Latest news with #StevenStamkos
CTV News
10 hours ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Brick Invitational bringing top youth hockey players to showcase talent at West Edmonton Mall
Players and organizers said the main goal of the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament is for the young athletes to have fun. Some of North America's most promising young hockey players will be in Edmonton this weekend for the annual Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament. The tournament will celebrate 36 years on Monday, when the opening puck drop takes place at 7:30 a.m. at the West Edmonton Mall Ice Palace. 'The 36 years have gone very fast. The first one is a great memory, and as well as the one last year,' said tournament chair Craig Styles. The week-long competition features 14 youth hockey teams, with players aged nine and 10, from Canada and the U.S. It wraps up on July 6 with the final championship game at noon. Styles said about 82 per cent of kids who play in the invitational go on to play hockey at higher levels, from the Alberta Junior Hockey League to the American Hockey League and the National Hockey League. 'They form a foundation here. More and more in the last 10 or 15 years, we see where the cream has risen to the top at this tournament,' he added. Former invitation players who have gone on to NHL careers include Connor Bedard, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Steven Stamkos. A full schedule, live feeds and up-to-date game results can be found on the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament website.
New York Times
18-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
NHL free agency deep dive: Analyzing the top defensemen available
With free-agency season approaching, the big question on everyone's mind comes down to cost: How much is each player worth? Pricing players can be an inexact science, but is an extremely worthy exercise that can save future headaches. Last year it could've saved a team from drastically overpaying some of the top players available — Steven Stamkos, Elias Lindholm and Chandler Stephenson. Advertisement The same will likely be true this year with the salary cap rising quickly and teams trying to figure out the market's new normal. Sometimes teams have to take risks in the market to acquire players, even at uncomfortable prices, but it's still better to understand where that bar should be set. Our Chris Johnston has already delivered the top 50 players available. Now we're going to estimate how good they are and, perhaps more importantly, will be. That's based on each player's projected Net Rating over the duration of an expected contract that takes into account how the player likely ages and future cap growth. Net Rating isn't infallible, but it serves as a strong starting point for discussion. Here are the top defensemen available this summer. Top centers | Top wingers At his absolute peak in 2021-22, Aaron Ekblad was a monster in every zone, fully realizing the potential he showed as the top pick in 2014. Aside from that season, though, Ekblad has never really been the star many expected him to become. A great defenseman, sure, but not a bona fide No. 1. Perhaps that can change in a different locale, but at this stage he looks closer to a high-end No. 2 defenseman — one that's expected to age surprisingly well based on his closest comps. It helps that Ekblad's top two matches — Jake Muzzin and Mattias Ekholm — found a second life after 30, but he also shares strong profiles with other defenders who had staying power. A poor man's Alex Pietrangelo is probably the most fitting comp, though with less offense and more nastiness. The price of that is fairly expensive, but right in line with what AFP Analytics is projecting: just shy of $8 million. Consider what Filip Hronek signed for last year as a similarly valuable player and it makes sense why Ekblad would take up the same percentage of cap space. It's the going rate for a quality No. 2 who can facilitate offense with a team's top players and help shut things down well enough the other way. That's Ekblad (whose Defensive Rating is usually much higher than his current forecast). Advertisement As much as my model believes Ekblad is worthy of $7.8 million on a long-term deal, it's notable that the Florida Panthers are rumored to not agree with that notion. The Panthers are arguably the league's best team at both pro scouting and pricing players. If they're not as high, there's probably a very good reason for it. Ekblad's age is obviously the biggest concern and while the comps-based trajectory is kind, it's likely that Ekbkad's own team probably has the best read on how he might age. The other consideration is Ekblad's Offensive Rating. Is it legit? Based on data tracked by Corey Sznajder, Ekblad is pretty good at creating offense in-zone, but his puck-moving ability before that does leave something to be desired. It's possible he works well with talented forwards, but it's also possible he's benefiting more than my model suggests from sharing the ice with them. It's a question of whether he's a driver, and there's a reasonable argument to be made that he isn't. Not on Paul Maurice's Panthers, anyway. But on a different team, there is a chance that can change considering how much more involved Ekblad used to be with the puck in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Add that to his ability to retrieve pucks and defend rushes and Ekblad has potential to be an all-around stud. If those dormant skills can be activated elsewhere, Ekblad could prove to be a No. 1 again. But the more likely scenario is that he is what he has been with Florida. Everything, including how much he's worth, depends on how his new team uses him. While Vladislav Gavrikov was fantastic last season, that looks like it could be a peak driven by being in a contract year. Gavrikov should age well aside from that and be a capable defensive No. 2 or 3 through his 30s. But it's important to be pragmatic about price where something in the mid-to-high $6 million range makes a lot more sense for what he likely brings than an AAV approaching or exceeding $8 million. Great player, but definitely some buyer-beware factor due to price. Based purely on his top comp, there might not be a free agent more interesting than Dante Fabbro. Can he be the next MacKenzie Weegar? That comp alone is enough to salivate over, and while it's not likely as one of 128 paths, the mere potential of a late-blooming defensive stud at the price of a No. 4 could be a huge win for a team. Fabbro's production, play-driving, usage and ratings all line up closely with where Weegar was at before a breakout. It's possible Fabbro, a 2016 first-round pick, charts a similar course. Advertisement Back in 2019-20, Weegar was just starting to show what he was capable of in a top-four role. He flashed strong puck-moving ability, defended well and showed a lot of promise thanks to great underlying numbers. It was on him to prove it further — which is exactly what he did the following season. Weegar's tracked stats from Corey Sznajder from 2020-21 were seriously special as he arrived as a star defender. Fabbro has flashed similarly strong puck-moving traits, though not consistently. With Nashville he was great at breaking the puck out, but only excelled offensively in 2022-23 (he was average in 2023-24). And in Columbus, where Fabbro finally broke through, his tracked stats were all actually below average. I asked Sznajder about the discrepancy and he noted that Fabbro had a specialized role next to Roman Josi, where he would retrieve pucks to allow Josi to play up ice more. That coincides with Josi's defensive workload shrinking over the last few years to allow more offensive focus. Next to Zach Werenski, it's possible Fabbro's role in that area shrank, he himself slumped playing more minutes, or it's simply a bad sample of games tracked (only 180 minutes). Given the success of the pair however (and the success of Josi and Fabbro), it's probably fair to suggest Fabbro can be a capable sidekick to a star. That's no small feat and he's proven that next to two of the game's best. While some may be tempted to attribute 100 percent of the credit to the star, I don't think it's quite that simple. Josi in particular always looked at his best with Fabbro serving as a defensive security blanket. Is