On Episode 2, the second half of a two-part season preview, John is joined by NBC's Adam Gretz to project the 2018-19 Western Conference. Topics of discussion include:
On this debut episode, the first of a two-part preview series, John is joined by TSN's Travis Yost to handicap the 2018-19 Eastern Conference. Topics of discussion include:
Does Tampa have company atop the Atlantic?
Over/under Mitch Marner point total
Are the Rangers really that bad?
The unpredictability of the Capitals
Columbus' complicated all-in year
(Note: This podcast was recorded before the Seth Jones injury update.)
For as long as the NHL's been around, debates about which players are better than others have almost always centered around goals and assists, accolades like Stanley Cup rings and Hart Trophies, intangibles like toughness and leadership, and more recently, gateway advanced statistics like Corsi and expected goals.
But what if you could take a deep dive into whether Connor McDavid is really better than Sidney Crosby using previously unknown comparison points like passes to the slot, offense off the cycle, and respect rating? And, what if these new player measurements not only helped decide arguments at the bar, but also dramatically altered how NHL franchises value players, and how those players evaluate themselves?
Well, these data points - and many others - may be available to hockey fans on a large scale as early as next year. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed to theScore that a full rollout of player and puck tracking is penciled in to debut during the 2019-20 season.
The league has flirted with this new world since 2015, when it slapped microchips onto jerseys and inside two-piece pucks for All-Star weekend. Now, it feels like a breakthrough is imminent.
Research and development - most notably, the daunting task of finding the ideal technological method for tracking a free-flowing sport like hockey - has been ongoing behind the scenes, and will continue over the course of the upcoming season.
It will be a significant step forward for the NHL, as it joins the NBA, NFL, and MLB in the pursuit of tracking data that will both grow the game and help better understand it. Advanced stats, which are currently based on play-by-play and time-on-ice feeds pulled from NHL.com, have already altered the landscape. Tracking is expected to have an even greater impact on the sport.
The NHL data boom is coming. Below are the details on how it will work, and its potential impact on the game.
How does player/puck tracking work?
In August, Montreal-based Sportlogiq became the "official data supplier" of the Swedish Hockey League, meaning it will be the exclusive provider of advanced stats to SHL teams, broadcasters, and sports betting partners until 2021.
Sportlogiq already has a strong foothold in the NHL, as it works with 27 of 31 teams on various projects while appearing on select broadcasts. Though CEO Craig Buntin declined comment when asked about the potential for an SHL-type agreement with the NHL, let’s use the company - a major player in the marketplace - as an entry point into this subtopic.
Buntin's team has developed a platform that logs hundreds of on-ice events through an optical tracking system. This camera-based approach is able to identify the whereabouts of every player, the puck, and the lines on the ice. The framework is then fed to artificial intelligence, which records movements, tagging any and all relevant hockey events. Players and their interactions with each other and the puck can be assessed in a three-dimensional format for estimations on spacing, angles, and the like.
Sportlogiq tracking in the SHL / Screenshot via Sportlogiq
The cameras and AI work in unison over the course of a game, repeating the same steps thousands of times. Every breakout pass, every deke, every dump-in - all of the minutiae baked into every play - is cataloged, approved by a Sportlogiq employee, and then filed into a database.
Hypothetically, if the NHL adopts this type of technology, we'll be able to quantify any number of on-ice happenings - like, for example, Crosby’s ability to create time and space for his teammates, long considered one of his greatest gifts.
"He does so much good work down low and along the boards. How far does the weak-side (opposing) winger in the slot shade toward Crosby's side of the ice and does that present new opportunities for Pittsburgh to activate its D?" wondered Ryan Stimson, a prominent voice in the hockey analytics community.
"Are they stacking or are they bull-rushing him or are they boxing him out?" added Christopher Boucher, Sportlogiq's director of hockey operations. "That’s where we're headed on the defensive side of the puck."
What else can tracking teach us?
Stimson, who covers the Sabres for The Athletic and grew up cheering for the Devils, is among a group of fans who for the past few years have manually tracked slot passes, rebound shots, one-timers, and other underreported events.
Yes, there's such a thirst for new hockey data that people are pausing games to collect info - known as micro-statistics - essentially assuming the role of Sportlogiq. At their core, micro-stats are granular pieces of information that inform us on the process rather than the result. They capture what contributed to a goal, a shot, or a shot attempt.
"The reason I got into it is because I wanted to figure out how good of a passer Patrik Elias was," Stimson said of the longtime Devils star. "He was so, so good for so long. What’s the reason for that?"
McDavid's speed on Sportsnet broadcast / Screenshot via YouTube
It’s possible fans will soon have access to data like McDavid’s top speed, Shea Weber's slap-shot velocity, Erik Karlsson’s stretch-pass success rate, and Mathew Barzal’s nightly puck control. Within proper context, those can be very useful numbers, and another tool in the toolbox for analysis ranging from trivial and fun to in-depth and serious.
"For every interesting observation, another question or two is raised," Stimson said.
For instance, is Zach Hyman truly a great puck-retriever for his more skilled Maple Leafs linemates, or does the data suggest he’s merely league average? Does Tom Wilson hurt the Capitals by taking himself out of position to deliver big hits, or does the data hint that opponents act abnormally when he's in their vicinity?
Understanding and articulating what makes certain role players effective (or ineffective) is an area ripe for picking.
"Which players are good at simple things like moving the puck up the ice with possession, entering the offensive zone with control, and creating a scoring chance off that?” Boucher added rhetorically.
On the team side, a similar exercise may arise from these initial questions. For example, how often did the 2017-18 Islanders defend against two-on-ones and three-on-twos? Was that a quantifiably weak point for New York or was something else at the core of the team's dead-last defense?
That kind of inquiry can lead to better-informed fans, media, and hockey operations employees. We're already seeing the value of tracking in other leagues, although its overall day-to-day impact depends on the data's availability. (Case in point: The NBA has a tiered system in which some data is available to the public free of charge, more is behind a paywall, and the rest is exclusive to teams and select media outlets.)
Second Spectrum data on NBA broadcast / Screenshot via YouTube
Tracking in basketball has already outed the game's most frequent complainers and laziest All-Stars, while the overall swing in shot selection (3-pointers over long twos) can be at least partially attributed to the rise of analytics. Meanwhile, in baseball, outfielders have never gotten so much love thanks to catch probability and other new data highlighting the crazy athleticism and smarts required to play the position.
Storytelling, whether through traditional media, new media, social media, or a brand, has changed over the past decade and will continue to evolve across the next 10 years. The emergence of well-sourced statistical analysis (with the level of acceptance varying from sport to sport) is a gigantic reason why.
Corsi, expected goals, PDO, high-danger save percentage, and primary points per 60 minutes are only the beginning for hockey.
What does this mean for players?
Based on a handful of interviews, NHL players don't appear too high or too low on the implementation of player and puck tracking.
