Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman added some juice to an otherwise quiet Labor Day holiday when he announced that he and his Corey Crawford had reached an agreement on a brand new 6 year, $36 million contract extension. Frankly, I was shocked when I heard the news. Crawford's a $6 million per season goalie? Seriously? The same Crawford who's glove hand looked like Swiss cheese in the Western Conference Finals vs. the Los Angeles Kings? The Crawford who nearly single handedly lost the Stanley Cup Finals?
One and the same.
Bowman and the Hawks felt strongly about locking up Crawford a year before he was due to hit unrestricted free agency. 2014-15. Crawford's new $6 million AAV contract will kick in for the 2014-15 regular season.
My thoughts immediately jumped from Crawford to Buffalo Sabres starting goalie Ryan Miller who is entering the final season of his current 5 year, $31.25 million contract. Said I to myself: "If Crawford is worth $6 million AAV per season, then Miller's worth $6.5 million per season". Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Bowman sees Crawford's inner beauty the same way I see Miller's. Crawford has a Stanley Cup win on his resume while the best Miller can offer is two Eastern Conference Finals losses. In my opinion, Miller is the better technical goalie.
Sabres GM Darcy Regier could not trade Miller over the summer so the 33 year old veteran will report to Buffalo this week to prepare to begin the season as the starting goaltender. Miller will start the season as Buffalo's goalie. He's not likely to end the 2013-14 season in Blue & Gold.
Last weekend, Miller trade rumors reared their ugly heads again. The grapevine had Miller heading to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for center Paul Stastny. That rumor will persist until such time that Avs starter Semyon Varlamov either thrives or fails misreably to win games for his new head coach Patrick Roy. Varlamov may start the season as the starter in Denver, however, if he has a slow beginning to the season, Roy and co-Hockey Operations Director Joe Sakic will go outside the Avs organization to find Varlamov's replacement. Keep your eye on Ryan Miller if and when the Avs struggle to win games in October and November.
Lets say Varlamov embraces the Francois Allaire way and he thrives for the Avs this season. You can kiss goodbye the Miller to Denver rumors. Roy will ride his hot goalie, who will become RFA on July 1, 2014.
What then would become of Miller? If he starts strong and puts together an impressive winning streak in October, November, and December, then Regier will ikley hold onto Miller until the NHL trade deadline. If Miller fails to win games in the early stages of the season for the youthful Sabres, its likely that Miller will be moved sooner, rather than later.
Which team(s) will be looking for an upgrade at their starting goalie position?
The New York Islanders, St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals are on the top of mind as each team is built on the expectations to qualify for the NHL playoffs in 2013-14. each team has experienced faulty goal tending which has undermined its postseason aspirations in the past season. The islanders will start 39 year old Evgeni Nabakov in their net this season. It remains to be seen if Nabakov will remain upright and healthy. The Blues have their three-headed goalie monster right now. Halak-Allen-Elliott will duke it out in training camp for the starting and back-up jobs. The Capitals have the Holtby-Neuvirth combo that will be competing for the starting job in training camp.
Its not a given that the aforementioned teams will need a starter the ilk of Miller this season and beyond.
Keep an eye on Anaheim for a locale that Miller could be heading to.
The Ducks won their division in the lockout-shortened season. They started strong during the 48 game season and surprised their critics by winning their division. Bruce Boudreau's club disappointed mightily when it was booted from the first round of the playoffs by Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Jimmy Howard and the Detroit Red Wings.
The Ducks are a paradox wrapped in a riddle right now. No one can predict the type of season that they will have in 2013-14. was 2013 just a mirage? Are the Ducks a playoff team in an 82 game schedule or are they a 9-12 seed that falls just short of 8th place? The team lost blue liner Toni Lydman to retirement, and D Sheldon Souray to a long term injury. The team traded 30 goal sniper Bobby Ryan to Ottawa this summer.
The news isn't terrible for the Ducks as they've signed Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf to long term deals, and Teemu Selanne, and Dustin Penner
The Ducks have been in good hands with Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth. Hiller will earn $4.5 million this season and will be UFA on July 1, 2014. Hiller is not an NHL playoff goalie. He's a .500 tender in his NHL postseason career, which leads me to believe that he's not the long term answer in the Anaheim net.
Fasth doesn't have a body of work in the NHL playoffs. He has one year remaining in his deal at $2.9 million for this season.
