NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – June 20, 2024
The latest on the Oilers and Panthers, the fallout from the Dubois-for-Kuemper trade, Barclay Goodrow reportedly unhappy about being claimed off waivers by the Sharks, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
STANLEY CUP NOTEBOOK
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Oilers captain Connor McDavid has put his team on his back in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. McDavid’s back-to-back four-point games rallied his club from a 3-0 series deficit against the Florida Panthers to Game 6 in Edmonton on Friday and a chance to tie the series.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: McDavid has risen to the occasion with his club on the brink of elimination. The Oilers aren’t out of the woods yet as the Panthers still hold a 3-2 series lead and can win the Stanley Cup in Game 6. Nevertheless, this series would’ve ended by now if not for McDavid’s impressive play.
If the Oilers beat the odds it’ll be the biggest comeback in Stanley Cup Final history. All due respect to the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who were the first and (to date) the only team to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win hockey’s holy grail, but they weren’t led by a superstar like McDavid.
Be prepared to pay a lot for tickets to Game 6 at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Prices have jumped 97 percent with the average price (according to SeatGeek) costing over $9,200.00. The most expensive is $87, 452 while the cheapest start at $1,896.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: The Panthers have raised prices for their Game 6 watch party at Amerant Bank Arena.
Tickets for the first two watch parties were $10 each and seating was first come, first served. It now costs $40.00 for reserved seating in the lower bowl and $10 for reserved seating in the upper bowl.
Meanwhile, the pressure to win has shifted onto the Panthers even if head coach Paul Maurice won’t say it. They still hold a 3-2 series lead but the Oilers’ back-to-back wins may have shifted the momentum.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: History still favors the Panthers heading into Game 6 and the odds remain in their favor to win the Cup. However, it’s no longer the certainty it appeared to be heading into Games 4 and 5. There will be no denying that the pressure is getting to them if they lose Game 6.
HEADLINES
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Kings general manager Rob Blake took responsibility for Pierre-Luc Dubois’ disappointing performance this season. He acquired and signed the 25-year-old center last June but traded him yesterday to the Washington Capitals for goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
Los Angeles Kings tradedcenter Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Washington Capitals(NHL Images)
“I don’t think I did a good enough job integrating (Dubois) in the right roles for the team,” said Blake. “It wasn’t a great fit in that aspect for us and we take responsibility for that.”
Blake didn’t hold Dubois responsible for the Kings being eliminated from the first round of the playoffs by the Oilers for the third straight year. “I put it on us,” he said. “We’ve got to work better as a group within this organization to make that fit.”
THE ATHLETIC: Blake admitted his mistake with Dubois, shored up his goalie depth by acquiring Kuemper, and freed up $3.25 million in salary-cap space. However, history won’t be kind to Blake for acquiring Dubois, giving up forwards Gabriel Vilardi and Alex Iafallo as part of the return to the Winnipeg Jets.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: As one reader put in the comments section yesterday, Blake has traded Dubois, Vilardi, Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and a second-round pick for an aging starting goalie who struggled last season in Washington.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Capitals GM Brian MacLellan believes the addition of Dubois gives his club “a talented 25-year-old with immense potential to become a top-tier center in the NHL.”
MacLellan praised Dubois’ size, skating and high hockey IQ. He believes the big center will thrive with increased responsibility and opportunity.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Capitals beat writer Sammi Silber acknowledged Dubois’ baggage but suggests the gamble could work in the Capitals’ favor if he blossoms as hoped into a reliable first-line center. He’s shown tantalizing glimpses of his capabilities during his tenures with the Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets.
This could turn into a steal for the Capitals. On the other hand, they could end up stuck with an underachieving center carrying a burdensome contract.
SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW: The Sharks claimed Barclay Goodrow off waivers yesterday from the New York Rangers. However, a report in the New York Post claimed the 31-year-old forward wasn’t pleased with how this went down. The report claimed the Sharks were on Goodrow’s 15-team no-trade list.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Putting Goodrow on waivers was a gamble that paid off for the Rangers. This could become a problem for the Sharks if he remains unhappy.
The Sharks also made a trade yesterday, acquiring forward Ty Dellandrea from the Dallas Stars in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round pick.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Dellandrea was selected 13th overall by the Stars in the 2018 NHL Draft. The 23-year-old forward saw a reduced role with the Stars this season, appearing in 42 games. With youngsters Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque proving they were NHL-ready, Delladrea couldn’t claim a regular roster spot.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Dellandrea will get more opportunities with the rebuilding Sharks. This could turn into a good move for his NHL career.
