• Conor Garland‘s agent given permission to find trade partner
• Plenty of interest in Patrick Kane
• What was the difference between Edmonton and Vegas last season?
Twelve months ago, Mark Scheifele spoke at the unveiling of Dale Hawerchuk’s statue in Winnipeg.
“All of a sudden you’re fighting back tears, you’re fighting back the nerves and fighting back all the feeling that kind of comes onto you,” Scheifele said then. “What a tremendous honour. He meant so much to me. It’s one of those things I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
The Jets stunned the NHL by announcing twin seven-year, $59M extensions with Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck on Monday. I wasn’t surprised by the goalie. Things were trending hard in that direction, even if we didn’t predict the timeline. I was shocked at Scheifele, simply because it didn’t appear as if there was much momentum.
There were basically zero contract talks in the summer; things didn’t accelerate until the last 10 days. It came together really quickly. The first-line centre admitted he wondered if it would work out.
“There were times in the summer you just don’t hear much,” he said. “You put yourself in a blender, think all of the wrong things. Speculate. ‘What’s going to happen? Am I going anywhere?’ You worry about things you don’t control. You have no idea.”
Scheifele relied on his faith. He mentioned it several times. Also a big help: golf.
“Golf is like therapy. All you think about is do I hit a draw? A fade? A knockdown? You’re at peace.” (He’s now a one-handicap, but claims former teammate Eric Comrie is a total sandbagger.)
While Scheifele didn’t talk contract with the Jets, he did speak around twice per month with head coach Rick Bowness.
“I told him we need him,” Bowness laughed. “He makes me a better coach.”
And, in their conversations, Dale Hawerchuk’s name featured prominently.
Bowness played one game with the Jets during Hawerchuk’s magical 1981-82 Calder Trophy season, later becoming an assistant and head coach. Prior to coaching Dallas during the 2020 Edmonton bubble, he broke down watching a video tribute to Hawerchuk the day the Hall-of-Famer died of cancer.
“The best thing for the city was Mark staying,” Bowness said. “Both of them care about Winnipeg. That speaks volumes.”
Hawerchuk coached Scheifele with the OHL’s Barrie Colts from 2010-13, developing the talented young centre into Winnipeg’s first draft pick upon their return to Manitoba. The two remained close.
“Dale is with me,” he says. “Each and every day I step on the ice. He’s up there watching over me. There will always be a connection between me and Dale. And now to have that connection with Winnipeg. A Jet for life. To play your whole career in one city.”
“I was talking to (Executive Chairman) Mark Chipman about it when we finalized the deal. As the thoughts went through my brain, they sent a shiver down my spine. Dale is a big reason why I’m where I am today.”
There was a lot of uncertainty around both players at the end of last season. Hellebuyck, in particular, seemed likely to be traded. But it’s a weird time for goalies. Three years ago, Carey Price ($10.5M AAV) backboned Montreal to the Stanley Cup Final. In 2021, Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5M) won his second in a row. Then came Darcy Kuemper ($4.5M), Adin Hill ($2.175M) and a debate on how much you really should spend in goal. Financially, at this time, Hellebuyck’s best market was the one he’d known his entire NHL career.
He could’ve waited. Let it play out. One thing we’ve seen, however, is that a restful summer refreshes minds. That’s happened in Calgary, and definitely happened for both of these players. Another was the trade for an unhappy Pierre-Luc Dubois. It wasn’t for futures, but for players who could help them now.
A rebuild was out of the question.
“The message we wanted to get out there was that we were going to try to win,” GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said Tuesday. When he first met with Hellebuyck and Scheifele upon their returns to Winnipeg, he convinced them.
Negotiations began with the goalie. And the organization convinced him that, no matter what the market indicated, they believed him a critical piece of the foundation.
“This organization believes in me the way I believe in myself,” Hellebuyck said. “You’ve got to gather a ton of information when you’re in the shoes I am. After gathering all that information, I had a good talk with Chevy before camp. How much he wanted to win. What he was willing to do to win. Those are important conversations to have because a guy could feel that way, and if he never says it, you don’t know. Your mind starts to wander.
“When I’m putting in all that work in the summer, and I’m grinding and I’m putting my body on the line every day, you want to see everyone else doing the exact same thing. And it’s not just in the locker room, it takes a whole organization to win the Cup.”
