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NHL Announces Details On Return To Play Format

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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman today explained how exactly the 24-team return to play format will work, a proposal that was submitted to and approved by the NHLPA executive board over the weekend.

First and foremost was the announcement that the 2019-20 regular season is officially over. There will be no more regular season games, meaning that Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl is the 2020 Art Ross winner as leading scorer.

Should the league return this summer, there will be 24-team postseason held in two hub cities. In early June, the league hopes to move to Phase 2 of small group workouts. Phase 3, which is a three-week training camp, is expected to start in early July.

The hub locations that are still in consideration are Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver. The final determination will come later.

The top four teams in each conference will play a round-robin to determine seeding for the playoffs. The other teams in each conference will be matched up in a qualifying round. Neither of these rounds are technically considered the playoffs, but are also not the regular season. The qualifying matchups are as follows:

  • 5. Pittsburgh vs. 12. Montreal
    6. Carolina vs. 11. Rangers 
    7. Islanders vs. 10. Florida
    8. Toronto vs. 9. Columbus 
  • 5. Edmonton vs. 12. Chicago
    6. Nashville vs. 11. Arizona 
    7. Vancouver vs. 10. Minnesota
    8. Calgary vs. 9. Winnipeg 

The league has not yet determined whether or not they will reseed after each round or use a bracket system throughout the playoffs.

The NHL Draft Lottery will be held in one or two phases and is quite a bit more complicated than in year’s past. It will be held on June 26th and include the seven eliminated teams—Detroit, Ottawa, San Jose (owned by Ottawa), Los Angeles, Anaheim, New Jersey and Buffalo—along with eight placeholders for the teams who will be eliminated in the qualifying round. Those 15 slots will have the same odds as previous years.

Should one of the bottom seven teams win the first, second or third pick, they will be awarded it. If those any of those picks are won by a placeholder, there will be a second lottery held after the qualifying round is over to determine which eliminated team is awarded it. Once those two lotteries are completed, the remaining 12 spots will be assigned in inverse order of their regular season points percentage.

The 2020 NHL Entry Draft will take place after the conclusion of the 2019-20 playoffs.

It is important to note that though this will be the format should the NHL resume, that is not yet a guarantee. As Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild explained recently to Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required), there are still plenty of hurdles to overcome just to get teams into their hub cities.

Kaapo Kahkonen Wins AHL Goalie Of The Year

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The minor leagues were absolutely littered with high-end goaltending prospects this season, but only one could take home the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the league’s best netminder. That honor was given to Kaapo Kahkonen of the Iowa Wild today, after a vote from coaches, players, and media around the league.

Kahkonen, 23, was a fourth-round pick of the Minnesota Wild way back in 2014, but only came over to North America for the 2018-19 campaign. He was named to the AHL All-Star Game and led the league in shutouts during his first season, but took another huge step forward this year.

In 34 appearances, Kahkonen registered a .927 save percentage and led the league in wins (25) and shutouts (7). Iowa ended up with the best record in franchise history, partly because of his strong play in net.

Kahkonen also received his first opportunity in the NHL, playing in five games for Minnesota. The young goaltender posted a .913 save percentage in those games, a good indication that he’ll be able to handle the transition at some point in the future.

Snapshots: Henderson, UAH, Lizotte

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The Vegas Golden Knights new AHL affiliate will announce their team name on Thursday night, revealing the logo they will use for the 2020-21 season (should it happen) as well.  The team, which will eventually play out of Henderson, Nevada is expected to be named the Henderson Silver Knights (although Murder Hornets was also a popular choice).

The Henderson City Council recently approved $42MM in funding for a new arena to house the AHL franchise, though it is not expected to be ready until 2022. For now, they will play games at Orleans Arena just a few blocks away from T-Mobile Arena, the home of the Golden Knights.

  • If you’re one of those fans disappointed by the recent news that the University of Alabama-Huntsville had canceled their men’s hockey program due to financial concerns, you have a chance to help. The hockey community has started a GoFundMe to try and save the Chargers, working out a deal with the school to keep the program in place if it raises $1MM by the end of the week. Cam Talbot, the school’s most notable hockey alumni, is even spreading the word in hopes that his former program won’t be shut down.
  • Jon Lizotte has re-signed with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 2020-21, returning on an AHL contract after starting his professional career this season. The former St. Cloud State defenseman scored 17 points in 59 games for WBS but still won’t be on an NHL deal when hockey kicks back up. The 25-year old would need to take a substantial development step to really challenge for an NHL roster spot in the future.