NYI HOCKEY NOW: The Islanders signed center Kyle MacLean to a three-year contract with an average annual value of $775K. He was slated to become a restricted free agent on July 1.
TSN: The Vancouver Canucks re-signed defenseman Mark Friedman to a one-year, $775K contract.
TSN: Forward Lias Andersson has signed a two-year contract in Switzerland with EHC Biel-Bienne. Chosen seventh overall by the New York Rangers in 2017, Andersson has 17 points in 110 NHL games since 2017-18 with the Rangers and Los Angeles Kings.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: The Penguins named Kirk MacDonald as the new head coach of their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Edmonton will win at home Friday – maybe 5-2 – setting up a winner-take-all game 7 in Sunrise where ALL the pressure will be on Bobrovsky and those in front of him who will likely be concentrating more on NOT giving up the first goal than playing their “normal” game.
George
History is largely against this happening. Would be a story of the ages best player in world puts team on back and wins 4 straight. If I was betting on it I take panthers
Agree MrBruin4. But if the Oilers do win, I hope the fans in Florida (and the Panthers) appreciate what they are witnessing: possibly the single greatest performance in sports history. There’s no shame in being on the losing side of that. If the Oilers win, the fans and players should be bowing down.
I’m not nearly as confident as you George, and not only is history against that happening MB4, just basic odds. Oil need to win 2, FLA just 1. Hockey can be pretty random at times, bad bounces, bad calls etc. All kinds of sh*t can happen.
Home crowd will help the Oil, but I have to think we see the best the Panthers have to give on Friday. The team that has out chanced the other has not won many games in this series. The Oil out chanced FLA in games 1 and 3 and lost both. Panthers last game and lost.
Oil were playing with nothing to lose for the last 2 games, now they only need 2 wins for the Cup. Does that change and do they squeeze the stick?
Maybe I’m over thinking it?
Hasn’t been all McDavid, how about some luv for Stuuuuuu,the guys turned it around after getting benched for a couple games. And whipping boy Connor flippin’ Brown and his line mate Janmark. They should try and keep both of them if cost is reasonable.
The last game was intense, this one should be even more so.
Yeah, that history factor is certainly not something to be ignored Mrbruin4. As it says on the Web “In Stanley Cup Playoffs history, 211 teams (as of June 13, 2024) have faced a 3–0 deficit in a best-of-seven series. Only four of those teams overcame it – a success rate of just under 2% – and only one of those did so in the Stanley Cup Finals.”
But, it has happened …. and likely can and will happen again. Why not now? There wasn’t any appreciable seasonal distance between the two finalists
Florida – 5th overall 52 24 6 110 pts – .671 win % – 268gf 200ga +68
Edmonton – 9th overall 49 27 6 104 pts – .634 win % – 294gf 237ga +57
The following list of sports records unlikely ever to be equaled or broken (3 of them in hockey), thereby defying the old adage “all records are made to be broken.” is interesting, but it does not include the 0-3 comeback of 1942:
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1151636-the-top-20-sports-records-that-will-never-be-broken
George,
I hope you are one hundred % Right…..👌
The whole city is behind the Oil…
97 looked Possessed in game 5 you could see it in his eyes…👀
he is pumping the team up and its one game at a time he says, thats all we are looking at…👍
Spongebob/Panthers has let in 13 goals in the last 2 games
Young Stu Skinner is in the Zone, very impressed the way young 22 yr old Broberg has come in and played d for the Oil.
Same with young 22 yr old Hollywood just getting better each game.
Friday night should be lots of fun
Sounds like Shania Twain is coming back to sing for game 6 at Rogers Ice district for the Fans outside…👌
I still think Bob could be traded after July 1, when he can be traded to half the league. If the Cats retain half, they will have $5M more cap space. FLA really needs some space to re-sign Reinhart and Montour.
Give Drury credit. Any player can be exposed to Waivers. Goodrow unfortunately needs to accept that the Sharks Claimed him. NTC’s do not apply to Waivers. All players know this. I’m sure Drury has been shopping Goodrow but he had no takers. Goodrow should change his attitude and be happy there’s an NHL team that wants him at his current salary. I think he’s a good fit in San Jose mentoring all their young skilled players.
Should be happy? He negotiated that ntc. Drury did an end run around it. It was a dirty move. He should be rightfully pissed. That being said unless there is something the union can do (I don’t think there is) he is going to have accept it and readjust to the bay.
