Is this the tip of the Iceberg?

by Brandt Corbin

    We’re just over 24 hours away from the NHL Entry Draft in St.Paul Minnesota, and if today is a glimpse of what is to come, all hell could break loose. We’re going to go over some more trade rumours.

Has Paul Holmgren gone mad?

     Early afternoon, it was a calm then it because a complete fire storm. The Philadelphia Flyers pulled the trigger on a huge much rumoured deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The deal saw Jeff Carter to CBJ for Friday’s 8th overall selection, a 2011 3rd round pick plus Jakub Voracek. The original holdup for this trade was the Flyers insistence to get last years fourth pick overall Ryan Johansen. When it was all said and done, the Blue Jackets did not budge. If the Flyers insisted on the prized prospect, CBJ had a backup deal in place for Colorado’s Paul Stastny.

    Not even 30 minutes later, the Flyers moved team captain Mike Richards to the L.A Kings for prospects Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and a 2nd round draft pick. While some people seen Richards getting moved, other were absolutely stunned by the move. This is a win-win for both teams, we will not know for 7-9 who truly won this trade.

    After moving their two young studs, the Flyers signed goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov to a 9 year 51 million dollar deal. But the million dollar question is this, are they done? Some crazy talk has the Flyers preparing a massive package to acquire Steven Stamkos from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Could they be preparing a 1rst, 2nd & 3rd draft pick along with Schenn, Simmonds and Voracek for Stamkos deal? Either way Tampa has to look at the possible offer.

Many players in play on Friday

    Stastny is one of the many players in play, and lord knows there are plenty of teams that need to take on more salary. The teams looking to a number one center are, the Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Islanders and possibly the Kings.  The Avalanche are desperately seeking a goaltender and preferably a young one.

    Other rumours were running rampant that the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators were talking trade and a big one. Would the Flames be seeking Jason Spezza? The only name going back to Ottawa that makes sense would be Jay Bouwmeester, but he has a no trade clause. Other talk is the Senators are hard after St.Louis Blues forward T.J Oshie, who is an RFA.

    Kris Versteeg is likely in play at the draft as well. Chances are the Flyers have no hope of getting back nearly as much as they gave up. They originally traded a 1rst and 3rd 2011 to get him from the Leafs, they’re lucky if they can get a late first rounder or early second rounder for him. Florida again desperately needs salary (30 million needs to be added) so they could make a few surprising moves tomorrow. If they cannot make a hockey move that makes sense, look for them to take on some veterans who have one year left on their contracts, one name comes to mind, Montreal’s Scott Gomez.

    What would Ales Hemsky fetch for the Oilers? Middle first rounder plus a late second rounder. Would Colorado entertain an offer from Winnipeg for Zach Bogosian, maybe for Stastny?

 

   

Can and will Scott Howson pull the trigger?

by Brandt Corbin

    Put yourself in Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson shoes for a few minutes. Your going into your fifth season with a team, that has made the playoffs one time, in the other seasons, you’ve finished no higher than 13th place in the conference. One would he’s running on borrowed time, and that this year will be his final year unless they make the playoffs.

How far is too far?

     So is you’re Scott Howson how far is too far? One would assume he’d be a busy man in the off-season, but then again why would impending free-agents line-up to come to Columbus of all places. Again one would assume starting Thursday night, the day before the draft (if not sooner) that he and his hockey operations department would be willing to make a deal and desperate to do so. A rumour for some time now has the Jackets trading #8th pick overall and Jakub Voracek to Philadelphia for power forward Jeff Carter. Now if this trade could have been made two weeks ago, one would have assumed the Jackets would have pulled the trigger. Do they need to ante up more to get Carter? If you are Howson, would you at all consider moving former first round pick Ryan Johansen to get Carter? I personally would do whatever would be necessary to get Carter to Columbus. Can you imagine having two players like Carter and Rick Nash on one line? Nash has scored 30 goals or more 6 of the last 7 seasons, and Carter the last three season has an average 38 goals per season. It would be a start to get the Jackets somewhere they’ve been before, respectability.

    Aside from Carter, other forwards possibly available are Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky. One would assume the asking price would be more than the 8th pick overall and Voracek, so why get a player who’s (Hemsky) contract is expiring in one year, or Spezza who makes 7 million per year (1.8 million more than Carter each season).