Later in his process, Hellebuyck asked about Scheifele. You don’t have to be a genius to know 42-goal centres are hard to find. He felt the Jets were better positioned to win and contend with Scheifele than without him. As the deal closed with Hellebuyck, things intensified with his teammate.
“It was quick and smooth and easy,” Scheifele said. “I can’t applaud the organization enough.”
It’s a big win for the Jets. This is the second time (Dustin Byfuglien, Blake Wheeler) that they’ve overcome scepticism to sign key unrestricted free agents. But, to Bowness, there’s something even more important.
“There’s not one person who doesn’t want to be here,” he said. “It’s absolutely huge in that room. No one in there has one foot out the door.”
32 THOUGHTS
1. Asked if protocol is for Hellebuyck and Scheifele to split a massive dinner for teammates or buy one each, Scheifele said he wasn’t sure. But, he did say he’d be buying quite a few based on what he learned from former Jets captain Andrew Ladd. “When I was young, he didn’t let me pay for thing. He’d say, ‘One day you’re going to do the same for other young players.’”
2. As reported Tuesday, Vancouver’s given Conor Garland’s new agent permission to talk to teams. His contract (three more years at a $4.95M AAV) remains a challenge, and the Canucks certainly tried to move him before. They are prepared to keep some salary. This doesn’t always work, but there are times it can — including one prominent BC example: Roberto Luongo. It was an agent change that breathed new life into trade discussions with Florida, before Canucks/Panthers executives hammered out the particulars.
3. Carson Soucy’s injury has the Canucks peeking at defence options.
4. Before Toronto traded Sam Lafferty to Vancouver (a nice pickup), the Maple Leafs called the Oilers. Edmonton’s liked him for a while, poking around last season before he was moved by Chicago. It obviously didn’t happen, but the Maple Leafs asked about Vincent Desharnais. He fits what they are looking for. He’s a favourite of the Oilers’ coaching staff. During an exhibition game in Calgary, head coach Jay Woodcroft put him out there as the extra skater when Jack Campbell was pulled in a 1-0 game. Desharnais went to the front of the net, putting on a great screen as Edmonton scored. I’d love to see that during the season.
5. At this time, Ottawa will not place Josh Norris on long-term injury. There’s hope he could play by next week. But it’s a guessing game, because, as head coach DJ Smith repeated on Tuesday, “I never expected Josh would not play game one.”
The easiest thing is to put Norris on LTIR so they have the freedom to sign Shane Pinto; punt your cap problems for at least 24 days. But if the player or doctors don’t agree, it’s not going to happen. The Senators and Pinto aren’t anywhere in the same galaxy on a one-year contract, but not far apart on a multi-year deal. You know how it gets. Each side feels they’ve conceded enough, so it’s hard to punch it over the goal line. Adding to the equation: Ottawa’s cap-tightness and a player’s frustration at not being able to go at the start of a season.
6. We’re only one day in, so it’s not yet a big deal. But remember that once he signs, Pinto’s cap hit for this season increases with every day he misses. William Nylander’s current AAV is $6.96M, but since he signed on Dec. 1, 2018, his cap hit that year was $10.277M.
7. You can certainly see the possibility of Calgary using Scheifele’s $8.5M figure in conversations with Elias Lindholm. (Lindholm is a year younger, so the term probably isn’t seven.) But it is believed the player is in the $9M range. Also: the Flames have re-engaged with both Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev to see if anything can be hammered out.
8. I’m curious to see Calgary’s goalie rotation. Does it start with a bit of a split between Jacob Markstrom and Dan Vladar, or a more lopsided number for the former?
9. In the not-too-distant future, Patrick Kane’s return is going to become a dominant NHL story. The video released by his agency (CAA) had its intended effect, and there’s a lot of interest. Kane will wait to see how teams start. Florida was very aggressive during the summer, but Buffalo will be the team to watch.
10. There was never any doubt Rasmus Dahlin would extend with Buffalo. The bigger question was term. After Auston Matthews signed for four seasons, there was talk Dahlin would copy that plan, go shorter term and leave room for one more massive contract. The Sabres pushed hard for eight years from the beginning. Ultimately, Dahlin, very happy in Buffalo, agreed. It’s a win-win. I’ll bet on that contract aging very well.
