Proof the NHL is thinking well outside the box right now does not just come from the fact it appears ready to hold an entry draft before trying to finish the season.
The league is even willing to allow teams to rework trades involving conditional 2020 picks — a surprising and unusual concession as it builds a case for going ahead with an early-June draft.
That nugget was included in Friday night’s memo from deputy commissioner Bill Daly, who indicated that the NHL would propose solutions to every conditional trade while also allowing the teams up to seven days to go back and work out something different on their own.
In theory, that means a third-round pick in a previously completed transaction could be changed to a specific prospect instead. Or maybe teams would want to alter the conditions included in a deal or the years attached to certain picks.
This is a peace offering from the NHL to the teams that voiced concerns about how these trade conditions might be interpreted or applied amid an incomplete season. The league doesn’t view that issue as a major hurdle and is willing to allow some history to be rewritten if it helps general managers start looking at a June draft in a more favourable way.
Many of these deals appear to offer relatively simple fixes.
Here’s a detailed look at every trade involving conditional 2020 picks, ranked from the easiest to toughest to resolve in the event the NHL goes ahead with the draft before another game is played.
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Trade:Philadelphia Flyers trade Kyle Criscuolo and the better of Philadelphia’s two fourth-round picks in 2020 (Philadelphia’s own fourth or Nashville’s fourth, previously acquired by Philadelphia) to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Derek Grant.
Analysis: Simply transfer the Nashville fourth-rounder to Anaheim. It’s the better of the two picks.
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Trade:Ottawa Senators trade Jean-Gabriel Pageau to the New York Islanders in exchange for the Islanders’ 2020 first-round pick. This draft pick is top-3 lottery-protected. Should the Islanders’ 2020 first become a top-3 pick, Ottawa will receive the Islanders’ 2021 first-round pick.
The Islanders shall also transfer their 2020 second-round pick; and a conditional third-round pick (the Islanders’ own pick) in the 2022 NHL Draft. Ottawa will receive the 2022 third-rounder if the Islanders win the 2020 Stanley Cup.
Analysis: Since the Islanders are ineligible to win a lottery pick under the NHL’s proposed rules for this draft, they can transfer the 21st-overall selection to Ottawa.
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Trade:Vancouver Canucks trade Marek Mazanec, Vancouver’s 2019 third-round pick (No. 71) and Vancouver’s 2020 first-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for JT Miller. If Vancouver does not make the 2020 playoffs, the pick converts to Vancouver’s 2021 first-round selection.
New Jersey Devils trade Blake Coleman to Tampa Bay in exchange for Nolan Foote and Vancouver’s first-round pick in the 2020 or 2021 NHL Draft (previously acquired by Tampa Bay). New Jersey will receive Vancouver’s first-rounder in 2020 or 2021 per the below conditions of the Tampa Bay-Vancouver trade on June 22, 2019: If Vancouver makes the 2020 playoffs, it transfers its 2020 first-round pick to Tampa Bay. If not, the pick converts to Vancouver’s 2021 first-round selection.
Analysis: The Canucks held a Western Conference playoff spot when the season was paused and would receive the 18th pick under the NHL’s proposed plan to determine the order of selection using points percentage by conference. That pick should be transferred to New Jersey, via Tampa Bay, to satisfy the conditions on both the Miller and Coleman trades.
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Trade:Toronto Maple Leafs trade Patrick Marleau, a conditional first-round pick in 2020 or 2021 and their 2020 seventh-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Carolina’s 2020 sixth-round pick. Should Toronto’s 2020 first-rounder fall within picks 1-10, they will instead transfer their own 2021 first-round pick.
Carolina trades the later of either its 2020 first-round pick or Toronto’s 2020 first-round pick (previously conditionally acquired by Carolina) to the New York Rangers in exchange for Brady Skjei. In the event Carolina does not own Toronto’s 2020 first, then the Rangers will acquire Carolina’s 2020 first.
Analysis: There isn’t much to debate here. Under the NHL’s proposed plan, Toronto is due to receive the 19th pick and would therefore see its 2020 selection transferred to the Hurricanes to complete the Marleau deal. Carolina’s own selection is No. 23 — the later of the two first-round picks — so that would then be flipped to the Rangers as per the terms of the Skjei deal.
