two weeks to fix a franchise
With the National Hockey League draft taking place on Sunday in New Jersey and NHL free agency right around the corner, the league’s general managers will have a chance to retool or reload for the next season. Throughout the week, we’ll look at the seven Canadian teams and the moves they could make for 2013-14.
2013 season 19-25-4, fourth in Northwest, 13th in West First-round picks No. 6, No. 22, No. 28 Moveable pieces Already out the door Buyout-bound Forget buyouts, the Flames are going to have to work to get to the cap floor.
What should happen The Flames should fire Jay Feaster — well, wait until after the draft and free agency, because it’s really too late to do it now. The team realized it was rebuild time about three years late and then retained the bad general manager who kept going all in and missing the playoffs all in the same, haphazard stroke.
What shouldn’t happen Given the events of every summer and season for the last five years, band-aid solutions are no longer an option. Mostly because they no longer exist. Feaster (and prior to him, Darryl Sutter) had tried to build around a solid first line, a good defence and a franchise goaltender. Now he’s starting from scratch, with a forward group that has no real identity and a defence led by … Mark Giordano. Staying away from the best free agents is all but a certainty. Or should be.
Immediate needs With Miikka Kiprusoff’s impending retirement, a starting goaltender. But that problem seems to be at least theoretically solved with the signing of KHL dynamo (and former Tampa Bay Lightning backup) Karri Ramo. Though Ramo never recorded a goalsagainst average below 3.00 or a save percentage above .900 in parts of three seasons with Tampa, he didn’t have a GAA above 2.00 or a SV% below .925 in his last four seasons with Avangard Omsk.
Best-case scenario The Flames use all three first-round draft picks and hit the jackpot down the road on the lower picks, or package them to move up and grab one of Nathan MacKinnon or Jonathan Drouin. Or Alexander Barkov.
Worst-case scenario Feaster goes full band-aid, signing Mike Ribeiro to a six-year deal, and gives big four-year contracts to Michael Ryder, Mason Raymond and Pascal Dupuis. Wheeeeee!
Post-script Calgary currently has seven players and US$21million in cap space committed for the 2014-15 season … Hobey Baker finalist
2013 season 24-21-3, second in Southeast, ninth in the East First-round picks No. 13. Moveable pieces Alex Burmistrov started the season in a topsix role, but the eighth overall pick in the 2010 draft eventually played himself into coach Claude Noel’s doghouse.
Buyout-bound Considering the Jets have the second-most available cap space of all NHL teams, the answer is no one.
What should happen The Jets, who finished four points out of a playoff spot, have ridden the euphoria of being back in Winnipeg for long enough and need to take a big step forward. That starts with the forward crop. While Blake Wheeler (19 goals), Andrew Ladd (18) and Evander Kane (17) led the offence, Winnipeg was in the middle of the pack in goals scored because of a lack of depth. First-round pick Mark Scheifele should be ready to make a full-time contribution, but the Jets have to bring in skilled players for him to play with.
What shouldn’t happen Winnipeg cannot continue to plug holes with over-the-hill veterans. At one point last season, the third line consisted of Nik Antropov, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Kyle Wellwood. Any Leafs fan will tell you that is a recipe for disaster. Instead, head coach Noel, who received a one-year extension this week, has to put more trust in his young players. That means keeping Scheifele up for the entire year and giving Burmistrov another chance to prove himself.
Immediate needs Wheeler (pictured below), Burmistrov, Bryan Little, Zach Bogosian and several other smaller pieces need to be re-signed. After that, Winnipeg should still have enough money under the cap to pick up a couple of top-six forwards, a backup goalie and a defenceman in case Tobias Enstrom get injured again.
Best-case scenario Teemu Selanne decides to end his career where it began. And while picking up ex-Leafs has not exactly worked in the past, free agent Clarke MacArthur brings his 20-goal potential to Winnipeg as a possible linemate for Scheifele.
Worst-case scenario No one wants to play in Winnipeg, leaving the Jets to once again scrape the bottom of the free agency barrel or overpay for mediocre talent. Instead of Mike Ribeiro and Ian White, they get Tim Connolly and Ryan O’Byrne.
Post-script Do the Jets, who benefitted by playing in a weakened Southeast Division, take a step backwards under realignment? Is Dustin Byfuglien, who has reportedly ballooned to more than 300 pounds, able to shed a few? And will Noel last the season, even with his one-year extension?