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OTTAWA — The NHL sands can shift quickly these days, and nowhere was that more apparent than in the Eastern Conference, where the Montreal Canadiens are one and maybe two players better than they were before convening for the annual entry draft, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are one player worse after breaking off contract negotiations with Marian Hossa, their estimable right winger.
This matters mostly because the Canadiens and Penguins finished 1-2 atop the conference and figure to compete for the title again next season, even if Sidney Crosby needs to audition a new right winger.
In a largely uneventful weekend that featured more tweaking than blockbuster dealing, the Canadiens emerged with top-six forward Alex Tanguay and the possibility of perhaps adding Mats Sundin, two pieces that may help them derail the emerging powerhouse coming out of Pittsburgh.
In the end, the greatest gains may have come in – of all places – Phoenix, where the Coyotes picked up a new No.1 centre, Olli Jokinen, and then landed three prospects with famous pedigrees, one of whom they believe can play almost right away.
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- Anaheim Ducks
- Calgary Flames
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Edmonton Oilers
- Los Angeles Kings
- Montreal Canadiens
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- San Jose Sharks
- Keith Ballard
- Sidney Crosby
- Shane Doan
- Ryan Getzlaf
- Martin Hanzal
- Marian Hossa
- Kristian Huselius
- Olli Jokinen
- Patrick Marleau
- Peter Mueller
- Jordan Staal
- Mats Sundin
- Alex Tanguay
- Joe Thornton
- Kyle Turris
In addition to selecting the grandson of a legendary coach (Viktor Tikhonov), the Coyotes also took the youngest brother of the new first family of hockey (Jared Staal) and the son of an ultracompetitive former goaltender (Brett Hextall) with three of their eight picks.
On a Coyotes team coached by Wayne Gretzky, who knows a thing or two about hockey bloodlines and can help Staal understand how difficult it is to follow in older brother's footsteps, the emphasis on pedigree was a factor in their decision-making process, general manager Don Maloney said, “a small tick on the positive side in our minds.
“But you don't want to make too much of it,” Maloney said. “It just fell that way for us.”
After selecting Tikhonov on Friday, the Coyotes picked Jared – the younger brother of Eric, Marc and Jordan Staal – with the 49th pick. Maloney was under no illusion that Staal, who didn't attend the draft, would necessarily follow in the footsteps of his siblings, calling him “a real projection pick in our minds.
“However, after meeting him and seeing him, we like his intelligence, we like his hands and we feel we can work on the physical part of his game.”
In the short term, Jokinen's addition signals that the Coyotes are preparing to push for a playoff spot next season, after coming up eight points short this past season. Even if they have to take the next step without defenceman Keith Ballard – one half of their shutdown defence pair and the primary player going the Florida Panthers' way in the Jokinen trade – they believe they're in a position to close the gap.
Gretzky will be in his third season as the team's head coach. The Coyotes have missed the playoffs for five years in a row, but along with the Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Edmonton Oilers, all expect to challenge for the top eight next year.
The Coyotes project Jokinen as the centre on their top line between Shane Doan and Peter Mueller and believe his playmaking ability may turn Doan into a 50-goal scorer for the first time.
Moreover, they also believe that Kyle Turris, their first choice in 2007, and their two No.1 picks in 2008, Tikhonov and Mikkel Boedker (the fleet Danish-born winger currently with the OHL's Kitchener Rangers) could all crack the lineup next season, depending on how well they do in camp. Tikhonov is a 20-year-old and, chronologically, is 15 months older than Turris.
With 6-foot-5 defensive specialist Martin Hanzal – a Joel Otto in the making – going into his second season, the Coyotes now believe they have the strength down the middle to compete with their divisional rivals in the Pacific, two of whom possess jumbo-size centre-ice corps: the San Jose Sharks, with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau; and the Anaheim Ducks, with Ryan Getzlaf.
With pressure coming from below, the only Western Conference team in a playoff position last season that did anything of consequence was the Calgary Flames, who traded away left winger Alex Tanguay to Montreal and added centre and left winger Mike Cammalleri from the Los Angeles Kings.
Tanguay was unhappy at how he was deployed by head coach Mike Keenan, as a second-line left winger, getting most of his special teams' play as a penalty killer. With Tanguay gone and Kristian Huselius (a pending unrestricted free agent) going, Calgary is thin on the wings. Even so, Keenan thought he might look at Cammalleri at centre in training camp, on the grounds that he's played most of his best hockey there.
Keenan watched Cammalleri play as a collegian at the University of Michigan when his daughter attended the school and doesn't mind the fact that he is a bit of a free thinker.
“There's nothing wrong with that,” Keenan said. “I enjoy that kind of player. I expect that he'll come in to our club and provide offence. He's got a good skill set, good speed and a competitive nature too. Those are the ingredients we're looking at.”
Presumably, they are also the ingredients they will need, to hold off the coming challenge, as the guard in the Western Conference is about to change, the same way as it did in the East the past two seasons.