Most of them are vaguely aware of which data is capable of being churned out. Quite frankly, though, it’s probably not in their best interest to consume micro-stats on a regular basis. After all, they're paid to play hockey; not to analyze it the way a coaching staff and front office must.
"I don’t know much about it. I don’t really think about it much," Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said. "As a player, I think you should focus more on whatever you can do to help your team, rather than your own personal advanced stats."
Puck, chip for World Cup of Hockey / Getty Images
A source within the NHLPA said the union supports player and puck tracking and sees it as a way to grow the game, as long as player rights are maintained. It's not a surprising stance - if all goes according to plan, tracking will generate hockey-related revenue to be split 50-50 between the league and its players' association. (And hey, who wouldn’t be excited about fewer goal reviews?)
"I don’t think it’s going to stop," Ducks forward Adam Henrique - who's quick to point out he's no analytics wiz - said of modern stats. "It’s going to be progressing and moving forward and everybody is going to try to find ways to grow the game, stats-wise. I think that’s part of the interest for fans. There's so many more advanced stats to look at. There's so much more detail that can go into the game for the viewer."
The NHL hasn't decided if it will use cameras or microchips - or both - to collect player data (the puck will almost certainly be chipped). If the league chooses the wearables route, or to mix wearables and optical tech, the players' union will be part of the discussion.
"I wouldn’t say we're leaning one way or the other yet. Both are viable options," Daly said of the league’s preferred tech. "We have a base level of knowledge where we can look at the strengths and weaknesses of both and try to find the right technology for us that is a more permanent technology."
So far, the league's encountered a number of roadblocks during its transition from testing at All-Star Games and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey to full-scale implementation.
One such roadblock is cost; the 2015 All-Star Game's chipped pucks were priced at more than $200 apiece. Another is accurate data; false starting would be a public relations nightmare. A third is the tech; if wearables are the way to go, the chips must be non-invasive for players.
The IIHF used cameras and chips earlier this year at both the Olympics and the World Hockey Championship, revealing skating distance, passing efficiency, and other micro-stats. Several players were perplexed and unsure of the staying power of the underlying numbers. Former NHLer and U.S. Olympian James Wisniewski went as far as saying, "It's just all cons. There’s nothing (positive) for a player ... All this is going to do is hurt you."
There's bound to be similar pushback in 2019 when tracking is rolled out for the NHL, especially from older players fighting for contracts. The league is trending incredibly young, with 30-year-olds looking over their shoulders a lot more than they might have in the past. Insert unbecoming data - such as poor speed or zone-entry numbers - and all of a sudden public perception wanes even further.
Offers could dry up. That 34-year-old third-pairing defenseman could be out of the league at 33 instead. For every player whose profile will be raised by tracking data, there's another whose will sag.
What’s the master plan?
Five years ago, there was a buzz around the NHL and its acceptance of advanced stats. The so-called Summer of Analytics had spit out multiple high-profile hockey ops hires - including Kyle Dubas (Leafs), Tyler Dellow (Oilers), and Sunny Mehta (Devils) - and it signaled a change of course ahead of the 2014-15 season.
Since then, there's been a steady climb up the mountain, with NHL teams, fans, and media members digging into analytics from various angles. Yet public access to ceiling-shattering data has remained out of reach - for now.
"We think unlocking this technology can certainly enhance the fan experience and the broadcast experience around our game and that will be to the benefit of the league, of the clubs, and of the players," Daly said.
Added Boucher: "What you’re seeing in the public sphere is results-based - shots and so on. It's great data, it's great insights and it's great work, but obviously the data set is limited in terms of what you can look at. What we offer is more (information about) the process."
iPad on Vancouver Canucks bench / Getty Images
In the grand scheme of things, we can't forget about the other type of tracking: biometric. The vast majority of NHL teams are already hooked on this evaluation method, working with sports science giant Catapult to collect health data from vests that players wear under their equipment during practice.
As a byproduct of sports science's explosion within the pro ranks, biometric data can elicit insights about fatigue, injury prevention, and more. However, wearing a vest, or a heart-rate monitor, is not mandatory for players right now.
Meanwhile, Daly said the league has no intention of making health info available to the public.
"I don't view biometric data, for the most part, to be something that we would ever utilize to enhance a fan experience, for instance, or a broadcast experience," he said. "I think that's much more personal to the players."
Meanwhile, player and puck tracking data, which sticks to hockey stats, is free game. And, while its potential applications seem endless, there are unknown aspects to consider as we wait for the polished product to be unveiled.
Will hockey’s frenetic pace and the interdependency between players water down tracking data and its effectiveness? This is not baseball, where there’s a batter, a pitcher, and time stands still. It's a completely different environment. Can the NHL tap into innovative tech that helps negate these potential issues?
Buntin thinks so.
"They’re looking at an optical solution combined with some hardware and I believe wholeheartedly that it is the most forward-thinking solution that I've seen in any league," the Sportlogiq CEO said.
The big-picture outlook features an opportunity to attract different, more statistically inclined fans, and to further engage the existing audience. For example, real-time analytics would improve in-game gambling by leaps and bounds. Puck possession and time on ice would be automated, not estimated, offering a baseline for improvements in available data.
In other words - for a league that's catching up in the data realm and on the global development stage, in general - the master plan is still being written.
"I think were all on the same page," Henrique said of the league and union, "where we all want to grow the game as much as possible."
John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
To properly understand the perpetual infancy of Japanese hockey, consider the strange case of 1974 NHL draft pick Taro Tsujimoto.
Tsujimoto, an imaginary hockey player from Tokyo - literally created out of thin air in the middle of a professional sports league draft - was selected in the 11th round, 183rd overall, by his inventor, "bored" Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach. In the days following the draft, Imlach strung along media and fans, insisting Tsujimoto would be Buffalo-bound in due time. Spoiler: The kid never showed.
It's one of the strangest tales in hockey history and, in a roundabout fashion, remains symbolic of Japan's very, very long-distance relationship with the National Hockey League.
Only two real Japanese nationals have been selected by NHL teams since Tsujimoto: Defenseman Hiroyuki Miura went in the 11th round to the Montreal Canadiens in 1992, and in 2004, the Los Angeles Kings used an eighth-round pick on goalie Yutaka Fukufuji.
Meanwhile, there is no question China - the Asian powerhouse with a population of nearly 1.4 billion people - is the NHL's next frontier, as evidenced by this past week's pair of exhibition games in Shenzhen and Beijing, Gary Bettman dropping hints about holding regular-season games there, and Wayne Gretzky shaking hands.
The last Winter Games were hosted by neighbor South Korea and the 2022 Olympics will be in Beijing. So hockey in Japan must at least be benefiting from its proximity … right?
"Many people see Japanese hockey that way, but it was actually bigger before," Hiroki Wakabayashi, a globetrotting professional goalie coach originally from Osaka, told theScore. "It's actually (trending) down quite a bit right now."
