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Are Joe Thornton's days numbered in San Jose? How about Patrick Marleau's?
If ever an NHL team needed a change, its the Sharks, who are projected to go on deep runs into the playoffs every year only to get knocked out of the race early. Who will ever forget the Sharks and their three games to none lead over the LA Kings in the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Kings won four straight games en route to their second Stanley Cup win in the past three seasons. Shame on the Sharks for not closing out the Kings.
Golf courses and the Sharks have become a punch line in NHL circles over the years.
Sharks head coach Todd McLellan told the Mercury Times on Wednesday that his team will open training camp
without any captain or assistant captains.
Joe Thornton is now the former captain of the Sharks.
To subtract the "C" from his sweater came as a surprise to Thornton.
You'll recall that in May GM Doug Wilson said that there would be changes to the leadership structure of the Sharks. Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau have been the towers of power that the Sharks have relied upon for its leadership for ears. Times, they are a changin'.
This interview with McLellan and Wilson aired on May 22.
Thanks CSN Bay Area
Wilson made a couple of roster tweaks by getting rid of veteran D Dan Boyle to the Rangers. He also moved Brent Burns from the forward group back to his natural position on D.
McLellan said Wednesday that Thornton and Marleau will get the chance to earn their letters back.
My guess is that Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture have earned the respect of the guys in the SJ room and that they will be given more responsibilities by McLellan and Wilson.
McLellan said he had talked with both players about the situation and they were comfortable with it going forward.
What else were they going to do? Rip their head coach?
Trading Thornton, Marleau or both won't be easy. Each player signed a new three year deal that will kick in this season. Thornton, 35, will earn $6.75 million for the next three seasons while Marleau, 34, will earn $6,666,667 per copy for the next three seasons. Each player was given a no trade / no movement clause as part of his three year deal.
More to come....
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San Jose also announced that left wing Raffi Torres will need to undergo a second surgery on the right knee injury that caused him to miss all but five regular season games last season.
The problem developed after an infection from the ACL surgery that Torres underwent last fall after he was injured in a meaningless exhibition game versus Anaheim.
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The "Dishonor For Connor" Sweepstakes are officially on now that the NHL has announced its new changes to the Draft Lottery. Its a weighted system that will be utilized to determine the order of selection in the first round of the NHL Draft for the 14 teams not qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
These changes will be phased in over a two-year period, beginning with the Draft Lottery in 2015.
In a nutshell, for the Connor McDavid NHL Draft, the team that finishes 30th in the NHL standings, lets say for the sake of argument the Buffalo Sabres, will have a 20% chance of winning the McDavid Sweepstakes. The percentage was 25% under old lottery system.
From the NHL:
2015 NHL Draft Lottery
The odds of winning the first overall selection in the NHL Draft for the 14 non-Playoff teams will be adjusted to more appropriately reflect the current state of competitive balance in the League. This will result in a more evenly-balanced allocation of odds, with the 10 highest-finishing non-Playoff qualifying teams receiving higher (better) Draft Lottery odds than they received previously and the four lowest-finishing teams receiving lower (worse) odds. The revised set of odds will remain in effect year-to-year in the future.
Non-Playoff Team
In order of team with fewest points (1-14) to the team with the most points
New Draft Lottery Odds
1st: 20.0%
2nd: 13.5%
3rd: 11.5%
4th: 9.5%
5th: 8.5%
6th: 7.5%
7th: 6.5%
8th: 6.0%
9th: 5.0%
10th: 3.5%
11th: 3.0%
12th: 2.5%
13th: 2.0%
14th: 1.0%
2016 NHL Draft Lottery
Beginning in 2016, the Draft Lottery will be utilized to assign the top three drafting slots in the NHL Draft, an expansion over previous years when the Draft Lottery was used to determine the winner of the first overall selection only.
Three draws will be held: the 1st Lottery draw will determine the Club selecting first overall, the 2nd Lottery draw will determine the Club selecting second overall and the 3rd Lottery draw will determine the club selecting third overall.
As a result of this change, the team earning the fewest points during the regular season will no longer be guaranteed, at worst, the second overall pick. That club could fall as low as fourth overall.
