Pittsburgh Penguins fans are being recognized for their dedication to the team, as Forbes Magazine ranks them the ninth-most passionate fans across the four major North American sports.
The magazine's rankings take into account television ratings, game attendance, merchandise sales, and social media reach. Penguins fans were the highest-ranked among NHL fan bases, and the only hockey-based group to make the top 10 overall.
"Our fans are the greatest," Penguins president and CEO David Morehouse said, according to NHL.com. "We are so grateful for their support, and it's never a surprise to us when they're named the most passionate fans in the NHL. Because they are. We hope everyone is staying safe during this challenging time."
The Penguins currently hold the NHL's longest-ever sellout streak, which began in 2007, according to Yahoo's Andrew Lisa.
"The NHL's only team in the top 10 can thank All-Star Sidney Crosby, whose jersey has been a hot item since his 2005 debut," Forbes wrote. "Two Stanley Cups in the last five years help, as do 12 sellout seasons at PPG Paints Arena."
The Tampa Bay Lightning and pending unrestricted free agent Mikhail Sergachev haven't begun negotiations on a new contract, but the young blue-liner is confident a deal will get done once the NHL regains some normalcy.
"It's a little different obviously right now, but I'm trying to leave it to my agent (Mark Gandler)," Sergachev said Thursday, per NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "He's going to deal with it, I guess. But for me, I just want to continue the season, play and get better and see what happens. I feel like they're going to work out something. I have a good agent."
Sergachev's entry-level contract is set to expire at season's end. He's one of five RFA's on the Bolts' roster this offseason, most notably joined by burgeoning two-way center Anthony Cirelli and fellow defenseman Erik Cernak.
Tampa Bay currently has over $76 million committed to its 2020-21 roster. Given the uncertainty of next season's salary cap - this year's limit is $81.5 million - the Lightning may be forced to pull off a trade in order to make things work financially.
"We'll just wait and see what the salary cap is going to be like, if we're going to resume to play or not," Sergachev said. "It's still up in the air. We're kind of in limbo right now. I wish I knew and I wish I could tell you something."
Sergachev was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens ninth overall in 2016 and was acquired by the Lightning one year later in exchange for Jonathan Drouin. Before the league went on pause March 12, Sergachev had notched a career-high 10 goals in 70 games while seeing his ice time rise to more than 20 minutes per night compared to 17:55 last season.
Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.
While a number of different options remain on the table, the NHL may be leaning toward an unprecedented 24-team playoff format if the 2019-20 season resumes.
"On Wednesday, in the Return To Play committee call, I'm told that 16, 20, and 24 (teams) were again talked about as options," TSN's Pierre LeBrun said on Thursday's edition of "Insider Trading."
"Of those three, from talking to people around the league both on the teams' side and on the players' side, 24 teams seems to be gathering a bit of traction."
The format could potentially hand postseason berths to teams that weren't previously considered to be in the playoff race. Two examples are the Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens, who sit in 12th place in the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively.
The format's specifics aren't entirely known, but it would eliminate the need to finish the regular season.
"You could easily adopt a play-in format that trims 24 down to the traditional 16 playoff teams," TSN's Darren Dreger added. "And by doing that, you don't have regular-season games, you have three-to-six play-in games, and that means you can get through the process more quickly."
LeBrun added that no decisions have been made and that these are just conversations between the sides.
The league is reportedly hoping to open its team facilities in mid-to-late May to commence Phase 2 of its plan to return to the ice.
Kerfoot was acquired in the July 1 blockbuster deal that also brought Tyson Barrie to Toronto and shipped Nazem Kadri to the Colorado Avalanche. Kerfoot was expected to capably fill Kadri's old spot as the Maple Leafs' No. 3 center behind big guns Auston Matthews and John Tavares, but he doesn't think things went quite according to plan.
"I am not overly thrilled with how things went from a personal standpoint," Kerfoot told reporters Thursday, including TSN's Kristen Shilton. "Everything was a little bit inconsistent. I think there were times when I was happy with my game, (but) overall it was a little bit more inconsistent than I would like. Maybe I didn't contribute/produce as much as I would have liked to. I'm still confident in myself. I think I can still be a big part of the team and I'm excited to get back and keep improving and get better and help out."