that worth the $6.3 million the model is suggesting for Fabbro? Probably not. To this degree, my model is probably being a little overzealous about what Fabbro brings to the table. His lack of size and bite is also something that should be considered as it may mean Fabbro is less effective in a playoff environment. While the model may be too high on Fabbro, I do think there's a good chance it's directionally correct and Fabbro, while maybe not this good, is someone to bet on at the projected price. He's a younger UFA defender who proved himself well last season after being overlooked in Nashville. Given Fabbro's trajectory to date, more proof is probably needed before committing long-term, but for now his game offers a lot of intrigue within the market. As a quietly serviceable defender with an extremely interesting top comp, Fabbro offers some real bang-for-buck potential. Arguably no player saw a larger negative perception shift than Dmitry Orlov during this year's playoffs. Over 15 playoff games, his expected Net Rating was plus-0.7. His actual value was minus-1.7, a minus-2.4 goal difference that ranks as the third worst of the playoffs ahead of only Esa Lindell and Josh Morrissey. That's not the kind of performance you want to see from a 34-year-old entering free agency. Advertisement Orlov's brutal playoff showing begs the question of whether or not this is the start of the end for him. This is around the time when Matt Niskanen hung them up and Johnny Boychuk began to fall off — both prominent Orlov comps. My model believes Orlov will be a second-pair defenseman during a three-year deal, but a drop-off is coming — we just don't know when or how steep. The playoffs possibly being a clue to it being sooner than later is a scary thought. Given that, it's extremely hard to justify paying Orlov $5.8 million on his next deal — not to a player that a contending team may want to shelter come playoff time. Orlov is still a great puck-mover and may even thrive in that regard away from Carolina. And he still played well in a second-pair role during the season. But it all depends on price, and Orlov should arguably come in at around $4.5 million. Paying more given the signs of immediate decline in the playoffs would be a huge risk. There is value in eating minutes and Ivan Provorov certainly eats a lot of them. Provorov averaged over 23 minutes per game last season and was an all-situations workhorse. Only 26 players played more than Provorov last season and that does carry value, even if Provorov's underlying metrics aren't sterling. It's hard work playing that often, generally against the league's better players, and that does excuse Provorov … to an extent. That extent is probably not a $7 million contract, which is what both AFP Analytics and Evolving Hockey project on a long-term deal. Provorov plays tough minutes, but they aren't the toughest. We're talking 70th to 80th percentile, not Moritz Seider level. Provorov is an adequate puck-mover in some areas, though he doesn't really stand out in that regard. His tracked data courtesy of Corey Sznajder doesn't scream underrated star. Provorov doesn't score a lot of points and doesn't defend at a particularly elite rate either. He's sort of just average at a lot of things. And that's fine! Provorov works well as a serviceable second-pair guy and could help solidify a team's top four. But the degree to which he's able to do that is very likely not worth $7 million, an amount where a team should be hoping for a steady No. 2/3 that genuinely moves the needle (like Ekblad or Gavrikov). It's been a while since Provorov consistently played at that level. He won't hurt a team on the ice, but the degree that he'll help is probably overstated. With that being said, there is some potential upside in Provorov's staying power, especially later in the contract when $7 million moves closer to No. 3 money. Three of Provorov's top comps — Francois Beauchemin, Dmitry Orlov and Jeff Petry — all aged extremely well in their 30s. They found a second career, often as the steady No. 2 necessary for Provorov to be worth a big-money deal. If there was strong certainty that Provorov can age in a similar fashion, paying him big money for a long time wouldn't be as much of a risk. Provorov has the pedigree as a skilled player to make it feel more likely too. Advertisement But at the current rate of what he's shown lately, that's more of a best-case scenario, especially considering all three of those players had something that made them stand apart. There are plenty of other paths from defensemen who ate minutes but struggled to do so at a rate commensurate to top-pair value. If Provorov follows that more-likely trajectory, there's high potential for a Day 1 albatross deal. True top-four defensemen are hard to find, but that doesn't mean a team has to substantially overpay for one who's probably on the lower end of that scale. Provorov is fine, but a team should want much better than fine at his likely price. The NHL's oldest player took a lot of hits from Hurricanes fans this season, understandably so given Burns' presence at the top of the lineup — and blunders many nights. Surely there was a better option, right? While Jaccob Slavin has the ability to make anyone look defensively competent, it's important to remember matchup minutes are hard work — even with help. That Burns was in that role and holding his own at his age is admirable. His numbers: fine. His microstats: fine. He was fine! It just wasn't ideal, not for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations. But by any indication, Burns still had enough juice to be a passable No. 2 in a matchup role and that isn't easy. Where does that leave him going into the 2025-26 season? Who knows. His only comps are Zdeno Chara and Rob Blake, both of whom didn't regress much at age 40. Blake hung them up at 41, but Chara managed several more years of effectiveness after that. Can Burns do the same? Again, who knows. At his age, we're in fairly uncharted waters: Burns has it until he doesn't. And when he doesn't, that will be very apparent. Perhaps that's what fans were griping about last year — that Burns didn't have it anymore and Slavin was papering over all those issues, enough to fool this model. That's certainly a possibility and it's the risk any new teams takes in signing Burns. Can he be as effective without one of the best defensive defensemen in the world next to him? It's a tough call. My model expects a drop-off that still puts his market value above the projected $5.4 million deal AFP Analytics expects. But as you can see from the trajectory, there's a wide range of outcomes for Burns that goes anywhere from no drop-off at all (like Chara) to a cliff that leaves little doubt it's over (like Kimmo Timonen). That's a tough bet to make and getting a good price is imperative. Advertisement Over the last five years, Nate Schmidt's expected goals percentage has risen each season from 45 percent in his one season in Vancouver to 57 percent in his final season in Winnipeg to 58 percent in Florida this past season. Is he aging like Benjamin Button after looking washed in Vancouver? Probably not — it's just a matter of Schmidt sliding down the lineup. With the Canucks, Schmidt was still used as a shutdown defenseman getting some of the absolute toughest minutes in the league in the 95th percentile. With the Jets last season and the Panthers this season, his usage has been closer to the 10th-15th percentile. No wonder he's looked a lot more efficient. Where does that leave the soon-to-be 34-year-old? Probably in the No. 4/5 range: a defender who can crush sheltered minutes and may even be able to slide onto the second pair in a pinch. As long as Schmidt isn't getting big, tough minutes, he can be an effective asset. At the projected $3 million, Schmidt is a pretty worthy bet. He's a big part of what's made Florida's blue line feel so deep during the playoffs. Schmidt can probably handle more difficulty, but the Panthers put him in a spot where he doesn't have to. And that makes a huge difference for a contending team. Just don't expect this year's 58 percent xG to translate up the lineup. Fun fact: Matt Grzelcyk was second on the Penguins in power play ice-time among defenders, beating out Kris Letang. At times, he was even the team's No. 1 option ahead of Erik Karlsson. Maybe Grzelcyk is