Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

[PFellah]

February 2019: Around The League

TRADING DEADLINE - MAJOR MOVES
("major" = a Top 6/Top4 type player or a #1 draft pick involved)

• Nashville gets Ryan Kesler from Anaheim for a package headlined by Eeli Tolvanen.
• Jeff Skinner to Toronto for picks, including a 2020 1st.
• Boston gets Anders Lee for a package of Zach Senyshyn and picks.
• Jason Demers and Richard Panik to NJ for a pick package that includes a 2020 1st-rounder.
• Ottawa starts the teardown by sending Matt Duchene to the Devils for their #1 in 2019 (and other pieces on both sides)
• Ottawa, continued: Ryan Dzingel to Minnesota for a 2nd and a 3rd.

STANDINGS


We're starting to see some front-runners emerge. Montreal has opened up some daylight in the Atlantic; Chicago and Winnipeg are making the Central a two-team race; Pittsburgh and the Rangers doing the same in the Metro. The Islanders are in as much of a tailspin as the Dragons, if not worse -- they've fallen to last in the Metro.

LEAGUE LEADERS


Starting to see things settle in on the leaderboards, though Winnipeg guys have been making a recent push up the charts. On the goalie side, the big news is Thatcher Demko logging enough games to qualify in the rate stats, and he's been pretty solid.

CALDER WATCH


Svechnikov soldifies his scoring lead. The two interesting notes around the edges are Filip Zadina jumping a few slots and Thatcher Demko spending most of the month as the starter in Vancouver, officially making him a goalie worth watching.

[PFellah]

March 2019: Serious But Stable Condition


Filip Forsberg scores on a breakaway to solidify Nashville's control on the final wildcard slot. Forsberg would add a third goal in the closing moments to complete the hat trick.

3/1 vs Nashville (33-26-4) – 4-2 L
Coming in, Nashville holds the lower wild card that we’d like to occupy. For two periods, it’s a fairly even games, with both teams scoring twice. But the third period is all Nashville and mostly Filip Forsberg, who gets an insurance goal on a breakaway and completes the hat trick on a power play with 6 seconds to play. Also, Michael Grabner leaves the game with an injury and it looks like he’ll miss a week or two.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 26, Perron 24. NSH – Turris 14, Forsberg 16, Ellis 10, Forsberg 17, Forsberg 18.

3/4 vs Florida (25-37-2) – 2-1 L
I don’t know we’re in must-win territory, but we’re definitely in “don’t want to be losing games to teams with losing records” territory. And yet the Florida Panthers jump up and bite us with a 2-1 W. David Perron scores his 200th career goal in the loss.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 25. FLA – Barkov 21, Vatrano 8.

Quote: Originally Posted by David Perron

200 goals? It's nice, and maybe somewhere in the offseason, I'll take some time and think about what it means to hit that milestone, but right now, the number I care about is the next two points, and keeping us in the conversation for the playoffs. I can't afford to care about anything else, and neither can anyone else in this room.

3/6 at Chicago (40-11-4) – 4-3 L
We’re past moral victory time, but the Dragons make a pretty good game of it in Chicago. Jarome Iginla scores with 12:32 left in regulation – his second of the game -- to tie the game at 3, but Patrick Kane scores his 40th of the year seconds later to propel Chicago to the win. Former teammate Chris Kunitz helps stick the dagger in with a goal.
GOALS: SEA – Morrow 2, Iginla 4, Iginla 5. CHI – DeBrincat 21, Jurco 4, Kunitz 9, Kane 40.

3/9 vs Dallas (30-29-7) – 1-0 L
It’s a statistically even game, and Antoine Roussel gets the game’s only goal early in the 2nd. 33 shots for Dallas, 31 for Seattle. Ben Bishop gets credit for the shutout. The losing streak now stands at 8 games.
GOALS: SEA – NONE. DAL – Roussel 7.

3/11 at Anaheim (33-27-7) – 2-1 W
Finally, Seattle gets their first points in almost a month, hanging onto a 2-goal lead to beat the Ducks. Sheahan and Svechnikov get the goals for the Dragons.
GOALS: SEA – Sheahan 7, Svechnikov 27. ANA – Carrick 1.

3/13 at New York Rangers (39-22-7) – 5-4 L
A combined five goals in the first send the message that it’s going to be a shootout, but the Rangers end up with the last word. Paul Carey scores about halfway home in the third to break a 4-4 tie, and it’s another loss for the Dragons.
GOALS: SEA – Cammalleri 15, Cammalleri 16, Green 7, Sheahan 8. NYR – Zuccarello 12, de Haan 7, Shattenkirk 14, Belesky 10, Carey 5.

3/14 vs Ottawa (27-39-3) – 6-3 W
We’ve got a stretch of games against teams with losing records, so maybe we at least have a chance to stop the bleeding. I hope. Ottawa is down both Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel, and two goals each from Riley Sheahan, Jarome Iginla, and Brian Gibbons get it done. Note that that’s two multi-goal games this month for the 41-year-old.
GOALS: SEA – Sheahan 9, Iginla 6, Iginla 7, Sheahan 10, Gibbons 4, Gibbons 5. OTT – MacArthur 5, White 8, Ryan 14.

Quote: Originally Posted by Riley Nash

We should've called up this Iginla kid a while ago, huh?It's been a rough stretch for us as a team, but seeing Iggy get out there and put pucks in the net... everyone in this dressing room kinda gets a lift from that.

