from Sam Fels of Deadspin, As is always the case, every so often you look up and wonder, “Hey, how come I haven’t heard from the NHL in a while?” And the answer always comes back, “Oh right, because they’re galactically stupid.” And then you go on about your life. It’s good to have solid things to hold onto at this point in time, to make sure the current doesn’t carry you off into madness. You haven’t heard much about the NHL because they can’t, as it was ever thus, unfuck themselves. As we’ve briefly covered, because the info and news only drips out, they’re currently struggling to find a start date, or system, for the 2020-2021 season as the owners attempt to claw back things they already agreed to in order to get the playoffs off the ground last summer. Needless to say, the players are less than thrilled, and have answered the owners’ request with a specific finger. continued

This tweet raised eyebrows yesterday...Reason: hearing that NHL/NHLPA engaged in recent days about a Jan 15 start, with training camps opening approximately two weeks earlier. Number of games would be in the 50s. We will see where this goes over the next few days. https://t.co/pRwAXiE0QX — Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 4, 2020

“How much revenue was going to be created [this season] was certainly accounted for. The agreement was made four or five months ago … and we prepared for different scenarios that could happen. It’s not like we did this agreement in January and then the pandemic hit and it’s a different world we’re living in. This agreement was negotiated with all this in mind and trying to map out the next few years.” “We wanted to get a little bit of stability to the industry, and to help teams and players plan for different things going forward, As players, we’re ready to roll and ready to play and uphold the agreement. We’re just waiting to hear from the owners, but we’re ready to get started.” -James van Riemsdyk of the Philadelphia Flyers.  Sam Carchide of the Philadelphia Inquirr has more on this topic.

Why have Alexis Lafreniere and Jack Hughes been denied the chance to play in the World Juniors by their respective clubs? Could there be a number of outdoor games with fans when the season starts? TSN Hockey Insiders Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun and Frank Seravalli discuss this and more. more and watch the segment too...

from Rick Westhead of TSN, The NHL Players’ Association’s lawyers are investigating whether to file an unfair labour practice complaint with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) or pursue a grievance with an arbitrator if the NHL decides to cancel the upcoming season, two people familiar with the matter told TSN. If the league decides against playing the 2020-21 season, a complaint to either the NLRB or an arbitrator would be the process the NHLPA would follow to try to get players paid. continued

Canes GM Don Waddell tells Centennial Authority he thinks games will be played in PNC Arena "sometime in January." Says there could be a resolution of NHL/NHLPA discussions in the next few days concerning number of games this season and salary implications. — Chip Alexander (@ice_chip) December 3, 2020

from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Let’s begin this quickie blog with a caveat: it’s a long shot. But…at least four NHL teams are investigating the possibility of playing home games in outdoor stadia if it will allow them to have fans in attendance. Again, there are no guarantees in COVID times, “but it is being explored,” one executive said Wednesday. None of the clubs would comment, but they are Anaheim, Boston, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. According to multiple sources, it was the Kings who first considered the idea several months ago. Owner Anschutz Entertainment Group also owns Dignity Health Sports Park, located 15 miles from the Kings’ home, Staples Center. continued

via the YouTube page of LineMovement, It's Real Kyper at Noon, Episode 62, as Nick Kypreos is back to catch everyone up on the NHL Offseason, with our first “Roundtable”! Doug Maclean, Allan Walsh, & Ian Pulver join Kyper in discussing the NHL Return to Play in a wide-ranging conversation with each guest providing some unique perspectives through different angles. January 1st was the ultimate goal, but by the sounds of it, that has become increasingly unrealistic in recent weeks. A key discussion point was the battle between the players and owners currently, with Gary Bettman asking to re-negotiate a new, more “covid-friendly” CBA. How can agents help facilitate this problem and get their players back on the ice? The unfortunate part of all of this is the uncertainty and contract negotiations involved, but also the NHL relies on revenue from fans more than almost any professional league. Watch the just over an hour show below.

