NHL 2021-22 Season Schedule Released

 Following the completion of the Seattle Expansion Draft, the NHL released its regular season schedule for the 2021-22 season the following day, with the return of its regular divisions and a full 82-game slate starting October 12 with the Penguins vs. Lightning and the Kraken's first regular season match-up in Vegas against the Golden Knights. Every team will go back to playing at least one home game and one road game against each other next season.

As for the Sharks, their 2021-22 season opener is on October 16 vs. the Jets at SAP Center. After their season opener, San Jose will embark on a five-game road trip before returning to the Tank on October 28 to host the Canadiens. Team Teal's longest homestand consists of seven games from December 7 through December 23 hosting the Flames, Wild, Stars, Kraken, Canucks (twice), and Oilers. The Sharks' longest roadies are five games each and take place within the first few months of the season. 

The NHL All-Star festivities will take place February 4-5 in Vegas. The league will also have a scheduled break in February to accommodate for players participating in the Winter Olympics in Beijing. 

Individual game start times and local TV/radio information will be unveiled later on. 

I plan to write as many game recaps and news + notes posts as I possibly can this coming season, and I certainly believe that the Sharks are on the right track to performing better this coming season than they did last season. I also can't wait to see how the Seattle Kraken perform in their first season, especially so I can determine how I officially feel about them moving forward. 

Sources: Sharks + SAP Center App, NHL

Sharks Sign Rudolfs Balcers & Joachim Blichfeld to New Contracts

 The Sharks announced yesterday that they signed pending RFA forwards Rudolfs Balcers and Joachim Blichfeld to new deals. 

Rudolfs Balcers' new contract is worth two years and a $1.55 million AAV. Balcers will earn $1.25 million in his first year of his new deal, while he will earn $1.85 million in the second year of the deal. The 24-year old Latvian forward recorded eight goals and nine assists for 17 points in 41 games last season along with 16 penalty minutes. Balcers recorded his first three-point game on April 2 against the Kings, made his Sharks debut on February 6 against the Ducks, and scored his first goal as a Shark on February 20 against the Blues. He also set career highs in many areas this past season. 

As for Joachim Blichfeld, his new contract is one year, with terms undisclosed. He recorded one goal and 12 penalty minutes in five NHL games last season while spending most of last season with the Barracuda in the AHL. Blichfeld led the Cuda in points, co-led in goals, and tied for fifth in assists last season. 

Sources: Sharks + SAP Center App, NHL Discussion via Instagram 

Seattle Kraken Draft Alexander True from the Sharks

 The Seattle Kraken’s 30 selections from 30 other NHL teams are official, and they have selected forward Alexander True from the San Jose Sharks in yesterday’s expansion draft. The selection was announced in an exhibit inside the Seattle Aquarium; however, that specific exhibit didn’t have any actual sharks inside of it. 

Last season with the Sharks, Alex True only registered one assist in seven games. Most of his tenure with the Sharks has been spent with the Barracuda in the AHL, and he hasn’t developed as quickly as the Sharks had hoped from him. True is also the cousin of Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers. 

I don’t see this as a huge loss for San Jose, especially considering that I first thought that the Kraken would take Dylan Gambrell in the expansion draft. Hopefully True can further develop his game and get more opportunities in the Kraken organization. 

As for the Kraken jerseys, Seattle’s home jersey looks great while their away jerseys are just average. 

What didn’t help was that almost all of the Kraken’s expansion draft selections were leaked before it went down, which basically took the surprise element out of the actual expansion draft. I still watched the expansion draft yesterday and felt it was still worth it. 

