Canucks' Quinn Hughes And Conor Garland Invited To Attend U.S. Men's Olympic Orientation Camp
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New York Times
12 hours ago
- New York Times
NHL cap accrual explained, Quinn Hughes' future and more: Mirtle mailbag, part 2
We're back. Part 1 of the summer NHL mailbag came out last week. Now, let's kick off Part 2 as we head into late August with your queries on how salary cap space works for teams that have extra room, the Philadelphia Flyers' rebuild, Quinn Hughes' future and the Florida Panthers' attempts at a threepeat. Do the Flyers make the playoffs, and more importantly, are they finally heading in the right direction? — Brian S. To recap: Philadelphia finished in 29th last season with only 76 points. Offensively, the Flyers were okay, with 2.83 goals per game, but they really got filled in the other way, allowing a whopping 3.45 goals per game, fifth-worst in the league. Bringing in Rick Tocchet behind the bench should help there, and they have some young players I really like. Cam York and Ty Foerster are really solid, developing talents that don't get a lot of attention outside the market. Emil Andrae impressed me in the games he played. I liked the low-risk flier (pun intended) they took on Trevor Zegras, too. Advertisement Nevertheless, this is still a team that's thin down the middle, and more importantly, I don't think they properly addressed last season's biggest weakness with their offseason moves. Statistically, the Flyers weren't that poor of a team defensively, finishing around the top 10 in expected goals against them. They have a lot of smart, two-way players, and they're not an easy team to play night to night. However, they were dead last, by a mile, in goals against above expected, with their goaltenders allowing 46 more goals than expected. The good news is that more than half of that deficit was due to how poorly KHL imports Ivan Fedotov (13.6 goals allowed above expected in just 26 games) and Aleksei Kolosov (nine in 17 games) played. Any replacement should be an upgrade over those numbers. A tandem of Dan Vladar (who received a two-year UFA deal for $3.35 million a season) and Samuel Ersson, however, is fairly underwhelming. Of the 65 goalies who have played the most NHL minutes the past three years, Vladar ranks 59th, and Ersson is 62nd in goals saved above expected. I do think they'll be better than last season, and they'll probably surprise some teams with how well they defend. The 20-plus point jump they'd need to make the postseason feels like a pretty big reach, though, barring something unexpected from the crease. Should the Toronto Maple Leafs enter the season with material cap space, can you explain how it will accrue over the course of the season? How would (the Long-Term Injured Reserve pool) impact this if used? What type of move could the Leafs make with the accrued space, should they hold onto it? — Tom L. I'm glad someone asked this question because it applies to far more than Toronto this season. Including the Leafs, there are 22 teams right now that have around $2 million in cap space or more. Eight of those are listed with $10 million or more. I'll use the Leafs as an example here because they're an interesting case as a contender that lost a star player who they'll be looking to replace in-season. Technically, PuckPedia lists them at the roster limit of 23 players with $1.92 million available, but they could waive Henry Thrun ($1 million cap hit) and trade a forward like David Kämpf ($2.4 million) or Calle Järnkrok ($2.1 million) and bump that up to $5 million-ish at some point. Advertisement Let's start with the lowest figure of $1.92 million, just for illustrative purposes. The way the NHL's cap works is by using a daily accounting formula, so it changes as your roster shifts throughout the year. The cap looks at player salaries as a day-to-day figure, meaning someone like Thrun will cost $1 million divided by the 191 days in the 2025-26 season for every day he's in the NHL. That's about $5,235 and change. In theory, the Leafs could leave that $1.92 million open all season. By the trade deadline, with 41 days left in the season, the amount of cap space available can accommodate an additional player (or players) worth $8.94 million, because by March 7, you only have to pay those new players' salaries for the remaining 21.5 percent of the season. Demote a Thrun to start the year, and that $8.94 million is more like $13.6 million. It's a lot of flexibility, and the Leafs aren't anywhere close to having the most room among potential playoff teams. If we're talking about a team like the Detroit Red Wings, who have $12 million in space, they could effectively add $56 million more in salaries at the deadline. What complicates this a little is that no teams have the same roster all season. There are injuries, call-ups and trades that shift the daily accounting all season. It's why you sometimes see cap-strapped teams send players up and down to the AHL between games or on off days; every practice day someone like Thrun goes to the minors, saves another $5,235 that will grow over time. (That said, these paper transactions will no longer be allowed once the new CBA takes effect in 2026-27.) The benefit for teams using long-term injured reserve is that they can exceed the cap using an injured player's salary. Many, many teams have done