Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

[PFellah]

November 2018: Eight (Wins) Is Enough


The Dragons steal a division win over San Jose in dramatic fashion. Andrei Svechnikov scores the game-winner in OT after Mike Green tied the game with 35 seconds to play.

Before the game, we decide to make a personnel change. Kasperi Kapanen has been held to a single assist and only one shot on goal, and also been a healthy scratch a few times, so we decide to send him down to the minors so he can play every day. On the depth chart, Jannik Hansen will benefit the most in terms of playing time; the roster spot goes to Jarome Iginla.

11/1 vs Washington (2-6-1) – 3-2 L
The defending Stanley Cup champs come in dealing with a bit of a slow start on the season. Today they look like defending champs, jumping out to a 2-0 lead and making it stand up.
GOALS: SEA – Sustr 1, Beagle 2. WSH – Ovechkin 3, Wilson 4, Burakovsky 2.

11/3 at Toronto (8-2-0) – 3-1 W
Toronto comes in as one of the league’s hottest teams, but despite getting outshot 35-25, the newcomers cool off the Leafs a little bit. Mike Cammalleri scores a pair, bookending Andre Svechnikov’s 2nd goal of the season.
GOALS: SEA – Cammalleri 2, Svechnikov 2, Cammalleri 3. TOR – Marleau 4.

11/4 at San Jose (3-7-1) – 3-2 W (OT)
We begin a three-game divisional run with a trip out to San Jose. Despite getting outshot and outplayed, backup goalie Chad Johnson keeps the Dragons in the game with some timely saves and a little help from the posts. As a result, it’s still only 2-1 late when Mike Green buries a slapshot from the top of the circle with 35 seconds left to force overtime. In the extra period, Seattle catches the Sharks with tired guys on the ice, and Riley Nash feeds Andre Svechnikov for the overtime winner. The only bad news is Michael Grabner left the game with an injury and will out until late in the month.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 2, Green 2, Svechnikov 3. SJ – Couture 6, Pavelski 5.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jay Beagle

It's not always about easy 5-2 wins where you control both ends of the ice for 60 minutes. Sometimes you're the one getting pushed around and you just have to hang in there and being ready to capitalize when something breaks in your favor. You get that lucky bounce, or somebody messes up a line change or something. Tonight was one of those games for us, and we'll take it.

11/7 at Calgary (6-4-2) – 6-2 W
Andrei Svechnikov keeps his momentum going with the first goal of the game, but it’s a three-goal second that propels the Dragons to victory. Tyler Bozak scores a pair; Sheahan, Perron, and Cammalleri also score goals.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 4, Bozak 3, Bozak 4, Sheahan 3, Perron 3, Cammalleri 4. CGY – Tkachuk 6, Brodie 2.

Ruh roh – Svechnikov also hits the injury list (pending evaluation), and Leo Komarov has a playable knee injury. I’m going to try and wait to see the extent of Svech’s injury before I consider calling someone up, but we might be at that point.

11/8 – vs Edmonton (7-4-2) – 4-3 W (SO)
Good news: David Perron scores the first hatty in Seattle history, Bad news: Seattle gets outshot 42-23 and coughs up the lead in regulation before salvaging the game in the shootout. Connor McDavid scores a pair, and then Anton Slepyshev scores with 1:28 left to send the game to OT. Overtime passes without a score, and then Seattle wins the shootout 3-2 with Joe Morrow scoring the eventual winner.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 4, Perron 5, Perron 6, Morrow SOW. EDM – McDavid 5, McDavid 6, Slepyshev 2.

Svechnikov’s injury report comes back, and he’s only going to be out a few games with a broken nose, so I’ll try to ride it out without help from the minors.

11/11 vs Minnesota (9-3-2) – 3-1 W
Don’t look now, but the Dragons are on a roll. After a scoreless first, Leo Komarov gets the Dragons on the board in the second, and Riley Nash and Brian Gibbons score goals about a minute apart in the 3rd to widen the lead to three. Minnesota spoils Robin Lehner’s shutout bid but can’t get any closer.
GOALS: SEA – Komarov 1, Nash 4, Gibbons 1. MIN – Kunin 3.

11/12 at Buffalo (2-11-2) – 6-2 W
This has the feel of a trap game – cellar-dwelling team sending their backup netminder (Riku Helenius) out on the heels of several tough opponents – but the Dragons shell Helenius with 6 goals on 40 shots, and Buffalo doesn’t show any signs of life until halfway home in the 3rd. Riley Nash scores a pair; Svechnikov is back in action and finds the net as well.
GOALS: SEA – Nash 5, Nash 6, Kunitz 2, Svechnikov 5, Komarov 2, Green 3. BUF – Eichel 5, Risstolainen 2.

The nagging injuries continue: Robin Lehner is playable with a hamstring injury, and Tyler Bozak will be out about a week with a sore foot.


11/16 vs Detroit (7-8-1) – 1-0 W
Winning ugly is winning too – it’s still two more points and a seven-game win streak. Jay Beagle scores about four minutes in, and then the Dragons hold on despite getting outshot 29-18. Lehner with the shutout.
GOALS: SEA – Beagle 3. DET – NONE.

11/18 vs New Jersey (8-6-3) – 3-2 W
Seattle scores three goals in the first five minutes and then makes It last for the other 55 minutes. Brendan Boyle scores one in the middle of Seattle’s scoring flurry and then Taylor Hall scores in the second to narrow the lead to one, but then the guns go silent for both sides.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 7, Sheahan 4, Nash 7. NJ – Boyle 4, Hall 3.

11/20 vs Boston (7-8-3) – 4-2 L
It had to end sometime. Seattle gets out to a 2-1 lead on a pair of goals by Jay Beagle, but Boston scores three unanswered goals in the third period (two by David Krejci and an empty-netter by Patrice Bergeron) to end the Dragons’ win streak. Still, we went from flailing around at the bottom of the standings to 13-6-0 and leading our division by a point over Anaheim.
GOALS: SEA – Beagle 4, Beagle 5. BOS – Marchand 5, Krejci 3, Krejci 4, Bergeron 8.

