Evgeny Kuznetsov sits first three games of NHL season with suspension

Forward Evgeny Kuznetsov of the Washington Capitals will get an unwanted extended summer break as the 27-year-old Russian star has officially been suspended for the first three games of the 2019/20 NHL season. This follows the four-year ban he recently received from the International Ice Hockey Federation for testing positive for cocaine during the 2019 World Championship earlier this year in Slovakia.

Kuznetsov was more or less caught red handed by a third party when a video surfaced on social media which appeared to show him using cocaine in a hotel room during the tournament. The NHL took notice of the video and met with the player when training camp started and shared the news of the suspension with him. However, he was given permission to attend training camp and play in preseason games.

When the video first surfaced Kuznetsov said through a media release that he didn’t take drugs and the footage was filmed in Las Vegas in 2018 after the Capitals had hoisted the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. He also volunteered to undergo another drug test at the time to back up his words. Well, Kuznetsov failed the first test which was administered to him back on May 26th at the World Championships. He was given an indefinite suspension after the test results came back and it was later announced in August as a four-year ban.

Since then he has voluntarily entered the NHL’s  drug and alcohol program and met with NHL brass when he was given three games without pay. Kuznetsov, who’s contract is $7.8 million against the salary cap, will miss the Capitals’ first three contests and will be eligible to return to the lineup on October 8 when Washington takes on the Dallas Stars. He was inconsistent last season but still managed to score 21 goals and 72 points in 76 games. However, it was an off season considering he notched 12 goals and 32 points in 24 playoff games the year before.

Kuznetsov can’t play in any IIHF events until the summer of 2023 which means he’ll have to sit out the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. It may not really matter as far as the Olympics are concerned though since the NHL hasn’t decided yet if its players will be participating. The reason he was handed a four-year ban by the IIHF is because cocaine is deemed to be a performance-enhancing drug by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). However, the NHL doesn’t consider it to be performance-enhancing.

The current drug policy in the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement with the player’s association enables the league to drug test every team member during training camp as well as once during the regular season. Also, a player can be tested randomly at any time in the regular season and the playoffs while up to 60 players may be given a drug test in the off-season. These tests are typically for  performance-enhancing substances but recreational drugs can also be tested. Any player who has a high level of any recreational drug in their body is asked to explain the reason to a doctor.

The player may then be sent to the league’s Substance Abuse and Behavioural Health Program. In general, the NHL focuses on player treatment when failing a recreational-drug test, but Kuznetsov’s suspension is for what the league called inappropriate behaviour. The NHL has suspended players in the past when they admitted to using drugs and introduced the Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program in 1996. Kuznetsov is the first player suspended for drug use since then.

Mitch Marner’s new contract puts Maple Leafs over Salary Cap

This summer’s longest running NHL soap opera, at least in the Greater Toronto Area, is finally over as 22-year-old Mitch Marner came to terms on a new deal with the Maple Leafs. After posting 61 points in his rookie season and following it up with campaigns of 69 points and a team-high 94 last year, he inked a six-year, $65.358 million deal on September 13th which will see him paid an average of $10.893 million a season. He’s also notched 17 points in 20 career playoff outings but the Leafs have yet to get past the first round in the past three seasons.

The new contract means there are currently 13 NHL players making at least $10 million per year. But interestingly, nine of those players failed to make the playoffs last season. The Maple Leafs now boast three $10 million-plus players in Marner, and fellow forwards Auston Matthews and John Tavares. On the troubling, something will eventually have to give as the Leafs are currently over the salary cap. That situation will likely escalate in the next couple of years too since five of Toronto’s blue liners will need a new contract next year and goaltender Frederik Andersen will need one two years from now.

When William Nylander is added to the list of Marner, Matthews and Tavares, Leafs’ general manager Kyle Dubas is paying approximately half of this year’s salary cap or $40 million on those four players. If the league’s salary cap doesn’t increase by much over the next few years then Dubas will have to get very creative or shed some salary by making player moves. NHL teams can sign a maximum of 50 players and they are typically used to fill out their NHL and American Hockey League (AHL) farm team rosters.