Enter Yushiroh Hirano. Born, raised, and trained in Japan, the 23-year-old winger will be making the trip from Japan to the United States this weekend to compete for an AHL job in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Youngstown Phantoms
The Pittsburgh Penguins' top farm club was intrigued enough by the late-blooming prospect's upside to offer him a professional tryout. The AHL may not be the pinnacle of the sport, and there are no contractual guarantees for unsigned players, but success is relative.
"If he does well at the AHL level, or even the East Coast level, there's going to be more eyes towards Japan looking for players," said Chris Wakabayashi (no relation to Hiroki), who coached Hirano in the Asia League the past two years. "It's like Hideo Nomo when he first came over to the major leagues. That opened the door."
__________
If there is indeed a door to be opened, it's safe to assume Hirano will not tiptoe through the entrance. His 6-foot-1, 216-pound frame, snarling on-ice presence, and ability to shoot a hockey puck aren't the most subtle combination.
Hirano's shot is the stuff of legend. It is his weapon, his calling card, and a general hazard to netminders. While playing for the Youngstown Phantoms in 2015, he sent the opposing goalie to the trainer's room with a mangled mask.
"I gave Yush a pass like 10 feet inside the blue line and he just lined up and ripped a slap shot," recalled Chase Pearson, Hirano's linemate on the Phantoms. "It hit the goalie square in the mask and broke the front metal part in half.
"The goalie had to leave the game because he got cut. I think the entire rink went quiet because the impact of the puck was so loud."
Video footage of the blast is nowhere to be found online. However, the game report indicates Hirano scored seven seconds after the injured goaltender's exit, capitalizing on a clearly cold (and perhaps frightened) backup.
Then 20 years old, Hirano skated in 54 games and finished the 2015-16 season with 46 points - 24 of them goals, and many of those no-doubters. Fittingly enough for someone with his skill set, Hirano counts Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos as two of his favorite players.
"My shot did not come naturally - I have been working on it since I was in high school. I decided then that I was going to try and have the quickest and hardest shot in Japan," Hirano told theScore in a recent interview conducted via email.
"Before and after school I would shot about 100 pucks in my yard. Even to this day, I go out to my yard and shoot over 100 pucks two or three times a week. ... I strive to have the best shot. I am a firm believer that if you want to improve you have to be willing to put in the time."
__________
The NHL is Hirano's best-case scenario. The ECHL is his North American floor. And even the AHL would represent a major accomplishment for Hirano and Japanese players in general.
Fukufuji, the goalie L.A. snagged in 2004, had a four-game cup of coffee in the NHL. According to Hockey-Reference.com, the 36-year-old (still stopping pucks in the Asia League) stands as the lone Japan-born player to crack the best league in the world. The AHL says Fukufuji is also the only Japan-born player to appear there. (Ryan O'Marra, who played in the NHL and AHL, was born in Japan but moved to Canada with his Canadian parents shortly after.)
Japanese players have carved out long pro careers in Europe and Asia; however, only eight have appeared in North America's third league, the ECHL, and none since 2009. With the exception of Fukufuji (again), none of them played more than 80 games, and two didn't even crack 10. The same weekend that Hirano played his first Phantoms game, Yuri Terao debuted for the Waterloo Black Hawks, making them the first players born in Japan to slip on USHL jerseys since it became a junior league in 1979.
Japan, a country of 127 million whose sports fans are loyal to baseball and soccer, has been a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation since 1930. It counts roughly 19,000 people as registered hockey players, according to the IIHF. (For context, China has 12,000.)
"I started playing hockey when I was 3 years old," Hirano said. "My father and his twin brother both played professional hockey in Japan. So I guess it kind of runs in the family."
Hirano turned 3 in 1998, in the midst of the NHL's effort to capitalize on the attention generated by the Nagano Olympics by staging seven regular-season games in Japan between 1997 and 2000. The league has not returned since. Japan's men's program is ranked 23rd worldwide, sandwiched between Great Britain and the Ukraine (the women's program is much farther along, ranking seventh).
The Wakabayashis both expressed disappointment over the current iteration of Japanese hockey. Cheaper sports such as golf, speed skating, judo, and sumo command the attention of kids and parents, and they lamented a lack of long-term planning and direction at the national level, saying it's inhibited growth in recent years.
"The national federation is mostly volunteer guys," Chris Wakabayashi said. "They don't emphasize enough on generating revenue and sponsorship. They rely a lot on Japanese Olympic committee for money."
Hiroki Wakabayashi took it one step further: "Make it to the Olympics, you get money. When you don't, you've got no money."
__________
Hirano flew to the U.S. on his own dime to showcase his skills for the Phantoms, who didn't have a book on the power forward at the time. Beyond his attendance at Chicago Blackhawks development camp in July 2015, he'd exclusively plied his trade across the pond, including a season in Sweden's SuperElit junior league and three games with the team's Division 1 affiliate.
"He paid his way to come over for the tryout. When/if he made the team, Youngstown would reimburse him," ex-Phantoms coach John Wroblewski said. "It was quite a financial impact but he made the team with just an unbelievable work ethic. It was outstanding to watch this kid - how bad he wanted it and how hard he worked to get it. ...
"He had gone through a 36-hour travel day and all of a sudden you watch him shoot a puck and you're like, 'Oh my dear Lord.' He shot it just like a guy would in the American Hockey League."
His future linemate Pearson didn't know what to expect when the Phantoms GM told him Hirano was coming to camp.
"I was like, 'Ah, we'll see what happens,'" said Pearson, who's now a Detroit Red Wings prospect and the University of Maine's captain. "But he ended up being one of our best players."
While the USHL wasn't familiar with Hirano, the league and the country were unknowns to him too. The language gap was so wide that, at night, he felt the need to huddle up with a Japanese-English dictionary. Impressively, Wrobleski says he didn't miss a beat during practice, rarely making mistakes on drills requiring complex explanation.
Toward the end of the USHL season, Central Scouting, the NHL's in-house talent evaluation department, ranked Hirano 184th on its 2016 list of draft-eligible skaters playing in North America. In June, he went undrafted in his fourth year of eligibility. He secured a spot at San Jose Sharks development camp, but it didn't lead to future opportunities.
Though NCAA schools were interested, Hirano's brief stint in Sweden's Division 1 had cost him his college eligibility, and he skated in the Asia League in 2016-17 and 2017-18. He recorded 1.2 points per game for Chris Wakabayashi's Tohoku Free Blades and jumped to Sweden's Division 2 to close out last season with eight goals and five assists in 18 games.
Youngstown Phantoms
Mark Dennehy, the Penguins' ECHL coach this summer (he never stepped behind the bench, accepting a job with the AHL's Binghamton Devils in August) connected with Hirano's representatives. Dennehy saw potential and extended an invite for camp, which begins with physicals Sunday and holds its first on-ice session Monday. Wilkes-Barre general manager Bill Guerin saw no reason to cancel the PTO after the coach's departure.
"You have to manage expectations. We don't want to put pressure on any player, but it's all up to them," said Guerin, noting Hirano's shot - surprise! - received high marks in scouting reports filed during his USHL stint. "For us, the risk is minimal. We just felt that there was enough there to give him this opportunity.
