News and Notes going into holiday season — The Fourth Period
Today’s piece was going to be a popcorn article, looking at a few potential Olympic team builds. However, I have thoughts, which is always dangerous. So, let’s act like we’re in Vancouver and play with fire, shall we?
· Matthew Schaefer this, Ivan Demidov (how long until he’s nicknamed The Wizard?) that, Jesper Wallstedt’s reemergence (his drop off was…Wildly…overstated), Yogi Askarov being exactly who everyone except for Nashville GM Barry Trotz knew he was (a stud) … and yet, Beckett Sennecke is leading all rookies in scoring, and has flown up the Rookie of the Year board. (As of this weekend) With 10 goals and 26 points in 31 games, 22 of those being at even-strength, and 11 in his last 10 games, he has been a difference maker at both ends of the ice. Now, the only thing he has to fix is for his difference-making at the defensive zone to be positive. He’s being caved in there, which is a perfect example of the imperfection of +/-, as Sennecke is +8, which does not account for what he’s giving back.
o 29 giveaways vs 9 takeaways
o xGA/60 of 3.25 which barely beats his xGF of 3.36
o Over 60% of his starts occurring in the offensive zone,
o A likely unsustainable PDO of 103.1 (remember, 100 is the median)
These stats illustrate that there’s much to work on for young Bennett. All of that said, if he’s already doing this now, imagine what he’ll be doing in three years. Anaheim is about to be that team.
· At this exact moment, I’ve got Zach Hyman over Tom Wilson on Canada’s Olympic team. Watched them both play on Saturday night, at least for one game it wasn’t even close. It also seems like I’ve seen all of Wilson’s quiet games this season. Also glad to see TSN’s Craig Button and Mike Johnson hop aboard both the Connor Bedard and Matthew Schaefer-for-the-Olympics trains this week. Really hoping that Bedard’s shoulder injury doesn’t end up being surgical, which they’ve hinted may be an option.
· On the US side, J.T. Miller scored both game-tying and the game-winning goal for NYR over Montreal on Saturday night. For some reason he’s been sleepwalking through the season, however if this was the game where he woke up, then it’s good news for Team USA, as until literally the last few minutes of that game, I didn’t know how you could in good conscience take him to any Italian construction zo – the Olympics.
· ~Checks one of his many sports apps to make sure no one else has been traded while typing this…~ Okay we’re good, let’s keep going.
· When I was a teenager, I knew what a blockbuster was, because I’d grown up in an era where NHL GMs could make trades without the Governors (both literally and figuratively) hampering their attempts. These are all trades that I remember. The Gretzky deal was obvious, but a seven player trade featuring Paul Coffey and Craig Simpson: Blockbuster. Craig Janney for Adam Oates (making his first of multiple appearances in an article published in 2025) Blockbuster. Teemu Selanne for a package including Oleg Tverdovsky and Chad Kilger: Blockbuster. (That’s also a crazy trade to look back on. Tverdovsky, chosen 2nd overall in 1994 in what was a really bad draft class where most of the best players were chosen outside of the first round, and Kilger, chosen 4th overall in 1995, your prototype 6’4” physical offensive center, did not even come remotely close to combining to have the career impact that Selanne did. If Anaheim had known what they were doing at that time, the Kilger pick could have ended up being Shane Doan, or…Jarome Iginla, and both, especially Iginla, would have altered the course of hockey as we know it. Stars’ fans are hyperventilating while reading this. It’s okay Dallas, it was only a dream.)
· Where I was going with that before we got to perhaps the craziest plot twist in TV history is that nowadays, literally any trade involving players on both teams is called a blockbuster. In this generation, they would call Russ Courtnall for John Kordic a blockbuster, simply because it was two teams trading NHL players for one another. I’d love to hear from a group of 15-25-year-olds to see if they thought that Friday morning’s most recent trade between Edmonton and Pittsburgh was also a blockbuster. Pittsburgh acquired two expiring contracts and, you know, quality players in goalie Stuart Skinner and LHD Brett Kulak, along with a 2nd round draft pick in 2029, in exchange for much-maligned (and waived) goalie Tristan Jarry, and 2019 first rounder Samuel Poulin. Coffey-for-Simpson, for me this was not.
· Now, you’re going to have people going off about the value, and trade are all about value, so let’s talk about that.
To Pittsburgh
o Stuart Skinner, age 27, listed at 6’4”, 215 lbs though is more likely in the 205 lbs range (lots of talk in September about the weight he dropped over the summer to be in his best shape), 3rd round draft pick of Edmonton in 2017, 11-8-4, 2.83 GAA, .891 SV%, two Stanley Cup Final runs.
o Brett Kulak, age 31, 6’1”, 192 lbs, LHD, 4th round pick in 2012 (Calgary), 0-2-2 in 31 GP, 17:42 ATOI (down 2:50 from last year).
o 2029 2nd round draft pick (I’ll assume this is unprotected).
To Edmonton
o Tristan Jarry, age 30, 6’4”, 201 lbs, 2nd round pick of Pittsburgh in 2013, 2.66 GAA, .909 SV%, 2-6 record in playoff career.
o Samuel Poulin, a late first-round draft pick in 2019 who has not panned out, though part of that was him learning to deal with things beyond his control, which frankly is commendable and means more than any game.