3/16 at Arizona (31-35-4) – 3-1 W
The Coyotes aren’t in complete sell-off mode, but they did ship a few parts out for draft picks, so hopefully they’re ripe for the taking. Riley Nash leads the way with a pair of goals, the Dragons outshoot the Coyotes 38-23, and Seattle walks away with back-to-back wins for the first time in forever.
GOALS: SEA – Nash 13, Nash 14, Perron 26. ARI – Hamhuis 3.

I took a quick glance at the standings. Currently we’re in 5th with 76 points. The wild cards are Nashville at 82 points and Vegas at 79. 82 points is also where the line starts for automatic bids in the Pacific. While looking into this I noticed we have our first two clinches – Chicago at 101 points and Winnipeg at 99 are far enough ahead that they’ve punched their tickets to the postseason.

3/19 at Washington (32-33-6) – 6-3 L
Washington picked the worst day to remember they’re still the defending Stanley Cup champs. They unload for four in the first period and never look back.
GOALS: SEA – Beagle 13, Cammalleri 17, Hansen 11. WSH – Ovechkin 44, Orlov 6, Backstrom 15, Kuznetsov 22, Burakovsky 18, Stafford 1.

3/22 vs Toronto (35-29-8) – 2-1 L (SO)
It’s a defenseman battle as Mike Green and Nikita Zaitsev score the only goals in regulation, but Blake Comeau comes up with the deciding goal in the shootout, making it 1 point for the Dragons instead of two.
GOALS: SEA – Green 8. TOR – Zaitsev 4, Comeau SOW

Checking the standings, we’re still alive, but it’s getting ugly. LA has pretty much got the division sewn up, but 2nd, 3rd, or a wild card are still reachable if we can find that early-season magic.


3/23 vs San Jose (39-27-7) – 5-2 W
The next three games are all against divisional opponents, so this stretch is probably our season right here. Riley Nash gets the only goal in a quiet first period, but then things bust open in the 2nd. Nash scores his 2nd of the game, but Thomas Hertl gets one of them back. Then Jannik Hansen and Mike Cammalleri score to pad the lead a little. In the final minute, Joe Thornton and Cammalleri trade goals, and it’s 5-2. After a scoreless third, that’s how it would end. We still have a pulse!
GOALS: SEA – Nash 15, Nash 16, Hansen 12, Cammalleri 18, Cammalleri 19. SJ – Hertl 17, Thornton 10.

Quote: Originally Posted by Mike Green

It's do-or-die now. Every game. I think everyone in this room understands that. I mean, if someone doesn't, maybe they need to reconsider what a career in this league means.

2/26 vs Calgary (33-31-10) – 5-2 L
This is going to sound familiar, but… a close game gets away from the Dragons in the third. At the end of 2 periods, it was 2-2, and fairly even on the stats. But in the third, Calgary ripped off three unanswered goals to play spoiler on the Dragons’ remaining playoff hopes.
GOALS: SEA – Grabner 13, Svechnikov 28. CGY – Brouwer 7, Frolik 21, Monahan 14, Tkachuk 21, Tkachuk 22.

3/27 at Edmonton (37-28-10) – 4-1 W
Fighting for their playoff lives, the Dragons play like it for once. The teams trade goals in the first, but after that it’s all Seattle. Jacob de la Rose gets his first goal for the Dragons; Cammalleri his 20th.
GOALS: SEA – de la Rose 1, Sustr 4, Cammalleri 20, Grabner 14. EDM – Caggiula 11.

Looking around the league, LA has clinched the Pacific Division. Montreal, Pittsburgh, and the New York Rangers have at least clinched playoff spots.

3/30 at Minnesota (41-27-8) – 4-0 W
Minnesota is shaping up as the #3 seed in the Central so this should be a tough matchup. But actually… Seattle cruises to a shutout victory. Svechnikov scores goal #29 and knocking on the door of 30. Lehner stops 22 pucks to record the shutout.
GOALS: SEA – Green 9, Grabner 15, Sheahan 11, Svechnikov 29. MIN -- NONE

3/31 vs Buffalo (18-48-11) – 3-1 W
It took a period to get going, but Seattle takes control in the 2nd and rolls to win #40 on the season. Playoff hopes stay on life support a little while longer.
GOALS: SEA – Bozak 12, Hansen 13, Sheahan 12. BUF – Mittelstadt 13.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jack Johnson

We're starting to play like ourselves again, and like we played earlier in the year. Did we take too long to find it? I guess we're gonna find out these next few days.

MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT

• MONTH: 7-7-1. Back to .500 is an improvement, but not exactly grabbing the playoff bull by the horns.
• YEAR-TO-DATE: 40-33-5, 85 points
• DIVISION: 5th place. Technically tied with Vegas at 85 points for 4th, but they have ROW advantage. LA has clinched the division at 100 points, followed by San Jose 88, Edmonton 86, and Vegas holds a wild card spot at 85.
• CONFERENCE: Still looking in from the outside. If the season ended today, the wild cards are Nashville at 88 points and Vegas at 85. Top 8: WPG 108, CHI 107, LA 100, MIN 92, NSH 88, SJ 88, EDM 86, VGK 85

TEAM LEADERS

• POINTS: Perron 62, Svechnikov 59, Cammalleri 56, Bozak 50, Green 39
• GOALS: Svechnikov 29, Perron 26, Cammalleri 20, Nash 16, Grabner 15
• ASSISTS: Bozak 38, Cammalleri 36, Perron 36, Green 30, Svechnikov 30
• PLUS-MINUS: Bozak 12, Perron 11, Johnson 7, Hansen 5, Beagle 4

ON THE FARM
Tacoma has clinched a playoff spot at 52-23-2 and are at the top of the standings for home-ice throughout the playoffs, but the next closest teams are too close behind (103 points) to have anything wrapped up just yet.