Drury gonna have to hope this doesn’t impact contract negotiations with other players. The league knows now that he’s willing to toss his players under the bus.
What NY did was 100% within the rules, so contrary to a lot of chatter on the internet, NY will not be facing any type disciplinary action and Goodrow doesn’t have any type of recourse here.
As far as this hurting FA signings, I seriously doubt it. Ryan Mcdonagh was put in this exact scenario,
“ accept this trade to Nashville, or we’re putting you on waivers” Mcdonagh accepted the trade and is now right back in Tampa. It’s a business. They all understand this part of the business.
Hire a better agent that gets you a full nmc. And good luck getting that being a bottom 6 guy!!!
Chrisms, I’m sorry but you are wrong on this one. The Rangers played by the rules. Goodrow and his agent knew or should have known the rules. Of course a full NMC would have prevented it. Maybe he couldn’t insist on a full NMC because no team wanted to give him one.
Not wrong Howard. I’m not arguing it was against the rules. It was in the rules. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t a dirty move. See my post below. As we saw with robidas island once one gm does it others will follow suit. I expect the union will make this an issue next cba.
What are the players / agents / Nhlpa’s argument going to look like?
We want waivers completely removed from the game? Good luck on that one! Players / Agents / NHLPA fully understand the difference between a full NMC, NTC , Modified ntc. So what’s the argument here? All NTC’s we want full nmc? Yeah, that’s not happening. Signing the deal, you knew this was an option. It’s nothing new.
If you don’t think the other NHL players took note of what Chris Drury just did to own of their union brothers. I think you might just be putting your head in the sand. Drury followed the rules, by the book…
Let’s revisit this discussion after July 1. Again, nothing new here.
Tampa having issues signing players? They’ve forced 2 franchise players into accepting a trade or being thrown on waivers. I think you and other fans take this more personal than the players do. It’s part of their contract / reality.
“Union brothers” ???
Show me a legitimate “union” where individuals can “strike” on their own, and where every member negotiates his own salary and term.
Talk about “yawn”!
Yeah. The union brother thing is a bit strong. This is the union that stands up for players suspended for assaulting their fellow union brothers on the ice.
It’s an insult to unions. Go back to what they used to call it – The Player’s Association”
Goodrow may be the only nhl player that has his own team on his no trade list.
As ac/dc said… the rangers action was done dirt cheap.
I wouldn’t call it cheap. More in the line with bad faith during the process.
That’s business.
Bad faith. That’s a good descriptor.
Bad faith is getting 12 points in 80 games played when you’re paid to get 30 points or more. If you don’t live up to your side of the bargain, then why should the team? IMO it goes both ways.
Chrisms, unless the player negotiated this contract on his own, it’s on his agent. His agent should have made it clear:
1) They can waive you and any team can claim you.
2) They likely will waive you given this contract and their cap situation.
3) Given the above, are you willing to accept this sweet deal?
No argument there. But there was also probably some expectation by the player… who is dealing with a gm who is a former player, that he would honor the spirit of the ntc. Good business move. But bad faith move too. I like that better than dirty shore
“But there was also probably some expectation by the player”
There was probably some expectation by the team as well. Keep up the production that you are being paid. Drury was one of the more consistent players of his time, which is probably his expectation. IMO it’s a good message to his team. If you want to stay on this winning team and live in one of the more attractive organizations in the NHL, be consistent.
Interesting trades yesterday. Capitals could theoretically flip Dubois again somewhere else.
The waiver trick seems like a shady way around a now trade. I suppose there’s a risk of another team putting in a claim but either way you, want the guy gone…now he’s gone.
I’m happy someone else kept the Sens from disaster #1 and 1A in Markstrom and PLD.
There are some wild rumors of a 3 team deal with Boston Philly and Ottawa swapping a bunch of stuff. Not sure I believe any of it.
Dark G, you may be right re flipping Dubois, although those were interesting comments by Blake re his performance in L.A.
Drafted 3rd overall in 2016 behind Matthews # 1 and Laine # 2, he hasn’t had a horrible career so far, but the expectations at the time were such that most saw him as being a dominant C by now. What’s interesting in looking at that 2016 draft is that the 1st round disappointments far exceed the successes.
https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl2016e.html
To date, Dubois has played 516 games scoring 145g 197a with a cumulative +5, for 82-game averages of 23g 31a 54 pts. In his junior years in the Q, where he played 164 games, he had 73g 126a. In that league they played 68 games a season, so his 68-game averages there work out to 30g 52a 82 pts. He also averaged 103 penalty minutes per season, and so far in the NHL he averages 72 penalty minutes.