The Leafs also have three players on professional tryouts at training camp in Matt Read, Brandon Halverson and goaltender Michal Neuvirth. If one of them happens to make the lineup they will have to be signed to a contract to put further strain on the salary cap. At the moment the 2019/20 cap is $81.5 million with the Leafs being over it by $13,327,699. However, they are eligible to place the large contracts of Nathan Horton and David Clarkson on long-term injury relief (LTIR). In addition, forward Zach Hyman and defender Travis Dermott could start the campaign on LTIR to clear up more salary cap space.

This would give Toronto room for 23 players under the salary cap. But as soon as Hyman and/or Dermott return they will once again be over the cap by approximately $2 million. This means the team will have to go with 21 or 22 players unless Dubas makes a trade or loses somebody on waivers. With just 21 or 22 players the team could face injury problems during the season. This could force them to call up players on an emergency basis if their injured players aren’t out of the lineup long enough to be placed on LTIR, which is typically when they are expected to be sidelined for 10 games or 24 days.

It will be interesting to see how the Leafs handle their conundrum once training camp and preseason games end and the NHL celebrates opening night. It will also be interesting to see how Marner’s sky-high contract affects the rest of the league’s top unsigned restricted free agents such as Patrik Laine, Mikko Rantanen, Brayden Point, Matthew Tkachuk, Brock Boeser and Kyle Connor. With Marner signing for just under $11 million a season it looks like several of these players are likely to receive at least $8 million a year on new deals, if and when they eventually sign.

Can the Columbus Blue Jackets recover from brutal offseason?

The Columbus Blue Jackets suffered through the worst offseason in club history and possibly in the annals of the NHL this summer as they lost all the top free agents they possibly could. Perhaps they have nobody to blame but themselves though since they could have easily shipped some of the players out at last season’s trade deadline. They hung onto them however even though they knew at least two of their biggest stars were likely to leave. When all was said and done, netminder Sergei Bobrovsky left the nest along with high-scoring forwards Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel and Artemi Panarin.

And to rub salt into the wounds, John Davidson left his post as the Blue Jackets’ president and took the same job in the Big Apple with the New York Rangers. The Montreal Canadiens also lured away free agent backup goalie Keith Kincaid. This could certainly come back to haunt Columbus since all those who took flight other than Duchene have hooked up with fellow Eastern Conference teams. Panarin also joined the Rangers while Dzingel signed with the Carolina Hurricanes and two-time Vezina Trophy winner Bobrovsky decided to try his luck with the Florida Panthers.

As for Duchene, he inked a deal with the Western Conference’s Nashville Predators. There was plenty of interest in Bobrovsky, Duchene, Panarin and Dzingel at last year’s trade deadline as teams were anxious to add some stars to their squads for the upcoming playoff run. Bobrovsky and Panarin had more or less let Columbus know they weren’t interested in signing new deals with them but general manager Jarmo Kekalainen decided to keep everybody on board as he felt Columbus had a legitimate shot at the Stanley Cup.

Kekalainen could have traded the upcoming unrestricted free agents for draft picks, prospects and established NHL players, but he arguably gambled away the franchise’s immediate future and came out with the short end of the stick. The risk didn’t appear too bad at first as Columbus ousted Stanley Cup favourites and President Trophy winners the Tampa Bay Lightning in four straight games in the opening playoff round. It was the first postseason series win in team history but Columbus went out in six to the Boston Bruins in the second round.

In reality, Columbus lost all of their free agent stars with nothing to show for them and also missed their chance to stock up for the future at the trade deadline. If there is a bright side, Kekalainen was able to sign Gustav Nyquist of the San Jose Sharks and gave the 30-year-old free agent a $22 million, four year deal. There’s no doubt Columbus is a lot weaker than last season while divisional rivals the New Jersey Devils and Rangers have improved.

The Rangers signed Panarin, acquired defenceman Jacob Trouba from the Winnipeg Jets in a trade and landed highly-rated prospect Kaapo Kakko in the NHL Draft with the second overall pick. New Jersey took Jack Hughes first overall and landed PK Subban, a former Norris Trophy-winner, from Nashville in a trade. Nikita Gusev and Wayne Simmonds were acquired in trades and former Hart Trophy-winner Taylor Hall is back to full health.