this to great effect during the flat-cap era to add key pieces for a playoff run. With so many teams flush with space, though, that's likely to become less of a factor, as those clubs simply won't need to go over the cap anymore. Accrual will also be a very real benefit to the teams that can keep a few million free throughout the year. The downside to LTIR is that you don't accrue the extra space; if you go over the cap by $2 million due to an injury, LTIR only frees up $2 million, so it's definitely better to accrue than to use LTIR, especially once the new playoff salary cap rules kick in for 2027. The challenge in this environment right now is that if everyone has cap space, it becomes a less valuable asset. Plus, the real assets a team like Toronto will want at the deadline — good players — are scarce. I think we could theoretically see some weird things like contending teams with a lot of cap space (the Carolina Hurricanes?) taking on bad money in a deal just to increase the likelihood they get the deadline acquisition they want. Absorbing cap dumps may no longer be only the domain of the rebuilders. Advertisement All of this is to say that cap space is going to be less of a barrier than ever for a lot of teams, and this could be an advantage for Detroit, Carolina, the Ottawa Senators, the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto and maybe a few other plausible playoff teams come the deadline. They won't necessarily need retention to get deals done, and they won't have to worry about sending salaries back the other way. The bigger challenge will be finding the right talent to use that cash on and outbidding all the other teams with plenty of money to spend. Do you honestly see the New Jersey Devils trying to make a deal to acquire Quinn Hughes? I just don't see the timeline fitting in with their cap situation. — Mike S. Let me get into the Vancouver Canucks side of this a bit to start. I feel for fans here, as this is a team in a pickle. They finished 18th overall last year with 90 points. There are scenarios where you can see them getting a bump higher than that this season, but the middle of the pack is likely where they belong. With huge question marks around Elias Pettersson and Thatcher Demko, the ceiling feels too low to compete with the real contenders in the West. If you're Hughes, indisputably now one of the best players in the league and with two years left on your deal, it feels natural to wonder about your future if this Canucks team isn't going to break through and win. Maybe Vancouver surprises and has a huge bounce-back season that convinces their captain to stay. Feels unlikely to me, to be honest, but that's their best-case scenario. Otherwise, they have to start contemplating what a blockbuster trade might look like and whether it's all about futures. For the Devils, if Hughes wants to go there to join his brothers, how do you not make that commitment next summer? By the time he gets a massive new extension in 2027-28, New Jersey has acres of cap room: $62 million, before accounting for a potential RFA deal for Luke. They're going to be out from under Ondrej Palat and Brenden Dillon by then, who combine for $10 million, and Dougie Hamilton will only have one year left on his deal. Plus, the cap will be at least $113.5 million, so I don't see the finances as the barrier here, especially when you consider any potential trade with the Canucks could also involve salary going the other way. Even if Quinn is commanding $15 million-plus in 2027-28, that still fits — and it's not like he's going to be particularly old by then. This is a nice-looking group to try and build around. Obviously this is a team overloaded on the back end even years from now, and I'm not including intriguing prospects Seamus Casey and Anton Silayev, who will be factors by 2027. With how few top four D are making it to free agency every year, there's going to be considerable trade value there for whoever they decide to move. Advertisement The fact that they have Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt on such bargain deals with term gives them the flexibility to add one of the biggest salaries in the league, too. I've left out a new contract for Nico Hischier, which would also be a priority, but with $30 million in cap space, the kids coming on D and the ability to deal someone, it all leaves them a lot of different lanes to go down if Quinn does become available. I don't really see the downside, to be honest; the Devils are fortunate that a perennial Norris Trophy candidate likely has them at the top of his to-go list. It could be a game-changer for a team on the cusp of taking another step. The (Panthers) have almost all of their team back, and most of the core signed long-term. Bobrovsky and Mikkola's contracts expire next year, but the Cats will have plenty of cap space to re-sign them and almost whomever else they want over the next few years. Is anyone a realistic threat to challenge their potential dominance in the foreseeable future? — Amir C. Well, as they say, Father Time comes for everyone. Sergei Bobrovsky is 37 next month; at some point, there will have to be a succession plan in the crease. Could he have another big year, though, especially in the playoffs? Absolutely. You're right in that the Panthers look formidable again, and they're the betting favorites to take the Stanley Cup with about 