Lemieux Emerges To Vent Against NHL ... Again

This past weekend was not a good one for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They were brutalized both on the ice and on the score sheet by the New York Islanders Friday night before heading to Madison Square Garden for a matinee matchup against the New York Rangers that resulted in a come-from-behind loss. And to make matters worse, their delusional co-owner, Mario Lemieux, emerged from his cave to express his disappointment with the league he has always had issue with. Surprise, surprise! 

With thoughts of Brent Johnson’s knockout punch to Rick DiPietro that left the oft-injured Isles starter on the shelf for four-to-six weeks with facial fractures still on their mind, New York entered their rematch against Pittsburgh with intentions of garnering some revenge. What ensued was a game that saw 346 total minutes in penalties and a 9-3 shellacking by the Islanders over the undermanned Penguins.

Following that fiasco was a set of suspensions and fines by league disciplinarian Colin Campbell. The Penguins’ only punishment was an automatic 10-game suspension to Eric Godard, who left the bench in defense of Johnson when Michael Haley pursued a fight with the netminder. As for the Islanders, the organization received a $100,000 fine while Trevor Gillies received a nine-game suspension for delivering several blows to the head of Eric Tangradi and Matt Martin got a four-game ban for sucker punching an unsuspecting Maxime Talbot in the head.

None of that was good enough for the Penguins owner.

NHL Trade Breakdown: 2.9.2011

The NHL trade deadline is fast approaching, set to go in effect at 3 p.m. eastern time on Monday, February 28. With just about two and half weeks remaining, it's time for teams to decide whether they are buyers or sellers and for general manager to start negotiations in hopes of building for the playoffs or giving themselves a better shot for next season.

A good numbers of deals went down today, signaling that perhaps the ball is rolling from here on out for these trades to take place. Lets take a look of some of these deals and break down how they affect the teams involved.

Toronto Maple Leafs trade defenseman Francois Beauchemin to the Anaheim Ducks for forward Joffrey Lupul, defensive prospect Jake Gardiner and a conditional 2013 fourth round pick:

Over the last few years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have constantly been a rumor mill for trades, especially involving defensemen. It seems impossible for Tomas Kaberle to avoid this at every twist and turn of his season from a yearly basis. This year, however, he was not alone on the trade block. Francois Beauchemin had long been considered available to any team willing to offer general manager Brian Burke something of substance.

It seems that Anaheim was able to cough up something to his liking. By sending Joffrey Lupul, former first rounder (17th overall in 2008) Jake Gardiner and a conditional fourth round pick in 2013 to Toronto, the Ducks were able to bring a familiar face back to The Honda Center. Beauchemin, 30, spent four seasons with the Ducks and has a Stanley Cup to his credit from playing on their 2007 championship team. And that familiarity to the Ducks, as well as a renewed sense of motivation for playing on a championship contender, could make this a worthwhile acquisiton for the Ducks. It also doesn't hurt that the Ducks managed to shed about half a million bucks in cap space in the process.

But it doesn't come without risk. Beauchemin has largely been a disappointment for the Maple Leafs this year and carries a hefty $3.8 million cap hit this year and next for what has thus far been subpar play. Lupul may not be a gamebreaker, but he is a decent contributor with 25-goal, 50-point potential when healthy that should fill Toronto's need of scoring more goals. And the Leafs gave up an intriguing 20-year old defensive prospect that could have grown into a key asset on Anaheim's blue line along with the likes of Cam Fowler. For a player that has been struggling like Beauchemin, that's not necessarily the greatest gamble.

If Beauchemin truly takes this deal as a reason to step up his game and play with a renewed energy to his game, he can be a nice veteran pickup for a team currently holding onto a seventh-seed playoff position out West by just one point. But if he plays just as he did in Toronto, the Ducks would have been better off holding onto Gardiner and monitoring his progress.