11/22 at Carolina (7-10-2) – 3-2 L (SO)
Seattle lands on an odd number of points for the first time this season, dropping a game to Carolina in the shootout. It’s 1-1 after 2, and 2-2 after three, but Jeff Skinner provides the deciding goal in the shootout.
GOALS: SEA – Komarov 3, Kunitz 3. CAR – Hanifin 1, Aho 3, Skinner SOW.

11/23 at Colorado (10-10-0) – 4-2 L
It’s back-to-back road games, so Chad Johnson gets the start. Unfortunately, much like the Boston game earlier in the week, a close game gets away in the third period. Seattle actually outshoots the Avalanche 36-29, but end up on the short end of the scoreboard.
GOALS: SEA – Johnson 1, Komarov 4. COL – Barrie 1, Barrie 2, Girard 2, Nemeth 2.

11/25 vs Los Angeles (13-7-1) – 7-3 L
Two periods of absolutely awful play, a brief comeback, and then LA puts the dagger in the home team with two late goals. At the end of two periods, Seattle could do nothing right, staring down a 5-0 deficit, and had only SIX shots to show for it. In the third, they briefly showed signs of life with 3 goals in the span of two-and-a-half minutes, but then Anze Kopitar broke the momentum with a sixth goal, and LA got a late power-play goal to make the rout complete.
GOALS: SEA – Cammalleri 5, Komarov 5, Beagle 6. LA – Kempe 5, Carter 7, Brown 2, Kopitar 13, Brown 3, Kopitar 14, Kempe 6.

Quote: Originally Posted by Chris Kunitz

We didn't make good choices passing the puck, we lost the puck in our own end, guys got caught out of position way too often. Except for about five minutes, we played like garbage tonight. Not much more you can say about it than that.

11/27 vs Tampa Bay (10-9-3) – 3-2 W
IGINLA! This brings a smile to my face – playing for the injured Riley Sheahan (sore shoulder, out until 12/12) Jarome Iginla gets one more hero moment. Seattle creeps out to a 2-0 lead but then Tampa Bay ties the game with a pair of goals. The game appears headed toward overtime when the old man scores with 1:35 left.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 8, Grabner 5, Iginla 1. TB – McDonagh 1, Killorn 4.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jarome Iginla

It's surprising how much it means to me. When I got cut, I thought that was the end of the line, and if there hadn't been expansion this year, I might very well have just hung up the skates. And then to go through some time in the minors and some games as a healthy scratch just to get back on the ice... it made me question whether coming back was the right call. But to get back out there and score a game-winning goal at the point I'm at in my career? It's special. It really is.

11/29 vs Montreal (12-8-3) – 5-0 W
Seattle ends their month by putting a thorough spanking on Les Habitants. Specifically, it’s a pair of goals in the 2nd and three more in the 3rd, and winning the shots battle 37-25. Jannik Hansen leads the way with two goals; Lehner turns aside 25 pucks for the shutout.
GOALS: SEA – Johnson 2, Hansen 3, Kunitz 4, Nash 8, Hansen 4. MTL – NONE

MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT

• MONTH: A very streaky 10-4-1.
• YEAR-TO-DATE: 15-8-1, 31 points
• DIVISION: Tied for first with the LA Kings at 31 points, though the Kings hold a 15-13 advantage in the ROW tiebreak. Anaheim at 30 and Vancouver at 29 are fairly close; after that there’s a bit of a dropoff.
• CONFERENCE: Three-way tie in 3rd through 5th at 31 points. Top 8: WPG 36, StL 34, LA 31, SEA 31, MIN 31, ANA 30, NSH 29, CHI 29.
  

TEAM LEADERS

• POINTS: Perron 19, Nash 15, Cammalleri 15, Komarov 14, Svechnikov 13
• GOALS: Nash 8, Perron 8, Beagle 6, Cammalleri 5, Grabner 5, Komarov 5, Svechnikov 5
• ASSISTS: Perron 11, Cammalleri 10, Green 9, Komarov 9, Morrow 8, Bozak 8, Svechnikov 8
• PLUS-MINUS: Hamhuis 9, Beagle 7, Morrow 6, Komarov 5, Cammalleri 4, Kunitz 4, Iginla 4

ON THE FARM
Tacoma is actually leading the minors at 17-6-1 (35 points), though there are several teams nipping right at their heels. Brandon Pirri (9-10-19) and Alan Quine (7-8-15) are the one-two punch at the top of the lineup, with defenseman Eric Gustafsson leading the blueliners at 5-13-18. Elvis Merzlikins has been getting the bulk of the starts in net and has a 13-6-1 record, with a 2.33 GAA and a .907 save percentage. Kasperi Kapanen hasn’t taken off quite like I’d hoped, but he does have 4 goals and 2 assists.

[PFellah]

November 2018: Around The League


STANDINGS


If there's a big mover (other than us) it's San Jose, who peeled themselves off the floor in the Pacific and are now back at the fringes of contention, and the Islanders who mirrored the Dragons and jumped from .500 to the top of their division. That Metro division is shaping up as a crazy race -- the Isles have opened up some daylight, but 2nd through 7th is a gap of 4 points. Buffalo is the only team that's really getting a head start on summer beach rentals, though the Calgary Flames may also be headed that direction.

LEAGUE LEADERS


Now we're starting to see the more traditional star scorers climb the charts. Brent Burns is a little bit of a surprise -- don't usually see defensemen on the goal-scoring leaders. For a Seattle-oriented view, nice to see Robin Lehner getting some love on the leaderboards.

CALDER WATCH


Seattle now has a Calder front-runner, as Andrei Svechnikov is in the scoring lead for rookies. Still early and still close, but first place is first place. I don't think either of the goalies pose much of a challenge -- Ullmark is still starting for Buffalo, but he's just not winning, and Copley is right on the line for falling out of eligibility on the rate stats.

[PFellah]

December 2018: Reality Bites


Mike Cammalleri celebrates career goal #300 against Vegas' Marc-Andre Fleury. Unfortunately, the Knights would go on to win the first edition of the Recent Expansion Bowl, 4-2.

