When John Tavaresr16; contract ran out with the New York Islanders Anthony Castonzo Jersey , he took the opportunity to talk with other teams.
r1;I felt like I owed it to myself to see what else was out there,r1; Tavares said.
Tavaresr17; exploration led him to rediscover his childhood affinity for the Maple Leafs, and his confidence in Torontor17;s future led him to sign a monster $77 million, seven-year contract. The Islanders were left with nothing, a mistake other NHL franchises seem determined not to make.
Donr17;t wait. Sometimes not even a day.
On Sunday, when Tavaresr17; departure left a void on Long Island, the Sharks signed Logan Couture, Coyotes signed Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Kings signed Drew Doughty and Lightning signed Ryan McDonagh to long-term deals. None of them would have been free agents until July 1, 2019, and this was the first possible chance to ink extensions that begin more than a year from now.
Itr17;s worth every penny to San Jose, Arizona, Los Angeles and Tampa Bay to get those contracts done now rather than risk a key player even exploring unrestricted free agency like Tavares did.
r1;If you wait too long and you get into the situation where they have the potential to walk or explore the UFA market, that can be challenging times,r1; Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said.
The Ottawa Senators are trapped in such challenging times. They made a contract offer to Norris Trophy-winning captain and 2019 free agent Erik Karlsson, but itr17;s not a great sign that the real negotiating is only just beginning.
r1;Wer17;re not going there,r1; GM Pierre Dorion said. r1;We donr17;t really want to talk about roster players, contract negotiations, trades Darius Leonard Jersey , all these things, but I think we owe it to our fans and we made a promise at the town hall that we would make a contract offer to Erik Karlsson and wer17;ve done so.r1;
Tick, tick, tick. Even a year away, the pressure is on the Senators to sign Karlsson long term or trade him before the deadline so they donr17;t end up like the Islanders.
The Coyotes made sure they wouldnr17;t be in that spot by locking up Ekman-Larsson to a $66 million, eight-year deal that the soon-to-be 27-year-old defenseman called r1;a no-brainer.r1; Arizona GM John Chayka calls it r1;a huge moment for our entire organizationr1; because therer17;s now no fear of losing Ekman-Larsson for nothing.
r1;A superstar-caliber player has the option to basically go to any of the 31 teams and felt the loyalty, felt the belief in what we were doing enough to sign on long term,r1; Chayka said, adding that the Coyotes had to convince Ekman-Larsson with actions that they were moving in the right direction.
The Kings convinced Doughty of that so much, he knew all season he was going to re-sign. Her17;s building a new house in the LA area, is getting married this summer and is ready to start a family in a place he wants to stay for essentially the balance of his career.
r1;I never wanted to leave there, to be honest,r1; Doughty said. r1;It will be nice not to answer the question, `Hey are you coming to Toronto? Your17;re coming to the Leafs, right?r17; No, Ir17;m not coming to the Leafs, everyone.r1;
Doughty signing for $88 million over eight years sets the bar for Karlsson, who could face similar questions if he goes into the season without a future contract like Tavares did. Over the past week, Tavares began wondering if he would play for his hometown Maple Leafs Bennie Fowler III Jersey , a bond too deep for the Islanders to overcome.
Couture grew up not far from Toronto, but he never entertained that possibility because he signed a $64 million, eight-year deal with the Sharks. Couture respected Tavaresr17; choice and made his own without much difficulty.
r1;We have some very good players: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Brent Burns, Martin Jones, Evander Kane r11; very, very good players r11; Joe Pavelski,r1; Couture said, rattling off core players all signed long term. r1;I want to win. Thatr17;s my goal as a hockey player. I believe that San Jose has and will continue to have a very, very good chance at winning in the future. Thatr17;s why my decision was so easy.r1;
It was just as easy for McDonagh, who signed a $47.25 million, seven-year deal with the Lightning, who acquired him at the trade deadline. McDonagh was comfortable with Tampa Bay, which went through an almost-Tavares situation two years ago with captain Steven Stamkos before signing him on the eve of free agency.