It’s going to be hard for head coach John Tortorella to lead the Blue Jackets back to the playoffs but there are still some fine players on the roster such as Nyquist, Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, Cam Atkinson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Josh Anderson and Pierre-Luc Dubois. They also have solid prospects in Emil Bemstrom, Alexandre Texier, Elvis Merzlikins and Veini Vehvilainen. However, talented rearguard Werenski is an unrestricted free agent and could miss training camp if he isn’t signed soon. With or without Werenski in the lineup, the Blue Jackets have a lot to prove to their critics this season though.

NHL gearing up for busy preseason

With the kids heading back to school just after Labour Day the NHL season isn’t too far behind as the regular season begins on October 2nd. Training camps get underway in September and the league’s pre-season schedule faces off shortly after. The league will begin its pre-season games on Sunday, September 15th and run until Monday, September 30th. There will be a total of 107 games played over the 16-day span in 43 different locations across North America and in Europe.

There is a three month gap between the last game of the 2018/19 Stanley Cup playoffs and the first pre-season contest of the upcoming 2019/20 campaign. Of course, last season came to an exciting conclusion with the St. Louis Blues winning their first-ever Stanley Cup with a game-seven victory in Boston against the Bruins.

The league will once again travel over the Atlantic Ocean and hold a couple of pre-season contests in Europe. Both the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks will play a game against a European team before facing off for the regular season against each other on October 4th in Prague, Czech Republic. Chicago will be taking on Eisbaren Berlin in their German hometown on September 29th and Philadelphia travels to Laussane, Switzerland for a game against HC Laussane on September 30th. Both games will be televised in North America on the NHL Network.

The NHL’s annual Kraft Hockeyville game will be held in the town of Renous, New Brunswick as the location won the Canadian competition. The winning community earns a pre-season game and this year’s tilt on September 18th will see the Florida Panthers square off against the Montreal Canadiens. The game takes place in Bathurst, New Brunswick and will be broadcast nationally in Canada by TVAS and Sportsnet.

There will also be a Kraft Hockeyville in the USA on September 26th in Calumet, Michigan. This encounter will see Stanley Cup winners the St. Louis Blues doing battle with the Detroit Red Wings. This game will also be aired across America on NBCSN.

While most NHL cities will be hosting pre-season games for their teams there are also numerous games held in neutral sites. These include Abbotsford, British Columbia; Bridgeport, Connecticut; St. John’s, Newfoundland; Salt Lake City; Tulsa, Oklahoma; University Park, Pennsylvania and Victoria, British Columbia.

There won’t be any games held in China this year even though Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals just returned from a five-day trip there as an NHL ambassador. The Capitals’ captain helped run hockey training sessions for children and said he enjoyed the experience immensely. Bill Daly, the NHL’s deputy commissioner said logistics couldn’t be worked out in time for games in China this year but he hopes the league will return next season after holding two games in China in each of the last two years.

Daly added that the league likely won’t hold regular-season contests in China next year but hopes to in the near future. He also said he’s not sure if NHL players will participate in the 2022  Olympics in Beijing, China and it could depend on whether or not the current collective bargaining agreement between the league and NHL Players’ Association is terminated early in September of 2020 or runs its full course until September, 2022.

Restricted free agents have limited options in NHL

With NHL training camps scheduled to open in mid-September, time is running out for some teams to sign their big-name restricted free agents. But although they are “restricted” the players are still unsigned and free to play elsewhere such as Europe and Russia if they don’t agree to terms with their NHL clubs.

Free agency can be confusing to some fans since there are unrestricted and restricted free agents. Players are eligible for unrestricted free agency when their contract runs out after turning 27 years old or playing in the NHL for a minimum of seven years. As for restricted free agents, it is ruled by a combination of their age when being signed to their first professional contract as well as their amount of experience in any of the world’s pro hockey leagues.

Those who ink their first contracts from the age of 18 to 21 will be restricted free agents following their first three seasons of pro experience. Players who first signed at 22 or 23 become restricted free agents with two years of pro experience and if signing your first pro deal at the age of 24 or older you qualify as a restricted free agent following the first year of experience.

In today’s NHL, most youngsters who are drafted end up signing a three-year deal known as an entry-level contract. This is a league-wide standard contract which is set at a specific amount of dollars. However, there are also one and two-year entry-level contracts and all players entering the league must sign one if they’re under the age of 25. The length of the contract depends on your age with shorter deals for older players. Typically, a drafted player will sign a three-year entry-level contract and will become a restricted free agent when it expires.

