THE RESULTS, THE QUESTIONS, & THE FUTURE
What The Puck?!
Written by Chase Howard
The Winners | Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
1st Branch
Season Summation
Well there you have it, folks, no more debate, and no more desperation, just a definitive answer- the Tampa Bay Lightning are the best team in the NHL and are back-to-back Stanley cup champions; becoming only the 18th team to ever win hoist Lord Stanley’s mug on the season’s final day. It took five games for the Lightning to overwhelm the Cinderella Canadiens, although it was almost four as the Canadiens pulled game 4 out 3-2 in overtime, partially due to multiple Lightning near misses and a few Carey Price steals. In game five, the Lightning did what they have done every time over the past two postseasons following a loss, by coming out firing and physically refusing to lose the next one. The series-clinching 1-0 Tampa victory on their home ice at Amalie arena, was the first team to do so since the Blackhawks in 2015, interesting enough at the Lightning's expense. Despite a 4-1 victory, this series was closer than it appears, especially in the later games; there are a few key reasons Tampa pulled out. Firstly, as much credit as Carey Price rightfully gets for the Canadiens even being in the cup final, he should receive some blame for this series as the difference in goaltending was perhaps the biggest reason Tampa went up 3-0, and eventually won the series. Price had 4.39 goals against the average and a .835 save percentage (13 goals on 79 shots) in the first three games. Vasilevskiy had a 1.67 GAA and .948 save percentage (five goals on 97 shots). However, Carey does deserve credit for acknowledging his struggles after game 3 and turning a corner making 32 saves in a 3-2 overtime win in Game 4 and saving 29 of 30 shots in Game 5; at this point, though the Canadiens had to be perfect and needed Tampa to make some mistakes. Vasilevskiy barely made a mistake all series and when the chips were down in game five he brought the hammer down shut outing on MTL despite a desperate and relentless assault of more than 30 shots. Tampa’s star players deserve much praise as they were relentless in this series.
Despite broken ribs Nikita Kucherov led the playoffs with 32 points (5 in the finals) Steven Stamkos was tied for second in goals and third in points, Brayden Point stepped up in the clutch scoring multiple winners and leading the playoffs with 14 goals and Victor Headman was a force on the blueline blocking shots scoring goals and continue laying the body. After the game when asked about the future Tampa head coach Jon Cooper said “I guess we'll see if we can three-peat,". That will be a tall order as the Lightning are currently over the cap, have multiple players hitting free agency, and will lose a player to the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft; either way at least for the next year or so the Tampa Bay Lightning are the undisputed kings of the hockey world.
2nd Branch
NHL expansion draft
Speaking of the expansion draft, that is creeping up on us and while other teams are at home, on the links, or drinking champagne if you are lucky enough to be a Lightning member, change is looming. The Seattle Kraken front office is hard at work planning for the formation of their inaugural roster. The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, which is scheduled for July 21, will be under the same rules for the Kraken as the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017. The Kraken will select one player from each team (excluding the Knights) for a total of 30 skaters (14 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goalies). Seattle must choose a minimum of 20 players under contract for the 2021-22 regular season and those with an aggregate Expansion Draft value that is between 60-100 percent of the prior season's upper limit for the salary cap.
The Kraken is not allowed to buy out players chosen in the Expansion Draft earlier than the summer following its first season. The Kraken has an exclusive window from July 18-21 to interview and potentially sign pending free agents who were left unprotected in the expansion draft. If they sign a player in that window it counts as their pick from that players' former team. With regards to other teams all players with no-movement clauses at the time of the draft, and who decline to waive those clauses, must be protected and will be counted toward their team's applicable protection limits. All first- and second-year professionals, and all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection and will not be counted toward protection limits. The Krakens first game will be September 26th against the Vancouver Canucks (I'm already excited).
3rd Branch
Top five questions going into the offseason
My top five questions going into the offseason (not counting who will get taken in the expansion draft) are…
Is there going to be a breakdown in Buffalo? Namely, will Jack Eichel be healthy, and if he is will it be in a Sabres uniform?
While we are on the Sabres, Buffalo will take number one in this year's draft. Will top-rated skater defenseman Owen Power be the pick, and will he even play if so, as Power has said leaning toward going back to the University of Michigan for his sophomore season regardless of his draft placement
We touched on this above but how will the Lightning handle their cap issues because of the salary cap remaining at $81.5 million. They only were able to navigate the salary cap this season because they had more than $17 million in long-term injured reserve (LTIR) relief with forwards Nikita Kucherov ($10.5 million), Marian Gaborik ($4.875 million), and goalie Anders Nilsson ($2.6 million) on LTIR for the entire regular season. That relief won't exist next season, as Kucherov will presumably play, and the contracts for Gaborik and for Nilsson will expire.
With nothing ratified yet, we are likely to get a definitive answer for whether NHL players will be in the 2022 Beijing Olympics. As part of the extension of the collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players' Association, the NHL committed to sending players to the 2022 Winter Olympics, provided certain conditions could be met. The NHL, NHLPA, and International Olympic Committee remain in discussions regarding those conditions, now there are the adding wrinkles of Covid and its protocol.
Will the Great Eight Alexander Ovechkin re-sign with the only NHL team he has ever known in the Washington Capitals or will he take his legendary goal-scoring prowess elsewhere in the hunt for more cups and records? Furthermore, on the back nine of his career how much is one of the greatest scorers to ever hit the ice worth?
Quick Hits
Vladimir Tarasenko seems to be on his way out of St. Louis as multiple reports claim he has requested a trade, and the relationship between him and the Blues front office is broken beyond repair. If (when) he is traded, what will it be for and what player will teams be getting, the guy who scored at least 33 goals in five straight years or the guy who played in only 34 games and underwent three shoulder surgeries in the last two seasons.
Bryan "Bugsy" Watson passed away on Thursday. The former NHL defenseman was 78. Watson played 877 NHL games for the Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Oakland Seals, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, and Washington Capitals in 16 seasons from 1963-79. He scored 152 points (17 goals, 135 assists) and had 2,214 penalty minutes. Watson was the NHL all-time leader in penalty minutes when his career ended. It has been said that Watson, at 5-foot-9, 175 pounds, "may be at the same time the best-liked or least liked but the most admired player in the National Hockey League."
The Canadiens losing the cup final has not shaken their faith in the team, as they apparently are looking to resign Dominique Ducharme after his February promotion ending in a Stanley Cup finals loss. The good feelings extend to players as Corey Perry announced he wishes to return for his 17th NHL season if the Canadiens will have him. Given this sentiment and the play of some young guys this postseason, t
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