12/2 vs Las Vegas (10-12-2) – 4-2 L
It’s Expansion Bowl as the Dragons and the Golden Knights face each other for the first time. Vegas controls the first period and jumps out to a fast 2-0 lead on a pair of defensive lapses. In the second, Mike Cammalleri gets the home team on the board with his 300th career goal, but Vegas soon gets it back on William Karlsson’s second goal of the game. From there, Vegas adds a power play goal (initially ruled no-goal but overturned via replay), and Andrei Svechnikov gets a Hail Mary goal as his slapper with 5 seconds left in the 2nd period gets past Marc-Andre Fleury. The third passes without additional scoring, and 4-2 is the final.
GOALS: SEA – Cammalleri 6, Svechnikov 6. VGK – Karlsson 9, Marchessault 3, Karlsson 10, Neal 11.

12/5 vs St. Louis (18-7-0) – 5-4 W
It’s a dramatic comeback win against a tough team. St. Louis gradually builds a 4-3 lead as the game moves toward its closing moments. Scott Hartnell claims the equalizer with 4:02 left, and then Jay Beagle puts the game away with 2:22 on the clock.
GOALS: SEA – Sustr 2, Svechnikov 7, Perron 9, Hartnell 2, Beagle 7. STL – Schenn 5, Thorburn 5, Dunn 2, Steen 8.

12/7 at Philadelphia (15-10-1) – 5-2 W
A fairly close game for two periods – Philly even held a 2-1 lead early in the 2nd -- gets a little unglued when Seattle scores an unanswered pair of goals in the 3rd. Diversified offense is the name of the game, as five different Dragons find the net.
GOALS: SEA – Hartnell 3, Bozak 5, Perron 10, Grabner 9, Komarov 6. PHI – Filppula 9, Voracek 6.

12/9 at Winnipeg (21-6-0) – 3-2 L
For two periods, it looks like Seattle is going to shock the Central-leading Jets. But Josh Morrisey and Mark Scheifele find the net about two minutes apart in the 3rd to salvage a 3-2 victory for the Jets.
GOALS: SEA – Cammalleri 7, Kunitz 5. WPG – Laine 12, Morrissey 2, Scheifele 11.

12/10 vs Vancouver (15-12-1) – 7-3 L
Ugh. Believe it or not, this game was actually tied 2-2 at one point in the second, but the Seattle defense decided to take the rest of the night off. Sam Gagner scores a hat trick and Brock Boeser adds a pair. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the Dragons scored three times on the power play. Thatcher Demko gets the win in his first NHL game.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 11, Svechnikov 8, Green 4. VAN – Gagner 8, Boeser 9, Gagner 9, Leipsic 5, Boeser 10, Baertschi 10, Gagner 10.

Quote: Originally Posted by Mike Green

It's easier to take a loss like this when they're just better from the opening faceoff. Then you just kinda say it's not your night and move on. But when you're in a game and then the wheels come off, it leaves you scratching your head... like, where's the team that was here five minutes ago?

Adding insult to injury, Riley Sheahan and Mike Green are both being evaluated for injuries. What a perfect time to play the top three teams in the Metro!

12/12 at Columbus (16-12-1) – 4-3 L
Columbus runs up leads of 2-0 and 4-2 and then holds the Dragons off down the stretch to come away with the victory.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 9, Perron 12, Cammalleri 8. CBJ – Bjorkstrand 10, Jones 6, Dubois 11, Foligno 8.

12/14 at New York Islanders (18-9-3) – 2-1 L (OT)
Mike Green is back to playable, but the Dragons still have to settle for one point. Chris Kunitz scores with 3:21 remaining to force overtime, but Johnny Boychuk scores in the extra frame to give the Isles the win.
GOALS: SEA – Kunitz 6. NYI – Bernier 1, Boychuk 1.

Quote: Originally Posted by Chris Kunitz

I don't know exactly what it is, but when we go bad, things get streaky and it seems like we drop a couple in a row. We need be a little more resilient, find a way to bounce back quicker, limit that damage to the points we lost that night and move on.

Between games we get an official prognosis on Sheahan – out until just after the new year.

12/17 vs Pittsburgh (17-14-0) – 5-1 W
Wow. These guys pretty much worked us over in our last meeting, but this time it’s almost all Seattle. Riley Nash leads the scoring with a pair of goals. Evgeni Malkin gets the sole tally for Pittsburgh.
GOALS: SEA – Cammalleri 9, Nash 9, Svechnikov 10, Nash 10, Grabner 7. PIT – Malkin 17.

Annnnd now Nash is injured too. A little thin at center at this point.

12/19 vs Nashville (15-15-2) – 4-3 W
Nashville mounts a charge early in the 3rd to erase a 3-1 lead and tie the game at 3, but Jack Johnson beats Pekka Rinne with 5:32 remaining, letting the Dragons come away with two points.
GOALS: SEA – Grabner 8, Komarov 7, Gibbons 2, Johnson 3. NSH – Johansen 8, Hartman 1, Ekholm 1.

12/21 vs Florida (12-21-0) – 4-3 W (OT)
That was closer than it had a right to be. Florida actually scored three 1st-period goals to build an early lead. Seattle got things back to even in the 2nd, and then things went into a stalemate until overtime. In OT, Mike Green scored his second goal of the game to bring home the win for the Dragons.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 11, Komarov 8, Green 5, Green 6. FLA – Sceviour 5, Dadonov 10, Yandle 3.

Riley Nash is out until mid-January, so I’m going to call up Derek Grant. Only problem is I may end up having to make a trade once everyone’s healthy, since Grant is waiver eligible, but I’ll jump off that cliff when I come to it.

12/23 at Chicago (18-10-6) – 5-1 L
Last game before a few days off for Christmas, and it’s another chance to take revenge for an early-season loss. And… nope… we pretty much get pounded, despite mildly outshooting the Blackhawks. Alex DeBrincat is the man of the hour with a pair of goals.
GOALS: SEA – Grabner 9. CHI – DeBrincat 12, Rutta 2, Sikura 1, Toews 13, DeBrincat 13.

12/29 vs Dallas (15-17-3) – 5-1 W
Coming back from the Christmas break, we get a sub-.500 team, and as a bonus, they’re sending backup goalie Mikko Koskinen out there. Seattle takes full advantage, putting up a five-spot for the fairly easy win.
GOALS: SEA – Kunitz 7, Perron 13, Grabner 10, Bozak 6, Svechnikov 12. DAL – Benn 19.