When the contract is over their NHL club has to give them a qualifying offer for a new one-year deal after the entry draft in June. This enables the team to retain negotiating rights with the player. If a team doesn’t send a qualifying offer then the player is eligible for unrestricted free agency. Depending on the player’s previous salary, qualifying offers must include a raise of five or 10 per cent unless they were making over $1 million a season. In this case, the qualifying offer has to be at least equal to the previous salary.

A player has the right to decline a qualifying offer and remain a restricted free agent. Those who turn the offer down can negotiate a new contract with the club but won’t be able to play in the NHL if they haven’t agreed to terms by December 1st. Restricted free agents are eligible to speak with other NHL clubs and allowed to sign an offer sheet with a team if one is received. If an offer sheet is signed, his club has the right to match it within seven days but isn’t allowed to trade him or negotiate a contract during this time.

If the offer sheet is matched and the player stays, his team isn’t allowed to trade him for a year. If an offer sheet isn’t matched, the team that signs the player must give up draft picks as compensation. The exact draft picks and the number of them are determined by the average annual dollar-size of the contract over five years . The more the contract is worth the more draft picks have to be given up. Restricted free agents can also sit out the season if they don’t sign or in some instances can have an arbitrator rule on their salary.

Restricted free agents who have played in the NHL for a minimum of four years or signed their first professional contract at 20 years of age or older are eligible to request salary arbitration. The player’s club also has the right to request arbitration in this case and their salary offer can be up to a maximum 15 per cent lower than the previous salary The team and player give the arbitrator a dollar amount for a salary and after hearing arguments from both sides the arbitrator will rule on the amount. If the ruling favours the player and the player requested arbitration, the team must decide within 48 hours if it wants to pay the salary or let the player qualify for unrestricted free agency by walking away from the deal.

If the team requested arbitration they can’t walk away and have to abide by the arbitrator’s decision.

When a player is scheduled for arbitration, no other clubs can sign him to an offer sheet however the player can still negotiate and sign with their own club if they hope to avoid arbitration. It’s not the easiest process to follow but it means there’s still a chance some of this summer’s top restricted free agents may sign before the season starts. However, if they haven’t inked a deal by December 1st they’re out of luck as far as the 2019/20 NHL campaign is concerned.

NHL quietly announces rule changes

Rather quietly and without much fanfare, the NHL recently announced several rule changes for the upcoming 2019/20 season. The major alterations come to the existing coach’s challenge and video-review system with the league’s general managers, competition committee and board of governors approving them earlier this summer. Commissioner Gary Bettman said the video technology is in place so it may as well be put to good use.

Last season, NHL coaches were allowed a video challenge for offside and goalie interference after a goal was scored. They will also be able to challenge a missed stoppage of play if it results in a goal. For example, this could include an illegal hand pass or high stick or if the puck leaves the area of play and hits the protective netting above the glass. As long as the puck stays inside the blue line before a goal is scored, coaches will be able to make a challenge regardless of how much time has ticked off the clock. However, if the puck leaves the zone and re-enters it before a goal is scored a challenge isn’t possible.

These are basically plays that are black and white in nature and don’t include discretionary or opinion calls such as missed penalties etc. In addition, a coach’s challenge which fails will result in a two-minute penalty for delay of game for the first one and any failed challenge in the same game after that will result in a four-minute double minor. Last season, minor penalties were only handed out for failed offside challenges.

Bettman stated that the league doesn’t allow coaches to challenge alleged missed penalties such as tripping and hooking etc. since they are called at the discretion and opinion of the on-ice officials and are often debatable in nature. However, referees will be asked to quickly review any double-minor high-sticking and five-minute major and match penalties which don’t involve fighting on a monitor to make sure they have made the right call.

When it comes to major and match penalties, the referee will then have the option of sticking to the original call or change it to a minor penalty. For a double-minor high sticking call the official may cancel the penalty altogether. Bettman said it’s often difficult for referees to tell how players have been injured with a high stick and sometimes they may be injured by their own stick or that of a teammate’s.

Like last season, the league’s video replay situation room, which is located in Toronto, will be able to initiate reviews during the last minute of regulation time as well as in overtime and will also have the final say on all coach’s challenges during a game.

