Thoughts on Thoughts: Accountable Ovechkin, John Tavares new linemate & Lupul to Montreal?
“Thoughts on Thoughts” is a feature that looks at Elliotte Friedman’s terrific weekly post “30 Thoughts.” Justin Bourne selects his 10 favourite tidbits, and elaborates.
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Friedman’s column, July 21st: NHL defenceman cash in on free-agent frenzy
10 Thoughts
3. With all this in mind [“this” refers to good teams having top, highly paid centers], there's no doubt opponents are eying Arizona's Antoine Vermette, with one year left on his contract. At the GM meetings, I asked Don Maloney if he would try to extend him. Maloney wants to, but knows there will be Garden of Eden-level temptation for Vermette.
It feels like teams are going to figure out that Antoine Vermette is a legitimately good center right when he heads into his age decline. Which, for Vermette, is perfect. If he’s that highly sought after at this point, his agent should be thinking term, term, term, term.
At 32 he’s put in a decade of quality two-way hockey, and has long been underappreciated. If he can grab say, five years this summer, he’ll be rewarded handsomely for his seasons of work in relative obscurity.
4. When the Blue Jackets extended Brandon Dubinsky, teammate Ryan Johansen hilariously tweeted, "Congrats to our second-line centre." After all, if the second-liner gets $5.85 million, shouldn't Johansen get even more? The Columbus Dispatch's Aaron Portzline reported Sunday that agent Kurt Overhardt recently submitted a shorter-term bridge offer for Johansen. Last year, the Jackets gave Sergei Bobrovsky $12 million over two years. (They are also working on a new contract for him.) You have to figure that's the endgame for Johansen, too, a bit more money in exchange for fewer years.
Johansen has some serious stones with that tweet. I’m sure he’s got a great relationship with Dubinsky, and it’s been a running joke and all, but in the midst of contract negotiations, I’m sure the team took that as a tiny bit of an eff you. Not that it matters much - they’re still gonna pay their good young player - but I’ve always found a good rule of thumb is “try not to piss off your bosses,” big picture-wise.
I know Johansen is a great player and deserves to be paid well, but given how players have gotten squeezed on second contract “bridge” deals of the past few seasons, I didn’t think we’d be talking the six million dollar range for the young RFA. 30 goals is well worth it, of course, it’s just a surprising number.
9. I did not know about it when I spoke to MacLellan. Trotz refused to comment about the specific incident [“the incident” was Ovi’s lazy backchecking here], but did say this: "I think a lot of things get deflected on Ovie. He hasn't done a whole lot to disarm it, but he really wants to win...In other areas he needs to be a better role model; needs direction on being that. My job is to do that. The first thing to do was dig around to find what problem was: accountability. To win, you have to give up something....ego, physically or mentally for betterment of the team. Players may whine about structure and accountability, but at the end of day they want that...There's a big difference between a good team and a team with talent." I don't think he was talking only about Ovechkin.
My one concern with Trotz taking over in Washington is that he’ll go full Dale Hunter and try to make Ovechkin into something he’s not (defensively focused). That year with Hunter, Oveckin knocked 20 points off his previous season total, finishing under a point per game (and it wasn’t close, 65 in 78 games) for the first and only time in his career. Maybe Adam Oates had less success as the Caps bench boss, but at least he knew to maximize Ovechkin for what he is (an offensive dynamo) the way Bruce Boudreau did when the Caps were knocking on the door of big things.
Now, hopefully he’ll be up to some compromise and Ovechkin will be the most effective player he’s ever been. I’ve just always been of the belief that players’ unique skills should be developed and enhanced rather than shaped into the same good ‘ol Canadian two-way player mold.
13. The Trotz quote about accountability is why I find it hard to believe players are avoiding Detroit because of Mike Babcock. If you took a secret ballot, more than half the league would probably say they don't like their coach. Babcock may grind his players, but both the Red Wings and those on Team Canada say this about him: you are never unprepared, nothing is overlooked, and he will do whatever it takes. Players want to win, and he puts you in position to do it. For years, Detroit was the place everyone wanted to be. It goes in cycles.
It does go in cycles, but I don’t believe for a second anyone - well, there are exceptions to most rules, but the I don’t believe the huge, sweeping majority of players - would ever avoid a team because a highly intense, successful coach is there. Oh no, he’s going to ask a lot of me! Few people get to the NHL without a great work ethic and the desire to take on the most difficult tasks to have success. Mike Babcock is a dream coach for most players. I think about summer trainers I’ve heard of that are particularly ruthless, and they’re the most sought after.
As for “half the league would probably say they don’t like their coach,” I’d bet that’s not too far off. As I said, I think people picking a team in the summer would want to take on the challenge because nobody believes they’re going to fall short. But a lot of players do each year, and they end up placing that blame on the person asking a lot of them, asking them to change, asking them to work harder.
