Today is a sad day at NHL Hot Stove as we close up shop.

I would like to thank every one who has ever contributed, commented and read our site. It was a fantastic ride which unfortunately we can no longer keep up.

Myself and David Strehle are taking on bigger roles at RLDHockey.net while Dustin Leed and The Hockey Guys has been generous enough to give a home to our other excellent contributors. Please be kind enough to give both sites a read.

By Alexander Monaghan
President 

By Matt Boulton from Vancouver, Canada

…but they really should.

Roberto Luongo will have 10 years left on his contract after this season with an annual cap hit of $5.33 million. The 32-year-0ld is just a season removed from being a Vezina Trophy finalist, but none of that matters now.

During last season’s Stanley Cup Finals, he looked spooked and at times couldn’t track the puck. Much like the Olympics — another platform he was highly scrutinized — Bobby Lu fought off the puck, leading his doubters to pile on the jeers. The veteran was slumping, and continued to slump in this season’s early going, while his backup. Cory Schneider, simply looked much better. Something needs to be done, and, in theory, the worse goalie needs to go.

That exact thought process is why Ek****-esque rumor monger Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun claims the Vancouver Canucks have dangled their longtime goaler. While we agree that it would be proper asset management to get rid of such an expensive player when Schneider can handle the job at a much cheaper rate, it would also be poor asset management to give away an elite player for close to nothing.

In his 11th season as a starting goalie, the Montreal native is on pace for his second-worst career GAA with a 2.90 not to mention he could post a sub-.900 save percentage for the first time in his NHL career. Nevertheless, he will not finish with those totals, or anything worse than those for that matter.

This season, Luongo was especially bad in October — a month in which he is typically awful. This October, he posted an atrocious 3.54 GAA and .869 SV%, but still only finished the month with an even 3-3-1 record. Keep in mind he kept this team in the game without Ryan Kesler, Mason Raymond, and an otherwise awake hockey team. If the Boston Bruins had a hangover, then the Canucks were on life support with an IV in their arm. They were as close to lifeless as you could get, which led to an all-time low by Luongo.

By Iwona Erskine-Kellie from Vancouver, Canada

Since then, however, Bobby Lu has been just fine. He lost only two starts in November — with a tidy 2.30/.924 — before getting hurt, and only allowed one goal over his last two starts. He’s allowed three goals only twice over his last seven starts which started once the dreaded ‘O’ month ended.

Right now, the Canucks are back in a familiar situation. They have one of the better goalies in the League and arguably the best backup. While it’s fun to speculate whether he will go to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Vincent Lecavalier or to the New Jersey Devils as the heir apparent to Martin Brodeur, it simply does not make sense for the ‘Nucks to trade away a core member of their team while they attempt to win the League’s highest prize.

Luongo is on the upswing and with a miraculous run could challenge yet again for the Vezina Trophy. However, he will need to overcome injury concerns that knocked him out for six games last month and most recently the team’s 6-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Such concerns could keep both Luongo and Schneider in Green and Blue for the foreseeable future in order to ensure the team has a top-notch netminder in their crease at all times.

So yes, expect these trade rumors to continue in vein. In fact, Garrioch hedged his statement  and later tried to explain that Schneider would indeed be on his way out of British Columbia. While that may be a situation that eventually plays out (likely not this season), this one-two combination is simply carrying this team back to the top of the standings.

The Canucks are a fully working being at this point and GM Mike Gillis would be foolish to do anything but add to the NHL team, not subtract. Even though the Sedin twins may be the brain and Kesler is the heart, stable goaltending is the backbone of this club, and without it they simply will not survive.

The NHL announced tonight that they will change their current six-division setup into four conferences. For the first time since 1998, the League’s board of governors reached an agreement that not only alters the current outlook but also will allow every team to play a home-and-home series. The NHLPA will still need to approve the realignment but that appears to be a formality at this point.

