8 storylines that could shape the 2019-20 NHL season

Stephen Brunt looks at the never-ending cycle of an NHL season- regular season, playoff games, off season talks- as we gear up for another year of hockey.

From players betting on themselves to the surge in load management, here are eight storylines we’re eying that could shape the 2019-20 NHL season.

Players are betting on themselves more than ever

This was the summer of the RFA, with arguably the most star-studded crop of restricted free agents we’ve ever seen looking to cash in on their first post-ELC contracts. And while we saw some RFAs sign long-term — Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen and Kyle Connor being the biggest signees — the story of this off-season (and its flat cap) was the resurgence of the short-term bridge deal, and that’s something we’ll continue to watch as players hit the ice this season. Here’s a look at the most notable bridge deals:

Kevin Labanc, SJ: 1 year, $1M
Charlie McAvoy, BOS: 3 years, $14.7M (4.9M cap hit)
Zach Werenski, CBJ: 3 years, $15M ($5M cap hit)
Brock Boeser, VAN: 3 years, $17.625M ($5.875M cap hit)
Timo Meier, SJ: 4 years, $24M ($6M cap hit)
Patrik Laine, WPG: 2 years, $13.5M ($6.75M)
Brayden Point, TB: 3 years, $20.25M ($6.75M cap hit)
Matthew Tkachuk, CGY: 3 years, $21M ($7M cap hit)

Banking on cap growth that could coincide with a new U.S. television deal and the Seattle expansion club joining the mix, these players are forgoing job security and betting on themselves for the next contract. In the next few years, they’ll each have the option of signing long-term with their clubs, inking lucrative one-year qualifying offers to walk them into (or close to) unrestricted free agency or letting an arbiter settle things.

So, is this bridge deal trend here to stay? We’ve already seen some prominent 2020 RFAs locked up with max-term deals that will extend well into their UFA years, like Ottawa’s Thomas Chabot (8 years, $8M AAV), Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy (8 years, $9.5M AAV) and Arizona’s Clayton Keller (8 years, $7.5M AAV).

Parity is at an all-time high

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past few seasons, it’s that this game is anyone’s game. The Vegas Golden Knights turned the league on its head when the brand new club skated all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season in 2017-18. One year later, we saw the St. Louis Blues ring in the new year at the bottom of the standings and then go on a historic playoff run that finished with hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.

Parity reigned throughout the post-season last spring, with the Blue Jackets, Avalanche, Stars and Hurricanes all knocking off the No. 1 seeds while the Islanders ousted the Penguins.

Now, look at that same playoff bracket and try to guess which clubs will be in it this spring… it feels impossible to predict.

Part of the league-wide parity is due to the recent surge of fast-forward rebuilds we’ve been seeing of late. Colorado is a prime example of this: They’re just two seasons removed from a historically bad season and are now considered a solid Cup contender. The New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens are two more examples of teams that have managed to pull of a lot of changeover in a very short amount of time, bucking the usual (painful) process of the full-on tear-down-to-build-up route taken by teams like Buffalo, Arizona, Toronto, and now Ottawa.

The NHL is anything but predictable these days — and boy, is it fun.

Seattle making its presence known

We’re still two years away from Seattle icing an NHL team, with the expansion franchise set to make its debut in 2021-22. There’s plenty to do in the meantime as the organization slowly begins to take shape.

They named Ron Francis as the team’s first-ever general manager this summer, and hired an impressive scouting staff in September — one that includes Hockey Hall of Famer Cammi Granato, who becomes the NHL’s first female pro scout.

The organization is set to unveil its name “in the first part of 2020,” per the team’s official fan portal, and we’ll soon know if its application to bring AHL hockey to Palm Springs (the Firebirds, according to rumours) is approved.

The expansion draft isn’t until June 2021, but it’s never too earlier for GMs to start juggling their lineup of protected players. Players with no-move clauses kicking in next year could be on the move to create a protected spot for another player, and NMCs will no doubt play an increasingly big factor in contract negotiations, too.

First- and second-year pros are automatically exempt from the expansion draft and don’t count against their team’s number of protected players, so we could see a few clubs proceed conservatively with their youngsters rather than taking a chance on a player they’re on the fence about and risk him accruing a pro season. (Unsigned draft picks are also exempt from the expansion draft.)

Load management hits the NHL

Basketball fans’ two favourite words have officially hit hockey, with 2018-19 revealing a trend in limiting the number of starts for No. 1 netminders in preparation for the playoffs.

Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen compared the numbers of each starting goaltender after the first round of the post-season last year and while there were some obvious exceptions, the wins heavily favoured those who had fewer regular-season starts:

Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask served as the poster boy for load management last spring. Rask started just 45 games in 2018-19, which was his lowest total since taking over as Boston’s No. 1. For comparison, he averaged 60.8 starts in each of the previous five seasons. The 32 year-old was lights out in the playoffs and a major reason why the Bruins almost won the Cup.

Also of note: Of 2018-19’s Vezina finalists, two were part of a tandem: Ben Bishop (46 starts, compared to Anton Khudobin’s 41) and Robin Lehner (43 starts, compared to Thomas Greiss’ 39). Andrei Vasilevskiy was the solo king of Tampa Bay’s crease with 53 starts (he had 64 the year before!) and took home the trophy for top goalie.

Will anyone follow Columbus’ all-in approach to the trade deadline?

The Columbus Blue Jackets gave hockey fans exactly what they wanted at last season’s trade deadline: Excitement. With stars Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin in town for one more run before hitting the open market, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen saw a small window to win and took his best shot, buying when most of peers would’ve sold.

In came Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Adam McQuaid and Keith Kinkaid — and with them a message to Blue Jackets faithful that Kekalainen was ready to win now. And they did, at first, sweeping the mighty Tampa Bay Lightning for the franchise’s first-ever playoff series win. Though the club ultimately didn’t accomplish what it set out to do, we can’t help but wonder if Kekalainen’s action will inspire another GM to do a little power-shopping this year.

Expanded video review = more stoppages, less outrage

The NHL is expanding video review and coach’s challenges this year, and it’s understandable if you’ve got a few reservations about it. It’s likely to be a talking point this season, especially in the early days when we see games come to a screeching halt for a review, but considering the controversial missed calls we saw last post-season — the Sharks’ Game 7 comeback after Vegas’ major penalty and the Sharks’ hand pass in overtime of Game 3 of the Western Conference Final against the Blues — this expanded review rule seems like a no-brainer to keep the peace.

While coaches are no longer limited in the number of challenges they can issue, they’ll have to be choosey with what they decide to contest — rather than having a timeout taken away from their team, the new coach’s challenge rule states that a team will be issued a penalty for every unsuccessful challenge.

Sid and Ovi are out here making us all feel old

Ready to feel ancient? This will be the 15th season for two of the NHL’s best, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Let that sink in for a second.

Both stars have full trophy cabinets and have won just about everything there is to win in the game of hockey, and both could quite easily add to their elite resumes this year. But when we talk about Crosby and Ovechkin nowadays, the conversations inevitably start to shift to the bigger-picture stuff, including their place on the all-time lists. Both are no-brainer first-ballot Hall of Famers — we’ve known that for a while now — but it’s going to be fun to see both captains gain steam as they continue to climb their way up the all-time lists.

Heading into this season, Crosby sits 44th in all-time NHL points (1216) while Ovechkin is right behind him at No. 45 (1211). Crosby is 57 games away from 1,000 games played (something he talked about on a recent episode of 31 Thoughts: The Podcast). Ovechkin, meanwhile, is approaching a pretty cool milestone as well: he needs 42 goals to become the eighth player in NHL history to hit 700 career goals (he had 51 last year).

When we talk about superstars, the conversations have started to shift over to the Connor McDavids and Auston Matthews, the Nathan MacKinnons and Brayden Points of the league… but Crosby and Ovechkin are still at the top. The coolest part? Neither player is showing any signs of slowing down.

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Will we have another first-time Cup winner?

After a run of the same handful of teams winning it all — Pittsburgh, Chicago, L.A. — it’s been refreshing to see a few long-suffering fanbases finally join the winner’s circle, ending Cup droughts that spanned the clubs’ entire existence.

The St. Louis Blues are the latest franchise to win their first-ever Cup, with the Washington Capitals winning their first Cup one year earlier.

So, who’s next? There are currently 11 franchises that have never won a Cup:

Buffalo Sabres (est. 1970-71)
Vancouver Canucks (est. 1970-71)
Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes (est. 1979-80)
San Jose Sharks (est. 1991-92)
Ottawa Senators (est. 1992-93)
Florida Panthers (est. 1993-94)
Nashville Predators (est. 1998-99)
Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets (est. 1999-2000)
Columbus Blue Jackets (est. 2000-01)
Minnesota Wild (est. 2000-01)
Vegas Golden Knights (est. 2017-18)

Who ya got?

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