Trade: New Jersey Devils trade Taylor Hall and Blake Speers to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Kevin Bahl, Nick Merkley, Nate Schnarr, a conditional first-round pick in 2020 and a conditional third-round pick in 2021.
Arizona shall transfer its own 2020 first to New Jersey. However, in the event Arizona’s own 2020 first falls within picks 1-3, the Coyotes will keep their 2020 first and will instead transfer their 2021 first-rounder to New Jersey.
Arizona shall transfer its own 2021 third-round pick to New Jersey. However, in the event Arizona should 1) sign Taylor Hall to an NHL Standard Player’s Contract covering the 2020-21 season and 2) Arizona advances to the second round of the 2019-20 NHL playoffs, then Arizona will instead transfer its own 2021 first-round pick to New Jersey instead of the 2021 third. Alternatively, in the event only one of the two preceding criteria is met, Arizona will instead transfer its own 2021 second-round pick instead of the 2021 third.
Analysis: Arizona has the 10th-best lottery odds and would move up four spots if it won, per the rules put forward by the league. That means Arizona can only end up with the sixth, 10th or 11th-overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft — each outside the top-three — which should allow that pick to be transferred to the Devils as part of the Hall trade.
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Trade: Minnesota Wild trade Jason Zucker to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Alex Galchenyuk, Calen Addison and Pittsburgh’s first-round pick in either 2020 or 2021. In the event Pittsburgh does not qualify for the 2020 playoffs, Pittsburgh will have the option to transfer either its own 2020 first-round pick or its own 2021 first-round pick. The option will expire at 5 p.m. ET on June 1, and should Pittsburgh not elect to defer its pick, then the 2020 first-rounder will be transferred.
For avoidance of doubt, should Pittsburgh qualify for the 2020 playoffs, they will transfer their own 2020 first-round pick to Minnesota.
Analysis: Pittsburgh is a playoff team. Full stop. Transfer the 25th pick to Minnesota and close the book on the Zucker deal.
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Trade:Columbus Blue Jackets trade Markus Hannikainen to Arizona in exchange for a conditional 2020 seventh-round pick. Columbus receives this pick if Hannikainen plays 10 NHL regular season games, from this date onward in the 2019-20 NHL season.
Analysis: Hannikainen was assigned directly to AHL Tucson after this trade and hadn’t received a sniff from the Coyotes, who were left with 12 games when the season was paused. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which he would’ve seen action in 10 of those after not playing an NHL game all season. Maybe Arizona just keeps its pick?
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Trade:Detroit Red Wings trade Mike Green to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Kyle Brodziak and a conditional fourth-round pick. Edmonton will transfer its 2020 fourth, unless the Oilers advance to the third round of the 2020 playoffs and Green plays in 50 per cent or more of Edmonton’s cumulative games during the first two rounds. If that happens, Edmonton will instead transfer its 2020 third-round pick to Detroit.
Analysis: This is a deal that likely needs to be reworked by the teams. The fourth-rounder could be delayed to 2021, pending Edmonton’s 2020 playoff performance, or perhaps an entirely different set of conditions are agreed upon.
Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman talk to a lot of people around the hockey world, and then they tell listeners all about what they’ve heard and what they think about it.
Trade:San Jose Sharks trade Brenden Dillon to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Colorado’s 2020 second-round pick (previously acquired by Washington) and a conditional 2021 third-round pick (Washington’s own). In the event the Capitals win the 2020 Stanley Cup, they will transfer Arizona’s 2020 third-round pick (previously acquired by Washington) instead of their own 2021 third-rounder.
Analysis: Another candidate to be reworked, although it shouldn’t be overly complicated.
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Trade: New Jersey trades Sami Vatanen to Carolina in exchange for Janne Kuokkanen, Fredrik Claesson and a conditional 2020 fourth-round pick. If Vatanen plays five NHL regular season games in 2019-20, New Jersey receives Carolina’s 2020 fourth. If Vatanen plays 12 NHL regular season games in 2019-20, or plays in 70 per cent of Carolina’s 19-20 playoff games, New Jersey will receive Carolina’s 2020 third instead.