via the YouTube page of the Detroit Red Wings, Today's episode of The Word on Woodward features Evgeny Svechnikov, Jeff Blashill, The Athletic’s Max Bultman and more! Scheduled to start at 12pm ET and watch below.

from Max Bultman of The Athletic, Nearly 1,200 subscribers took our Red Wings fan survey last week, weighing in on everything from Steve Yzerman’s offseason moves, to 2021 season predictions and the team’s recently announced “Reverse Retro” jersey. How would you rate the team’s recently announced Reverse Retro jersey, from 1-10? There wasn’t much suspense here, as the overwhelming answer was a 1. It didn’t reach majority territory(47.7%) , but it was close, as fans flat-out did not like the plain design. Only about 11 percent of respondents gave it a 6 or better, and just 3 percent gave it an 8 or better. That’s as close as it gets to consensus. Where do you expect the Red Wings will finish the 2021 season in the standings? Fans appear mostly realistic, with more than 80 percent predicting a spot in the bottom five, and nearly 8 percent expecting another dead-last finish. That second number is probably a bit low, considering how far behind the pack the Red Wings were last season, but hockey’s also a sport of variance. Between their offseason additions and the chance of a shorter 2021 season, the Red Wings could potentially creep out of last place but stay in the bottom five. I wouldn’t go much farther than that. You have to admire the belief from the six fans who predicted the playoffs. 15 more questions (paid)

via The Malik Report, Via Aftonbladet’s Mattias Karlsson, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association named its preliminary World Junior Championship team this morning, naming 34 players to what will eventually be a 25-man roster. Red Wings prospects Lucas Raymond (Frolunda), Albert Johansson (Farjestad), William Wallinder (MODO), Albin Grewe (Djurgarden), Theodor Niederbach (Frolunda) and Elmer Soderblom (Frolunda) [edit: and Gustav Berglund (Vasteras) /end edit] were all named to the team.

from Travis Yost of TSN, It has been a subtle shift over time, but scoring in the National Hockey League continues to climb. With no obvious, singular smoking-gun to explain the rising goal totals, hypothesizing continues unabated. We already know that some observable shifts league-wide are helping the cause. The most obvious example? Teams are more aggressive shooting the puck, realizing that shot volume is a better relative driver of goal scoring than shot quality, though both are desirable components.... Shot rates are up, and so too are shooting percentages on those attempts. Why is that important? Players haven’t started to trade out quantity for quality. The proportional increase in shots, to a reasonable degree, can explain why scoring around the league has started to tick up. But it doesn’t serve to answer the question of how teams are creating these additional shooting opportunities, or why offensive shot creation has relatively superseded defensive shot suppression. read on, with charts and graphs...

from Frank Seravalli of TSN, Speaking publicly for the first time since the Stanley Cup Final, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Wednesday at a virtual sports conference that the league’s targeted Jan. 1 start date remains “a work in progress influenced largely by what we’re hearing from medical experts.” Bettman did not move off the Jan. 1 target, no matter how unrealistic it may be to pull off now, while COVID-19 numbers continue to skyrocket across North America and the NHL and NHL Players’ Association remain at odds over the financial terms of the 2021 season. “COVID is going through a second wave, which could be worse than the first wave,” Bettman said. “And between [U.S.] Thanksgiving and the aftermath and what they think is going to happen for Christmas and the aftermath, we are taking our time and making sure that, as we look for ways to move forward, we’re focused on health and safety and doing the right things.” Health and safety concerns are only part of the reason why the NHL has not nailed down a date to drop the puck in 2021. The NHL has requested players defer additional salary for the 2021 season, an ask that temporarily iced communication between Bettman and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr. But on Wednesday, in conversation with FOX Business host Liz Claman at Sports Business Journal’s 2020 Dealmakers in Sports virtual conference, Bettman said the NHL is “not seeking to renegotiate” the six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement extension that was unanimously ratified by owners in July. continued

