March NHL News Thread

[TFP]

Just paste the link to the tweet and sosh does it for you.

 

[The Napkin]

https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/449683479106560000

 

[The Napkin]

Thanks. That's ... easy.

 

[The Napkin]

I broke it. ah. maybe oniy 1 at a time?

 

[The Napkin]

https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/449683945831948289
 
https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/449684084768247808
 
https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/449684660943994880

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Random fact- Alex Ovechkin scored exactly zero even-strength points in March. He did have one short-handed assist.
 

 

[The Napkin]

Sabres extend Ted Nolan
 
The club did not specify the length of the extension, but multiple media reports place the contract at three years.
"We are very happy to get this deal done and have Ted Nolan as our permanent head coach going forward," Sabres general manager Tim Murray said in a release from the club. "Teddy has proven time and again that he is an exceptional leader, motivator and teacher. He is exactly what we need in a head coach for our hockey team and we're confident in his ability to guide our players and turn this team around."
 
16-30-8 record this year fwiw (4-15-1 pre-Nolan).

 

[cshea]

Oates insisting on having Ovechkin centered by the immortal Jay Beagle is amusing.

 

[BoSoxFink]

Oates insisting on having Ovechkin centered by the immortal Jay Beagle is amusing.

Is this due to Beagle being known as a good defensive center and Oates is trying to cover up Ovechkin's lack of defensive awareness?  Perhaps FAH can expand on this.

 

[cshea]

My assumption is that Oates is trying to spread his talent out to make them harder to defend. So basically you can put your shutdown guys on either Backstrom or Ovechkin, not both. Oates just doesn't have the center depth right now with Laich and Grabovski injured. Thus, Jay Beagle is their #2 center at the moment.

Edit: I think it's a mistake and he should just roll 92-19-8 as his top line. Ovechkin seems wasted playing with Beagle.

 

[McDrew]

Random fact- Alex Ovechkin scored exactly zero even-strength points in March. He did have one short-handed assist.
 

To be fair, that short handed assist happened with the Caps goalie pulled at the end of the 3rd period to try and tie the game, so it was 5(no goalie)v5(with goalie)

 

[ForceAtHome]

Is this due to Beagle being known as a good defensive center and Oates is trying to cover up Ovechkin's lack of defensive awareness?  Perhaps FAH can expand on this.

 
It's... a questionable decision, at best. My basic read on why it's happening is for these reasons:
 
1) Putting Beagle with Ovechkin and Johansson adds a grinding defensive center. Since they're not producing offensively, at least make it harder to score against them. It worked in a very small sample on the west coast road trip. For what it's worth, Backstrom is a good defensive center as well, so it's not like this is some instant solution.
2) Beagle and Johansson are both fast. I think it's supposed to be a method of trying to make Ovechkin simplify his game and just go north-south at the net. Needless to say, this isn't working.
3) Finally, separating Ovechkin from Backstrom may make the Caps a tougher match up? You can't pair your top defense on both. Every coach who has had these guys has had this brilliant stroke of logic at some point. At the end of the day, I think they're best together, but am willing to entertain the idea if/when Ovechkin has a legitimate center. Mikhail Grabovski can fit the bill well enough.
 
Speaking of Grabovski, he returned to the lineup yesterday and began the game centering the 4th line (Penner-Grabovski-Wilson) with Johansson-Beagle-Ovechkin as the top line. That's pretty inexplicable to me. Later in the game Oates actually moved Grabovski to the first line, but not in a way that makes sense. He made the top line Grabovski-Beagle-Ovechkin, while dropping Johansson to 2LW and Kuznetsov to 4LW. Doesn't make sense.
 
Personally, I would be rolling one set of the below lines right now. Backtrom and Grabovski are interchangeable in the first set, as are Kuznetsov and Johansson. I'm willing to buy into the idea of trying to separate Ovechkin and Backstrom if both had two legitimate linemates with Jay Beagle not counting. I would also toy with the idea of putting Wilson as a top-6 LW (offhand) and shifting Johansson down to the 4th for a while to see if it jump starts the offense a bit. Ovechkin has had some of his best success with a big boy running on his line in guys like Zubrus (6'5, 225), Kozlov (6'4, 232), and Knuble (6'3, 223). Tom Wilson (6'4, 210+) certainly fits the bill and I think would surprise a lot of people with his touch playing with Backstrom.
 
Kuznetsov - Grabovski - Ovechkin
Johansson - Backstrom - Brouwer
Chimera - Fehr - Ward
Penner - Beagle - Wilson
 
Wilson - Backstrom - Ovechkin
Kuznetsov - Grabovski - Brouwer
Chimera - Fehr - Ward
Penner - Johansson - Beagle

 

[The Napkin]

Craig CustanceVerified account ‏@CraigCustance
Wild have agreed to terms with college UFA defenseman Christian Folin (UMass-Lowell). Was most coveted college UFA on the market.
 
https://twitter.com/CraigCustance/status/450822426759155712
 
big get for them