Top Line: The death of Corsi; free agents who go begging; more links
An annotated guide to this morning's must-read hockey stories:
• Although the focus of this piece by Michael Florek is on the efforts of the Dallas Stars and GM Jim Nill to find reliable, quality numbers to better help them analyze player performance, it also heralds the death of Corsi and Fenwick and other proxy stats via the use of modern video tracking technology. But how to interpret the information and put it to use will still be the trick.
• Andrew Lifland crunches the numbers to give context to Anze Kopitar's 2013-14 season. Turns out the Kings' big center was pretty good.
• George Malik says the Red Wings have added a trio of assistant coaches who bring an ideal blend of experience and expertise to the Red Wings staff. I wasn't sold on the Tony Granato hire at first, but taken in context with yesterday's additions of Jim Hiller and Andrew Brewer it all adds up to a diverse and talented group of voices to support Mike Babcock.
• The always erudite Elliotte Friedman says the Canadiens are playing a dangerous game by low-balling P.K. Subban with a $5.25 arbitration offer.
• Ken Campbell agrees with that assessment.
• Not every player looks at free agency as the chance to grab his golden ticket. “Now I wait for a phone call and say 'Whatever your offer is, I'll take less,'” says one veteran who is still looking to land a new gig.
• New Jersey GM Lou Lamoriello says he isn't surprised that Martin Brodeur remains unsigned. Neither are we. Given that he's looking for a chance to start, every passing day makes it more likely Marty's come to the end of the line.
• Other NHLers visit Las Vegas in the offseason for the nightlife and the action. But Jaromir Jagr? He goes for the all-night ice.
• No, wait ... now Jagr is skating in the Czech Republic. I think the takeaway here is that if you hang around any viable sheet of ice long enough, Jagr will eventually show up and practice on it.
• The NHL learned on Wednesday that it is facing another concussion-related lawsuit, but this one has a unique twist.
• Next season's Winnipeg Jets will look an awful lot like last season's Winnipeg Jets. And that was one awful lot. Gary Lawless points out that Connor McDavid is out there as a consolation prize for a bad season, but that's cold comfort. The Jets are going to be bad, but not lottery bad. They're in that limbo of not being good enough to make the playoffs, but not so hopeless that a franchise-changing prospect is on the horizon. Looks like another year of feeling sorry for this team's devoted fans.
• With contract talks stalled between the Minnesota Wild and restricted free agents Darcy Kuemper and Nino Niederreiter, the specter of a holdout or two has risen. Both players have had success with the Wild, but in such limited doses that it is easy to understand the hesitancy of GM Chuck Fletcher to make a significant commitment to them in dollars or years. This could get ugly.
• After playing pivot for Ottawa's most effective line last season, Kyle Turris is ready to officially step up as the Senators' No. 1 center. No doubt he had success last season, but he also reaped the benefits of Jason Spezza drawing the top defensive match-ups. Can Turris take the next step while facing tougher minutes? That will be the key to Ottawa's offensive hopes next season.