Jonathan Dahlen Staying In Sweden

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Despite dominating the Swedish second league in 2019-20, Jonathan Dahlen still isn’t ready to come to the NHL. The 22-year old San Jose Sharks prospect will be remaining in Sweden for next season, his agent explaining to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News that he still does want to play in the NHL someday.

Dahlen, a second-round pick by the Ottawa Senators in 2016, has already been traded twice in his short professional career. Originally signing his entry-level deal with the Vancouver Canucks in 2017 he has played just 63 AHL games so far, instead spending most of the contract loaned back to his club team in Sweden.

After putting up two point-per-game seasons for Timra in 2016-17 and 2017-18, Dahlen returned this year and took his game to an entirely different level. The skilled forward was named the Allsvenskan MVP after putting up 77 points in 51 games, leading the league in goals with 36.

His entry-level contract will expire this summer, meaning the Sharks will have to extend a qualifying offer in order to retain his exclusive rights. You can bet they’ll do that even if he doesn’t plan on coming over in 2020-21, given the upside he still represents as a future top-six NHL player.

Sergei Mozyakin Re-Signs In KHL

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It’s not that he was going to come over to North America at this point in his career, but there was some doubt if Sergei Mozyakin would continue at all. The all-time KHL scoring leader has decided to come back for one more season (at least), signing a one-year extension with Magnitogorsk.

Mozyakin, 39, is one of the great players that decided never to try his hand at the NHL. The legendary Russian forward now has 735 points in 647 games since the KHL was formed in 2008, not to mention his countless awards and trophies. A two-time Gagarin Cup champion, Mozyakin also has Olympic and World Championship gold medals to his name and has served as captain of the Magnitogorsk team for the better part of a decade.

It’s hard to really know what he could have accomplished if Mozyakin ever did decide to play in North America, but you can bet he would have made it fun to watch. The flashy forward still routinely makes highlight-reel plays and once tallied 48 goals in a 60-game KHL season.

He’ll turn 40 before this contract ends, but technically is still on the Columbus Blue Jackets reserve list. Because draft rights are held indefinitely for Russian league players, that ninth-round, 263rd overall pick still has him attached to the Blue Jackets organization. Last summer, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required) profiled Mozyakin as “the greatest Blue Jacket who never was.”

East Notes: Hurricanes, Timashov, Islanders Arena

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It was revealed over the weekend that Tampa Bay and Carolina were the two teams that voted against the NHL’s 24-team Return to Play format.  Hurricanes winger Jordan Martinook spoke on a call with reporters to provide the rationale as to why they weren’t in favor of it.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relayed (Twitter link) the comment from Martinook that Carolina’s decision was made based on their team’s specific situation:

For where we were and where our team thought we could get to, it hurts our odds.

Martinook was quick to clarify that their no vote shouldn’t be construed as a lack of desire to play.  It just came down to having to have the play-in round over going straight to the regular postseason where they had strong odds of making it outright.

If the 24-team format isn’t tweaked from the current proposal, the Hurricanes would take on the Rangers in the play-in round.  New York boasts one of the top offenses in the league but on the flip side, Carolina was one of the stingier defensive teams this season which would certainly make for an intriguing matchup.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • Last week, reports surfaced that Red Wings winger Dmytro Timashov was nearing a deal with Dinamo Riga of the KHL. However, representatives for the 23-year-old denied the reports to Mark Falkner of The Detroit News.  Timashov was picked up by Detroit off waivers from Toronto at the draft deadline and played in five games with his new team before the pandemic shut down the season.  He’s slated to be a restricted free agent without salary arbitration rights this offseason and if he doesn’t wind up heading overseas, he should be in the mix for a depth role with the Red Wings for next season.
  • Construction on the Islanders new arena at Belmont Park is expected to resume on Wednesday, notes Newsday’s Andrew Gross. It had been shut down due to the ongoing pandemic when it wasn’t deemed an essential service.  By comparison, Seattle’s renovations did receive that designation.  While the break will certainly delay things, Gross adds that team officials are optimistic that they will still be able to meet their target opening date of October 2021.