better than many think, maybe it's an indictment on the two veterans (or the coaching staff), but either way it did happen — and it could get him a few more dollars than he's probably worth. There aren't many defenders available who scored 40 points last year. The Net Rating forecast above assumes Grzelcyk will not be getting nearly as much power-play time next year, which pushes his value closer to No. 5 territory. That puts his market value under $3 million, $1 million less than AFP Analytics forecasts. Grzelcyk's game has fallen off a fair bit from the heights he was at with Boston playing on the top pair with Charlie McAvoy. He doesn't drive play nearly as well and doesn't move the puck as strongly either. Even then, though, he was a playoff liability due to his size (5-foot-10) which is another thing to consider when signing him. Advertisement The right team and fit could get a lot of utility out of Grzelcyk in a sheltered role. But in his 30s, it's hard to see him providing top-four value on a good team. A late-career Nick Leddy comp feels apt. Can Henri Jokiharju be the latest Buffalo cast-off to find greener pastures elsewhere? Ehhhhh, probably not. But he is very young for a free agent, has pedigree, and for the first season of his career had above-average on-ice numbers relative to teammates. With Jake McCabe serving as a top comp, maybe there could be something there in the right environment. Jokiharju's puck skills are limited, but it's possible he ages to be passable defensively. At the very least, he looks serviceable lower in the lineup. Jokiharju's forecast shows expected improvement and a higher ceiling than similar players of the same caliber. Perhaps that's something worth betting on. Back in 2023-24 when things started going south for Ryan Lindgren, there was reason to be hopeful of a bounce-back. He was still young enough and still performed well enough with the puck to be hopeful. After a difficult 2024-25 campaign where his puck skills evaporated, it's a lot harder to see Lindgren as a viable top-four option. That's what AFP Analytics projects for him at $4 million and that feels like it'll be a difficult deal to live up to, now three years removed from playing top-four-caliber hockey. At this stage, Lindgren is probably a third-pair option and should be paid accordingly. There are two things to consider with John Klingberg: betting on talent and betting against age. Klingberg, as a former elite defenseman, is probably a better bet to exceed expectations than a different defender valued as third-pair caliber. Injuries take a long time to perfectly and we're seeing that play out with Klingberg during the playoffs. He's looked like his vintage self often enough to view him as an intriguing bet for next season. It's not just his puck-moving that's turned heads, it's also that he's looked significantly more sound defensively. Playoff Klingberg has been a needle-mover. Advertisement But he's also now firmly in his 30s and looked pedestrian at best over the 25 regular-season games he's played with Toronto and Edmonton over the last two years. He improved with the Oilers, yes, but probably still not enough to be an everyday option. At a low price with no term, Klingberg is worth taking a bet on for the flashes he's shown in the playoffs alone. But it's worth exhibiting caution based on his still-small sample before investing money and years on him — or declaring him officially back. By all accounts, there's nothing special about Nick Perbix based on public data. Every stat looks like exactly what you'd expect from a third-pair defenseman (and you can see the model treats him very differently than Fabbro, despite Perbix also spending a lot of time with Victor Hedman before this season). Even Perbix's immediate comps don't show a potential star path (though Anton Stralman is his 13th-best match). What makes Perbix interesting is that he seems like he has the tools to be better, he just needs to put it together. That's based on Sznajder's tracking work where, in a limited role, Perbix looked excellent with the puck. He created offense, he rushed up ice, he broke the puck out, he retrieved pucks — and he did it all fairly well. That explains why Perbix's Offensive Rating is near second pair calibre with room to grow in an expanded role. What holds him back is the same thing that holds a lot of sheltered stars back: defense. There's a reason they aren't trusted further up the lineup. If Perbix can figure out off-puck play better, there could be hidden value here based on his puck skills. The most likely scenario is that Perbix is just another third pair guy that can't make the top four jump. The small chance he can be more makes Perbix an interesting lottery ticket. If you look at just Brian Dumoulin's on-ice numbers, his last three years look like a roller coaster. Bad in Pittsburgh! Great in Seattle! Bad again in Anaheim! The truth is that there probably wasn't actually that much variation in Dumoulin's ability, it's just that the Kraken were the only team that utilized him properly: away from hard matchups. Advertisement With a projected $3.2 million AAV, the expectation for Dumoulin would be for him to be a No. 4/5 defender which is probably fair for what he is today. The only concern lies with his age. Can Dumoulin be steady in his mid-30s once shifted to a lesser role, like Justin Braun? Or is further decline like Marc-Edouard Vlasic, regardless of role, more likely? My model might be a little harsh with its valuation, but for players at Dumoulin's age it's probably better to be safe than sorry. Splitting the difference, but keeping it under $3 million might be the best bet here. A No. 4 that plays No. 2 minutes and often looks like a No. 6. That's been Cody Ceci's career in a nutshell: probably better than given credit for by the numbers, but definitely way worse than how he was utilized. At the top of the lineup, Ceci was overexposed, leading to some awful on-ice stats that probably would've looked fine if he was simply used in a more appropriate role. That was until the 2024 playoffs, where Ceci's on-ice results began to reach a territory far too dismal to wash away by usage excuses alone. That bled into an ugly 2024-25 campaign where Ceci drowned in San Jose and didn't improve much with a better supporting cast in Dallas. During the playoffs, the Stars had 40 percent of the expected goals and 32 percent of the goals with Ceci on the ice, both near team lows. There's a possibility that Ceci could bounce back and thrive on a third pair, but I wouldn't invest much to find out. — Data via Evolving Hockey, Natural Stat Trick, Hockey Stat Cards, AFP Analytics and All Three Zones (Top photo of Vladislav Gavrikov: Martin Keep / AFP via Getty Images)
New York Times
17-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
NHL free agency deep dive: Analyzing the top wingers available
With free-agency season approaching, the big question on everyone's mind comes down to cost: How much is each player worth? Pricing players can be an inexact science, but is an extremely worthy exercise that can save future headaches. Last year, it could've saved a team from drastically overpaying each of the top players available — Steven Stamkos, Elias Lindholm and Chandler Stephenson. Advertisement The same will likely be true this year with the salary cap rising quickly and teams trying to figure out the market's new normal. Sometimes teams have to take risks in the market to acquire players, even at uncomfortable prices, but it's still better to understand where that bar should be set. Our Chris Johnston has already delivered the top 50 players available. Now we're going to estimate how good they are and, perhaps more importantly, will be. That's based on each player's projected Net Rating over the duration of an expected contract that takes into account how the player likely ages and future cap growth. Net Rating isn't infallible, but it serves as a strong starting point for discussion. Here are the top wingers available this summer. The best player available and one of the best players to ever hit free agency, Mitch Marner is going to command a lot of money. He's one of the best wingers in the world, a player capable of scoring 100 points while providing elite-level defense. While his game does drop off a lot offensively in the postseason, his defensive work steps up considerably. Marner