Hmmm… Arizona offers us a 2020 3rd and 4th for Dan Hamhuis and a 4th and 5th in 2019. Basically, moving some of my surplus mid-round picks down the road a year, making them a round better in the process. I think I’m actually going to go ahead and take that. Hamhuis is done at the end of the year, and he’s been working third-pair. Christian Folin will get the callup to take the roster spot.

TRADE: Arizona trades 2020-3 and 2020-4 to Seattle for D Dan Hamhuis, 2019-4 and 2019-5.

12/31 at Anaheim (20-12-4) – 2-1 L
LA currently leads the division with 49 points but the Dragons and Ducks sit tied for 2nd at 44 points. So, if the regular season ended this way, a potential playoff matchup. The teams trade first-period goals and then settle into a pretty exciting back-and-forth stalemate. The game appeared to be headed for overtime, when with 28 seconds left, Andrej Sustr failed to clear the puck from in front of the net, and Nick Ritchie batted the loose puck past Robin Lehner for the late win.
GOALS: SEA – Sustr 3. ANA – Silfverberg 5, Ritchie 6.

Quote: Originally Posted by David Perron

Andrej made the right play. He was trying to get the puck out from in front of the net, trying to push it to Greenie in the opposite corner. It's just their guy cut in between quicker than expected, and that left Robin out of position to make a save.

MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT

• MONTH: 6-6-1 -- .500 hockey.
• YEAR-TO-DATE: 21-14-2, 44 points
• DIVISION: 3rd place with 44 points, but it’s pretty close all the way down to 6th. Current: LA 49, ANA 46, SEA 44, EDM 43, VAN 42, VGK 40, SJ 36, CGY 36.
• CONFERENCE: 7th in the conference. Top 8 Today: WPG 55, LA 49, CHI 48, MIN 47, ANA 46, STL 44, SEA 44, EDM 43.

TEAM LEADERS

• (somehow I forgot to document these... I'll get them next month)

ON THE FARM
Tacoma still leads all of the minors at 26-9-2 (54 points). Pirri, Gustafsson, and Quine drive the offense, but Kasperi Kapanen is starting to click, with 10 goals and 11 assists in 26 games. Elvis Merzlikins continues about the same in the rate stats, but Chris Driedger is lighting it up as the backup with a 1.73 goals-against average.[/quote]

[PFellah]

December 2018: Around The League


STANDINGS


Atlantic is starting to separate out -- 3-4 point spacing down to 5th and then a drop-off. Metro still ridiculously tight below the Islanders: 2nd through 7th is a four-point gap. Central is stratifying into a Top 4 and a Bottom 4. And the Pacific is a tight race down to 6th. Chicago is probably the big mover here, going from middle of the pack in the Central to a strong second.

LEAGUE LEADERS


Here come the usual suspects. Patrick Kane. Alex Ovechkin. John Tavares. Interesting to see an almost all-D plus-minus leaderboard -- don't think I've ever seen that many. (And thanks for ruining the clean sweep, Kessel!)

CALDER WATCH


Svech starting to open up a little daylight, but the rest of the bracket remains about the same. Linus Ullmark now the only rookie netminder in "official" rate-stat contention, but again... he's not winning games, and his rate stats aren't anywhere near the leaderboards. Thatcher Demko is starting to get playing time, so we could see a new contender emerge soon.

[PFellah]

January 2019: Flying High Again


David Perron converts from in front of the net just after the expiration of a power play to give Seattle a 1-0 lead over division-leading Toronto.

A couple quick roster notes. First, because we’re down a few defensemen, I decide to put an offer on Hardy Haman Aktell, a 20-year-old who my scouts say has Top 6 potential. Small money, two-way contract… mostly just to keep CPU robo-players from getting too many reps.

Also, more of a “thing to watch”: we will eventually have to make some sort of move amongst the forwards when people start getting healthy again – right now Sheahan and Nash are both on the shelf, so I called up Derek Grant; when people start to get healthy, I’ll have to either run someone through waivers or make a trade to clear a spot.

1/2 at New York Rangers (19-13-5) – 4-3 L
A frustrating 3rd period collapse to begin the new year. Seattle builds up a 3-1 lead and is cruising to victory. But then New York gets three goals in the span of about five minutes in the 3rd period to pull the victory out. (Do we EVER start the month with a win?)
GOALS: SEA – Hansen 5, Beagle 8, Svechnikov 13. NYR – Spooner 8, de Haan 4, Zibanejad 10, Buchnevich 9.

Vancouver comes in with an offer on Scott Hartnell – Hartnell and (all in 2020) a swap of 3rds to pick up a 4th. I don’t think I’m QUITE ready to make a move, but I think Vancouver will be one of my first stops when it is time to make a deal.

1/3 vs Ottawa (15-22-1) – 7-4 W
Ottawa jumps out to an early 2-1 lead, but then things get wild. Seattle cranks out three goals in the 2nd period to retake the lead. In the third period, it’s a back-and-forth of Ottawa getting a goal to creep back into it, followed by the Dragons extending the lead again.
GOALS: SEA – Hartnell 4, Grant 1, Grabner 11, Beagle 9, Grant 2, Bozak 7, Perron 14. OTT – Boedker 11, Borowiecki 1, Smith 6, White 2.

The injuries are piling up; Riley Sheahan is finally diagnosed and he’s out until the 16th, and now Chris Kunitz is out of the lineup as well. I hate to disrupt Kasperi Kapanen’s development, but I need an extra body, and he’s able to go up and down without dealing with waivers, so Kap gets the call.

1/5 at Arizona (17-20-2) – 6-0 W
After a quiet 1-0 first, the floodgates break open in the 2nd. Seattle chases Kuemper from the net after the 4th goal and keep it going with two more. Leo Komarov led the charge with a pair of goals.
GOALS: SEA – Cammalleri 10, Iginla 2, Svechnikov 14, Komarov 9, Bozak 8, Komarov 10. ARI – NONE.

On the injury front, Chris Kunitz is playable with a mild concussion, so… getting healthier.

1/9 at Washington (20-17-3) – 3-2 W
A defensive struggle in the nation’s capital as both teams put up fairly low shot totals (Dragons 25, Caps 23). Seattle scores two in the first; Washington counters with two in the second. But with 26 seconds before extra time, Jannik Hansen puts the puck past Braden Holtby and it’s two points for the newcomers.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 15, Johnson 4, Hansen 6. WSH – Oshie 7, Carlson 8.

