Cap Idiots Chart #7: End of August Edition
Some movement since last time. Vancouver (Thanks to the Schneider signing and the trade with San Jose) leapt into the lead in the red zone, at nearly $3MM over the cap with 25 players signed, all of them defensemen. So they’re going to have to do something, I guess. OTT, BOS and CHI have held steady, because what else are they going to do (other than dump salary, I mean). Detroit has a new problem with Hudler possibly coming back to them at the worst possible time, causing them to have to either make room or trade his rights. Ottawa obviously hasn’t moved Heatley, and if they don’t they’re going to have to move someone else. San Jose helped themselves by trading away some salary, but they’ve still got 3-6 players to sign with about $3MM to do it.
Again, CAP = cap space; SGN = number of players signed; C-Sp = cap space; cush = summer wiggle room (teams have to get down to the hard cap number by the last day of the pre-season; the number in this column represents cap space plus the summer cushion); /P23 = cap space available per player remaining to be signed (to get to a roster of 23); /P20 = cap space available per player remaining to be signed (to get to a roster of 20); BCush = bonus cushion; madness = cap space available per signing to get to 22, if a team is insane and is willing to spend its bonus cushion (I picked a roster of 22 on the assumption that no team would be balls-out crazy enough to blow its bonus cushion and under-populate its roster; call me naive); LTS23 = players left to sign to get to 23. Oh, and the teams in black are the ones who, for whatever reason, appear to have a self-imposed cash cap.
This year, that’s a typo…
…every other year since 2002, it’s not a typo, it’s policy:
[The arrival of Scuderi and Smyth] appears to be a message from GM Dean Lombardi that the Kings are no longer building for the future, that anything less than the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2002 is acceptable.
via No Pressure, Anze: LA’s Rise Depends on Super-Skilled Kopitar — NHL FanHouse.
At least I assume he means, is not acceptable.
No Pressure, Anze: LA’s Rise Depends on Super-Skilled Kopitar — NHL FanHouse
The 11th overall selection in the 2005 draft, the 6-4 center is the first player in league history from the country of Slovenia. Raised in the steel town of Jesenice, across the border from Austria, Kopitar’s unfamiliar background had scouts questioning whether he was early first round material despite his obvious gifts. “To be honest,” said a scout who follows European amateurs for a Western Conference team, “Kopitar was so big and so skilled that if he was from Saskatoon, he would have been a top-3 pick. Slovenia was the great unknown.”
“No weaknesses … He was playing against the best and held his own. He had star potential and we knew the rest of the league would be following him.”The tantalizing prospect was first “identified” — scout-talk for “Hey, we have to keep an eye on this kid” — by former European bird-dog Ari Vuori for the Kings. Pro scout Rob Laird and then-GM Dave Taylor spent a lot of time at the 2005 World Championships in Sweden mesmerized by Kopitar’s immense talents. “No weaknesses, great size and reach, took passes 15 feet in front of him, composure, work ethic,” Laird recalled of Kopitar. “He was playing against the best and held his own. He had star potential and we knew the rest of the league would be following him.” (The hockey gods have since rewarded Vuori, now the owner of a Stanley Cup ring as a scout for Detroit).
via No Pressure, Anze: LA’s Rise Depends on Super-Skilled Kopitar — NHL FanHouse.
NHL Western Conference teams confront key questions – NHL.com – NHL Insider
Los Angeles Kings:
How much does Ryan Smyth have left? Smyth came to L.A. during the summer following two disappointing seasons after he signed a big-money free-agent deal with Colorado. The Kings are counting on his experience, grit and scoring ability to help a group of talented young players take the next step and make the playoffs. But Smyth, who will turn 34 during the Olympic break, has never had more than 70 points and is more of a support player, especially at this stage of his career. The Kings need his leadership, but a return to the form that saw him score 36 goals in 2005-06 and 06-07 wouldnt hurt either.
via www.nhl.com
Los Angeles Kings (LAKingsHockey) on Twitter
“I have scored 731 goals in the NHL and I remember every single one. Pick a number!”
-Marcel Dionne
Kings’ Hockey Fest: Kopitar ‘pretty confident’ of making playoffs | The Fabulous Forum | Los Angeles Times
Teddy Purcell has added enough muscle to bring his weight to 200 pounds, 30 more than when he signed with the team.
Battle of California Name-Check Madness
Do you enjoy wearing sweatpants, eating nacho cheese and not talking to women? Congratulations, you may already be a blogger!
SBNation is looking for dedicated people to start up new blogs for the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks because they secretly hate Earl and me but don’t have the heart to shut us down. If you’re interested, contact James Mirtle and prove that you’re worthy. (Be warned: proving that you’re worthy means lots of spankings. Lots.) You’d be joining an awesome group of bloggers like Fear the Fin, Mile High Hockey, Raw Charge.. basically, everyone who isn’t writing for Battle of California. Earl and I have already passed along a few names (I think that Anthony guy from Inside the Kings has some good ideas), but go ahead and apply. What’s the worst thing that could happen? Well, I guess they could say no. That would be pretty humiliating. I mean, if they say no you might as well just kill yourself.
Also, fair warning: whoever writes for the Kings will be my worst enemy and I won’t rest until I wipe his blood from my blade.
From Five Hole Fanatics: Who’s getting deep sixed in Detroit? [From Me: and can we have him?]
HEY WHY CAN’T WE SEE THE GOALIE’S HEAD IN ANY OF THESE PICTURES?