So, while his offensive stats were decent enough, there were others at the time well ahead of him in terms of points produced, such as Conor Garland and Francis Perron (never played an NHL game) and players around him in points like Alexis D’Aoust (never played an NHL game), Vitaly Abramov (5 NHL games) and Nicolas Roy (298 NHL games) – all either never drafted or taken much lower in various drafts.
In Dubois’ case, it was his combination of position, size, and a bit of a mean streak, combined with very good offensive stats that led to his selection 3rd overall by Columbus. Why he never “broke out” to meet expectations may well be related to who the teams at his 3 stops in the NHL had him centering. What will be interesting is if he winds up centering Ovechkin. Next season could well be his break-out year.
Winnipeg didn’t hold Dubois back, they gave him every opportunity and had one of the best goalscorers in the league on his wing in KFC. Ultimately he’s just not that good, he’s an ok player, shouldn’t be making more than $5M a season.
Yeah Dark G, a lot of that speculative dealing originates within fan blogs so best to take it with a grain of salt.
Then there are things like this morning’s Sun column by Bruce Garrioch who writes that “league sources” are saying that, with Markstrom off the trade books, Staois is “circling back” to Ullmark.
All of these columnists usually cite “league sources” but, of course, we’ll never know the names of those sources – if, indeed, they even exist. Maybe the ubiquitous reference to something that will never be revealed is simply a tool” to use to get their own personal preferences/views in print. Who knows?
However, there is this which just came out through the Hockey News which speculates on a Philadelphia-Ottawa deal
https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/ottawa-senators/latest-news/report-ottawa-senators-have-framework-of-trade-in-place-with-philadelphia-flyers
Where did you hear the one also involving Boston? I can’t find anything.
GMs and coaches need to stop speaking in psychobabble and be straightforward. I would have appreciated honesty from Blake along the lines of “We overestimated the skill and work ethic of the player and made a mistake signing him to that large of a contract. Thankfully the Capitals were willing to take him off our hands.”
🤣 hey SOG you’re hired! You are now the official translator for coaches in the NHL. So tired of coaches speak.
Me too. SOG said it absolutely correctly. I would say that Dubois has been a problem everywhere because of his attitude rather than his lack of talent. Blake was cutting his loss, gaining cap space, getting a potential starting goalie and moving on. However, I think being fully honest in this situation would have only pissed off McClennan, so why go there?
Here is what Blake said above:
“I don’t think I did a good enough job integrating (Dubois) in the right roles for the team,” said Blake. “It wasn’t a great fit in that aspect for us and we take responsibility for that.”
My issue with his statement, it is that it isn’t the integration, it’s you didn’t have the right role for him to begin with. You already have 2 excellent C’s in Kopitar and Danault, and recently drafted Byfield 2nd overall. Play him on the wing? PLD’s value is that he is a big, strong C who can skate, and when physical can be problem for D. He is way more Crouse than Panarin. Both are valuable guys, but they do different things.
Kinda like OTT trading good assets for Chychrun when you have Sanderson and Chabot. Why?
At least Blake owned it, sort of.
IMO Dubois can still be a very good player, but he just went to a pretty crappy team who doesn’t score, don’t expect him to rack up the points, but might help them win a few more games.
I agree Ray. He won’t be the first to emerge – if he does – after some early disappointing seasons. A few who come t mind are Martin St-Louis, Marcus Naslund, Blake Wheeler, Joe Thornton.
What GMs and coaches need is to pay more attention to a player’s skill set. If you’re a trap team, don’t pay a high price and trade for a skilled offensive player who needs to be creative to be successful.
Or in Calgary’s case a couple of years ago, if you are a transition team and you lose your puck carrier, don’t trade for a complementary playmaker who isn’t a strong skater.
I’m not sure how strong either of these teams analytics departments is, but this is where a strong analytics department can help a team.
yep… how does a GM claim it was their fault for not properly building around a solid piece, and then trading away that solid piece becoming the answer?
Lots of lip service and yadda yadda yadda.
Blake is really feeling the heat on this whole saga. The pressure is on him big time. If the Kings don’t take a step forward and if Kuemper struggles, he’ll be gone by this time next year.
What are the odds that Dubois plays out his contract with the Caps. I’d say no more than 10%. That’s four teams in the past five years. He’ll have an opportunity playing with Ovechkin, but this has the potential to go bad quickly for the Caps.