from Kristy NcNeil of MGoBlue,   THIS WEEK Wednesday, Dec. 2 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 6 p.m. TV: ESPNU | Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio Thursday, Dec. 3 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 6 p.m. TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats • Complete Game Notes (PDF) • Social Media: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team (4-2, 2-2-0-1 Big Ten) looks to bounce back from a weekend setback against Notre Dame when the Wolverines return to the ice on Wednesday and Thursday (Dec. 2-3) to take on Penn State (0-4, 0-4-0-0 Big Ten) in State College, Pa. Both games are scheduled for 6 p.m. puck drops. Wednesday's game will be broadcast live on ESPNU, while Thursday's game will be streamed live on Big Ten Network Plus. read on Thanks to a KK member for the pointer.

via Sportsnet, Burke: Not playing 2020-21 NHL season would be 'catastrophic, devastating' Hockey Central's Brian Burke weighs in on when fans can expect the 2021 NHL Season to commence with Jeff marek and Justin Bourne on Hockey Central.  

If it’s not a “re-negotiation”, what date are NHL camps opening and let’s go! https://t.co/OHU8xh67DS — Allan Walsh (@walsha) December 2, 2020

from Adam Gretz of NBC Sports, In this week’s edition of the NHL Power Rankings we turn our focus to the league’s 31 general managers to see who is at the top of the class and doing the best job building their team. We are looking at a combination of career achievement, as well as current success and the way they have set their team up for the long-term. Who tops the list? The Elites 1. Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche. There is not a team in the NHL that is set up for more long-term success than the Avalanche. The Matt Duchene trade could help set up the defense for the next decade, while he has also taken advantage of his salary cap situation to the past two years to stack the depth chart behind his All-Star top line. 2. Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings. His Detroit track record is obviously incomplete, but he was the main architect of a Tampa Bay Lightning team that has been the NHL’s most successful team over the past six years. That counts. A lot. That is also why he gets such a high mark. read on

How many games do you expect the NHL will play in the regular season? — Kukla's Korner (@kuklaskorner) December 2, 2020

from Mark Madden of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Hockey is a winter sport. That was proven when this year’s Stanley Cup Final, played in late September, drew the final’s lowest rating since 2007. Hockey, baseball, basketball and football overlapped for a while, and that hurt hockey. The playoffs began Aug. 1, and that’s way off the traditional timetable. But the numbers are the numbers. The NHL would basically skip a season. That would hurt the players’ wallets. But what about the owners’ wallets? One report says each team would lose about $150 million if a TV-only season is played. Should the owners be expected to do that? Some have reportedly told Bettman they would prefer to not play. Waiting ‘til October of ’21 isn’t what the players want. A labor dispute would be triggered. But a labor dispute is in progress right now. It’s just not yet being called that. The players would sue. The NHL would justify via force majeure (the pandemic). more

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, Here are 20 questions surrounding the Wings as we await official confirmation, and information, regarding next season. Are the Wings going to be better? The Red Wings were 17-49-5 last season, with 39 points. The next worst team, Ottawa, had 62 points. It’s difficult to be that bad in professional sports. The Wings aren’t going to improve by leaps and bounds, but yes, they can — and will — improve on last season. They can’t get worse. In what areas are the Wings better? Across the board. Yzerman, and his staff, did a fine job of improving the depth and talent level across the lineup. Goaltending, defense, forwards, special teams — all of them — are better from a personnel standpoint. Deeper. There are many more NHL-caliber players in the lineup. That wasn’t always the case last season. more hard-hitting questions...

via Sportsnet's YouTube page, Take a look back to December 2, 1995, a day that would forever alter the paths of Patrick Roy, the Montreal Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche.  