[PFellah]

March 2019: Around The League

STANDINGS


I'll break this down in its own post.

LEAGUE LEADERS


New faces at the top of the skater categories -- Phil Kessel is now your scoring leader, Tavares pushes past Kane in goals, and the Winnipeg boys (Scheifele and Wheeler) flip-flop first and second in assists. After being invisible in the Top 10 most of the season, Sidney Crosby rockets into the picture in goals and points. On the goalie side, Connor Hellebuyck has a hell of a month (3 shutouts) to move to pretty much the top of everything (technically 2nd in GAA by a few points).

CALDER WATCH


Barring a miracle, Andrei Svechnikov should probably find some shelf space for a Calder Trophy. Zadina pushes up another few slots -- maybe Ottawa should've had him up all year. Thatcher Demko's late push grinds to a halt as he only appears in four games this month.

[PFellah]

Around The League EXTRA: Playoff Picture


I realize you can't make out the details at this level of magnification, but... DATA VISUALIZATON! If they can cross the green line, they're still in the wildcard hunt. If they cross the pale orange line, they can still finish Top 3 in their division. Though as I'm looking at this, Washington should really be eliminated, but I'm lazy and don't want to redo it.

CLINCHED-GENERAL (6): WPG 108, CHI 107, PIT 102, LA 100y, NYR 99, MTL 93

ELIMINATED (6): The wild-card bar is 87 in the East and 85 in the West. 3rd place in three of the four divisions is higher, but in the Atlantic, it's Toronto at 82. So if you can't reach 82 in the Atlantic, 87 in the Metro, or 85 out West, you're done. That gives us six teams: WSH 76, VAN 74, DET 70, ARI 68, OTT 63, BUF 47.

ATLANTIC:
LEAD: MTL 93, BOS 87. That's it. Montreal has at least clinched home-ice in the first round.
TOP 3: MTL 93, BOS 87, TOR 82, TB 79, FLA 72. Florida might as well be done; they'd have to win out, Toronto would have to lose out, and Tampa would have to mostly lose out.

METRO:
LEAD: PIT 102, NYR 99, CBJ 93. Columbus could still theoretically get there if they won out, but it's close to a two-team race.
TOP 3: PIT 102, NYR 99, CBJ 93, CAR 87, PHI 87. Pittsburgh and the Rangers are in; Pittsburgh's next win or Columbus' next loss would clinch home-ice in the first round.

EAST WILD CARDS: CAR 87, PHI 87, NJ 86, NYI 84, TB 79. Tampa is at the threshold of elimination (but would still have divisional possibilities). Obviously Toronto or Boston would also play here if there's shuffle in the Atlantic Top 3.

EAST #1 SEED: PIT 102, NYR 99, MTL 93, CBJ 93. Montreal and Columbus are in the same boat where Pittsburgh winning or them losing puts it out of reach, so the winner of PIT and NYR is probably the #1 seed as well.

CENTRAL:
LEAD: WPG 108, CHI 107. They ran away with this a while ago; no one else can get close.
TOP 3: WPG 108, CHI 107, MIN 92, NSH 88, STL 84. We're really talking about who gets 3rd; Winnipeg and Chicago are kinda doing their own thing. Minnesota has the inside track on the 3 spot. With only 4 games left, St. Louis can only tie Minnesota at 92, but they would have ROW advantage if that somehow happened.

PACIFIC:
LEAD: LA 100 -- CLINCHED
TOP 3: LA 100, SJ 88, EDM 86, VGK 85, SEA 85, CGY 82, ANA 79. LA has #1 locked up but the rest is gonna be a sprint to the finish. Anaheim is probably alive in name only -- they'd need to win out and have multiple teams lose out to sneak into 3rd.

WEST WILD CARDS: NSH 88, VGK 85, SEA 85, STL 84, DAL 83, CGY 82, COL 80, ANA 79. Again, the leaders division leaders ran away with things, but the fight for the lower spots is going to be intense.

WEST #1 SEED: WPG 108, CHI 108, LA 100. Despite clinching their division first, the Kings don't have much of a path to the #1 seed -- with five games left they could reach 110, and that's it. The winner of CHI-WPG will probably be the #1 in the west, AND...

PRESIDENTS' TROPHY: WPG 108, CHI 107, PIT 102, LA 100, NYR 99. The Rangers are the longest of longshots; if Winnipeg gets ONE point, they're done. But really, it's most likely going to the Central champ, whoever that is.

[PFellah]

April 2019: In Like A Dragon, Out Like A Lamb


The moment the 2019 Dragons' season ended. Wanted for murder: either Boston's Patrice Bergeron, or the month of Februrary. Depends who you ask.

First, let's reset the table...