__________
For all his skills, tools, and potential, Hirano was a flawed player when he last lived in America. Skating was not his strong suit.
"His brain's there, his shot's there, he's got vision. It's whether or not he can play at the pace," said Wroblewski, who's now a coach for the U.S. National Team Development Program. "That's really what defines anybody who is trying to transcend a level."
Guerin agreed, adding, "With a lot of players, it's not necessarily that they can't play with the pace, it's that they're mentally not willing. So, if we get willing skaters - guys who are willing to play with pace - and if they have the ability to score like he does, then they can make something of it."
By all accounts, Hirano has a growth mindset and the level of desire required to crush a new challenge. At 23, though, he's not exactly young. Not every prospect follows a linear path, but it's unlikely for a player in his mid-20s to win a roster spot if he hasn't managed to stick anywhere in North America after two NHL development camps and interest from ECHL teams.
"Since my ultimate goal is to get to the NHL, I have to work on everything," said Hirano. "I need to raise the bar. I need to skate better, be stronger, read the play better, and I have to get NHL hungry. ...
"I would like to make all my family and friends proud of me. But, more than that, I would like to change the image of hockey in Japan. I would like to take hockey in Japan to the next level."
A few current prospects appear to have a chance to change the course - and perception - of Japanese hockey. Aito Iguchi, a highly touted 15-year-old master stickhandler, has garnered plenty of social media fame. Both Iguchi and Ikki Kogawa, 15, have played minor hockey in Canada. Kohei Sato (21) and Yuki Miura (22) are playing Division I college hockey for New Hampshire and Lake Superior, respectively.
But none of those players have an AHL tryout yet, and as the 2018-19 season begins, Hirano is as close as it gets for Japanese hockey. Taro Tsujimoto, if he existed, would be proud.
"Yush loves the game. He cares," Chris Wakabayashi said. "You're not going to get many chances in North America, so I hope he makes the best of it."
John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
With 2018-19 training camps opening this week, it's time to use our emoji vocabulary to describe the NHL's 31 clubs.
Here is one emoji taking the pre-camp temperature of each team.
ANAHEIM DUCKS - 💊
Please send medical care to Ryan Kesler, who remains on the fritz due to a hip injury. In late July, general manager Bob Murray was unable to guarantee the center's availability for the upcoming season. Kesler - who just turned 34 and is entering the third year of a six-year contract - had surgery in June 2017 and has dressed for 44 games since.
ARIZONA COYOTES - 🔮
What does the future hold in Glendale? Can the eternal rebuild feed off a strong second half in 2017-18 and the acquisition of Alex Galchenyuk? John Chayka is the NHL's most active GM, making splashes big and small. Expect that trend to continue as the process-oriented 29-year-old inches closer to the payoff.
BOSTON BRUINS - 🐣
In order to remain contenders, the Bruins need their lesser-known young forwards to hatch. Jake DeBrusk had his coming-out party this past spring, but he'll need to find another gear. Danton Heinen should be plenty motivated in a contract year. If unleashed, sniper Ryan Donato has the potential to contend for the Calder Trophy.
BUFFALO SABRES - 😂
Tears of joy. Rasmus Dahlin, presumed Sabres savior and the jelly to Jack Eichel's peanut butter, is weeks away from his NHL debut. He is joined by freshly acquired winger Jeff Skinner, who waived his no-trade clause for Western New York. The bar is so low in Buffalo that general optimism feels like a colossal step forward.
CALGARY FLAMES - 🔌
Can James Neal be the offensive spark plug worthy of a $28.75 million contract? Will the move to a new city, depth chart, and conference jolt Elias Lindholm's career? Might center Derek Ryan's contributions light a fire under the bottom six? Is familiar coach Bill Peters capable of coaxing Noah Hanifin into full bloom?
CAROLINA HURRICANES - 👽
Tom Dundon is an alien invading the NHL. Carolina's owner has been pulling all the hockey-ops strings lately, making his presence known at the draft and in free agency. The billionaire is an outsider now on the inside, essentially the GM despite hiring Don Waddell to work under that title. Dundon is an influencer to monitor during camp and beyond.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS - 🙏
Now accepting best wishes: Corey Crawford. The two-time Cup champ admitted in late July that he was still "not 100 percent" after spending months recovering from an undisclosed injury. Last week, club president John McDonough said he's "confident" Crawford will be ready for the start of camp. Frankly, Chicago is pretty screwed without its starter. That aging, expensive core needs reliable goaltending - and backup Cam Ward is not the answer.
COLORADO AVALANCHE - 🎟️
The NHL draft lottery may be nine months away, but it's already looming large in Denver thanks to the Matt Duchene swap. The Senators - set to finish at or near the bottom of the standings - owe Colorado their 2019 first-round pick, meaning Avs GM Joe Sakic could have a pair of lottery tickets. Not bad when Jack Hughes is the prize.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS - 🍞
The sticky situation involving the Breadman will dominate discussion around the Jackets until it's resolved. Artemi Panarin, the most dynamic player in franchise history and a 2019 unrestricted free agent, has expressed a desire to leave Columbus, but he may be moved before or during the season. Fireworks are coming - it's just a matter of when.
A handshake may never materialize since one party won't be at camp, but the imminent generational changeover in Michigan will conjure up images of Henrik Zetterberg and Dylan Larkin exchanging pleasantries. His career in jeopardy, the soon-to-be 38-year-old Zetterberg will pass the baton to 22-year-old Larkin, who recently signed a five-year extension.
EDMONTON OILERS - 🚣
That's Connor McDavid rowing away. Not only are the 36-win Oilers bringing back a familiar roster - one that lacks any slam-dunk linemates for No. 97 - but the blue line looks awfully thin. Thanks to an offseason injury to Andrej Sekera, the defense falls off a cliff after Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson, and potential holdoutDarnell Nurse. Poor Cam Talbot.
FLORIDA PANTHERS - ⁉️
The exclamation point represents the hockey trade (Mike Hoffman for picks!). The question mark represents the real-life dynamics (will Hoffman’s off-ice baggage disrupt his segue to Florida?). Hoffman is a legitimate 35-goal, 70-point threat for the Panthers, but a period of awkwardness will likely precede any on-ice success.
LOS ANGELES KINGS - ⏳
The hourglass has been flipped. The 2012 and 2014 Cup winners are racing against time, trying to prop up an aging roster by funneling in low-impact youngsters and 35-year-old Ilya Kovalchuk. The latter will be a must-see attraction during Kings camp and through the exhibition schedule. Does Kovalchuk still have that magic scoring touch?
MINNESOTA WILD - 😐
As usual, the Wild are the Switzerland of the NHL: supremely neutral. The playoffs are likely, but a long run isn't. What's more, GM Paul Fenton wasn't overly active this summer - he did little beyond extending Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba - which means the storyline well is dry.
