From Elias Pettersson to Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher and in between
Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic: The season started well for Vancouver and now some business needs work. Tanev playing through pain has been commonplace in his tenure as a Canuck. Any deal here requires health to be factored into the numbers. Furthermore, Tanev’s chemistry with Quinn Hughes is a good sign.
The Elias Pettersson cap comparables point to some interesting tidbits. One thing is this. Is this Pettersson’s platform year? He need not be signed right away. Mitch Marner and even Connor McDavid can be used as comparables. This means Pettersson could walk away with $10-12 million AAV on a longer-term
Troy Stecher, according to some sources, was dangled by Vancouver earlier in the season to gauge interest. It seemed to be little more than that but the defenseman has seen things slip sideways.
On Los Angeles, Ilya Kovalchuk, and the rebuild?
Josh Cooper of The Athletic: A desire to make moves feels prevalent among the Los Angeles fanbase and even media. Most of the tradeable roster has regressed in value and one source went this far:
“I think they believe they can sit back and just take the high picks that come their way. These rebuilds take forever if you’re not proactive,” a general manager said. “I think they’ve (Kings veterans) lost significant value.”
Jeff Carter remains the only veteran Kings’ player that has improved from last year. They are 5-11-1 this year and the roster seems stuck in neutral of late. The value diminishes on a team like this quickly especially with their record and morale. Ideally, Los Angeles needs to assess fast and make moves accordingly.
Could that be why Ilya Kovalchuk has been rumored to be shopped but soon…
A quick note on New Jersey goaltending
Jared Clinton of The Hockey News: New Jersey needs incredible goaltending to win on most nights and even then that has happened seldom this year. While Cory Schneider recovers from the latest setback, his future must be pondered. Mackenzie Blackwood has improved a good bit from his early-season start. His 6-4-3 record now features a .903 save percentage (.922 in the last ten). The blown leads are an issue but the underlying numbers and shot percentages indicate maybe the blame is not all in the paint. Taylor Hall and the team defense may be bigger culprits.