On NHL trade deadline day (February 26), the Sharks were ranked 25th in the NHL in even strength goal scoring. After scoring for more even strength goals on Saturday, the Sharks are now ranked #12 in the NHL in even strength goal scoring.
#SJSharks scored four more 5v5 goals today vs. Flames. On trade deadline day, Sharks were 25th in NHL in even strength goal scoring. Today @SanJoseSharks rank 12th in the NHL in even strength goal scoring #EvanderKaneFactor
Of his 52 points scored this season, 48 points have come at even strength. Of Kane's 352 career NHL points scored, 297 of them have been scored at even strength.
Coincidence?
I think not.
Kane is playing in all situations and is large and in charge on the top line with Joe Paveski and Melker Karlsson, while Joonas Donskoi recovers from injury. Kane has 32 hits, 5 blocked shots, is +7, and has 8 takeaways while averaging 19:33 TOI per game.
I hate to be a Captain Obvious, however, I cannot resist. Kane is finally realizing his true potential. It took him ten seasons of searching and it finally appears that he has found what he has been looking for. In the next few weeks, Kane will play in his first career Stanley Cup playoff game.
I pity for the poor team that draws Kane and his angry Sharks in round one of the Western Conference playoffs.
The Sharks are now 10-2 in those twelve games since acquiring the pugnacious, high-skill, 9000 RPM power forward. The Sharks haven’t had a dominant power forward of Kane’s ilk since Jonathon Cheechoo stalked the Western Conference 12 years ago.
Amazingly, six of Kane’s goals have been scored against the crestfallen Calgary Flames. Kane scored four goals against Mike Smith in Calgary on March 16 and recorded his first ever NHL hat trick in the San Jose win.
Maybe Calgary should have done more at the trade deadline than window shop for power forward and veteran goalie. Flames scouted #Sabres hard for months. Kane and Lehner would have fixed many of their problems. CGY refused to trade D prospects Anderson, Valimaki, Fox though
On Saturday afternoon inside the rowdy and intimidating Shark Tank, Kane scored his 26th and 27th goals of the season to lead his team to another victory.
#Sjsharks lead 5-1 P1. Another D-ominating performance for Jones, Pavelski and Co. Sharks now 10-2 with EK9 in lineup. Pity the poor team that plays @SanJoseSharks round one
Kane has been a one man wrecking crew against the Flames. In his brief drink of Gatorade in San Jose, Kane has scored 6 goals on 11 shots on goal in the past eight days. Kane has also earned 13 penalty minutes in the past six periods against the Flames.
Sabres fans better get invested in Kane’s newfound glory in the Bay Area.
Buffalo will receive San Jose’s 2019 first round draft pick if and when Kane re-signs with the Sharks. Doug Wilson put conditions on the compensation package he sent to Buffalo in exchange for Kane. Not an overly ambitious move on Wilson’s part considering Kane’s brushes with off ice drama.its been 28 days since Kane became a Shark and suffice to say, he has already earned himself a lucrative, multi-year contract extension. Kane is going to get paid handsomely in his next contract.
Kane and his agent are committed to getting maximum compensation and will. Toronto Maple Leafs sniper James Van Riemsdyk has already scored a career-best 34 goals in 74 games this season. JVR, 28, is set to become UFA on July 1. His previous career high for goals was 30. His career high for points in a season is 62. He is presently sitting on 34G and 18A with 8 games to play in the regular season.
Like Kane, JVR is playing fast and loose right now because he knows there is a huge pot of gold awaiting him at the end of the rainbow.
Kane and JVR could ask for as receive eight year deals in the $55 million to $56 million range from their current teams. The max number of years each man can receive from other teams on UFA day is seven years.