Running Low On Goalies, Isles Swing Deal For Al Montoya

When Rick DiPietro is tabbed as your franchise's No. 1 goalie, you become accustomed to having some level of inconsistency in between the pipes. But this year has been a bit ridiculous for the Islanders, who have utilized the services of five different goaltenders this season and tried to enlist Evgeni Nabokov until the should-be Detroit Red Wing reminded them there was no purpose in him being a part of their organization. Thus far, only two of the goaltenders they did use could really be considered NHL caliber - the oft-injured DiPietro and Dwayne Roloson, who was mercifully dealt to the Tampa Bay Lighting where he is now shining even at 41 years old.

New York found itself in an emergency situation on Tuesday when their newest starting tender Kevin Poulin suffered a knee injury in pre-game warmups prior to taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs. That led to the Islanders going with backup Mikko Koskinen. The native of Vantaa, Finland went on to surrender five goals on 26 shots in a 5-3 loss against Toronto. It was revealed Wednesday that Poulin will miss the remainder of the season with a dislocated left knee cap.

In a relative state of emergency, TSN's Darren Dreger reported early Wednesday in The Dreger Report that Isles general manager Garth Snow was looking to swing a "soft" deal for a new body to sport their crease. By "soft" deal, Dreger explained this trade would not include any high-end talent or early round draft picks. According to Dreger late Wednesday, the Islanders managed to get that deal done relatively quickly. By send a sixth round pick over to the Phoenix Coyotes, Snow picked up former New York Rangers first round pick (6th overall in 2004) Al Montoya.

Montoya has never had a real opportunity to play in the NHL and has just five games in the big league to his credit. While he was selected by the Rangers seven years ago with the intention of being grooming into their next starting goalie, Henrik Lundqvist emerged as the King of New York and Montoya was eventually shipped out in a trade deadline deal with the Coyotes in 2008. Montoya's chances of seeing more playing time in Phoenix was slim, however, as the team already had Ilya Bryzgalov in between the pipes.

But in his very limited amount of NHL action (five games - four of which were starts), Montoya put up a very impressive 3-1 record with a 2.08 goals against average, .925 save percentage and a shutout in his very first NHL start against the Colorado Avalanche. With the Isles' goaltending situation completely depleted at this point, Montoya should have no trouble generating legitimate playing time with an opportunity to prove he can contribute over the long haul as he did two years ago.

That is, of course, until DiPietro returns from his latest facial injury to steal a few games before heading back to the shelf with another guaranteed ailment.

Islanders To Miss Streit, Okposo For Extended Periods Of Time

The New York Islanders were hardly expected to win the Stanley Cup this year. Making the playoffs alone was a far-reaching goal. But to obtain some marked improvement over their 26th place showing in the standings last year was on the radar. And it would take the great play from all of the assets on this rebuilding squad to accomplish that.

That could become a difficult task this year now that the Islanders will go extended periods of time without their top defenseman (and perhaps best player) and top right wing. Both Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo sustained devastating injuries in training camp that will have the latter out of the lineup an indefinite amount of time and the former perhaps for the entire season.

Streit was the first one to go down after receiving a cross-check from teammate Matt Moulson in a morning intrasquad scrimmage this past Saturday that sent him awkwardly into the boards. Tests would reveal that Streit suffered a torn labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder – an injury that will require surgery putting Streit out for at least six months, according to Newsday.

"I don't think anyone replaces him," Islanders Head Coach Scott Gordon said. "You're talking about a guy that was in the top three in scoring on our team as a defenseman. That's pretty hard to match that; guys that do that are all-stars. I like who we have, but you can't expect them to be Mark Streit."

The Islanders brought in several new faces to the defense corps over the summer, including Milan Jurcina and Mark Eaton as free agents and James Wisniewski in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks. On Monday, General Manager Garth Snow also pulled the trigger on a two year contract for Mike Mottau, who spent the past three seasons with the New Jersey Devils. But as Gordon stated, none of those guys can match what Streit brings to the table. They can only hope to lessen the blow.