is worth big money. Marner should remain a star player for the entire length of a max-term deal and the fair price for that is roughly $12.5 million. Whether he takes less or more should tell us where his priorities lie. Of all the high-end free agents available, Nikolaj Ehlers likely has the best potential to create surplus value, even into his 30s. The reason for that is he looks perfectly on market as is, and he can potentially offer more in a bigger role. Ehlers' usage with the Jets has long been perplexing with 2024-25 being his third straight season playing under 16 minutes. Ehlers has just one season (2021-22) where he played more than 17 minutes per night and one (2024-25) where he's been a fixture on the top power play. In both years, Ehlers scored at a near 75-point pace. That Ehlers couldn't eclipse 16 minutes last season despite the PP1 promotion is especially odd, a result of a five-on-five demotion. For whatever reason, Ehlers was Winnipeg's ninth-most-used forward at five-on-five behind players like Mason Appleton and Vladislav Namestnikov. Advertisement More often than not, you're better off trusting a coach's intuition. It's possibly a red flag that it hasn't been just one coach using Ehlers less; it's been three (though Paul Maurice did give Ehlers more ice time in his final season with the Jets). I also understand why a player as chaotically creative as Ehlers can be frustrating at the top of the lineup. Still, Ehlers is a player who oozes skill on every shift and is one of the league's most dynamic players with the puck. He's a transition machine who can go end-to-end with ease and creates a lot of offense in-zone. Few players enter and exit the zone better than Ehlers does. It can be a dangerous game to assume a player's production can translate perfectly with more minutes, but Ehlers has all the makings of an elite driver, not a passenger. He makes things happen on his own. His microstat profile via Corey Sznajder's All Three Zones project is consistently excellent. Ehlers looks like a player with untapped star potential, one who has scored over two points per 60 in six straight seasons at five-on-five. Over the last three years in particular, he scores at 2.44 points per 60, a mark that ranks 17th in the league, sandwiched between Elias Pettersson and Jesper Bratt. Is it so far-fetched to believe Ehlers could have a similar offensive impact to those two — both 'softer' but dynamically skilled players — in a similar role? That's the upside bet with Ehlers, whose projected Net Rating jumps three goals if given the same ice-time as Pettersson and Bratt (around 18 minutes). He'd be closer to a 75-to-80 player in that role with his market value jumping to $10 million per season over six years. That's a big win at Ehlers' current expected price tag. It's no guarantee that Ehlers' value translates perfectly to a bigger role, but his skillset suggests that there's more value that can be unlocked by a team willing to trust him more. Even if he can't, $8 million is solid for what Ehlers already brings to the table. Advertisement Over the last five seasons, Brad Marchand has been in major decline. His point pace has fallen each year from 107 to 94 to 75 to 67 to 59. That's a large drop, even if decline is to be expected at his age. The reason many assume elite players age so well is simply because they have more room to fall. A 50-point drop for an elite player still makes him first-line-caliber. A 50-point drop for a second-liner means he's out of a job. That's where things currently stand for Marchand: an undoubtedly strong player, even at 37, but one whose value has fallen substantially from his peak. In 2024-25, Marchand was still first-line-caliber, but it looks unlikely he remains at that level for the next two to three seasons. Unless Marchand's trajectory dramatically shifts — more than possible for a once-elite player — he'll likely be closer to a second-liner during his next deal. That's still valuable — just not $8 million valuable as some are currently throwing out there. In order for Marchand to be worth that price, he would have to experience exactly zero aging over the next two seasons (a Net Rating of around plus-seven) which is a tough bet to make on most 37-year-olds. Marchand might be different, though, and it's not hard to see him charting his own path as the spotlight shifts away from him as a team's focal point. One reason Marchand's decline in Boston had been so sharp is that he had to be a top guy, second-in-command to David Pastrnak. That's a role he no longer seems suited for. In Florida, Marchand has shifted to a complementary piece and his game has thrived as a result. That's been on full display during the playoffs, where Marchand has turned back the clock with 20 points in 22 games and some absurdly dominant five-on-five numbers. He's been a matchup nightmare for opposing teams, leading to a playoff Net Rating of plus-13.7 per 82 games. That's in line with the level he was at three seasons ago and a mark that's easily worth $8 million. Marchand's ability to elevate in the playoffs is not new. In fact, it's always been a consistently impressive part of his game. That's worth more than his expected value above and I would price it similarly to Sam Bennett's playoff pedigree bonus (around $500-750K). What's different about Marchand's situation is what this year's playoffs suggest about how he ages: the projection above may be too harsh. It's one premised on Marchand's trajectory being The Guy. Shift his role and Marchand's trajectory may see a second wind. Unlike some former elite players who may not do well with such a shift, Marchand's game (and demeanour) appears well-tailored to support great players. It's more than possible he retains more value than expected away from the spotlight. Advertisement Marchand would be an expensive complementary piece, no doubt, but a potentially worthwhile one if he can keep up just half of what he's delivered with the Panthers. Arguably one of the most worrying free agents on the market. Brock Boeser's potential price tag of $8.5 million puts him close to core player territory and his value arguably skews closer to complementary top-six scorer (and not nearly to the same degree as Marchand). Aside from scoring, which does carry value, Boeser is a bit of an offensive passenger and doesn't add much defensively. His age profile looks a little scary, too. At the right price, Boeser can be a valuable piece of a team's scoring puzzle. But his current contract projections look far too pricey for what he brings to the table. One simple trick to get the most out of Andrei Kuzmenko: put him on a line with other good players. That's what made him an immediate difference-maker with the Canucks until he was moved away from Elias Pettersson. And that's exactly what we saw initially with Calgary (on a line with Nazem Kadri) and after the trade deadline with the Kings (on the top line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe). Kuzmenko is a skilled player who thrives with other skilled players and, on the whole, grades out as a decent second-line player. On a three-year deal, that's worth $5 million. There is a concern with Kuzmenko that he wore out his welcome with both Vancouver and Calgary, struggling in his second seasons with each team. I'm not sure what to make of that, but it does suggest there may be some baggage there that creates risk. When Kuzmenko is quiet, he's really quiet, and that can be frustrating to watch. He doesn't seem to respond well to those slow times either. Kuzmenko is a real boom or bust player, but in the right situation, he can spark offense in the top six — as long as a team can accept his inconsistencies. His work with the Kings was intriguing enough to be a worthy gamble on a short-term deal. Advertisement How good is Jonathan Drouin? That's difficult to answer considering how dire his career looked two seasons ago and how effective he looked next to Nathan MacKinnon in Colorado. Did Drouin's former Halifax teammate help rejuvenate a dormant skill set, allowing Drouin to finally reach his potential? Or did MacKinnon carry him completely to a height that Drouin would have zero chance of reaching on his own? The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Drouin is probably not the first-line talent last year's 71-point pace would suggest, given who he played