Mouth-watering…
It’s been a rough off-season for the NHL’s model franchise. Hossa bolts to rival Blackhawks. Samuelsson gets signed by the Canucks. Cap restrictions cause them to sign stop-gaps like Williams (okay) and Bertuzzi (yuck). Dead weight like Matlby and Draper are still on the books. And then Hudler bolts for Russia…
…excpet word is the IIHF isn’t going to allow him to honor that agreement. If so, he and his 2.875M cap hit are Detroit property again. That’s bad news, because the Wings have already signed replacements and are already above the cap ceiling.
Holland doesn’t have a lot of options if things play out like this: even if he sends guys like Draper (1.583M) and Maltby (883k) to the minors and replaces them with the likes of Helm (600k) and Abdelkader (861k) AND if they ran with 7 defensemen rather than the 8 listed on cap geek…they’re still under water by about 1.6M with Hudler added in there. Ouch.
Meaning the Wings would have to deep six a couple of the aging vets, promote a couple of kids and give someone away for minimal (read: no salary coming back) return.
The obvious candidate to my eye is Thomas Holmstrom (2.25M). Homer turns 36 in January and has had problems with injuries for years owing to his style of play. He hasn’t played more than 60 games in either of the last 2 years and his production is poised to drop off now that he’s entering the dreaded 35+ club. He’s probably still a useful player (best crease crasher in the league I’d say), but his utility is fading.
Anyways, it’s going to be a tough 5 or so weeks for Detroit whatever happens. I wonder if anyone will be able to take advantage?
via Five Hole Fanatics: Who’s getting deep sixed in Detroit?.
Last year of his contract. Third line left wing. He can be had for a prospect and/or a pick. Give them Cliche and a pick. Sign me up. This is a no-brainer.
Frolov/Kopitar/Williams
Smyth/Stoll/Purcell
Holmstrom/Moller/Brown
Lewis/Handzus/Simmonds
And we know Holland and Lombardi love each other. This is a win-win. Come on, pleeeeeeeease!
From 5 4 Fighting: Tech Support for Drew Doughty
5 4 Fighting said:
Hey Doughty (if you’re reading this), call your mobile from another phone, when you hear your voice mail greeting, push #, you should be prompted to enter your voice mail password. Now you can continue to listen to Stevie Y asking you out to camp.
From Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog: Can’t You Remember?
Quote of the day, from Dany Heatley:
“I love playing in Canada. I think there were some Canadian teams on the list that I gave the Senators earlier in the summer.”
via KuklasKorner : Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog : Can’t You Remember? .
From Mirtle: The Flyers goaltending: Not as bad as you think (and other netminding myths) [ME: Ah, but the Kings' goaltending is worse than you think!]
There’s something about goaltending that, when it’s bad, it can hang on a franchise like an odour, weighing on fans and netminders alike. Pre-Luongo, for example, Vancouver was always pegged as a goalie graveyard (although some would argue a few of his predecessors were stiff upon arrival). In Ottawa, they seemingly haven’t had a lot of luck at the position either, with Patrick Lalime’s ugly turn in the 2004 postseason serving as just one reminder of failures past.
Anyway, it all made me wonder which franchises have really been home to the worst goaltenders in recent years and where exactly teams like Flyers, Sens and Canucks fit into the picture. So I made a chart.
Over the past 10 seasons, the average team save percentage has been about .904, with the top team (Minnesota) coming in well ahead of the pack at .916, followed by Florida and Anaheim at .911. Bringing up the rear are the Lightning with a god-awful .894.
If we limit this analysis to just the postlockout period, things change up slightly, however. The Wild, Devils, Panthers, Predators and Ducks are the top teams the past four seasons, with the Lightning, Leafs, Kings, Blues and Avalanche all at the bottom:
TEAM 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 AVG
1 Minnesota 0.914 0.922 0.915 0.922 0.918
2 New Jersey 0.906 0.917 0.914 0.914 0.913
3 Florida 0.912 0.896 0.920 0.922 0.913
4 Nashville 0.916 0.919 0.908 0.905 0.912
5 Anaheim 0.909 0.912 0.920 0.906 0.912
6 NY Rangers 0.911 0.909 0.911 0.913 0.911
7 Vancouver 0.898 0.918 0.913 0.911 0.910
8 Boston 0.902 0.896 0.914 0.925 0.909
9 Montreal 0.903 0.907 0.917 0.908 0.909
10 Calgary 0.915 0.912 0.904 0.899 0.908
11 Ottawa 0.913 0.913 0.901 0.901 0.907
12 Buffalo 0.906 0.906 0.900 0.911 0.906
13 San Jose 0.892 0.908 0.906 0.911 0.904
14 Pittsburgh 0.886 0.905 0.916 0.906 0.903
15 Detroit 0.906 0.905 0.907 0.894 0.903
16 Philadelphia 0.893 0.889 0.913 0.913 0.902
17 NY Islanders 0.892 0.912 0.904 0.900 0.902
18 Columbus 0.900 0.896 0.907 0.902 0.901
19 Dallas 0.897 0.907 0.905 0.891 0.900
20 Atlanta 0.891 0.907 0.904 0.896 0.900
21 Edmonton 0.884 0.900 0.904 0.909 0.899
22 Washington 0.896 0.899 0.900 0.901 0.899
23 Carolina 0.897 0.894 0.896 0.909 0.899
24 Chicago 0.885 0.896 0.902 0.911 0.899
25 Phoenix 0.892 0.886 0.911 0.904 0.898
26 Colorado 0.896 0.896 0.903 0.894 0.897
27 St. Louis 0.887 0.895 0.897 0.903 0.896
28 Los Angeles 0.891 0.886 0.900 0.902 0.895
29 Toronto 0.895 0.888 0.893 0.885 0.890
30 Tampa Bay 0.887 0.884 0.885 0.900 0.889
Average 0.899 0.903 0.906 0.906 0.903
via The Flyers goaltending: Not as bad as you think (and other netminding myths) – From The Rink.
