Oilers and Canadiens make questionable trades

Fair to say that the last few hours the Hockey world has exploded with the news of two big trades involving the Oilers, Canadiens, Predators and New Jersey Devils. Meanwhile, Steven Stamkos resigned with the Tampa. Which was funnily enough the smallest of the three stories.

The first trade to break was the trade involving the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils involving Taylor Hall, taking 1st overall in 2010. In exchange for this they got Adam Larsson from the New Jersey Devils, taken 4th overall in 2011. I don't watch either of these teams a lot but I understand that Edmonton needed help on defence and New Jersey were looking for help offensively.

But, I feel like New Jersey had less to lose as Damon Severson could take his spot in the line-up. The Oilers have been making sounds for a while about moving a forward but most expected it not to be a top tier guy like Taylor Hall. Yakupov was mentioned a lot with the likelihood that they would then target someone in free agency. There are pitiful to that but they're not as bad as moving a guy like Hall.

There's no denying that Adam Larsson is a dependable guy with a lot of promise and talent, but he is yet to show it whilst Taylor Hall has been a constant threat offensively on an Oilers organisation that has been awful for a few seasons. I feel like the Oilers will regret this trade, especially when they're likely to sign Milan Lucic to replace him. Puljujarvi will be a joker in the pack as well, the Oilers seem to be hinging on him to provide as well to replace Hall. That is a big ask on a recently drafted player.

As if that trade wasn't enough, the Montreal Canadiens outdid the Oilers by traded PK Subban to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Shea Weber. Both players are great defencemen and have great assets to their game. They both play defence well and have booming shots that make them a huge threat to opposition teams. However, I feel Subban is a better player.

There are minor signs last year that Weber is declining in the nuances of the game such as possession and corsi chances for and against. He is also on a much longer contract than Subban and it carries him into his late 30's and early 40's. That's a really troubling area for any player as some can really drop off that late and not recover causing their team problems.

Subban's contract however runs through until he is 33 years old, meaning he will be, ideally for Nashville, coming out of his peak years. The actual money in Subban's contract is slightly greater than Webers at $58m to $54m but the length makes it a real win for the Predators.

I think the biggest affect in this trade though would be the effect on the local charities and community in Montreal that PK Subban was a huge contributor to. He gave a lot of time and money to great causes and whilst in his goodbye message he said he would continue, there are going to be some upset people, upset at losing such a great member of their community and someone who generally helped any way he can. Shea Weber could no doubt end up doing the same but the community grew up with PK Subban, so much so that a wing of a local Children's Hospital is named after him. There will be some wounds there, but over time they'll heal.

All in all, I think the Canadiens and Oilers made bad moves that don't help them going forward and will cause them headaches going down the line. But, I guess we will have to see if this holds up.

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Penguins announce development camp

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced their development camp roster, set to begin tomorrow, today. It has a mix of players currently under contract with the Penguins or Wilkes-Barre Penguins, players drafted by the Penguins and unattached free agents. The camp isn't expected to give much information about who we should sign but if a player performs well he can get a spot in the system and then go from there. A couple of years ago the Penguins had Andrej Sustr in camp and he now plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Penguins announced the roster with 4 goaltenders, 18 forwards and 13 defencemen. Included are four of the players selected in the 2016 draft, Gustavsson, Connor Hall, Niclas Almari and Joseph Masonius. Masonius attended last year, not attending are Bjorkqvist and Jones.

Penguins prospects not attending for various reasons are Daniel Sprong, Jean-Sebastien Dea, Dominik Simon and Josh Archibald. Sprong is injured and the others were involved in a lengthy season, they need some rest and will be back for pre-season camp.

There are four unattached free agents on defence attending. Neal Goff from the NCHC who had 5 points and 24 PIM's in 36 games for Western Michigan. Robert Michel and Matt Petgrave are attending from Maine (HE) and New Brunswick (AUS) respectively. The last unattached defenceman is Dylan Zink, a 23 year old who played last season for Umass-Lowell and had 24 points in 39 games.

On forward there are a handful more, without going into detail the most intriguing are probably Reid Gardiner an overager from Prince Albert who had 92 points in 71 games last season and Cameron Hebig who had 69 points in 59 for Saskatoon. There are a handful others and I may go into more detail on another date. The only other notable is Austin Lemieux, Mario's son. He plays in the USHL but is likely there just as a warm body.

It is best not to look too much into camp but we might see one or two signed as there are spaces in Wilkes-Barre and Wheeling.

