The 2022-23 NHL season is now officially in the books, as the Vegas Knights closed-out the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. The off-season has officially begun with the draft and free agency right around the corner. [Key dates ahead]. As we turn the page to the 2023-24 season, here are your daily links for Wednesday, June 14, the first day of the 2023-24 season:
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is vacationing with his family in Turkey. He and son Sergei got in a little workout on Tuesday.
Ovi getting in a little volleyball and son Sergei working on his soccer while on vacation in Turkey on Tuesday. #ALLCAPS [🎥: @nastyshubskya] pic.twitter.com/TuPIG3XOcr
— #ALLCAPS (@JonItBe) June 14, 2023
Former Capitals forward Chandler Stephenson won his second Stanley Cup Tuesday night. This time he got to share the experience with his son, Ford.
Ford Stephenson steals the show. 💛 pic.twitter.com/rnzAFb8915
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 14, 2023
Various Washington Capitals coaches and management staff were in Hershey on Tuesday night for game 3 of the Calder Cup Finals.
#ALLCAPS brass in the house. New head coach Spencer Carbery, Olie Kolzig, Assist GM Ross Mahoney, Caps video coach Brett Leonhardt, Video Coordinator, Brett Emily Engel-Natzke, South Carolina President, Rob Concannon. pic.twitter.com/NAENwpXs6u
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) June 14, 2023
New head coach Spencer Carbery, Olie Kolzig, Assist. GM Ross Mahoney, Caps video coach Brett Leonhardt, Video Coordinator, Emily Engel-Natzke and South Carolina President, Rob Concannon, were all on hand for the Bears game 3 victory.
Brooks Orpik remains in a Capitals group chat from the 2017-18 season. [NoVa Caps]
DOWN ON THE FARM
The Hershey Bears blew a two-goal lead late in the third period of game 3 of the Calder Cup Finals on Tuesday night, but battled back in overtime with a goal from 4th-liner Riley Sutter to take the victory. They now trail in the series, two games to one. [Full game recap] Game 4 is set for Thursday with puck drop scheduled for 7PM.
Riley Sutter wins it in OT! We have a series! #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/kr3E7qBdXG
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) June 14, 2023
Craig’s List: Plenty of intrigue surrounding Michkov ahead of NHL Draft [TSN]
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk fractured his sternum in Game 3 [ESPN]
Who are the NHL’s most intriguing offer sheet candidates? Ranking 24 RFAs ($$) [The Athletic]
Why Offer Sheets To Restricted Free Agents Have Become So Rare, And Could They Make A Comeback? [NoVa Caps]
Flyers add Patrick Sharp to front office. [The Score]
The buyout window opens in 48 hours (June 16) and closes on June 30. [Puck Pedia]
The Penguins have named Jason Spezza as Assistant General Manager. [Penguins]
Rob Gough Bought Wayne Gretzky’s Final Game Jersey ($715,120) to Add to Growing Collection of Icons [Sports Collectors Daily]
Weak numbers continue for Cup Final [Sports Media Watch]
Ottawa Senators purchased for record-setting price. [Stadia Magazine]
Ranking the top 30 players who could be traded this offseason. ($$) [The Athletic]
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Percentage of 5v5 time a team deployed a defenseman playing their offhand this season. An interesting split amongst the teams that are very committed to R/L pairings (bottom of the graph) vs. those less committed (top of the graph) [Prashanth Iyer]
NHL may be realizing a broad uptrend in scoring, but the playoffs remain a relative grind. Playoff scoring ~ 5% off regular season pace, in-line. Interestingly: PP up ~ 13% vs. reg season. EV, down 9%. [Travis Yost]
Happy New Years!
Ovi rockin a sizable offseason gut gut this year.
Vegas continues to show that you don’t need a stud goalie to have success. They keep getting what most say are great goalies, they get hurt and the Knights pile up win after win with no names. While big names do very little. And the ones that do win (Tampa), just have so much talent that the goalie is somewhat irrelevant.
True, good point. Makes you re-consider the required “formula”
I don’t think either formula guarantees success. I do think that when a team has a superstar (Ovi, Sid, Vasy) they tend to rely on them too much. When a team is more balanced they depend on themselves. And injuries (whether IR or playing through them) can scramble all plans. This past year Tampa relied on Vasy waaay too much. And he had a good but not great year, so Tampa disappointed.
Which two formulas are you referencing?
Stephenson for a 5th round draft pick 🙄
Alright! Onward to the 2023-24 Offseason! Couldn’t get here fast enough.
Two rather stinky crinkle-nosed scupper trout floating up about the Caps (that’s “rumor” in sailor-ese). The really smelly one is LA Kings maneuvering to try and snag F Tom Wilson. Comes from that “Caps Tabloid Blog” that I rarely read (it got referenced by one of the other NHL tabloids). The other is F Connor Brown. Unrestricted Free Agent. I liked his acquisition by GMBM. Sad but I see the Caps and Superstar Carbery not even giving the fellow a chance after his injury recovery.