*ssburping from The Dark Ranger: Dany Heatley To The Kings? [my answer: not at those prices]
Not a snowball’s chance in hell of this trade happening:
To the Senators
Alexander Frolov (32 goals last season) – 2.9 million cap hit
Oscar Moller (2nd round pick in 07 draft – 19 years of age 7 goals 8 assists in 40 GP)
Thomas Hickey (1’st round pick 07 draft – 4th overall)
A conditional pick based on Frolov resigning or not resigning with the Senators
This deal opens the door and cap room to sign Sykora for 1.5 million on a 2 year deal. (similar money as Bertuzzi)
To the Kings
Danny Heatley – a top player in the NHL who brings baggage but scores 40-50 every year.
Yes, Dean Lombardi is all about trading away the cornerstones of the future for locker-room poison and a $7MM cap hit.
From Tom Benjamin’s NHL Blog: The Heatley Soap Opera
An interesting counter-point to the Heatley mess, from Tom Benjamin:
The level of vitriol being directed at Dany Heatley from the media seems astonishing to me. Dan Barnes, for example. I’m not a big fan of Dany Heatley (the person, not the player) but there is another way to see this story.
While Heatley’s behaviour has been less than admirable, he hasn’t killed any dogs or harassed any cabbies. He really hasn’t done anything worthy of vilification. None of this had to happen and none of it should have happened. I think the Ottawa Senators have handled it poorly, perhaps even cynically. (Full disclosure: I’m on record as saying I’ve lost confidence in Ottawa management. This, of course, taints my view.)
My assumption is that Heatley’s feelings were hurt when Clouston took over the team and cut his ice time. Clouston did not mean it this way but it looked like Clouston thought Heatley’s play was the reason the team was losing. When the team started playing better it looked like Clouston was right even though it was probably simply regression. Heatley’s feelings were hurt and so he verbally asked for a trade in the middle of May. We can all agree that Dany was being childish, and particularly in light of his history, he should have simply accepted the situation and set out to prove Clouston wrong. That, however, is pretty much the worst anyone should say about Heatley.
At that point, the Senators could have made it all go away simply by sitting Clouston down with Heatley and stroking Dany’s ego a little. Or they could tell Dany they had no intention of trading him and they expected to see him in camp with a smile on his face. Either way, the story never sees the light of day. Heatley can’t demand a trade. He can only ask.
The Sens decided they didn’t want to do either of those things because trading Dany Heatley is a good idea for the franchise. Unloading his contract gives them a chance to change direction in the near term and the Ottawa Senators are a losing team that needs to change direction. Spezza probably isn’t tradeable, but Murray clearly thought he could deal Heatley.
So the Senators asked Heatley for the request in writing, presumably to get a list of destinations he would accept. And they leaked the trade request because Murray realized the package he will get for Heatley is going to be less than stellar and he needed a villain in this piece, a villain who wasn’t him. What would Ottawa fans have done if, out of the blue, Murray had traded Heatley for Penner, Cogliano and Smid? They would have gone nuts. The trade request is leaked to make what is almost sure to be a poor hockey trade acceptable to the fans. (Murray wants to make a good salary cap trade which is a different thing.)
This, of course, pissed off Heatley. He’s now hurt and he’s mad. The Sens have plunked a black hat on his head. Leaking the trade request – and turning it into a demand – apparently burned the bridge back to Ottawa if a suitable deal can’t be worked out.
Unfortunately Murray discovered that a Heatley deal wasn’t going to be all that easy because few teams had the cap space and everyone was worried about revenues and the possibility of a falling cap. The only team interested was the Edmonton Oilers, a team that was not on Heatley’s list. Does Murray put the Oilers on hold to discuss it with Heatley? No he doesn’t. He makes the deal with Edmonton and then leaks that, hoping to pressure Heatley into accepting it and saving the Sens $4 MM in a bonus. Heatley is now hurt and really, really mad.
“Screw you,” said Dany Heatley. “You can make me look like an asshole, but you can’t make me play in Edmonton. Either you deal me to a suitable team or I’m your problem next season.”
And that’s where we sit. All Dany Heatley did was ask for a trade, something that surely happens more frequently than fans realize.
From there Bryan Murray messed this bed and now he gets to sleep in it. Heatley can’t win – his star is probably forever dimmed – but the real losers are in Ottawa. Murray can pretend to be the victim but that doesn’t change the fact that the team and the team’s fans are paying the price.Now what, Bryan?
via Tom Benjamin’s NHL Blog » Blog Archive » The Heatley Soap Opera.
From Russo’s Rants: [Wild] Prospect Tournament Info
As you can see, a lot of tryout players had to be added to fill out the roster because the Wild doesn’t have a lot of eligible players due to having few draft picks in recent years.
via Russo’s Rants » Blog Archive » Prospect Tournament Info.
Submitted for a little perspective.
From Don Brennan @ The Ottawa Sun: Dany Heatley is a Spoiled Sniveling Suck-Hole
It took more than a dozen weeks for the spoiled, snivelling suck hole to grant the media minions he looks at down his nose and the faithful fans who pay his salary a full 15 minutes of his precious summer Friday.
When he did finally complete a weak attempt at clearing the stench that hovers over his trade demands, Dany Heatley had somehow managed to shave even more layers off his eroding star.
You did yourself and the Senators more harm than good with Friday’s conference call, Dany Boy.
In retrospect, you should have kept your yap shut.
Since word leaked — and really, who the hell cares how it got out? — that Heatley wanted to be moved, most everybody’s reaction has been the same.
Surely, it’s not just about ice time. Surely, it’s not just about how much of a power play he works. The Senators are improving under their new, no-name coach. That’s what matters, right? Surely, there’s something else, something personal causing Heatley to sully his reputation so badly.