These four conferences break down as the following:

Conference 1

Vancouver Canucks
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Anaheim Ducks
Colorado Avalanche
Phoenix Coyotes

Conference 2

Winnipeg Jets
Detroit Red Wings
Chicago Blackhawks
St. Louis Blues
Nashville Predators
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
Minnesota Wild

Conference 3

Toronto Maple Leafs
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Florida Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning

Conference 4

Pittsburgh Penguins
Philadelphia Flyers
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
New Jersey Devils
Carolina Hurricanes
Washington Capitals

The current playoff configuration will also change with the first two playoff series coming within the Conference. However, eight teams will still make the show but there should be much more parity. For example, a team in a ‘weaker’ division would not be allowed to grab the third seed if they narrowly make the playoffs.

Furthermore, the schedule works out well for all teams. Home-and-home series should account for roughly 44-46 games with the remaining games getting played in rivalries within the conference. This change, as well as keeping natural rivals like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia; Chicago and Detroit; Calgary and Edmonton; should pave way for more excitement and interest around North America.

Now that we have the details down, let’s get to the fun part. What do we name these conferences? Do they get the old names: Norris, Campbell, Adams and Patrick? Do we rename them something more current like Gretzky, Lemieux, Howe and Orr? Put your vote in below and give some write-ins into the comments.

Simply put, an asset is an entity which holds value, and a liability is risk or something which diminishes the value of an entity.

Since we are entering the holiday season, let’s explore an example of attrition from a favorite holiday movie in the Powell household, 1954’s “White Christmas.” One of the key elements of the film deals with retired General Waverly’s (played brilliantly by Dean Jagger, I might add) inability to accept his current role in society as a bed & breakfast owner/proprietor as he still fancies his heroic days on the battlefields during World War II. Towards the end of the film, two of his former infantrymen, Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye, who has a colorful nickname in another Powell family favorite, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”) gather the men of the General’s former unit for a surprise dinner show on Christmas Eve. The General realizes his positive impact on the lives of his unit, and he begins to accept that he has made his mark, and that it is time for him to enjoy the rest of his life. In real life (and in fiction), people can overvalue their assets to the point that depreciation sneaks up on them, and they suddenly realize that they actually hold a liability.

In the NHL, one of the greatest assets is a stud, veteran goaltender with a young, sharp apprentice waiting in the wings. With respect to assets and liabilities, the team needs to play their cards correctly in regards to developing the youngster versus understanding when the veteran has peaked. Eventually, the youngster will need to be utilized as a chip to acquire a missing piece for a deep Stanley Cup playoff run, or the veteran will need to go in favor of the youngster as the club gains the salary cap flexibility to add new pieces.

Currently, the Vancouver Canucks are dealing with this very situation. Olympic gold medal winner Roberto Luongo (32) has been unable to produce in the playoffs, and Cory Schneider (25) has been a subject of interest of other clubs over the last couple years.
The Canucks are one of five teams that are on pace to spend over the $64.3 million cap set for the 2011-2012 (long term injury reserve exceptions are keeping all five teams cap compliant). Swedish twins, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, eat up $6.1 million each against the salary cap. As the faces (or face since it can be difficult to tell them apart) of the franchise, the Sedins will, in all likelihood, remain in Vancouver for the remainder of their respective contracts (through 2013-2014 season). The next highest cap hit ($5.333 million through the spring of 2022) on the team belongs to beleaguered goaltender Roberto Luongo. To complicate matters for Canucks’ management, Cory Schneider’s contract at $900,000 ends after the spring of 2012. Clearly, D Day is coming.

This season, Luongo holds a 7-5 mark with a 2.97 goals against average and an eyebrow-raising .896 save percentage. He has played better in November (.924 save %) than in October (.869 save %). He suffered what the club terms an “upper body injury” and his status is “day-to-day.” Is this Schneider’s opportunity to prove that the club should extend him? The youngster has struggled of late, posting a dismal .865 save % in three November games. For the season, he holds a 2-4 record with a 2.76 goals against average. If Luongo is unable to play for an extended period of time, Schneider’s shot at shining in the eyes of the Vancouver faithful and Canucks’ management has begun.

