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With the NHL offseason underway, the NHL Draft kicking off on Friday and the free agent signing period just around the corner, the Eye on Hockey staff is getting you ready for all of the potential moves by asking seven burning questions about each conference.On Tuesday, Chris Peters wraps it up with seven questions about the Western Conference, including the ongoing saga with the , the and salary cap i sues, the s crucial negotiation with and more.1. Whats going to happen to the Arizona Coyotes?Though this might not be the sexiest question to ask with free agency and the draft looming, it is literally the most important question facing the entire league this offseason. The Coyotes face a court battle against the City of Glendale after its city council voted to cancel their agreement with the team. That would leave the Coyotes without a home if the city wins its case.That could wreak havoc on the entire league, setting off an unpleasant chain reaction that could even include unexpected and hasty relocation to another market. The easy solution if the Coyotes lawsuit fails is to return to Phoenix where there is already some appetite to welcome the NHL back to a shared facility with the Phoenix Suns of the NBA. The ideal situation for the Coyotes and the NHL as a whole, however, is that the team wins its lawsuit alleging the city has no basis for their termination of the lease agreement. That keeps the teams deal with the city as is, they stay in Glendale, the NHL schedule that is due out Thursday Jaxson Hayes Jersey wont have to change and relocation rumors are temporarily put on hold.2. How much will the Blackhawks have to change this offseason?After winning the 2015 Stanley Cup, the Chicago Blackhawks are expected to look different next season. New contracts awarded to stars and last summer will kick in this season, with the pair combining for a cap hit of $21 million. The cap is not expected to increase by much more than $1 or $2 million next season. Thats trouble.It is already a sumed that is on the way out and taking his $5.9 million cap hit with him via trade. That is unlikely the last move Chicago would make in their current cap crunch. Defenseman and midseason acquisitions and all played important roles in the Cup run and all are unrestricted free agents. and rising star are restricted free agents and eligible to sign offer sheets (more on that in a second). Theres also the tricky situation looming with , who will be playing on the last year of his current contract next season. The Blackhawks have been stockpiling players on entry-level contracts within their prospect system in the hopes some will jump into the NHL lineup and fill roles on the cheap. Even if some can, the Blackhawks will still have to get creative to add meaningful pieces to the roster to ensure they don't have much dropoff from their Stanley Cup campaign.3. How will the Los Angeles Kings manage their salary cap situation?While the Blackhawks were grabbing salary-cap related headlines in the wake of their Stanley Cup win, the only other team to Willy Hernangomez Jersey win hockeys ultimate prize in the past four seasons quietly has the same problems. The Kings have to manage the salary cap with one eye on the future and another on erasing the memory of mi sing the playoffs last season.The Kings have some tough decisions ahead. One of the big ones is what to do with and his gigantic $5.75 million-per-year cap hit. The Kings can try to trade him, but would be hard-pre sed to find a taker. That leaves a buyout as the next option, which wont erase his cap hit, but would alleviate some of the burden. That would force the Kings to pay Richards not to play for them until 2024-25. Perhaps even more importantly, the team needs to lock down restricted free agents and . Either could be prone to an offer sheet that could end up pricing the Kings out. Both figure to be important players to the teams present and future and should be priorities.Then theres what to do with UFAs and . Its likely a one or the other situation. Sekera was injured before he could really contribute to the team after a mid-season trade and might fit LAs needs better than Williams, who won the 2014 Conn Smythe Trophy. On top of that, the elephant in the room that is s looming negotiation for an extension. Hell be in the last year of his contract next year, so every deal the Kings strike this offseason will have to be with Kopitars ma sive cap hit coming soon.This isnt even to mention the legal trouble facing Kings defenseman Slava Voynov, who is still awaiting trial in a domestic violence case, and forward , who was just formally charged with felony cocaine po se sion. Stoll is a UFA, so he wont be the Kings to worry about much longer it seems. Voynovs trial, however, still leaves a lot of uncertainty for the future. The Kings are going to be fascinating to watch this year as GM Dean Lombardi has a really daunting summer ahead.4. E'Twaun Moore Jersey Which, if any, of the budding stars in the Western Conference will be extended