Well, Friday he had the chance to do a little repairing. All he had to say was “there’s something else, something personal.” There would have been no follow-up questions. Do reporters ever ask him how he’s dealing with the death of Dan Snyder? No.
He wouldn’t have had to elaborate had he a “personal” card to play. But he didn’t, because he couldn’t. There is nothing else.
This is all about what he calls his “diminished role.”
Unbelievable, isn’t it? Oh, yes, and what a hot, steaming load of crap, too.
via Dany’s power play fails | Don Brennan | Columnists | Sports | Ottawa Sun.
BREAKING: Dany Heatley Requests Trade from Team Canada
Apparently miffed that he was required to read aloud in preparation for Team Canada’s orientation camp, and irked by his reduction in ice-time over the last three years, Dany Heatley has asked to be dealt and has submitted a short list of countries he would prefer to have been born in. More here.
Why Heatley to Kings Doesn’t Make Sense (but still might be good)
Matthew Barry just posted Why Heatley to LA Makes Sense. I’m of two minds. One of my minds could talk myself into pretty much anything. The other has a low tolerance for locker-room poison (e.g. Cammalleri, Blake, Avery). For the sake of argument, though, I’m going to pretend to agree with Matthew’s assertion that Heatley couldn’t possibly pull the same stunt twice (asking for a trade, etc.), because then he would really be toast and would have nowhere to turn but the KHL. I would like to believe that. I would have to believe it once he was here. But I don’t believe it really.
Nevertheless, let’s pretend.
So…what would the Kings have to give up?
I don’t agree that it would be young prospects. First of all, the Kings would need to clear some salary, otherwise Heatley puts them a couple of million over the cap. So someone with a real contract would be going the other way. Who are the candidates? Kopitar? No. Smyth? No. Williams? Have to say no, because that would be weird. Frolov? Call that a maybe (especially given the LW logjam Heatley’s arrival would create — see below, unless I forget to come back to it). Handzus? Well, it’s possible. Brown? People would riot, so…no. Stoll? Maybe. Greene? No. Scuderi? No. That’s it.
So you’ve got yourself Frolov, Handzus and Stoll as options.
Getting rid of one of Stoll or Handzus would weaken us in the faceoff circle, but would eliminate the annoying $4MM fourth line center problem. So that’s got to be an attractive option, even if it would (in the case of Handzus) put a significant dent in Terry Murray’s team defense.
Trading Frolov for Heatley is in my opinion a non-starter. Because I think Frolov will score 35-40 goals this year, and Heatley will score a couple more, maybe 40-50 goals. But that’s for a cap hit of $4MM over Frolov’s cap hit, and at the expense of team defense, since Heatley doesn’t do that. So that seems like a trade that would create more problems than it would solve, just to get 10 extra goals.
Now, what about Stoll or Handzus? Okay, let’s just say it’s one of them. Could I live with that? Maybe. We’ll have to look at what the lines would likely be (more on that later). First, though, we have to finish looking at who else would be part of the package.
The Edmonton deal nixed by Heatley had Edmonton sending Cogliano, Penner and Smid. I immediately notice that this is only about $1MM in cap relief for Ottawa. Let’s tailor a deal that mimics the Edmonton deal. Stoll/Handzus/Frolov is the Penner. Who is the Cogliano? Cogliano is a young center with two seasons under his belt, 18 goals each season, former 1st round pick, on an entry level contract. Who is the Kings’ version of this?
Moller, Simmonds or Purcell. Maybe Lewis. [Cogliano is a step up from Lewis or Purcell at this point in their careers, so maybe a prospect gets tossed in.] For me, personally, trading either of Moller or Simmonds would be unforgivable. I think (hope) that Lombardi feels the same way, since they are two of his success stories thus far in his Kings tenure. Purcell or Lewis? I like them both, but under the right conditions, I might be willing to let them go. In any case, we can call it one of Handzus/Stoll, one of Purcell/Lewis, and …
…who’s the Smid of this deal?
The obvious comparable is Jack Johnson. And that can’t happen, can it? It could, but I don’t want it to. In that case, the deal would probably be something like Handzus, Purcell, Johnson. If not Johnson, the other options are a couple of prospects, like, say, Voynov and Zatkoff or Jones.
(Ottawa is going to want more than Handzus, Purcell and Johnson — e.g. Frolov, Moller, Johnson and a pick — but I’m trying to come up with something I can live with, as a Kings fan who over-values his prospects and doesn’t like n’er-do-wells.)
I mean, Lombardi isn’t going to be able to foist Richardson and Ivanans on them, is he? That would be like getting Smyth for Quincey and Preissing. What? Oh.
Okay, let’s see what the line-up looks like if we give up Handzus, Purcell and Johnson.
Heatley/Kopitar/Williams
Smyth/Stoll/Brown
Frolov/Moller/Simmonds
Zeiler/Lewis/Harrold
(Ivanans)
Scuderi/Doughty
Drewiske/Greene
Hickey/SOD
The thing that leaps out at me about this is that (1) we are over-loaded on the left side, (2) we now have one experienced D on the power-play (Doughty), (3) our fourth line is going to suck, and (4) we will have no shut-down line.
Let’s try it with Stoll instead of Handzus.
Heatley/Kopitar/Williams
Smyth/Moller/Brown
Frolov/Handzus/Simmonds
Zeiler/Lewis/Harrold
(Ivanans)
Scuderi/Doughty
Drewiske/Greene
Hickey/SOD
Better, because now Frolov is in a defensive role, on a shut-down line, and it’s a line that worked last season. But still the fourth line is garbage, and we’ve got a problem on the power play at the point.