1/11 vs Toronto (25-14-2) – 2-0 W
These are the games we have to win if we want to play meaningful hockey in April. Seattle strikes early on a David Perron goal – technically even strength, but coming right on the end of a power play. A tense 1-0 lead holds through the second and into the third, when Kasperi Kapanen gets a valuable insurance goal against his old team. From there, Seattle wraps up the shutout victory.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 15, Kapanen 1. TOR – NONE.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kasperi Kapanen

I know that I'm probably just up for a few games because of all the injuries, but it's still an opportunity to show what I can do, and maybe I can make them think twice about whether I should go back down.

1/12 vs San Jose (21-18-3) – 5-1 L
Working on a four-game win streak, the Dragons begin a three game run against divisional rivals; San Jose tonight, and then Calgary and Edmonton on back-to-back nights next week. Evander Kane scores twice in the first four minutes to stake the Sharks to an early lead, and it’s pretty much off to the races from there. Only Jannik Hansen’s goal midway through the third spoils the shutout.
GOALS: SEA – Hansen 7. SJ – Kane 15, Kane 16, Tierney 9, Ryan 3, Hertl 6.

Good news bad news: Riley Nash is back but Derek Grant is out. Puts off a waiver/trade decision a few more days, I suppose. In the meantime, we are healthy enough that Kasperi Kapanen is going to head back to Tacoma so he can play every day.

1/15 vs Calgary (20-17-6) – 3-1 W
Late in the first period, Jarome Iginla opens the scoring against the team that defined his career, and David Perron extends the lead to 2-0 early in the 2nd. From there, things quiet down and settle into a defensive battle, with one more goal on each side.
GOALS: SEA – Iginla 3, Perron 16, Svechnikov 16. CGY – Hamonic 8.

Derek Grant has a concussion and is going to be out until mid-February. With Sheahan likely back in a day or two, we'll risk running short-staffed for a few days and stand pat.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jack Johnson

On one hand, injuries are a part of the game and every team has to deal with them. On the other hand, it's frustrating that we haven't been able to stay healthy and put our full team on the ice in a while.

1/16 at Edmonton (24-16-4) – 3-1 W
It’s the Andrei Svechnikov Show. The Dragons’ rookie and Calder frontrunner scores a pair of goals sandwiched around an Oscar Klefblom goal for Edmonton. Chad Johnson makes it stand up facing a ton of rubber (42 shots) though he gets some help from the post with about 3 minutes left. Tyler Bozak buries an empty netter in the closing seconds to put the game away.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 17, Svechnikov 18, Bozak 9. EDM – Klefblom 6.

1/19 at Minnesota (25-17-3) – 3-2 W (SO)
Minnesota outshoots the Dragons 36-24, but the game is ultimately decided in the shootout. Michael Grabner does the honors, collecting the second point against Devan Dubnyk.
GOALS: SEA – Johnson 5, Svechnikov 19, Grabner SOW. MIN – Niederreiter 15, Staal 16.

1/20 vs Buffalo (12-27-7) – 4-2 W
Despite their record, Buffalo proves to be surprisingly resilient through two periods. But in the third, Alexei Emelin beats Linus Ullmark for the eventual game-winner, and Jannik Hansen adds an empty-netter with a second left for insurance.
GOALS: SEA – Morrow 1, Hansen 8, Emelin 1, Hansen 9. BUF – Okposo 6, Reaves 6.

Quote: Originally Posted by Joe Morrow

Hey, I know I'm not anyone's first choice to be scoring 15, 20 goals. But I would've thought it would've been sooner than mid-January before I finally got one to go in. Good to finally get one.

1/23 at Detroit (20-22-5) – 3-2 W
Seattle puts up win #30 on the season, defeating the Red Wings. The Dragons start with a 2-0 lead on goals by Kunitz and Gibbons, but Detroit eventually pulls back into tie at 2-2. Finally, with 11:29 left in the 3rd, Tyler Bozak scores the game-winner.
GOALS: SEA – Kunitz 8, Gibbons 3, Bozak 10. DET – Athanasiou 12, Larkin 9.

(Non-existent All Star break, probably?)

1/30 at New Jersey (24-18-6) – 4-2 L
After a non-existent All-Star break, the Dragons end their January with a trip to New Jersey. They’re a little short-handed with David Perron joining Derek Grant and Riley Sheahan on the shelf. Taylor Hall scores a pair of goals in the first to get the Devils out of the gate strong, and Seattle is chasing the rest of the night. Seattle eventually gets as close as 3-2 before an empty-netter closes the scoring.
GOALS: SEA – Beagle 10, Johnson 6. NJ – Hall 14, Hall 15, Johansson 9, Severson 12.


MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT

• MONTH: 9-3-0. Riding high again after last month's slump.
• YEAR-TO-DATE: 30-17-2, 62 points
• DIVISION: 62 points, tied for first with Los Angeles. Edmonton and Anaheim at 58, Vegas and San Jose at 57. It's a little to worry about yet, but the Pacific is outpacing the 3rd-and-lower teams in the Central, so right now both wild cards would come from the Pacific.
• CONFERENCE: Seattle sits 3rd in the West, behind Chicago (73) and Winnipeg (72). Right now Minnesota at 56 points would get in as a 3rd-place team with fewer points than the wild cards. (San Jose would be the official recipient of the raw deal in that instance.)
  

TEAM LEADERS

• POINTS: Perron 42, Svechnikov 39, Bozak 39, Cammalleri 33, Komarov 25
• GOALS: Svechnikov 19, Perron 16, Grabner 11, Nash 10, Cammalleri 10, Komarov 10, Bozak 10, Beagle 10
• ASSISTS: Perron 26, Bozak 25, Cammalleri 23, Svechnikov 20, Green 18
• PLUS-MINUS: Bozak 15, Perron 15, Svechnikov 9, Johnson 8, Morrow 6, Folin 6, Beagle 6

ON THE FARM
Still basically the same. Tacoma has a narrow lead for total points. No real star performers, but Pirri, Quine, and Gustafsson are still the big scorers. Devin Setoguchi, Taylor Leier, and Kasperi Kapanen have also chipped in double-digit goals (though Kapanen lost a few games to his call-up).

