AAA team - so he will need to continue to hone his fundamentals. He'll also need to refine his strength and conditioning to catch up to his peers within the Ducks organization and beyond. "This year he's really going to be able to dedicate himself to being a professional hockey player," Dineen noted, later adding that Drew is "just scratching the surface."
The Ducks have invested in the Kingston kid's future. The three-year contract gives Drew stability and validation that his journey - the one on the ice with his teammates, not on the road in his Forte - is far from over.
"It doesn't have to work out for you when you're 10 or 12 years old," Drew said, when asked if he takes pride in being a late bloomer.
Highmore's deal carries an average annual value of $725,000 while Lankinen's pact is worth $800,000 annually. Both are two-way contracts in the first year and transition to one-way deals in the second.
The team also signed forwards Evan Barratt and Andrei Altybarmakyan to three- and two-year, entry-level contracts, respectively. Chicago selected both players in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft.
Highmore, 24, appeared in 36 games for Chicago in 2019-20, contributing two goals and six points. He also netted four goals and 12 points through 21 games with the AHL's Rockford IceHogs.
Lankinen, 24, owned an 8-10-2 record with a 3.09 goals-against average and .909 save percentage with the IceHogs this season. He led Finland to a gold medal at the 2019 IIHF World Championship, posting a 7-1-0 record with a 1.50 goals-against average and .942 save percentage.
The New York Rangers signed free-agent forward Justin Richards to an entry-level contract beginning in 2020-21, the team announced Thursday.
The 22-year-old played three seasons for the University of Minnesota Duluth, winning two national championships and earning the honor of Best Defensive Forward in the conference in 2019-20.
In 120 collegiate games, Richards notched 26 goals and 40 assists.
With the 2019-20 NHL season on pause - if not over altogether - some players have been left hoping for a chance to redeem their underwhelming campaigns.
Here are seven players, including former Vezina Trophy netminders and perennial goal-scorers, who disappointed before the hiatus.
Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida Panthers
Michael Reaves / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Bobrovsky was supposed to take the offensively gifted Panthers to the next level after he signed a seven-year, $70-million pact last summer. Instead, it was the same old story for a franchise that was on track to miss the playoffs for the 17th time in the last 20 seasons.
During 2019-20, the Russian netminder conceded four or more goals in 19 of 50 starts and owned a save percentage south of .906 in four of five months. And, when comparing Bobrovsky's goals-against average (3.25) to his expected goals against per 60 (2.82), it's clear he simply didn't stop nearly as many pucks as he should have. Of the 49 goalies who made at least 25 starts this season, Bobrovsky ranked 45th in goals saved above average (-14.91).
Overall, watching your $70-million puck-stopper get significantly outplayed by a 25-year-old rookie in Chris Driedger - who's just one year removed from playing in the East Coast Hockey League - is about as far from ideal as it gets.
Phil Kessel, Arizona Coyotes
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
The Coyotes enjoyed a 94% renewal of season tickets - their highest mark since moving to Glendale in 2003-04 - after Kessel was acquired. But so far, "Phil the thrill" hasn't lived up to his moniker.
Instead of providing the type of offensive star power that's been rare in Arizona, Kessel ranked sixth on the team in points this season and at best served the role of a second-line winger. Now stuck at 14 goals, Kessel is likely to fall short of 20 for the first time in 12 years. He also posted a team-worst minus-21 rating before the hiatus, which is even more jarring considering the second-lowest mark on the club was minus-9.
P.K. Subban, New Jersey Devils
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty
In Subban's defense, not much went right for a Devils team that had high aspirations for 2019-20. Following a dreadful 2-5-4 start, New Jersey was never close to being in the playoff picture, and the 2013 Norris Trophy winner's subpar play was one of many impediments the team faced.
The 30-year-old blue-liner has never fallen short of the 30-point mark, but with just 18 points through 68 contests this season, he was on track for a career-low 22. New Jersey also owned just 47.03% of high-danger scoring chances with Subban on the ice at five-on-five - the second-worst mark among Devils defensemen.
Sean Monahan, Calgary Flames
Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Following a career-high 82-point season in 2018-19, Monahan saw a massive drop-off in his production this season. With 48 points through 70 games, the Flames' top pivot sat 35th in scoring among NHL centers.
Monahan's game suffered the most at even strength. The 25-year-old mustered a career-low 11 goals at five-on-five and his minus-16 rating ranked last on the team. Monahan's possession numbers took a hit as well, as the Flames owned only 48.03% of expected goals and 48.02% of high-danger scoring chances with the Ontario native on the ice at five-on-five, putting him on the wrong side of those metrics for the first time in three seasons.
Jeff Skinner, Buffalo Sabres
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Has anyone seen Jeff Skinner? The Sabres' 40-goal man from 2018-19 was a shell of himself this season after inking an eight-year, $72-million deal in June.
When the campaign was suspended, Buffalo's second-highest-paid player sat seventh on the club in scoring and had been a non-factor on the power play, failing to contribute even a single goal. Overall, Skinner was on pace for a career-low 27 points, which would have marked (shield your eyes, Sabres fans) the lowest-ever single-season point total for a player carrying an annual cap hit of at least $9 million.
In Skinner's defense, he saw two fewer minutes per contest under head coach Ralph Krueger and missed 10 games with an upper-body injury that may have had lingering effects. Furthermore, that Skinner scored all 14 of his goals at even strength isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Still, for the Sabres to make significant strides going forward, the 27-year-old must return to form.
Joe Pavelski, Dallas Stars
Glenn James / National Hockey League / Getty
The Stars' big offseason splash didn't live up to expectations. A goal-starved Dallas team acquired Pavelski for an offensive boost, yet the 35-year-old ranked sixth on the club in goals (14) and seventh in points (31).
Pavelski's dip in production shouldn't have been a complete surprise, considering his 38-goal campaign in 2018-19 was bolstered by an unsustainably high shooting percentage (20.2%). However, the 5-foot-11 winger was on pace for fewer than 20 goals across a full regular season for the first time since his sophomore campaign in 2007-08.
Perhaps most alarming for the Stars, Pavelski ranked 40th in points per game out of 41 NHL forwards who made at least 25 appearances and carry an annual cap hit of $7 million or more.
Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators
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Rinne is only two years removed from his Vezina Trophy season, but it appears Father Time is catching up to the Predators' 37-year-old puck-stopper. The towering Finn didn't look like himself in 2019-20, and he seemingly lost his starting role to youngster Juuse Saros as a result.
This season, Rinne's .895 save percentage was the worst of his career by far, and he allowed four or more goals in 14 of 36 games after conceding that amount just 10 times across 56 appearances in 2018-19. Additionally, after winning eight of his first 10 starts to begin the latest campaign, Rinne earned consecutive victories just once.
Two days after the NHL featured The Great One, Super Mario gets his turn.
On Wednesday, the league is revisiting the Pittsburgh Penguins' blowout win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on April 9, 1993. It was a truly memorable night for Mario Lemieux, who scored five of the Penguins' 10 goals and helped the club set an NHL record with its 16th straight victory.