Here are the remainder of the Seattle Kraken’s selections in yesterday’s expansion draft: 

Bruins - Jeremy Lauzon (D) 

Red Wings - Dennis Cholowski (D) 

Sabres - Will Borgen (D) 

Panthers - Chris Driedger (G) 

Lightning - Yanni Gourde (F) 

Canadiens - Cale Fleury (D) 

Maple Leafs - Jared McCann (F) 

Senators - Joey Daccord (G) 

Hurricanes - Morgan Geekie (F) 

Blue Jackets - Gavin Bayreuther (D) 

Devils - Nathan Bastian (F) 

Islanders - Jordan Eberle (F) 

Rangers - Colin Blackwell (F) 

Flyers - Carsen Twarynski (F) 

Penguins - Brandon Tanev (F) 

Capitals - Vitek Vanecek (G) 

Coyotes - Tyler Pitlick (F) (Pitlick has now been dealt to the Flames for a 2022 4th rounder) 

Avalanche - Joonas Donskoi (F) 

Blackhawks - John Quenneville (F) 

Stars - Jamie Oleksiak (D) 

Wild - Carson Soucy (D) 

Predators - Calle Jarnkrok (F) 

Blues - Vince Dunn (D) 

Jets - Mason Appleton (F) 

Ducks - Haydn Fleury (D) 

Flames - Mark Giordano (D) 

Oilers - Adam Larsson (D) 

Kings - Kurtis MacDermid (D) 

Canucks - Kole Lind (F) 

Sources: ESPN, NHL, NHL Discussion via Instagram 

Sharks Protected List Revealed Ahead of Seattle Expansion Draft + My Expansion Draft Prediction

 The protected players lists for 30 teams have been released ahead of Wednesday's Seattle Expansion Draft. The Sharks went with protecting seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie rather than eight skaters (combination of forwards and defensemen) and a goalie. Here's the Sharks' list of players they have protected from being taken by the Kraken: 

• Logan Couture (F) 
• Tomas Hertl (F) 
• Evander Kane (F) 
• Kevin Labanc (F) 
• Timo Meier (F) 
• Rudolfs Balcers (F) 
• Jonathan Dahlen (F) 
• Brent Burns (D) 
• Erik Karlsson (D) 
• Marc-Eduoard Vlasic (D) 
• Adin Hill (G) 

On the flip side, here are the Sharks players left protected that the Kraken can choose from on Wednesday: 

• Ryan Donato (F) 
• Kurtis Gabriel (F) 
• Dylan Gambrell (F) 
• Jayden Halbgewachs (F) 
• Maxim Letunov (F) 
• Patrick Marleau (F) 
• Matt Nieto (F) 
• Marcus Sorensen (F) 
• Alexander True (F) 
• Christian Jaros (D) 
• Radim Simek (D) 
• Nicolas Meloche (D) 
• Jacob Middleton (D) 
• Greg Pateryn (D) 
• Martin Jones (G) 

A few other things to note regarding the Seattle Expansion Draft: the Vegas Golden Knights are exempt since they've only played four full seasons so far, and players with less than two years of NHL experience aren't eligible to be selected in the expansion draft. 

As for my thoughts on the Sharks' protected list, there aren't any surprises in there. They protected the players everyone expects them to protect, and that's the way it should be. 

Now for my Seattle Expansion Draft prediction: I think the Seattle Kraken will select Dylan Gambrell from the Sharks come Wednesday. He is the the type of player that the Kraken are looking for, and age is on his side when it comes to the current stage of his career. 

I am expecting a few surprises during the Seattle Expansion Draft on Wednesday, but we will have to wait and see when it goes down. I don't expect the Kraken to have to same amount of success early on that the Golden Knights have had thus far, but they definitely have the potential to shock everyone in their first season depending on what kind of roster they put together. I couldn't be more excited to find out who the Kraken roster will consist of and how they will perform starting next season. 

Watch this space to find out who the Kraken select from the Sharks along with Seattle's complete roster in a few days.

Sources: The Athletic, NHL Discussion via Instagram

Sharks Acquire Adin Hill from the Coyotes

 Right before the 12 pm trade freeze before the Seattle Expansion Draft, the Sharks acquired goalie Adin Hill and a 2022 seventh round pick from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for goalie Josef Korenar and a 2022 second round pick. Hill is a pending RFA, and this also comes four days after the Sharks signed Korenar to a one-year, $750k deal.