Kerfoot signed a four-year, $14-million extension after the trade. He produced nine goals and 19 assists across 65 games in which he averaged just under fifteen minutes per contest.
The 25-year-old missed time due to a broken jaw and was also suspended two games for boarding Avs blue-liner Erik Johnson. Both absences occurred in November around the time head coach Mike Babcock was replaced with Sheldon Keefe. Kerfoot admitted it was a lot to deal with, but he doesn't believe it was at the root of his up-and-down play.
"I think that there was just a lot that happened this year," Kerfoot said. "You come in from one organization to another organization. You meet a new coach, get comfortable with the new coach, and then the coach gets fired and then there's a whole new coach coming in, running a whole new system, and you have to get used to that. And I get suspended for a couple games. I break my jaw. I don't mean to make excuses; I just think there was a lot of things thrown at you. But I don't know if that necessarily was the reason why I didn't play up to my personal expectations."
Barrie also had some issues adjusting to Toronto, recording just 39 points after a career season in Colorado in 2018-19. Kadri, meanwhile, registered 36 points in 51 games with the Avs before the season went on pause.
Hall of Fame goaltender Gerry Cheevers has added more fuel to the longtime rivalry between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens.
The former Bruin criticized Canadiens puck-stopper Carey Price on Thursday while praising Boston's current netminder, Tuukka Rask.
"I love Tuukka," Cheevers said, according to NBC Sports Boston's Joe Haggerty. "He's big, he fills the net. I would say he's in (the) top two or three in the league.
"Not a Price fan," Cheevers continued. "He hasn't won. He loses certain games he shouldn't."
Rask won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011, although he didn't play a single minute during their playoff run. He has twice helped Boston reach the final as its starting netminder.
Although Price has never led the Canadiens to a championship, the British Columbia native has had tremendous success on the international stage. Price earned gold medals at the 2007 World Junior Championship, the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey with Team Canada.
Price was also dominant during the Canadiens' playoff run in 2014, guiding the club to the Eastern Conference Final before suffering a season-ending leg injury in Game 1 against the New York Rangers. Montreal went on to lose the series in six games.
Cheevers played 12 seasons with Boston, earning a pair of Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972. He ranks fourth on the Bruins' all-time wins list with 226.
The Devils fired head coach John Hynes during the 2019-20 campaign and made Alain Nasreddine his interim replacement. New Jersey also cut ties with GM Ray Shero this season, and assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald has since been running things in the interim.
Stevens' first NHL head coaching job came with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2006, two years removed from a Calder Cup title with the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms. He led the Flyers to two playoff appearances, including a trip to the conference finals in 2008, before he was fired in his fourth season on the job.
He then joined the Los Angeles Kings' bench as an assistant coach, helping guide the club to two Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014 under Darryl Sutter. He replaced Sutter as head coach in 2017-18 and led L.A. to a 98-point season and a playoff berth. The club was ultimately swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the opening round, and he was fired the next season following a 4-8-1 start.
Stevens was hired by the Stars as an assistant coach prior to the 2019-20 season.
Jeremy Leipsic, the brother of Washington Capitals forward Brendan Leipsic, has been released from the University of Manitoba men's hockey team after a series of offensive group messages on Instagram went viral Wednesday night, the University's athletic director Gene Muller announced Thursday, per the Winnipeg Sun's Scott Billeck.
"Bison Sports was extremely disappointed to learn of the comments made made by the group of prominent hockey players, including one of our own, who were involved in the group chat that has emerged online," Muller said. "We condemn any such remarks and attitudes as they are offensive, reprehensible, and have absolutely no place in our sport or in our programs.
"Leadership, respect, and integrity are core values of the Bison Sports community and as a result of this situation, we have taken the action to release the current student-athlete from the program."
Screenshots of the messages showed the Leipsic brothers and their peers making crude comments on several different topics. The NHL released a statement Wednesday condemning such behaviour, and one Capitals spokesperson said the team "will handle the matter internally," in regard to Brendan's involvement.
Brendan also issued an apology on Twitter after the screenshots were released.