EASTERN CONFERENCE

• IN: Pittsburgh 102, NY Rangers 99, Montreal 93
• BUBBLE (WC or Top 3 possible):Columbus 93, Philadelphia 87, Carolina 87, Boston 87, New Jersey 86, Toronto 82, Tampa Bay 79
• WILD-CARD ONLY: NY Islanders 84
• DIVISION ONLY: Florida 72
• ELIMINATED: Washington 76, Detroit 70, Ottawa 63, Buffalo 47

WESTERN CONFERENCE

• IN: Winnipeg 108, Chicago 107, Los Angeles 100
• BUBBLE (WC or Top 3 possible):Minnesota 92, San Jose 88, Nashville 88, Edmonton 86, Las Vegas 85, Seattle 85, St. Louis 84, Calgary 82, Anaheim 79
• WILD-CARD ONLY: Dallas 83, Colorado 80
• ELIMINATED: Vancouver 74, Arizona 68

The stage is set… let’s see what happens.

APRIL 1 – 6 CLINCHED, 6 ELIMINATED, 20 STILL IN PLAY

SEATTLE – NOT IN ACTION

• ATLANTIC (MTL 95x, BOS 89x, TOR 82, TB 79, FLA 72): Montreal and Boston both win, but Boston’s 8-1 beatdown of the Sharks is bigger because it clinches a Top 3 division finish – Tampa can no longer catch them and Florida never could. Toronto loses its game-in-hand advantage in a 4-2 loss to Carolina.
  
• METRO (PIT 102x, NYR 102x, CBJ 95x, CAR 89, PHI 87): Columbus goes head-to-head with Pittsburgh and comes through with a win to punch their playoff ticket – they’re PROBABLY the #3 seed, but at worst could flip with one of the wild cards. New Jersey is reduced to wild-card only, and Philly would need to win out and get lucky with ROW.
  
• EAST WILD CARDS (CAR 89, PHI 87, NJ 86, NYI 84): Carolina’s win means Tampa’s only hopes are divisional – the Lightning can’t catch Carolina; they could tie Philly if they won out, but the Flyers have ROW advantage.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 110, CHI 107, MIN 92, NSH 88, STL 84): Nothing really changes in the divisional race, but Winnipeg’s win pretty much puts them out of LA’s reach (ROW tiebreak) and ensures the Central champ will be the Presidents’ Trophy winner.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 102y, SJ 88, EDM 86, VGK 85, SEA 85, CGY 82, ANA 79): No change. LA won, but it’s almost meaningless. San Jose lost their game in hand, but still sit in 2nd. The rest of the division had the night off.
  
• WEST WILD CARDS (NSH 88, VGK 85, SEA 85, STL 84, DAL 83, CGY 82, COL 82, ANA 79): Not much happening. Nashville moved the bar for the top wild card up, Colorado kept themselves in it by winning, and that’s about it.

NEW CLINCHED: Boston, Columbus
NEW ELIMINATED: NONE

APRIL 2 – 8 CLINCHED, 6 ELIMINATED, 18 STILL IN PLAY


SEATTLE – NOT IN ACTION

• ATLANTIC (MTL 95x, BOS 89x, TOR 82, TB 79, FLA 74): Toronto loses their second in a row, keeping Tampa and Florida’s hopes alive a little longer (Florida also won).
  
• METRO (PIT 103x, NYR 101x, CBJ 95x, CAR 89, PHI 87): Pittsburgh and the Rangers both win, clinching home-ice in the first round for the Penguins, who can now finish no lower than 2nd in the Metro.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (CAR 89, PHI 87, NJ 86, NYI 84): By a bit of a scheduling quirk, none of the wild-card teams were in action.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 110x, CHI 109x, MIN 93, NSH 89): Minnesota only gets a point, but it’s enough to end St. Louis’ divisional path – they’re wild-card only now. Nashville also picks up a point to remain 4 back.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 102y, SJ 90, EDM 88, VGK 85, SEA 85, CGY 84): San Jose, Edmonton, and Calgary all win, but it’s not enough to clinch anything. Anaheim, on the other hand, loses, and bad ROW tiebreaks against Vegas AND Seattle means they’re done.
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 89, VGK 85, SEA 85, STL 84, CGY 84, DAL 83, COL 82). The big thing here is Anaheim formally being eliminated.

NEW CLINCHED: NONE
NEW ELIMINATED: Anaheim

APRIL 3 – 8 CLINCHED, 7 ELIMINATED, 17 STILL IN PLAY

SEATTLE – at Detroit (31-39-8) – 5-0 L
Sorry, which one of these teams was already eliminated and which was fighting for their playoff lives? Detroit got a pair of goals from Gustav Nyquist and five tallies in total, and ultimately put 44 shots on Robin Lehner. That’s not how you get yourselves into the playoffs, boys.
GOALS: SEA – NONE. DET – Bertuzzi 12, DeKeyser 5, Nyquist 14, Helm 11, Nyquist 15.

• ATLANTIC (MTL 95y, BOS 89x, TOR 82, TB 79): Boston’s loss clinches the division for Montreal. Florida loses, formally ending the Panthers’ chances.
  
• METRO (PIT 104x, NYR 101x, CBJ 97x, CAR 91): Columbus wins, pushing Philly out of the divisional picture. Carolina wins to keep pace, and the Hurricanes do have tiebreak advantage on the Jackets.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (CAR 91, PHI 89, NJ 88, NYI 84): Everyone wins except the Islanders, but nobody’s eliminated at this point.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 111x, CHI 109x, MIN 93x, NSH 89): Minnesota has at least clinched a playoff spot, and are pretty close to locking up third. Winnipeg and Chicago will continue down to the wire.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 104y, SJ 90, EDM 88, VGK 87, SEA 85, CGY 84): The standings stay the same, but Vegas picks up a win and Seattle loses to formally open up a gap.
  