I see JVR leaving Toronto by trade at the NHL Draft. The Leafs can rebuild their blue line and get themselves another 2018 first round draft choice by trading JVR at season’s end. With youngsters Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander all need new multi-year contract extensions with large Average Annual Value. For the moment, Matthews, Marner and Nylander are cost controlled by their entry level contracts. That will change dramatically in the next two seasons. Matthews will soon be signing a contract extension similar to Jack Eichel’s eight year, $80 million mega contract. Marner and Nylander will likely come in at eight years and $48-$50 million apiece.
For these reasons, JVR will be the odd man out in Toronto.
I see Kane re-signing with the Sharks.
Kane, 26, has 52 points in 73 games played. Kane’s career high for points scored in 57. Kane’s career high for goals scored is 30, which seems like a 3-inch gimme putt for him to achieve in his next eight games.
Couple JVR’s comparables to Kane’s career-best scoring production (plus intangibles) and you have the makings of a very lucrative contract for both sniping power forwards. The UFA power forward market is an exclusive club shared by JVR and Kane. The market conditions are set: low supply, high demand for JVR and Kane. Therefore, the price will be high.
Wilson won’t be getting any sort of discounts to sign Kane on July 1. He will have to pay a premium for Kane on July 1 UFA day. The smart play is to lock up Kane today BEFORE he leads the Sharks to the Western Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals. If Kane is performing this great now, imagine how well he will perform when the playoffs begin. Kane’s current point production isn’t going to dry up and go away when the playoffs begin. It will only continue at this point-a-game pace.
Pay Evander Kane now, Doug Wilson.
It’s a mutually beneficial relationship.
The Sharks are winning. Their fans are winning. The business of the Sharks is winning.
Kane’s teammates love him and the feeling is mutual. Sharks fans have fallen for Kane. There are more and brand new #9 sweaters being seen lining the glass at The Shark Tank during pregame warmups. The Shark Tank will be sold out to the rafters for home playoff games. A long playoff run would bring multiple home playoff games which translate to between $1.5M to $2M in gate revenues per game. The more home games you win, the more money your organization makes via sales of tickets, suites, merchandise, apparel, parking, etc.
You do not want to allow Evander Kane to be the one that got away.
**
Martin Jones made 37.
Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon added a Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal.
The Sharks are now just six points of the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division.
Both teams have seven games remaining, as the Sharks start a four-game road trip next week.
Kane got into a tussle with Calgary’s Mikael Backlund with two minutes to go in the second period, then he and Hamonic dropped the gloves 3:15 into the third.
Were I Sharks GM Doug Wilson, I would be phoning Kane’s agent daily to expedite serious discussions on a lucrative, long term contract. Kane has already passed his San Jose audition with flying colors. And then some. Wilson doesn’t want to flirt with Evander Kane testing the open market when he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Kane add dimensions of swagger, brute strength, speed, skill, and a no fear attitude. Having Kane on the ice makes
Doug Wilson better sign @evanderkane_9 to a long term deal while he still has first position negotiating position and can afford him. Wilson does not want to allow Kane to test the open market on July 1
Is your NHL team in full tank mode as we approach the home stretch of the 2017-18 regular season?
If so, don't get delusions of grandeur quite yet. You may have your sights set on winning the right to win the NHL Draft Lottery and to win the right to select Swedish wunderkind Rasmus Dahlin with the first overall pick.
Slow your roll there, Sparky.
The rules of engagement have changed.
On Friday, the NHLPA signed off on a new lottery format that was recently presented by the NHL.
This is the third time in three seasons that the odds of winning the NHL Draft Lottery have been augmented.
In short, percentage chance that a team is selected to pick first, second, or third, as expressed by the number of ping pong balls present in the lottery draw, is solely dependent on where they finish in the final NHL standings.
Ever since the legendary McDavid-Eichel NHL Draft of 2015, the NHL has gotten wise to it's NHL club teams losing on purpose to increase their odds off finishing with more ping pong balls than their competitors.
In other words, the NHL is no longer in the business of rewarding the teams that knowingly and willingly throw in the towel and quit on their loyal fans, season ticket and sponsors.
