Bob Hartley will coach Latvia for at least another half-decade.
The former NHL head coach signed a new five-year deal to remain with the Latvian Hockey Federation, the IIHF confirmed Friday.
Hartley will guide Latvia in the 2018 World Championship in Denmark, and he'll lead its qualifying efforts for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Under his leadership, Latvia narrowly missed earning a berth in the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and the former Soviet nation's men's squad is now ranked 12th in the world.
He led the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship in 2001 and also served behind the bench with the Atlanta Thrashers and Calgary Flames, with whom he won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year in 2015 before being fired the following spring.
Hartley is the second former NHL head coach to lead Latvia's men's national hockey team following Ted Nolan's tenure from 2011-14.
The 31-year-old is coming off a down year that saw him post eight goals and 21 points in 58 games split between the Winnipeg Jets and Boston Bruins. He was slightly more effective in the postseason for the Bruins, scoring twice in six contests.
The Devils mark Stafford's fourth team since the 2014-15 campaign. In 725 career games he's amassed 183 goals and 400 points.
There's simply no room for error in the salary cap era.
If an offensive talent isn't carrying his cap hit's worth in goals and points, his team is less likely to succeed in the long run.
Here, then, are five players who must produce this season in order to render their cap hits more tenable.
P.K. Subban
2017-18 cap hit: $9M 2016-17 stats: 66 GP, 10 G, 30 A
Simply put, P.K. Subban is the highest-paid defenseman in the NHL, and his numbers must more closely reflect that fact.
He did miss a chunk of games due to injury during his first season with the Nashville Predators, and he played some very fine hockey when healthy, especially in the playoffs.
But when your cap hit is set to be $1 million more than reigning Norris Trophy winner Brent Burns, you need to rank higher than 13th in points per game, or at least be the most productive defenseman on your own team.
"Scorey" Corey Perry he was not last season, as the Anaheim Ducks winger recorded his lowest goal total since his sophomore year.
In fairness, his shooting percentage was way down, 8.8 percent in comparison to his career mark of 13.2. But still, Perry is counted on to score, and the Ducks can't see him routinely hunted down by the opposition once again.
Leon Draisaitl
2017-18 cap hit: $8.5M 2016-17 stats: 82 GP, 29 G, 48 A
Draisaitl earned his hefty raise on the strength of a breakout year - his second full season - in which he finished eighth on the NHL's points list. He also helped the club clinch a playoff spot, and lead the Oilers in postseason scoring with six goals and 10 assists in 13 games.
For the Oilers to remain on an upward trajectory, Draisaitl must at least maintain that level of success, especially after his cap hit is eclipsed by $4 million by Connor McDavid beginning in 2018-19.
The Minnesota Wild winger was limited by nagging injuries and illnesses, and finished with his lowest full-season totals since his rookie year with the New Jersey Devils.
Parise is entering the sixth year of a monster 13-year, $98-million contract signed in 2012, and the Wild need him to come back refreshed and ready to help bring a Cup to his hometown.
It appears the Vancouver Canucks were prepared to go off the board at this year's draft.
After finishing last season with the 29th-best record, the club entered the draft lottery with the second-best chance at nabbing the top pick. In the end, the balls didn't bounce the Canucks' way and the club walked away with the fifth selection.
However, it doesn't appear to have been a monumental loss for the club. President Trevor Linden joined TSN 1040 on Thursday, where he admitted the club wouldn't have selected Nico Hischier or Nolan Patrick had it won the draft lottery, according to TSN's Matthew Sekeres.
Patrick and Hischier entered the draft as the top two ranked skaters by NHL Central Scouting. The New Jersey Devils ultimately nabbed Hischier with the first overall pick and the Philadelphia Flyers grabbed the latter at No. 2.
Vancouver used its pick on Elias Pettersson, who looks to have the chops of a gifted goal-scorer after putting on a show at the Canucks' top prospects game in July.
Horvat remains the club's lone restricted free agent and president Trevor Linden joined TSN 1040 on Thursday, noting that the sides have had encouraging talks and there are many options regarding a new contract.
"All options are on the table, I think we've explored many of the options, anything from two to eight (years)," Linden said. "We've had some good conversations with Bo and his rep - Newport Sports - who I was a client of there's and we've done several contracts with them. I would say they have been very positive. We're looking forward to getting Bo under contract. Out of respect to the process, I don't want to say a whole lot, but things have been very positive, we're moving along and I don't see any issues."
Linden noted that the club expected a lengthy negotiation going into the offseason and in the end is just hopeful a new deal will be hammered out before training camp.
