24 team playoffs Was being floated around last week. The AHL has now
been cancelled More meetings are being held with the NHL/NHLPA and cities/states/provinces. It looks as though the NBA and NHL may both want to play in Vegas. But still, nothing has solidified. With all that in mind, Yzerman is staying quiet for now.
Anthony Mantha wants to stay in Detroit It’s always nice to hear those sentiments from RFAs. As far as anyone can tell, these discussions aren’t happening yet for Detroit’s free agents. Apart from Matthias Brome, not much is happening. (Brattstrom signed ELC). The longer this goes, the more I wonder why.
For the first part, there really is no rush. RFAs Just need to be qualified to hold onto their rights while you negotate. UFAs have no idea when Free Agency will be or how it will work. While the machine is working on how to re start, Yzerman is in a holding pattern.
There are opinions out there that thing no one is safe. a more popular version of that statement is that ALMOST no one is safe. Larkin, Mantha, Bertuzzi, Seider, Hronek? That is a very trimmed down list of people not going anywhere.
Mlive did a piece On who goes and who stays. Interestingly Erne was on the “who stays” list with the assertion that Abdelkader will be waived if he has a bad camp. And, of course, Perlini is pegged to be moving on. Erne is serviceable, but I wouldn’t put him as a lock. I’ve had plenty of back and forth on him, I’m just not sold on Abby 2.0
And so, the “what ifs” keep on rolling. Is Yzerman keeping his options wide open in case the cap dips? Even a flat cap has implications for several teams. I can appreciate waiting, but it still feels strange that the best of the RFAs in the organization are still in limbo. This situation is very strange. The NHL shut down isn’t due to a player’s strike or a lockout. Those are two things we’ve seen before. This is a health emergency shut down that threw everything out the window. I’m sure it’s been asked if the players can skate in hazmat suits...
And so, the nothing continues to devour the season. The AHL simply can’t generate more income than it would cost to play games with no crowds. The gate is the primary source of revenue. The NHL may be a different story. However, most clubs rely heavily on gate and concessions. The advertising partners are bigger and there will certainly be a market for viewership of the televised games. The question remains as to whether or not safety concerns and sterilization can be addressed. One writer had an estimate of 15K for daily sanitation service in each locker room. That would add up fairly quickly.
And so, we wait. Teams are still sporadically signing/extending players. AHL players that can be called up now have to wait and see if they will be brought up to the big clubs. And, everyone has to stay in some sort of shape to be ready. Tom Petty was right. “Waiting is the hardest part”
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