with. He probably also isn't some random dude off the street that MacKinnon carried like a backpack, given what he accomplished. In that respect, calling Drouin an average second-liner is probably most fair. His market value closely aligns with his contract projection: right around $5 million. I'd be wary of giving out term for the 31-year-old, and some skepticism is probably warranted given his environment. But it is nice to know Drouin can handle being a complementary player to a star at the top of the lineup, especially given the defensive question marks within his game before he went to Colorado. You can't put just anyone next to MacKinnon and expect the same production Drouin put up. For what it's worth, Drouin's points per 60 with MacKinnon over the last two years (1.98) was actually lower than without (2.04). Drouin may not be a driver, but there's probably a decent number of teams that could use him as a skilled playmaker next to their own star. After an injury-riddled 2022-23 campaign, Patrick Kane looked a lot closer to his usual self the last two seasons with Detroit: a lot of points thanks to strong playmaking coupled with suspect defense. His next team can expect more of the same, but one thing to consider is Kane's role. With the Red Wings, Kane had a cushy gig on the top power play, where he scored 29 of his 59 points last season. Kane is still genuinely elite with the man advantage and helped power the Red Wings to a top-five finish on the power play. But he probably won't offer top-six-caliber value at five-on-five next season with an expected offensive drop-off due to age and the usual poor play defensively. Advertisement AFP Analytics projects a one-year deal at $3.5 million and while that price is probably fine even without top power-play time (Kane's market value drops to $3.2 million), the most bang-for-your-buck hinges on Kane being a power-play merchant. That's not a role not every team will have available. After an unbelievably good postseason in 2024, Jamie Benn and his three points in 18 games in 2025 left a lot to be desired. There's still a lot to like about Benn's game, given what he adds offensively at five-on-five, but it's fair to wonder how much gas is left in the tank after an uninspiring playoff run. For a player who has generally brought his fair share of playoff heat in the past, it could be a troubling sign of what's to come. Benn has a lot of miles on his body as a power forward and is at an age where there's a good chance it's starting to break down. Furthering the issue is Benn's defensive game, which has been steadily porous in four straight seasons. His minus-1.8 Defensive Rating is one of the league's lesser marks and that does make him a little harder to trust down the lineup in a checking role if that's where his career heads. A short deal closer to $4 million should be fine for the veteran, but anything approaching $5 million would likely be too much. Hot take: I don't think Mikael Granlund has changed all that much from his seemingly awful 2022-23 season and his seemingly stronger work since. Yes, he's been better, but the degree to which is likely overstated. It's easy to be fooled by points and Granlund is a prime example of that. What's changed for Granlund over the last two seasons is that he's treated defense as completely optional. That's allowed him to bounce back to being a 60-point player, but it's come at a tremendous cost the other way. Some might argue that was because he played for the Sharks, but his xGA/60 was actually worse in Dallas (3.61 compared to 3.24 with San Jose) this season. Granlund was never really a strong play-driver, but he was never this much of a liability either. Advertisement Given his age, Granlund's next deal has all the makings of a regrettable one. Under the right circumstances, he can work well as an offensive force on a sheltered line. But that does make him a tough fit and a tough sell at $5 million, as AFP Analytics projects. Anything over $4 million will probably be too much. Points can make a player rich, but when there's no substance underneath them they can be a red herring toward actually winning games. One of Granlund's best comps being post-Penguins Phil Kessel speaks for itself. Last season felt like the end for Claude Giroux as an impact player. Kudos to him for lasting as a top-line player for as long as he did, but in his late 30s I would guess Giroux will be closer to a middle-six talent. That's based primarily on how much Giroux's game dropped off last season. At five-on-five, Giroux scored just 1.37 points per 60 and saw his relative xG rates drop to below average for the first time in eight seasons to minus-0.29 per 60. That was the 54th worst forward mark in the league. Among Ottawa's forwards, Giroux's 48 percent xG rate was one of the lowest despite being stapled to Tim Stützle (54 percent xG) for most of the year. AFP Analytics' projection of $5.2 million would be fine for what Giroux was last season, but at 37 it's fair to expect further decline next season and beyond. Last season could be viewed through two perspectives for Ryan Donato: why he's long deserved a bigger role and why he's never received it. Offensively, Donato has long had some juice going back to his days on the Kraken's super-charged fourth line. Back then, he scored over a goal per 60 in back-to-back seasons and scored over two points per 60 for Seattle — both were top-six rates. If he could translate that up the lineup, a 50-to-60 point season wouldn't be surprising. And that's exactly what he delivered for the Blackhawks last year. The problem with Donato is that it comes at the expense of defense. There's a reason he was always sheltered, and that manifested last year where he was on the ice for 2.92 xGA/60, a below-average rate on one of the league's worst defensive teams. It ended up being a worthy trade-off — Donato's Offensive Rating eclipsed his poor Defensive Rating — but that's not a profile many coaches put up with in the top six. Advertisement With his rise up the lineup, Donato has at least proven he's more than a bottom-six scorer, but finding a good fit for him won't be easy. Last year could just be a contract-year flash, but even if it wasn't, those plush offensive opportunities Donato earned in Chicago might prove difficult to find elsewhere. And if he's not getting those, is he worth $4 million? It probably wouldn't be wise to give 34-year-old Reilly Smith a deal that starts with a four. But I do believe he's been a bit unfairly maligned the last two seasons. He may not be the 50-point scorer he once was, but Smith is still a dependable player that can fit into a lot of different roles due to his varied skill set. Smith may not have any elite traits, but he doesn't have many bad ones either. It's boring, but it works. When Smith is on, the puck usually travels in the right direction — even if it doesn't look like he's doing much out there. Smith's defensive aptitude is the main selling point at this stage of his career. It's a legitimate asset and could serve him well as he transitions into a bottom-six role going forward. At the right price, around $3.5 million, Smith is a worthwhile get for a team in need of defensive stability. Last summer it felt like the Capitals got a good one in Andrew Mangiapane, a play-driving top-six forward who can chip in 40 points and be a sound defensive player. He looked like a needle-mover under the hood. Things didn't quite work out that way. He was mostly marooned in the bottom six leading to a disappointing 28-point season. Mangiapane played well defensively, but the offensive touch wasn't manfiesting anymore. Mangiapane's points per 60 has now dropped in four straight seasons from 2.24 in 2021-22 to 1.33 last year. and he's not shooting the puck as frequently either. Those are likely red flags that the top-six version of Mangiapane isn't returning and data tracked by Corey Sznajder seems to support that. His involvement and efficiency with the puck has also dropped over the last few years. The right team could spark a bounce-back for Mangiapane, but for now the safest bet is that he's merely an adequate third-liner. Nothing wrong with that, and a price-tag in the mid-3s feels fair for what Mangiapane currently is. Advertisement If Brandon Saad's turn with the Vegas Golden Knights is any indication, he's still got a lot of game left in him from a