"Bo's a quality kid and a good character guy and he's been great through the process, not that's he's been specifically involved in the conversations, but we're working hard at things to avoid not having him at training camp," Linden said.
Last season, Horvat tallied 52 points becoming the first player not named Henrik or Daniel Sedin to lead the Canucks in scoring since the 2006-07 season.
The following five signings left NHL fans and analysts alike scratching their heads, wondering, "why?" Or, "that much?" These signings were not only questionable from Day 1, but could end up hurting their teams long term.
*Age is considered at the start of the season (Oct. 4).
Patrick Marleau, Maple Leafs
Age: 38 Term: 3 years AAV: $6.25 million NMC: Full
Adding Marleau as a veteran presence or as "a good locker-room guy" is understandable, but that could have been done on a one-year deal with a lesser player such as Jaromir Jagr, Scott Hartnell, or Mike Cammalleri.
The Maple Leafs undoubtedly have the most winger depth in the entire NHL. Kasperi Kapanen, 21, who was a point-per-game player in the AHL last year, and scored two huge playoff goals with the big club, now likely won't have a spot among their top 12 forwards. Nor will Josh Leivo, 24, who could only get into 13 games last year, but still managed 10 points.
Nonetheless, the Leafs decided to sign an aging Marleau for three years at an absurdly high salary, when they could have gotten similar (or possibly even better) production from Kapanen for a fraction of the cost. His salary won't necessarily hurt the Leafs right now, but in three years when Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander are all making bank, and Marleau is 40, this contract will look awful.
Karl Alzner, Canadiens
Age: 29 Term: 5 years AAV: $4.625 million NMC: 7-team no-trade list
Alzner got a pretty hefty contract for a player who contributes absolutely nothing offensively. This must mean he's pretty elite defensively, but is he actually?
First off, Alzner only averaged 19:47 per game. Sure, Washington had a deep blue line, but if Barry Trotz really trusted him that much, Alzner would have played at least 20 minutes per night.
Here is how he performed while on the ice against some of the game's elite centermen at 5-on-5 this past season:
Opposition
TOI with
Scoring Chances For
Scoring Chances Against
John Tavares
48:06
21
25
Evgeni Malkin
23:21
3
23
Sidney Crosby
23:16
14
10
Mark Scheifele
23:07
2
17
Connor McDavid
22:24
9
12
As you can see, when Alzner was on the ice, his team was routinely outchanced by some of the game's best centers, but oddly enough, not Sidney Crosby. That is likely just an anomaly.
So if Alzner isn't fit to play against opponents' top lines, then he is being paid a lot into his mid-30s to be a stable second-pairing defenseman who generates zero offense.
Alexander Radulov, Stars
Age: 31 Term: 5 years AAV: $6.25 million NMC: Full NMC first two years, 15-team no-trade list last two years
Radulov will surely make the Stars one of the league's most potent offenses over the next couple of seasons, but it's the final few years of his contract that could turn out to be very ugly.
Radulov tallied 54 points last season. At best, he's probably a 65-point guy. What's he going to be like when he's 34, 35, and 36? A 45-point guy? Making $6.25 million per year? Yikes.
Furthermore, Radulov has a bit of a reputation as a party animal. Chances are he won't age like a fine wine.
Trevor Daley, Red Wings
Age: 33 Term: 3 years AAV: $3,166,667 NMC: Full NTC first two years, 15-team no-trade list third year
It's amazing what a championship pedigree can do to a player's reputation. Daley - who won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins - was able to earn a contract way over his head.
Daley is, at best, a fourth or fifth defenseman, and his play will only decline as he enters his mid-30s. Comparable defensemen, such as Michael Del Zotto, Ron Hainsey, and Dan Girardi, all received two-year deals with a lower AAV.
Moreover, the reason why this trade is a huge head-scratcher is because the Red Wings already have a glut of bad contracts, and should really start entering a rebuild mode, rather than lock up mediocre defenseman for three years.
Kris Russell, Oilers
Age: 30 Term: 4 years AAV: $4 million NMC: Full NMC first two years, 10-team no-trade list 2019-20, 15 in 2020-21
Russell is really only good at one thing: shot blocking. He has finished in the top three in blocks each of the past four seasons. But to be frank, he doesn't bring much else to the table.
He isn't necessarily a liability on the back end, but given that the Oilers are projected to have just over $14 million in cap space next year with only 13 players inked to pro contracts, it was a puzzling signing to say the least.