Analysis: Vatanen was injured when this trade was consummated and suffered a setback after arriving in Carolina, so he hasn’t yet played for the Hurricanes. However, it’s still possible he would have skated in five regular season games and/or 70 per cent of playoff games for Carolina — and it’s probably even more likely to happen now that he’s had extra time to heal, assuming the season can be completed in some form. That’s why this feels like a trade that will have to be reformed by the teams. Perhaps they’ll choose to push the conditional picks back to 2021, pending what happens this summer?
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Trade: Edmonton trades Milan Lucic and a conditional 2020 third-round pick to the Calgary Flames in exchange for James Neal. In the event both of the following conditions are met, Edmonton will transfer its own 2020 third-rounder:
• James Neal scores 21 or more goals during the 2019-20 NHL regular season
• The difference in the number of goals scored by James Neal in the 2019-20 NHL regular season compared to the number of goals scored by Milan Lucic in the 2019-20 NHL regular season is +10 (plus ten) or greater.
Analysis: If we were to sum this one up in emoji form, it would get the “side eyes.” Neal sat on 19 goals (in 55 games) when the season was paused while Lucic had eight — totals that, if prorated, would meet the conditions requiring Edmonton to send a third-rounder to its biggest rival. But should those goal totals even be prorated? Taken at face value, Neal didn’t score the 21 goals needed to satisfy the first condition. I’m not sure there is a completely fair solution here, which is why a rare Battle of Alberta trade is arguably the murkiest involving conditional 2020 picks.
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Trade:Chicago Blackhawks trade Erik Gustafsson to Calgary in exchange for the earlier draft choice between Calgary’s 2020 third-round pick or Edmonton’s 2020 third-round pick (previously conditionally acquired by Calgary).
Analysis: A quick addendum to the Neal trade, although not nearly so grey. Whether or not Calgary gets the Edmonton pick, its own third-round selection would be the earlier of the two based on point percentage when the season was paused. Easy enough.
VANCOUVER – As the Major League Soccer season ticks down, Vanni Sartini wants his Vancouver Whitecaps to make a declaration — the team is ready to compete.
“The time of hiding ourselves, I think it’s over,” the coach said after the ‘Caps earned a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.
“We need to really say that we are here to try to be at the ball until the end and trying to shoot for the highest position. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make it, but we have the quality to do it.”
With seven games left on their regular-season schedule, the ‘Caps (13-8-6) sit in fifth spot in the congested Western Conference, just two points out of fourth.
Saturday’s loss officially eliminated the last-place Earthquakes (5-21-2) from post-season action.
Vancouver has been on a hot streak since returning from the Leagues Cup break and is unbeaten (3-0-1) in its last four outings across all competitions. The team has not allowed a goal in those matches.
“It’s the fact that we play really well,” Sartini said of the clean sheets. “We have the ball a lot, we finish our attack most of the time in their box. So it’s really hard for the other team to attack us. And then when they attack us, in the rare times that they arrive in the final third, we’re very solid.”
Recent additions have bolstered the team’s ranks, including the club’s newest designated player, Stuart Armstrong. The 32-year-old Scottish midfielder scored his first MLS goal Saturday.
Three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Alessandro Schopf, Armstrong gave Vancouver a two-goal cushion in the 87th minute.
Midfielder Pedro Vite dished a short pass to ‘Caps captain Ryan Gauld, who tapped it toward Armstrong. The former Southampton FC player then blasted a shot into the top of the net for his first strike in a Whitecaps’ jersey.
He was mobbed by teammates in the corner of the field.
“I think everyone was happy. Also for the first goal, but also that it was an important three points,” said Armstrong, who signed with the ‘Caps on Sept. 3.
“It kind of felt a little bit like last week, when we had a lot of chances and we didn’t get the three points. So today, I think everyone was just relieved to have that two-goal cushion.”
Vancouver was the dominant team from the outset Saturday and did not relent, outshooting the visitors 19-5 and controlling 54.1 per cent of possession.
Fafa Picault also found the back of the net for Vancouver, while Gauld contributed a pair of assists.
Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka stopped both shots he faced to collect his seventh clean sheet of the year, while Daniel made nine saves for the Quakes.
Gauld and Picault teamed up in the 22nd minute when Gauld curled a cross in and the Haitian striker headed it down toward the net, only to see Daniel catch a piece of the shot with his forearm and redirect it out of harm’s way.