If Schneider flops, the decision for the rest of this season becomes obvious: stay with Luongo. With that stated, a diminished trade value for Schneider may not be the best case scenario for the Canucks. If Schneider excels, however; then the immediate decision becomes cloudier, but the Canucks may be able to maximize the return for either Luongo or Schneider in that scenario. In that murky scenario, who goes?

On one hand, Luongo has struggled in his last two playoff runs, particularly last season’s meltdown in Boston in the Stanley Cup Final. Conversely, Schneider has played well in spot duty but has not been a consistent performer (mostly due to lack of opportunity).
The bottom line may be the return. In addition to Luongo’s dismal road performances in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, the Canucks’ defensemen did not play well against the Bruins. Ryan Kesler’s injury didn’t help matters, either. Given that most of the Canucks’ depth forwards and two of their top six defensemen are scheduled for free agency by the end of the 2013 campaign, the Canucks will need to re-build with a young second line forward or a budding star defenseman.

Since the Canucks’ immediate window of opportunity may close in two years, the wise move may be to keep the veteran Luongo in hopes that his skills will not wane to the point that he would be virtually untradeable in two years. If Luongo can fetch the Canucks’ a more significant return, and if Schneider is playing well, however; then Canucks’ management may have to give serious consideration to dealing Luongo by this season’s trade deadline. If the Canucks keep both goaltenders through the end of the season, they would run the risk of being unable to trade Luongo for a fair return, especially if he were to struggle again in the playoffs. Moreover, Schneider is unlikely to re-sign with the Canucks for $900,000. Rather, he figures to find a job as a starting goaltender with another team on a lucrative multi-year deal. At any rate, D Day for the Canucks will come later this season.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

UPDATE: According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, via Twitter, Rome will not be suspended for the play. The League felt that the penalty on the ice was sufficient for the actions taken. Only 18 percent of our voters agreed they should not have been a suspension on the play. Guess we can’t all get them right…

* * *

Earlier tonight Aaron Rome received a five-minute major and 10 minute misconduct when he elbowed Devante Smith-Pelly of the Anaheim Ducks. The Vancouver Canuck defenseman landed yet another controversial hit at the 11:04 marker of the second period after catching the Ducks rookie in the head with an errant forearm.

Let’s check out the hit:

While not identical to his open ice hit on Nathan Horton, Rome is a repeat offender which should garner a second look from NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. One can only expect he gets a similar suspension to Andy Sutton for a direct shot to the head.

What do you think the punishment should be? We urge you to take the vote below:

Patrick Powell
Salary Cap Analyst 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File: David_Booth.jpg

In analyzing this deal , the proverbial “elephant in the room” is the disparity in age and potential upside of the players involved. Booth is 26, Reinprecht is 35, Samuelsson is 34, and Sturm is 33. The latter two seem on the downsides of their respective careers whereas Reinprecht, who has probably peaked as well, will remain dead weight in the AHL. Booth clearly has the highest potential of any player in the deal, but he arguably also carries the greatest health risk due to his 54 game campaign in 2009-2010 after suffering multiple concussions.

Reinprecht had been playing in the AHL, and recently reported to Vancouver’s AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. As a result, his full season cap hit of $2.05 million will not adversely affect the Canucks, who are now within $87,000 of the cap. Booth carries a full year cap hit of $4.25 million versus $2.5 million for Samuelsson and $2.25 million for Sturm.

The Panthers still have over $9 million in salary cap space, and they now have the maximum of 23 players on their active roster. GM Dale Tallon added experience to a young roster with this move but moreover cleared future cap space. He was not afraid to make a move that sends away potential in return for flexibility, which begs the question: Will we see more deals like this?