Jeremy was in his sophomore season with the Bisons after playing parts of three campaigns with the Portage Terriers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
The NHL is exploring the possibility of holding a June draft - perhaps as early as June 5 - before resuming the regular season, but Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan says he and other GMs aren't exactly thrilled about the idea.
"I think most of the managers would like it to happen in a natural order," he told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun and Scott Burnside on the "Two-Man Advantage" podcast Wednesday. "There's a natural order of business, there's a rhythm to it. Some teams use that time to reset their roster; it's a way to manage your roster and cap situation for next season, it's a way to make trades.
"A lot of decisions are based on how you concluded your previous season. So, if you go into the playoffs and maybe a weakness is identified or you weren't as successful as you were (hoping) and you need to make changes, and the draft seems to be an area where you can accomplish those things before next season."
Part of the league's rationale for a June draft is that an unusually late postseason - which appears likely amid the coronavirus pandemic - would leave little time to conduct a lottery and a draft before the 2020-21 campaign gets underway.
MacLellan admitted holding a draft while most of the world is under lockdown could be a boon for TV ratings. The 2020 NFL Draft, conducted virtually in April, set a league record with 55 million viewers.
"I also understand this is a business, it's a league business," MacLellan said. "The commissioner and the league have some business decisions to make; there's national rights holders, there's a national audience that's looking for some content, and there's an opportunity for the league to sell our draft - to introduce the draft to people that don't normally watch it, possibly.
"So I think there's probably a little tug-of-war. … The commissioner will make his decision and we'll work with that. We'll work within the guidelines he sets out."
The NHL's indefinite hiatus gives us an opportunity to take stock of the league's most fascinating figures. Previously, we explored Auston Matthews' undeniable goal-scoring prowess, and analyzed the precarious final chapter of Henrik Lundqvist's Hall of Fame career. Alex Pietrangelo is next up.
Alex Pietrangelo was in complete control the last time we saw him in action.
On March 11, hours before the NHL paused the 2019-20 season, Pietrangelo led the St. Louis Blues to a 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. In 22:37 of ice time, he bagged two goals - the first a one-timed bullet from the point, the second a high flip into a vacant net - and helped the Blues hold a 14-5 advantage in scoring chances.
In other words, Pietrangelo put forth a quintessential Pietrangelo performance in what may ultimately stand as his final game in a St. Louis uniform.
Scott Rovak / Getty Images
In a perfect world for Blues fans, there is no chance that Pietrangelo leaves the team to test free agency this coming offseason. Drafted fourth overall in 2008 and named captain in 2016, Pietrangelo and his family have become intrinsic to the organization. Last spring, the 30-year-old helped guide the franchise to its first Stanley Cup title. If money and aging curves weren't a factor, the three-zone, all-situations defenseman would likely retire a Blue.
Realistically, though, there's a solid chance Pietrangelo leaves St. Louis. At the moment, the Blues simply don't have the payroll flexibility to accommodate a hefty raise from Pietrangelo's current average annual value of $6.5 million. On the surface, the math for an extension doesn't add up.
With all of that in mind, let's take a look at the Blues' books, what Pietrangelo might command on the open market, and a few potential landing spots for the 12-year pro.
––––––––––
Presuming there's a genuine desire within St. Louis' front office to re-sign Pietrangelo, Doug Armstrong hasn't done himself any favors recently.
Last September, the Blues general manager acquired and immediately inked Justin Faulk to an eight-year, $45.5-million deal. Faulk, a right-handed, top-four defenseman is a rare commodity in today's NHL. In a vacuum, it's a justifiable sequence of events - especially for the GM of the defending Stanley Cup champion, who's determined to leave no stone unturned in the quest to repeat.
However, in the context of the Blues' long-term salary structure, the move made little sense. Also lining up on the right side is Pietrangelo, probably a top-10 defenseman in the entire league, and Colton Parayko, one of the NHL's best shutdown blue-liners. There's only so much money to devote to one position, let alone one half of said position. And what about ice time?
Scott Rovak / Getty Images
Then, in April, Armstrong signed another pending UFA, Marco Scandella, to a four-year extension worth $3.3 million annually. Between Parayko, Faulk, Scandella, Carl Gunnarsson, and Robert Bortuzzo, St. Louis now has $18.4 million locked in for its 2020-21 blue line. Oh, and Vince Dunn, a 23-year-old lefty who's developed into a nice second-round find for the Blues, is a restricted free agent due for a decent pay bump.