MONTREAL CANADIENS - 🌵
Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty are gone via offseason trades, shipped out of town for Max Domi, Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki, and a second-round pick. Translation: The Habs' offense is desert dry, with its No. 1 goal-scoring option being Brendan Gallagher - a fine player, but not someone capable of leading an attack. Even if Carey Price finds his prime form between the pipes, Montreal is destined for the NHL's basement.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS - 🛀
That gut-wrenching Game 7 loss to the Jets last May - punctuated by Pekka Rinne's nightmarish first-period showing of two goals against on seven shots - probably still stings. But the Preds need to wash off the past; they have the horses to challenge Winnipeg for the division title and that effort must start in camp.
Morale can't get much lower heading into Islanders camp. Sure, they struck gold at the draft, scooping up Noah Dobson and Oliver Wahlstrom, but losing John Tavares is nothing short of devastating. Excluding the fantastic Mat Barzal, this club is devoid of star power. Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz have their work cut out for them.
NEW YORK RANGERS - 🍿
The white flag has been waved, and the first wave of core players has been sent packing. Now? Grab your favorite movie theater snack and sit back. The Rangers - the Original Six franchise that never takes a breath - officially begin Stage 2 of The Great Rebuild this fall. Will the transparency continue? Will they keep stripping it down?
OTTAWA SENATORS - 💣
Ticking. Time. Bomb. The dominant storyline this September will be the futures of Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone, and Matt Duchene. Ottawa's three best skaters are all on expiring contracts and - no shock to anyone following the Sens saga - are probably on their way out at some point in 2018-19. Also: Is Brady Tkachuk ready for full-time NHL duty?
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS - 😱
Sean Couturier, the league's best young defensive forward, is recovering from a knee injury suffered during a summer charity game. The ailment doesn't seem serious enough to affect the Flyers' regular season, but, when you factor in Wayne Simmonds' health and contract uncertainties, it's not all rainbows and lollipops ahead of James van Riemsdyk's return.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS - 😋
It took the Pens 213 games - 106 in 2015-16 and 107 in 2017-18 - to win back-to-back Cups. Last year, with the rival Capitals eliminating them in Game 6 of the second round, the squad's games-played tally shrunk to 94. Surely rested and motivated by the long layoff, Sidney Crosby and pals should be licking their lips all September. The Metro is up for grabs.
SAN JOSE SHARKS - 👌
Tavares did not take his talents to the Bay Area. It's going to be OK, though, because it's a safe bet GM Doug Wilson has a trick up his sleeve. The Sharks have more than $4 million in cap space and the incentive to supplement an old-ish core sooner than later. Side plot: Is the Joe Thornton farewell tour upon us? Jumbo, 39, can’t play forever.
ST. LOUIS BLUES - 😎
GM Doug Armstrong cooly upgraded the forward group this offseason, picking up a No. 1 center (Ryan O'Reilly), two top-nine wingers (David Perron, Maroon), and a third-line center (Tyler Bozak) through four different transactions. The Blues seem to be everybody's choice for a dark-horse contender, but how will all of the above fit into the group?
The NHL's roller-coaster team won't be shutting down that ride anytime soon. Intrigue persists around the sketchy departure of Canucks icon Trevor Linden, the timing of Brock Boeser's next contract, the tangible impact of vets Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel, the arrival of super-prospect Elias Pettersson, Olli Juolevi's 2018-19 home, and the vacant captaincy. Get this fan base a drink.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS - 🤠
The cowboy emoji was unofficially assigned to "Wild Bill" Karlsson amid the Swede's 43-goal breakout season. Nowadays, it could fit the Golden Knights in general. For starters, there's the contentious Nate Schmidt PED suspension, the bold Pacioretty trade, and the lagging Shea Theodorenegotiations. Vegas is ground zero for storylines as camps open.
WINNIPEG JETS - 🍽️
The Jets are hungry. Having endured a slow, sometimes painful rebuild, they're ready for the main course after bowing out in five games to Vegas in the Western Conference final. An imperfect team that's got a tremendous top-six forward group and Connor Hellebuyck to compensate for its deficiencies, Winnipeg is a legitimate Stanley Cup threat.
John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
TORONTO - Dozens of NHL players and prospects descended upon St. Michael's College School Arena this week for BioSteel Camp.
The annual late-August gathering, headlined once again by Connor McDavid and Tyler Seguin, included an emotional gesture this time around: The BioSteel Cup was renamed the Ray Emery Cup in honor of the former NHL goalie. Emery, 35, died July 15.
"He was such a special character," Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse said. "He was always the life of the party, life of the room. Always had a smile on his face."
Team Seguin won the trophy Thursday for its four-on-four tournament victory. Meanwhile, various players' media availabilities throughout the week produced plenty of news. Here are four bigger-picture takeaways from the event.
Simmonds ready to shut up critics
Wayne Simmonds, general manager Ron Hextall, and Philadelphia Flyers fans all know it: This coming season is gigantic for Simmonds. He's not young anymore, his underlying numbers have dipped, and his body is breaking down. He can sign a new contract with Philadelphia at any time, or he can wait and sign with another NHL team next July 1.
On Wednesday, Simmonds - who says his reps and the team have held "preliminary talks" about an extension - was asked if he had something to prove in 2018-19.
"To prove?" he replied, seeming bothered by the question. "I don't know, I've played 10 years in this league. I've put together some pretty good years, so I don't think I have much to prove other than just being the player that I am."
It's a fair response. If Simmonds can recapture the 30-and-30 form from his finest stretch of hockey - bookended by a 29-goal, 31-assist '13-14, and a 32-goal, 28-assist '15-16 - more power to him.
However, the likelihood of him turning back the clock is, well, slim.
For starters, he's not dealing with a single-season downturn. His worst year since '13-14 was arguably '16-17, when his five-on-five numbers started to slump.
SEASON
5v5 G/60
5v5 PTS/60
PP G/60
PP PTS/60
2013-14
0.58
1.68
3.24
5.18
2014-15
0.75
1.44
3.55
6.09
2015-16
0.87
1.92
2.66
4.29
2016-17
0.63
1.14
3.17
4.95
2017-18
0.49
1.29
2.65
4.10
(G/60 = Goals per 60 minutes; PTS/60 = Points per 60 minutes)
Rate stats may look complicated, but they're quite simple. Essentially, the table suggests Simmonds, once a highly efficient five-on-five and power-play producer, is not aging gracefully from a statistical standpoint.
The late-season development of Nolan Patrick (who scored 12 of his 30 points in his final 19 games) and the summer signing of 36-goal scorer James van Riemsdyk are boons for both the Flyers and, by extension, Simmonds. Yet they also jeopardized the former L.A. King's trademark net-front superiority.
Making matters worse, Simmonds is still rebounding from last year's absurd list of injuries - broken teeth, a broken ankle, a torn ligament in his thumb, and a torn pelvic ligament. The 30-year-old underwent surgery on his pelvis this spring and is feeling fine overall, but notes he's battling to regain game speed.
