After leading the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 13 goals in 25 games, Pittsburgh Penguins rookie forward Jake Guentzel got his day with the trophy on July 13, and only then did his achievement really sink in..
The Cup landed in Minneapolis, Minn., and headed to Guentzel's hometown of Woodbury as family and friends awaited its arrival. That's when he was able to truly appreciate the culmination of a rookie season which began in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.
Guentzel brought the trophy to a public event at HealthEast Sports Center, where he played youth hockey.
While the Penguins' top stars in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Marc-Andre Fleury finished off their (first) career hat trick of Stanley Cup victories, Guentzel is cherishing what could be his only one.
"It's exciting. You've worked so hard for this your whole life, and to have my family and friends here and see how excited they are, it makes it fun for all of us," said Guentzel.
His father Mike, who is an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota, approached the beginning of his son's professional career with very modest expectations.
"We were just hoping he'd get to play maybe five or 10 games in the pros to start," Mike said.
Instead, Jake quickly got an opportunity on Crosby's left side, and stayed there for the remainder of the regular season and through the playoffs. Asked how he would have reacted if someone told him a year earlier that he'd be at his old rink with the Stanley Cup on Thursday, Jake echoed his father's surprise.
"I'd probably have laughed at you," he said. "You don't expect it to go like this. It's been fun. (I'm) just trying to soak it in."
Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. is indeed considering an offer to sell the team.
Chuck Greenberg, a former co-owner of the Texas Rangers, is reported to be close to purchasing the club for approximately $500 million in a deal that would keep the team in North Carolina, according to Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg.
"Since an offer has been made to purchase the team, Mr. Karmanos intends to evaluate that offer and also will continue to evaluate his other options, including retaining his ownership of the team."
If the sale goes through, the team would not be on the move.
Hurricanes president Don Waddell confirms offer made to buy team, if accepted, would result in team remaining in Raleigh.
With the deal, Ferland - who was a restricted free agent - and the Flames avoid arbitration. The two sides were scheduled to make their cases in front of a third party on July 22.
The 25-year-old is coming off his third season with the big club that saw him hit career highs in games (76), goals (15), and points (25). Ferland's newest contract represents a raise of $925,000 per year from his previous two-year deal.
No major moves were expected after the Sens finished the 2016-17 season one double-overtime goal short of a Stanley Cup Final appearance. The team has just shy of $11 million in salary cap space remaining, according to Cap Friendly, and just need to re-sign restricted free-agent forwards Ryan Dzingel and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
But despite the quiet blanketing the team, rumors continue to emerge regarding the future of defenseman Dion Phaneuf. With four years at an annual average value of $7 million remaining on his contract, Phaneuf is the team's second-highest paid player, behind forward Bobby Ryan. The Senators willingly took on Phaneuf and his contract in a February 2016 trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but there's no denying the difficulties it creates.
For the Senators, it's a more tolerable hindrance than any similarly poor contract they'd need to take on in a potential trade.
He's better than the alternatives
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
Phaneuf has one strong pro in his favor by default: he plays defense. Many of the league's other egregious contracts have been awarded to forwards, with Los Angeles Kings forwards Dustin Brown and Marian Gaborik among the names being circulated in connection to the Senators.
With Brown and Gaborik coming off a season in which they combined for just 57 points, neither factors into the top six of a team hoping to build off an Eastern Conference Final appearance. The re-signing forward Tom Pyatt and addition of Thompson cemented the Sens' bottom-six forward group - at least in their eyes.
The Senators have used four of their past five first-round draft picks on forwards, making defense the greater team need both in the present and long term.
He's not that bad
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
The Senators and head coach Guy Boucher utilized a defense-first system last year which relied on forcing their opponents into low-quality scoring chances and capitalizing on offense whenever possible. While the system propelled them to within a game of the Stanley Cup Final, it resulted in poor Corsi For ratings for most of the team, especially the defensemen.
NAME
TOI
CF%
Fredrik Claesson
398:48
53.59
Chris Wideman
893:34
52.53
Erik Karlsson
1481:06
49.72
Mark Borowiecki
905:07
48.53
Marc Methot
1135:33
47.56
Dion Phaneuf
1363:01
46.66
Cody Ceci
1407:45
45.69
Here's a look at the possession influence Phaneuf and Ceci, his typical 5-on-5 partner, had as individuals on some of their most common linemates.
Corsi For with and without Phaneuf (stats at 5-on-5 in games where both players were active):
NAME
TOI
WITH
WITHOUT
Cody Ceci
881:01
45.03
46.80
Derick Brassard
385:21
52.25
54.93
Kyle Turris
380:40
48.87
47.66
Mike Hoffman
350:31
50.00
50.54
Mark Stone
343:01
53.29
54.63
Erik Karlsson
228:01
50.43
49.59
Fredrik Claesson
18:28
58.06
52.40
Corsi For with and without Ceci (stats at 5-on-5 in games where both players were active):
NAME
TOI
WITH
WITHOUT
Dion Phaneuf
881:01
45.03
49.78
Derick Brassard
393:46
49.80
55.88
Kyle Turris
387:37
47.64
47.98
Mike Hoffman
342:28
48.35
50.99
Mark Stone
353:24
50.75
56.24
Erik Karlsson
31:09
53.23
49.29
Fredrik Claesson
42:55
50.00
51.81
While Phaneuf's personal chart doesn't present him in an endearing light, it's important to remember that most commonly with and without him also meant having Ceci on the ice. The true testament to Phaneuf's play last season can be more evidently seen through Ceci's WOWY chart.
Without Ceci on the ice, nearly all of the Senators' most important forwards noticed a significant spike in possession. Phaneuf was left on the ice with a different defense partner in many of those situations.