[PFellah]

January 2019: Around The League


STANDINGS


We have lead changes everywhere except in the Pacific. Montreal caught up to Toronto, the Isles fell back to the pack and got caught by Pittsburgh, and Chicago finished the steady ascent that began last month.

LEAGUE LEADERS


Patrick Kane is your current goals and points leader, but falls just outside the top 10 in assists. Local to Seattle interests, Robin Lehner is up there in wins and shutouts, but he's taken too many big losses to be in the rate stats conversation.

CALDER WATCH


Mostly the same as it's been; if anything Svechnikov is starting to pull away a little. The most notable news is fellow 2018 lottery pick Filip Zadina cracking the Top 10 for the first time. On the goaltending side, Thatcher Demko JUST missed the cut to qualify (16 games), and his stats are actually pretty good. Perhaps we'll see him in this space next month.

[PFellah]

THE DRAGON'S LAIR: BREAKING DOWN THE TRADE DEADLINE

(if I were better at Photoshop, imagine a graphic of a dragon sitting on top of a hoard of treasure, but it's hockey pucks and sticks instead of swords and gold coins)

Brock: Welcome to the Dragon's Lair, your first stop for the best commentary on Seattle Dragons hockey. I'm your host, Brock Whitney... joining me in the studio, we have panelists: Logan Marx, Stu Kennedy, Sarah Shaw.

(ED: For those who may have not read my Atlanta franchise, Logan Marx will generally be a reflection of my own thinking or close to it; Stu Kennedy is one of these salty old-school Don Cherry types who thinks you can never have enough "toughness" and that Corsi numbers are some sort of scam; Sarah Shaw tends to come at things from more of an analytical roster-construction viewpoint -- roster spots, salary cap considerations, who's going to be on the market, etc. The host, Brock, is mostly just a facilitator/the person to set questions up for the other three. If he ever expresses an opinion, it'll probably be to agree that whatever the team did is great... he's mostly a company man.)

Brock: We're at one of those important points in the season. It's a little over halfway through the season, the playoff races are starting to come into focus, and the trading deadline is about a month away. So I guess the best place to start this is: do we expect the Dragons to be buyers or sellers in the upcoming trade market?

Logan: Is "neither" an option?

Brock: Very Shakespearian... "neither a borrower nor a lender be"... How do you mean?

Logan: Well, they're in an interesting situation here. Every conversation we had with management before the season said they were committed to a multi-year plan. They weren't going to trade away any draft picks, they were going to be patient these first few years, build the core through free agency, and stock up on prospects through the draft.

But now they've hit a snag -- a GOOD snag, but still a snag -- in that they're dealing with a level of success they didn't expect to have. They're tied for first in the division, even if the race is close; they've had a couple long win streaks. So how do you respond to that? Do you change course or do you stay on the long-term plan, which might frustrate the fans who want to see this team achieve big things in their first season?

Stu: I don't want to be the wet blanket here, but I just don't see this team making a deep run -- heck, I'm not totally convinced they're going to make the playoffs yet. I mean, San Jose is five points behind, and they're outside looking in right now. Seattle has a nice record, sure, but things are still too close to be acting like they're the favorites or anything. Setting that aside, look at this roster. Good goaltending. Decent defense corps. But the forwards have always been kind of weak. They don't have that Connor McDavid that can lift a team on his back in the post-season. And can they really expect to get that guy in the trade market? Or two of those guys?

Sarah: I have to agree with Stu. At the end of the day, the one big difference about being an expansion team is they've had to build their prospect pool from scratch. Every other team in the league has a pretty healthy pool of young players they can structure a deal around. The Dragons have this year's draftees, future picks, Kasperi Kapanen... and that's about it. I think they need to stick with the plan and build that pool of young talent, rather than sell chunks of it off just to chase short term success.

Brock: Flip things around, then. What about being sellers?

Logan: There are some moves they could make, but they don't have that big piece that could land first-round picks or blue-chip prospects. I could see moving one of the defensemen, like Jack Johnson or Alexei Emelin, maybe even Andrej Sustr in the right package. Maybe you look at shopping Mike Cammalleri to see if he has value. Then you've got these veteran depth guys like Chris Kunitz, Scott Hartnell, maybe even Jarome Iginla... teams do like having guys like that who have been to the postseason before, but there are limits to what they'd give up to get them. There's no scenario in the world where you're getting a first-round pick or an A-list prospect for Chris Kunitz. So do you sell them just to sell them and get what you can, or do you keep them around to provide veteran presence?

Stu: I think guys like that set a tone, and they help young guys pick up the game faster. How much of Svechnikov's hot start has been because of having those veteran leaders in the dressing room, so he can pick their brains? It's almost like having an extension to your coaching staff, but out on the ice. I think if you can't get value, you just keep them and let them continue to provide that leadership the rest of the way.

Sarah: But set aside leadership and intangibles for a second. If you look at the talent structure of this team, the top guys in the minors really wouldn't be much of a drop-off -- arguably they'd be better. Beau Bennett is younger and faster than Jarome Iginla. Other than that veteran leadership, someone like Jacob de la Rose could give the team everything they're getting from Hartnell or Kunitz, maybe even more. So if that's the case, isn't ANY return for those older guys worth looking into, if it's not going to hurt you on the ice?

Logan: To circle back to Sarah's earlier point, other than that can't-miss guy, player development is a numbers game. They need bodies in the system right now and they just don't have them. Whatever you think Scott Hartnell is providing this team today, he won't be here 3-4 years down the road. But if they could get even a mid-round pick, maybe THAT guy is a contributor to some future playoff team.

Stu: I know I just got done being the voice of gloom and saying that this team isn't as good as their win-loss record, but what their record DOES show is chemistry. This is a team that's working well together and getting the most out of what they do have. Do you bust that up for... what... a 5th round pick two years from now?

Logan: The other value you're glossing over is seeing what you've got with some of the guys that are already here. If you move those older guys, you have room to give Kapanen a longer audition. Take a look at some of these mid-range guys like Leier and de la Rose... OK, maybe they don't immediately jump out as the top line on your 2022 Cup roster, but you DO need to see if they're part of the long-term plan or not. Isn't there also value in getting a few of them up to the big club and finding out where they fit? Or IF they fit?