Full List Of 2020 Expiring Draft Rights

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When drafting a player out of North America or any European country with a transfer agreement, a team acquires their exclusive negotiating rights for a set amount of time. Each year on June 1, a long list of players see those rights expire and become unrestricted free agents (or choose to re-enter the draft, depending on specific circumstances). This year, even though many other NHL deadlines have been shifted, CapFriendly reports that June 1 will still act as the threshold for expiring draft rights.

While this doesn’t always result in a flurry of signings in the last week of May, there are usually a few players who ink their deals at the last minute to stay in the organization that drafted them. With the deadline set for 4:00 pm CT next Monday, CapFriendly has provided a full list of players who will see those rights expire:

Arizona Coyotes

Dennis Busby (145th overall, 2018)
Patrick Kudla (158th overall, 2016)

Buffalo Sabres

Brett Murray (99th overall, 2016)
Philip Nyberg (129th overall, 2016)

Calgary Flames

Linus Lindstrom (96th overall, 2016)
Milos Roman (122nd overall, 2018)

Carolina Hurricanes

Luke Henman (96th overall, 2018)

Chicago Blackhawks

Wouter Peeters (83rd overall, 2016)
Mathias From (143rd overall, 2016)
Alexis Gravel (162nd overall, 2018)
Jake Ryczek (203rd overall, 2016)

Colorado Avalanche

Brandon Saigeon (140th overall, 2018)

Dallas Stars

Fredrik Karlstrom (90th overall, 2016)
Curtis Douglas (106th overall, 2018)
Jakob Stenqvist (176th overall, 2016)

Detroit Red Wings

Alfons Malmstrom (107th overall, 2016)
Mattias Elfstrom (197th overall, 2016)

Florida Panthers

Linus Nassen (89th overall, 2016)

Minnesota Wild

Shawn Boudrias (179th overall, 2018)

Montreal Canadiens

Allan McShane (97th overall, 2018)
Cole Fonstad (128th overall, 2018)
Samuel Houde (133rd overall, 2018)
Arvid Henrikson (187th overall, 2016)

Nashville Predators

Hardy Haman Aktell (108th overall, 2016)
Milan Kloucek (213th overall, 2018)

New Jersey Devils

Xavier Bernard (110th overall, 2018)
Mitch Hoelscher (172nd overall 2018)

New York Islanders

Blade Jenkins (134th overall, 2018)

New York Rangers

Nico Gross (101st overall, 2018)

Ottawa Senators

Markus Nurmi (163rd overall, 2016)

Philadelphia Flyers

Linus Hogberg (139th overall, 2016)
David Bernhardt (199th overall, 2016)

St. Louis Blues

Filip Helt (211th overall, 2016)

Toronto Maple Leafs

Riley Stotts (83rd overall, 2018)
Zachary Bouthillier (209th overall, 2018)

Vegas Golden Knights

Connor Corcoran (154th overall, 2018)
Xavier Bouchard (185th overall, 2018)
Jordan Kooy (208th overall, 2018)

Winnipeg Jets

Jacob Cederholm (97th overall, 2016)
Declan Chisholm (150th overall, 2018)
Giovanni Vallati (153rd overall, 2018)

Washington Capitals

Alex Kannok-Leipart (161st overall, 2018)
Eric Florchuk (217th overall, 2018)

NHL Releases Protocol, Target Date For Phase 2

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The NHL has released a memo to all teams and players, indicating that they will move into “Phase 2” of their return-to-play plan at some point in early June. That phase is made up of small informal workouts that will not include any coaches or support staff and will be limited to six players at any time. All players will be tested for COVID-19 two days before starting the workouts, and will then be tested twice a week thereafter.

This is a huge step towards the return of hockey in North America, though there are some obvious hurdles still to clear. This phase is not mandatory and players are allowed to participate even without returning to their team city. That means those residing in other markets (Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jason Zucker in Minnesota for instance) will still be able to participate without having to travel.

According to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, players returning to Canada from the United States will still need to go through the 14-day quarantine period before joining the skates.

It is important to understand that the league has still not set an exact date and could still delay the start of Phase 2 at any point:

Based on the current information available, we are now targeting a date in early June for a transition to Phase 2. However, it has not yet been determined when precisely Phase 2 will start or how long it may last. We are continuing to monitor developments in each of the Club’s markets, and may adjust the overall timing if appropriate, following discussion with all relevant parties.