The duo connected again in the 35th minute on a Vancouver corner. Gauld swung a ball in and Picault jumped up from the pack to send a glancing header in past Daniel for his ninth MLS goal of the season.
San Jose briefly appeared to level the score in the 68th minute when an unmarked Ousseni Bouda collected the ball, froze Takaoka and tapped a shot into the Vancouver net. An official quickly raised the offside flag and waved off the tally.
Daniel kept San Jose’s deficit to a single goal with a pair of solid stops in the 82nd minute.
First, the Brazilian ‘keeper dove sideways on his line to tip away a bomb from Alessandro Schopf. He was tested again on the ensuing corner and jumped up to send a header from Picault over the crossbar.
“I think we created a lot of chances again,” Gauld said.
“We probably should have put the game out of their reach sooner. But we’d be more worried if we weren’t creating the chances. Three clean sheets in a row in the league, I think it’s a big thing for us. And it gives us a good platform to go forward.”
NOTES
Vancouver played without leading scorer Brian White for a third consecutive game as the American striker works his way back from a concussion. … Gauld’s second assist marked his 15th goal contribution (six goals, nine assists) in his last 15 Whitecaps games across all competitions. … An announced crowd of 21,309 took in the game at B.C. Place.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps kick off a two-game road swing Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo. The Earthquakes host the Seattle Sounders the same night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Not good enough. That was Arne Slot’s verdict after his first defeat as Liverpool manager on Saturday.
A shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League ended Slot’s perfect record since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at the end of last season.
“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three (or) four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession,” said the Dutchman, who suggested his team should not be losing to the likes of Forest.
“If you lose a home game it’s always a setback, especially if you face a team … we never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for Champions League tickets, but normally this team is not ending up in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”
Slot won his first three games in charge, including a memorable 3-0 victory against Manchester United before the international break.
But that run came to an end after Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the 72nd with a curling effort from the edge of the box and beyond goalkeeper Alisson.
Liverpool’s defeat leaves Manchester City as the only team with a 100% record in the league after a 2-1 win against Brentford kept the defending champion at the top of the table.
United won at Southampton 3-0 to end its two-game losing streak.
Unstoppable Haaland
Erling Haaland moved to 99 goals for City after scoring twice against Brentford.
The Norwegian’s double came after Yoane Wissa fired Brentford ahead with just 22 seconds on the clock.
Haaland scored his 98th and 99th goals in his 103rd City appearance in all competitions. And he was the width of the post away from his third consecutive hat trick after trebles against Ipswich and West Ham.
“He’s been really, really good. Yeah, I would say he’s the best (he’s been), but it’s only four fixtures (this season),” City manager Pep Guardiola said.
Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, has nine goals in four league games. He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 for $63 million.
Haaland’s first goal after 19 minutes evened the game following Wissa’s opener, which stunned the Etihad Stadium crowd. Haaland turned and swept a shot past goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a slight deflection off Ethan Pinnock.
He was then too strong for Pinnock when shaking off the defender and running through for his second in the 32nd.
He was inches away in the 81st; the shot came back off the post after beating the keeper.
Rashford snaps run
Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as United beat Southampton.
Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
The win came after back-to-back defeats for United.
Rashford hadn’t scored since March in United’s win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute.
Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward.
“For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Like a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said.
De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the offseason, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th.
It could have been a different story if Cameron Archer converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho.
Villa comeback
After three straight defeats to start the league, Everton looked set for its first win when leading Aston Villa 2-0.
Goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Sean Dyche’s team in control until Ollie Watkins struck twice to even the game.
Jhon Duran completed Villa’s comeback and sealed a 3-2 win in the 76th to leave Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and the only top flight team without a point.
Late drama
Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a stoppage time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw for Crystal Palace against Leicester.
Leicester led 2-0 at Selhurst Park after goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.
But Mateta sparked Palace’s response with a goal in the 47th, a minute after Mavididi doubled Leicester’s advantage.
Conor Coady fouled Ismaili Sarr in the box right near fulltime and Mateta was cool enough to convert.
West Ham left it even later to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
Danny Ings struck in the fifth minute of added time after Raul Jimenez’s goal looked like earning Fulham the win.
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, the manager of the month for August, was frustrated as his team was held to 0-0 at home by Ipswich.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