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Penguins trade Bennett, draft six

The Pittsburgh Penguins were inactive yesterday in day one of the  NHL draft but had a handful of picks to use today, in Day 2. They managed to pick up a third round pick mid-way through the second round when they traded Beau Bennett to the New Jersey Devils for the 77th pick. Bennett will be joining up with Ray Shero who drafted him way back in 2010.

The Penguins looked and picked mostly defence during the draft but they started it with a goaltender from Sweden by the name of Filip Gustavsson. Gustavsson was named the top goaltender in the U-18 Championship for Sweden, where he won silver. He currently plays for Lulea Jr. in Sweden's Jr league but Pittsburgh said they had him down as the best goaltender in the draft. His skills at rebound control are similar to Murray.

Pittsburgh took a Finnish forward with their second pick, their second in the round and the 77th overall. Kasper Bjorkvist currently plays for the Espoo Blues Jr team in Finland's Jr league and scored 66 points in 45 games for them last season whilst also representing Finland internationally. He is heading to America to attend Providence College so we will be able to see more of him this season. Pittsburgh's scouting team suggested he is only two years from being able to turn pro.

Pittsburgh then went with defence, starting with the 77th overall pick they got in the trade for Beau Bennett. After heading to Scandinavia for their first two picks the Penguins returned to the hotbed of Canada and the OHL. Here, they picked Connor Hall from the Kitchener Rangers. Hall played 39 games last year and put up 2 goals and 7 assist. He also appeared in Canada's U-18 team so had promise.

Pittsburgh then turned to Crown Point native Ryan Jones from the USHL for their next pick. A defenceman as well, he played 60 games for the Lincoln Stars last year and put up 30 points in that span, that put him up as the highest scoring defenceman in the team and fifth overall. He has committed to the University of Nebraska-Omaha next season.

Niclas Almari was the next player to be picked as the Penguins hopped back over to Finland for their second Finn. Almari played in the same league as Bjorkvist but for Jokerit's Jr team. He also played internationally at the U-18 tournament and mentioned that he is a friend of Bjorkvists.

Last but not least, the Penguins turned to their 6th round pick and selected Joseph Masonius. He attended the Penguins development camp in July last year. He is currently attending college at the University of Connecticut where he scored 21 points in 34 games.

It is going to be interesting to watch this group develop as there is a wide range of players there from different backgrounds. With three players in the NCAA they should be easier to watch and keep an eye on.

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NHL release schedule

The NHL have released the schedule for the 100th NHL season of operation and 99th of play. The season will start later than usual due to the World Cup of Hockey taking place in late September. This means it will start on October 13th and finish on April 15th 2017.

It was already announced yesterday that the Penguins would start their season and raise the new Stanley Cup banner against the Washington Capitals on October 13th. They will play the Rangers first in a home and home series between November 21st and November 23rd. The Tampa Bay Lightning will return to the scene of their Game 7 defeat on 8th January after the Penguins week long break. Every team has one this season.

Lastly, the San Jose Sharks will entertain the Penguins in SAP Center early in the season on November the 5th with the return trip being penned in for October 20th, even earlier. There are only 114 days until the new season, looking forward to it. Especially with it being the 50th year of the Penguins existence.

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Fleury question raises issues for the Penguins

One of the biggest stories as the Penguins Stanley Cup run ran unabated was the goaltending situation between Marc-Andre Fleury, the seasoned veteran, and the unabashed and supremely confident rookie in Matt Murray. Murray's performances through the end of the season when Fleury was out with injury and in the play offs have raised questions about the Penguins goaltending situation going forward.

Marc-Andre Fleury is signed to a cap hit of $5.75m for the next three seasons, his contract will expire when he is 34 years old and is holds a No-Movement Clause. Matt Murray is a much cheaper and younger option at $620k for this season and only 22. As soon as the Stanley Cup was hoisted there were news reports that Fleury had indicated a desire to be traded, which indicates he is willing to waive his NMC if he feels the trade is appreciable for his career.

The Penguins have pressing cap concerns with the team currently being around $2.4m over the cap. They do have the luxury of LTIR'ing Pascal Dupuis before the season starts for $3.75m of cap relief. This would give the Penguins around $1.35m in cap space at the start of the season. This makes trading Fleury a priority, as otherwise, we would struggle to fill out a roster and would have to keep it the same as it is mostly.