In the 2013 NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, the rules were set forth allowed the last place team to select first overall.
However, when the Edmonton Oilers won yet the 2015 and selected Connor McDavid as their fourth first overall pick in a six year span, all bets were off.
In 2016, the NHL significantly boosted the odds in toward the teams finishing last winning the lottery. The Toronto Maple Leafs "won" the first overall pick retained the top pick that year and selected American sniper Auston Matthews. Matthews, like Eichel and McDavid are the rare and unique types of generational players that come along every 10-12 years. As fate would have it, three such unicorns entered teh lexicon and were immediately welcomed into the NHL. Those tanking teams that lost out Eichel, McDavid and Matthews all cried bloody murder.
So, in an effort to increase fan participation and to hold the taking wolves at the basement door at bay, the NHL and NHLPA flipped the script. At the end of the 2017 NHL regular season, Colorado Avalanche was given an 18% chance of holding on to the top pick.
However, in a wild turn of events, three teams emerged from outside the bottom four "won" the lottery and moved into the top three draft positions.
The Philadelphia Flyers who missed teh playoffs by a couple of points, invested the second overall pick in forward Nolan Patrick while the bottom dwelling New Jersey Devils selected Nico Hischier first overall.
In an effort to appease the previous draft lottery losers, the NHL and NHLPA are adding some juice to the 2018 NHL Draft Lottery odds.
Elliotte Friedman tweeted Friday that the new odds of selecting first for the upcoming 2018 NHL Draft will be 18.5% for 31st, 13.5% for 30th, and 11.5% for 29th.
18.5 per cent chance for 31st, 13.5 for 30th, 11.5 for 29th -- down to 1 per cent for 17th. https://t.co/NHkpTYqA9S
With the addition of an extra non-playoff team, there is also a new distribution which in fact increases the odds for the last team to miss the playoffs, the 17th-place finisher, by a tenth of a percent to 1%.
In other words, rob from the middling teams to pay the bottom dwellers.
The dance floor is crowded with tanking incumbents who don't want to give an inch of space to play caliber teams who have decided to go slumming to end as low in the standings as they can this season.
Oh, hey there Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, and Arizona Coyotes! You know the draft lottery drill. Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings? What the hell are Original Six teams doing down here at Bikini Bottom??!!
WTF, Chicago? You have a lot of chutzpah lining up in the NHL corporate welfare line. All your GM Stan Bowman needed to do was trade a second round pick and a prospect for a veteran goalie at the February 26 NHL trade deadline. And you, Marc Bergevin. Have you no shame? You couldn't resist dumping a future #1 D-man in Mikhail Sergachev in a trade for a winger who you are forcing to play center in Jonathon Drouin? You could have traded your captain Max Pacioretty or forward Alex Galchenyuk in December in exchange for the players you needed to save your season. Instead you line up for free government cheese. Classy. What about you, Ken Holland? Your Detroit Red Wings have become a gong show. No playoffs for a second year in a row after qualifying for the postseason in an NHL record 26 consecutive seasons. Big deal. You lost Mike Babcock and Pavel Datsyuk. You replace Babcock with an unproven head coach in Jeff Blashill? You have assets already on your roster. All you need is a head coach to crack the whip and rub the surface tarnish off Detroit's legendary winning culture.
Like you really need another superstar like Rasmus Dahlin or Filip Zadina on your roster.
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Winnipeg, Toronto only two Canadian teams to qualify for playoffs. Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary will be 🏌️ golfing mid-April. As a result, Rogers and Bell TV ratings will take a hit. Prediction: Dahlin will land in large Canadian market
In 2013, Rogers signed a landmark 12-year, $5.2 billion NHL rights fees contract. TV audiences declined 16% in each of the first two seasons of the historic deal. In 2016, all seven Canadian NHL team missed playoffs and TV ratings sunk 61% from 2015
In 2017, Toronto made playoffs for first time since lockout season 2013. Montreal, Ottawa,Edmonton Calgary also made playoffs. Ratings and as revenues increased for rights holders
When he was hired by the Pegulas last summer, Sabres GM Jason Botterill vowed that he and his lieutenants Steve Greeley and Randy Sexton would restore the luster, pride, and winning ways to the Rochester Amerks.