Backend and in net

    The team needs more improvement than just up front, they also require more help in net and on the backend. Good news if anything is there are at least six veteran netminders available to go hand and hand with Steve Mason. Another good thing is a few of these goalies Jose Theodore and Jean-Sebastien Giguere could be had for a 1 year deal likely around 2 million per year. That to would be an upgrade over Mathieu Garon as a backup goalie.

    Currently the Jackets have three defenseman under contract, two of the three would be considered 4-6 on the depth chart. Fedor Tyutin not on most teams, but on Columbus is in the top three. Come July 1, there are as many as 15 UFA’s on the backend available, these defenseman could be top three defenseman on this team. So if they make that upgrade up front some of those de-man might more enticed to come to Ohio.

    When it’s all said and done, it’s all up to Howson. Stay the course, miss another year of playoffs, lose more of your fan base and likely be fired. Take a chance and acquire Carter, and look at over paying for some decent defenseman, this team has a chance to do damage. If anything, getting Carter might by Howson 1 or 2 more years, and shows the fan base that you want to win and badly. To the extreme, did the fans last year in Atlanta think there any chance they could be moved? How soon before the owners in Columbus say enough is enough.

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Blockbuster Friday? June 24th could be entertaining.

 by Brandt Corbin

 

                Mark down June 24 on your calendar, I was thinking of starting my vacation that day but new developments plus more trade rumours are making me delay it 24 hours. On that day the 2011 NHL Entry Draft commences in St.Paul Minnesota, where the bigger deals of the year likely are to be made. Now some of the players that could be moved will surprise you, same can be said for the teams that are looking to make a move. Lets first go over the teams that are looking to make a major move, to either shake up their current  roster or elevate them to the next step.

Three teams come to mind

St. Louis Blues> Over the past few days and weeks, word out of St. Louis is that young power forward T.J Oshie could be moved but make no mistake only for thr right price. Two setbacks last year for the 24-year-old, he broke his ankle early in the season missing  a few months of action. The second setback was late in the season when he missed a team practice because of an unannounced absence.  The Blues have been status quo for the past three years, a young, up and coming team that has been unable to take it to that next step. How long will the fans tolerate the Blues being average? After traded Erik Johnson in February, you know they have the balls to pull of a block buster. Would they be looking for a top three defenseman or a top six forward? If Oshie is made available for discussions, make no mistake they will get a lot of calls.  The Blues could take salary back in any move, they’ve got 37.4 committed to 13 players next year, but that includes their top six forwards, top five de-man and starting goaltender.

Minnesota Wild> Might the hosts of the draft want to make a big splash? They will have 8 million in cap space and with Brunette, Miettinen, Kobasew and Madden all moving on, they have an opening for improvement up front.  Last season they were one of the big disappointments, only because they spent over 56 million to be out of the playoff picture with 12 games left in the season. They like St. Louis need to change the face of the franchise, staying at status quo will get them another year outside of the playoffs. Thus far the fan base has been rock solid, but another year of losing could start a downward spiral for attendance.

Winnipeg?>The old Atlanta Thrashers and now unnamed Winnipeg hockey club, have been inconsistent since coming into the NHL, making the playoffs one time in 11 years, and being swept that same year. Winnipeg has one thing most teams do not have and that is cap space. They could be in the market for a higher priced talent that has one or two years left in a contract, they likely will not seek a player with more than 2 years left at big money.  They also have assets that could be very attractive to some teams. Mainly they could dangle their 7^th pick overall, late last season Tobias Enstrom’s name was mentioned in some trade talk. Zach Boogasian could also be dangled if the right trade comes along, but that could be a long shot.

Columbus Blue Jackets> Rumors had been running rampant last week that the Blue Jackets and Flyers could make a blockbuster. Talks had Carter to CBJ for Jakub Varocek and the 7th overall pick, one would assume Columbus could make that trade in a second, Phili would have second thoughts. If that trade falls through look for GM Scott Howson to inquire about Jason Spezza, mainly because Columbus has to do something, status quo has not been working.