The Penguins need to be smart when trading Fleury though, they need to do it and get a back-up in for Murray if possible. I think that as good as Murray has been, he isn't ready to be a starter yet and should be slowly phased in over this season. Splitting the season with a competent back-up this season makes the most sense. The ideal player would have a 1 year contract, so that next year, depending on progress, Jarry could take the back-up spot. If the Penguins can't get a trade with a back-up coming the other way, then there are targets available in free agency who could share the load this season.

In terms of trade targets there are two teams that I think are the only realistic destinations. The Calgary Flames and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Flames are in a more demanding need for goaltending but there are fewer pieces that the Penguins would be interested in. The Leafs are a much more viable target and a deal around Jonathan Bernier is much more realistic I think than some I have seen. Any deal involving Bernier would the Leafs to retain some salary as well I think, around 15-20% would be enough. His contract is only for one year so his salary at around $3.5m after retention would be something the Penguins could cope with.

Away from trade targets there are a few veteran targets the Pens could go for in the free agency market should they choose to trade Fleury and not receive a goaltender in return. There are two goaltenders, who would be available for a low cost, that I think the Penguins should look at. Al Montoya and Carter Hutton.

Al Montoya is currently with the Panthers and on the end of a 2 year deal worth $1.05m a year. Montoya has been with the Panthers for two seasons now since being signed in free agency after leaving the Winnipeg Jets. He struggled in his first season posting a 3.01 GAA and a .892 SV% but rebounded alongside the improved Panthers last season with a 2.18 GAA and a .919SV%. 

Carter Hutton is looking to leave the Nashville Predators after they extended Mazanec and is looking for an open spot. Hutton has been a good back-up to Pekka Rinne over the last four seasons with his most impressive season being the year just gone where he posted a 2.33GAA and a .918SV%.

Out of the two above I would be more comfortable with Hutton. He is likely going to be cheaper than  Montoya and has played on a team with a better quality defence than the Panthers have. The Pens defence is one of the best in league and I think he could do well behind it. I think either would be okay for their veteran presence and any help they give Murray but Hutton's experience with the Predators tips him over Montoya's with the Panthers.

In all, there are a few options for the Penguins future in goal. Whether it is either by a trade or by a free agency signing after trading Fleury, it will likely happen in the next fortnight as the longer the  Penguins wait the harder to move Fleury and get that cap space it will be. The highest bet is that he is traded as the draft next weekend.

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How the Penguins won the Cup

The Penguins enjoyed their parade today and they completely deserved all the adulation that was being thrust their way. The first title in seven years for the Penguins and the City knew how to party, throwing one of the best parades in a long while. The look on some of the players face just showed how much it meant to them.

The Penguins have endured a hard play offs through four gruelling rounds and 24 games to claim Lord Stanley's Cup at the end. The series against the Rangers feels a long time ago, it was only two months ago but it feels a lot longer. I guess watching so many high stakes games will do that to you.

Usually all teams that win the Cup are up against the cap and that was no different with the Penguins this year, especially after the acquisition of Phil Kessel in the offseason last year. Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston can also attest to the cap tightness. The Penguins however built their team differently to those.

Sure, the Penguins had their go to guys, their stars. Crosby, Letang, Malkin for example. Players that have been there ages and are called upon to make the difference night in, night out. But the difference with the Penguins was the number of players who experienced their first NHL experience this year or weren't even on the roster last year.

The whole third line, the HBK line, were elsewhere last year. Phil Kessel at Toronto, Carl Hagelin with the Ducks and Nick Bonino in Vancouver. That is a big part of the roster and it shows how well Jim Rutherford has done this season to quickly build a team capable of contending. He has removed the grinders and those who were unreliable and replaced them with quality. Daley, Schultz and Hagelin were all acquired during the season.

Despite the large abundance of younger players on the team the veteran in Matt Cullen added a real different type of player, one the Penguins have been crying for in Craig Adams place the last few seasons. Cullen has had a superb season at the age of 39 and it wouldn't surprise me to see him retire. Can you think of a better way to go out? Mentioning veterans we have to mention Pascal Dupuis and his third cup, despite being injured for a long time. He won't be on the Cup straight away but the Penguins will petition for his name to be included and he will be added.

The rookies on the team did a superb job and did much more than anyone could have predicted. With Fleury ruled out long term you could forgive people for being worried about putting Murray in. He had a few games but no experience in the play offs at this level. Murray stood up and it is likely he takes Fleury's job next year. When you add in the scoring and speed of the likes of Rust, Sheary and Kuhnhackl you get the depth needed and the depth that is incredibly hard to stop.

