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.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
