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| | Vince Carter Unc (10th Sep 20 at 2:18am UTC) | | "When people are getting sick and dying and everyone is confined to home, it might be difficult to sympathize with a guy who could be robbed of the first, and maybe only, Norris Trophy of his NHL career. And John Carlson seems to get that. But you've got to feel for the guy.
Even though Carlson has been a truly elite offensive producer from the blueline for the past couple of seasons, the highest he has ever finished in Norris Trophy voting is fourth, and that was last season when he scored 70 points. But this year was shaping up to be Carlson's year Paul Pierce Kansas Jersey. He was leading all defensemen in points, posting career highs and entering some very exclusive territory with 15 goals and 75 points in 69 games. While Carlson's totals have actually gone up as he's approached 30, you just never know if you're ever going to be in that group again.
For a couple of reasons. Nick Lidstrom won his first Norris at the age of 30, then went on to win six more of them. But he's a freak. So is Zdeno Chara, who won his first and only Norris at 31. Just last season, Mark Giordano won the Norris for the first time at the age of 35, and you'd have to think that was his one shot. And when you consider that over the past five years there have been 15 Norris finalists named and all of those spots have been occupied by only six players - Giordano, Victor Hedman, Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson Russell Westbrook Ucla Jersey, Brent Burns and P.K. Subban - it's not an award that is very friendly to interlopers.
The NHL hasn't made any decisions on whether or not it will hand out its individual awards if this season is cancelled, largely because it is clinging to the hope that it can somehow finish the 2019-20 season with integrity. But really, that's probably not going to be the NHL's call and there is a very real chance we've seen the last of hockey for this season. And that would be a shame for guys such as Carlson, who were putting together the kinds of seasons that get recognized in the annals of NHL history.
“I'm just worried about playing at this point,” Carlson said on a videoconference Wednesday afternoon. “I don't want to be too optimistic of coming back quickly and finishing the regular season. All I'm trying to do is think about keeping myself in the best shape I can with the circumstances and whatever the rest of the season holds, I'll be worried about that when I lace the skates up again.”
Going into the break, Carlson was on an 89-point pace and if he had achieved that total, he would have been only the ninth defenseman in NHL history to score that many points and it would have represented the highest total since Raymond Bourque scored 91 points in 1993-94. And with 13 games remaining Trae Young Oklahoma Jersey, Carlson was only six points behind the franchise record for points by a defenseman, set by Larry Murphy in 1980-81. So that gives you an idea of what kind of season he was having. Even if you remove the Norris Trophy consideration and the numbers, it had to be frustrating to have a season like that one stopped in its tracks.
The Capitals, meanwhile, well, they were one of the league's most confounding teams this season. At times they looked like the team that won the Stanley Cup two years ago and at other times they looked lost and confused. Even though they were in first place in the Metropolitan Division going into the break, they were just one point ahead of the surging Philadelphia Flyers and four ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Had they not finished first in the Metropolitan, it would have marked the first time in five seasons they were not the division's best regular-season team.
“As a team, I don't think we were where we needed to be, probably the last 30 games or so,” Carlson said. “So that was definitely a big talking point for us coming down the stretch - trying to find the right balance. The way we play and our systems, I felt like they were starting to come back.”"
"Even a few months ago, it was possible defenseman Torey Krug wasn't long for Boston. He was a pending UFA and hadn't made progress in contract talks. He was 28, still in his prime as one of the NHL's top puck-moving defensemen. He was set to command a contract north of $8 million per season on the open market Tyler Herro Kentucky Jersey. And the Boston Bruins, with RFA left winger Jake DeBrusk needing a new contract, would have a tough time fitting Krug under the salary cap on paper. On top of the DeBrusk deal, they'd have to make a decision on re-upping captain Zdeno Chara and needed to sign a backup goalie with Jaroslav Halak becoming a UFA.
And that was before the COVID-19 shutdown put the league's salary-cap structure very much in doubt. Forget the optimistic projections of $84 to $88 million. At this point, it'll qualify as a surprise if the cap stays at its current $81.5-million mark, and every week and month that passes without NHL hockey revenues makes it more likely we'll see the cap shrink. Krug's salary, then, projects to be more difficult to fit under the cap now than it did even in February. Only five blueliners have more points than Krug over the past three seasons, and only two have more primary assists Vince Carter Unc Jersey. He's earned a massive payday.
So Krug's comments during a conference call Tuesday had to make Bruins fans nervous. Speaking with the earnest tone that consistently makes him one of the sport's more colorful interview subjects, he had this to say about his contract situation when addressing the media:
“There are so many unknowns, and you can control only so much of that. For me personally, I really hope I did not play my last game as a Boston Bruin. It's been a place for me and my family to grow. My love for the game and playing in front of these fans has been very special for me. (The situation) hasn't given me any clarity. If anything, it's made me wonder about this process a little bit more. I was just in the moment and playing games trying to help my team win and hopefully push us in the right direction to win a championship Zion Williamson Duke Jersey. And now, with the season paused, I've definitely wondered about what's going to happen, but in terms of clarity there pretty much has been none. From a business perspective, I can't put any assumptions on it, but I can only guess that things are going to look a little different from a salary-cap perspective next year, and team structures are going to be affected by that as well. I have no clarity, and I wish I had a better answer, but that's just the reality of the situation.”
It's no guarantee the NHL will complete the 2019-20 season, even if it wants to. Should world health professionals not deem pro sports safe to resume until a date at which the league must sacrifice this season to protect next season, Krug will go UFA before his next game with the Bruins, and it could end up being his last with them. What are his most likely landing spots once he goes to market?
1. BOSTON BRUINS
We'll start with the obvious. We can never count out the existing team. Krug wants to stay, which matters. The Bruins still need Krug if they can find a way to fit him under the cap. Only one of Boston's top five prospects in Future Watch 2020 (which can be purchased with our app here) is a defenseman, and Urho Vaakanainen's ceiling is debatable. He's a good prospect, but our scouting panel merely slotted him 71st among all NHL-affiliated farmhands. The point being, there isn't a guaranteed replacement for Krug coming down the pipeline. This isn't Colorado being able to trade Tyson Barrie because it had Cale Makar. The Bruins would love to keep Krug if they can. It's possible he can fit. If the cap stayed at $81.5 million, they'd have north of $20 million available. It's also possible Chara, 43, retires rather than re-ups. If the NHL ends up opting for salary rollbacks, it wouldn't be a surprise if compliance buyouts accompanied them, so that would present GM Don Sweeney with another way to free up space for Krug. The Bruins are very much still in the game."
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