Mission accomplished.
Botterill learned his management-player development craft in Rochester and then applied it in Wilkes Barre and Pittsburgh. Botterill will tell you that NHL teams cannot win championships with mediocre AHL affiliates.
Former Sabres GM Tim Murray left the Amerks in a burning, busted shambles when he was fired last April. Credit to Botterill for planning his work and working his plan with Rochester.
Botterill has done yeoman's work in his brief time as GM of the Sabres.
He's guided the Amerks to the AHL playoffs. Now he must add more equity to his Amerks roster. When the Sabres season ends, youngsters Nick Baptiste, Brendan Guhle, Justin Bailey, Evan Rodrigues and Casey Nelson will be sent down to Rochester. Botterill is also trying his dead level best to add IIHF World Juniors MVP Casey Mittelstadt to the Amerks roster.
@reporterchris says there is "pressure" on @CMittelstadt to return to Minnesota for next season. By whom? Will Bob Motzko be his head coach? Mike Guentzel? The kid is in the drivers seat. Lucia recruited Mittselstadt. Lucia is gone. The kid has leverage and should use it wisely
St. Cloud State’s season ends in a 4-1 upset loss to Air Force in the #1 vs. #16 seed matchup at the NCAA West Regional. The Huskies finish with a 25-9-6 record overall. pic.twitter.com/QPPEFcmvXk
Botterill now has the opportunity to add three highly impressive collegiate prospects via amateur tryout contract. Casey Mittelstadt, Will Borgen and Judd Petersen are difference making players whose college teams whose seasons are over. Mittelstadt's Minnesota Gophers didn't qualify for the NCAA tourney. Borgen and Petersen were eliminated when Air Force upset #1 ranked St. Cloud State on Saturday night.
Junior defenseman Will Borgen and his #1 ranked St. Cloud State team had their Cinderella party end abruptly when they lost to Air Force in round one of the NCAA Mens College Hockey Tourney on Friday.
The defeat was the Huskies second-straight in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and just the second time in tournament history that a #16 team eliminated the top overall seed.
The Rochester Amerks sure could use another smart, mobile, tough defensive defenseman like Borgen right now.
Borgen was a fourth round draft choice of pick of the Sabres in the 2015 NHL Draft. Borgen scored five goals and 33 assists in 96 career NCAA games.
Borgen was one of four college players to represent Team USA at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang. Though he didn't play in any games at the Olympics, Borgen certainly benefitted from a growth and development standpoint by practicing with Team USA.
The 21-year-old Minnesota native is 6'2", 190 lb. defenseman previously represented his country at the World Juniors in 2016, notching three assists in seven games en route to a bronze medal finish.
Sabres forward prospect Judd Petersen is also senior on the St. Cloud State squad.
Botterill would be wise to sign Borgen, Petersen and Mittelstadt to amateur tryout contracts and ship them to Rochester pronto.
Adding three dynamic hockey players to an already impressive collection of prospects in Rochester will only serve to strengthen a formidable Amerks team.
**
St. Cloud State head coach Bob Motzko is now a serious contender to become the successor to Don Lucia at the University of Minnesota mens hockey program.
Motzko was head coach of the last two Team USA squads that competed at the IIHF World Junior Championships.
Thanks, St. Cloud State
**
The Rochester Amerks can clinch a playoff berth tonight as they host their rival Binghamton Devils.
Rochester finds itself in the hunt for a playoff berth in the North Division standings, where only two playoff spots remain.