11. Buffalo undoubtedly wanted to announce both Dahlin and Owen Power at the same time. Again, there’s nothing to worry about for Sabres fans, it will happen. But a recent push to try and get both done at once fell short.
12. In the aftermath of the Board of Governors’ meeting, it appears the very-early, very-preliminary cap number for next season is $87.7M.
13. One player said something very interesting: that he feels many of his peers are quicker to take extensions now because of how tight the cap’s been. If you’re a super-duperstar, you don’t have to worry. But for many others, it’s nowhere near as certain. Things are going to open-up next summer, so we’ll get a real test of this overall feeling.
14. I’m not sure the pride-tape ban is enforceable, and there are players thinking about ignoring it. Initially, teams wondered if Hockey Fights Cancer ties were also banned.
15. Listening to Edmonton/Vegas players talk about the difference in their playoff series was really fascinating. “The depth of our group showed in that series, which is something that I think we took a lot of pride in,” Jack Eichel said. “We rolled four lines. We felt really good about all six of our defencemen. A big moment in the series, Laurent Brossoit goes down, Adin Hill comes in mid-game and ends up backstopping us to a Stanley Cup.”
Evander Kane had an interesting perspective. “I’ve had a lot of playoff series against Vegas in my career,” he said. “I was probably more aware than anybody the type of team they are, how good their transition was and they can score goals. Obviously we can score goals, but they have some firepower that can put the puck on net. Especially the games we lost, we got into a little too much run-and-gun with them. They’re probably the best transition team in the league, believe it or not…We made the mistakes we made and the goals that we gave up were just too easy.”
You’d think Edmonton would be the best run-and-gun transition team. “That’s a perspective for most people,” Kane said, basically calling me an idiot. “You would think that and not to say we aren’t a very good run-and-gun team, we are, but it’s a dangerous game if the other goaltender is hot. If you’re not putting the puck in the net on that side of the ice, well, the other team’s coming back down your throat. Like I said, Vegas has been known since they’ve entered the league to be one of the best transition teams. They showed that in that series.”
“I thought they were just a little bit more stubborn than we are,” said Mattias Ekholm, talking about patience when defending. “We were really good for the first 20 seconds (in our zone) because everyone was on their check. And then when they had the puck for a little bit too long, we got impatient, we maybe cheated a little bit here and there, or maybe just wanted to break it up quicker. We’re not supposed to play 45 seconds in the defensive zone. So I thought that was a bit of a maturity part we might have to…bear down a little bit more in that area. It’s okay to play a shift every game a minute in the defensive zone. It’s going to happen. But to not cheat and get out of position and (allow) them get a two-on-one somewhere just because we’re tired of defending.”
“You can’t have nights off in the playoffs or periods off or shifts off,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “Every single moment is so important. Every goal, every little decision that you make during a playoff game, you never know if that’s going to be the difference in the whole round…You let your foot off the gas against a good team, they’re going to take advantage of you.”
“What was the difference?” Woodcroft asked. “First of all, I would compliment the Vegas Golden Knights. They won. It was their time. I think they were a team that had been in the final four, four of six seasons. So they had gone through those growth moments. They had the scars of disappointments past. And it was their time.”
16. All of that was excellent, but what stuck with me was whether or not 2024 will be Edmonton’s time. “I don’t have a crystal ball,” Woodcroft replied. “I can tell you this. I like the look in our team’s eye. I like where our leadership group is, where we’re at in the life stage of our organization. I know that this team is going to commit to doing it right from day one.”
“It’s not just as easy as just having a good team and you’re going to win the Stanley Cup,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “There’s too many good teams in this league. There’s a lot of parity. But the fact that we’re starting to go through it, we’re starting to learn from our past, is something that we’re going to lean on heavily. The belief in this group is something I’ve never experienced.”
Nugent-Hopkins referenced the 2022 loss to Colorado as much as last year’s to Vegas. “Just the way they played consistently. Their speed, their relentlessness…They would just keep coming and coming and coming at us. That’s an important lesson, too, because we have a fast team. We have a team that has that ability to just keep coming at teams in waves and putting pressure on at all times. So I think that’s a good lesson from Colorado we learned there.”