7 to 1 odds, depending on where you look. However, that's still only a roughly 12.5 percent chance of winning, making the field the stronger pick. Matthew Tkachuk's injury and absence early in the year is one concern I have for them. The Olympics will also potentially take some energy out of a lot of Panthers players. At some point, the overall fatigue of three runs to the Final has to take a toll, no? As for who could potentially challenge them in the years to come, that's a great question. We can see some new rising potential powers like New Jersey, the Montreal Canadiens, Utah Mammoth and Ottawa starting to show a bit of life, but actually beating a team like Florida in a best-of-seven feels a ways off. That leaves us looking at the teams that have contended the past few years — the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers in the West, and Carolina, the Tampa Bay Lightning and (maybe) Toronto in the East — as the likely candidates. Advertisement None of them really screams Cup winner. No one had a huge transformative offseason, either, although the Golden Knights (Mitch Marner) and Hurricanes (Nikolaj Ehlers) made some nice additions. Still, one thing to keep in mind is that part of why Florida won this past year was the transformational moves they made in-season. Airlifting in Seth Jones and Brad Marchand late in the year was massive, and I don't think they go the distance without general manager Bill Zito pulling off that wizardry. Maybe the Panthers are the deadline winners again, but it could also be one of those next tier of teams, especially with all the cap room floating out there. That could put them on even footing with Florida, at least on paper. Thanks for reading. I should have more of these queued up before training camp, so stay tuned for that. We'll take more questions at some point in the fall, too. Plus, sign up for Red Light, our hockey newsletter, for more similar content from Sean McIndoe and me all year. (Top photo of Quinn Hughes: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Is it worth it?': Red flags to watch with youth sports programs
USA Hockey didn't invent the line, but Ken Martel has used it when he talks about succeeding in sports. 'As many as possible for as long as possible with the best environment possible,' the organization's senior director of player and coach development told USA TODAY Sports in an interview last year. He was referring to the American Development Model program he helped install more than a decade and a half ago, when the sport was losing young players in our country. The ADM, which has become the cornerstone of USA Hockey's message, has helped bring them back to the ice in droves and, in Martel's thinking, continues to help generate world junior championship titles. 'When you have more kids playing, certainly a few more of them will turn out to be good and you'll see 'em on TV, right?' he says. USA Hockey created the ADM to help keep kids, parents and coaches engaged while, at least in theory, giving everyone a chance to organically develop to his or her full athletic potential. It starts with getting boys and girls enthused from an early age, infusing a love of competition (without a laser focus on winning) and engaging them into adulthood. USA Hockey reports 577,864 registered players (kids and adults) for 2024-25, up from 465,975 in 2008-09. 'Geography is no longer a predetermining factor in who can be good in our sport,' Martel says. USA TODAY reported Aug. 1, however, about how one NHL club has a monopoly over North Texas ice. It effectively controls the pathways by which the region's young players advance, Kenny Jacoby writes, and has reminded (and even threatened) parents they can block it at any time. 'You get so beaten down, and you see your kid get screwed over for opportunities, and you decide, 'You know what? Maybe I do have to play by their rules to get where I want to be,' ' says Kat Pierce, a hockey mom whom a Dallas Stars employee attempted to reprimand when she criticized them in a social media post. The power to decide to play a sport, and to stick with it, is ultimately the choice of our kids. As parents we have a right to speak up to a coach or organization without fear of them being penalized. We know from this story and others about the so-called 'professionalism of youth sports' that the system isn't always that simple. Here are eight red flags to watch with youth sports programs: You don't feel like you have a say with anything USA Hockey delegates much of its authority to regional affiliates. The Texas Amateur Hockey Association oversees Texas and Oklahoma. Member associations' votes are weighted by the number of players they register and, as USA TODAY reports, tilt heavily in the interests of those in Stars leagues or with teams that rent Stars ice. It's an issue with which many of us can relate, at least to some degree. Running a youth team or league is entrusted in the hands of a few – club owners or the board. All too often, it seems, they prioritize their own interests: Making a steep profit or giving their own kids All-Star slots. You should never feel you don't have power, though. Volunteer for the board, file a complaint with the league about a nepotistic coach or speak to other parents if something doesn't feel right. It probably isn't. Band together in your opposition. A board or coach can brush aside one complaint