· Edmonton’s treatment of Skinner – and by Edmonton, I mean both the organization and the fanbase – is akin to a child who got the toy they always wanted, then destroyed it because…well…it didn’t singlehandedly win them the Stanley Cup. Homegrown, you can find strong goalie prospects in the third round, had the size, developed well in the AHL, bailed Edmonton out when they needed it after the Jack Campbell signing, took them to two Stanley Cup Finals, and yet, it was never enough. Internal proof of this comes from GM Stan Bowman’s comment about the trade yesterday, which began “I think it’s not so much a comment on Stuart Skinner…”. Yes Stan, when someone starts a sentence like that, it is 100% completely a comment on that person, in this case Stuart Skinner. Trading him for a bigger name goalie, even though that goalie makes more than twice what Skinner does and has two more years after this left on his contract is a comment on Skinner. Acquiring a goalie who was waived last season and whose contract is in range of what you would have had to pay Skinner had Edmonton won the Stanley Cup this year with Skinner in goal… that a comm – well, you get the idea. Hockey people drive me wild when they make comments like that, insulting both the player and the fanbase’s intelligence alike. Can you imagine for a second if both the organization and the fanbase had treated Skinner like an up-and-coming player when he came up, developed him at the NHL level the way they did in the AHL, and gave him public support, where he and the team would be right now. One banner, minimum. Instead, they treated him like a 30-year-old from the jump, and look how that worked out. If Edmonton had handled Skinner properly, this non-blockbuster does not happen, POHOGMKD isn’t smiling like a Cheshire cat, and is still looking for a way to unload Jarry.
· On the Edmonton side, the thought clearly is that Jarry is the superior player to Skinner. This is what happens when hockey people do that groupthink thing they so often do (this will become a drinking game in my articles because I’ll probably mention it so much). Jarry has “pedigree” (that one drives me batty) because one team decided to draft him higher than Skinner, and has had buzz around him (media-driven creation), so he must be better. Well, he’s playing about to his career average this year, which everyone is calling a “great season” and leaves me wondering when a .909 SV% became a great season. Beyond that, to say Jarry’s unproven in the playoffs would be a gross understatement. Having covered the Penguins in the past, Pittsburgh fans and media alike had zero trust in Jarry come playoff time. The 2021-22 1st round Game seven vs the NY Rangers that he played injured (Pittsburgh was going to have to use their AHL starter otherwise) notwithstanding, Jarry’s 2-6 playoff record, combined with having Calvin Pickard (a replacement-level goalie) as their backup, and Connor Ingram (who is a quality, legit NHL goalie, though it doesn’t feel like a good idea to bring someone with “debilitating OCD” into the same environment that was busy running Skinner out of town) as your goalie trio…for the life of me, I don’t get this trade. Something different isn’t something better, and if Jarry was the best you could do? Then ride Skinner’s hot streak to increased asset value and if you still can’t trade him for an upgrade, try something different, try supporting your player.
· On the Pittsburgh side, Leafs’ fans who think that Dubas is the devil are sitting there going “Why didn’t he make trades like this for us?” Different situations allow for different doors to open, especially in a salary cap-driven league. Dubas successfully maximized the value of Jarry, who had been waived only last year, and who the team had regretted signing to the 5-year, $26,875,000 deal ($5.375M per year) virtually since the moment they signed it. Both Skinner and Kulak are UFAs, and playing for your next contract does wonders for your motivation. For both players, going into an environment where they are the underdog, where there is no Stanley Cup-or-bust pressure on you coming from every angle 24-7, don’t be surprised if they are two of the happiest players in that Pens’ locker room and Pittsburgh keeps their unexpected drive to the playoffs going.
· Edmonton: Lateral goalie move that may shake up the dressing room and weakens their defensive depth (which they handled in the trade with Nashville immediately after), overall, a low-percentage lottery ticket. Grade: C-
· Pittsburgh: Exorcising Jarry’s contract in exchange for two quality players, with Skinner better than the noise around him would have you think and Kulak an upgrade on Matthew Dumba (who was a great player during his prime and hampered by injuries). Tremendous asset management by Kyle Dubas, and likely will see both players traded for additional assets come March. $56M in cap space for Pittsburgh come this summer. Shhh…don’t tell Sid, they might go full-on Washington retool in the summer. Grade: A+
· The second trade to happen on Friday, frankly, was this generation’s Paul Coffey-to-Pittsburgh trade. Can’t remember the last time something sent me down a middle-of-the-night YouTube rabbit hole, seeing what the GMs and pundits alike said about the trade.
o On Saturday Headlines, Elliotte Friedman made public that very recently, then-Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes told management that he would not sign an extension this summer (which looks to have happened at training camp), opening the doors for a trade to happen. At that moment, if my GM hat is on, I’m asking for the equivalent of five grade-A assets.
o My understanding is that New Jersey’s offer was underwhelming (haven’t heard any names, and if they were smart Vancouver would have been asking for Nico Hischier plus), and that Minnesota quickly made their presence known. If you remember what I said a couple of months back about Wild GM Bill Guerin, you know that if nothing else, I applaud his effort here.
o Former 2020 9th overall draft pick Marco Rossi was that rare asset that you knew a team would have no issue moving for a different asset. A 2nd line Center – a position that Vancouver desperately needs to upgrade – depending on ice time/PP time and line mates, Rossi should be worth 50-70 points for the next 8-10 years. 4-9-13 in 17 GP this year.
o Liam Ohgren, chosen 19th overall in 2022, 6’, 187 lbs, had 19-18-37 in 41 AHL games last year, though only 3-2-5 in 9 AHL games this year. He’s made zero NHL impact to date, which surely made him easier for Guerin to part with, and is a wild card here who could go either way.
o Unprotected 1st round pick in this year’s (2026) entry draft, the lack of protection should not be an issue unless the draft pick tries to cross the bridge. I think it was a draw.