Streit was officially joined on the shelf Tuesday by Okposo after a weekend of evaluations revealed that the 22-year old needed surgery for a torn labrum in his right shoulder. There is no definitive timeline for Okposo’s return. However, Newsday estimates he will be out of the lineup for two-to-three months. That would put him out until at least very late-November.

Okposo is also believed to have injured his shoulder during a team scrimmage. Katie Strang notes that this injury was suffered last Thursday and was believed to have occured "when Okposo extended his arm to reach back for a puck."

The former-first overall selection by the Islanders back in 2007 has steadily grown into a strong offensive weapon on Long Island. He posted career-highs last year in goals (19), assists (33), points (52), power play points (22) and game-winning scored (4). When put together on a line with John Tavares and Matt Moulson, Okposo truly excelled as a good all-around talent and should have continued developing down that path on the same line this upcoming season. Unfortunately, he will now have to wait a few months to see if his progress and chemistry with those linemates grows further moving forward.

Teams That Can Benefit Most From Adding Antti Niemi

It’s not common for a player to go from Stanley Cup Champion to unrestricted free agent in the fashion that 26-year old Finnish goaltender Antti Niemi did. Though he sought a salary believed to be in the range of $3-4 million a season on a long-term deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, he also filed for salary arbitration and accepted the possibility of making less. Unfortunately for him, General Manager Stan Bowman did not accept the very fair offer of $2.75 million given to Niemi by the arbitrator because of the ‘Hawks’ tight salary cap situation. Instead, they signed Marty Turco to a one year, $1.3 million deal and sent Niemi to the unrestricted free agent market one year earlier than he otherwise would have been eligible.

Now it is time to see if the offseason spent playing hardball by Niemi and his agent, Bill Zito, will result in a more fruitful situation for the 42-regular season game NHL “veteran.” Although no exact list of interested teams has come to light, let’s take a look at some teams that could most benefit from adding Niemi into their goaltending corp.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Over the years, the Columbus Blue Jackets have worked hard to get out of the basement and actually become a playoff contender. Two years ago, they realized that goal by making the postseason for the first time in the franchise’s 10–year history. The team’s ability to get there was due, in large part, to the play of then-rookie goaltender Steve Mason, who received the Calder Memorial Trophy for his phenomenal play throughout the season.

Unfortunately, Mason’s sophomore season included a slump and he didn’t play near to the level of his first year in the league. As a result, the Blue Jackets went back to the outside looking in on the playoff picture. Some doubt now exists over Mason’s ability to backstop this club into a perennial contender.

Of course, there is hope that he can find his game next season. That would truly be the best case scenario for Columbus, since his rookie play was far better than anything Niemi will offer. But if Mason’s career goes the way of Andrew Raycroft, it’ll be hard to hand over the keys to the car to him too much longer. The Blue Jackets may need to seek a more consistent net presence, which will be not Mathieu Garon either.

Niemi would provide an upgrade from what Mason offered a season ago and would be a suitable replacement. The Blue Jackets likely wouldn’t get rid of Mason and would figure out a way to work Niemi’s playing time around spotting Mason 20-25 games through the season, as well. It would just leave Garon as the odd man out. And his $1.2 million salary can either be dealt or very easily buried in the AHL, where he would spend a season in Syracuse before becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch disagrees with this notion, and feels that Columbus is pretty well set with Mason and Garon. But as Bruce Ciskie of Fanhouse points out, it all depends on the confidence the Blue Jackets have in Mason. After last year, you have to wonder …

Moulson, Fleischmann And Brule Avoid Arbitration

Salary arbitration can be an ugly process in where agents turn their clients into rockstars and general managers make them look like mere roadies. It’s where the truth really comes about between two parties that would much rather closet how they really feel. And sometimes, feelings get hurt.

So when a team can avoid going this route with any players, it’s a good thing. Such was the case earlier today when the New York Islanders, Washington Capitals and Edmonton Oilers managed to retain a young star each on new deals that didn’t require the assistance of an independent arbitrator to mediate through their squabbling.