"I'm going to come in, I'm going to work hard," Simmonds said of Flyers training camp, "and you'll see what you usually see from me - which was obviously not last year, I don't think I had my best year - but I'm going to get better, I'm going to be healthy, and things are going to be good."
Unpredictability makes for great theater, and Simmonds - a fearless competitor who's been criminally underpaid for the duration of his six-year, $23.85-million contract - is clearly ready to face the challenge head-on.
Unable to "figure out a longer-term deal that made sense," the 24-year-old defenseman settled for a two-year, $6.775-million bridge contract with the Anaheim Ducks in late July.
"I'm still growing as a player, and both sides were happy with doing something like this and we'll move forward from it," Montour told theScore on Tuesday. "I tell people all the time - I want to be there for a long time, they want me there as well."
With Montour, Cam Fowler, Josh Manson, and no-frills anchor Hampus Lindholm, Anaheim's top four is a perfect blend of handedness (two lefties, two righties), youth (ages range from 24 to 26), mobility (they can all wheel and transport the puck), and offensive prowess (all four picked up at least 30 points last year).
"We have all the confidence in the world," Montour, who is entering his second full NHL season, said of the Ducks' defense corps. "Being from where we are, being in California, we don't get seen or watched as much, (but) the four of us are very strong players and we feed off each other. Having duos like that - me and Cam, and Hampus and Manson - it's definitely huge for us as a team, and I feel like when we're out there we dictate the play and we take pride in that."
Heading into training camp, the forward group is more uncertain. Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Ryan Kesler are 33, 33, and 34, respectively. There's speculation Kesler could sit out the entire season to rehab a hip injury. Is Montour concerned about his teammate's health?
"A little bit. He's looking to start the year," he said. "It's one of those things where we obviously didn't want the result we had in the playoffs but, for his sake and a couple of guys with key injuries, it's definitely allowed for a lot more time to rest and get prepared for the year. As far as I know, we should have a healthy team."
Strome determined to take final step
Addressing the idea that the 2017-18 Oilers lost their "hunger" after making the playoffs the year prior, Nurse said Monday that "you can't believe your own hype."
Dylan Strome, however, would be best served by doing the opposite. The third pick in the 2015 draft - sandwiched between McDavid/Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner/Noah Hanifin - needs to believe in his own pre-draft hype at this point.
In his age-20 season, Strome recorded 53 points in 50 AHL games, indicating he has outgrown the feeder system. After plenty of junior and minor-league marination and 27 NHL games, he is ready for a full-time role with an up-and-coming Arizona Coyotes squad.
"It felt like I did what I was asked to do and I felt a lot better throughout the year," Strome said Monday. "I put up some good numbers, so hopefully I can continue that next year at the NHL level."
The knock on Strome has always been his skating, even though he checks off several other scouting boxes - hockey sense, shooting ability, vision, puck protection, reach, playmaking ability.
And because the modern NHL rewards speed over anything else, he won't be able to shake off the stigma until he can display significant improvement. The 6-foot-3, 183-pounder has been working tirelessly with Coyotes skating coach Dawn Braid this summer and in past offseasons.
"I feel a lot stronger, a lot faster," Strome said, explaining that his current sessions with Braid focus on improving his posture, positioning, and first few steps. "It's hard to tell when you're not in the game, but I'm excited for the year."
Fortnite still making waves
Erik Gudbranson is right in that sweet spot. He's 26, making him a millennial who's young enough to understand video game culture. But he's not so young compared to some of his fellow players.
"The kids are too good on this game," Gudbranson said Wednesday with a hearty laugh. "I go on there, I get roasted, and you just get sick of it."
The Vancouver Canucks defenseman is referring to the "definitely addictive" Fortnite, the outrageously popular third-person survival game that has taken the hockey world (and beyond) by storm.
The hoopla began in May, when Sportsnet's Jeff Marek told a story on a podcast about a top prospect whose video game addiction was ruining a promising career. It continued in June at the NHL scouting combine, where participants were grilled about their relationship with Fortnite. And it got a third life Tuesday when TSN's Rick Westhead reported some junior teams have advised players to "scrub Fortnite references from social media accounts" to avoid presenting themselves poorly to NHL clubs.
"It's been pretty big," Jordan Subban, a 23-year-old Maple Leafs prospect, said of the video game craze. "Even when I was in California last year (playing for the AHL's Ontario Reign), with the sun all year round, a lot of guys would still go home and just play video games. I try and not play it as much, but it's hard."
A common response on social media in the wake of Westhead's report: At least these kids aren't out drinking or causing trouble. But given the attention that Fortnite continues to receive and the timing - rookie tournaments are just around the corner - don't expect this topic to die anytime soon.
John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
TORONTO - The salary cap-era St. Louis Blues have been just kinda there.
They've found plenty of success, of course, accumulating more than 80 points in 10 of 12 non-lockout seasons. They made the playoffs every year from 2012 to 2017, and, in Ken Hitchcock's final full campaign behind the bench, were two wins away from competing for the 2016 Stanley Cup.
Through it all, though, they've rarely generated widespread excitement. Rarely rocked the boat. Rarely struck fear into opponents across the NHL.
Then, the 2018 offseason came and went, and the perception changed.
The forward group won't be required to carry the Blues moving forward - captain Alex Pietrangelo and the defense corps, as well as goalies Jake Allen and Chad Johnson, have jobs to do too - but it will be the straw that stirs the drink in St. Louis.
On an individual level, O'Reilly and winger Robby Fabbri, who hasn't appeared in an NHL game since February 2017, are both viewing the 2018-19 season as a fresh start. And, quite possibly, the start of something special for the Blues.
O'Reilly's recharge
Back in April, as he addressed Buffalo media on locker room cleanout day, O'Reilly opened up about having "lost the love of the game multiple times" over the course of the '17-18 season.
His remarks, linked strongly to the painstakingly slow Sabres rebuild, stopped media and fans in their tracks. It was the type of honesty we rarely see from public figures. (It turns out pro athletes can be vulnerable too. Huh.)
A much cheerier O'Reilly revisited the topic Tuesday at the annual BioSteel Camp.
"It was tough," he said, referring to the last of his three seasons in Western New York. "You still love what you do, and there's no better feeling than playing a hockey game - it's the best job in the world - but, at times during the season, it was draining. You don't want to think about the game because it's just not going well. And it took a toll at different times of the year. There were times that year that we started to get things going and you love it. Winning's fun. Losing is not fun at all."
Not surprisingly, O'Reilly welcomed the move to Missouri and is enjoying coming to the rink every day again. "They missed the playoffs by one game. They're close, they're on the verge of something great," he said. "Getting to add to that was pure excitement."
The 27-year-old is penciled in as the Blues' No. 1 center next to super sniper Vladimir Tarasenko. Not a bad landing spot for a guy whose contract (another four years at $7.5 million per season) isn't easy to move.