One rule changes has to do with player safety and will also be implemented in 2019/20. Any player who loses his helmet while on the ice will either have to leave the playing surface or immediately retrieve the helmet and place it on his head. However, if he has the puck at the time he will be allowed to finish making a play before retrieving the helmet or leaving the ice. Any player who doesn’t replace the helmet or leave the ice will receive a minor penalty and any player who removes the helmet of an opponent intentionally will receive a two-minute penalty for roughing.

A defensive team will not be allowed to change lines if its goaltender freezes the puck from a shot which came from the other side of the centre-ice red line. Also, a line change won’t be allowed if the defensive team accidentally knocks the net from its moorings and the attacking team can choose which circle the faceoff will take place in. The attacking team can also choose the faceoff dot when the defensive team is called for icing or a penalty.

The NHL announced that a goal will be awarded automatically if a goaltender intentionally knocks the net off its moorings during a breakaway. In addition, if the attacking team knocks the puck out of play inside the other team’s blue line, the faceoff will remain in the same zone.

Sergei Bobrovsky ready to fill Roberto Luongo’s skates in Florida

The Florida Panthers missed the playoffs by a dozen points last season even though they scored the fifth most goals in the Eastern Conference with 267. The main problem was their goals against as they allowed the third-most at 280. It was obvious the team needed better goaltending from veterans Roberto Luongo and James Reimer but the 40-year-old Luongo was once again battling injuries. However, the Montreal native officially hung up his skates recently after 19 seasons in the NHL and Reimer was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes.

With no established goaltenders on the roster, Florida general manager Dale Tallon made a major free-agent move by signing Sergei Bobrovsky from the Columbus Blue Jackets for seven years at $70 million. Tallon had created some additional salary cap space by trading Reimer and his annual $3.4 million contract and Luongo’s retirement freed up some money even though it will cost Florida $1,094,128 against the salary cap in each of the next three seasons. In addition, because of the goalie’s complicated 12-year, $64 million contract signed with the Vancouver Canucks in 2009, Vancouver will have to pay just over $3 million for the next three seasons.

Luongo leaves some pretty big skates for Bobrovsky to fill since he’ll undoubtedly end up in the Hockey Hall of Fame some day. He ranks third in NHL history with 489 wins and second behind Martin Brodeur in games played and saves made by a goaltender. He also ranks 10th all time in save percentage at 91.9. Luongo appeared in 1,044 regular-season contests with a 2.52 goals-against average and 77 shutouts. He posted a 489-392-124 record and went 34-35 in 70 playoff outings with a save percentage of 91.8 and a GAA of 2.49. Luongo was named to the NHL’s Second All Star Team twice and led the Vancouver Canucks to the Stanley Cup final in 2010/11 where they fell to the Boston Bruins in seven games.

Internationally, Luongo won gold medals with Canada at the Olympic Games in both 2010 and 2014 as well as at the 2003 and 2004 IIHF World Championships. He also played on the winning team at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. As far as individual silverware goes, he shared the William Jennings Trophy in 2010/11 with Cory Schneider of the Canucks as the duo combined to allow the fewest goals against in the league. Luongo was originally drafted into the NHL with the fourth overall pick in 1997 by the New York Islanders. He made his big league debut two years later and was then traded to the Panthers after his rookie year. He spent five years in the crease in Florida and was traded to the Canucks in 2006. Luongo was then traded back to the Panthers in 2014.

While the Luongo era has just ended in Florida the Bobrovsky era is just beginning. The 30-year-old will likely join Luongo in the Hall of Fame one day as he has already won the Vezina Trophy twice as the NHL’s best goaltender. The native of Russia captured the honours for his work in 2012/13 and again in 2016/17 while playing with Columbus. Bobrovsky’s pro career kicked off in his homeland with Metallurg Novokuznetsk of the KHL and was then signed by the Philadelphia Flyers as a free agent in 2010. The Flyers made a huge mistake by trading him to Columbus in June of 2012 for draft picks. Once in Columbus, he took over as the team’s number one goalie.

Bobrovsky was named to the league’s First All-Star Team in 2012/13 and 2016/17 and as mentioned won a pair of Vezina Trophies with the club the same seasons. He set several franchise records with the Blue Jackets and his current NHL regular-season record reads 255-153-37 in 455 games played with 33 shutouts, a GAA of 2.46 and a 91.9 save percentage. He’s 11-18 in 34 playoff outings with a 3.14 GAA and 90.2 save percentage. He’s also won a gold, silver and two bronze medals with Russia at the World Championships. With Bobrovsky between the posts for Florida in 2019/20 there’s an excellent chance the team will make the playoffs for just the sixth time since joining the league in 1993/94.