Five Key Stories: 5/18/20 – 5/24/20

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While NHL arenas continue to be shuttered and will remain that way for the foreseeable future, a big step was taken towards the resumption of play which is among the top stories of the past seven days.

3ICE Coaches Named: Next summer is pegged to be the launch of a new three-on-three league called 3ICE.  It will be a travelling series with eight teams playing a tournament each Saturday night.  The head coaches for the inaugural season were revealed and it’s a notable list as Guy Carbonneau, Grant Fuhr, Eddie Johnston, John LeClair, Joe Mullen, Larry Murphy, Angela Ruggiero, and Bryan Trottier will run the teams.  Six of those are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.  56 players will eventually join the league although we’re a long way from learning who will participate.

Short-Term Extensions Coming: In a normal year, the league season ends on June 30th with unrestricted free agency beginning the next day.  However, with play not set to resume until likely July, that throws a wrinkle into that timetable.  Instead, uniform contract slides are expected for the players which will solve that issue.  However, such an agreement isn’t guaranteed for coaches or front-office staff.  While teams that are returning would want their coaches on expiring deals to be extended, those that aren’t finished may not require that.  Scouts often change teams in the summer and with the draft date being uncertain, extensions may be needed for those as well.  The players will be covered at least but more work here is still required.

Boedker To Switzerland: It has been a tough season for Mikkel Boedker.  After being a regular with Ottawa last season where he had a respectable 35 points in 71 games, his role was reduced considerably this year as he played in just 20 contests, averaging less than ten minutes a night in those.  Instead of trying to find a new NHL home on the open market, he decided to head overseas, inking a two-year deal with HC Lugano of the Swiss NLA.  The 30-year-old has spent a dozen seasons in the NHL, recording 327 points along the way but barring an offensive resurgence in Switzerland, it appears as if his NHL time has come to an end.

AHL Awards: With the AHL season now officially done, the league announced their end-of-season All-Star teams as well as the All-Rookie team.  There were two players who appeared on both squads as Senators center Josh Norris made the First All-Star Team while Canucks defensive prospect Brogan Rafferty was on the Second All-Star squad.  Wild winger Gerald Mayhew led the league in goals scored with 39 in just 49 games but wasn’t able to land on the first team but three other Minnesota representatives were able to in goalie Kaapo Kahkonen, defenseman Brennan Menell, and winger Sam Anas, who led the league in points with 70 in 67 games.

NHLPA Votes For 24-Team Return: While we are still a long way from resuming games, it appears that it will be a 24-team format if and when they do.  The NHLPA voted 29-2 in favor of continuing discussions on that format assuming that other logistical, financial, and player safety issues can also be worked out.  (Tampa Bay and Carolina were the two ‘no’ votes.)  The effective expansion of the playoffs by eight teams (although the play-in round appears to be technically classified as not part of the postseason) certainly carries a wide variety of opinions but it at least provides a roadmap for how games could resume over the next couple of months.

Nick Ebert Receiving Overseas Interest

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Rangers defenseman Nick Ebert decided to take another shot at playing in North America this season and signed with Ottawa with the hopes of getting an NHL opportunity.  However, he was moved to New York in an early-season trade as part of the Vladislav Namestnikov deal and spent the entire year in the minors.  It appears that teams overseas are showing interest in signing him for next season as Ebert told HockeyPuls in Sweden (subscription required) that four or five SHL teams, as well as some KHL teams, have been in touch already about signing for next season.

The report notes that among the SHL teams that are interested, Ebert’s former team in Orebro doesn’t appear to be one of them.  It was his performance with them back in 2018-19 that got him back on the North American radar as he picked up 33 points in 49 games which was good enough for fourth league-wide in points by a defenseman.

However, that production failed to materialize in his second go-around in North America as he had just five goals and 11 assists in 47 AHL contests this season, all but one of which came with AHL Hartford.

While it’s possible that Ebert could be asked to be part of New York’s reserve squad for the potential 24-team return which could start in July, they may opt not to recall him which would make it a little easier for him to catch on elsewhere.  The 26-year-old isn’t officially eligible for UFA status yet but with his age and AHL experience, he does qualify to hit the open market as a Group VI free agent so the Rangers will not be able to retain his NHL rights if he does cross the pond once again.

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