As I first heard about this trade, my initial thoughts were that Adin Hill is already an upgrade in net over Martin Jones, Devan Dubnyk, Josef Korenar, and Alexei Melnichuk. Last season with the Coyotes, Hill had a 9-9-1 record with a 2.74 GAA and a .913 SV%. Over the course of his career thus far, Hill has a 19-21-4 record in 41 starts with a 2.79 GAA, .909 SV%, and three shutouts in 49 NHL games. During the times I saw Adin Hill perform last season, especially against the Sharks, he was definitely a solid goaltender. 

It has yet to be determined whether the Sharks plan to go with a Hill-Jones goalie tandem next season or acquire another goalie via trade or free agency before next season. If San Jose really wants to improve their goaltending from last season, they should buy out Martin Jones' contract soon and acquire another goalie via trade or free agency. 

On the other hand, I understand some Sharks fans' concerns about giving up a second rounder in next year's draft that is supposedly loaded with talent. However, I am pretty happy with this trade overall as San Jose needs goaltending help now rather than a few years down the line. 

In other news, the Tampa Bay Lightning traded former San Jose Shark Barclay Goodrow to the New York Rangers for a 2022 seventh round pick. Goodrow is set to become a UFA on July 28. 

Sources: NHL App, NHL Discussion via Instagram

Sharks Re-sign Josef Korenar & Dylan Gambrell to 1-Year Deals

The Sharks announced that they have re-signed goaltender Josef Korenar to a one-year deal worth $750k and forward Dylan Gambrell to a one-year deal worth $1.1 million. Both were pending restricted free agents this offseason, while Gambrell will remain an RFA with arbitration rights once his new contract expires after this coming season. 

Korenar appeared in ten games this past season, finishing with a 3-5-0 record, a 3.17 goals against average (GAA), and an .899 save percentage (SV%). He became the Sharks' primary goalie towards the end of this past season. In addition, the 23-year-old went 5-1-2 with a 3.22 GAA and .898 SV% in eight AHL games with the Barracuda this past season before being called up to the Sharks following the departure of Devan Dubnyk at the trade deadline. 

Gambrell had a bit of a down season in 2021 like many Sharks players but was good for his standards, scoring five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 49 games this past season. However, he did lead the team forwards in shorthanded time on ice with 111:22. In addition, Gamby set career highs in points and assists, tied his career best in goals, and fell one short of his career best in games played in a season. He remains a solid depth forward with room for improvement but will almost certainly get exposed at Wednesday's Seattle Expansion Draft.

As of now, with the way things currently stand in net, Josef Korenar will be the Sharks starting netminder next season with either Martin Jones or Alexei Melnichuk backing him up. Any combination of these three goalies struggled this past season for the Sharks, and goaltending is the biggest area that Team Teal needs to shake up before next season if they want to get back to contending for the playoffs. Korenar has shown flashes of greatness this past season and has a lot of potential, but we will have to see how consistent he can be when given a full-season workload in net.

Source: Sharks + SAP Center App, CapFriendly 

Tampa Bay Lightning Win 2021 Stanley Cup

 The Tampa Bay Lightning have defended the Stanley Cup and won the Cup Final series in five games over the Montreal Canadiens. They are the sixth team in NHL history to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions and the first team since the 2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins to win back-to-back Cups. In addition, Pat Maroon becomes the first player in NHL history to win three straight Stanley Cups.

 I understand that casual fans and fans of other teams may not be too happy about how this year's Cup Final went down and say it was unfair because Tampa was roughly $18 million over the salary cap heading into the playoffs. However, I am very pleased with the results, mainly because the Lightning are my second favorite NHL team. I also believe the Bolts don't get enough credit for their amazing feat that they just accomplished. Many of you may recall that Tampa got swept in the first round by the Blue Jackets after winning the Presidents' Trophy two seasons ago and won the first of their back-to-back Cups in an empty arena last year to get to this point.  