And about that crowding on the left side? There’s no chance Frolov is going to stick around willingly to be third on the depth chart behind Smyth and Heatley. So he would be gone next summer…except not because Lombardi would deal him before he could walk, so he would be traded this season, so we’re back to trading Frolov’s 40 goals for Heatley’s 50 (whatever numbers you actually think they’re capable of, I think it’s not really debatable that Heatley is good for about 10 more goals than Fro, at best).
Now, Lombardi could easily sign a couple of crusty old dudes to skate on the fourth line, instead of Zeiler, Ivanans and Harrold. And he could do the same on D, signing — say — Mathieu Schneider for peanuts and using him on the power play. That would be kind of cool, I grant you. So that kinda sorta works. Especially for the one season where Frolov is still here and Smyth isn’t too old yet. That line-up would look sorta like:
Heatley/Kopitar/Williams
Smyth/Moller/Brown
Frolov/Handzus/Simmonds
Lewis/[Chris Gratton]/[Rob Neidermeyer]
(I picked two available names, but you get the idea)
Scuderi/Doughty
[Schneider]/Greene
Hickey/SOD
Drewiske
That’s workable. But the whole point of adding Heatley falls apart when Frolov leaves, unless someone steps up to take Frolov’s place. Loktionov? Okay, maybe. And he’s on the 2nd unit with Moller (not this season, but 2010-2011), and Smyth drops to the Handzus line. Or something. It’s problematic, but I can see it. I don’t really like it, but I can see it. Question is, are any of these iterations better than this:
Frolov/Kopitar/Williams
Smyth/Stoll/Purcell
[Mikus-Elkins-Wudrick-King-Azevedo]/Moller/Brown
Lewis/Handzus/Simmonds
Scuderi/Doughty
Johnson/Greene
Hickey/SOD
Drewiske
I don’t know. I don’t think so.
This is a Pointless Exercise
But still I find myself thinking about it. Because it’s August.
The following jersey numbers are unclaimed as of now:
4 – last worn by Rob Blake. Reserved for Hickey?
10 – last worn by Alyn McCauley. Reserved for Schenn?
12 – last worn by POS
19 – last worn by Kyle Calder
21 – last worn by Denis Gauthier
22 – last worn by Brian Boyle. Hold for TWO-bert (see below).
25 – last worn by Matt Moulson
27 – last worn by Kyle Quincey
29 – last worn by Jeff Giuliano
and blah blah blah, who cares after that?
Teubert wears #20 for Regina, but that’s obviously not available. He wore #2 for Team Canada, and that’s not happening. Oh, I get it: TWO-bert. He likes 2′s. So he’ll take 22. Duh. Loktionov will take #90, right (his Windsor number)? But we still need a good 12, 19 and 21.
Goal Differential: How the Non-Playoff Teams Can Become Playoff Contenders — NHL FanHouse
NHL Fanhouse corroborates what I said earlier about the Kings’ playoff chances being tied to goal differential (post here). I said the Kings needed to add 38 goals while cutting 4 goals against. They say (see below) the Kings need a 47 goal improvement; I said 42 would do it. I based my numbers on eyeballing the numbers. He actually crunched the numbers. So his 20 goal differential is probably more accurate than my 15.
If we go back to the 1999-2000 season, there have been 144 playoff teams in the NHL, and of those teams, 134 finished the regular season with a positive goal differential. Ninety-one finished with a differential greater than plus-20, and only two playoff teams finished with a differential worse than minus-10 only 10 teams had any kind of negative differential.What does that mean for last years non-playoff teams? Lets take a look.Since the 99-00 season, only two teams have finished the regular season with a differential greater than plus-20 and missed the playoffs the 2001-02 Oilers and the 2006-07 Avalanche. That said, lets go ahead and say that if you finish the season plus-20 you are, at the very least, in serious contention for a playoff spot. After all, since the start of the decade 91 of the 93 teams that finished with such a mark made the playoffs.
…
Los Angeles Kings
2008-09 goal-differential: -27
Needed Improvement: 47 goal improvement — (Example: score 24 more goals and allow 23 fewer goals). Excellent young team. Talented forwards, young defense, they spent the offseason adding experience and grit (Ryan Smyth, Rob Scuderi) and if they can get even competent goaltending, the playoff drought could end in Los Angeles.
via http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2009/08/19/goal-differential-how-the-non-playoff-teams-can-become-playoff/
[UPDATE: I also did a little estimate of how the Kings could score 250 goals here]
Kings Franchise All-Jersey-Number Hall of Shame Squad
Even more subjective than the last post, but a kind of obvious companion to it. I did not consider anyone pre-black-silver-Chevron era, because my memory is not good enough to recall people I disliked pre-…(um)…Mikko Makela. And it wouldn’t be fair.
Again, the rules are: to qualify, you have to be, according to me, the lamest person in Kings history ever to wear a given number.