play-driving perspective. With Vegas, Saad earned 62 percent of expected goals and 59 percent of actual goals — both extremely strong relative to teammates. At five-on-five he also scored 1.96 points per 60, right in line with his 2023-24 rate. Saad looked rejuvenated, all he needed was a change of scenery. AFP Analytics is projecting just a $2.6 million cap hit for the next two years for Saad and that feels light for what he can still offer. Saad may not be an everyday top-six player anymore, but he looks like he can be a high-end third-liner — one easily worth $3 million, or even a shade more. The Dustin Brown comp looks especially interesting as a potential best-case scenario path. Brown, a former top-six star on a championship team at the time, found a second wind in his mid-30s buoyed by his still-strong ability to drive play at 33. A new home as a solid third-liner is most likely. But if Saad's work in Vegas is legit, there could be room for him to bounce back to his former level, similar to what Brown was able to do at the same age. It can take a long time for a player to get back on track from a serious injury. A long time. Connor Brown is a perfect example of that. His dip in 2023-24 and subsequent bounce-back in 2024-25 shows a very common trajectory for a player returning from a lengthy absence, one where patience is often rewarded. Brown's projected value on the chart above doesn't even do his bounce-back justice as it includes data from the season prior to smooth out the forecast. His actual Net Rating during the 2024-25 season was plus-0.1 — right in line with the player he was before injury. Brown's plus-3.3 Defensive Rating was one of the top marks among forwards, making him a viable checking line option for a contending team — as he's shown with the Oilers this spring. If that's who Brown can be going forward, a $3 million deal could be a bargain for an average forward (where the cost can rise above $4 million) rather than the poor deal shown above. Because of last year's dip, some caution should be exercised. But given we know why that dip occurred, there's good reason to believe it's merely a momentary roadblock on the road to recovery. It wouldn't be a shock to see Brown's path veer towards the upside of his expected trajectory. After years of being a defensive liability for the Sabres, Victor Olofsson had a career year in that department for Vegas. The Golden Knights allowed just 1.98 xGA/60 with Olofsson on the ice, 0.43 better than his teammates. The latter was the 11th best mark in the league. If you believe the numbers above all else, it sure looks like Olofsson has turned a defensive corner. Given his track record, I'm not as convinced — not until he proves it again. Advertisement At the very least, it does show what Olofsson is capable of in the right situation. Pair that with a great shot that seriously cooks on the power play, and he can be an intriguing addition as a top-nine scorer. I would just be wary that his defensive glow-up was a flash-in-the-pan more than a suddenly unlocked skill. Vegas was right to add him last summer and did well to to get more out of Olofsson's game. But I'd be a bit cautious to give him more than $3 million. Or much term, for that matter. It's extremely rare for two players to match as closely as Jack Roslovic does to 2017-18 Mikkel Boedker, a fairly telling comp and a potential warning sign. Boedker was an empty-calorie scorer who faded into a depth role around this age, and it wouldn't be a shock to see something similar happen to Roslovic. When Roslovic is on, he can be a very productive player. But he also has too many dry spells where he doesn't look like he's contributing at best and where, at worst, he's a defensive liability. Roslovic's ability to retrieve pucks and exit the zone was a major weakness last year. It's a bit damning that the Hurricanes, a savvy team that's often desperate for goals, felt the 22-goal scorer was not one of their 12 best forwards for a decent chunk of the playoffs. Roslovic's defensive issues were probably one reason why. It's possible Roslovic has more to give as a high-end third-line scorer where $4 million makes sense. But it feels more likely he fits closer to the lower end of the third-line spectrum where a $3 million deal is more fair. That's the price Carolina paid last summer and I don't believe a raise is warranted. A prototypical third line player. Mason Appleton isn't much of a scorer, but he does play well without the puck. Appleton's work in retrieving pucks and clearing them from the defensive zone is above-average and he parlays that into strong forechecking in the offensive zone. He's fine, though $3.2 million per year is probably stretching things a touch. Getting Appleton under $3 million would be a bit more palatable. One interesting comp for Appleton: Pascal Dupuis, before his Crosby-induced glow-up. While a Viktor Stalberg-like trajectory is far more likely, the remote possibility that Appleton can take a leap doing grunt work next to a star carries some intrigue — even if he never showed it playing with any of Winnipeg's best. Advertisement After a heavy drop-off in 2023-24 and an epic bounce-back one year later, it's hard to know who the real Anthony Beauvillier is. Given the player he used to be, I'm tempted to say the model's skepticism is probably a little too harsh on Beauvillier's current level — he looked legitimately good for the Penguins and Capitals last season. He didn't look out of place in the top six either. Beauvillier's value goes beyond the box score, where he's seemingly reinvented himself as a defensively sound player. Considering Beauvillier has never had such a reputation before, it's fair to remain cautious over how real that reinvention is and whether or not it's sustainable. But at $3 million, Beauvillier feels like a fine bet as an everyday top-nine player. Given his elevated playoff scoring rate, Beauvillier might even have some dawg in him, too. The 2023-24 season was an interesting late-career surge for Gustav Nyquist, but he fell back to earth last year. Going into his age 36 season, expect further decline for Nyquist who likely slides firmly into third-line territory. Nyquist remains a gifted passer with decent defensive instincts, which could make him serviceable in such a role, and a two-year deal that pays $3.2 million per season feels fair. In each of the last two seasons, Evgenii Dadonov has been a productive depth scorer, putting up 1.65 points-per-60 at five-on-five. But he's also on the wrong side of 35, where each year carries bigger risk for a larger drop-off. If Dadonov keeps up last year's work, a $3 million deal works to be a third-liner. But it's far more likely he drops off further and struggles to live up to that price. His best comps being past-their-prime scorers who retired at this age — Marian Gaborik, Jason Pominville — probably doesn't bode well. At some point, the bottom will fall out for Corey Perry; Father Time is undefeated. Based on his work in this year's postseason, though, Perry sure looks like a player who still has a lot of game left. With 10 goals and 14 points in 21 games — an unfathomable stat line for a 40-year-old — Perry has been a rockstar for the Oilers. AFP Analytics projects a one-year deal just under $1 million for Perry next season and even after accounting for aging, that's an easy call for Perry. He shouldn't have much problem playing at a fourth-line level for one more season, and certainly fits the style well on top of that. Two seasons ago, Brandon Tanev was one of the top defensive depth players in the league, a legitimate asset in the bottom six. Now, it's unlikely a team is getting that version of Tanev, whose game has slipped considerably since 2022-23. He's probably not the defensive player he used to be. With that being said, his work in Winnipeg — where he had a 63 percent xG rate — does leave room for optimism. On the fourth line of a good team, it's possible Tanev can still make an impact. Given his larger recent body of work in Seattle, though, it's probably not work that should be overpaid for. Unless his next team is certain of a bounce-back, a $2.2 million deal looks a little too pricey for a fourth-liner. — Data via Evolving Hockey, Natural Stat Trick, Hockey Stat Cards, AFP Analytics and All Three Zones (Top photo of Nikolaj Ehlers and Mitch Marner: Claus Andersen / Getty Images)