NHL free agency far from over

As usual, the majority of NHL unrestricted free agents were signed within the first 24 hours they became eligible on July 1st. Several clubs appeared to strengthen their squads considerably while others took it on the chin and lost one or more key players. Perhaps the biggest surprise was an offer sheet to Carolina Hurricanes star forward and restricted free agent Sebastian Aho by the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal general manager offered the 21-year-old a five-year deal worth $42.27 million and was willing to give up a first, second and third-round draft pick to sign him.

However, Carolina GM Don Waddell basically had his work done for him by Bergevin as he announced  on July 7th that the Hurricanes had officially matched the offer, which was their right to. This meant Waddell didn’t have to endure an agonizing contract-negotiation process with his team’s top scorer as he simply had to match the offer. It’s arguable if the player or club got the better of the deal as there are some experts who feel Aho may be worth more than the annual average of $8.454 million of the contract.

Montreal believed there was a chance Carolina may not match the offer since Aho is due half of the contract total in the first year. With an $11.3 million signing bonus he’ll be paid $21 million in year one of the five-year deal. Aho of Rauma, Finland, led his team in scoring this season with 30 goals and 53 assists in 82 games. He then added five goals and seven assists in the Hurricanes’ impressive playoff run. Aho has racked up 83 goals and 114 assists for 197 points in 242 career regular-season contests with Carolina with 12 points in 25 postseason outings.

There could be more offer sheets coming during the offseason as there are several other big-name restricted free agents who have yet to be re-signed by their clubs. These include forwards Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brayden Point of the Tampa bay Lightning, Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets, Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks, Matthew Tkachuk of the Calgary Flames, Kevin Labanc of the San Jose sharks and Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche. There are also some fine defenceman yet to sign including Jacob Trouba of the New York Rangers, Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis blues hasn’t re-signed either and has taken the Blues to salary arbitration. As far as the unrestricted free agents go, most of the big names have been signed but some are still shopping their services such as Toronto blue liner Jake Gardiner, San Jose forward Joe Thornton, St. Louis forward Patrick Maroon, Columbus forward Ryan Dzingel and Carolina forwards Justin Williams and Michael Ferland.

Since we’re in the middle of summer many fans may have missed the original flurry of unrestricted free-agent signings so we’ll recap the biggest moves so far.

The Buffalo Sabres signed forward Marcus Johansson of Boston to a two-year deal worth $9million. The Chicago Blackhawks lured goaltender Robin Lehner away from the New York Islanders and signed him to a $5 million one-year contract. The Columbus Blue Jackets inked veteran forward

Gustav Nyquist from the San Jose Sharks to $22 million over four years. The Dallas Stars gave forward Joe Pavelski $21 million over three years to give up his captaincy in San Jose and head to Texas. They also gave former Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry a year-long deal for $1.5 million.

The Detroit Red Wings inked forward Valtteri Filppula from the New York Islanders for $6 million over two years and gave Dallas blue liner Patrik Nemeth the same deal. The Edmonton Oilers signed netminder Mike Smith out of Calgary $2 million over one year. The Florida Panthers signed  goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, from the Blue Jackets Columbus for $70 million over seven seasons and added forward Brett Connolly from Washington for $13 million over four years.

The Panthers didn’t stop there as forward Noel Acciari was signed for three years for $5 million from Boston and veteran rearguard Anton Stralman came over from Tampa $16.5 million over three years. The Minnesota Wild gave former Dallas forward Mats Zuccarello $30 million for five seasons while the Nashville Predators inked forward Matt Duchene from the Blue Jackets for seven years at $56 million. The New Jersey Devils gave former Nashville forward Wayne Simmonds a one-year deal for $5 million while the New York Islanders signed goalie Semyon Varlamov from Colorado for four seasons.