Literally moments ahead of a 9 a.m. hearing in Toronto, the Islanders reached an agreement with left wing Matt Moulson on a one year deal at $2.45 million, according to Newsday. The 26-year old had a breakout campaign on Long Island last season in which he posted 30 goals – eight coming on the power play and five counting as game winners – and 48 points over the course of a full 82-game schedule. This was his first regular action in the NHL after spending three years in the Los Angeles Kings’ system and posting totals of six goals and 10 points in 29 games with the big club.

“I was excited. We figured that if something was going to get done it would be this morning,” Moulson told Katie Strang of Newsday. “I wanted to be back on the Island.”

The Market For Ilya Kovalchuk: Islanders Prepared To Offer $100M, Devils Still In Mix, Kings Out?

 

A flurry of activity was expected to surround Ilya Kovalchuk when the free agent market opened for business on Thursday. Not only was he leaps and bounds better than any other available player, but the 27-year old Russian sniper also possesses a unique ability to dramatically change the face of any NHL franchise. It therefore came as a bit of a surprise that there was little to report on his situation as Day 1 came to a close.

The Los Angeles Kings were at the forefront of negotiations with Kovalchuk, which was to be expected considering their interest dating back to the trade deadline. New Jersey Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello believed his team was very much in the mix despite having added at least $8.625 million against the cap with previous signings throughout the day. And any number of unconfirmed teams were also posturing for the left wing’s services.

One of those other teams was revealed late in the day on July 2. TSN’s Darren Dreger pondered the idea of the New York Islanders going after Kovalchuk and indicated a source informed him of the team’s possible intentions to offer a $100-million, 10-year contract. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun followed up with a text confirmation from Isles’ GM Garth Snow that they were in the mix.

A situation that had little movement in the first day of free agency suddenly transformed into the high-priced bidding process anticipated for Kovalchuk. Even in light of the Islanders' potential offer, the Kings were still believed to be the favorite to land Kovalchuk, with the Devils not too far behind pending Lamoriello’s ability to work around the less-than $5 million in cap space still left on the payroll. But with a proposed offer of $10 million annually for the next decade, the Islanders instantly emerged as a contender for Kovalchuk.

Impossible Contracts Lie Ahead For NHL GMs

Teams have already begun the process of evaluating their rosters to determine what changes need to be made by the time the puck drops on the 2010-11 season. The time for upgrading talent will come at the end of June via the draft and at the start of free agency on July 1. But the most immediate part of the process for NHL general managers is to determine what dead weight should be shed from their respective organizations. Who needs to be let go, and how should they be discarded?

The most difficult situations for general managers to deal with when it comes to needing roster and cap relief is when the particular player they are looking to unload comes along with an inconvenient contract. Players who haven’t performed up to expectations and have large contracts will likely go unclaimed through the waiver process and are going to be tough sells to other general managers through the trade route. Though the latter is not impossible – just as Glen Sather about Scott Gomez.

The buyout process is another option for general managers, and the two-week window where that is allowable began today. According to TSN, the Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens are each expected to explore that avenue with one or more of their players. But for players with a lot of money still owed, and several years accompanying it, buyouts can become a bigger burden to an organization. Teams will still owe a player two-thirds of the remaining money left on his contract (or one-third for those 26 years of age and younger) over double the amount of time left on the deal. And that’s not ideal for teams who want to spend as much as possible on players that will actually suit up for the team.

Then there’s this new revelation that hasn’t really been put into practice about simply demoting a player to the minors so that they don’t play for the NHL club and their salary doesn’t count against the cap. In theory, that sounds tremendous. But I don’t really think that method has been adopted by many teams thus far. And that’s probably out of respect for the player.

A few players around the league carry with them impossible contracts. They cannot be easily waived or traded, nor does it make financial sense overall or for the cap to pursue a buyout. Instead, teams seem stuck with these deals unless the general manager can get really creative or find a sucker somewhere amongst the other 29 squads.