Jets & Thrashers; common similarities

by Brandt Corbin

        When one sits back and look at it, there are many similarities between the old Winnipeg Jets and the recent Atlanta Thrashers. Unfortunately both teams have one common similarity. They both had bad, ok let’s be honest, horrible general managers in Mike Smith and Don Waddell. Because of those two, both teams struggled horribly with lacking attendance and year after year below average results. These two would be considered two of the worst GM’s in sports history. It’s just amazing those two kept their jobs as long as they did.
Mike Smith
        Smith was with the Jets for 14 years, first being hired as head coach in Tulsa (farm team) in 1979. Smith was then promoted to director of scouting, assistant general manager, then in 1988 he was hired as GM. A few years after he took over the team started to draft europeans, but mainly Russians and allot of them. Year after year it seemed to get worse and worse. Stupid trades such as the team acquiring Dave Manson for two top prospects and a first rounder.  After Phil Housley set a career high in points Smith traded him to St. Louis for Nelson Emerson and Stephane Quintal. But when it was all said and done they had Jason Doig and Darren Turcotte to show for moving Housley. Early into 1994 Winnipeg hockey fans prayers were answered when he got him walking papers, but the damage was done and the team could never recover.
 Don Waddell
        In all fairness to Waddell he had to take over an expansion team, and attempted to build it from scratch. But after five season, there is no excuse to see the lack of depth that they had, some will say to this day the depth is below average. When the team built up assets they did not manage them very well. In 2008 Waddell traded Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and a first rounder (Daultan Leveille). Esposito played 55 games in the AHL, scored 3 goals all season.
No legacy from Hossa
        When you trade the face of the franchise in Hossa  you have to have something to show for it, if you don’t it sets back the team years. From the Hossa trade, you have Eric O’Dell (20 year old center man who was traded for Christensen) and Esposito to show, Armstrong was allowed to walk as an UFA and Leveille was never signed. Some people do not realize how much the Thrashers suffered from that trade, neither Christensen nor Armstrong became top six forwards.
Thrashers worst drafting team ever in the NHL?
        When  you draft players like Patrick Stefan first overall it will come back to bite you in the ass.  But the Thrashers drafting history is shockingly bad, likely the worst in NHL history. Current Winnipeg goaltender Ondrej Pavelic in 2005 became the first ever 2nd round pick for the Thrashers ever to play in the NHL. The Thrashers have had (7) third round picks, four of those picks played in the NHL combining for only 62 games ever played all together. They also had (17) fourth round picks, only 4 of those picks ever played in the NHL, combining for 169 games, 151 of those games are from Patrick Dwyer. We should all be thankful director of scouting Dan Marr was fired when the team moved to Winnipeg.
 Dudley did some good work
        If recently fired general manager Rick Dudley did not acquire both Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd last year, the new Winnipeg would look like the old Winnipeg except even worse. So thank you Rick Dudley for giving this team a chance for years to come.
       All we can hope for going forward is that if the new regime is failing, that True North doesn’t wait 10 years to clean house, because that is exactly what the previous owners have done in both teams past.

Report: Drury and Wolski to be bought out soon

by Brandt Corbin

                Can one imagine the New York Rangers with $25 million+ of cap space? A decade ago that would the scariest proposition because they’d snap up all of the UFA’s by offering them to many years at too many dollars.

As we speak they have 18.4 million left to spend next year (assuming Wade Redden is buried again in the minors). Now this is before they buyout captain Chris Drury which according to a Daily News source “He’s gone.” The same story is reporting that Wojtek Wolski will also be bought out of his 3.8 million dollar contract.  According to capgeek.com Drury’s buyout would be counted on the 11/12 and 12/13 season at $1.6 million per season, Wolski on the other hand would be a buyout of $466,666 11/12 season  & $666,666 for 12/13 season. Thus those two buy outs give the Rangers over $29 million in cap space for 2011/12.  For Drury and Wolski both will be UFA’s July 1... neither will command more than 1.5 million for maybe a one or two year deal, both have allot to prove to themselves, their new team and the Rangers.

Brad Richards

                I’ll bet my house that on July 1 Brad Richards will sign with the New York Rangers, likely a five year deal over $7 million per season. They covet a center man that can get Marian Gaborik the puck, plus we also cannot forget Richards & Rangers coach John Tortorella have won a Stanley Cup together in Tampa Bay. The Rangers are fortunate that the Dallas Stars ownership is a mess, and that they did not give into their demands for Richards during the trade deadline last year.