16. Isles coach Jack Capuano is spending his summer working on structural adjustments to the team's penalty kill, which was 29th. "We're going to change the way we forecheck on it, and, when the puck is in our zone, we're going to pressure differently."
Smart. The Islanders have some really capable penalty killers - like, really capable. Nielsen, Kulemin, Grabner, Hamonic, de Haan, Clutterbuck and others are as good as it gets for those roles. If you’re failing with quality personnel, then it makes sense to figure out a new approach.
That said, there’s one thing that’s undeniably going to make them better on the PK: goaltending.
There were 97 goaltenders to play in the NHL at some point last season. Here are where the Islanders three finished in powerplay save percentage: 77th (Kevin Poulin, .845), 81st (Evgeni Nabokov, .837), and 81st (Anders Nilsson, .837). Thanks for coming out, guys. The Isles will undoubtedly be better on the PK this season.
17. With a glut of centres, Capuano said that Brock Nelson is going to get a shot at the wing with John Tavares (who is skating again) and Kyle Okposo. Nelson played with them on the power play and spent time on the wing at the world championships. Frans Nielsen is not switching positions. "Frans is one of the smartest players in hockey. And he thinks the game as a centre."
The Islanders have a couple neat options with their first line next season, assuming Kyle Okposo is pencilled in as a partner for John Tavares, and both involve a big step for a young player.
Option one is to put big beast Brock Nelson with them. At 6’3” and 210, Nelson can also put the puck in the net (28 times in a 42 game college season, 25 times as a rookie in the AHL), meaning a pairing of him and Kyle Okposo would be brutal to deal with in the corners, and they’d still have the skill to do something with that dominance. And, this way, Tavares is The Guy Who Has The Puck, which you love.
Two is to give them Ryan Strome, an extremely talented kid who put up 49 points in 36 AHL games as a 20-year-old last season before getting called up and going on a nice run in the NHL. That line is more typical “top line,” with skill coming out the backside and more players who can see the game and move the puck at a special level. It would likely look a bit more like it did with Vanek - tic-tac-toes and rushes over long shifts in the o-zone with crease crashing.
25. One of the more interesting rumours out there was Montreal, looking for size up front, asking Toronto about Joffrey Lupul. The Canadiens are not among the teams Lupul has blocked, so it could have been done. Ultimately, it sounds like the Maple Leafs will keep him. Can you replace a 25-goal scorer for $5.25 million, his current cap hit? That's a good number.
I’m consistently shocked by how often really good players with good contracts come up in this way. I know he’s not healthy often, but isn’t the goal to get more guys that score consistently and produce at a near-30-goal-clip on cheap deals, not less? It makes sense if Montreal was asking about him, because hey, he’s a very good player, but not as much if the Leafs seriously considered unloading him.
27. I had a debate with another exec about [Evander] Kane. He asked if I would trade him. I said it would take a lot, because the Jets need help now and the guy is really talented. He pointed to Vancouver and Ryan Kesler. His argument was: how much better are the Canucks, simply because the distraction is over? Difficult to quantify, but a fair point.
I’m not sold on that being a fair point just yet. I get making the case for clearing out the distractions and all that (sometimes pruning allows branches to grow), but “how much better are the Canucks” is hardly a won argument in July. I think they will be better for other reasons, but getting rid of a tough minutes-eating center who puts up points and plays nasty is rarely a great way to take a step forward.
36. How will Paul Stastny change the attack? "Paul can play east-west, use the trailers," Armstrong said. "Our team was north-south."
That’s a good answer, and a good reason to go out and get a player. You can’t be one-dimensional as a team, because you have to go through four in the playoffs. Sometimes you need that guy who can attack differently.
This is just another reason I think guys like Jonathan Toews and Anze Kopitar are so valuable. If you need a pure skill play, it’s there, but they’ll also stand in the crease. They’re versatile guys who can do it a number of ways, which makes them invaluable. If you can’t get guys like that, and almost nobody can, you have to do it with different players.
40. The Stars' plan for Ales Hemsky is to start him with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. "They are shooters," GM Jim Nill said. "We need a passer with them." Asked who Spezza gets, Nill first mentioned Valeri Nichushkin. After living with a local family much of last year, he is now on his own. Nill expects a similarly big step on the ice in the player's second season, and lining up with Spezza could do that.
Geez, Ales Hemsky just won the damn linemate lottery, didn’t he?
Hemsky: My pure skill is being creative offensively.
Stars: Okay, here, take one of the league’s best skaters, one of the league’s best power forwards as your linemates. Also, they both have elite shots. Have fun.
Hemsky: Thanks guys.