Hiller is 31, and he will be a UFA next summer. Team USA star John Gibson moving up the ranks in the Anaheim organization. Gibson is not ready to play in the NHL today.He's only 20 years old, and can use a couple of years in the AHL to get him acclimated to the pro hockey grind.
The Ducks have ample cap space beginning in 2014-15. They have only 13 players under contract right now, and have $22,321,667 worth of cap space to use to upgrade their goal tending and D. Miller will no doubt be looking for a deal similar to that of Chicago's Crawford. At 33 years of age, its likely that Miller will not be getting a 6 year deal from any NHL team. Perhaps a 4 year deal worth $6.2-$6.5 million per season is more the value of Miller's next contract.
Miller to Anaheim may have some merit as he can start his obligatory 65-70 games per season. Gibson, the Team USA World Juniors and World Championship star, could be groomed play under study to Miller.
Then again, the Avs, Islanders, Caps and Blues may weigh in on the Ryan Miller sweepstakes too.
Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman added some juice to an otherwise quiet Labor Day holiday when he announced that he and his Corey Crawford had reached an agreement on a brand new 6 year, $36 million contract extension. Frankly, I was shocked when I heard the news. Crawford's a $6 million per season goalie? Seriously? The same Crawford who's glove hand looked like Swiss cheese in the Western Conference Finals vs. the Los Angeles Kings? The Crawford who nearly single handedly lost the Stanley Cup Finals?
One and the same.
Bowman and the Hawks felt strongly about locking up Crawford a year before he was due to hit unrestricted free agency. 2014-15. Crawford's new $6 million AAV contract will kick in for the 2014-15 regular season.
My thoughts immediately jumped from Crawford to Buffalo Sabres starting goalie Ryan Miller who is entering the final season of his current 5 year, $31.25 million contract. Said I to myself: "If Crawford is worth $6 million AAV per season, then Miller's worth $6.5 million per season". Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Bowman sees Crawford's inner beauty the same way I see Miller's. Crawford has a Stanley Cup win on his resume while the best Miller can offer is two Eastern Conference Finals losses. In my opinion, Miller is the better technical goalie.
Sabres GM Darcy Regier could not trade Miller over the summer so the 33 year old veteran will report to Buffalo this week to prepare to begin the season as the starting goaltender. Miller will start the season as Buffalo's goalie. He's not likely to end the 2013-14 season in Blue & Gold.
Last weekend, Miller trade rumors reared their ugly heads again. The grapevine had Miller heading to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for center Paul Stastny. That rumor will persist until such time that Avs starter Semyon Varlamov either thrives or fails misreably to win games for his new head coach Patrick Roy. Varlamov may start the season as the starter in Denver, however, if he has a slow beginning to the season, Roy and co-Hockey Operations Director Joe Sakic will go outside the Avs organization to find Varlamov's replacement. Keep your eye on Ryan Miller if and when the Avs struggle to win games in October and November.
Lets say Varlamov embraces the Francois Allaire way and he thrives for the Avs this season. You can kiss goodbye the Miller to Denver rumors. Roy will ride his hot goalie, who will become RFA on July 1, 2014.
What then would become of Miller? If he starts strong and puts together an impressive winning streak in October, November, and December, then Regier will ikley hold onto Miller until the NHL trade deadline. If Miller fails to win games in the early stages of the season for the youthful Sabres, its likely that Miller will be moved sooner, rather than later.
Which team(s) will be looking for an upgrade at their starting goalie position?
The New York Islanders, St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals are on the top of mind as each team is built on the expectations to qualify for the NHL playoffs in 2013-14. each team has experienced faulty goal tending which has undermined its postseason aspirations in the past season. The islanders will start 39 year old Evgeni Nabakov in their net this season. It remains to be seen if Nabakov will remain upright and healthy. The Blues have their three-headed goalie monster right now. Halak-Allen-Elliott will duke it out in training camp for the starting and back-up jobs. The Capitals have the Holtby-Neuvirth combo that will be competing for the starting job in training camp.
Its not a given that the aforementioned teams will need a starter the ilk of Miller this season and beyond.
Keep an eye on Anaheim for a locale that Miller could be heading to.
The Ducks won their division in the lockout-shortened season. They started strong during the 48 game season and surprised their critics by winning their division. Bruce Boudreau's club disappointed mightily when it was booted from the first round of the playoffs by Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Jimmy Howard and the Detroit Red Wings.