• WEST WILD-CARDS (NSH 89, VGK 87, STL 85, SEA 85, CGY 84, COL 84, DAL 83): Still the same cast of characters. Nashville is moving the upper wild card out of reach, but the lower is still tight.

NEW CLINCHED: Minnesota
ELIMINATED: Florida

APRIL 4 – 9 CLINCHED, 8 ELIMINATED, 15 STILL IN PLAY

SEATTLE – NOT IN ACTION

• ATLANTIC (MTL 95y, BOS 89x, TOR 82, TB 79): Ruh roh. Toronto lost again. Tampa still hasn’t picked up ground, but the door remains tantalizingly open for the Lightining. It does mean Boston is locked into the #2 seed and will host a first-round series.
  
• METRO: (PIT 104x, NYR 103x, CBJ 97x, CAR 91, PHI 89): Pittsburgh loses and the Rangers win, tightening the race for the Metro crown to a single point. Columbus could still pull out 2nd over the Rangers on ROW but it’s looking like a long shot. One more point either way would lock the Rangers into the #2 seed.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (CAR 91, PHI 89, NJ 88, NYI 84): Again, all the wild card teams were off tonight.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 111x, CHI 111x, MIN 93x, NSH 90): We have a tie at the top, though Winnipeg holds a large ROW advantage over the Blackhawks. Meanwhile, Nashville gets a single point, which is enough to keep them in the race for third for another day.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 104y, SJ 92x, EDM 90, VGK 87, CGY 86, SEA 85): San Jose wins and clinches a playoff spot. Edmonton also wins, which doesn’t formally clinch, but makes Seattle and Calgary’s divisional path pretty tricky, if not impossible.
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 90, VGK 87, CGY 86, STL 85, SEA 85, DAL 85, COL 84). No change, though Colorado and Dallas are pretty close to done.

NEW CLINCHED: San Jose
NEW ELIMINATED: NONE

APRIL 5 – 10 CLINCHED, 8 ELIMINATED, 14 STILL IN PLAY

SEATTLE at New Jersey (39-30-10) – 4-3 L
Both teams are fighting to stay relevant in their respective playoff hunts. They spend the first period feeling each other out, than each team puts up a pair in the second. Nico Hischier and Jarome Iginla trade goals around the 12 minute mark, but then it’s Jesper Bratt scoring what would be the eventual game-winner with 10:21 remaining. The loss formally closes any chance of Seattle winning a Top 3 spot; the wild card is their only hope now.
GOALS: SEA – Bozak 13, Green 10, Iginla 8. NJ – Vatanen 4, Duchene 24, Hischier 16, Bratt 26.

• ATLANTIC (MTL 96y, BOS 91x, TOR 82, TB 81): Tampa wins, closing to within 1 of the Maple Leafs (the only team that might be in danger of choking harder than the Dragons).
  
• METRO: (PIT 104x, NYR 103x, CBJ 99x): The top three are basically set, as Columbus’ win puts them beyond Carolina’s reach. Specific order still TBD.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (CAR 91, PHI 91, NJ 90): Everyone except Carolina wins, but that’s enough to push the bar to 91 points and eliminate the Isles.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 113x, CHI 111x, MIN 93x, NSH 90): Winnipeg just refusing to let up. With the tiebreak in hand, one more point or a Chicago loss will lock up the Presidents’ Trophy. Minnesota and Nashville had the night off.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 106y, SJ 92x, EDM 90, VGK 87, CGY 86): The leaders were all off, except for LA, whose win is now meaningless. As mentioned, Seattle’s loss closes off a divisional path – they’re wild-card only now. Vegas lost, keeping the wild card door open, but we’ll get to that….
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 90, VGK 87, CGY 86, STL 85, SEA 85, DAL 85, COL 84). Vegas’ loss keeps the door open for a few teams but situation basically what it’s been for the last few days.

NEW CLINCHED: NONE
NEW ELIMINATED: NY Islanders.

APRIL 6 – 10 CLINCHED, 9 ELIMINATED, 13 STILL IN PLAY


SEATTLE – NOT IN ACTION

• ATLANTIC (MTL 96y, BOS 91x, TOR 84, TB 81): Toronto finally wins, but they still can’t clinch yet.
  
• METRO (PIT 106x, NYR 105x, CBJ 99x): Pittsburgh and New York winning lock Columbus in as the #3 team in the Metro.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (CAR 91, PHI 91, NJ 90): Schedule quirk continues – they’re all off.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 113x, CHI 113x, MIN 94x): Minnesota finally locks down the #3 slot. Chicago wins to keep the race for #1 going.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 106y, SJ 94x, EDM 90x, VGK 87): San Jose wins, but Edmonton loses, which keeps Vegas in the hunt for #3. Edmonton is showing as a clinch, though -- I think it's that Vegas could catch them, but nobody lower could, so their worst-case is Vegas passes them and they're the other wild-card because Calgary/Seattle/et. al. can't get to 90 points.
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 90x, VGK 87, CGY 86, STL 85, SEA 85, DAL 85, COL 84): Nashville backs into a clinch based on other outcomes, but the race for the lower wildcard continues.