Sarah: I feel like the key decision point here is going to be the middle of the month. Assuming there are no further injuries, mid-Februrary is when they're projected to have a fully healthy roster, and based on how the front office wants to operate, they don't want guys just sitting in the press box. They generally want two spare forwards, one spare defenseman, and everyone else should be getting ice time in the minors. That means they'd have to make a move, but all the guys they'd look at sending down would have to pass through waivers. So does that kick loose a trade by necessity? Or do they just risk waivers on someone? And if so, who do you run through waivers?

Logan: Derek Grant was the last guy up, so logically he'd be the first to get sent back down, but he's someone who might still be attractive to teams as a bottom-six guy. Brian Gibbons has been the constant spare forward since Day One, but maybe he'd be a possibility. Hartnell or Iginla might be easier to pass through waivers, but I do worry what that does in the locker room when you just give a well-liked veteran their walking papers. Especially when, in the context of their roles as 4th line or swing players, they're actually doing the job that's asked of them.

Stu: Not sure you want to poke that bear. If it's a trade, maybe you can sell it in the locker room, say "hey, it's part of a larger plan" or "here's what we got back" and maybe guys can get on board with it. If you just send a guy like that down, it's a tough pill to swallow.

Brock: We'll we'll see what bears get poked and what moves get made, as well as whether this team can hold onto the impressive showing they've made over the first half of the season. Until next time, this has been the Dragon's Lair... thanks for joining us.

[PFellah]

February 2019: Free Fallling


Jon Marchessault picks Mike Green's pocket and then buries the return pass from William Karlsson for his second goal of the game. It was that sort of day and month for the Dragons.

Interesting schedule this month, as we spend most of the first half on the road, followed by most of the second half at home. And of course at the end, the trade deadline awaits. Let’s get to it.

2/1 at Boston (23-21-5) – 3-2 W (SO)
Hey, we actually open the month with a win for once. Patrick Eaves gets the tying goal with 14:40 left in the third, but Mike Green puts one past Tuukka Rask in the shootout for the win. Big shot disparity, as Boston outshoots Seattle 46-25. Andrei Svechnikov celebrates a round number, getting #20 on the year.
GOALS: SEA – Cammalleri 11, Svechnikov 20, Green SOW. BOS – Bergeron 17, Eaves 9.

2/3 vs Carolina (20-23-7) – 4-3 L
Seattle gets out to leads of 2-0 and then 3-1, and things are looking pretty solid for the Dragons. But then Carolina comes storming back with three unanswered goals in the second, and a scoreless third on both sides seals the deal.
GOALS: SEA – Hansen 10, Svechnikov 21, Perron 17. CAR – Faulk 10, Carrick 4, Fleury 5, Faulk 11.

2/4 vs Colorado (25-23-3) – 2-1 L (SO)
Christian Folin is almost the unlikely hero of the game, matching Nathan MacKinnon’s early goal with about five minutes left, sending the game to overtime (his first of the year, no less). But Colorado rattles off three straight goals in the shootout and it’s game over.
GOALS: SEA – Folin 1. COL – MacKinnon 26, Landeskog SOW.

St. Louis has made us two offers on Eric Gustafsson, but it’s fairly minor draft-pick tweaking. (Gustafsson and a 3rd and 7th in 2020 for a 3rd and a 4th in 2019). Basically bringing the pick from the Hamhuis deal back into 2019 and adding a 4th. I decide to pull the trigger since it’ll restock the prospect pool faster.

TRADE: St. Louis trades a 2019 3rd rounder and a 2019 4th rounder (from ANA) to Seattle for D Erik Gustafsson, a 2020 3rd rounder (from ARI) and a 2020 7th rounder.

2/6 at Los Angeles (32-18-2) – 4-2 W
It’s a battle for supremacy in the Pacific, as LA currently sits a point ahead of Seattle. Last time we met, LA ran us out of the building, but this time, it’s a little more even. Seattle scores a pair of first-period goals, but then LA gets them back in the second, setting the stage for a tight-fought third. But in the third, Seattle gets a fluky goal that goes in off Tyler Bozak’s shin, and then Alexei Emelin scores on a slapper off the faceoff moments later to provide a cushion. It almost ends at 5-2, as Bozak misses the empty net with time expiring.
GOALS: SEA – Beagle 11, Nash 11, Bozak 11, Emelin 2. LA – Muzzin 2, Lewis 12.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tyler Bozak

They don't all have to be pretty. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time.

Toronto comes in with an offer on Iginla – Iggy and 3rd and 4th-rounders in 2020 for a 2nd in 2019. I decide I’m going to play around with that a little. I like the general idea, but I would rather deal from 2019 surplus (now at 12 picks) than 2020 (basically my standard allotment; just moved a 5th to the 4th). I play around with the trade maker for a bit but decide to shelve it for a bit.
Also, Joe Morrow is out injured, evaluation pending.

2/8 at Tampa Bay (24-24-5) – 5-3 L
The road trip continues in Tampa, and it turns out to be a bit of a letdown game – the Dragons let the Lightning run up a 4-0 lead before finally getting on the board, and there’s just not enough time to climb back in it. Seattle closes to 4-3 before a Yannick Gourde empty-netter seals it.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 22, Cammalleri 12, Komarov 11. TB – Kucherov 20, Killorn 16, Kucherov 21, Conacher 8, Gourde 7.

2/10 at Montreal (28-18-8) – 3-2 L
Nice bit of symmetry on that won-loss record. Same basic outcome as the Tampa game on a smaller scale; Les Habs roll up a 3-0 lead, and then Seattle doesn’t wake up and start scoring until it’s too late.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 18, Grabner 12. MTL – Gallagher 18, Weber 10, Drouin 18.

2/12 at Las Vegas (29-20-6) – 5-1 L
Ugh. Five minutes in, with an Andrei Svechnikov power-play goal in hand, things were looking good for the Dragons. But from there, Las Vegas found another gear and ran the visitors off the ice. The Knights win the shots battle 37-21, hits 21-9, faceoffs 18-9… basically a dominant performance.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 23. VGK – Lindberg 11, Tuch 13, Marchessault 15, Marchessault 16, Haula 10.