New York Times
08-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
For No. 3 goalies on Stanley Cup teams, the NHL's least glamorous job still ends in glory
When his moment of glory approached, Scott Wedgewood knew his role. As the Lightning began the decades-old NHL tradition of passing the Stanley Cup to one another in Sept. 2020, Wedgewood hung to the back of the celebration. The goaltender didn't want to steal a spotlight that wasn't his. Wedgewood wasn't on the ice when Tampa Bay won the championship that year, beating the Stars in six games. Nor was he the backup on the bench. He was the No. 3 throughout the 2019-20 playoffs, brought along to the Toronto and Edmonton bubbles just in case something went wrong with starter Andrei Vasilevskiy or backup Curtis McElhinney. Nothing did. Advertisement Which is why, as Wedgewood and his fellow scratches burst onto the ice to join the championship dogpile, a voice in his head asked whether he even belonged. 'I kind of didn't earn it, but I earned it,' he remembered thinking. He watched as the Cup moved among his teammates, first from captain Steven Stamkos to defenseman Victor Hedman, then down the depth chart from perennial All-Stars to valuable role players. Finally, after every other member of the roster had received a turn, forward Mathieu Joseph handed the trophy over to Wedgewood. He took the Cup for a small loop on the ice — long enough to make a cherished memory, short enough not to seem selfish about it — and lifted it over his head with a wide grin on his face. As he wrapped up his lap, Wedgewood skated to Stamkos with a question. Jon Cooper, one of the NHL's top coaches, still hadn't touched the Cup. The team captain, Wedgewood figured, should have a say in who presented it to him. 'Do you want to give it to Coop?' he asked. 'No!' a euphoric Stamkos responded. 'You f—ing do it!' And so it was that Wedgewood, despite never playing a single minute for Tampa Bay, first placed hockey's most hallowed piece of hardware in the hands of a coach who is likely bound for its Hall of Fame. 'That's kind of cool, too, to be the guy to do it,' said Wedgewood, now the backup for the Avalanche. 'Definitely a little humble pie in the back of the mind, too: 'Am I really doing this?'' No one focuses much, if at all, on the No. 3 goalies during the Stanley Cup Final. Barring an emergency, they don't dress for games, and most of the world doesn't see the work they do. Still, Panthers coach Paul Maurice calls third-stringers a 'critical part' of championship teams. But No. 3s are valued, even if the emotional payoff of a win might be different from what players who actually appear in games feel. They're on call whenever someone needs extra work, Cooper said, as though they have a beeper in the back pocket of their goalie pants. And often in recent years, they find themselves in Wedgewood's position: passing the Cup to the winning coach, someone who will be remembered far more as part of the championship journey. Advertisement Craig Berube spent more than 1,500 games on an NHL bench, either as a player, assistant or head coach, before the Blues beat Boston for the 2019 championship. He was handed the Cup by Ville Husso, who had yet to make his NHL debut. Then-prospect Justus Annunen gave it to Jared Bednar after Colorado completed its championship run in 2022, and Maurice took it from Spencer Knight with Florida last year. 'That's a really important idea at the end of the day: that the players are the most important,' Maurice said. 'They come first.' That means all of them — even the ones with the least glamorous job. A century ago, backup goalies — let alone third-stringers — weren't much of a thought. In the 1928 Stanley Cup Final, after Rangers goalie Lorne Chabot took a shot to the face and left with an eye injury, the lack of a No. 2 goalie on hand led to 44-year-old coach and general manager Lester Patrick putting on pads and finishing out a 2-1 overtime win between the pipes. The NHL didn't even require teams to dress two goalies until 1965-66, but nowadays teams tend to carry three on the roster during the playoffs: two in uniform and one in case of emergency. A variety of factors go into determining which No. 3 goalie to use. If its affiliate is still alive in the American Hockey League playoffs, an organization might choose to have its actual third-best goalie playing games in the minors. Annunen, for example, didn't travel with the 2022 Avalanche full time until the AHL Colorado Eagles were eliminated. This year, Florida's AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, is still playing, so ECHL goalie Evan Cormier has been with the club as the emergency backup. Kaapo Kähkönen would almost certainly come up from the Checkers if something happened to either Panthers starter Sergei Bobrovsky or backup Vítek Vaněček. Meanwhile, the Bakersfield Condors, the Oilers' AHL affiliate, didn't make the playoffs, so Olivier Rodrigue has been with the NHL club the entire time, even backing up a few games when Calvin Pickard got hurt. Advertisement On some teams, Cooper said, the No. 3 job can be good for a developing player. Rodrigue, who is 24 and one of the Oilers' top prospects, falls in that boat. Wedgewood did, too. He took it as an opportunity to get daily one-on-one feedback from Lightning goalie coach Frantz Jean. Annunen appreciated the chance to watch how the Avalanche's high-level roster prepared for big games. 'You want somebody who's going to learn,' Cooper said. 'You want somebody who's glue, you want somebody who's going to work: not necessarily content in their role but (who) understands their role.' Other teams turn to veterans to fill that role. Jonathan Quick was already a two-time champion as a starter with the Kings when the Golden Knights acquired him at the 2023 trade deadline, bringing a level of experience far different from that of someone like Wedgewood or Annunen. Quick never got in a playoff game for the Golden Knights, and only started regularly dressing as Adin Hill's backup after starter Laurent Brossoit suffered a hamstring injury in the second round. But coach Bruce Cassidy said that Quick had a calming effect on both Hill and Brossoit throughout the Golden Knights' road to the franchise's first Cup. 'If you have guys with a bad attitude in your locker room, typically you're not playing hockey at that time of the year,' Quick said. Like Quick, Wedgewood was very clear on his role entering the 2020 bubble, joking that he 'wasn't going to play unless Vasilevskiy died.' So he made himself available at all times instead, helping Lightning players get away from hockey while isolated from the outside world with games of pickleball and rounds on a golf simulator. The goalie also estimates that he spent some 100 hours on Xbox playing 'Call of Duty: Warzone' with teammates, including Ondřej Palát, Victor Hedman, Tyler Johnson and Anthony Cirelli, often on game days after the morning skate. 'The first group of guys that would play would play (Call of Duty) with me before they napped, then the second group would play with me after,' he said. Wedgewood's constant availability extended to on-ice situations as well. With Vasilevskiy sitting out some morning skate drills because of how much he was playing, Wedgewood was always happily ready to enter the net when the starter wanted a break. 'No one wants the third goalie to be moody and annoyed to be taking shots,' he said. Advertisement He regularly stayed late at skates throughout the playoffs too, helping the other scratches — including Stamkos, who was working to return from a lower-body injury while in the bubble — get extra work. In total, the Lightning stayed in the Toronto and Edmonton bubbles for a total of 65 days. Wedgewood said he was on the ice for all but three of them. Annunen similarly recalled his Avalanche teammates in 2022 using him to practice whatever they wanted after skates, whether breakaway practice, one timers or rebound games. As Maurice puts it, 'That's a lot of pucks, man.' The types of shots faced are also different. Whereas skaters might steer clear of shooting high when the starter is in the net, or a coach saves certain drills for when he leaves the ice, no such restrictions exist for the No. 3. 'I step on the ice, and there's a five-on-three or five-on-four power play set, and you've got Stamkos, Hedman, (Nikita) Kucherov teeing up,' Wedgewood said. 