Booth is currently signed through 2015 as he previously committed himself to the Panthers just one season before Tallon took over the team. He was traded before his production severely dropped off, which makes the deal somewhat unique. A similar deal in length, like Shawn Horcoff‘s pact with the Edmonton Oilers, certainly would not relate since the pivot lost most of his trade value when he signed his new deal. The same should be said for Scott Gomez, whose contract extends through 2014 but is already the most discussed topic in Montreal.

A similar deal to the Booth trade could be the Calgary Flames moving players like Curtis Glencross, Rene Bourque or less likely Olli Jokinen, David Moss and Niklas Hagman. GM Jay Feaster would be willing to sacrifice potential (let’s face it outside of Roman Horak, Mikael Backlund and T.J. Brodie there are no young options) for added salary flexibility for the future. Building around their younger players looks like the right way to go as the front office in Calgary finally understands cap efficiency.

Another interesting option is left wing Blake Comeau, who may have permanently found coach Jack Capuano’s doghouse. The former 47th overall pick scored more than Booth last season and as Chris Botta of The New York Times hinted, via Twitter, Comeau’s value is severely decreasing with decreased playing time. This scenario may perfectly mirror that of Booth’s as Comeau could help a contender in need of secondary scoring while preventing GM Garth Snow from investing further resources on a depreciating asset down the line.

The next option for another blockbuster could involve the currently held out Kyle Turris. We know he wants to be traded and GM Don Maloney may be forced to trade him at below his market value in order to get some usable assets for him this season. Furthermore, his subtraction would clear salary cap space for the future as the team would not have to pay him in excess of $4 million this year and likely more down the road — especially when considering his unproven talents.

Then again, the Panthers and Canucks could hook up once more. In fact, one would be foolish to rule out Mikael Samuelsson getting sent back to Vancouver once healthy as he did work in coach Alain Vigneault‘s system. Of course, this trade would not be the second, or the third even between these teams in recent years.

This deal marks the second blockbuster involving these clubs but fourth transaction in recent memory. In 2006, the Canucks acquired starting goalie Roberto Luongo, defenseman Lukas Krajicek, and sixth round draft choice (Canucks drafted Sergei Shirokov) in exchange for forward Todd Bertuzzi, goaltender Alex Auld, and defenseman Bryan Allen. Other players like Keith Ballard, Michael Grabner and Christopher Higgins have also switched jerseys over the last couple of seasons.

As Bill pointed out in his piece, Tallon sought to send a message to his young Panthers’ club with this move: you need to perform to stay. Will this message reverberate to other teams in the league? For example, the Blue Jackets (0-7-1) Sharks (3-3-0), Flames (2-4-1), Canadiens (1-4-2), and Bruins (3-5-0) have all performed below expectations in the early going. Players with these teams, particularly those earning over $4 million per season, may feel the heat from Tallon’s move. Perhaps GMs from these teams will ensure to cite David Booth as an example to demonstrate that subpar efforts will not be tolerated, and that no player is safe.

Alexander Monaghan also contributed to this article.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

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By Orlandkurtenbach (Own work) [Public domain

Then came the surgery.

Kesler went under the knife on July 25th, going through a successful hip labral surgery. Typically a surgery of this nature keeps a hockey player out of the lineup for at least two months in the best-case scenario. The last time he had this specific surgery, he missed 72 days and likely rushed back into the lineup — those numbers would have had him back in the lineup by October 6th, able to make the team’s season opener when his Vancouver Canucks hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Yet here we are, 11 days later and Kesler is coming back, perhaps stronger than his initial return. The Canucks have not dominated due to rusty play from Roberto Luongo and all the pieces just not fitting together the same as they did last season, when the team captured the President’s Trophy. They likely are banking on the return of their second line center making those pieces fall into place.

