An oddity greeted the Lightning as training camp ahead of the 2016-17 season opened on Thursday.
For the first time since 2008, Steven Stamkos did not report to camp. (Photo/Getty Images)
For the first time since 2008, Steven Stamkos did not report to camp. For the first time since 2009, Victor Hedman was nowhere to be found.
Not to fret, Lightning fans, the long term deals signed by both cornerstone players ensure that they will remain in a Tampa Bay sweater for years to come.
But their absence, along with 10 other players, head coach Jon Cooper and video coach Nigel Kirwan due to commitments at the World Cup of Hockey made for a strange reporting day, indeed.
It will also make for a much different kind of training camp, that also opens with the uncertainty surrounding the contract situation involving star forward Nikita Kucherov, who remains an unsigned restricted free agent.
Strange days indeed.
“It’s going to for sure be a different training camp,’’ said left wing Alex Killorn, who signed a seven-year contract during the summer. “More than half our team is playing right now (at the World Cup). Even when they get eliminated they’re going to get a couple of days off to recover. A lot of us are going to play a lot more in the exhibition games. There’s going to be a lot of young guys in lineups and in training camp, so that’s going to be a different camp for sure.’’
Those who will not report until at least a week in to camp are Ben Bishop (USA),
Victor Hedman missing camp for first time since 2009, but a big part of Team Sweden at the World Cup. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Jonathan Drouin (North America), Andrej Sustr and Ondrej Palat (Czech Republic) and Valtteri Filppula (Finland). And no, sorry, they won’t be in attendance at Sunday’s Fan Fest at Amalie Arena.
That leaves seven other players who will miss even more time at training camp –Anton Stralman and Hedman (Sweden), Stamkos (Canada) and Vladislav Namestnikov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Nikita Nesterov and Kucherov (Russia). And of that group, Tampa Bay is guaranteed to have at least one player who will advance to the best-of-three final series, with the last possible date for the championship game coming on Oct. 1.
With so many absentees, will there be any sort of a major disruption from the normal routine?
“This is a totally different training camp for all of us,’’ associate coach Rick Bowness said. “We have a team that has 12 guys out playing hockey, so when they come back, they have been on the ice for three weeks, they’ve had a minimum of five games, so they are game ready, and they will have to have some time off. So our challenge is to work these guys (in camp) very hard and get them ready so when October 13 comes everybody is on the same page and at the same level.”
“This is a totally different training camp for all of us,’’ associate coach Rick Bowness said. (Photo by Christine Gunn LightningShout)
“But it’s a different training camp. That being said, we know what we have to cover and we’ve been doing a lot of the same things in our practices the past three years, so it’s not like we have to change too many things. The difference this year is because we have so many different bodies with 12 guys being out.’’
To ensure there were enough players in camp to fill out practices groups, Tampa Bay brought in 12 players on invitee contracts – not including defenseman James Wisniewski, who was signed to a tryout agreement late in the summer.
That means for a team that has essentially remained the same over the past few seasons has plenty of unknown faces parading around the halls and locker room. Not even jersey numbers are going to be helpful.
“What’s strange is the high profile guys are not here,’’ general manager Steve Yzerman said. “You look around and ask, “Where’s Stammer, Where’s Hedman’’ they are always here. So from that point it’s a little different. For them, they will come back and get a few days off . . . but I think you’ll find, the guys that were at the World Cup when they get out there, they’ve had a month ahead to prepare, they’ve had pre-tournament and tournament games, which are do-or-die games, so they will be ahead of our guys. I think for our team that will be an advantage having so many of them there.’’
One of Tampa Bay’s key players at the World Cup, however, might not be returning to the Lightning right away.
For the second consecutive season the Lightning enter training camp with a
Kucherov’s prolonged absence will not go unnoticed, even if there is a belief that it won’t be a distraction. (Photo by Igor Russak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
contract situation hanging over the start of camp.
Lasts year it was Stamkos, who entered in the last year of his deal before becoming an unrestricted free agent. This year it’s Kucherov, who is without a contract as one of a handful of key restricted free agents around the league remaining unsigned, which also includes Jacob Trouba and Johnny Gaudreau.