The Penguins have been lucky this season. They were lucky that when they needed goals their rookies in Rust and Sheary stepped up. There were definitely some games were the puck luck went the Penguins way too but when you're champions those things go your way.

I've enjoyed this run and I won't even forget it. The season is now over and we now have to look forward to the draft and free agency. Will the Penguins repeat? Who knows, I hope so.

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Jones stands tall to take Penguins to Game 6

The Pittsburgh Penguins missed out on the opportunity to win the first championship on home ice and the first title for a Pittsburgh team in Pittsburgh for over 40 years. Instead, the Sharks were able to pull out a win thanks to a strong performance from Martin Jones and a rough start by Murray.

Matt Murray has been superb for the Penguins in these play offs but he had probably the worst start of his professional career, allowing the Sharks two early goals to give them a real leg up. A bit awkward that he had a street named after him for the day. It took Brent Burns just over a minute to give the Sharks the lead.

Brent Burns manoeuvred around Justin Schultz to give him an open shot and slide the puck past Matt Murray short side, one of his weakest points. The Sharks captured on their early dominance to race to a 2-0 lead. Couture continued his charge as the play-offs points leader with a neat tip on Justin Braun's point shot that flummoxed Murray.

The Penguins were playing catch up now and they had to respond. They did so in quite a fashion. Evgeni Malkin scoring on a power play after waiting out the defence to open the shot. Just 22 second later, it was tied. Carl Hagelin scoring off a tip on a Nick Bonino shot up close. Just like that the game was level.

The Sharks exited the first with the lead though after Melker Karlsson tucked one through Murray's legs. From that point out it was the Jones show. The Penguins pressed and pressed and by the end of it they had over 44 shots. But, the Sharks held firm and were able to prevent the Penguins from scoring again. Pavelski scored an empty netter to confirm it.

The Penguins will be disappointed with their performance, no doubt. This is a team that has responded time and time again after a loss in these play offs and they will need to again to avoid a Game 7 at home. No-one in the Penguins camp wants that. Rather annoyingly the league has scheduled three day gaps so we'll have to wait until Sunday night to see if the Penguins can finish it off, finally.

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Resilient performance leads Pens to a 3-1 lead

The  Penguins can become champions on Thursday night after beating the San Jose Sharks 3-1 at the SAP center last night. They can become the first Pittsburgh sports team to win the title on their home turf in Pittsburgh in a long time. But, there is still another game to play at least and the Sharks will push.

The Penguins came into this game after a tough loss in game 3 in over time with a point to prove. After losses Murray was unbeaten and dominant in some big games, most notably Game 6 in the Tampa Bay series. The Sharks were expected to come into this game with a big push to tie the series but they seemed a bit slow and tired compared to previous games.

The Penguins controlled the first period and it where grateful to Martin Jones kicking out a rebound to Ian Cole with just over 7 minutes played in the period. Cole shot the puck as it was bobbling to score his first goal of the play offs and ended his 105 game goalless streak. He couldn't have really picked a better time. The game settled down for the rest of the period and was quite chippy but the Penguins held on.

The next goal didn't appear until early in the second period. The Penguins were given their second power play of the evening. Geno had made a few comments before the game about how he needed to take control of the power play and for the second time in these play offs he followed on his promises. After some neat work on the blue line to keep it in Kessel took a shot. Malkin positioned himself next to the post and tapped it in to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.

The Penguins kept that lead until 8 minutes into the third period when Melker Karlsson scored to finally break Murray for the Sharks. The Sharks could smell blood and pressured the Penguins heavily in the third period. As a result they were able to finish with more shots than the Penguins in the series but they failed to make them count. The Penguins retreated and were able to block a large number of the Sharks chances.

Eric Fehr stuck the dagger into the Sharks hopes at tying the game after Hagelin did an excellent job in keeping the job in the zone right on the line. He spotted Fehr racing into an open lane and passed the puck across. Fehr rifled the shot past Jones to send the Penguins into delirium. The Penguins held on the for the rest of the game and took a 3-1 lead.

With the next game on Thursday I think the Penguins will end it, I hope they do anyway. The chance to win the Stanley Cup at home doesn't come around often. I predict the big guys will step up. This whole team deserves it and I hope it happens.