The New York Rangers made a big splash by landing forward Artemi Panarin of the Blue Jackets for $81.5 million over seven years. The Ottawa Senators signed a couple of players from Toronto as blue liner Ron Hainsey agreed to a one-year deal for $3.5 million while forward Tyler Ennis signed for a year at $800,000. The Pittsburgh Penguins signed blue liner Brandon Tanev out of Winnipeg for $21 million over six years. Tampa Bay inked goalie Curtis McElhinney from the Hurricanes for two years at $2.6 million and Vancouver inked former Winnipeg defenceman Tyler Myers for $30 million over five seasons.

Several trades precede NHL free agency season

The NHL’s free agency season kicked in July 1st and we’ll recap all the big signings next week. However, there were plenty of trades before free agency kicked in as teams were anxious to create salary cap room and open up some roster spots.

Toronto Maple Leafs’ defenceman Nikita Zaitsev requested a trade several weeks ago and the team accommodated him by sending the 27-year-old to the Ottawa Senators along with forwards Connor Brown and Michael Carcone in return for defencemen Cody Ceci and Ben Harpur as well as a third-round draft pick in 2020 and Aaron Luchuk.

Zaitsev spent three seasons in Toronto and posted 63 points but managed just 11 points this season. He was signed to a seven-year contract at $4.5 million a season following his rookie campaign. The 25-year-old Brown scored eight goals and 21 assists this season while scoring 14 goals last year and 20 the season before and has 99 points in 253 career games. Carcone, a 23-year-old, notched 27 points last year while playing for the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

Ceci spent six seasons with Ottawa and the 25-year-old racked up 118 points including seven goals and 19 assists this year. The 24-year-old Harpur, 24 scored just five five points in 51 contests this season while Luchuk, a 22-year old, posted 22 points in the ECHL this year in 32 games. Both Carcone and Ceci are unsigned restricted free agents. Harpur’s salary-cap hit is $725,000, Luchuk’s is $759,166 and Brown’s is $2.1-million.

Florida Panthers’ netminder Roberto Luongo retired last week with the third-most wins in history after 19 years in the NHL. They also lost James Reimer as the 31-year-old was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in return for fellow goalie Scott Darling and as a sixth-round draft pick in 2020. Reimer spent three seasons with the Panthers and has two years remaining on his contract at $3.4 million a season.

Reimer also played with the San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs and has appeared in 338 NHL games with a record of 144-120-39, 21 shutouts, a save percentage of 91.3 and a 2.81 goals-against average. As for Darling, the 31-year-old was placed on waivers by Florida and will have his $4.15 million annual contract contract bought out, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Darling played just eight NHL games this season while spending most of the year in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers. He formerly played with the Chicago Blackhawks where he won a Stanley Cup in 2014/15. He has played 126 career NHL games with a mark of 54-42-18, four shutouts, a GAA of 2.72 and a 90.8 save percentage. Florida is expected to fill their goaltending vacancies by signing unrestricted free agent Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Montreal Canadiens traded 27-year-old Andrew Shaw and a seventh-rounder in 2021 to Chicago for a second and a seventh-rounder next year and a third-round draft choice in 2021. Shaw previously played five years for the Blackhawks and won Stanley Cups with the squad in 2013 and 2015. he was traded to Montreal three years ago and signed a six-year deal worth $3.9 million a season. Shaw played 63 contests this season and posted 19 goals and 47 points. He has 111 goals and 233 points in 504 career games with 35 points in his 72 playoff games.

Thirty-one-year-old forward Phil Kessel was traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Arizona Coyotes for forward Alexander Galchenyuk and defenceman Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Arizona also received rearguard Dane Birks in the deal as well as a 2021 fourth-round draft choice. Kessel won back-to-back Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017. His salary-cap hit is $8 million a year with the Toronto Maple Leafs paying $1.2 million of it each year. Galchenyuk’s cap hit is $4.9 million and he will become an unrestricted free agent next year.

Kessel posted 27 goals and 82 points this year and has played 996 career contests with Pittsburgh, Toronto and the Boston Bruins with 357 goals and 823 points. He’s also tallied 33 goals and 77 points in his 87 playoff appearances. The 25-year-old Galchenyuk registered 19 goals and 41 points this year and has 127 goals and 296 points in 490  career outings with Arizona and the Montreal Canadiens along with 13 points in his 28 postseason matches.

The New York Rangers cleared up $2.275 million in salary-cap space by trading forward Jimmy Vesey to the Buffalo Sabres for a third-round draft pick in 2021. The 26-year-old spent three years in the Big Apple and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. He played 81 games this season and tallied 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points. He has 50 goals and 90 points in 240 career contests.