Winnipeg hires new GM

 by Brandt Corbin
       One of the worst kept secrets in hockey has now been revealed as True North Sports & Entertainment has hired Kevin Cheveldayoff to become general manager of Winnipeg’s unamed hockey club.  The former 1988 New York Islander first rounder, recently was the Chicago Blackshawks assistiant general manager, and before that was the GM of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
This announcement came about last week when True North informed Rick Dudley he was being bought  out of his final four years of his contract. The very next day True North recieved permisson from the Hawks to speak with Chevedayoff, then on Sunday they officially offered the job of general manager.
       Without question True North targeted Chevedayoff, likely that process began once ownership realized bringing a team Winnipeg was a reality. It’s a mortal lock that Craig Heisnger a long time Manitoba Moose employee will remain with the hockey club in some capacity likely assistant general manager. Who else will he bring with him to get this organization back to respectability? That question should be answered in the days and weeks to follow.
Ramsey to stay or go?
     Cheveldayoff’s  first act as general manager will be making it public whether Craig Ramsey and his coaching staff stays on board, or joins Rick Dudley on the unemployment line. As stated here yesterday, associate coach John Torchetti worked along side the new GM with the Chicago Blackhawks, so chances are he might stay on board even if Ramsey goes. Odds are Cheveldayoff could depend on a few of his reliable veterans and get their two cents in on the Thrasher head coach. If the team last season made the playoffs, likely the veteran coach keep his job, but instead they stumbled during the second half of the season, subsequently missing the playoffs.
If the coaching staff stays does Bogosian go?
     It wasn’t a hidden secret this past season that third year defenseman Zach Bogosian had issues with Ramsey and Torchetti, whether they were minor or major issues it affected his play for parts of the season. The question then becomes this, if the coaching staff stays in place does Bogosian move on, or do all parties try and make this work? "I don't think that John is mean to him. I don't think he's overly vocal with him. I think John is just trying to do what he thinks is best for Zach and for everyone," Ramsay said told espn.com in February.
     Despite having his statically worst season in 2010-11, it’s fair to say the 20-year-old’s stock has never been higher. Does Cheveldayoff take the risk that he straightens out his game, because if he doesn’t perform up to par, his stock drastically plummets. If Winnipeg were to package up the 2011 7th overall pick and Bogosian could they land big centerman Jeff Carter from the Flyers, would one consider that over paying for the former 50 goal scorer? I would suggest if Bogosian would be dealt it would either be at the Entry Draft June 24th or mid August, one thing is for certain we’ll find out soon enough.

Rome suspended, TV Ratings Great, Carolina Hires two coaches

by Brandt Corbin

                A surprise to some but not to others Vancouver Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome has been suspended for four games for his late hit on Bruins forward Nathan Horton. The incident occurred early in the first period, when Rome nailed Horton over 1 second after releasing the puck. Horton is said to be out of the finals with a severe concussion.

"Two factors were considered in reaching this decision," said NHL senior vice president of hockey operations Mike Murphy in a statement. "The hit by Rome was clearly beyond what is acceptable in terms of how late it was delivered after Horton had released the puck and it caused a significant injury."

Ratings up for Finals

                Both North and South of the border the tv ratings are up big time. NBC sported the best ratings since game 1 of the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. They had a 3.2 share, 14% increase on game one from the 2010 Finals. CBC on the other hand drew an average of 5.6 million viewers for game one, compare that to game 1 last year of 3.2 million viewers.  Game one on CBC was the second most viewed sporting event ever, only behind the 2010 Olympic Gold Medal finals between Canada and the USA.

New Assistant Coaches in Carolina

                The Carolina Hurricanes have brought in two new assistant coaches for next season. Rod Brindamour former Hurricanes captain assume one of the two openings, he will also continue to be the teams developmental coach. The other new ass’t coach is former Detroit and Boston head coach Dave Lewis.  They take over former Hurricane great Ron Francis, who moved upstairs to become ass’t general manager. Questions will be asked now, if the Canes struggle early in the season, how long before Lewis becomes head coach?

Dudley out, but who's next?

by Brandt Corbin

        In business whether it be hockey or any other big corporation, when new ownership is brought in often they bring in their own people to run it for them. Well history is repeating itself, less than four days after moving to Winnipeg, True North (new owners) have announced Atlanta Thrasher general manager Rick Dudley would not be retained. That will be surprising to some being Dudley had four years remaining on his contract, some others like myself seen this coming before the move was announced.

        Corby’s Hockey Central first reported on May 20th the following. “Another question that has to be asked is the job security of general manager Rick Dudley, head coach Craig Ramsay and their supportive staffs. Do Mark Chipman and David Thompson (True North) want to bring in their own management and coaching staff? If they do wish to make these changes, look for the change to come very soon mainly before the middle of June.” http://corbyshockeycentral.blogspot.com/2011/05/winnipef-jets-are-finally-coming-home.html

Familiar face stays in Winnipeg.