The Ducks are a paradox wrapped in a riddle right now. No one can predict the type of season that they will have in 2013-14. was 2013 just a mirage? Are the Ducks a playoff team in an 82 game schedule or are they a 9-12 seed that falls just short of 8th place? The team lost blue liner Toni Lydman to retirement, and D Sheldon Souray to a long term injury. The team traded 30 goal sniper Bobby Ryan to Ottawa this summer.
The news isn't terrible for the Ducks as they've signed Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf to long term deals, and Teemu Selanne, and Dustin Penner
The Ducks have been in good hands with Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth. Hiller will earn $4.5 million this season and will be UFA on July 1, 2014. Hiller is not an NHL playoff goalie. He's a .500 tender in his NHL postseason career, which leads me to believe that he's not the long term answer in the Anaheim net.
Fasth doesn't have a body of work in the NHL playoffs. He has one year remaining in his deal at $2.9 million for this season.
Hiller is 31, and he will be a UFA next summer. Team USA star John Gibson moving up the ranks in the Anaheim organization. Gibson is not ready to play in the NHL today.He's only 20 years old, and can use a couple of years in the AHL to get him acclimated to the pro hockey grind.
The Ducks have ample cap space beginning in 2014-15. They have only 13 players under contract right now, and have $22,321,667 worth of cap space to use to upgrade their goal tending and D. Miller will no doubt be looking for a deal similar to that of Chicago's Crawford. At 33 years of age, its likely that Miller will not be getting a 6 year deal from any NHL team. Perhaps a 4 year deal worth $6.2-$6.5 million per season is more the value of Miller's next contract.
Miller to Anaheim may have some merit as he can start his obligatory 65-70 games per season. Gibson, the Team USA World Juniors and World Championship star, could be groomed play under study to Miller. Miller might well be the final piece to a Duck Dynasty.
Then again, the Avs, Islanders, Caps and Blues may weigh in on the Ryan Miller sweepstakes too.
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In case you missed it on Tuesday:
At long last, Buffalo Sabres goalie
Ryan Miller has joined the Twittershere.
And with that maiden tweet, Miller was off and skating!
Looks like Millsie's going to use Twitter to promote his Steadfast Foundation and to jab his teammates.
Probably not a good idea for the Sabres to trade Miller before his Catwalk 4 Charity event in Buffalo on 12/15/13.
The Sabres confirmed Miller's new foray into social media today.
Steve Ott chirped Miller, who quickly sniped back @OtterN9NE
For those of you who think that Miller is just an intense, cerebral, intellectual person devoid of a relaxation/fun mode. Think again. Miller likes to bust chops with his teammates in the room and on the ice. He's got a great sense of humor and he's got a lethal one-timer of a zinger. Hopefully he'll bring that skill set to Twitter in the weeks to come.
Miller must have a bet with his wife's boss and Twitter Czar, Charlie Sheen, to see who will have the most twitter followers. Miller has some catching up to do!
Sheen presently has 9,975,038 followers.
Miller has less than 12,000+
Get to work, Millsie.
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On Wednesday, small army of NHL front office and coaching types will be joining their teams in Traverse City, Michigan for the annual NHL Prospects Tournament. The NHL work stoppage canceled the 2012 event. The Buffalo Sabres are the defending champs.
This ultra-competitive tournament will run Thursday through Monday.
Then, the teams will travel home to their NHL cities for physicals on Wednesday and the start of main training camp on Thursday. Exhibition games will begin late next week.
The Columbus Blue Jackets will play the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday afternoon at 4pm.
On Tuesday, Blue Jax GM Jarmo Kekalainen told the
Columbus Dispatch that he and his team are ready to go.
"We're excited. We've been waiting for this to get going for the last month, and it's finally here".
"I always look forward to this tournament. It's a great tournament -- eight different NHL teams, so you can compare prospects, see how they match up, see how the guys you took in the first round match up to the guys the other organizations took in the first round, and all the rounds after that."
Kekalainen is a realist. He'd love the tourney title, however, he's more focused on charting the work habits of his top prospects like Boone Jenner, Jake Hansen, Kerby Rychel, Ryan Murray, Dylan Heatherington, and others.
"I want to win; of course we want to win," Kekalainen said. "But the biggest part of this is development. We want to see where our guys are at, how they respond to game situations, how they react to the intensity that these games have."
