Tuesday LNN: Tkachuk’s Not Getting Traded, Georgiev Is, And More!
THE CAPTAIN STAYS!
Typically these come out on Monday, so apologies for those who were waiting with bated breath. I hope your enjoyed our PWHL coverage, and, for your patience, you get rewarded with an in-depth edition of Links, News, and Notes. Enjoy!
-I‘ve highlighted his work a couple of times already in these pieces but Alex Adams has been a breath of fresh air over at Sportsnet. In his latest, Adams covers an array of topics in trying to assess why the Sens just can’t seem to string more than a couple wins together at a time. The whole piece is worth a read but the section about the team’s struggles on the penalty kill got my attention:
Early in the season players were still getting adjusted to the diamond formation.
“I think the system’s wise; I think guys are really starting to grasp it,” Nick Jensen told Sportsnet.ca in late November. “I know at the beginning it was very new to me and very unusual compared to the ways I've (been) used to play, which is a little bit on the more aggressive side.”
We’re starting to get a bit of a feel for Travis Green’s tactics, and the passive diamond on the PK is the most glaring for its difference from conventional wisdom. I’m all for tactical innovation, but if the results don’t improve then the Sens need to explore new avenues when they’re down a man.
-The Colorado Avalanche are a good team that’s been undone by abysmal goaltending so far this year, so GM Chris MacFarlane attempted to address that yesterday by acquiring Mackenzie Blackwood. If Blackwood is even halfway decent, Colorado is my pick for a big turnaround in their fortunes.
-If the Avs are my pick for biggest turnaround, my guess is that the Winnipeg Jets are going to end up as a Wild-Card squad with a first round exit when it’s all said and done. I just don’t trust that team’s depth, particularly on the blue line. Contenders they are not.
-The Florida Panthers on the other hand look like they might have a chance to repeat as Stanley Cup champions this year. The key to their success? Scoring a shit-tonne of goals. Kirsten Shilton has a nice profile of the champs for ESPN.
-Jacob Trouba was forcibly ejected from the Rangers late last week despite having a No-Trade Clause, and he's since said that he wasn’t exactly happy with how it all went down:
"I wasn't really thrilled with how it went down. In my opinion, things could have been handled better," he said. "It's unfortunate how it all happened. But it's a rite of passage to get fired from MSG."
Rangers GM Chris Drury gave Trouba an ultimatum: work with us on a trade or we’ll put you on waivers and you’ll have no control over where you end up. Trouba’s not a particularly useful player, and certainly not at his current $8MM AAV, but it’s still rare to see such a public meltdown betwen a franchise and their captain. Things are not going well in New York!
-Speaking of relationships with their captains, Michael Andlauer had some strong words for the Rangers regarding what he described as “soft tampering” when rumours were circulating about Brady Tkachuk potentially being involved in a trade to New York:
“I care about our players,” Andlauer wrote from Florida. “And I care about how this (because) these types of stories can be disruptive to them, their families, their teammates and our fans.
“I cannot just sit and watch someone try and disrupt our organization using blatant misinformation without pushing back.”
Spicy!
-And last, but not least, Steve Warne tackled the hot topic among Sens fans after Sunday’s disheartening loss to the New York Islanders: “why didn’t Travis Green start Linus Ullmark?”
Warne’s got this one exactly right: the question isn‘t whether starting Anton Forsberg was the sensible choice, because there’s a mountain of research showing diminished performance on the second night of a back-to-back — and that’s before we get into the added risk of injury, particularly for someone like Ullmark who hasn’t ever played more than 50 games in a season. No, the real question is what to do with the backup goalie that can’t be counted upon in these situations?