from Eric Macramalla at Forbes, Can the NHL lock out the players? No. Article 7.1(b) expressly provides that the NHL cannot lock out the players during the term of the collective bargaining agreement. Here’s the actual wording in the CBA: “Neither the League nor any Club shall engage in a lockout during the term of this Agreement.” Can the players strike? No. Article 7.1(a) of the CBA provides that the players cannot “engage in any strike” or “work stoppage” during the term of the CBA. The CBA sets out the terms and conditions that govern the employment relationship between the league and its players. Once the sides agree to a CBA, they can’t then backtrack on that agreement. Here, the NHL and the NHLPA extended the CBA in July, and as result, neither side can engage in a work stoppage. So that’s it then—there will be no work stoppage! Well, there’s a wrinkle. The player contract (called the Standard Player Contract, or SPC for short) provides that the league may suspend the season based upon “conditions arising from a state of war or other cause beyond the control of the League.” The phrase “cause beyond the control of the League” is key here. more

The TSN Hockey Insiders discuss the growing frustration from NHL owners in regards to the lack of clarity on the start of the season, the NHLPA sticking to its position so far, the hybrid bubble plan still being the back up plan, the league's focus on four divisions, and much more. Watch at TSN.

via Allan Walsh tweets, The NHL is soft floating the idea with media if no deal with the NHLPA is reached on the Return to Play, it can unilaterally invoke Force Majeure and cancel the 2020-21 season. There are so many flaws to this, I don’t know where to start.  Does the NHL really think it can demand an additional $300M in concessions from players after negotiating the financial terms of the 20-21 season DURING the pandemic 4 months ago? The Players agreed to accept 72% of their contracts due to the pandemic. NHL owners cannot now assert they don’t like the deal, demand $300M more from the Players and if the Players don’t give in, cancel the season by invoking Force Majeure? In reality, if the NHL cancels the 20-21 season because the Players won’t give another $300M in concessions, that is a LOCKOUT, which is expressly prohibited by CBA Art. 7.1 (b). If the NHL lawyers are advising owners they have a winning case here, I suggest they go back to law school. Owners will be subjecting themselves to billions in potential damages if they falsely invoke Force Majeure to cancel the season.

from Rory Boylen of Sportsnet, As we await further news on what a 2020-21 season might bring, here are some other unresolved storylines that will rise to the top again at a later date. REMAINING FREE AGENTS In any normal season the unrestricted free-agent class would be mostly bare this long after the market opened, but for many reasons there are still a handful serviceable and impactful players available to sign. Because of the flat cap at $81.5 million, 16 NHL teams are either over the regular-season ceiling or within $2 million of it. Because of those tight squeezes, other players could still be available at a discount via trade, which is another market for teams who hold cap space to target.... BIG UNSIGNED RFAs AND CAP SQUEEZES IN NEW YORK AND TAMPA BAY While there are some solid players still available on the UFA market, the remaining unsigned RFAs has the better pool of players at the top. If ever there was an off-season for a competitive offer sheet to put a team in a bind this is it, and it's telling we've yet to see one. Some RFAs do take this long to sign in normal circumstances — Brayden Point, for instance, didn't re-up with the Lightning until late September last year.... more on the two topics above plus additional points...

This topic was discussed a few months ago and if my memory is still good, I believe the majority of you were against any kind of deal bring Tyler Johnson to Detroit.  Johnson's AAV is $5M through the 2023-24 season. from Lyle Richardson of Spector's Hockey, Johnson would be a tough sell that could end up costing the Lightning more than they’d like to part with in terms of a sweetener since they can’t afford to take back salary. It’ll be a tricky bit of juggling for Lightning GM Julien BriseBois. Perhaps BriseBois could attempt to move Johnson for a permanent LTIR contract from another club thus providing sufficient wiggle room to re-sign Cirelli and Cernak and remain cap compliant. Some readers have suggested swinging a deal with the Detroit Red Wings to acquire the contract of all-but-retired center Henrik Zetterberg and his $6.083 million cap hit. Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is the Lightning’s former GM and BriseBois’ mentor so there could be a fit there. However, Yzerman might not be keen to take on Johnson’s contract when he’s still got Frans Nielsen on his books for two more years at $5.25 million per season. more on Tampa needing to make a move or two to become cap compliant...

from Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, However, behind the curtain, each NHL team will get what SMT is calling a “fire hose of data.” Players will produce 200 data points a second and the puck will register 2,000 data points a second. More than the sheer quantity of data, it’s the type of information that’s exciting for Ventura. “The data that's currently available publicly really focuses on specific events that happen on the ice,” Ventura said. “A shot. A hit. A faceoff. Things like that. “This data is fundamentally different. Instead of just looking at specific events, it's giving you the locations and the trajectories of all players on the ice and the puck, at every moment in time. It lets you look at things that you would never even be able to begin to explore with data otherwise, things like positioning of defensemen and goalies, how much space is being created by particular players.” By accessing player locations, NHL analysts who can get their hands on this information will be able to refine and create some new metrics. For example, by registering where each player is on the ice for a shot or pass, advanced stats like “expected goals” might be improved. Passing stats, which are not currently tracked by the NHL, will be calculated in new and different ways. By measuring distance between players, the concept of gap control could be analyzed like never before. The impact of a net-front screen can be quantified, and blocked shots can be studied to add some science to some of the most fundamental elements of the game. more, with a bit of a Penguins slant...

from TSN, The NHL is still targeting an early January start for the upcoming season, despite no firm plans for the year being set in place. A league source told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun on Tuesday that the target date for puck drop has not changed as talks with the NHLPA continue. The statement came one day after TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reported Monday that while the league remains hopeful of an early January start, it is also considering postponing the start of training camps until after the holidays. continued

from Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet, So, with some players on the ice playing and others waiting to get started, here is our first look at the Top 32 prospects for the 2021 NHL Draft. 1. Owen Power, D, U of Michigan (NCAA): Playing big minutes in all situations in a great program as a freshman is a rarity, especially for a defenceman. 2. Carson Lambos, D, Winnipeg Ice (WHL): Impressive WHL point totals (32 in 57 games) last season considering he was tasked with the toughest match-ups defensively as a rookie. 3. Simon Edvinsson, D, Frolunda Jr. (SWE): Confident avoiding the first wave of the forecheck before effectively moving the puck. Gets around the ice with ease. 4. Dylan Guenther, RW, Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL): The 2019-20 WHL Rookie of the Year is highly skilled and a point-producing machine. 5. Brandt Clarke, D, Barrie Colts (OHL): Assertive defenceman who is never afraid to join and stay in the rush. more

via Sportsnet's YouTube channel, David Amber is joined by Sportsnet's NHL Insiders Elliotte Friedman & Chris Johnston to discuss whether the NHL is any closer to a firm starting date for the 2020-21 season.  

"Well, Dom was certifiably crazy, but he's a goalie so we excuse that. And he got so upset that night that he ruined a perfectly good shirt. But he might be the greatest player at his position in the history of the game and he was the hardest-working player I've ever seen. There's your vote." -the late Jim Kelley.  Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News has more on Jim Kelley.

from Eric Macramalla at Forbes, Requesting amendments to a ratified agreement is a big deal and the NHL knows that. So to approach the Union for further concessions means the league is seeing something new and material that requires urgent attention. Indeed, the NHL believes that its financial assumptions have so dramatically changed such that this coming season is no longer financially viable within the four corners of the existing framework. So what has changed for the league? It’s fans - or more precisely no fans. The NHL didn’t anticipate that it wouldn’t have fans in arenas this season. Most were expecting some return to normalcy in Fall of 2020. That has now been pushed to at least the Fall of 2021. So there was a belief fans would be back; they will not. That substantially alters the financial outlook for the league. Under the existing framework, players will take home $1.6 billion in salaries. With league revenue hovering around $1.8 to $2 billion without fans in attendance, players would account for 80% of league revenue. That’s a far cry from the typical arrangement of a 50/50 split of league revenue. The NHLPA, however, is banking on an additional $1 billion injection of revenue by way of some fans attending some of the games. If that is indeed the case, then the players would take home closer to 53% of league revenue, which presumably would be far more palatable for both sides. more