The allocation of odds for the 1st Lottery draw will be the same as outlined above for the 2015 NHL Draft Lottery. The odds for the remaining teams will increase on a proportionate basis for the 2nd Lottery draw, based on which Club wins the 1st Lottery draw, and again for the 3rd Lottery draw, based on which Club wins the 2nd Lottery draw.
The 11 Clubs not selected in the Draft Lottery will be assigned NHL Draft selections 4 through 14, in inverse order of regular-season points.
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The Sabres have announced changes to the organization.
The team issued a statement:
The Buffalo Sabres today announced that
Randy Cunneyworth, Jerry Forton and Kevin Devine have taken on new roles within the organization. Cunneyworth, who worked mainly in player development with the Rochester Americans last season, will serve the organization as a player development coach. Forton will assume a new role to focus on scouting the collegiate ranks as an NCAA scout and Devine will serve as director of player personnel.
Several other changes in the team’s hockey department have also been announced: Jason Long will serve as coordinator of player development; Corey Smith has been named video coach; Jim Kovachik has been named a pro scout; and Seamus Kotyk and Victor Nybladh have been named amateur scouts.
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As I thought. The Sabres and Otters will make it official on Thursday.
The First Niagara Center will play host to a game between Connor McDavid's Otters and a to be determined opponent.
Presser will be held at FNC at 2pm on Thursday.
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The Buffalo Sabres have called a presser for 2pm on Thursday afternoon. My eyebrows are raised and my brow is furroughed right now as its going to be a co-branded presser with the OHL Erie Otters. Yeah, THOSE Erie Otters. Connor McDavid's Erie Otters.
The Sabres hold three first round draft choices in the Connor McDavid sweepstakes which will occur in Sunrise, Florida in late June 2015.
For now, its time to see McDavid up close and personal. In Buffalo.
Sabres head coach Ted Nolan and Otters GM Sherry Bassin won two Memorial Cups (1990-91 and 1991-92) together while with the Soo Greyhounds.
Former Sabres D-man Jay McKee is an assistant coach with the Otters.
With Terry Pegula as owner of the Sabres, nothing would surprise me right now. Hell, for all I know, Pegula may be purchasing the Erie Otters and moving them to Buffalo to play inside the spankoing new HARBORCenter. Ontario Hockey League history buffs will no doubt recall that the Erie Otters used to be the Niagara Falls Thunder. An aging building and diminishing attendance caused the Thunder ownership to move the team to Erie for the 1996-97 OHL season.
Former Sabres power forward Brad May and the aforementioned McKee played for the Thunder.
Before you scoff at the idea of Pegula owning an OHL club you should remember that he invested $98 million of his own wealth into creating a D1 hockey program at Penn State University.
Are the Sabres going to play host to Otters games this season?
That's my guess.
McDavid will be the #1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. He's been the obect of the eyes of Sabres fanatics since last season. Showcasing McDavid in Buffalo makes great sense as fans from the Golden Horseshoe (Toronto to Buffalo) can come see the "next one" slay opponents with his sick skills. Where Erie is a long distance for many fans to travel in the winter months, Buffalo is more centrally located.
Just a hunch.
We'll learn more on Thursday afternoon.
Dare to ream, Buffalo. Dare. To. Dream.
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The New York Rangers have won the Kevin Hayes battle royale.
The Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames were also very interested in signing Hayes.
The Chicago Blackhawks will now receive a compensatory pick (#54) in the Connor McDavid draft.
The former first round draft choice of the Chicago Blackhawks became UFA on August 16 after he and the Hawks parted company. Hayes refused to sign his three year entry level contract.
The Boston College power forward star's chances of cracking the thick, talented Hawks top nine forward corps this season were slim to none. The Hawks have a top heavy forward corps that features Pat Kane, Jonathon Toews, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Brandon Saad, Andrew Shaw, Bryan Bickel, Marcus Kruger, Brandon Pirri and others.
Hayes played with Chris Kreider at BC.
Hayes, the 6'5" skilled centerman,will add immediate value to the Rangers' attack after the team lost vets Brad Richards, Benoit Pouliot and Brian Boyle earlier this summer. Hayes joins a talented forward group that consists of Kreider, Stepan, Nash, Hagelin, Brassard, St. Louis, Zuccarello, Miller, Lombardi, Moore, and Stempniak.
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