SNAP SHOTS
Canada could have crease conundrum with NHL’s looming return to the Olympics ... Retiring players won’t scuttle a team’s cap ... Canes’ Williams calls out COVIDiots
One of the biggest details to come out of the NHL and NHLPA’s memorandum of understanding for a four-year extension to the Collective Bargaining Agreement was that the NHL would be sending players to the 2022 and 2026 Olympics.
The question is who could Canada be sending as its starting goalie.
Would you rather have Carey Price and Braden Holtby or Jordan Binnington and Carter Hart? Would any of those options be better than what the U.S., Finland or Russia has?
When it comes to forwards and defence, Canada is so deep with star talent that Taylor Hall and P.K. Subban were left off the roster that won gold in the 2016 World Cup. Two years from now, it could be Jonathan Toews, Brent Burns and several others who are left off to make way for centres Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Mark Scheifele, wingers Mitch Marner, Jonathan Huberdeau and
Mathew Barzal, along with defencemen Morgan Rielly, Dougie Hamilton and Cale Makar.
But the roster becomes more of a question mark when you move to the crease, especially if you’re asking who will be in net based on how they’ve played this season.
Goaltending was a position of strength in 2010, with Canada relying on Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo to win in Vancouver. Four years later, Price backstopped Canada to gold in Sochi and was in net for the 2016 World Cup.
But a lot has happened in the four years since the World Cup.
Today, the best goalies in the world currently hail from the United States (Connor Hellebuyck), Finland
(Tuukka Rask) and Russia
(Andrei Vasilevskiy).
Will that still be the case two years from now? Well, it depends on whether Price, who will be 34 years old in 2022, can rebound after three straight subpar seasons. Or whether Binnington and Hart, who have combined for only 157 regular-season games, can prove that they are more than just a flash in the pan.
Just to be sure, Canada better work on its power play.
EARLY RETIREMENTS
The new CBA will include a significant change to the rules governing cap recapture penalties. And that sound you heard was Nashville fans breathing a collective sigh of relief.
It turns out Shea Weber can hang up his skates without putting the Predators in financial ruin.
Prior to the new wrinkle in the CBA, teams were subject to substantial financial penalties if a player with frontloaded contract retired before his deal expired. In Weber’s case, despite being traded to the Montreal Canadiens in 2016, the Predators would have been on the hook for $24.6-million had he retired prior to the 2025-26 season because Nashville signed him to the contract. Instead, the penalty cannot eclipse his $7.86-million cap hit, which will be spread out over the existing years of his contract.
Luongo was the first player to retire early with a frontloaded contract. Along with Weber, the rule change could affect Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, Chicago’s Duncan Keith, Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick and Jeff Carter, as well as Minnesota’s Ryan Suter and Zach Parise.
BONUS IS BIGGER
Players received their last pay cheque of the season back in the spring. But they won’t be playing for free when the post-season resumes.
The playoff bonus pool is doubling from $16 million to $32 million this year, with players receiving a minimum of $20,000 for playing in the 24-team post-season tournament. If you are one of the lucky ones to make it to the end and drink from the Stanley Cup, a $240,000 cheque is waiting for you.
HABS NOT GETTING HELP
When it comes to trying to stop Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in the post-season, the Montreal Canadiens could use all the help they could get. Unfortunately, they won’t be getting any.
Unlike last year, when the Colorado Avalanche signed draft pick Makar just in time for the playoffs, teams will not be able to add anyone to their roster who is currently not signed.
That means defenceman Alexander Romanov, who spent this season in the KHL, must wait until 2020-21 before making his NHL debut. It also means that Montreal could have its hands full.
‘SOCIAL DISTANCE OR ELSE’
Stick tap to Carolina’s Justin Williams for encouraging players to tighten their social circle and to call out any teammates who aren’t following distancing rules prior to arriving to Toronto and Edmonton for training camps.
“What you do affects everybody else,” the Hurricanes forward said in a Zoom chat. “That’s pretty much the basis of what a team is anyway, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. But at this point your weakest link can take down your whole team.”
We just hope Vancouver’s Jake Virtanen was listening.
TANEV WANTS TO STAY
Vancouver’s Chris Tanev is in the final year of his contract.
And while there is speculation that the Toronto native might want to play for his hometown team, the Maple Leafs do not have the one thing that the Canucks can offer: An opportunity to continue playing with Quinn Hughes.
“I’d love to stay here and play with Quinn for as long as I’m able to,” Tanev, who had a career-best 20 points in 69 games this season, told reporters. “We played great together ... I think we both enjoyed it.”