NHL Award winners celebrated

Last week was one of the busiest in the NHL season as the league handed out its annual awards and then followed up with the entry draft the very next night. The awards ceremony took place in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 20th with the draft being held in Vancouver over the next two days. Thirteen different awards were handed out and we’ll recap the major ones. Please take note that the award winners were ranked on their performances in the regular season only and not the postseason.

Nikita Kucherov, the Russian sniper from the Tampa Bay Lightning who led the league in scoring this year, was the winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy as the player deemed the most valuable to his team. He also took home the Ted Lindsay Award  as the MVP as voted on by the league’s players. The 25-year-old captured the Art Ross Trophy for scoring 128 points this year on 41 goals and 87 assists. He set a new record for scoring in a season for a Russian-born player as Alexander Mogilny posted 127 points while playing for the Buffalo Sabres in 1992/93.

Kucherov’s 128 points were the most in the league since 1995 when Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr racked up 161 and 149 respectively. Kucherov took 164 of the possible 171 first-place Hart Trophy votes with Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby coming second in the voting followed by Edmonton Oilers’ skipper Connor McDavid, both previous Hart Trophy winners. Tampa Bay went 54-5-3 this season when Kucherov registered a point and he earned at least one point in 62 of his 82 games played. When he didn’t manage a point the Lightning’s record was 8-11-1.

The Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender was awarded to Andrei Vasilevskiy of Tampa Bay. He led the league with 39 wins, registered six shutouts and had a 92.5 save percentage with a 2.40 goals-against average in 53 games played. The league’s 31 general managers voted on the award and Vasilevskiy garnered  28 of the first-place votes. Ben bishop of the Dallas Stars and the New York Islanders’ Robin Lehner were also finalists.

Lehner didn’t go home empty handed though as he won the Bill Masterton Trophy for dedication to the sport as well as perseverance and sportsmanship. His record was 25-13-5 with a save percentage of 93.0, six shutouts and a 2.13 goals-against average. He also won the William M. Jennings Trophy this year with his Islanders’ teammate Thomas Greiss for allowing the fewest goals against over the campaign. The other finalists were Joe Thornton of the San Jose sharks and the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Nick Foligno.

The coach of the year award (Jack Adams Trophy) was won by Barry Trotz of the New York Islanders. His squad improved by 23 points over last season and also went from worst to first in the entire league when it came to goals-against per game. Trotz won the award in 2015/16 as well when he was bench boss of the Washington Capitals. Jon Cooper of Tampa and Craig Berube of the St. Louis Blues were also finalists this year. The general manger of the year award went the the Boston Bruins’ Don Sweeney with Doug Armstrong of the Blues and Don Waddell of the Carolina Hurricanes being the other finalists.

St. Louis center Ryan O’Reilly captured the Frank Selke Trophy for being recognized as the top defensive forward in the league. O’Reilly also took home the Conn Smythe Trophy this season as the MVP of the playoffs as he co-led the league in postseason scoring as the Blues won their first Stanley Cup. Fellow forwards Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins and Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights were the other finalists. O’Reilly also enjoyed his fair share of offence this season with 28 goals and 77 points in 82 contests.

Calgary Flames’ captain Mark Giordano won the James Norris Trophy as the best defenceman. The 35-year-old notched 17 goals and 74 points this season to rank second in the league for blue liners and led the league in plus/minus at plus-39. Victor Hedman of Tampa and Brent Burns of San Jose were the other finalists. Forward Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers won the Lady Byng Trophy for his sportsmanship and gentlemanly play. The 23-year-old also scored 35 goals and 61 assists to set a franchise record with his 96 points. Sean Monahan of Calgary and O’Reilly of St. Louis were also finalists.

Forward Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks took home the rookie of the year award (Calder Memorial Trophy). The 20-year-old scored 28 goals and 38 assists to set a new club record of 66 points in 71 games. The other finalists were netminder Jordan Binnington of St. Louis and defenceman Rasmus Dahlin of Buffalo.Nashville Predators’ Wayne Simmonds won the Mark Messier Leadership Award for leadership on and off the ice as well as community service with the other finalists being Mark Giordano of the Calgary Flames and Justin Williams of the Carolina Hurricanes.