Much of the blame Phaneuf takes for his own defensive play should be placed on, or at least shared with, Ceci.
Help is on the way
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
While the Sens lost defenseman Marc Methot to the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars in the Expansion Draft and subsequent trade, they expect to have 2015 first-round pick Thomas Chabot in the lineup on a full-time basis in 2017-18.
As seen above, Methot had the third-worst 5-on-5 Corsi For rating among the team's regular defensemen. In his place, the Senators will substitute a player who was the 2017 World Junior Hockey Championships MVP, as well as the QMJHL defenseman of the year and playoff MVP.
Boucher will have the ability to break up the failed Phaneuf/Ceci pairing, putting the former in a tandem with Karlsson, Claesson, or Chabot.
The 23-year-old is coming off his third season with the club since being drafted in the second round in 2012. Tierney was a restricted free agent and while he hit career highs in both goals and points - with 11 and 23, respectively - general manager Doug Wilson feels he still hasn't hit his full potential.
"We believe Chris has yet to hit his prime, but has already proven that he can be a key member on our penalty kill and the defensive side of the puck," Wilson said in a release. "We are excited to watch his offensive development as he continues to use his strong two-way hockey sense to impact the youthful infusion of our roster."
In 202 career games with the Sharks, Tierney has tallied 24 goals and 64 points.
After a busy offseason that saw the Arizona Coyotes clean house, the club held a press conference Thursday, featuring the executives that will be tasked with turning the franchise around.
Owner Andrew Barroway, CEO Steve Patterson, general manager and president of hockey operations John Chayka, and new head coach Rick Tocchet were on hand to answer questions, and shed light on the direction they intend on taking the Coyotes.
Here are three takeaways from what they discussed:
The ongoing arena saga
Everybody knows the Coyotes need a different place to play, and Barroway guaranteed the club will strike a deal for a new arena under his tenure, though he didn't ensure when it will happen.
Barroway on reaching a deal for a new arena in AZ: "I can tell you that failure's not an option. We're going to get a new arena here."
The trouble in finding a new home certainly hasn't been from a lack of trying. A proposed partnership with Arizona State was nixed after the university pulled out from the deal in February. Elsewhere, the relationship between the Coyotes and their current home in Glendale has been tumultuous at best, as the city canceled their long-term lease agreement in 2015, opting to work on a year-to-year basis.
In March, commissioner Gary Bettman said the Coyotes "cannot and will not remain in Glendale." But before you get excited at the prospect of relocation, staying in Arizona is the immediate plan for the organization.
Tocchet was an instant fit
After the abrupt firing of Dave Tippett last month, Arizona concluded its search for a replacement by luring former player Rick Tocchet from his assistant gig in Pittsburgh.
Chayka said they chose Tocchet after he nailed the interview process, and he believes his new coach will have a tremendous impact on the development of the Coyotes' young core, which features top picks Clayton Keller, Dylan Strome, and Jakob Chychrun, among others.
"He's a communicator. He's a developer. He's a challenger," Chayka said.
Tocchet, meanwhile, was adamant about making it known he wants to let his players play, allowing them to skate freely using their skill and speed - a strategy Pittsburgh employed en route to back-to-back Stanley Cups.
Building a consistent winner
Beyond the front-office shake up, Arizona made numerous roster moves this offseason as well. Out are captain Shane Doan and longtime netminder Mike Smith, and in are Derek Stepan, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Antti Raanta. Each of those players is a significant upgrade, and the Coyotes' on-ice product appears to be working in unison with its new executives in terms of creating a winner.
"Although there's a lot of work to do, I know hockey is going to be a long-term success here in the Valley of the Sun," Patterson said.
With quality veterans now in place, a youthful core to complement a players-first coach, and a management team driven to find success in the desert, it appears the Coyotes are, at last, on the right track to find sustainable success.
Arizona Coyotes owner Andrew Barroway stands by his verdict not to offer the organization's most storied player a new contract this summer.
"Not offering Doan a contract was the right hockey decision," he said at a press conference, per AZ Central's Sarah McLellan.
Doan had spent his entire 21-year NHL career with the Jets/Coyotes franchise, but with Arizona going through a rebuild and attempting to get younger, its brass decided it was no longer in the team's best interest to bring back their 40-year-old captain.
Coming off a season of just six goals, 21 assists, and a Corsi For percentage of 47.8, it doesn't take an analytics expert to tell you Doan's on-ice effectiveness is waning.
Barroway does regret the way he handled the situation, though. He apologized to both Doan and Coyotes fans for how he handled the captain's exit, stating he should have flown out to meet with Doan face to face in order to deliver the news, according to McLellan and Arizona Sports' Craig Morgan.
The free-agent market hasn't been kind to veteran wingers like Doan thus far, as Jarome Iginla, Jaromir Jagr, and Brian Gionta also remain without contracts for the upcoming season.
Ference, 38, spent the last four seasons with Edmonton and served as captain from 2013-15. In 147 games with the Oilers, Ference tallied six goals and 26 assists to go along with 108 penalty minutes.
"As I graduate from my time of playing in the NHL, I realize I have the problem of being unable to properly thank the hundreds of people who have helped me achieve my goal of playing in the best league in the world," Ference said in the team's statement.
"Thank you to Pittsburgh, Calgary, Ceske Budejovice, Boston, and Edmonton. Your love of our sport provided me with an incredible stage to play on and your cities will always feel like home to me. Hockey fans really are amazing."
In 907 career regular-season games, the former eighth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins totaled 225 points (43 goals, 182 assists) and 753 minutes in penalties.
Ference missed the majority of the past two seasons with a severe hip injury.