17. One of the reasons Connor Brown chose Edmonton was a face-to-face June recruiting dinner with Connor McDavid in Toronto. (He laughed when asked if McDavid paid.) As driven as the captain is, he’s even more dialled-in than ever.
“I see it in his eyes and you see it every practice. He’s as hungry as he’s ever been to take that next step. They’ve been knocking at the door…What I remember when Connor came in, he was 14 or 15 years old in (OHL) Erie and flying around the ice, just looked like a little kid. He’s got that same engine as he did, the same passion and love for the game as he did when he was 15.”
“I had a chat with Connor one day, and we were talking about defence,” Ekholm added. “He’s like, ‘I hate when I get scored on, more than anything, I hate it, it’s the worst thing in the world.’ That may not have been my thought with (both him and Leon Draisaitl) because they’re so offensive, they’re so good that they know they get the next shift and they go out and score and everything’s good. But I was happy because they care so much, and they understand that in playoffs you can’t just wheel around winning 7-1…How much they care about a complete game was probably the thing that maybe not surprised me, but struck me the most with them.”
How good are they defensively? “How good are they? I think they’re really good. It’s more about the patience to stick with it. They’re super pros, both of them. They are on for every skate. They want to be the leaders of this team, and they are. But they’re so aware of what they need to do, because they know (they can score) 160 points, and you have to translate that to playoff hockey.”
18. Kane hinted that Edmonton would make some structural changes. I’m not a Scotty Bowman-level tactician, but it does look like more of a box-and-one in the defensive zone.
19. Another team making some schematic change is Tampa Bay. Late last season, they worked hard up-ice at eliminating rush chances against. This year, they’ve made a slight defensive zone evolution. Historically, when the puck would go near the blue line, their defenceman on the strong side would go, too. Now, it’s more of a zone coverage than man-to-man, with the Lightning defender staying closer to the net.
20. Stuart Skinner with the scoop on Edmonton’s summer pickleball games: “James (Hamblin) got a lot better over the summer. He was awful at the start. (Head strength and conditioning coach) Chad Drummond was actually good but now he’s really good. Chad and (assistant strength and conditioning coach) Joel Jackson were the most improved for sure. I’m kind of on the bubble. I can be really good some days and then some other days I’m playing like…Joel.” (I did not get the impression that was a massive compliment.)
Did Darnell Nurse play? “Yeah, Nurse would come in every once in a while and we’d be placed in doubles. And you’re…you’re hoping that he wasn’t on your team…He’s not the greatest pickleball player.”
21. Most fascinating player fit for 2023-24 is undoubtedly Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson. Norris Trophy season, 100 points. The idea of his talent being added to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang is as mouthwatering as a Harbour 60/Barberian’s steak.
For people who’ve played and coached with Karlsson, they point out you really have to set up your system around him when he’s on the ice. He needs his power play time in a setup that makes sense for him (which didn’t work when Brent Burns was still in San Jose) and he needs system flexibility most other players wouldn’t get. Now, you’re going to do that with someone as talented as he is. You don’t buy a Ferrari and drive it on a 60-foot circle.
The Penguins are coming off a hugely-disappointing season, so everyone will be willing to make it work. Everyone — including the other superstars — is going to have to adjust to him on the ice more than he will adjust to them.
22. In the eyes of his compatriots, Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas’s waiver claim of Jansen Harkins shows the executive’s evolution. Harkins isn’t a big scorer, but last season featured the best underlying numbers of his career. (At least what’s available in public data.) Dubas began his career thinking offence-first all the time, even with his deeper lines. While, in theory, from an entertainment point of view, offence is more exciting, there’s not enough of it to fill 32 rosters. Therefore, an argument can be made that successful teams have depth that may not score, but won’t get caved-in.
23. For all of the rookies nervous after their first rough night, some excellent advice from reigning Rookie of the Year Matt Beniers. On December 30, 2022, he went minus-3 in a 7-2 home loss to Edmonton, where McDavid had three points in the first 9:58.