The Amerks can handle their own business with a victory tonight over Bingo in conjunction with a Laval loss (regulation or OT loss or shootout loss) against Charlotte, OR, by gaining at least one point against Bingo and a Laval regulation loss to Charlotte.
In the event the Amerks clinch a playoff berth tonight, they will become just the third team to earn a postseason invitation. Second-place Syracuse Crunch and the AHL-leading Toronto have already secured their reservations to the AHL playoffs. The Amerks currently occupy third place, just nine points back of the Crunch, and hold a four-point lead over the fourth-place Utica Comets.
The top four teams in the North Division are guaranteed a playoff spot.
All this Amerks hockey talk gets me to wondering more and more about the short term future of Sabres top prospect who was selected by Sabres GM Jason Botterill with the 8th overall pick at the 2017 NHL Draft. The 19 year old offensive whiz kid recently completed his freshman season at the University of Minnesota. Last Sunday, the Gophers were not selected for the a berth in the 2018 NCAA Mens Hockey Tournament.
Since then, there has been a domino effect of exits from the highly regarded University of Minnesota men hockey program. Namely, their long time head coach steeped down while two of the program's best players not named Mittestadt signed amateur tryout contracts with their respective NHL teams. Add in five seniors graduating this spring and you see a pattern of behavior forming.
The mass exodus from Gopherland leads one to believe that Mittelstadt will also be trading in his back pack and lab assignments in exchange for bus rides and Calder Cup playoff games.
Two days after his program failed to qualify for the NCAA mens hockey tourney, long time bench boss Don Lucia stepped down.
Who will be the next head coach of the Gophers? When will he be hired? Will the next head coach have an opportunity to sell Mittelstadt and all of Lucia's recruits on the benefits of staying and playing for Minnesota next season and beyond? Or, will the exit doors continue to be used?
Ryan Lindgren, a Gopher top-pair defenseman left Minnesota earlier this week to sign an amateur tryout contract with the New York Rangers. By signing an ATO, Lindgren voided his junior and senior seasons at Minny. Lindgren, a second-round draft pick of Boston in 2016 who had his rights traded to the Rangers in the Rick Nash blockbuster trade last month. Lindgren is now a Hartford Wolfpack player.
Lindgren did not attend the meeting earlier this week where Lucia informed his team of his decision to step down from the bench boss job that he had held for 19 seasons.
Lindgren scored two goals and seven assists for the Gophers this season. Lindgren was an integral defenseman on Team USA at the past two IIHF World Junior Championships. Lindgren was a force for Team USA in their bronze medal in Buffalo earlier this year.
Also earlier this week, Gophers defenseman Steve Johnson, who just completed his senior season, signed an ATO with the LA Kings' AHL affiliate Ontario Reign of the AHL. The Kings selected Johnson in the fourth round of the 2014 NHL Draft.
Inquiring minds want to know:
What now becomes of Mittelstadt?
Will he stay or will he gopher the opportunity to play pro hockey for the Amerks the Calder Cup playoffs?
Mittelstadt finished second on the Gophers with 11 goals and 19 assists in 34 games.
He earned Most Valuable Player homors at the IIHF World Junior Championships where he mesmerized hockey fans from all around teh globe with a WJC tournament-high four goals and seven assists in seven games played.
Mittelstadt and his camp have been radio silent this week.
Earlier this week, Sabres GM Jason Botterill was unavailable to meet with Mittelstadt and his family advisor as he was attending the NHL GM meetings in Boca Raton, Florida.
My guess is that if he hasn't done so already that Botterill and Camp Casey will be having a face to face in the very near future to debrief his freshman season at Minnesota. You won't find a more passionate, loyal and ardent supporter of NCAA men hockey than Jason Botterill.
The Sabres GM starred for the Michigan Wolverines for four seasons. Botterill is a proponent of kids playing NCAA rather than go the Canadian major junior route. Botterill values the college education and the on-campus experience. He likely isn't hard-selling Mittelstadt on trading his college books for Nick Tahou's "garbage plates" in Rochester, NY.
