The “Dog Days of August” are upon us, and for sports fans that usually spells B-O-R-E-D-O-M, boredom. While I enjoy watching baseball as much as the next guy, the simple fact that ESPN’s go-to-move right now is covering the X-Games shows just how little news there is to currently offer in the wide world of sports.
But August is also a sign that the NHL season is inching closer. With just over two months until the puck drops on the 2010-2011 regular season, I figure the time is ripe to take a look at some of the more prominent news in this somewhat “awkward” offseason…
I’d be amiss if I didn’t kick off my off-season musings by giving my take on the “Ilya Kovalchuk Saga.” As far as the validity of the contract itself goes, I’m of two minds. On one hand, the contract is blatantly ludicrous anyway you slice it – there’s no chance Kovalchuk is going to play six seasons in his late 30’s until he’s 44 for a total of $3.5 million over that six-year span, and the contract artificially lowers the cap hit on the contract significantly. That being said, precedent has been set and the contract itself breaks no explicit rules. Is Roberto Luongo playing when he’s 42 for $1 million that much different from Kovalchuk taking the ice when he’s 44 for a little more than half of that? Not really.
The next CBA needs to include stricter guidelines about how the yearly payouts work. I don’t think contracts like these are completely and totally 100% bad – teams should be allowed to keep their top-end talent if they are willing to risk giving them the longer term – but they shouldn’t be able to artificially lower the cap hit to the degree that the Kovalchuk contract does.
Perhaps the strangest part of this whole ordeal has been Lou Lamoriello’s stance. He, himself, has admitted he doesn’t like contracts like these, and he has also hinted that ownership pushed him into handing Kovalchuk such a contract. Is he just covering himself, and thinking “screw it; I’ll be out of here in a few years, anyway. I might as well get Kovy and hope we have enough juice left in the tank for a few more runs with Marty in between the pipes. Then it’ll be someone else’s mess.” Or, was he really just pushed into this?
It’s anyone’s guess…
It’s been echoed everywhere, and rightfully so – Steve Yzerman has done a masterful job since taking over as Lightning General Manager. Don’t be surprised if the Lightning make a big splash in the East this season…
As for my Rangers this offseason – I’ve liked some moves (Alexander Frolov, Mats Zuccarello Aasen), and hated others (giving Derek Boogaard a $6.5 million contract over four years when you wouldn’t give Colton Orr – a much better “actual” player whose worked hard at improving his game - $4 million over the same term last offseason is mindboggling). If we re-sign Marc Staal to a reasonable contract and demote Wade Redden – which is looking more and more certain each day – I’ll be marginally happy.
On the whole, Glen Sather’s Club still looks like a team with little direction. There’s a lot of good talent on the farm, and some kids will certainly push for spots during camp, but the Rangers are still a team stuck between rebuilding and contending – good enough to creep into the playoffs but not bad enough to get a lottery pick. In the cap era, that’s very dangerous…
I like the decisions made by Chicago Management to a) keep Patrick Sharp, b) match the Sharks’ offer for Niklas Hjalmarsson, and c) let Antti Niemi walk. Sharp is an ultra-important member of the Hawks attack who performed well in the playoffs, while Niemi is a mediocre starting goalie who is much less important to the club than Hjalmarsson, a fine two-way defenseman who blocks a boatload of shots and should only improve. While I’m not a Marty Turco fan – he is atrocious – I think the combination of him, Corey Crawford, and possibly even Cristobal Hurt can make due in net. Chicago’s got a phenomenal top-four on the blueline, and should be able to take a lot of the pressure off of whomever steps in between the pipes for the club…
I love that Edmonton fans finally have a reason to be optimistic again. It should be interesting to see how the trio of Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson fare down the road. The NHL’s more fun when the Canadian teams are doing well, and I’ve always enjoyed watching the Oilers play (not last season, obviously…unless some of my big guns in my fantasy leagues happened to be scoring on, errr, playing them that night)…
Where is Paul Kariya going to sign? In the right situation he’ll have an excellent season. There’s still some gas left in the tank there…
Detroit should be the favorite coming out of the Western Conference next season. They are healthy, improved (Mike Modano is still a very good third-line pivot, and Jiri Hudler will be a welcome addition), and will be hungry after last season…
In the East, the Flyers are easily my pick, as things stand. Last year’s run should only help moving into this season, plus, there’s no shot their offense underperforms in the same way it did during last year’s regular season. I might’ve taken the Penguins if they had any – and I mean any – depth at the wing. The Pens would be wise to look towards Kariya, Patrick O’Sullivan, and Marek Svatos…
I expect big things from Martin Havlat, health permitting, in 2010-2011. He probably won’t play on the same line as the freshly-inked Mikko Koivu, but I think both are in store for excellent seasons…
The Thrashers have some decent pieces (Evander Kane is going to be a really solid, tough top-line winger and Zach Bogosian is already an excellent defenseman), but they are still going to stink. Tougher, yes. Better? Eh, maybe marginally, but not by very much…
The Kings have taken their fair share of grief for lack of improvement this offseason, but I have absolutely no problem with them standing pat. They’ll have plenty of room to re-up their core players coming up for contracts and they’ll build on last season’s performance regardless…