        The first sign of this move was a few weeks ago, it was made all but public current Manitoba Moose general manager Craig Heisinger was going to remain in Winnipeg with the NHL club. Along with Heisinger True North is working feverously to bring in Kevin Cheveldayoff who is currently the Chicago Blackhawks assistant general manager. Cheveldayoff’s resume boasts a Calder Cup (AHL) and a Stanley Cup with the Hawks last season, and its being reported tonight that the Hawks have given permission for Winnipeg to speak with him. Experts have pointed out tonight, saying he likely wouldn’t go to Winnipeg unless he receives a promotion. Look for an announcement within 10 days, reason being so they can have a game plan going into the entry draft at the end of the month.

Ramsey next to go?

        The first question that would be asked when the new GM is announced is what would there plans be with current head coach Craig Ramsey? If so who would that general manager bring in? If Cheveldayoff is brought in to run the hockey team, look for him to bring in John Anderson as an assistant coach. Now you’re going to say and you’d be correct, Anderson is Atlanta’s old head coach, but Anderson also coaches the AHL’s Chicago Wolves for 10 years, who was the general manager during the majority of the duration? You’re right Kevin Cheveldayoff. Soon enough we’ll fine out what the teams next move is. 

Season Tickets hot commodity in Winnipeg

by Brandt Corbin

            The fans of Winnipeg wanted it and they got it, and they’re showing their support big time. Tuesday it was announced that True North Entertainment had purchased the Atlanta Thrashers and would be moving them back to Winnipeg.  “NHL welcome back, here in Winnipeg Manitoba. We’ve missed you and we’re going to make it work forever now that you’re back,” said Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger. Also at the press conference they announced the drive to sell 13,000 season tickets.

Dream of return started four years ago

            Four years ago, True North Chairman Mark Chipman made it known to the NHL that Winnipeg was seeking and ready for its second chance of its return. After finding no local ownership in Atlanta, the group pounced on its chance to bring a team back to Manitoba’s capital.

           “To actually move something forward, its distinctive it makes a difference in peoples lives so I am committed to this community as I am this country, its about time,” said David Thomson of True North Sports & Entertainment.

Club looking for 5 year commitment

            To become a season ticket holder for the new hockey club, it requires a minimum 5 year commitment, with the average ticket being anywhere from $39 (low end) to $139 (high end). The average ticket will be worth $75-$82 per ticket, something required because the MTS Center seats just over 15,000. Winnipeg also has 50 luxury suites, with an asking price of $190,000 per box suite. NHL commissioner Gary Betman made it clear for the NHL to be successful long-term, sell outs are a requirement.

            Showing loyalty for the long time Winnipeg fans, the club gave the option for Manitoba Moose (

IHL & AHL team since 1996) season ticket holders a chance to by season tickets first. True North announced over 1,870 season tickets were sold within four hours to those Moose season ticket holders. There were some fans as far away as Kenora Ontario trying to get season tickets but were told to wait until Saturday.

            This is a safe bet, if you want season tickets you better be planning on camping over night come Friday.

New Panthers coach, Kevin Dineen has long road ahead

by Brandt Corbin

 

            Can and will the Florida Panthers take the next step and finally qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs? It’s unreal to believe that it’s been nine years since they’ve qualified for the post season, furthermore they’ve missed 11 out of the past 12 years. As soon as Wednesday they will have a leader behind the bench in former NHL veteran Kevin Dineen.

 

Six years of AHL coaching experience

            For the past six years, Dineen has been the head coach of the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League, in five of those seasons his team was over .500 having a minimum of 39 wins in those seasons. The former Hartford Whaler legend will bring his fierce intensity behind the bench of Florida, obviously hoping to enjoy similar success.

            Dineen played 1188 games in the NHL over 18 seasons. He played with five teams, scoring 355 goals, 405 assists for 760 points with 2229 penalty minutes.

No easy task in taking over

            The Panthers next season will be heading into year two of their latest rebuild. With the hockey club making several of moves at the trade deadline, the Panthers likely next year can have as many as seven to eight first or second year players. They will count largely on David Booth to have a bounce back season, same thing can be said for Stephen Weiss. They have a very young defenseman, so much so that veteran Mike Weaver (six years experience) is the only experienced de-man. Out of the seven de-man, as many as three rookies are expected to be in the lineup.

Panthers need to be more abrasive

            Over the past several seasons, the Panthers have played a very soft, non-checking game. They need to get more aggressive through and through the lineup, they cannot be as soft as they have been. To often the team has been taken advantage of, they need to start protecting their best players. Dineen will see going forward the rough and tumble Panthers will be back and ready for action.