NEW CLINCHED: Edmonton, Nashville
NEW ELIMINATED: NONE

APRIL 7 – 12 CLINCHED, 9 ELIMINATED, 11 STILL IN PLAY

SEATTLE vs Boston (42-31-7) – 4-2 L
This is basically it. Vegas holds tiebreak over the Dragons, so if we lose, we’re done. Boston goes up 1-0 on a David Backes goal and Andrei Svechnikov answers with his 30th goal of the season. Boston gets it right back, but Mike Cammalleri comes through on the power play to even it at two. But then Patrice Bergeron converts from in front of the net, and Seattle doesn’t have any further answers in them. Boston later converts a 5-on-3 power play to get breathing room, and Seattle’s season is over.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 30, Cammalleri 21. BOS – Backes 14, Pastrnak 22, Bergeron 38, Enstrom 4.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jack Johnson

It's frustrating. You can sit here and make excuses and talk about what a good first half we had and all that stuff, if it makes you feel better, but when it comes down to it, we had every chance to keep playing hockey into April, and we couldn't get it done. Maybe that "glass half full" stuff will matter later, but right now, it just sucks.

• ATLANTIC (MTL 96y, BOS 93x, TOR 84, TB 83): Tampa wins to make game 82 meaningful for Toronto and Tampa. Tampa has tiebreak, so Toronto could use two points to make sure.
  
• METRO (PIT 106x, NYR 105x, CBJ 101x): It’s basically just down to who’s #1 and who’s #2. Pittsburgh has tiebreak, so the Rangers have to take it from them outright.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (PHI 93, NJ 92, CAR 91): The Devils sneak past Carolina into the second wild card slot with one game remaining for each team.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 114x, CHI 113x, MIN 94x): Just waiting on the champion.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 108y, SJ 94x, EDM 90x): Vegas loses so they can’t catch the Oilers anymore. In fact, no one can catch anyone… there’s your top three.
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 90x, VGK 87, STL 87, CGY 86): Seattle and Dallas are out on tiebreak. Colorado is just out.

NEW CLINCHED: NONE
NEW ELIMINATED: Seattle, Dallas, Colorado.

APRIL 8 – 12 CLINCHED, 11 ELIMINATED, 9 STILL IN PLAY

SEATTLE – NOT IN ACTION (and eliminated anyway)

• ATLANTIC (MTL 96y, BOS 93x, TOR 84, TB 83): Tampa has a chance for the Cinderella finish, as Toronto loses 2-1 to the Wild.
  
• METRO (PIT 107z, NYR 107x, CBJ 101x): The Rangers win to force the issue, but Pittsburgh manages to pick up one point against the Coyotes, and they have the tiebreak, so they’re the #1 seed in the Metro. The Rangers will host Columbus.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (PHI 93, NJ 92, CAR 91): All three teams off, so this will go down to the wire.
  
• CENTRAL (CHI 115x, WPG 114x, MIN 96x) Chicago wins to push into the lead for the Presidents’ Trophy. Winnipeg takes to the ice tomorrow night.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 108y, SJ 94x, EDM 92x): Everything’s locked in. LA will play Nashville and San Jose will host Edmonton.
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 90x, VGK 87, STL 87). Nashville has the upper wild-card locked up; the Knights and Blues will take it down to the wire tomorrow night.

NEW CLINCHED: NONE
NEW ELIMINATED: NONE

APRIL 9 – LAST DAY OF THE REGULAR SEASON

SEATTLE – vs Carolina (41-31-9) – 3-1 L
The Dragons no longer have playoff ambitions, but they can play spoiler for the Hurricanes, who are currently on the outside of the playoff picture. But Seattle is listless and Carolina isn’t fooling around, as they break open up a 1-0 lead in the first and then widen it to 3-1 in the 2nd. A scoreless third follows, and the Seattle Dragons’ inaugural season ends with a dull thud.
GOALS: SEA – Nash 17. CAR – Faulk 22, Faulk 23, Rask 23.

• ATLANTIC (MTL 96y, BOS 95x, TB 85x): Tampa Bay comes through with the Cinderella finish (or Toronto collapses worse than we did, depending on your perspective). For their troubles, they’ll draw Boston in the first round.
  
• METRO (PIT 107z, NYR 107x, CBJ 101x): No change.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (NJ 94x, CAR 93x): New Jersey completes its come-from-behind journey as the top wild-card, and will now face Montreal. Carolina sneaks by Philadelphia on tiebreaks and will face Pittsburgh in Round 1.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 115z, CHI 115x, MIN 96x): Winnipeg only gets one point in their season finale, but that’s all they needed to wrap up the Presidents’ Trophy. They’ll take on… (spoiler).
  
• PACIFIC (LA 110y, SJ 94x, EDM 92x): No change.
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 90x, VGK 89x) ...they'll take on the Golden Knights, who hold off St. Louis for the final wild-card spot.

FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF MATCHUPS

• Montreal Canadiens vs. New Jersey Devils
• Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
• Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Carolina Hurricanes
• New York Rangers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
• Winnipeg Jets vs. Las Vegas Golden Knights
• Chicago Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild
• Los Angeles Kings vs. Nashville Predators
• San Jose Sharks vs. Edmonton Oilers

MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT
MONTH: 0-4-0
YEAR-TO-DATE: 40-37-5, 85 points
DIVISION: 6th in Pacific division. FINAL: LA 110, SJ 94, EDM 92, VGK 89, CGY 86, SEA 85, ANA 83, VAN 76

TEAM LEADERS

POINTS: Perron 63, Svechnikov 61, Cammalleri 58, Bozak 53, Green 43
GOALS: Svechnikov 30, Perron 26, Cammalleri 21, Nash 17, Grabner 15
ASSISTS: Bozak 40, Cammalleri 37, Perron 37, Green 33, Svechnikov 31
PLUS-MINUS: Bozak 11, Perron 9, Johnson 4, Gibbons 3, Hansen 2


ON THE FARM
Tacoma finishes as kings of the regular season with 114 points (56-24-2). If I’m reading my standings correctly, they should draw the Hartford Wolf Pack (44-31-7) in the first round of the playoffs. (Yes, Tacoma somehow ended up in the east. Don’t ask me why.) Brandon Pirri made a late push to finish 4th in the league in points with 67. Elvis Merzlikins finished stronger, dropping his goals-against below 2.00 on the season, and finishing top 10 in pretty much everything.

[PFellah]

April 2019: Around The League

STANDINGS


LEAGUE LEADERS


Phil Kessel is your 2018-19 scoring champion, with a 103-point season. Patrick Kane and Connor McDavid both sneak past John Tavares in the final week in goals. Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele leads the way in assists. On the goalie side, there's no breakaway guy who dominated all the categories -- Corey Crawford was tops in the rate stats, but he gave up a lot of playing time to Anton Forsberg. Meanwhile, Connor Hellebuyck and Jonathan Quick are your choices if you like more of a workhorse starter.

CALDER WATCH


I mean, Svechnikov almost got as many points as the next two guys combined. He's gotta win the Calder, right?

[PFellah]

2018-2019 Closeout: Playoffs And Awards



STANLEY CUP
The San Jose Sharks are your 2018-19 Stanley Cup champions! The Sharks blasted through Edmonton in 4 straight, went to seven games against the Kings, beat the Presidents' Trophy-winning Jets in five, and then got the brooms out again in the finals, dispensing with the Boston Bruins 4-0. Both the Cinderella stories (Tampa and New Jersey) ended in the first round, but Columbus represented the underdog community by knocking off the #2 Rangers and #1 Pens before losing to Boston in the Eastern Conference Final.

CALDER CUP
Tacoma got past their first-round matchup 3 games to 1, but then got bounced in the second round 4-2 against the Rochester Americans. Rochester then went on to lose to the Chicago Wolves in seven in the final.

PLAYER AWARDS
Hart: Phil Kessel, RW, Pittsburgh - 40-63-103, +42, 10 PIM, 18.8% shooter
Norris: Brent Burns, San Jose -- 23-42-65, +24, 55 PIM, 8.7% shooter
Vezina: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg -- 68 GP, 43-16-7, 11 SO, 2.05 GAA, .929 save percentage
Calder: Andrei Svechnikov, RW, Seattle-- 78 games, 30-31-61, +0, 18 PIM, 13.6% shooter
Conn Smythe: Martin Jones, G, San Jose -- 20 GP, 16-3-1, 4 SO, 1.54 GAA, .949 save percentage
Lady Byng: Phil Kessel, RW, Pittsburgh
Masterton: Jacob Trouba, D, Winnipeg
Selke: Patrice Bergeron, C, Boston
Lindsay: Phil Kessel, RW, Pittsburgh

AUTOMATIC (stats-based) AWARDS
Art Ross: Phil Kessel, LW, Pittsburgh -- 103 points
Maurice Richard: Patrick Kane, RW, Chicago -- 53 goals
William Jennings: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg -- 179 goals against

DRAFT LOTTERY/TOP 10
1. Arizona
2. Vancouver
3. Washington
4. Buffalo
5. Colorado (via Ottawa)
6. Detroit
7. Florida
8. Anaheim
9. Toronto
10. Dallas

Seattle will be picking 11th.

NOTABLE RETIREMENTS (> 500 GP)
David Booth, Zdeno Chara, Jason Chimera, Matt Cullen, Johan Franzen, Brooks Laich, Ryan Malone, Patrick Marleau, Dominic Moore, Brooks Orpik

Fairly small batch of retirees. And surprisingly, Jarome Iginla isn't on the list.

[PFellah]

THE DRAGON'S LAIR: Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Brock: Welcome back to the Dragon's Lair. We're sneaking up on the 2019 entry draft and free agency, which means it's time to assemble our panel of commentators to discuss the season past, and where the Dragons go from here as they head into their second season in the league. As always, we're joined by Logan Marx, Stu Kennedy, and Sarah Shaw, and for this edition we spared no expense in bringing Dan DeCarlo, our man in Tacoma, up the I-5 to give additional perspective on the farm club.

Dan: Thanks Brock. My breakfast burrito was delicious.

Brock: Nothing but the best for you, buddy. So, the elephant in the room... what happened to this team last year? They were cruising along pretty well through February and then the wheels just came off. Who wants to start?

Stu: I'll put my head in the lion's mouth and say it... they weren't that good a team, and they pretty much played over their heads in the first half. They were mostly a one-line team -- you take the Perron-Bozak-Svechnikov line out of the equation, and the rest of the team is just average at best. And it started to catch up to them, whether it's opponents adjusting to them or their luck running out or... whatever.

Logan: I wouldn't go as far as Stu. If you look at the roster, they had a good breadth of scoring. There's a lot of guys who put 10-15 pucks in the net. But I will agree they were too dependent on that top line, and it's probably no coincidence that Svechnikov's scoring dried up during that rough stretch in February. Don't get me wrong... the kid had a great year, but he did have spells where he wasn't much of a factor, and that was noticeable.