Today, Kesler centered the second line with speedy winger Christopher Higgins playing on his left wing and his replacement Cody Hodgson finding his way onto the right side. Should Kesler not be able to take draws or need a boost, Hodgson will quickly return to his former position and help him out there. The risk statistically is relatively minimal. The only player to draw out of the lineup is dud-of-the-week Marco Sturm. The move pushes Mikael Samuelsson down to the third line with Manny Malhotra and Jannik Hansen which adds depth and scoring to the bottom lines. In theory, these roster moves and line changes should work, but they certainly come with a risk.

Yesterday, the Ohio native skated without his teammates. He skated for nearly an entire practice by himself and has yet to practice with a line until, of course, today. Yesterday he was not 100 percent, but today, apparently he miraculously recovered. Tell me if these quotes sound like he fully healed. From The White Towel:

“Obviously, I’m a competitive guy and I don’t like to see the team lose,” said Kesler. “You think about coming back sooner, but it wouldn’t be smart for me. I have to keep reminding myself to be patient and let my hip and body tell me when I’m ready and not my mind and my heart.

“It’s smart for me to take my time now and let everything heal. I’m not a guy who plays on the perimeter, I want to get in there and battle. I’m getting closer but obviously I still feel it [hip] at times out there — just certain movements I don’t feel comfortable doing yet. I’m not going to come back until I feel comfortable or I’m 100 per cent.”

So Kesler returns tomorrow, just two days after those quotes, to face the New York Rangers — the team that led the League in hits last season. He will either play a perimeter game (doubtful) or give the team everything he has. If it is the latter, one would have to wonder the long-term effect of his play, and the team’s play for that matter.

Considering they have gotten off to a somewhat sluggish start, which is sub-standard when compared to their expectations, they simply cannot afford to lose him for a significant part of the season. He was expected to be out until November — a total of 11 games, roughly 13 percent of the season — but now will only miss five, or 6 percent.

Is winning a few games today worth losing again when it matters? That question is one the team will answer over the course of the season. If they are smart they will give him some practices off, perhaps even rest him on back-to-back nights. None of that sounds very Kesler to me and the only way he will get his timing back is game action and practice.

The team is clearly toeing a very fine line by rushing him back into the lineup. So, as usual, we leave you with a question:

By Matt Boulton from Vancouver, Canada (Luongo) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org /licenses/by-sa/2.0

Just four games into the 2011-2012 regular season and the biggest storyline from last postseason is still one of the biggest points of discussion. Roberto Luongo continues to allow soft goals and play worse than his backup Cory Schneider yet he still holds a job as the team’s starting goalie.

Coming into this season, Luongo was a ‘changed man’. No longer would he speak to his local media in a slapdash manner, giving candid answers which downplayed his opponents value. If tires were to be pumped, the Montreal native would pump them. He now would take responsibility for his actions, coming across as ‘humble’, ‘accountable’ and ‘apologetic’.

Following a poor season opener, where he allowed a soft, off-angle goal, he understood he wasn’t playing at his best. From The White Towel:

After six years in Vancouver, he got it right Thursday. He had built in excuses about losing a month to training and not getting enough preseason games. He passed.

Instead, he copped to the are-you-kidding-me first goal, he apologized for the whiff on the third and then took responsibility for the shootout.

And when asked about the fans jeering him, calling for Ccory Schneider to start in the first 60 minutes of hockey this season, he basically said he would have done the same thing.Disarming, wasn’t it.It’s not going to win everyone over, and it may not last. But for one game he handled it perfectly.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Yesterday, we let you in on our contest to play a ‘One Day FREE Fantasy Contest‘ to win $100 in cash prizes from Draft Steet. Well, I signed up, How about you?

Here’s my lineup, I challenge you to beat this roster:

LW: Zach Parise — $11,018
LW: Daniel Sedin — $14,799

RW: Bryan Little — $5,941
RW: Martin St. Louis — $13,081

C: Mark Letestu — $5,990
C: Valtteri Filppula — $6,118

D: Niklas Kronwall — $6,547
D: P.K. Subban — $7,817

G: Jonathan Quick — $20,665
G: Brian Gionta — $7,976

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