It’s ironic that two of the early trade deadline targets are right-wingers Shane Doan and Jarome Iginla, toiling respectively for the NHL’s 29th place Arizona Coyotes and 30th place Colorado Avalanche.
The two Alberta boys are the last remaining active players from that fecund 1995 draft that gave us seven 1,000-game players: Iginla (1,517 games played), Doan (1,511), Radek Dvorak (1,260), Daymond Langkow (1,090), Wade Redden (1,023), Petr Sykora (1,017) and Michal Handzus (1,009).
“Jarome is the bench mark that everyone from our draft is compared to,” said Doan, whose 960 points are second behind Iginla’s 1,284 from the ’95 draft. “It seems kind of unfair to the rest of us, ‘cause he’s so incredible. I guess this is the only time I’m in a similar boat to him in my career.”
No one questions how good Doan and Iginla were as draft picks for the former-Winnipeg Jets and the Dallas Stars 22 years ago. The topic now that they are both on the block is, how much can either one help a team in a 2017 playoff run?
Doan is 40, Iginla 39. In a league that keeps getting faster and faster, can either keep up well enough to make a team better over a two-month playoff grind?
“I think they can help a slower team,” said a scout. “They both compete hard, both have good shots. Just the legs aren’t there. They’re both fourth-line guys, with some power play time on the second unit.”
Another scout disagreed, however.
“In hockey, the only thing that gets better with age is wine. They’ve been good warriors, great for the game, but everything has a beginning and everything has an end,” said the scout, who has had several viewings of both, and kept a particularly close eye on Iginla. “My eyes tell me he’s 39 years old, he doesn’t get up and down the ice anymore, he can’t break around the defenceman anymore, and his will to win and his passion for the game have diminished.
“If (my GM) asked me, I wouldn’t say ‘take him’.”
It must be said that the Colorado Avalanche are a chanceless bunch. There are likely many players who would look better on a team that isn’t as dysfunctional as Colorado.
“If Iggy went to a contender, you’d see that passion again,” said our first scout. “I think the whole (Avalanche) team is playing that way. You can’t single one guy out.”
As for Doan, he sounds a lot like a guy who will wave his no-movement clause for one playoff shot with a contender, then either re-sign in Arizona or hang ‘em up. In the NHL, that is.
“Once I’m done here, I’ll play in some rec. league, some Wednesday night game. It’s the best sport in the world,” he said. “(Former Coyotes goalie) Sean Burke once said to me, ‘There will be a day when no one calls your name, and you’ll want them to. Enjoy it.’ I understand it will pass soon.”
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“Total Reset”
The biggest surprise out West for me this season are the St. Louis Blues. They’re barely in the top half of the NHL standings, and can point to a 30th-ranked team saves percentage (.888) as the reason why.
The Blues handed the No. 1 job to Jake Allen this season, dealing Brian Elliott to the Calgary Flames, and Allen has not rewarded the Blues’ faith. He has a .897 save percentage, a 2.85 goals-against average and has been pulled from four of his past six starts.
It’s so bad, the team left him behind on Friday when they flew to Winnipeg so that he could have a “total reset” according to Blues GM Doug Armstrong.
“I think taking a day away, and getting a total reset … I wanted a complete reset and then we come back on Sunday, he’s back in the net and he’s ready to go,” Armstrong said. “To me it’s not a huge story; he’s going to take a day to get a reset with his family. He just had a young baby, but the play needs to improve and I want to give him a fresh start.”
What’s really worrying the Blues?
How about Allen’s four-year extension with an average annual value of $4.35 million that kicks in next season? They’re committed to Allen, like it or not, but if he requires an expensive, experienced backup next season, that will put the Blues’ salary scale out of whack.
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Landeskog on the Move?
In an interview with the Denver Post, Colorado GM Joe Sakic named his three untouchables as he tries to resurrect the Avalanche: Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Jost. Conspicuous in his omission was Gabriel Landeskog, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the Colorado captain.
“I want to be an Avalanche, to stay an Avalanche and be in Denver for a long, long time,” Landeskog would later tell the Post. “Whether my name is floating around or not, I’m still approaching the game the same way. That is to spread energy, be a good teammate, work hard and try to get better every day. Me being in trade rumours, that’s nothing I can control.”
Landeskog is in the third year of a seven-year, $39-million deal (AAV $5.57 million). Ironically, the No. 2 overall pick in ’11 has panned out much like the No. 1, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – a good, responsible player who cares, but perhaps is, simply, just a really good player. Not a great one.
The Avalanche, meanwhile, are a train wreck. They’re the worst team in the NHL, five points clear of No. 29 Arizona at the halfway mark. And now goalie Semyon Varlamov has a groin issue and will be shut down until after the all-star break.
A bigger problem? When he comes back he’ll still have that .898 save percentage. I could see the Avs absolutely cleaning house in April.
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Experienced Rookies
Nineteen-year-old Kirill Kaprizov, who plays in the KHL with former NHLer Linus Omark for Salavat Yulaev in Ufa, moved into the Top 20 in KHL scoring this week with a four-point performance against Ak Bars Kazan. Kaprizov has only next season left on his KHL deal, after which the Minnesota property will be ready to join the Wild.
So, pencil him in for the Calder 2018-19 Calder Trophy?
We certainly hope not. He could have 200 professional games under his belt by then.
Artemi Panarin did not get my Calder consideration when NHL rules still deemed him a “rookie” at age 24, despite the fact he had played parts of seven seasons and 263 games of professional hockey in the KHL. There is no way any player with that much pro experience — KHL, AHL, NHL, whatever — should compete for the Calder against players coming out of Major Junior or college hockey, in my opinion.
Sure, Auston Matthews played one season in the Swiss League. That’s only 36 games. Kaprizov will have played four KHL seasons, though he’ll only be 21.
With the annual influx of “true freshmen” from which to choose from nowadays, I’d draw the line at 100 pro games. Any more and you are ineligible for the Calder.