but a collective one isn't as easily ignored, and it isn't good for business. Coach Steve: How do I deal with a bad coach? Here are three steps You fear if you speak up, your kid will be penalized OK, maybe it's not that simple. When Jacoby, my USA TODAY colleague, reported about the Stars' heavy influence in North Texas, he came across a number of parents hesitant to raise concerns out of fear of retaliation against their kids. One dad who coached at a Stars complex inquired about coaching at a competing rink after he felt the Stars had failed to address a safety concern. The Stars fired him when he did so, according to emails he provided, and allegedly banned his 5- and 7-year-old daughters. (A Stars employee denied banning his daughters.) No one wants to risk putting their kids' dreams, or even their playing time, in jeopardy. But think about the concern for a moment. Is being on a team where you're afraid to rock the boat really a situation you want your child to have to endure? Before you do anything, talk to your son or daughter about their experience. They might not want to be there anyway. You always have a voice in their sports journey. You fear if you leave, there will be no 'better' options Think of yourself as an investor in your team or league. Its leaders should be open to your constructive criticism on how to make it better. Don't take to social media to complain, where you risk making someone feel public embarrassment. Instead, schedule a private meeting where you can mention your concerns diplomatically. The reaction you get will give you a good indication of where you stand. If they aren't willing to consider spreading out rink fees over a larger group of teams, or giving every kid equal playing time when you're paying for a college showcase experience, for example, this might not be worth your time. No single team will make or break whether your child reaches an elite level of a sport, but a single experience might determine whether they keep playing at all. We can help. Submit your feedback here about how the corporatization of youth sports has affected you and your kids. We wrote in a line specifically for those of you who've faced retaliation or threats. You feel pressured (or are outright told) not to play other sports An internal study the NHL and NHL Players' Association conducted in 2018 found that out of the 700-plus players on rosters, 98% of them were multisport athletes as kids. 'Get out, play multiple sports,' says USA Hockey's Martel. 'Look, if your passion's not ice hockey, you're never gonna really turn out to be a great player if you don't truly love it. And if you find a passion that happens to be another sport, wonderful.' The American Development Model recommends multisport play until at least age 12. Arguments can be made to take it longer. 'I am dead set against single-sport athletes (while kids are growing up),' former football coach Urban Meyer has said. 'When my son was playing baseball I had many people tell me that he should just stop playing other sports and focus on baseball. I got in big arguments with people, and a lot of those kids that (at) nine, 10 years old were great - they blew out. They burned out, and they're not playing anymore.' Meyer said he looked at kids who played football and another sport at a high level. Brenda Frese, another national championship-winning coach, also loves recruiting basketball players who play multiple sports. 'We just see the benefits of it – you know, mentally, physical, socially, you name it,' Frese's husband, Mark Thomas, told me in an interview for a 2023 profile of the Maryland women's coach and her family. 'At an early age, teams try to take over your calendar. A key little tool I learned is that as long as you're playing multiple sports, you give yourself some leverage that they can't take over your schedule completely because you have commitments to multiple teams. Eventually, you may have some hard-line coaches." When one of the couple's twin sons played club soccer in seventh grade, Thomas recalled the coach telling parents and players: We expect you to only play soccer now and if you're not just playing soccer, then we don't want you. 'From the soccer club's end, why wouldn't you keep more kids involved?' Thomas said. 'I mean, he was never a kid who was gonna be a professional or anything like that. I didn't understand the point.' The National Athletic Trainers' Association recommends playing for one team at a time, playing a sport for less than eight months per year and at no more hours per week than your age. You can always specialize the year before high school if you are concerned about making a specific team, but playing other sports recreationally on the side will make you a better athlete. You're on a team with a primary focus of winning titles As Martel looked to reinvent American hockey, he discontinued a 12-and-under national championship. 'The only pushback we got was from a few adults that run programs; it was more about them than it was about the kids,' he says. 