NHL mailbag: Hockey Hall of Fame leftovers, Stanley Cup Playoffs, draft

Questions about the Hockey Hall of Fame, Stanley Cup Playoffs, and more in our NHL mailbag!

It’s exciting to finally be talking about hockey again. The NHL’s plan to return is coming into fruition and fans will hopefully be able to see hockey by the start of August. We haven’t had a mailbag post in a while, but with so much going on, now’s the perfect time to have one!

This week’s mailbag features a variety of topics. There are questions about the Hall of Fame, the Stanley Cup Playoffs, free agency, the NHL draft, and more. To submit a question to a future mailbag and to stay updated with the latest hockey news, give us a follow on Twitter at @Puck_Prose! So without further ado, let’s get to it!

Is Kevin Lowe now the worst NHL player in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

That’s a very tough question. There are a lot of players who played before the modern era and because I don’t think it’s fair to compare the pre-modern era to the modern era, let’s only look at players from the modern era (post-1967).

Lowe is already in the sub-50th percentile as far as point shares since the start of the 1967-68 season. Take away the players who started their careers before then and the players who did things internationally (namely Vaclav Nedomanksy) and he slips even further down the list. Ultimately, it comes down to either Lowe or Guy Carbonneau.

Now, Carbonneau was a forward who didn’t score that much. However, he can at least point to his multiple Selke Trophies. Lowe was never a serious Norris Trophy candidate. And it’s not like defensive defensemen weren’t considered for the Norris when Lowe played. Rod Langway of the Washington Capitals won multiple Norris Trophies in the 1980s.

I’ve seen you talk a lot about the Hockey Hall of Fame on Twitter. What would you do to change the issues you have with it if you had free reign?

My primary issue with the Hockey Hall of Fame is it doesn’t celebrate hockey players as much as it celebrates NHL players. I don’t know how to change that other than give things like international success and impact off the ice more weight.

Another issue I have is the current logjam of candidates. Only four men’s players can get in per year and there are way more than four deserving candidates right now. I’d say there are roughly 10 and that number seems to keep growing each year. To fix that, I’d increase the maximum number of men’s players each year to six until the list is a little less crowded.

Lastly, I’d put more goalies, Theoren Fleury, Boris Mikhailov, and Alexander Mogilny in the Hall of Fame. And I’d waive the three year waiting period for Jaromir Jagr because let’s not kid ourselves, he won’t ever retire. Hey, you said I had free reign!

How would you fix the draft lottery? It’s clearly not working. Also, would you make any changes to the draft?

I couldn’t agree more with you. The lottery is designed to help the worst teams get better, yet that’s not what’s happening. I’d implement the Gold Drafting method. For those who aren’t familiar with it, it gives the teams who have the most points after being eliminated from the playoffs the highest draft picks.

This works for several reasons. First of all, the worst teams have the best chance to get the highest picks. Secondly, it discourages tanking. Thirdly, the lottery is stupid anyway, and the Gold Drafting method gets rid of it. The lone issue I have with it is there’s no drama involved and we all know the NHL loves drama. But that’s a relatively minor issue considering it fixes everything wrong with the draft lottery.

As far as the draft, I’d abolish it. There, I said it. The very idea of a draft is silly. Could you imagine studying at school for four years, getting your hopes up to work for a Fortune 500 company, and then being told you must work for an incompetent company that has no clue what they’re doing?

Now, abolishing the draft sounds crazy because it would create a massive free-agent market that the big market teams could exploit. We’ve seen what happens when the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and New York Rangers are allowed to throw their money around.

So I’d set some guidelines. Make every player who would be eligible for the draft a free agent. Give each team a set amount of money they can spend on players. Personally, I’d give the worst teams a larger allowance because they need an advantage. Set maximum rookie contracts. Let players go where they want to go.

Abolishing the draft would be a bold decision, but if done correctly, it would be a good thing for everybody.

How is the stagnant salary cap going to affect free agency?

It’s going to make things very unpredictable. Also, it likely means players aren’t going to be able to get the massive contracts that they want. This could lead to players opting for shorter deals, in hopes that the salary cap starts rising again.

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For example, before this season, Taylor Hall was penciled in to get seven years and at least $77 million in free agency. But with the salary cap ceiling staying at $81 million, very few teams are able to offer him that without clearing out significant cap space. Maybe Hall decides to take a one-year deal somewhere and chase a Stanley Cup like Marian Hossa did when he signed with the Detroit Red Wings?

I could see Alex Pietrangelo doing something similar. Except he’ll be staying with the St. Louis Blues. Until Pietrangelo signs somewhere else, I’m not going to believe he’s leaving St. Louis. But if Pietrangelo leaves, I could see him going to another contender or maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Usually, the start of free agency is when teams toss money at players and overpay them. However, a stagnant salary cap is going to make it next to impossible for most teams to do that. Maybe that’s a good thing!

What do the Lightning need to do this offseason to keep their big three RFAs – Sergachev, Cirelli, and Cernak?

No team is affected by the stagnant salary cap more than the Tampa Bay Lightning. They’ve been operating like they’re anticipating a consistent rise in the salary cap. But with no increase, they’re in a bit of a pickle. The Lightning only have 15 players signed for next season and only about $5,333,334 of projected cap space. And, as you mentioned, they’ve got three key young players to re-sign.

On paper, the Lightning are screwed. But in reality, they’re not, though they’re still in quite a pickle. The best thing they have going for them is Sergachev, Cirelli, and Cernak don’t have arbitration rights. That means signing them to cheap bridge deals is an option and there isn’t too much the players can do. It sucks for them, but it’s good for the Lightning.

Now, that said, even though Tampa has every ounce of leverage with their trio, they’re still going to need to clear some cap space. Unfortunately, their front office hands out no-trade clauses like they’re going out of style. The Lightning have eight (!!!) players signed for next season with either a no-trade clause or a no-movement clause.

They’re going to need to trade somebody making significant money. Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and Victor Hedman off the table. So is Brayden Point. One can assume Andrei Vasilevskiy is as well, though if they want to trade him, now’s the time to do it since his NTC kicks in after the 2020-21 season.

This leaves Alex Killorn, Yanni Gourde, Ondrej Palat, and Tyler Johnson. Each of them has a no-trade clause right now, though Killorn’s full NTC drops to a modified NTC (16-team no-trade list) after the start of the league’s new year. For that reason, I think Killorn’s the guy who gets traded. Johnson’s probably heading to Seattle after next season. Tampa has enough interesting prospects to entice Seattle to take him.

Braydon Coburn also has a full no-trade clause for some reason. His cheap cap hit means the Lightning could easily move him if he’s willing to waive his NTC. Anything they get for him would be an added bonus.

It’s going to be rough, but Tampa has all the leverage with their major RFAs. That’s a huge advantage and the Lightning have shown they aren’t afraid to exploit that leverage. Is it fair for the players? Absolutely not. But hey, life’s unfair.