Pondering the playoffs, still nine combined victories away from Islanders-Leafs after Toronto failed to take care of business Sunday:
1. Lou Lamoriello has never by policy moved pending free agents as rental properties at the trade deadline. The Islanders general manager long ago explained he had become accustomed to losing players through graduation during his first life as coach/athletic director at Providence College, so NHL players going free was just a part of the natural order.
He and the Devils had Doug Gilmour leave after the playoffs in 1998, Vladimir Malakhov (obtained as a rental) and Claude Lemieux in 2000, Alexander Mogilny in 2001 and Bobby Holik in 2002. Big-time guys. But Lamoriello was convinced those teams had a shot to win.
And so it is that his Islanders, still awaiting to learn the identity of their Round 2 opponent, with the Caps going for the kill against the Hurricanes in Monday’s Game 6 at Raleigh, are carrying four marquee pending free agents on the roster.
There’s been a fair amount of talk about Anders Lee, expected to stay; Jordan Eberle, expected to depart; and Brock Nelson, also expected to stay but whose strong season and outstanding tournament work against Pittsburgh has thrust him into potential open-market prominence.
But the Vezina nominee is a pending free agent, also, and there has been relatively little talk about Robin Lehner’s future beyond Game 1 of Round 2.
There was, early in the season, much chatter throughout the industry linking the Islanders to Columbus’ impending free-agent netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, who is believed to be seeking a deal that will at least match Carey Price’s $10.5 million per in Montreal. There would seem no reason whatsoever for Lamoriello to be in on Bobrovsky, who likely will land in Florida.
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Lehner, of course, has been a revelation working on the one-year, $1.5 million contract he signed last summer following an unhappy three-year experience in Buffalo. His price will certainly and meritoriously skyrocket. The Islanders, with as much as $35 million in anticipated cap space before dealing with any of their pending UFA’s, can certainly pony up.
But even if Lehner gets to July 1, where would he go? Is there a team other than the Panthers seeking a No. 1? Maybe Ottawa, but that’s where the netminder started before being sent to the Sabres. Loyalty and appreciation aside for the way the organization responded to Lehner’s personal and medical needs, Lehner is likely to stay because the options seem less than limited.
Maybe that is why there has been so little talk about this situation.
2. So we can start the watch on the Rangers’ interest in Winnipeg’s pending free-agent right defenseman Jacob Trouba manifesting itself in trade talks, the Jets having been KO’d in six by the Blues.
Winnipeg, the organization that built almost exclusively through the draft, is about to get hammered. Trouba, who had an extremely contentious second-contract negotiation that bled into the start of 2016-17, is a Group II with salary-arbitration rights; wingers Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor are Group II’s without arbitration rights who will nevertheless command massive increases coming off entry-level contracts; and defenseman Tyler Myers is a pending UFA.
Trouba, who turned 25 in late February, is likely to command $7 million a year. The Rangers will be among those wanting to give it to him.
This, I believe, would suit the Blueshirts just fine on their 2019-20 right side: 1. Trouba; 2. Adam Fox; 3A. Tony DeAngelo; 3B. Neal Pionk.
The Jets, in their elimination game in St. Louis on Saturday, were able to muster just 22 five-on-five shot attempts through 40 minutes while outshot 22-6 at full strength. They neither had enough nor got enough.
3. Yes, the Bruins most certainly did take it up several notches and got a big-time performance from previous non-factor Brad Marchand, but Toronto did little to assert itself through 50 minutes Sunday.
4. Of course the contract must be negotiated, but Mats Zuccarello remaining in Dallas seems like a pretty reasonable proposition as long as the Stars are willing to cede their 2020 first-rounder to the Rangers as compensation.
Zuccarello, immediately both productive and popular, would presumably demand a no-move clause to protect him against exposure to the 2021 Seattle expansion draft but that should not be an issue, the Stars appearing not to have protection problems.
5. How about Calgary’s James Neal, scratched for the Game 5 elimination match against Colorado without a point in the series after finishing the first season of his five-year, $5.75 million per contract he signed last summer as a free agent. Seven goals, 12 assists and 19 points in 63 games?
The winger wasn’t even motivated enough to cheap shot anyone.