'Why do we need to run across the country at 12 for a championship? If you're gonna run a 12U national championship, the 10U coach starts aggregating players because we need to get them all together so that they're ready by the time they're 12. And it just starts the race to the bottom sooner.' Project Play, a national initiative of the Aspen Institute to build healthy communities through sports, surveys children. When it asks them what they like most about playing sports, having fun and playing with friends always ranks at the top and by a lot, according to Aspen Sports & Society community impact director Jon Solomon. Solomon says winning games and chasing scholarships rank lower, such as in the Washington, D.C. State of Play report. Yes, kids thrive off game situations. But instead of loading up on age-specific travel tournaments, play the 8- through 12-year-olds together, as USA Hockey suggests. Prioritize small-sided games in practice over 'boring' drills, as Martel calls them. "We do different things in that to get them to work on different technical abilities and different tactical situations," Martel says. "But kids have fun. They get to problem solve. There's autonomy to that. And you see that in our play." It costs a lot less, too. A team - or a tournament - requires you to stay at specific hotels with no flexibility We love the adventure of traveling with our kids through their sports. Hitting the road can give them exposure to top competition. It's also a prime intersection for collusion. For years, according to USA TODAY reporting, three Stars executives organized tournaments that required out-of-town participants to book minimum three-night stays at select hotels. At the same time, they ran their own for-profit company that took a cut of the revenue. After our investigation, the Stars say they will be 'loosening' the policies. Although stay-to-play arrangements remain common across youth sports, I have never encountered one over about eight years of traveling with my sons for their baseball teams. The hotels our team or a tournament recommends are always suggestions. I book at a better rate through my rewards program if I find one. We sometimes run into tournaments that are a couple of hours from home. Once the game times are announced, we might choose to return for one of the nights. Having that choice improves our quality of life, and our satisfaction with the team. The coach has a chummy relationship with a few of the other players' parents The most effective coaches maintain a cordial yet arm's length rapport with parents. They lay out the ground rules in a meeting before the season – no parent coaching from the bleachers, perhaps? – and say something to parents who violate them. Playing for close friends is inevitable when kids are younger. When they are preparing to play high school ball or competing in front of college coaches, though, there are enough distractions without having to worry about your coach favoring someone over you. You can't answer affirmatively: 'Is it worth it?' Brent Tully was a former defenseman who helped Team Canada win two world junior championships in the 1990s. He later became general manager for an elite junior hockey team in Ontario and has coached younger players. He's also a father of two athletes. He has seen first hand the long hours and travel, the tens of thousands of dollars spent, the living 'hand-to-mouth,' as Pierce, the Texas hockey mom, described in my colleague's story. All for what? 'I can't imagine parents at the end of that last year (when) their child isn't drafted,' Tully said in 2024. 'And that's the end. The disappointment of the ending, it's all too frequent. 'My oldest son, back when he was playing, they were an average to below average team. And they stayed that way, even beyond the years he had stopped playing. I knew some of the fathers pretty well. And one father, at the end of nine years of minor hockey - and he complained all the time, complained about his son's ice time, about the coaching - I remember saying to him, 'So was that all worth it?' Was that fun? All the money you spent. Your son's now gone to college, and he's working a job and you could have had him play house league, probably left with a lot less frustration. And he can still play the game his whole life at the level he's playing. ... 'Regardless of where a boy or girl plays, that should be a great experience.' Coach Steve: 10 questions athletes should consider if they play on a travel team With the right experience, his sport can be ingrained in someone from 'cradle to grave,' as USA Hockey's Martel describes. 'Hockey is played with no contact in a lot of places,' he says. 'We have 70-and-over national championships. It's really low impact and it's a lot of fun. There's people that play when they're 100. So hopefully you come back to the sport and you're involved over a life. 'You don't see that in American football. No one wants to go out and get tackled and have to go to work the next day.' Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons' baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here. Got a question for Coach Steve you want answered in a column? Email him at sborelli@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Red flags in youth sports programs, how to spot and respond to them
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Thompson, Tuch, Invited To Team USA's Orientation Camp
The Buffalo Sabres were shut out for players being selected for Team Canada's orientation camp for the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy next February, but that was not the case on Tuesday, as two Sabres forwards were invited to Team USA's orientation camp being held on August 26-27 in Plymouth, MI.