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Donskoi downs Pens to give Sharks life

The Penguins were a goal away from going up 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final last night but couldn't deliver the winning goal, allowing Donskoi to deliver for the Sharks to give them life and to make the series 2-1 going into Monday's Game 4. Which is now huge. That game is going to see both teams giving it their all.

The Penguins started the game fairly slowly and the Sharks had a few chances but couldn't get any shots off early. The Penguins again were able to outshoot their opponents but failed to get any real quality chances unlike the Sharks. The Sharks are getting quality over quantity and taking their chances, something the Pens could learn from.

The Penguins were lucky to get the lead after a shot by Lovejoy from the line found its way in through Jones. You could have thought that the Pens would put the pressure on and take the game by the scruff but the Sharks came right back and continued to pressure the Penguins defence. Murray had to stand up time and time again. He couldn't do much about Braun's goal where he was screened by his own player, Letang. Based on the periods play though, the Pens would have taken a 1-1 tie going into the first intermission.

The Sharks desire to get on the board really showed in the second period with them dominating the possession of the puck and looking to challenge Murray high up. Despite the Sharks having 9 shots to the Penguins 6. The Penguins managed to edge a lead right at the end of the period. Lovejoy, playing his game of the play offs, took a shot on net which was redirected in by Hornqvist and fooled Jones late. Somehow, Pittsburgh were 2-1 up.

The Penguins just had to see out the third period, a big ask, but do-able. Despite the Sharks only having 7 shots in the third period, they made it count. Joe Thornton sticked up high and earned the Sharks a 4 minute power play. Pittsburgh were able to play the penalty kill superbly and limit the Sharks to just 4 shots on the whole power play, they were unable to stop Joel Ward straight after it expired blasting one from far out in the zone.

Murray should have had that one, it was far out enough to react but it just slipped through. The first bad goal that Murray has given up in a short while. Murray should have maybe done better on Donskoi's over time winner too. The puck was behind the net and Donskoi skated around before turning and firing a shot on his release. The puck went high, Murray's weak spot and crept in. I think Murray was expecting a shot down low and he seemed surprised it found its way in.

Being honest, if you had told me that the Penguins would go into this series with a chance to make it 3-0 in over time of Game 3 I would have taken it. It is 2-1 but the Penguins can respond in Game 4 with the chance of making Game 5 a potential elimination game for the Sharks. Lets go Pens!

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Sheary sends Pens closer to victory

Conor Sheary has had an excellent season. It started with him playing in Wilkes-Barre Scranton and started his stint with the Penguins shortly after Sullivan was hired. Sheary joined on the 15th December and after a decent rookie season with 7 goals and 3 assists in 44 games he has improved in the play offs. Sheary currently has 4 goals and 5 assists in 19 post season games.

The Sharks going into this game were saying all the right things, mentioning the need to make adjustments and you could sense that they would come out all guns blazing to tie the series up going back to San Jose. But, based on the first period, you would be forgiving for thinking that. Pittsburgh again controlled the first period limiting the Sharks to just 6 shots. The Penguins could have taken the lead on the power play after Paul Martin committed a delay of game penalty but the Penguins power play sucks.

The Penguins pressure comes from their speed and depth. Once you think you have gotten rid of one player, another takes their place and continues the forecheck. This was evidenced perfectly on Phil Kessel's opening goal just over 8 minutes into the second period. Dillon was caught on the puck and stripped by Bonino. His pass met Hagelin who managed to pull Jones out of his crease, his cross pass to Kessel gave him an open goal to score into.

The Penguins continued to out do the Sharks on the shot count but the Sharks dug deep, they were perhaps unlucky not to score earlier than the second period through Hertl's diving wrap-around which came off the post. However, they did level the game through Justin Braun with just 4 minutes left. Braun's father in law passed away recently so the emotion for him must have been something. The game really could have gone any way from that point but the Penguins did enough to win it in overtime.

The Penguins had to take their timeout early in the overtime period due to early pressure by the Sharks. But, it was won on a play set up by Crosby off an offensive zone face-off. After winning the draw Crosby played it back to Letang who, instead of shooting, passed it to Sheary into an open spot. His shot went over the shoulder of Jones and into the top right of the net to send the arena into a pandemonium and give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.

The Penguins deserve to be up 2-0. Their speed is giving the Sharks fits but this series is far from over. The Sharks could easily win both games at the SAP Center. They've only lost two games there in the play offs this season. The Penguins are a strong team away from home though. If the Pens win Game 3, then I think we can start believing.

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