“I was just sitting there,” he said, smiling about it months later. “I was like, ‘Oh this is going to be a long night.’ Definitely a good wake up call.” Who talked you out of that one? “Yeah, that was (Jordan Eberle) and (Jared McCann). Those guys were just helping throughout the game…’Just keep going, keep doing the right things.’ After the game they’re like, ‘You’re going to have games like that where it doesn’t go your way and the puck isn’t bouncing your way. You’re just not feeling it.’ Those are the games where you have to simplify and just try to do one good thing. Try to help the team in one way.”
24. Beniers’ roommate is Will Borgen. Jeff Marek made the excellent Miracle reference, pointing out it’s proof that Michigan and Minnesota guys can play together. “It is possible,” Beniers answered. “When he starts talking about the Vikings, then things get a little shaky.”
25. Don’t know how much I’m going to be able to watch AHL Coachella Valley, but it’s going to be good to see the Firebirds’ plans for Shane Wright. I’d expect he gets the heaviest workload he’s seen in years — all situations, toughest opposition — exactly what he needs. I’m also curious to see if there’s any point he gets tried at wing, just to give another option for him in the Kraken’s deep forward lineup.
26. Speaking of Brent Burns, some of his greatest advice courtesy of Mario Ferraro: “I’d come to the bench and I’d be tired, and coach would say, ‘You guys good?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m pretty tired.’” That was a no-no with Burns around. He’d tell Ferraro to calmly breathe it out. Ferraro continues: “You have an opportunity to get out there and play. (You) don’t take this stuff for granted…That went a long way for me, especially as a young guy. Any chance I can get on NHL ice? Don’t say no.” Obviously, that’s not always possible. But I love the idea and the attitude.
27. Ferraro saw old friend and future Hall-of-Famer Joe Thornton a few times during the summer. “He’s on the ice all the time. He’s never officially retired.” Ferraro was very careful about the next bit, because he wouldn’t ever claim to speak for his friend, but I asked if he thought Thornton would officially retire. “No, I don’t,” he answered. “I don’t think he will. I think he’s just going to hang around. I think he could still play, though. He buzzes.” Do you think he wants to? “I can’t speak for Jumbo, but I do. Deep down, I feel like he does.” Someone get this man a contract.
28. Washington’s Tom Wilson said he knew he was close to making the aborted 2022 Canadian Olympic Team. “I know that I was in the hunt,” he said. “I think what I was told was there were a couple guys left for one spot and I still was at the table…That whole experience is pretty crazy for me because Team Canada is just a different monster, right? This team is…the best players in the world and all the superstars. So that was pretty, pretty cool.”
29. A lot of great stuff this summer on Jacob Trouba’s newfound love for painting, but my favourite story was how his teammates found out. “We did our fantasy football draft to determine the draft order,” he laughed. “We did a duck race on some website so we all Face-Time. I was at the studio (with) paint all over my face. So everybody’s laughing at me like, what are you doing?”
30. You had to watch only one opposing penalty-kill on Tuesday to see that Connor Bedard is going to be defended like Alexander Ovechkin is on the man-advantage.
31. I cannot wait for meaningful Colorado-Vegas games. Those teams wanted to clobber each other during the preseason.
32. During the 2011 Western Conference Final (Vancouver over San Jose) a few of us went to a Prince concert in California. We found out from one of his crew that Prince would leave, but the band and staff had to stay because it wasn’t uncommon for him to decide in the limo that he wasn’t finished and would come back to play some more. I loved that story.
One of my summer reads was The Beautiful Ones, which was supposed to be Prince’s autobiography. I guess, in some ways it is. It’s really, really special and left an incredible impression. Prince comes across — not surprisingly — as real artiste, living life at his creative whim. The author, Dan Piepenbring, went through quite the process before Prince agreed to work with him. Sadly, there were only a couple of work sessions before Prince died, way too soon.
Despite that, Piepenbring found a way to put together a mesmerizing tribute, featuring page after page of Prince’s original handwritten notes, lyrics and photos. Inside the mind of a creative genius I cannot match. I was spellbound. There are so many treasures in it.
Two things to remember: “Hidden Places, Secret Abilities. A part of oneself that is never shown. These r (he used this kind of shorthand) the necessary tools 4 a vibrant imagination & the main ingredients of a good song.” And, “A good ballad should always put U in the mood 4 making love.” That was his goal. Now, this is a blog, not a ballad, but I’m inspired after reading this, so that’s the goal with 32 Thoughts in 2023-24.