Complicating matters, the 2020-21 salary cap is expected to either stay at $81.5 million or decrease due to the economic impact of the stoppage. That means if Armstrong's original plan was to squeeze Pietrangelo's deal under the new upper limit - projections from the NHL had the pre-pandemic ceiling for next season somewhere between $84 million and $88.2 million - he can't expect to do so anymore.
Now, maybe Armstrong has a trick up his sleeve. Perhaps depth forward Alex Steen ($5.75 million) gets bought out and backup goalie Jake Allen ($4.35 million) gets traded. Then there's a light at the end of the tunnel for keeping Pietrangelo. Mind you, Armstrong must also look ahead to negotiations that will take place a year from now. Jordan Binnington and Jaden Schwartz are set to become UFAs; Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou will be RFAs.
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
Pietrangelo didn't let his contract status affect his play through 70 games of 2019-20. Before the shutdown, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound veteran of nearly 850 regular-season and playoff contests was on pace for career highs in shots (260), goals (19), and points (60), and his projected assist total (42) was one shy of his previous best. Pietrangelo also continued to post excellent puck-possession numbers while averaging 24 minutes a night, including three minutes on the power play and two on the penalty kill. This year may end up being his third top-five Norris Trophy finish (fourth in 2011-12, fifth in 2013-14).
As for a benchmark, the eight-year, $72.5-million extension Roman Josi signed with the Nashville Predators last October is the strongest comparable from Pietrangelo's perspective. Josi is a year younger and arguably a slightly better player, but a request of eight years at $9 million annually is undeniably fair for Pietrangelo, who will be testing free agency for the first time - and potentially the last.
"I'm going to explore all options. You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you're not sitting back there with your agents and your family laying out everything on the table, thinking about every possibility, that's really what you should be doing," Pietrangelo said in April when The Athletic asked about possibly pursuing a short-term deal given the uncertainly with the cap moving forward.
"When you have a growing family, it's one of those things where if you can put yourself into a position where you're somewhere long term, it’s a little bit easier than having to pick up and move potentially every couple of years."
In that same interview, Pietrangelo said his camp and Armstrong shared a common goal: "To try and get something done here."
"He is a 30-year-old pro, he's the captain of our franchise, he's someone I have the utmost respect for. Our goal is to try to get him signed," Armstrong told reporters in February. "I'll address, if he doesn't sign here, what happened at that point. But our focus is to see if we can get him signed."
Christian Petersen / Getty images
If Pietrangelo reaches free agency, he'll have options. Potential landing spots would include the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, and Winnipeg Jets.
The Leafs, as has been noted ad nauseam, are in dire need of a right-handed defenseman. Pietrangelo, who hails from King City, which is north of Toronto, could return home a la John Tavares. With Tavares, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner in the lineup for at least four or five more years, the club has a relatively long runway to contend. The flip side is that Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has already committed half of his budget to a small group of players. Would adding another hefty contract be in his team's best interests? Which role players would the Leafs lose in the process?
Pietrangelo has been linked to Toronto for a while now. The other top-of-mind options - Vegas and Winnipeg - are notable strictly because of the fits. Both teams currently ice strong forwards and goaltending but lack a true stud on the back end. The Golden Knights' best defencemen are Shea Theodore and Nate Schmidt - neither are elite - while the Jets' defense corps drops off considerably after Josh Morrissey, who's better suited as the No. 2 or No. 3 guy on a blue line.
The central question for any club interested in signing Pietrangelo centers around age. Are Pietrangelo's best years behind him? If so, is ponying up for past performance worth it? NHL players tend to peak in their mid-20s, and Pietrangelo has a lot of mileage on his body (though to be fair, he's largely avoided injury). A max-term deal - eight years for St. Louis, seven for every other team - will surely look like an overpayment down the road.
Of course, this is not a discussion unique to Pietrangelo. Every UFA signing in the cap era has carried tangible risk, and the global pandemic has thrown a wrench into the NHL's entire financial structure. Like most things in sports, and in life, right now, Pietrangelo's future is uncertain on many levels.