However, Botterill can speak eloquently and anecdotally to the benefits of leaving NCAA hockey and transitioning to playing in the second best league in the world in the American League. Mittestadt owes it to himself to ask as many questions as he can about the AHL lifestyle and what his role will be when he lands in the Lilac City.
Botterill is a straight shooter. He won't allow Mittestadt to leave Minny if his heart isn't 100% in it. In his ten seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Botterill hand selected, fdfrafted, developed and cultivated dozens of NCAA hockey players and made them Stanley Cup champions. Botterill's formula is tried and true. He bleives wholeheartedly in drafting talented college kids and watching them grow and mature at the correct pace in the AHL incubator. When the time is right for promotion to the NHL then so be it.
Like Paul Masson, Jason Botterill will sell no wine before it's time.
Just ask Jake Guentzel, whom Botterill selected 77th overall out of University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2013. Guentzel played three seasons of NCAA hockey then transitioned to the Wilkes Barre Scranton Penguins, where he played in 11 games in 2015-16 and another 33 games in 2016-17 where he scored 21 goals and 21 assists. In January 2017, Botterill called up Guentzel to the Penguins where in 40 games played he scored 16 goals and 17 assists. He added another 13 goals and 8 assists in 25 playoff games. Today, Guentzel is a Stanley Cup champion because he got a taste of the best of both worlds in the NCAA and AHL.
Isn't it ironic that Mike Guentzel, Jake's father, was an assistant coach to Mittelstadt on Don Lucia's Minnesota staff this season? Yes, Jake's father is also one of teh hot candidates to succeed Lucia as bench boss at Minnesota. Jason Botterill knows Mike Guentzel well having drafted and developed Jake at WSB and in Pittsburgh. I'm sure they enjoyed Stanley Cup victory parade beers together last summer.
Casey Mittelstadt has to do what's best for Casey Mittelstadt.
I think he will reprise his role as "Young American".
In my opinion, that's saying goodbye to his friends at the University of Minnesota and skating his way to Rochester, NY where Botterill, Randy Sexton and Chris Taylor want to win the 2018 Calder Cup. Mittelstadt could be the catalyst that starts the championship poder keg for the Amerks. What better way for Mittelstadt to transition to the Buffalo Sabres next season than to help the Rochester Amerks win a championship this spring.
Three #Gophers have earned All-Big Ten honors as Casey Mittelstadt brings home All-Freshman Team accolades while Tyler Sheehy and Ryan Lindgren earn Honorable Mention. pic.twitter.com/BqbFdp93oR
— Minnesota M Hockey (@GopherHockey) March 4, 2018
From Minnesota high school hockey legend to USHL star to NCAA freshman phenom and Team USA junior star, Mittelstadt continues to blaze an impressive path for himself across the rinks of the United States.
Mittelstadt finished his freshman season ranked second among all Gophers in scoring with 30 points (11G, 19A) in 34 games with the Gophers, one-point shy of the team’s scoring lead. He scored 4 PPG and 2 GWG.
Mittelstadt ranks tied for sixth among all NCAA freshmen with 30 points.
Mittestadt-Eichel would be sick. Zito will have a ton of talented USA forwards to choose from in Jack, Pat Kane, Gaudreau, Keller, Larkin, Kreider, Pacioretty, Galchenyuk, Tkachuk, Trochek, Boeser, Bobby Ryan. Possibly Kesler.
Bill Zito has been named Team USA GM for IIHF Worlds in Denmark. Zito is AGM Columbus and was a candidate for Sabres GM job last summer. You know he'll be calling Eichel to play at Worlds, right?
Jumbo. Tarps Off. Facial Salad on point. Just another day that ends in "day". It's his solar system. We're just passing through #Adonishttps://t.co/HU4Y8bLl0P
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