Sarah: It could also have to do with the fact that you had a lot of guys playing more minutes and tougher roles than they'd played... maybe not EVER in their careers, but in the recent past... and that it wore them down a little over 82 games. Maybe for 20, 30, 40 games they're OK but it starts to wear them down a little.

Stu: I still think trading away guys like Kunitz and Hartnell didn't help. Other than Iginla, they basically sold off all the veteran leadership right when they needed it most.

Logan; OK, but the big slide had started before they made any of those deals. That said, I feel like there were other deals that may have been an issue, and I'm thinking about the moves on the defense. They dealt Dan Hamhuis... OK, now Chris Folin is a starter. Then they deal Alexei Emelin and now Matt Bartkowski is a starter. And indirectly, they also dealt Eric Gustafsson who might have gotten a callup somewhere along the line, so now you're pushing the talent level down further. And you can say, "oh it's just the third pair' and "it's not that much of a downgrade" but two or three of those in a row adds up.

But at the same time, you talk to the organization guys, and they say this was always going to be a multi-year plan, and stocking up the farm system was important. Important enough to cost them the playoffs, though?

Brock: You mention those draft picks -- we're coming up on the draft, and Seattle has 14 picks. That's one pick in the first and sixth, four 4th-rounders, and two in each of the other rounds. Do we really expect them to add 14 guys, or do we think they'll be looking at trading some of those? Let's bring our guest in on this one. Dan?

Dan: I get the feeling they're going to want to move some of those. I'm told that there's a couple guys in this draft that they really like, but they might need to move up to get them. I was told one of those is a lottery guy where they might choose to step up from 11 if the price is right. The other is less of a name guy, but they may also need to be a move-up based on where Central Scouting thinks he might go. The flip side is I've heard they might also go the opposite direction and move a few picks into future years, just so they don't have a big glut of talent flooding the roster at the same time. For the moment, they're keeping all options on the table. But I don't think you're going to see 14 new names on the roster at the conclusion of the draft.

Brock: While we're on you, how is last year's draft class shaping up?

Dan: well I hear that Svechnikov kid is pretty good. (laughter) Seriously though, I've been hearing that Ty Dellandrea is coming along well enough that he should get a contract offer, and a roster spot, at least a Tacoma roster spot, is his if he wants it. (ED: 65 OVR, Top 6 potential) Pavel Kenins is maybe another year away, but they still see some talent there as well, though "talent" when you're talking about a guy with his playstyle is a little bit of a moving target. (ED: 62 OVR, Top 9, but he's a Grinder) The rest of the class hasn't panned out like they've hoped -- they're starting to talk about the 3rd-round defenseman, Ian Van Riemsdyk more in terms of a depth piece than a real difference maker. Same with most of the low-round picks.

And while we're talking about prospects, let's talk about Kasperi Kapanen. I think he kind of got forgotten a little when he struggled in his first audition with the big club, but he went down and had a really solid year at Tacoma -- 19 goals, 24 assists. It'll depend on what sort of additions they make in free agency, but it wouldn't totally surprise me if they try to make room in the Seattle lineup for this kid.

Brock: You mentioned free agency, and I immediately saw Sarah start shuffling papers over there. Clearly she's been waiting to get to this. So... what do you got, Sarah?

Sarah: Well, it's pretty obvious that the start of free agency is going to be like Christmas in July. The Dragons are already $20M under the cap, and then you can assume another $10M or so that's going to come off the books in fairly easy calls -- $5M is Matt Moulson, who they signed just to get to the salary floor, then you add in Jay Beagle at $1.8M, Jannik Hansen at $2M, Jarome Iginla's $1.3M, maybe a couple other guys. So they're going to have a TON of money to work with.

Brock: What's on their shopping list?

Sarah: The short answer is "other than goaltending, what isn't?". I look at it this way, if you assume Beagle, Iginla, and Hansen are gone, they have enough natural openings on the roster that you could drop an entire starting lineup of free agents - three forwards, two defensemen -- into the holes that already exist without disrupting anything. Then at least up front, there's a second tier of guys like Riley Sheahan, Leo Komarov, and Mike Cammalleri where you could go either way with it... you could live with them as bottom-six options, but their salaries aren't killing you if they're depth players.

Stu: I'd love to see them get some guys who can really set the table for Svechnikov. That's not meant to be a knock on David Perron or Tyler Bozak, they did a decent job. But if he had some truly elite talent on a line with him... boy that would be something.

Logan: This isn't a playmaker type, but I was having lunch with one of the front-office guys and just joking, I asked him if he thought Artemi Panarin would make a nice linemate for Andrei since they're both Russian kids, and he didn't say a word but he got the biggest grin I've ever seen. Make of that what you will.

Stu: HE was grinning? Now you got me grinning too! Might be tough finding enough pucks for both of them, but that'd be a heck of a problem to have.

Sarah: Stu's in a good mood? When's the last time we've seen that? They gotta sign Panarin now.

Stu: The get Panarin and Tyler Seguin on a line with Svechnikov, I'll dance an Irish jig right on this desk!

Logan: If that's not worth $15 or $20 million a year, I don't know what is.

Brock: We're gonna hold you to that, Stu.

With that image in your head, we're going to wrap things up for this edition of the Dragon's Lair. We'll see you next time.