"He's one of the best scorers in the game," O'Reilly said of Tarasenko, the eagerness evident in his voice. "If it works out, I think it'll be awesome. I use my stick a lot to create turnovers and he's that guy that is always in the right area, in the scoring areas."
Tarasenko has scored 37, 40, 39, and 33 goals the past four seasons. Alongside a cerebral, faceoff-winning machine like O'Reilly, the Russian could conceivably bag somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 in '18-19. That trademark shot does a lot of the work.
"You see how he gets behind it, how he puts everything into it," O'Reilly said. "You see the release of it, the quickness and just the heaviness of it. Not many goalies stand a chance, and (he has) pinpoint accuracy. It is one of the best shots in the league."
Head coach Mike Yeo will have training camp to experiment beyond the logical O'Reilly-Tarasenko and Schwartz-Schenn duos. Here's an educated guess of the Blues' top three lines to start the year:
LEFT WING
CENTER
RIGHT WING
Patrick Maroon
Ryan O'Reilly
Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz
Brayden Schenn
David Perron
Alex Steen
Tyler Bozak
Robby Fabbri
That's a balanced and potent unit that will drive opponents nuts for 50 minutes a night. (It's still August - forget about the fourth line.)
There's also the chance Robert Thomas, a high-end prospect from the OHL's Hamilton Bulldogs, makes the big club out of camp. He's regarded as a future first- or second-line NHL center but could easily slot in on the wing somewhere in the top nine.
Any way you slice it (there's a case to be made for prospect Jordan Kyrou, 20, stealing a spot too), what was largely a one-line attack last year is now thorough.
That's a necessary step for the Blues, because the Central Division is a house of horrors. They needed this infusion to compete with the Jets, Predators, Stars, and the like.
Fabbri's effect
Of the 15 forwards the Blues have signed for this coming season, eight are in a contract year. Fabbri, a true wild card, is in that show-me group.
The 2014 first-rounder is returning from a pair of surgeries on his left knee. He tore his ACL during the 123rd game of his career and has been sidelined since, suffering the same injury last fall. The fearless speedster missed the entire season, moving back home to Toronto last December for rehab.
"I've done a good job keeping a positive mindset through this whole thing," Fabbri said Tuesday. "Not too many people get 10 months to train and prepare for a season, so that's the way I looked at it. Not only rehabbing my knee, (but also) fixing the imbalances and fixing the little things on and off the ice. It has helped. I never really got down about it. The situation's kinda tough, but stuff happens and you can't fix that."
"I feel 100 percent," he added. "You can't really mimic the stresses of a season - back-to-back games and things like that - but if you ask me right now, yeah, I feel if not 100, 99 (percent)."
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
The cynical take: Fabbri may have durability issues.
Fabbri, who has also suffered a concussion and a high ankle sprain in recent years, said the club told him to "come in and prove myself again," promising nothing in the wake of such a long layoff and the signing of a one-year, $925,000 contract. In general, will that knee hold up?
The optimistic take: Fabbri may be on the verge of breaking out.
There's no denying the 22-year-old's immense potential when healthy. He hasn't truly found his footing in the NHL, but, based on his pre-draft stock and flashes of brilliance, could blossom into a top-six mainstay who contributes 50-60 points a season. The club's 30th-ranked power play certainly needs a boost.
You could play the same game with St. Louis.
The cynical take: Same old Blues.
The optimistic take: Brand new Blues.
John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
TORONTO - Waiting isn't Joel Ward's favorite pastime, but it's all he can do right now.
It's late August - professional tryout season - and the 37-year-old right-winger is jobless. An unrestricted free agent since July 1, Ward told theScore Tuesday he's "waiting to hopefully solidify something" before NHL training camps open in mid-September.
The veteran of more than 800 NHL games won't let himself think about life outside the best hockey league in the world. Plan B options, such as playing in Europe or retirement, aren't top of mind.
"Haven't really thought about it," Ward said at the annual BioSteel Camp. "I think we're all fighting for contracts, for sure, so I think the main thing is to stay patient and just be ready."
Ward's three-year, $9.825-million contract with the San Jose Sharks ended in unflattering fashion this spring. First, he was asked to waive his modified no-trade clause at the trade deadline. Then, following an injury-laden regular season in which he posted 12 points in 52 games, head coach Peter DeBoer sat him for all 10 playoff contests.
A good soldier on seven previous NHL playoff squads, Ward admits it was a tough stretch in his professional life.
"I definitely wanted to play ... it was unfortunate, I suffered a pretty tough (shoulder) injury down the stretch and it was hard to get back in (the lineup)," he said. "You always want to be playing, regardless of the sport. You always want to get out there and help your squad win. But, it's part of the game sometimes and it definitely gave me some good fire in the belly to get after it this summer."
Forward Scottie Upshall was in a similar spot during last year's BioSteel Camp. He ultimately signed with his old club, the St. Louis Blues, after Robby Fabbri went down with a season-ending injury in late September. This offseason, Upshall signed a PTO with the Oilers and will fight for a job in camp.
Clubs prioritize speed, skill, and youngsters in the modern NHL. It's abundantly obvious this time of year, when tryout agreements start trickling in. Here's the full PTO list as of Wednesday morning, according to CapFriendly.com:
PLAYER
AGE
TEAM
Scottie Upshall
34
Oilers
Jason Garrison
33
Oilers
Mark Letestu
33
Panthers
Simon Despres
27
Canadiens
Emerson Etem
26
Kings
Now, Ward's willingness to stick it out this late in the summer shouldn't come as a giant surprise. He's been unwanted in the past. The 6-foot-1, 225-pounder went undrafted and didn't make the NHL until his mid-20s, but is sitting on 356 career points and more than $25 million in earnings.
He has strung together a notable NHL career, dressing for 809 regular season and playoff games for the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals, and Sharks. Last season, Ward was one of only two NHLers who honed their craft in the Canadian University ranks (Derek Ryan was the other).
"Looking back, you just hope to play one (NHL) game," he said of a four-year stint at the University of Prince Edward Island. "One turned into a couple more and it just kept going from there. Once you get a taste of it, you want to stay."
Following four years of major junior, another four in university, and three more in the AHL, Ward found a 10-year home in the NHL. Can he squeeze out one more?
TORONTO - Tyler Seguin wants you to know he is disappointed.
Specifically, he is disappointed in the Dallas Stars for not offering a contract of his liking this summer and is unhappy because negotiations have been nonexistent of late.
It was easy to draw these conclusions Tuesday, as Seguin uttered the words "disappointing" and "disappointed" a total of four times in a six-minute media scrum focused mainly on the potential 2019 free agent’s future with the Stars.
"Nothing’s really going on," he said when asked for an update on extension talks between his camp and the club. "Pretty much haven’t been talking much this summer. It’s been a little disappointing. I thought I’d have some exciting news to talk about at BioSteel camp, especially this late in the summer, but ..."
Seguin, who has been eligible to re-sign in Dallas since July 1 and will almost certainly make north of $10 million per year on his next deal, trailed off for a moment but quickly reverted back to his main point.