I noticed as I was compiling the list that there are really only two catagories of shame. (1) Veterans who played great for someone else and sucked for us; (2) draft picks and prospects that didn’t pan out. Seven defensemen, four goalies, 27 forwards. So you’d have to cut about 14 forwards and a couple of goalies to get down to a properly shameful squad of 22. I would cut the future Hall-of-Famers or other sorta-stars who came to LA to suck: Roenick, Ronning, Fuhr, Carter, Tocchet, Stevens, Ferarro, Parrish, Straka, Heinze. Gotta cut two more. Okay, Klima, Tambellini. And two goalies have to go. Knickle and Fuhr. Okay, so here is the full expanded roster, with the opening night line-up following:
| 1 | Rick Knickle |
| 3 | Denis Tsygurov |
| 5 | Aki Berg |
| 6 | Maxim Kuznetzov |
| 7 | Cliff Ronning |
| 8 | Rene Chapdelaine |
| 9 | Ilkka Sinisalo |
| 10 | Alyn McCauley |
| 11 | Anson Carter |
| 12 | Sylvain Couturier
Marko Tuomainen |
| 14 | Kyosti Karjalainen |
| 21 | Kai Nurminen |
| 22 | Rick Tocchet |
| 24 | Mikko Makela |
| 25 | Kevin Stevens |
| 26 | Ray Ferraro |
| 28 | Guy Leveque |
| 29 | Roman Vopat |
| 31 | Grant Fuhr |
| 32 | Roman Cechmanek |
| 33 | Jan Vopat |
| 37 | Mark Parrish
Patrice Tardif |
| 39 | Dan Cloutier |
| 41 | Brandy Semchuk |
| 42 | Tom Preissing |
| 44 | Lauri Tukonen |
| 47 | Ladislav Nagy |
| 50 | Donald MacLean |
| 51 | Jeff Tambellini |
| 55 | Pavel Rosa |
| 57 | Steve Heinze |
| 62 | Scott Barney |
| 77 | Rob Cowie |
| 82 | Martin Straka |
| 85 | Petr Klima |
| 97 | Jeremy Roenick |
And now, your opening night roster:
MacLean/Makela/Sinisalo
Karjalainen/Nurminen/Tuomainen
Couturier/Nagy/Leveque
Tardif/R. Vopat/Tukonen
(Semchuk: healthy scratch)
(McCauley, IR)
Berg/Tsugurov
Kuznetzov/Cowie
J. Vopat/Preissing
(Chapdelaine)
Cloutier
Cechmanek
Now, you can’t tell me that’s not a bad team.
Ridiculous August Lull Feature: Kings All Jersey Number Team
My utterly subjective opinion on the best, most-distinguished or otherwise most-something-or-other King to wear each number.
“As of now, nobody’s our captain,” says Coach Todd McLellan — plus training camp dates | Working the Corners
Patrick Marleau’s jersey no longer has a C on it.“As of now,” Coach Todd McLellan said Monday, “nobody’s our captain.”
Down Goes Brown: The NHL’s secret plan to regain its popularity – Toronto Maple Leafs Blog – Humor. Commentary. Despair.
Hilarious:
To better attract southern US fans, zambonis will now travel 190 mph, only turn left, and occasionally crash into the end boards and explode.
Random Non-Binding August Line-up Musing
Frolov/Kopitar/Williams
Smyth/Stoll/Purcell
?/Moller/Brown
Lewis/Handzus/Simmonds
(press box: Harrold/Zeiler)
Scuderi/Doughty
Johnson/Greene
Hickey/SOD
Drewiske
Bernier/Quick
From Kukla’s Korner: Escrow
Revenues for 2008-09 have yet to be finalized. But based on current projections, players will earn only 85-87 percent of their contracts because of escrow. For example, Alex Ovechkin, due $9 million in 2008-09, would take home $7.65 million in pre-tax earnings. For 2009-10, escrow could become even more significant to make up for any revenue shortfalls. The 2009-10 figure hasn’t been set yet, but some agents are informing their clients that 20 percent of their salaries could be tucked away via escrow. “You always err on the side of caution,’’ said Andrew Ference, the Bruins’ player representative….
via KuklasKorner : Hockey .
From The Hockey News: Top 10 Roenick quotes [the two I liked anyway, plus bonus Patrick Roy retort!]]
4. “I liked Patrick’s quote, (that) he would have stopped me. I wanted to know where he was in Game 3. He was probably getting his jock out of the rafters of the United Center.”
– On Patrick Roy after Game 4 of the conference semifinal between Chicago and Colorado in 1996. Roy’s retort: “I can’t really hear what Jeremy says, because I’ve got my two Stanley Cup rings plugging my ears.”
[...]
1. “It’s not my fault (Snow) didn’t have any other options coming out of high school. If going to college gets you a career backup goaltender job and my route gets you a thousand points and a thousand games, and compare the two contracts, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out whose decision was better.”
– On Islanders goalie Garth Snow’s response to Roenick complaining about the officiating during a Flyers-Islanders game during which Snow said Roenick wasn’t “that bright.”
via The Hockey News: THN.com Top 10: THN.com Top 10: Roenick quotes.
From The Puck Stops Here: Worst 20 Corsi Rates
“Puck Stops Here” puts another nail in Raitis’s coffin:
Today, I am listing the worst 20 adjusted Corsi rates. The adjustment method involves calculating a player’s Corsi rate while he is on and off the ice and subtracting them to get the adjusted rate attributed to a given player. This is similar to the adjustment that behind the netdoes with on/off ice adjusted +/- ratings.
Here are the 20 worst adjusted Corsi rates from 2008/09 among players with 50 or more games played:
This list appears over-represented by shut down forwards who struggled last season (such as Kris Draper and John Madden). This is in contrast to the counting stat adjustment which is over-populated by shut down defensemen. Neither push puck possession on their teams, but since defencemen tend to get more ice time they tend to lead in a counting stat format, while the forwards have worse overall rates. Nine players appear on both worst Corsi lists after adjustment. They are Kris Draper, Rob Niedermayer, John Madden, Jay Pandolfo, Boyd Gordon, Colton Orr, Lauri Korpikoski, Kurt Sauer, Mike Commodore and Tim Jackman. Three players on this adjustment list are not eligible for the counting stat adjustment since it requires players to play on only one team during the season and they were traded (Travis Moen, Sami Pahlsson and Niclas Havelid). The other players who appear on this list are players who had limited roles on their respective teams (to not get enough ice time to appear on the counting stat list) and failed. Ryan Johnson of the Vancouver Canucks leads this group. He probably played himself out of the NHL last season.