Business, Goodrow may not be happy about it, but it was in the best interest of the organization.
This isn’t the 1st time this has happened in the NHL. Won’t be the last. Should NY have taken the 6 year buy out to make him feel better?
I wonder if free agents are going to insist on nmc when dealing with drury now after this… business transaction.
As I say above, players ultimately understand it’s part of the business. They may not like it, but they accept it.
Tampa has pulled this twice. Have they struggled to sign players? Pulled it twice with 2 different players instrumental to cup runs.
This is an underrated point. One of the few things Pierre Dorian did mostly right was not have to give no trades or NMC on his long term deals. There’s trust there with agents and a reputation for not eff’ing players over.
He’s an adult that signed a contract KNOWING full well that he could be waived , bought out or traded. He didn’t have a NMC. It was a part of his deal like a 15 team ntc. NY didn’t create a new loophole here.
It seems like a confused message. “Honor the deal, but only if it favors the player”?
So if NY took the buyout road, people would feel better about not honing the deal?
That’s somehow being less “dirty” ?
Yes actually. He would be paid by the rangers and his new team he chose to sign with. Nothing dirty about that at all.
The union has to be upset. This move essentially nullifies any player’s ntc. What stops a team who wants to move a player to another team on his no trade list from waiving them, the other team picks them up, then in a “separate “ deal sends a low level prospect for a return higher in value than the expected market value for said prospect?
“ What stops a team who wants to move a player to another team on his no trade list from waiving them, the other team picks them up, then in a “separate “ deal sends a low level prospect for a return higher in value than the expected market value for said prospect?”
What stops it is nothing, because it’s 100% within the rules to do so. Are we saying that agents, players are just learning the waiver rule yesterday? If the player / agent are so hell bent on not being exposed to waivers than they should push for a full nmc. And again, I wish all 30+ bottom 6 players the best of luck getting a GM to bite on that!
Goodrow and his agent completely understood that signing a deal that didn’t include a full NMC would make him waiver eligible. If they didn’t, then they are probably in need of a better career path.
So the only “right thing to do” is the team has to be on the hook with dead cap space? Goodrow gets his contract fully taken care of, and NY isn’t trapped with 5 years of dead cap space.
Something tells be if Dubas took this road with say , Smith, Accari , he’d be a super genius / hero.
most players want to play for the Rangers because they’ll usually max out their cap to try to win the cup. So it’s your illusion that what happened to Gooderow will prevent players from wanting to play there. How about making sure your agent can secure a NMC instead. All this for a guy who scored 4 goals in the regular season? ugh
are you feeling sorry because they guy lost out on extra $$$ because the Rangers didn’t buy him out, leading to him getting the rest of this remaining salary plus whatever his next team would pay him?
he’s lucky he wasn’t ticketed for a one way trip to the AHL and long bus rides
Nope. He’d be playing by the rules too. But it doesn’t change the fact it’s a dick move. Gms should do anything they can within the rules to improve their team. No different than weaponizing ltir. Within the rules. Do it. I do expect the union to try to find a way to prevent this situation next cba. Because it does essentially nullify ntc. Maybe try to get a rule that states during the waiver buy out period ntc act as nmc as well.
Drury made a smart move. Doesn’t negate that it was a smart dirty move.
It is a stretch Mike no doubt. But it is a small risk drury is taking. There seems to be some over defensiveness from ranger fans across several boards. It’s ok to say “smart move. Dirty move. But smart move”.
Agreed, NY had 3 options on a player. Buy out, trade or waive. Ny chose one of the options that everyone was full aware of.
I mean, for those that love the sentimental part of the game, NY sent him back to his original NHL team!!
But it must be a bit conflicting to those who love sentiment. I mean, he didn’t want to finish his career with his original team?? He would have spurned his original team? Thats so unsentimental of him!
I get the move by Drury, not really dirty, kinda cheesy maybe? I dunno. I would hope he was man enough to discuss it with Goodrow first, guy to guy, or ya, he is a dick, or a coward. I would have to think he did.
Bottom line is nobody would give the Rags anything for Goodrow without them retaining salary. Meaning he is getting paid more than he is worth. I wish I was!
And playing in the NHL while living in SJ sounds sounds better than playing in the AHL in Hartford.
Goodrow will be fine, and if he plays well he might get traded. After next season SJ can retain salary to facilitate a trade if required.