Kucherov is coming off a 30-goal regular season while leading the Lightning in goals and points during the playoffs, including some clutch goals as Tampa Bay advanced to the Eastern Conference finals.
A prolonged absence will not go unnoticed, even if there is a belief that it won’t be a distraction.
“I’ll throw a coaching cliché in there, we coach who is here,’’ Bowness said. “Now, everyone knows Kuch is important and knows he’s a great player and hopefully he is here. But what can we control? We can’t control that one bit. So would we all love to see him back here ASAP? Absolutely. But we’ll coach who we have, that’s totally, totally out of our control. So we won’t allow it to be a cloud.’’
Yzerman did not offer up much in the way of an update on where contract negotiations stand and it’s not known what either side is seeking.
But this much is known. Tampa Bay has salary cap issues. There is roughly $6.5 million of available cap space for this season. On a long-term deal, Kucherov would figure to earn more than that on an annual average basis. And that doesn’t include defenseman Nikita Nesterov, who is also an unsigned restricted free agent, or a possible deal for Wisniewski, who figures to have a good shot to earn a contract as a right-handed defenseman who could help the power play provided he enjoys a good training camp.
So is there a deal out there to be made for Kucherov that works for both sides?
“Our goal, is we want Kuch signed,’’ Yzerman said. “We are going to continue to work towards reaching an agreement.” (Photo by Christine Gunn/LightningShout)
“Our goal, is we want Kuch signed,’’ Yzerman said. “We are going to continue to work towards reaching an agreement. We are in constant contact with Nikita’s representatives and we will continue to do that. Hopefully sooner than later we can reach an agreement on a contract.’’
So for a team that enters the season with Stanley Cup expectations – The Hockey News predicted a Tampa Bay over Dallas Final – the season is already opening under a bit of a cloud of uncertainty. Not to mention the absent players.
“It’s definitely different,’’ center Tyler Johnson said. “Any time you come to camp you usually have your whole team there. We just can’t wait for them to come back and help our team and get our season going.’’
Notes from camp
Team USA: Johnson was one of the notable omissions from the U.S. roster for the World Cup. After seeing the Americans eliminated from the tournament after just two games, there’s been plenty of criticism directed at how the team was put together.
Johnson did not hide his feelings when asked about not being a part of the team.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was disappointed, I wish I was playing, I want to be
Tyler Johnson did not hide his feelings when asked about not being a part of Team USA at the World Cup. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
playing,’’ Johnson said. “But they went one route and there is not much I can do about it besides try to be better and try to make it so the next time they pick a team that I’m going to be on it.’’
Former NHLer Anson Carter went to his Twitter account following the U.S. loss to Canada on Wednesday and wondered about Johnson not being a part of the team.
“I was actually pretty thrilled that Anson Carter even knew who I was, that was pretty cool,’’ Johnson said. “But everybody has their different opinion and that’s what is great about being an American is we have so many good, quality players that can make a team like that. You could make that team 100 different ways and I think if you had 100 different people picking a team there is not going to be a consensus on every single person Unfortunately it wasn’t my year this year and hopefully the next Olympics or World Cup, whatever it may be, I get to be on it. But that’s for me to play better and make it so they can’t leave me off.’’
Wiz to make impression: Under the circumstances, Wisniewski might have landed in the best possible situation.
Wisniewski has not played a full NHL game since April 11, 2015, while with the Anaheim Ducks. After sitting as a scratch for Anaheim’s run to the Western Conference finals in 2015, he signed with Carolina last season but suffered a season-ending knee injury on his first shift with the Hurricanes on Oct. 8, 2015.
Now the 32-year-old hopes to win a contract with the Lightning. The right-handed defenseman has 27 of his 53 career goals on the power play.
With four of Tampa Bay’s defenseman at the World Cup, Wisniewski figures to get a long look, which is a main reason he chose to tryout with the Lightning.
“Looking at teams where I can step in and actually be part of and help the team win, but also that they have winning chance,’’ Wisniewski said. “I’ve played this game long enough, it’s not about money. I want to be etched in eternity. I want my name on the Stanley Cup. Knowing that the power play struggled, knowing they have four defensemen at the World Cup, I’m going to get a lot of opportunity, get a lot of playing time, get my feet wet … get my foot in the door. I don’t know that there was a better opportunity for myself.’’
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