We have a few days off until our next game, and Montreal comes in with an offer of a 3rd (Buffalo’s so fairly high in the round) and a 6th for Alexei Emelin and Scott Hartnell. I'm not going to take it yet, but everyone’s healthy, so I pretty much have to decide what to do about roster moves. Montreal had asked about Scott Hartnell, so I play around with offers and come up with their 4th-rounder in 2020. I’m a little worried at how many morale dings show up in the clubhouse, but whatever… he’s been a healthy scratch for a couple weeks now.

2/16 at St. Louis (31-25-0) – 3-2 L
Other than the LA game, the road trip ends with yet another lackluster performance. St. Louis scores single goals in each period; Seattle doesn’t wake up until the third.
GOALS: SEA – Komarov 12, Svechnikov 24. STL – Steen 13, Edmundson 3, Tarasenko 21.

Quote: Originally Posted by David Perron

It's frustrating because we're not doing anything differently than we've been doing, and we've been THIS close a lot of times. It's just winning a puck battle here and a lucky rebound there, but it's the difference between two points and zero.

2/18 vs Philadelphia (32-23-2) – 2-1 L (SO)
For two periods, it looks like home cooking is all Seattle needed to right their ship. Jay Beagle staked the team to a 1-0 lead and the defense was making it stand up. But in the third, Wayne Simmonds tied the game and Jakub Voracek put it away in the shootout. (Something to investigate: Lehner gave up the goal in regulation, but Chad Johnson was in for the shootout. Hope that doesn’t mean injury.)
GOALS: SEA – Beagle 12. PHI – Simmonds 20, Voracek SOW.

2/20 vs Winnipeg (40-16-2) – 6-5 W (SO)
This was a barn-burner. Seattle jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. Winnipeg answered back with three of their own in the 2nd. In the 3rd, Winnipeg widened the lead to 5-3, but then Seattle came back with two to tie it. Overtime went without a score, and then Mike Green won it in the shootout.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 19, Sheahan 5, Nash 12, Perron 20, Cammalleri 13, Green SOW. WPG – Wheeler 21, Ehlers 12, Laine 28, Scheifele 21, Wheeler 22.

Quote: Originally Posted by Mike Cammalleri

We certainly weren't as tight on defense as we would've liked but we'll take it. You hope a win like this against one of the best teams in the league can be that spark where we turn it around and get back to what was working for us.

2/21 at Vancouver (28-29-2) – 1-0 L
Compared to yesterday’s shootout, this was downright dull. Brendan Gaunce scored with 1:54 left in the first period, and… that’s basically all that happened. Zzzzzz. Thatcher Demko with the shutout.
GOALS: SEA – NONE. VAN – Gaunce 5.

2/23 vs Columbus (31-24-5) – 3-2 L
David Perron gets a pair of goals but no one else finds the net. Cam Atkinson matches Perron with a pair of his own, but Columbus also gets a goal from Oliver Bjorkstrand to put the Jackets over the top.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 21, Perron 22. CBJ – Atkinson 18, Atkinson 19, Bjorkstrand 16.

2/25 vs New York Islanders (26-28-7) – 4-2 L
We may actually be in crisis mode now. The Isles’ score two in the first and then add a 3rd after David Perron scores in the second. Cammalleri narrows the lead to 3-2 early in the 3rd, but an empty-netter late puts the game out of reach for good.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 23, Cammalleri 14. NYI – Beauvilier 14, Nelson 11, Nelson 12, Ladd 12.

Chicago comes in with a trade offer of a 2nd and a 6th for Alexei Emelin and Chris Kunitz. Asking on the heels of a 1-7-1 stretch is probably the right time to come at me with this. I’m going to go ahead and say yes. Replacement players will probably be Duncan Siemens on defense and Jacob de la Rose for Kunitz. De La Rose will wear #32, Siemens #17. Riley Nash will get Kunitz’s “A”.

TRADE: Chicago trades 2019-2 and 2019-6 to Seattle for D Alexei Emelin and LW Chris Kunitz.

I thought about trading Jarome Iginla as long as I’m selling off the old guys, but screw it, I think I’ll keep him around. I already have 14 picks in next year’s draft, and I build up some karmic goodwill letting the veteran ride it out.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jay Beagle

You hate to see guys like Kuny and Emmer leave, but I guess management felt like they had to do something. Is it running up the white flag, or is it shaking things up because we haven't been playing well? Nobody in here is ready to write off the season, but you look at the way we played this month, and... I guess you don't get to complain when the guys upstairs try something different to turn things around.

2/28 vs Pittsburgh (39-22-1) – 4-2 L

Damn. It looked like we might squeak out with a low-scoring defensive win, but Pittsburgh scored four in the third period (in the last SEVEN minutes, no less) to complete a really awful month.
GOALS: SEA – Sheahan 6, Svechnikov 25. PIT – Kuhnhackl 6, Malkin 26, Kessel 30, Sheary 8.

MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT

• MONTH: 3-9-2. Worst month ever at the worst possible time.
• YEAR-TO-DATE: 33-36-4, 70 points
• DIVISION: 5th place with 70 points. The good news is that everyone above me is still catchable (first place is only 78 points), but then again by that logic, everyone below me could catch me (last place is only 62).
• CONFERENCE: For the first time since the earliest part of the season, we're on the outside looking in -- ninth place. Technically we have the same number of points as Nashville, but they have ROW advantage on us. Top 8: CHI 89, WPG 88, LA 78, MIN 76, EDM 76, SJ 75, VGK 73, NSH 70.

TEAM LEADERS

• POINTS: Perron 53, Svechnikov 51, Bozak 42, Cammalleri 39, Komarov 29, Green 29
• GOALS: Svechnikov 25, Perron 23, Cammalleri 14, Nash 12, Grabner 12, Komarov 12, Beagle 12. There's also another 3-4 guys at 11.
• ASSISTS: Bozak 31, Perron 39, Svechnikov 26, Cammalleri 25, Green 23
• PLUS-MINUS: Bozak 14, Perron 14, Svechnikov 8, Johnson 6, Morrow 4

ON THE FARM
Tacoma still first in their division and conference at 41-20-2, but the Grand Rapids Griffins pushed them into second place across all the minors. Seven double-digit goal scorers, led by Brandon Pirri’s 17. Pirri also sits just outside the Top 10 in total points (he has 49, 51 is top-10 worthy). Elvis Merzlikins rates stats have been trending positive (.918 save percentage, 2.03 GAA); Driedger still solid as a backup.