This list is by no means a list of the worst twenty players in the NHL. Many of the shutdown forwards, though they did not have good seasons, are made to look worse because of high calibre opposition. Any player appearing on this list who did not play against top opposition last season did not belong in the NHL. Many of the players in that group will soon find themselves without NHL jobs.
I don’t know why I’m feeling so down on Ivanans lately. I was a luke-warm supporter of his most of last season. Maybe it was that league-topping obstruction penalty stat (among the worst, not THE worst — he might have been THE worst, but I’m too lazy to work it out — whatever the number was, it was ugly). Or maybe it’s just the fact that the roster spot he’s squatting on I would rather be filled by Purcell, Moller, Lewis, etc. etc. and I don’t want to see someone I like get sent down because we need 6 minutes of knuckle-dragging every game. And yes I know he works hard in practice. Maybe he also has a pet mouse he keeps in his pocket, which, one day, in a foreshadowing of what is to come, he will accidentally crush to death in his palm.
“That Little Gnat” (to quote Nick Nickson) attempts comeback (I’m perversely interested…) – via TSN/Dreger
Sources tell TSN Theoren Fleury is attempting a comeback and wants to play in the NHL again.After playing senior hockey last season, Fleury decided in February he was fit enough to give the NHL another try, so he hired a personal trainer and has been working diligently since.Those close to him say he didnt leave the National Hockey League the way he wanted, which is fueling his desire to return.The 41-year-old has been sober for almost four years and has been skating daily in Calgary in the hope that an NHL team is willing to invite him to training camp.Interest in the former Stanley Cup champion wont be enough to clear the way for Fleurys return. He remains under indefinite suspension and would first have to be approved by the NHL and the NHLPAs Substance Abuse programs doctors before reinstatement would be considered.Sources say Fleury recently sent NHL commissioner Gary Bettman a letter acknowledging his comeback bid and has also discussed the possibility with the leagues doctors.At 5 6, Fleury was one of the smallest players in hockey. Intense and fearless, Fleury made a name for himself for more than his stature. He could score, play defensively and lead teams to championships in junior hockey, in the NHL and on the international stage.
Proving that Blogger Rumor Reliability is Inversely Proportional to My Desire for Said Rumor to be True
The Flyers are rumored to have interest in Kings tough guy Raitis Ivanāns.
via HockeyBuzz.com – Eklund – Patrick Eaves to Detroit, Kaberle, Trade Rumor Updates, More.
Two different flavors of wishful thinking in play here. Eklund’s: that he’s reporting something that’s in any way real; mine: that this one time, he’s actually right. Since he gets it right something like 2% of the time, there’s hope. I know, I know. Not really.
Uh, Team Sweden Olympic Invites, or if you prefer: Lidas sköna besked: Sugen på OS – HockeyExpressen – Enda hockeysajten du behöver
Här är första namnen i OS-truppen:
Niklas Kronwall, bDetroit Nicklas Lidström, bDetroit Henrik Zetterberg, fDetroit Jonathan Ericsson, bDetroit Tomas Holmström, fDetroit Daniel Larsson, mvGrand Rapids Alexander Steen, fSt. Louis Daniel Alfredsson, fOttawa Per-Johan Axelsson, fBoston Fabian Brunnström, fDallas Loui Eriksson, fDallas Nicklas Grossman, bDallas Tom Wandell, fDallas Alexander Edler, bVancouver Tobias Enström, bAtlanta Jhonas Enroth, mvPortland Erik Ersberg, mvLos Angeles Jonas Frögren, bToronto Carl Gunnarsson, bToronto Jonas Gustavsson, mvToronto Anton Strålman, bToronto Rickard Wallin, fToronto Niklas Hjalmarsson, bChicago Kristian Huselius, fColumbus Fredrik Modin, fColumbus Samuel Påhlsson, fColumbus Patric Hörnqvist, fNashville Henrik Lundqvist, mvN Y Rangers Joel Lundqvist, fFrölunda Douglas Murray, bSan Jose Robert Nilsson, fN Y Islanders Michael Nylander, fWashington Johnny Oduya, bNew Jersey Mattias Öhlund, bTampa Bay
via Lidas sköna besked: Sugen på OS – HockeyExpressen – Enda hockeysajten du behöver.
Team Canada 2010
Team Canada Summer Training Camp Invitees:
Goaltenders: Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils), Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks), Marc-André Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins), Steve Mason (Columbus Blue Jackets), Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes).
Defense: Jay Bouwmeester (Calgary Flames), Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks), Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim Ducks), Chris Pronger (Philadelphia Flyers), Robyn Regehr (Calgary Flames), Dion Phaneuf (Calgary Flames), Marc Staal (New York Rangers), Shea Weber (Nashville Predators), François Beauchemin (Toronto Maple Leafs), Brent Burns (Minnesota Wild), Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings), Stéphane Robidas (Dallas Stars), Mike Green (Washington Capitals), Dan Hamhuis (Nashville Predators), Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks), Brent Seabrook (Chicago Blackhawks).
Forwards: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), Shane Doan (Phoenix Coyotes), Simon Gagné (Philadelphia Flyers), Dany Heatley (Ottawa Senators), Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames), Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets), Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche), Martin St-Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning), Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes), Joe Thornton (San Jose Sharks), Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning), Ryan Smyth (Los Angeles Kings), Jeff Carter (Philadelphia Flyers), Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks), Milan Lucic (Boston Bruins), Patrick Marleau (San Jose Sharks), Andy McDonald (St. Louis Blues), Brenden Morrow (Dallas Stars), Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks), Mike Richards (Philadelphia Flyers), Derek Roy (Buffalo Sabres), Patrick Sharp (Chicago Blackhawks), Jordan Staal (Pittsburgh Penguins) Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks), Dan Cleary (Detroit Red Wings).
via Team Canada 2010 – A Projected Olympic Hockey Roster for Team Canada .
