Take note kids. Here's the secret to NHL success:
If you are lucky enough to earn your way into the NHL, you should skip training camp as you hold out in a hostile, protracted contract dispute. You should then demand a fat new contract because your NHL team will capitulate give you what you want. While your teammates are slaving their way through NHL training camp in Columbus and seven exhibition games, you can sit at home in Vancouver and wait for the beginning of the NHL regular season. You will then get to play your #1 center position without hesitation which will allow you to be named to the NHL All Star Game which will be played in your NHL town, where you will be named the game's MVP.
So goes Columbus Blue Jax center the rags to riches story of Ryan Johansen.
In September "Jo Jo" and his agent shocked the Columbus community when they declared a harsh contract dispute against the Blue Jackets. It got so ugly and bitter that Blue Jax President John Davidson referred to Johansen's contract demands as "extortion".
Johansen got what he wanted and was awarded a handsome new contract just in time for the beginning of the 2014-15 NHL season.
The Blue Jax have been decimated by injuries to key players during the first four months of the regular season which has led to an expanded role on the ice for Johansen and his teammate Nick Foligno for whom he played at the All Star Game.
Blue Jackets fans stuffed the social media MVP ballot box on behalf of Johansen who scored two goals and added two assists. NY Islanders captain John Tavares tied an NHL All Star goal scoring record when he popped in four goals. Philly's Jake Voracek scored a hat trick and added three assists to tie Mario Lemieux's ALL Star Game scoring record of six points in one ASG.
Johansen polished the proverbial apple when he wore an Ohio State football jersey during Saturday night's NHL Breakaway Challenge.
Johansen won the brand new car as the prize for his All Star Game MVP honors.
The Blue Jackets will be demanding more from Foligno and Johansen in the next four weeks as their goalie Sergei Bobrovsky recovers from his recent injury.
The Blue Jax have two weeks to figure out whether they are a buyer or a seller. They are a longs shot to earn a wild card playoff berth. If they struggle to win games while Bobrovsky recovers they may well end up as a prime contender for Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel.
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The NHL season is in many ways like the Daytona 500. Its not a sprint. Its a marathon. You can't win the "500" in the first 120 laps, however, you sure can kill your chances of winning if you wreck, get caught outside "the draft", or cut a tire. If you find yourself down a lap or two, you have to drive your ass off to get back to the lead lap. Once back to the lead lap, you better hope your car is dialed-in and your throttle is wide open, otherwise you'll end up just another car driving around in circles outside of the winner's circle.
The NHL All Star break in many ways is like the a re-start after a wreck at Daytona 500. The grid is reset with the leaders upfront and the rest of the field slotted according to where the race stopped before the caution flag was thrown.
Right now, the NHL is in re-calibration mode. All 30 teams are currently idling, resting/ recovering from the four month segment of the grueling NHL schedule. They eagerly await the start of the next 90 day segment of the race. The next 30 days will be used as a gauge to differentiate the contenders from the pretenders. We will soon be seeing which teams are serious about being in it to win it and which teams are happy to be considered in the conversation.
Teams will be leaving Columbus later tonight.
Tomorrow, we go back to green flag racing. I expect the pace to increase and the physicality to be amped up.
I also expect a flurry of trade activity to begin as early as this week.
If they haven't done so already, the sellers will be identifying themselves to the rest of the NHL.
The way that the NHL standings are so tightly compacted right now will make it near impossible for bubble teams to leap frog those ahead of them in the standings. That is of course if the bubble teams catch fire and go on multi-game win streaks after the All Star Game moratorium lifts on Tuesday. Over the course of the past week or so, most (if not all) NHL GMs and their scouts have done their diligence and have met as staffs in the warmth of the Florida sun.
Get ready for the madness to begin. Trades will start happening fast and furious in the next two weeks. The "laying in the weeds" segment is over. GMs know where their pain is on their respective rosters. They know their strengths and their know their weaknesses. The best way to spark a bubble team is to infuse a new player or subtract a player or two and call up a prospect heading into the month of February. There's no Olympic break this February like their was last season, therefore, I see some trade activity occurring in advance of the March 2 NHL trade deadline. Acting now may be the difference between squeaking into the playoffs and heading to the conference room to plan for the NHL Draft. Those GMs that opt to sit on their hands in the next five weeks leading up to the NHL trade deadline will find themselves on thin ice.
In the East, Washington (57 points) Boston ( 57 points) and Florida (50 points) will continue to battle for a wild card berth while Ottawa (47), Toronto (47), Philly (45), Columbus (43), New Jersey (42), Carolina (37) and Buffalo (31) are on the outside looking up.
In the West, its Winnipeg (60), Calgary (53), LA (52), Colorado (50) and Dallas (49) in a brawl for the wild card berth, while Minnesota (46), Arizona (37), and Edmonton (33) are bringing up the rear.
The Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers, Arizona Coyotes, and Carolina Hurricanes have no delusions of grandeur. These teams are focused on setting themselves up in the best position possible to secure Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel in the June NHL Entry Draft. I fully and completely expect this quartet to kick start the trade market, and it could happen as early as this week.
The Sabres, the 30th place team in the NHL despite not having made any roster moves just yet, have several high-value players who have expiring contracts. Bubble and contending team can rent to their heart's content some very solid veteran contributors in Drew Stafford, Chris Stewart, Michal Neuvirth, Jhonas Enroth, Andre Benoit, and Andrej Meszaros. Stafford and Stewart have been attracting heavy attention from several contending teams lately including: Nashville, Calgary, NY Rangers, NY Islanders, Columbus Blue Jax, Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, and Boston Bruins.
Neuvirth and Enroth have also been scouted by Columbus, Anaheim, San Jose, Tampa and Dallas. My sense is that Tim Murray will trade Neuvirth and hold onto Enroth.
Murray will continue to have to deal with Tyler Myers mania. The Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche are in desperate need of a right handed D who can eat big minutes and play in all key situations. There are none bigger who fit that bill than Myers. Do I expect Murray to trade Myers? Yes. If. The. Price. Is. Right. The Wings would have to send Anthony Mantha or Dylan Larkin, plus a first rounder to Buffalo in order to cement a trade for Myers. Could Matha, Tatar, and a second rounder in 2015 get a Myers deal done? That's for Murray to decide. Then there's the Ryan O'Reilly factor. Myers for O'Reilly straight up won't get it done. However, Myers for O'Reilly (and a guarantee that he will sign a multi-year) extension this summer, plus a 2015 first round draft choice may be the right price for Murray to green light a Myers trade. O'Reilly will become UFA at age 25 in July 2016. He will command $7+ million on a 7 year deal on the open market. The Avs will not play him that kid of cheddar as they will be making Nathan MacKinnon their highest paid player in the next little while. Word out of Denver is that no Avs player will earn more than MacKinnon moving forward. That makes O'Reilly the apple of many NHL GMs eyes. From what I'm told, Tim Murray would like to acquire O'Reilly for his puck possession prowess and leadership skills.
Edmonton are looking to subtract, not add. That's why they will likely move D Jeff Petry and glue guy Matt Hendricks.
Arizona will be looking to sell of its useful players in center Antoine Vermette, D's Z. Michalek and Keith Yandle.
Carolina have veteran goalie Cam Ward, veteran forward Jeff Skinner and veteran D Reggie Sekera to use as trade bait. I'm told that the Staal boys are off limits at this time.
Gentlemen, start your engines!
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What's up Rick Scherer?
I'm having a blast playing hockey with you and Tim Buchman.
Thanks!
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