"It’s been disappointing," the 40-goal scorer added, "but at the end of the day I’ve always had one year left here, so I’m focused on that, I’m focused on BioSteel camp right now, and I’m excited to get back to Dallas and I look forward to a good year."
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
OK, we’ve established Seguin is not completely thrilled. The elite center also revealed Tuesday that, although talks haven’t materialized to any great extent since late June, he isn’t exactly counting down the days to July 1, 2019.
Asked if he is curious at all about the free-agency process, Seguin replied, "I guess I’m not really there yet." In other words, unless the player-team relationship goes really south, Seguin would like to stay put.
"Dallas has been home. I’ve been comfortable in Dallas since I got down there," the former Boston Bruin said. "At the end of the day, I want to win, I want to be successful, I want to get back into the playoffs."
The Stars, for what it’s worth, are staying out of it. (Citing a team policy of not speaking publicly about negotiations, a spokesperson on Tuesday afternoon politely declined a request to interview general manager Jim Nill.) Regardless, it's safe to assume the Central Division squad is intent on retaining a 26-year-old who enters play this fall tied with Sidney Crosby for the second-most NHL goals since 2013-14, Seguin's first season in Dallas.
PLAYER
GP
GOALS
GOALS/GAME
Alex Ovechkin
402
236
0.59
Sidney Crosby
394
173
0.44
Tyler Seguin
387
173
0.45
Jamie Benn
404
172
0.43
Vladimir Tarasenko
383
170
0.44
Seguin’s comments - which appear genuine and from a good place but could easily be a form of posturing to nudge the Stars into a deal - are mighty interesting. While the 2010 second overall pick seems confident that the two sides will come to an agreement at some point, he is making it seem like the Stars blindsided him by stalling as the offseason progressed.
Is Seguin comfortable negotiating during the season? "Honestly, it hasn’t really been much of a thought," he said. "I wasn’t really expecting this, so I’ve been taking it (as it comes). Normal training, normal summer. Same as last year and the year before."
Stars training camp, which opens Sept. 14 in Boise, Idaho, will be packed with intrigue. There’s this Seguin drama, the introduction of rookie NHL coach Jim Montgomery and his systems, the return of Russian winger Valeri Nichushkin, and the highly anticipated North American debut of Miro Heiskanen.
With Miro Heiskanen in the news as potential Erik Karlsson trade bait, here's what HIFK manager Tobias Salmelainen told me: "He was the best defenseman in the league and one of the best in Europe. He makes the game look easy. His IQ is off the charts and his skating is elite."
A longtime empty threat in the Central, Dallas has not advanced past the second round of the playoffs in 10 seasons, missing the postseason entirely in 2016-17 and '17-18. Still, its roster features a legitimate top-five NHL center in Seguin, one of the sport's top power forwards in captain Jamie Benn, and a dynamite young blue-liner in John Klingberg.
Oh, and two other things: Nill grabbed the attention of John Tavares during the prized 2018 free agent's courting period, and the Stars have been linked to trade rumors involving all-world defenseman Erik Karlsson.
"At the end of the day, I think it’s great for our organization and our city and team that players do want to go (to Dallas)," Seguin said. "Even if we didn’t have long negotiations with Tavares, at least he called and said that he was interested. So, it says something (about) our team and our organization and it’s all positive."
Seguin's expression of disappointment Tuesday shows he is frustrated, maybe even annoyed. It probably doesn't help that the club has won one playoff series since Nill acquired Seguin six summers ago. Above all, he's hungry for a Stanley Cup and would prefer to challenge for a title in Stars green.
"I envision giving my all this year and getting back into the playoffs," he said. "It’s been a long few summers of no deep runs. The goal since I touched down in Dallas is to get deep in the playoffs and hopefully win."
John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
One way to find effective fantasy contributors is to look at a player's advanced stats. These numbers can be prime indicators that a player is ready to either bounce back from a down year or translate under-the-radar contributions into solid fantasy production. Will what bubbled under the surface last year rise to the top in 2018-19?
Here are seven players - four forwards, two defensemen, and one goalie - whose statistical profiles project either a breakout or bounce-back season:
Vinnie Hinostroza, Coyotes: Hinostroza, who at 24 has dressed for 106 NHL games, is a sneaky-good passer looking primed for success in the desert. The former Blackhawk flashed some serious playmaking potential last season by producing 0.99 primary assists per 60 minutes of five-on-five action. For context, Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Couturier, and Jakub Voracek racked up first assists at a similar rate. The question is, can Hinostroza deliver in a bigger role?
Sonny Milano, Blue Jackets: Hidden gem?Of the 576 NHLers who skated for at least 500 even-strength minutes last season, only Auston Matthews was a more efficient five-on-five goal scorer than Milano. The 22-year-old scored 1.45 goals per 60 minutes while mainly playing alongside Nick Foligno and Oliver Bjorkstrand in a minor role. A bump in ice time could do wonders to Milano's counting stats.
Jaden Schwartz, Blues: Schwartz passes the eye test with flying colors, and his underlying numbers don't disappoint either. The Blues - who revamped their forward group this summer - were a 57 percent puck possession team that dominated scoring-chance (58.6%) and goal (61.8%) differentials when Schwartz was on the ice at five-on-five in 2017-18. Though he already hovers around 60 points a year, Schwartz’s true coming-out party might be upon us.
Jeff Skinner, Sabres: How poor/unlucky were the Hurricanes when three-time 30-goal scorer Skinner was on the ice last year during five-on-five play? Simply put, they couldn’t score (5.25 shooting percentage) or stop the other team from scoring (.901 save percentage). A change of scenery and a chance to play with an elite center (either Jack Eichel or Casey Mittelstadt) should help reverse Skinner's fortunes.
Defensemen
Duncan Keith, Blackhawks: Even the most cynical analysts are sympathetic towards Keith. The two-time Norris Trophy winner is coming off a season in which he flat-out couldn't beat NHL goaltenders, scoring two goals on 187 shots for a ridiculous shooting rate of 1.1 percent. The 35-year-old may be past his prime, but he remains effective as a minutes-munching defenseman, finishing 2017-18 with a 52.4 percent Corsi rating and 30 assists.
Darnell Nurse, Oilers: Nurse, one of the brightest young defenseman in the game, was between the boards for 310 high danger shot attempts during five-on-five play last season. That number tied him with Brady Skjei for sixth among regular NHL blueliners. Connor McDavid can make anybody look effective, but Nurse (six goals, 20 assists in 82 games) should see his goal/assist totals soar. Realistically, the Oilers should cash in on more goalmouth chances than they did last year.
Goalie
Carter Hutton, Sabres: Despite seeing limited action, Hutton was a reliable option for the 2017-18 Blues. He ranked first among NHL goalies (minimum 30 appearances) in quality starts percentage by boasting a save percentage on par or greater than the league average in 19 of 32 appearances. If Buffalo can provide decent support, Hutton should produce middle-of-the-road win, goals-against average, and save percentage numbers.