***
Kekalainen confirmed that he's been ready to enter the UFA market to get a replacement player in the event of an injury any type of extenuating circumstances during training camp:
"The situation is always changing," he said. "It's always developing. What if a guy doesn't pass his physical? What if a guy gets injured in camp? You don't want to expect these things, but you have to be prepared. What if a guy shows up out of shape? We have to be ready to respond, and we will be."
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Talk about awkward. Edmonton Oilers GM Craig Mac Tavish was scheduled to have an eyeball to eyeball meeting with the veteran winger that he tried unsuccessfully to trade this summer.
According to Jim Matheson, Ales Hemsky reportedly met with his GM on Tuesday to clear the air and to talk about the the state of the union in the Edmonton Oilers organization. The two will meet the media on Wednesday in Edmonton.
The 30 year old right winger is entering the final year of his current two year, $10 million contract. Hemsky will earn $5 million this season. Though he tried to, Mac Tavish could not trade the oft-injured winger this summer. The salary cap shrunk by $6 million right before our very eyes. Hemsky used to be a 66-77 points scorer. The reality now is that he is 35-45 point scorer. The reason: He can't stay healthy.
Hemsky will start with a clean slate with new head coach Dallas Eakins.
What role will he play for the Oilers? Will he earn top six minutes? PP time?
Mac T and Hemsky will meet the Edmonton press to answer questions on Wednesday morning.
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Ryan Miller, Thomas Vanek and Henrik Lundqvist are not the only UFAs-to-be that are in a stalemate with their current clubs regarding progress on a new contract.
Former Buffalo Sabres captain Jason Pominville is also in "wait-and-see" mode right now.
One would think that Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher is keen on re-signing Pominville since he traded away a small fortune to Buffalo to get the 30 year old scoring winger. Fletcher traded Matt Hackett, Johan Larsson, the Wild’s 2013 first-round pick (16th overall: Nikita Zadorov), and a 2014 2nd rounder to Buffalo in exchange for Pominville. Props to you, Darcy Regier! Talk about a steal of a deal!
Pommer is entering the final year of his contract. he told the Star Tribune's Mike Russo on Tuesday that his agent and Fletcher are playing verbal tennis: volley back and forth.
“They’ve talked a few times for sure and are going back and forth about what the plans are,” Pominville said. “We’ll just go day by day and see if both sides can make progress and go from there.”
Pominville wants to stay and play in Minneapolis long after his current contract expires. Who knows, his friends Vanek and/or Miller may be joining him there. You never know with unrestricted free agency.
“They (The Wild) committed to getting me, so just that means a lot to me and being part of a group that is committed to having success and being in a city that loves hockey, that makes it even better,” he said. “I want to stay and be part of what they’re building.”
Pominville's 2013 season took an immediate nosedive when he was destroyed by a Dustin Brown elbow to the face in April. Pommer missed the final two regular season games, plus the first three games of the Wild-vs-Blackhawks playoff series. Looked like another concussion to me. Pominville could skate or workout while his "whiplash" symptoms subsided. He wasn't the sam eplayer when he returned to the Wild lineup when their were in peril of being knocked out of teh playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks.
Pominville scored 4 goals and added 5 assists in 10 games after being traded from Buffalo. Of course he wants to finish what he started in 2013. He want sto keep his family in the State of hockey for a long time.
“What’s going to be nice is to be able to really start from scratch and get to know the systems from the start,” Pominville said. “You get thrown into the action after being traded and trying to learn here and there. And with our schedule last year, we didn’t have time to even practice, and even when we did, they were so light, there was not much system work going on. This year throughout camp, I’ll be able to learn a little more and get to know the system a little more and even get to know the guys better.”
Biggest question now is:
Do he Wild have "buyer's remorse" with Pominville?
Or, will they re-sign Pommer and make a huge run at his left winger bestie, Thomas Vanek?
Were it not for Dany Heatley's shoulder injury that he suffered at the hands of San Jose's Marc Edouard Vlasic on the 2013 playoffs, Vanek might be a Wild player today. Wild GM Chuck Fletcher couldn't use an amnesty buyout on the final year of Heater's contract. Heatley's 2013 cap hit is $7.5 million. Vanek's cap hit is $7.1 million. Hopes for a Vanek-Pommer reunion were shuttled when Heatley required a procedure to fix his jacked up wing. The new CBA clearly states that NHL GMs cannot use their two amnesty buyouts to get rid of injured, high priced players. See example: Ville Leino.
More to come.....
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