and sign offer sheets? , but it remains an important storyline as July 1 rapidly approaches. In the West, there are no more coveted forwards than Brandon Saad of the Chicago Blackhawks, Tyler Toffoli of the Los Angeles Kings and the best of the bunch, of the . It is highly unlikely their current teams wouldnt match any offer sheet for one of these players, but that doesnt mean teams cant poach others. Marcus Kruger of the Blackhawks and Martin Jones of the Kings are others that might be viewed as le s valuable than the aforementioned forwards, but are still players that could fetch a better deal than the ones they can get from their current teams.If any GMs have the guts to do it, this is the year, and these are the players to target in the West. Should any be extended and sign an offer sheet, the salary cap situation for their current teams could go all topsy-turvy pretty quick if forced to match.5. What will happen with Devan Dubnyk and the Minnesota Wild?One of the most intriguing negotiations of the offseason exists between Vezina Trophy finalist Devan Dubnyk and the Minnesota Wild. After saving the Wilds season almost instantaneously upon his arrival in a trade from the Arizona Coyotes, Dubnyk has reestablished himself as the goaltender many believed he would be earlier in his career (before the Oilers happened). The real concern here for the Wild is that they dont want to bet the farm on a guy who got hot for half a season, despite a body of work that includes finishing the 2013-14 season as a third-string AHL goalie. To enter into a long-term deal, even given the incredible performance, is a risky proposition.The Wild dont have much choice though. and showed for half a season last year that they werent going to cut it for this team. The prospect system is light for any other Plan C options. Josh Harding is expected to retire. Dubnyk has all the leverage here and hes going to have to get paid.Meanwhile, the Wild have a defensive corps to addre s in the offseason, perhaps through free agency and could use J.J. Redick Jersey a little more scoring pop, too. A long-term, expensive deal to Dubnyk is going to make all of that harder. 6. How will the try to build around Connor McDavid and their young core?We say it every summer it seems, but is this finally the year the Oilers turn the corner? Considering the changes at the top of the organization and behind the bench, this isnt just false hope for a team that has continually crumbled under any kind of preseason optimism.The real reason everything will change is that the Oilers won the lottery and will take Connor McDavid with the No. 1 pick in the draft. Now its up to new GM Peter Chiarelli to make sure that McDavids supporting cast is better than whats there right now. The skill at the top of the lineup is undeniable. McDavid, , , and could really take a big step forward. The defense and goaltending is downright terrifying. Those are major areas of concern and even if top D prospect Darnell Nurse is ready, they need more than him.The Oilers are one of the teams rumored to be in the mix for goalie to come in, but hed be the third straight backup goalie the team tried to make a No. 1. There might not be any better options, though.Chiarelli has his work cut out for him this summer, but expect him to be aggre sive in and around the draft. 7. What are the going to do with Ryan OReilly?Ryan OReilly is the kind of player that pretty much every NHL GM loves. He has good physical strength, some edge and he can produce on top of being a solid two-way forward. Thats why theres probably a pretty sizable market for his services. But a team that also loves him is the one he is currently on.Avalanche GM Joe Sakic has already expre sed his desire to sign OReilly to an extension, but he wants to get the deal done before the regular season to limit distractions. The last time the team negotiated with OReilly Derrick Favors Jersey , it didnt go so well. Thats creating concern as to how smoothly extension talks will go this time given that OReilly is now eligible for unrestricted free agency after next season.If talks dont go well again, the Avalanche are going to have to consider trading the 24-year-old so as to not get left in the dust in unrestricted free agency. Its not a position theyd probably prefer to be in, but they also have to consider the $6.2 million hell be making this season and decide how much higher theyre willing to go to keep him. This doesnt look like a situation where OReilly would be open to a hometown discount.The other thing the Avs have to keep in mind is the fact that both of their top defensemen, Erik Johnson and are in the last years of their respective contracts. Johnson is eligible for UFA, while Barrie will still be a restricted free agent. The big one, however, is , who will also be a RFA after next season. That's a lot of dollars to spread out and the Avs are not usually a spend-to-the-cap team.This could be the biggest test yet of Sakics tenure at the helm of the Avs' hockey operations. |
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