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The 15the The Fantasy Hockey Annual Guide is available and ready to download! Draft list too! Updated to Anthony Duclair news!
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There is really a lot to digest these last few days. I think Elliotte Friedman, Pierre Lebrun, Cap Friendly, NHL.com, Chris Johnston and Frank Seravalli had the most comprehensive information on this topic and I’ve put it all together and pulled out the nuggets for you here. Hockey is back, it’s time to set your fantasy league draft date!
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NHL Events Calendar:
January 03 – Opening of training camps
January 13 – Start of the 2020-21 NHL season (official)
April 12 – NHL Trade Deadline
May 08 – End of the regular season
July 15 – Last date of the Cup match
July 17 – Submit Protected Expansion Lists
July 21 – Expansion Draft (Kraken)
July 28 – Opening of UFA / Free Agent Frenzy
Everything is therefore completed in mid-July. The trade deadline occurs with 26 days remaining in the season, reducing about a week. Last season’s seven non-playoff teams can open training camps on December 31.
Players must retire a week before the opening of their respective training camp, if they plan to retire for this season. I don’t anticipate a lot of players, if any, to retire.
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The one-year divisions will be as follows:
North – Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg
Where is – Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, Minnesota, San Jose, Saint Louis, Vegas
Central – Caroline, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Nashville, Tampa Bay
East – Boston, Buffalo, New Jersey, New York Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington
All matches will be played within the division. This means that each team in the West, Center and East divisions will play eight times. Canada’s teams will meet nine times (each team playing two teams 10 times).
I don’t see it as advantageous for any particular team when it comes to the regular season. The playoffs are another question, more on that below. But when it comes to the regular season and the fantasy leagues, every division has a few powers. Three divisions have a weak link. A supposed “gimme game”. The Eastern Division doesn’t have horrible teams, as the Devils and Sabers will be much improved. The other divisions have an Ottawa, Detroit or Los Angeles. The West can be a bit advantageous for stronger teams, as San Jose and Anaheim should be weaker as well. But at the end of the day, it’s all about goals, and there’s a good chance these cities will tighten up defensively and lose 2-1 instead of 5-2.
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Not all teams are allowed to play in their old buildings yet. In fact, most don’t yet. I suspect most will, but details need to be clarified. While teams such as Dallas and Tampa not only play at home, but will see a small crowd of 3,000 to 5,000 fans in attendance, other teams such as San Jose are not allowed to play at all. The Sharks are planning to host a training camp in Arizona. The NHL is still negotiating with the governments of British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec to get the green light in the cities there.
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A big rule change put in place concerns contracts involving junior rookies that come into play at 10e Game. This will become the seventh game for this season. So this “nine game try” that we are used to will now be a “six game try”. I will be adjusting these recruits in my Fantasy Guide over the next few days. I will also be working on my projected ranking, my projected team goals and my Calder picks this week as well. So I can delay a few days for the update and just have a giant update.
IR (seven days) and LTIR (10 matches / 24 days) remain the same. Waivers (10 games / 30 days) also.
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📢 advertising:
There will be a “taxi team” of up to six players who will travel with the teams and receive their minor league salary.
The teams are mandatory to transport at least three guards, between the Taxi Squad and the active roster. This makes teams with the best No.3 goalkeepers (like Aaron Dell, Toronto) in great shape.
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As of Monday, teams have 23 days to comply with the cap. As of now, 10 teams have passed the milestone.
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The playoffs will be played within their divisions. The top four teams from each division will advance to the playoffs and the winner from each division will be in the semi-finals. So yes, a Canadian team is guaranteed to be in the bottom four. If Toronto is looking for a way to get past Boston, Columbus and Tampa Bay, this is its best shot. Not that they couldn’t do with their game, I’m just saying it’s even easier not to play them at all. This could be their ticket to the first round.
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The 2021-22 season in the NHL kicks off in October and will last 82 games, which is normal for the schedule. We expected this news, but nice to see it as official. Free Agent Frenzy will take place on July 28, which will probably mean my Fantasy Guide (16e annual!) will be released in mid-August instead of the usual 1 August.
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Notes from other leagues, for your reference:
– Latest AHL news shows that league regular season starts February 5
– ECHL has already started playing again and has three or four games. Nine teams have suspended operations for the year, leaving 13 teams to play.
– Latest OHL news indicates this league’s regular season begins February 4
– The WHL had planned to start on January 8, but last week announced that it could not meet that start time and did not set a start date. I suspect it will be in February, if that happens.
– The QMJHL has already started its season but after several games postponed to the start, it closed the league until January 3. I suspect that will also extend until February. This month seems to be hockey’s comeback month in all fields.
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Discussions with unrestricted free agents resumed, with six teams speaking with Mike Hoffman. I’m starting to think of Nashville as a top contender here. And if Pierre-Luc Dubois gives Columbus a discount, they may have enough left to hunt Hoffman as well. Maybe they will use this as a sell feature in negotiations. No matter how it goes, I think Hoffman is going to be underpaid. His mistake was not to jump on the offers immediately when the free agency opened.
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Ilya Kovalchuk has signed to play next season in the KHL. That wraps up the chapter on his NHL career, in case anyone wonders if he’s giving him another chance.
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Leon Draisaitl was named German Sportsman of the Year, becoming the first hockey player to win this award and the second team sports athlete to win it.
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In the dynasty leagues, my interest in Vitek Vanecek has just increased enormously. I think he’s a good goalie and a solid prospect and in any other team I could have even named him Golden Boy. But in Washington, home of Ilya Samsonov, I had it written off. He has to allow waivers to send, then he would have been the third goalie. But now with the news from Henrik Lundqvist (for the season), Vanecek is the replacement! And considering that Samsonov has never played 38 games in a season before, I think Vanecek is starting. What if he did better than Samsonov? The odds are low, but they are certainly possible. Potential goalies are hard to project as they are, and the chances of Prospect Goalie X becoming a success in the NHL are pretty slim. The chances of the circumstances that make Vanecek a better fantasy than Samsonov can’t be slimmer than that, can they? Anyway, in my deep dynasty, I didn’t even have it on my list. Now it is there as a late choice. I won’t mind to sit on him for two seasons to see what happens. If he works well, maybe he moves on to another team. Seattle?
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See you next Monday.
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