Days after signing Stamkos in 2016, the Lightning extended top defenseman Victor Hedman at the first possibly moment like they did with McDonagh. GM Steve Yzerman knows how to work ahead, which is often essential in todayr17;s NHL with important players.
r1;(If you wait), you donr17;t really know how itr17;s going to go,r1; Yzerman said. r1;We go into next year for both parties, we donr17;t know http://www.indianapoliscoltsteamonline.com/jabaal-sheard-jersey , and I think itr17;s worthwhile exploring the opportunity now.r1;
r12;
Throughout their first three playoff series, the Vegas Golden Knights were defined by smart decisions and dazzling plays.
In the Stanley Cup Final, their mistakes have drawn most of the attention.
Vegas made too many errors in its own end of the ice and scored just one gift-wrapped goal Saturday night in a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, who never trailed in taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.
There were missed assignments, botched passes and only 22 shots on goal. The Golden Knights hardly looked like the team that steamrolled its way to the Western Conference championship with a 12-3 record.
After opening the Final with a 6-4 victory, Vegas lost Game 2 when Alex Tuch failed to convert a wonderful scoring chance in the waning minutes. There was more trouble coming as the series arrived in Washington.
On Saturday night, after the Golden Knights closed to 2-1 early in the third period, the Capitals restored the two-goal cushion when Jay Beagle outworked Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore in the corner, gained possession of the puck and sent a centering pass that Devante Smith-Pelly slammed into the net at 13:53.
r1;It didnr17;t go his way tonight,r1; left wing David Perron said of Theodore. r1;You just have to move forward and turn the page.r1;
Ditto for the rest of the Golden Knights, who now trail in a playoff series after three games for the first time.
r1;Itr17;s all on us right now,r1; Deryk Engelland said. r1;Wer17;ve just got to tighten it up and get going on the ice.r1;
After becoming only the third NHL team to win multiple playoff series in its inaugural season, Vegas charged into the Final looking to extend its unprecedented run of success.
It started well in Game 1, and there seemed no reason to panic after the subsequent 3-2 defeat. But the Golden Knightsr17; downturn continued Saturday night, when they too often let goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury contend for himself and failed to mount much of a threat against Braden Holtby on the other end.
In one telling sequence, Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring early in the second period as he was falling over Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb. It happened only after Fleury slid from side to side, frantically making three saves in the sequence before Ovechkin connected.
r1;Itr17;s a team game,r1; said Fleury, who had 23 saves. r1;I just try to do my job the best I can.r1;
Vegas has lost two straight for the first time since early April Jeff Heath Jersey , when it dropped the final two meaningless games of the regular season. The Golden Knights are struggling on both ends of the ice, and at this point they canr17;t explain why.
r1;We didnr17;t play good in the neutral zone, turned a lot of pucks over and fed their offense,r1; said Tomas Nosek, who scored Vegasr17; only goal. r1;Also, the back-check was not good enough.r1;
Vegas still has a chance to become the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup. But when the Final is tied at one game apiece, the winner of Game 3 ultimately has gone on to capture the Cup 78 percent of the time (21 of 27) since the series went to the best-of-seven format in 1939.
The only deficit the Golden Knights faced before this was in the Western Conference finals, when they lost the opener to Winnipeg before rattling off four straight wins.
r1;Tonight it was a close hockey game,r1; coach Gerard Gallant said. r1;It was 2-1 late in the (third) period, and then that unfortunate turnover goal.r1;
To be fair, the Golden Knightsr17; goal came in similar fashion. After Holtby did a poor job of clearing the puck from behind the Capitals net, Nosek easily scored to slice Washingtonr17;s lead to 2-1 at 3:29 of the third period.
But Vegas had already dug a hole that was too deep.
r1;They came out in the first period and set the tone,r1; Gallant said. r1;We were chasing them from behind again tonight.r1;
That is the predicament Vegas now faces in the series, with Game 4 on Monday night.
r1;Wer17;ve got to find a way to bounce back and put this behind us,r1; Perron said.