from Matt Porter of the Boston Globe, While other sports, slowly but surely, are putting women on the sidelines or in the big chair in the front offices, hockey has been a bit slower to include. There has, however, a spate of hires in the last few years. Taking stock of the NHL from a gender diversity perspective: ? The most visible of women in US hockey has been former Northeastern star Kendall Coyne Schofield, who blazed a lap around the rink at NHL All-Star Weekend in San Jose in 2019 and captains Team USA. This past week, she became the Blackhawks’ first female development coach, working primarily with AHL Rockford. Coyne Schofield, who was a Sharks broadcaster for NBC Sports California while a community liaison for the Blackhawks, will also work as a “youth hockey growth specialist,” focusing on grassroots programs and clinics, implementation of girls’ hockey programming, and the continued enhancement of her namesake all-girls program, the Golden Coynes.... Also working in the Blackhawks’ front office: former Wisconsin standout Meghan Hunter, recently promoted to director of hockey administration and amateur scout, and Mary DeBartolo, hired last year as a hockey analytics coordinator. ? Still 0-0-0 lifetime, the Seattle Kraken hired Cammi Granato, believed to be the first full-time female scout for an NHL team. They also have Alexandra Mandrycky, formerly of the Wild, as director of hockey administration. Mandrycky, who coordinates amateur/pro scouting, contracts, and salary-cap considerations, started off with the now-defunct analytics website war-on-ice.com.... The Sharks hired Deborah Wright as a part-time scout in 1992, making her the first female scout in the league. Angela Gorgone, who became an assistant to Devils GM Lou Lamoriello in 1989, joined the expansion Ducks in 1993. At 26, she was using her wiz-kid computer skills as the fledgling team’s scouting coordinator during their break-in years and became the first female assistant GM in 1996. She was out of the game by 2000, later telling The Hockey News she was burned out by the schedule. ? The NHL has no female GMs, assistant GMs, directors of player personnel, head coaches or assistant coaches. Only a few teams have women in hockey operations who are not executive assistants, travel coordinators, or similar roles. more and other hockey topics too...

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post, If the NHL needs another $300 million in order to proceed with the 2020-21 season, and that is essentially what Sixth Avenue has represented to the NHLPA, why don’t Gary Bettman, Bill Daly and the Board simply ask Seattle to advance up to half of the $650 million expansion fee that is currently due before the Kraken’s inaugural 2021-22? Wouldn’t that take care of it, and more appropriately, than the owners approaching the players with hands out claiming that the league had massively miscalculated the impact of the pandemic even though the league had run models calculating the impact of the pandemic before agreeing to a six-year CBA extension four-plus months ago? I’m serious. The NHL claims it requires immediate relief beyond the 10 percent deferral and 20 percent escrow cap established for this season by both parties. It is asking for an additional 16 percent deferral and another 5 percent added to the escrow cap. If that is the case, why shouldn’t the relief be provided from within the capitalist circle of 32 owners rather than from labor? Instead of asking, say, Scott Mayfield, who is scheduled to earn $1.2 million this year, for an immediate rebate that would amount to $242,400 (or 20.2 percent of his pay), Bettman and his wartime consigliere, Boston owner “Mr. Jacobs” should ask Seattle owners David Bonderman and Jerry Bruckheimer to float the league. continued

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, - NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is adamant there will be a hockey season. It has become personal for him with ownership divided on whether or not to go forward. The questions now are, how long will the season be and when will it begin? … And, still, there’s no deal with the players, who are being asked to give more money back after agreeing to and signing off on a salary clawback in July. The threat for players now is the possibility of no money for a season not played as opposed to some money for a partial season. My bet: a 48-game season starting in mid-January, a tight schedule with playoffs ending in early July. And Bettman’s going to have to be creative in finding a way to entice the players to re-do a deal they’d already agreed to. - The Bruins are the contract masters of the NHL. They don’t have a player making more than David Krejci’s $7.2 million a year. And they have Brad Marchand signed up for five more seasons, Patrice Bergeron for two more, and David Pastrnak for three more. All of them making less than William Nylander. a few more hockey notes...