Ovechkin needs some more time
The Bruins next Saturday night will be in Washington, where Alexander Ovechkin won’t be inching anywhere near Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal mark, and Evgeny Kuznetsov, another key figure in the Capitals’ Cup win in 2018, exited stage south for Carolina at the trade deadline.
Your faithful puck chronicler didn’t envision either of those scenarios prior to 2023-24 unfolding.
Ovechkin’s goal production, though improved of late, has been but a trickle most of the season. Headed into weekend play, he stood 23-31–54, his goal total at 845. The graying, 38-year-old Big Russian Machine won’t flirt with the Great One’s career haul of 894 over this final month, and based on production these last six months, would be challenged to do it next season. He has two more years ($9.5 million cap hit) on his deal.
The Capitals, frustrated with Kuznetsov’s dip in production in recent years, dumped the 31-year-old center to the Hurricanes for a fire sale price (Round 3 pick). An elite talent, Kuznetsov had a recent stay in the Players’ Assistance Program and had been waived to AHL Hershey, the latter a move to set the wheels in motion for his change in scenery.
“Frustration on both sides,” GM Brian MacLellan noted in the days leading to the deal.
The Capitals not only took a pittance in return, but also retained half of Kuznetsov’s $7.8 million annual payout, through next season. That’s the definition of a motivated seller.
Meanwhile, Kuznetsov in Carolina has rejoined old Capitals buddy Dmitry Orlov, who had a brief stay on the Boston backline after last year’s trade deadline. In his first eight games with the Hurricanes, Kuznetsov posted a respectable 2-3–5 and the playoff-bound Hurricanes were 7-1-0 with him in the lineup. The sides met Friday night for the first time since the swap.
They put in their time
James van Riemsdyk, a veteran of 1,004 regular-season games entering Saturday, will be looking to build on his playoff résumé of 71 games when the Bruins start Round 1 next month.
The 71 looks somewhat light in comparison to the 1,004, particularly on a Boston squad that, for instance, showed Charlie McAvoy already with 78 playoff games upon JVR’s arrival. Prior to this season, McAvoy had logged only 380 regular-season games.
JVR, yet to play for a Cup winner, for playoff experience is well ahead of some NHLers, including a couple who likewise are active, with 1,000-plus games and extra-light playoff workloads.
The five players in that 1,000 group who are the most postseason deprived: Olli Jokinen, 1,231 games, six playoff games; *Sam Gagner, 1,042 and 11; Matt Stajan, 1,003 and 17; Andrew Cassels, 1,015 and 21; *Kyle Okposo, 1,047 and 24.
* — Gagner began this season with Edmonton, but currently is with AHL Bakersfield; Okposo was traded from Buffalo to Florida on March 8.
Still waiting for big move
For now, and for who knows how long, the Coyotes look like they’ll remain a dinky-rink operation next season and play their 41 home games at cozy-and-claustrophobic Mullett Arena (seating capacity: 5,000).
The never-say-die franchise has yet another big hurdle coming in June when a sizable land parcel in North Phoenix goes up for auction. If Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo wins the bid (appraised value a little less than $70 million), that acreage could be where he finally puts up paradise, with a parking lot and his bucket of pucks.
If not, by June it already will be too late for the Desert Dogs to go anywhere else for the 2024-25 season. Meanwhile, with Salt Lake City and Atlanta (Act 3?) eager to secure a franchise, be it by expansion or transfer/sale, another failed land deal in Arizona could be what finally convinces NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and his fellow Lords of the Boards to force Meruelo into selling. Price: upward of $1 billion.
What has happened in Arizona ever since the Jets moved there and set up shop in 1996 would be considered too farcical for, say, Netflix to attempt a “Ted Lasso”-like fictionalized version of the world’s top hockey league trying to make a go of it in the desert. Trent Crimm, ex- of The Independent, no doubt would be hired to handle media relations and coaching duties.
Loose pucks
Rumors persist that Boston’s TD Garden and Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena will be the anchor cities/arenas for next season’s inaugural Four Nations FaceOff, involving players from the US, Canada, Sweden, and Finland (a quiet moment here, please, for Czechia’s forgotten sons). Logically, Boston would serve as home base for the US and one of the Scandinavian teams. The NHL will suspend its schedule after games of Feb. 9 and tourney play will begin two days later, following two days of workouts. The gold medal game will be Feb. 20. Non-participating players will return to their NHL clubs for practices beginning Feb. 18 and the Original 32 will return to regularly scheduled programming Feb. 22 . . . In that legendary Eric Lindros deal of June 30, 1992, involving Chris Simon, the Flyers also sent Peter Forsberg to the Nordiques. That should have been enough, but the faded Broad Street empire, enraptured with L’Enfant Terrible’s size, also surrendered
Steve Duchesne, Ron Hextall, Mike Ricci, Kerry Huffman, and a pair of Round 1 draft picks . . . Prior to the Bruins arriving in town for Saturday’s matinee, the Flyers went back-to-back games without center Sean Couturier, finishing with a win over the Maple Leafs and an OT loss to the Hurricanes. Coach
John Tortorella opted to scratch the healthy Couturier, only a month after the latter was named captain. Couturier: “Definitely frustrating, the way I’ve been treated lately.” Tortorella: “I need him to be better, that’s all.” It’s a highrisk move by the irascible Tortorella, one justified largely by a coach trying to prevent his club from slipping out of the playoff race. No telling how potential consequences play out the rest of this season or going forward. Well liked by teammates, Couturier, 31, has six more years on his deal ($7.75 million AAV) . . . The Bruins, after Saturday with 10 games to go in the regular season, have a shot of finishing first overall for a second straight season. If so, they will have done it with two captains, with Brad Marchand taking over this season for the retired Patrice Bergeron. Per the NHL, that has not happened since the Canadiens did it in the seasons ending in 1961 and ’62. Doug Harvey captained the 1960-61 Habs, followed by Jean Beliveau in 1961-62 . . .
Tom Johnson, a core defensemen on the great Habs teams of the 1950s coached by Toe Blake, noted years later how tough Blake could be on players, no matter their position or status. “Including the Rocket,” Johnson recalled, referring to the legendary Maurice Richard. “He’d reach from behind the bench, grab Rocket by the collar, and really give it to him, for everyone to hear. That’s OK. Everyone else on the bench sees it and thinks, ‘Ya know, if he’s giving it to Rocket, what about me?’ ”