Here's a quick recap of each game in the Cup Final this year leading up to the Bolts' Cup victory:

Game 1: The Lightning defeat the Canadiens 5-1. Nikita Kucherov scores twice for the Lightning, while Erik Cernak, Yanni Gourde, and Steven Stamkos each score once. Ben Chiarot scores the lone Canadiens goal. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves, while Carey Price made 22 saves. The first game was a mostly lopsided affair in favor of Tampa, in which the Bolts' offense was much stronger than that of the Habs. 

Game 2: The Lightning defeat the Canadiens 3-1 and take a 2-0 series lead despite being outshot 43-23 and not playing their best game. Anthony Cirelli, Blake Coleman, and Ondrej Palat each scored for the Lightning, while Nick Suzuki scored the only goal for the Canadiens. The biggest factor as to why the Bolts stayed in this game and held on to win was Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 42 saves and had an incredible performance in net. In addition, Blake Coleman's go-ahead goal in the dying seconds of the middle frame was one of the best goals of these playoffs, receiving a great pass from former San Jose Shark Barclay Goodrow and making a diving one-handed shot to find the back of the net at the right place at the right time. 

Game 3: The Lightning continue to dominate in the Cup Final and beat the Canadiens 6-3 to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. Tyler Johnson scored two goals, while Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov each record a goal and assist. In addition, Victor Hedman became the first player in NHL history to score a goal in each of the 12 calendar months. The other two goal scorers for the Lightning in Game 3 were Jan Rutta and Blake Coleman. As for the Canadiens, Philip Danault, Nick Suzuki, and Corey Perry each scored for Montreal in their losing effort. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 of 35 shots against, while Carey Price stopped 24 of 29 shots against.

Game 4: The Canadiens avoid getting swept and force Game 5 by winning 3-2 in overtime. Josh Anderson scored the game-winning goal for the Canadiens in overtime along with the first goal of the game for Montreal's first lead in the entire Cup Final series. In addition, Alexander Romanov scored his first career playoff goal in Game 4 of the Cup Final. As for the Lightning, Barclay Goodrow and Pat Maroon each scored important game-tying goals in the second and third periods respectively. In other words, the Habs were the more desperate team in Game 4 and definitely played like it throughout the game.

Game 5: Ross Colton scores the Cup-clinching goal for the Lightning as Tampa blanks the Canadiens 1-0 to win the Cup in their home arena in front of a sellout crowd. David Savard and Ryan McDonagh assisted on the only goal of Game 5. Andrei Vasilevskiy only needed to make 22 saves to earn the shutout and ultimately win the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP. The only player that kept Montreal in Game 5 and gave the Habs a chance to force Game 6 was Carey Price, who basically stood on his head for much of this game and made 29 saves on 30 shots against. 

I also want to congratulate the Montreal Canadiens on an unbelievable run to the Cup Final this year. Despite having the least amount of regular season points out of all teams in this year's playoff pool, they proved their doubters wrong and performed exceptionally well leading up to their first Cup Final appearance since 1993. The Habs should be taken more seriously heading into next season and beyond because they have shown in these playoffs that they are capable of great things. 

A few closing thoughts: 

The trade that Doug Wilson made at the 2019-20 Trade Deadline sending Barclay Goodrow to the Bolts was definitely worth a first-round pick in return, especially now that Goodrow has won two consecutive Stanley Cups since that trade occurred. 

Andrei Vasilevskiy winning the Conn Smythe Trophy this year has solidified his status as the best goaltender in the world right now. 

Now that the NHL offseason has officially begun, I can't wait to see what goes down across the league between now and the start of next season in October. I especially want to see what magic Doug Wilson has up his sleeve to improve the Sharks and get them back to being the perennial playoff contender that we all knew and loved, along with the roster that the Seattle Kraken will form during the expansion draft. 

Sources: NBC Sports, NHL App