Yes, it’s business and the Rangers should probably take advantage and do this. But, yes it will be remembered/noted by other players when dealing with Drury in the future. Both of these things can be true. Is it legal cap circumvention? Likely. But the rules are the rules. Teams are desperate to win. If this is what it takes, then I would defend my team on something like this too. At the same time, let’s not pretend like this is a good like for the Rags.
@Chrisms just to show how stupid your remarks/arguement is, if the Rangers wanted to buy out Goodrow, they have to put him on waivers. League rules, even a player with a NMC can be put on waivers for the purpose of buying out his contract. The union negotiated this. Every player, every agent knows this. So not dirty, not cheap. Most teams have bought out at least 1 contract, so you know this won`t affect the Rangers going forward. Your rants just show how little you know about the game
That’s big swing Yogi, wow.
Chill.
Wow yogi. Way to drag a stimulating debate into the muck.
Yes the man would have been put on waivers anyway. But if he was asked to waive for San Jose and said no, a fair assumption seeings how this process was so unusual, then it is absolutely a move done in bad faith. I hope you have a better day moving forward.
He loves to attack people with “stupid” “troll”
and other such epithets …. never contributes anything of substance. Ignore him.
Somebody keeps stealing his picinic baskets I guess.
Please say that the $87, 452 seats are box seats. 😬
What I couldn’t believe what the Oilers did was raise the watch party tickets (watching the away games at Rogers Place) from $5 to $20 a ticket for the finals. I know that still doesn’t sound like much, but for a family of 4 that raised the price tag from $20 to $80.
True to an extent Dark G, although there are some
Giroux – NMC
Chabot – M-NTC
Zub – M-NTC
Hamonic – NMC
Korpisalo – M-NTC
Dubois has the potential that all we here. Dubios has a big ego and an undeserving 8.7 million contract. Good luck Washington just make sure to have an endless supply of binkies to keep him happy.
But Fred, I doubt Dubois twisted the arm of the GM who gave him that contract. What was he supposed to do, say “no thanks?”
Many are taking that approach with Marner as well. Same thing. The GM agreed and gave him his current deal.
“Undeserving:” is hindsight at its extreme.
You can take the money but you still need to deliver or else it’s going to be an issue. If anything the Kings traded him to avoid a massively toxic dressing room more than anything else.
Claiming a contract on waivers would seem to carry some risk to the claiming team — but a GM has to look at value in the marketplace. Even if Goodrow doesn’t want to play in SJ, he is likely to be a useful professional for part of the season, and easy to flip to a contender he wants to play for near the deadline for assets useful to SJ long term. They have no reason not to shop the bargain bin. A likely scenario, assuming he doesn’t want to stay, is to ask him where he wishes to be and promise to put his resume in front of that team at deadline time, so “make them notice you”. A good playoff player with a contract that isn’t much of a cap hit at the deadline is a nice asset to find in the bargain bin.
They can’t hold salary to flip him till next year. All their retention slots are taken this year.
PDL is the same story of Alexander Daigle, players who tore up juniors in their draft year, and then had issues getting motivated once they got to the NHL.
PDL has let so many teams down at this point in his career, not sure if it’s because of immaturity, lack of motivation or what. Not sure if Ovi or Oshie will be able to install in him what’s needed to be a pro. Who knows if Backstrom will be around with his hip injury. I think the Caps will hate this deal within the next year or so. Kid needs a wake up call
Drury won’t be “remembered” for this move. Player was picked up for a 7th rounder it would be silly to sign him to a NMC.
A GM needs to have the ability to send players down to the farm if they aren’t producing or jut plain aren’t needed anymore.
He was a cog in TBL wheel and they cverpaid for a need and dumped when he wasn’t needed anymore.
Interestingly, none of the players signed Hughes/Gorton in Montreal have NMC or NTC contracts and that includes Suzuki and Caufield.
Both Suzuki and Caufield have M-NTC once they hit the threshold to be a UFA eligible based on age/years in the league.
Lyle, or somebody else can confirm this, but I don’t think players are even eligible to get a NMC/NTC until they could become a UFA based on the age/years in the league.
I don’t know that, just seems like that is when these clauses kick in for players.
It was reported yesterday that Goodrow was going to be put on waivers and San Jose was going to claim him.
Prior, Drury: Barclay we want to trade you to San Jose we need you waive your no trade clause
Goodrow: No, i’m not waiving my ntc to go back to San Jose
Drury: We’ll we are going to put you on waivers and San Jose is going to claim you.
Goodrow: You F-ing Pr*ck!
Haha, probably pretty darn close caper!