NHL.com – 2010 Winter Olympics: NHLers (Kings and ex-Kings) dominate Slovak camp – 08/03/2009
2010 Slovakia Olympic candidates
Goaltenders (4): Peter Budaj (Colorado), Jaroslav Halak (Montreal), Jaroslav Janus (Erie Otters, OHL), Jan Lasak (HC Moeller Pardubice)
Defensemen (11): Ivan Baranka (Spartak Moscow), Zdeno Chara (Boston), Milan Jurcina (Washington), Richard Lintner (Dynamo Minsk), Andrej Meszaros (Tampa Bay), Vladimir Mihalik (Tampa Bay), Jaroslav Obsut (Spartak Moscow), Andrej Sekera (Buffalo), Peter Smrek (Severstal Cherepovets), Boris Valabik (Atlanta), Lubomir Visnovsky (Edmonton)
Forwards (21): Lubos Bartecko (SC Bern), Martin Cibak (Spartak Moscow), Pavol Demitra (Vancouver), Marian Gaborik (NY Rangers), Michal Handzus (Los Angeles), Marcel Hossa (Dynamo Riga), Marian Hossa (Chicago), Juraj Kolnik (HC Geneve-Servette), Tomas Kopecky (Chicago), Juraj Mikus (Los Angeles), Ladislav Nagy (Severstal Cherepovets), Peter Olvecky (Nashville), Zigmund Palffy (HK 36 Skalica), Branko Radivojevic (Spartak Moscow), Stefan Ruzicka (Spartak Moscow), Miroslav Satan (free agent), Peter Sejna (ZSC Lions Zurich), Jozef Stumpel (Barys Astana), Marek Svatos (Colorado), Tomas Tatar (HKm Zvolen), Richard Zednik (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
via NHL.com – 2010 Winter Olympics: Olympic Countdown: NHLers dominate Slovak camp – 08/03/2009.
NHL.com – 2010 Winter Olympics: USA Hockey names 34-man roster for Olympic camp – 06/30/2009
Goaltenders
Tim Thomas, Boston
Ryan Miller, Buffalo
Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles
Defensemen
Tom Gilbert, Edmonton
Tim Gleason, Carolina
Ron Hainsey, Atlanta
Erik Johnson, St. Louis
Jack Johnson, Los Angeles
Mike Komisarek, Toronto
Paul Martin, New Jersey
Brooks Orpik, Pittsburgh
Brian Rafalski, Detroit
Rob Scuderi, Los Angeles
Ryan Suter, Nashville
Ryan Whitney, Anaheim
Forwards
David Backes, St. Louis
David Booth, Florida
Dustin Brown, Los Angeles
Dustin Byfuglien, Chicago
Ryan Callahan, New York Rangers
Chris Drury, New York Rangers
Scott Gomez, Montreal
Patrick Kane, Chicago
Ryan Kesler, Vancouver
Phil Kessel, Boston
Jamie Langenbrunner, New Jersey
Ryan Malone, Tampa Bay
Mike Modano, Dallas
Kyle Okposo, New York Islanders
T.J. Oshie, St. Louis
Zach Parise, New Jersey
Joe Pavelski, San Jose
Bobby Ryan, Anaheim
Paul Stastny, Colorado
via NHL.com – 2010 Winter Olympics: USA Hockey names 34-man roster for Olympic camp – 06/30/2009.
Russia invites Frolov to Olympic Camp
The Russian Ice Hockey Federation has named 38 players for their Olympic Summer Camp from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1 in Moscow. The KHL and the NHL contribute with 19 players each.
Goalkeepers: Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix Coyotes, NHL), Simeon Varlamov (Washington Capitals, NHL), Alexander Eremenko (Salavat Yulayev Ufa, RUS), Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose Sharks, NHL).
Defensemen: Vitali Atyushov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk, RUS), Vitali Vishnevsky (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, RUS), Anton Volchenkov (Ottawa Senators, NHL), Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL), Denis Grebeshkov (Edmonton Oilers, NHL), Alexei Zhitnik (Dynamo Moscow, RUS), Sergei Zubov (Dallas Stars, NHL), Dmitri Kalinin (Salavat Yulayev Ufa, RUS), Maxim Kondratiev (Salavat Yulayev Ufa, RUS), Konstantin Korneyev (CSKA Moscow, RUS), Andrei Markov (Montreal Canadiens, NHL), Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars Kazan, RUS), Vitali Proshkin (Salavat Yulayev Ufa, RUS), Oleg Tverdovsky (Salavat Yulayev Ufa, RUS), Fedor Tyutin (Columbus Blue Jackets, NHL).
Forwards: Evgeny Artyukhin (Tampa Bay Lightning, NHL), Maxim Afinogenov (Buffalo Sabres, NHL), Konstantin Gorovikov (SKA St. Petersburg, RUS), Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings, NHL), Danis Zaripov (Ak Bars Kazan, RUS), Sergei Zinoviev (Salavat Yulayev Ufa, RUS), Alexei Kovalev (Ottawa Senators, NHL), Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Trashers, NHL), Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa, RUS), Nikolai Kulemin (Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL), Alexei Morozov (Ak Bars Kazan, RUS), Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals, NHL), Alexander Radulov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa, RUS), Oleg Saprykin (Dynamo Moscow, RUS), Alexander Semin (Washington Capitals, NHL), Alexei Tereschenko (Ak Bars Kazan, RUS), Sergei Fedorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk, RUS), Alexander Frolov (Los Angeles Kings, NHL).
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