Evaluating the impact of goals to the average NHL fan is rather simple: people like them. Goals are fun, goals are exciting, and more goals generally leads to a more exciting on-ice product for viewers.
The problem, though, is goals these days are hard to come by. In 2016-17, the team average for goals in a game was 2.77 (Hockey Reference), a number which, shockingly, is the highest season total since 2010-11, when the stat was a barn-burning 2.79.
If tight-structured defensive systems aren't your thing, we recommend keeping a close eye on the following five teams in 2017-18, as they're poised to ensure the NHL's goals per-game number continues its brief upward trend.
Dallas Stars
See this thick-bearded, toothless fellow above? He gets to join a forward corps that already features the likes of Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Jason Spezza.
Alexander Radulov was one of the Stars' prized offseason acquisitions, coming off a rebirth in Montreal in which he recorded 54 points in 76 games. Radulov provides Dallas another power play producer, and can slot in beside Seguin on a top line that, on paper, is simply unfair.
Dallas also bolstered it's attack by luring towering pivot Martin Hanzal to the club in free agency. The 30-year-old should nicely complement prospering depth contributors Devin Shore and Radek Faksa.
Toronto Maple Leafs
After netting the fifth-most goals in the NHL last season (250), year two of the youth movement in Toronto should warrant more of the same.
While the Maple Leafs sophomores surely won't be taking anyone by surprise this time around, Toronto added Patrick Marleau into the mix to solidify one of the deepest forward groups across the NHL.
Winnipeg Jets
Finding the back of the net certainly isn't what kept the Jets outside the playoff picture last season.
Winnipeg scored 246 goals in 2016-17, a sum good for seventh in the league. The Jets didn't make too much noise in the offseason in terms of adding personnel, mainly because they didn't have to. With a top six that includes Patrik Laine, Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, and Nikolaj Ehlers, Winnipeg is primed to rack up gaudy offensive numbers for years to come.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Last season's Blue Jackets were sandwiched between the Maple Leafs and Jets in terms of goals, and on the heels of a historic breakout campaign, Columbus added yet another offensive weapon in Artemi Panarin.
Panarin, who's recorded 151 points in 162 career games, should adequately replace Brandon Saad's output, and joins a roster that had seven skaters, excluding the departed Saad, eclipse 40 points last season.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Who knows where Tampa Bay might have ended up last season with Steven Stamkos involved.
The Lightning captain had 20 points in 17 games before a knee injury ended his season, leaving the club without one of the game's purest scorers. However, Stamkos is expected to be fully ready for training camp, and should he stay in the lineup, will form an incomparable duo with 40-goal man Nikita Kucherov.
Behind the two big dogs, the Lightning have a formidable trio of Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Brayden Point to rely on offensively. Not to mention Victor Hedman, who anchored the blue line and put up a whopping 72 points in 2016-17.
If there's one thing the Colorado Avalanche could offer college free-agent Alexander Kerfoot, it was opportunity.
In an interview with TSN 1040 in Vancouver on Wednesday, Kerfoot - New Jersey's 2012 fifth-round pick who chose not to sign his entry-level deal with the Devils - explained the rationale behind the decision to join last season's last-place club, boiling it down to a chance to make an immediate and impactful jump to the NHL.
"The first thing I was looking at was opportunity," Kerfoot said. "I'm a 23-year-old guy now coming out of four years in college. I know I have a lot of work to do as a player, but I want to go somewhere where I think that I have an opportunity to play. That kind of narrowed my list down from the start.
"I just felt really comfortable with the Avalanche organization in general and with (general manager Joe) Sakic and (head coach Jared) Bednar. I'm excited about joining their young group of guys and going into camp this year and competing for a spot."
Kerfoot added he was indeed close to signing with the Devils, but simply didn't see where he would fit at his position.
"That was a really, really difficult (deal) to turn down, but I think that just the main thing that came into play there was that (New Jersey) obviously had the first overall pick this year and he was a centerman (Nico Hischier). They traded for a couple of centermen in the off-season. Their last couple of kind of high draft picks have been centermen, so I think there was a plethora of young centermen coming into the organization who I would have to compete with."
Kerfoot believes he has a good shot at cracking Colorado's lineup after averaging slightly over a point per game over four years at Harvard, but understands if the organization believes he needs to spend some time in the AHL.
"I'm prepared for whatever," he said. "I mean, if I don't make the team then it's not like I'm just going to give up on my career. But at the same time I'm going in to Colorado expecting to make the team. I think that I'm confident in my abilities and I think that I have a good shot to make their roster. I'm excited to go in and be a part of their group."