'You're not going to put any goalie other than me in that situation in case something goes (wrong).' In rare cases, No. 3s get called into action beyond just backing up. Injuries forced the Canucks to play three goalies in the 2024 playoffs, with the Penguins (2022), Avalanche (2020) and Canadiens (2014) among the others to do so in recent postseasons. The first postseason it happened was in 1928, when the Rangers had to use Patrick and then, with permission from the league, Joe Miller from the New York Americans, a fellow NHL club. Only one Cup winner since 1938, though, needed to use a No. 3 in the postseason: the 2016 Penguins. Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury were both hurt to start the playoffs that year, so Jeff Zatkoff played the first two games of the first round, going 1-1 with a .908 save percentage. The Penguins recognized his efforts: He got his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. Pittsburgh fans made their appreciation clear, too. Late in Zatkoff's first playoff start, the only postseason win of his NHL career, he was serenaded with chants of his name: recognition of both the rarity of the situation and the importance of his performance. 'Definitely sent chills through me a little bit,' he told reporters then. For seven seconds last June, Maurice and Spencer Knight held the Stanley Cup together. The Panthers coach whispered a thank you into the No. 3 goalie's ear, then bowed over the trophy, almost as if in prayer. He had been behind NHL benches for nearly three decades and was now an undisputed champion. Advertisement On the other side of the trophy, Knight wondered whether he had achieved the same honor. 'People say I won the Cup,' Knight said later that summer. 'I think I just say I witnessed the team up close win the Cup.' When it comes to sharing in glory, No. 3 goalies on a championship team are put in inarguably odd positions. Each contributed in small ways despite, aside from Zatkoff and a few others in the 1920s and 1930s, not actually playing in the postseason. Some — including Knight, Wedgewood and Husso — couldn't even fall back on the validation of appearing in a regular-season game during the championship season. Do they truly feel like champions? 'I picture the ocean: You can be above the water for some categories and under the water for others,' Wedgewood said. 'That's kind of how it feels at certain times.' Annunen, who was traded to Nashville by Colorado, ironically for Wedgewood, said it felt amazing to lift the Stanley Cup. He later received a championship ring, presented at a private dinner for Avalanche players, and Colorado played him a 'welcome back' video on the jumbotron when he returned to Denver as a member of the Predators, ending with a picture of him holding the Stanley Cup. Reflecting on the experience, he thinks of his 2022 teammates, such as longtime veterans Jack Johnson and Erik Johnson, and can't imagine how they must have felt hoisting the trophy for the first time. 'You feel like you are part of the group, but it's a little different,' he said. 'I don't know how to explain it. Of course, if I would have been around more or played more it would feel even (more) different, for sure.' Last summer, Knight got a customary day with the Stanley Cup, but his name wasn't engraved on the outer ring with the other Panthers. Including Quick, four Vegas goalies — the three who dressed in the playoffs, plus Logan Thompson, who led the team in regular-season starts before injury derailed his season — got their names on the Cup in 2023. But Annunen and Christopher Gibson, the Lightning's No. 3 in 2021, did not. Neither did Wedgewood, though he remembers Alex Killorn and some teammates messaging the group text that his name deserved to make the cut. The gesture touched the goalie, who still got to participate in the parade and received a ring and a miniature Cup trophy. Advertisement Perhaps aided by how much time he spent with the Lightning in the bubbles, Wedgewood still views himself as part of the team. He never dressed for a game in the 2020 playoffs, save for an exhibition against the Panthers before the round robin to determine seeding, and spent most of the regular season in the AHL, never appearing in a game for the Lightning. But he compares lifting the Cup to hitting a hole-in-one in golf: The way the ball goes in, whether off a perfect shot or off a ricochet off a tree, doesn't really matter. Still, he knows his role wasn't the exact same as those who actually played. 'Does the reunion come up in 10 years? Am I invited? I don't know,' he said. 'That'll be something up to them to decide.' Wedgewood got plenty of validation in the moment. The night the Lightning won the championship, they left the rink and sat together in their team meal room in the hotel, sipping beers and reminiscing while passing the Cup around. While there, Frantz Jean, the goalie coach, made a point to walk over to Wedgewood. He had tears in his eyes as he thanked the goalie for all the work he'd done. His role, glamorless though it might have been, was appreciated.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
How much prize money do NHL players earn in Stanley Cup playoffs
How much prize money do NHL players earn in Stanley Cup playoffs (Image Source: ESPN/X) Most people are curious if NHL players receive paychecks during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The quick answer is: not quite the same as during the regular season. NHL players cease their regular paychecks once the 82-game season concludes. They can continue to make money via playoff bonuses, though. Playoff bonuses are derived from a pool of money the league has allocated aside. The further a team advances in the playoffs, the higher its players' paychecks. NHL Prize Money for Playoff Winners All NHL players are compensated according to their contracts during the regular season. But that's over when the playoffs begin. Instead, a playoff bonus pool is paid out to the players. For the 2025 season, that pool totals $23 million. All 16 playoff teams share that money. The amount of the bonus varies depending on how far the team makes it. For instance: First-round losers receive $250,000 apiece. Second-round losers receive $500,000. Teams losing in the Conference Finals receive $1.25 million. The Stanley Cup loser receives $2.25 million. The Stanley Cup winner receives $3.75 million to split. In 2017, when the Pittsburgh Penguins were the Cup winners, they received more than $4.3 million in bonus money. For stars such as Steven Stamkos and others who earn $5–10 million annually, such bonuses are peanuts. But for a league-minimum earner like $775,000, a playoff bonus is worth 25–30% of their salary for the regular season. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like They Lost Their Money - Learn From Their Lesson Expertinspector Click Here Undo Also Read: Can The Trio Of Andrei Svechnikov, Sam Reinhart, And Frederik Andersen Win Game 1 Of The NHL Eastern Conference Final? No Salary Cap in NHL Stanley Cup playoffs sparks controversy especially with LTIR players Something key to be aware of is that the salary cap in the NHL is not in place in the playoffs. That's because players are no longer receiving their regular paychecks. This policy has caused a little controversy throughout the years. Four years back, the Tampa Bay Lightning placed star winger Nikita Kucherov on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) throughout the whole season. This allowed the team to save on salary cap space and bring in other players. Kucherov returned at the last moment for the playoffs when there wasn't any cap and assisted Tampa Bay in winning the Stanley Cup. At that time, the team's pay was $18 million above the regular-season cap. Most fans and teams were angry, but the action was entirely legal. Due to examples like this, some would like to see the NHL impose a playoff salary cap. Others believe that wise planning and shrewd action should pay off. For the time being, the rule stays the same. Teams are allowed to call back high-paid players during the playoffs without fear of cap constraints. Get IPL 2025 match schedules , squads , points table , and live scores for CSK , MI , RCB , KKR , SRH , LSG , DC , GT , PBKS , and RR . Check the latest IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings.
