Kucherov's injury, agent Tarasenko's statement and the composition of the divisions: what is being discussed three weeks before the start of the NHL season

On January 13, the National Hockey League will begin the drawing of the new regular season.

The championship will not only start more than three months later than usual, but will also be held in an unusual format.

So, due to the pandemic, the composition of the divisions will undergo changes, and the regulations will also be significantly revised.

In addition to organizational issues, hockey players, including Russian ones, are traditionally under close scrutiny.

The current Stanley Cup winner Nikita Kucherov is preparing for hip surgery, because of which he risks not returning to the ice until the start of the playoffs, and forward Vladimir Tarasenko was in the center of the scandal over the election of the captain of St. Louis. 

Kucherov's injury

As it became known, the Tampa Bay Lightning striker is unlikely to be able to help his team in the starting NHL regular season.

Soon Kucherov will have to undergo hip surgery.

Until recently, this information remained at the level of rumors, but the day before, the general manager of the current Stanley Cup winners Julien Brisbois confirmed it.

The functionary expressed hope for Nikita's return to service by the start of the playoffs, and also highly appreciated the professionalism of the athlete.

“Nobody likes to play hockey more than Nikita Kucherov.

It will be difficult for him to miss the regular season, but he will do his best to recover as soon as possible.

We want to get into the playoffs and give him a chance, ”the functionary admitted.

As it became known later, Kucherov injured his hip already in the first round of the NHL playoffs of the 2019/20 season, in which Tampa Bay met with Columbus.

The forward spent the rest of the Stanley Cup on injections, but not only helped the team win the honorary trophy, but also became the top scorer of the tournament.

Nikita chalked up seven goals and 27 assists, leaving behind his teammate Braden Point (14 + 19), Dallas Stars defender Miro Heiskanen (6 + 20) and Colorado Avalanche striker Nathan McKinnon (9 + 16).

At the end of the playoffs, Kucherov did an MRI, no injury was detected, and the doctors only advised to refrain from playing hockey for two months.

But upon returning from vacation, the pain did not go away.

A deeper examination revealed the presence of problems with the hip and the need for surgery.

Recovery is estimated to take four to six months.

In a sense, losing a leader could benefit Tampa Bay.

The current situation allows the club to place Kucherov ($ 9.5 million a year) on the long-term injured list, as a result of which his salary will not be included in the payroll.

This allows Lightning to renew contracts with some of the hockey players and get the time it needs to carry out future exchanges.

So, a new agreement has already been signed with defenders Eric Cernak and Jan Rutta, as well as forwards Alexander Volkov and Mathieu Joseph.

At the moment, only striker Anthony Cirelli remains a restricted free agent.

It is worth noting that in addition to Kucherov, the captain of the team from Florida Stephen Stamkos is in the infirmary.

The Canadian missed part of last season with injury but made a comeback in the Stanley Cup final with Dallas.

True, he spent less than three minutes on the ice and only aggravated his condition.

However, Brisbois hopes that one of the team leaders will be able to play in the first match of the regular season.

Tarasenko's status

At the same time, a new captain was elected in the 2019 Stanley Cup winners, as long-term leader Alex Pietrangelo left St. Louis in the fall.

Olympic champion Sochi could not agree with the club on a new agreement, and later moved to the "Vegas Golden Knights".

Surely many believed that one of the main contenders for the title of captain was Vladimir Tarasenko.

The Russian is not only one of the leaders, but also a veteran of the team.

He has defended the Blues since 2012 and is ranked # 1 in goals (214) and points (428) during that period.

In terms of the number of meetings held, he is on the fifth line (507), behind only Jaden Schwartz (513), Alexander Steen (521) and all the same Pietrangelo (581).

Before the vote, the number of his competitors dropped significantly.

In the absence of Steen, who ended his career due to a back injury, from the point of view of statistics, only Schwartz remained a serious opponent.

However, in the end, Ryan O'Reilly was chosen as the captain, who joined St. Louis only in the summer of 2018.

Tarasenko, Braden Shann and Colton Parayko were appointed assistants.

But if the same Pietrangelo took this news positively and spoke highly of O'Reilly, then the representative of Tarasenko reacted rather negatively.

Alexey Dementyev harshly criticized the club's decision and expressed the opinion that it was the Russian who should have become the captain.

“I have nothing against Ryan O'Reilly, he is a worthy player who has proven a lot in hockey and the NHL.

I was more surprised by the non-appointment of Vladimir Tarasenko as captain.

To be completely honest, one must understand that before he joined the team, few people would have thought that the Blues would win the Cup.

It is clear that the Cup is a merit of the entire team and management, including, but Vladimir spent eight bright seasons, went out to play injections, with fractures and other contraindications, really led the team, "- quotes Dementyev" Championship ".

The agent noted that Tarasenko is one of the most stable hockey players in the NHL, and also recalled that he is one of the best snipers in the playoffs in recent years.

So, since the 2012/13 season, Vladimir hit the opponent's goal 33 times.

More goals are scored by Sidney Crosby (35), Logan Couture, Nikita Kucherov (both 36 each), Alexander Ovechkin (39) and Joe Pavelski (41).

“Everyone knows his leadership qualities on the ice and in life.

This decision gives us our understanding of the attitude of the club's management to Vladimir, ”concluded Dementyev.

At the moment, Tarasenko himself has not commented on either O'Reilly's appointment or the words of his own agent.

However, according to the famous hockey journalist Aleksey Shevchenko, such statements by Dementyev could have a negative impact on the forward's career.

“He set up Tarasenko.

Vladimir is now obliged to react - and we will see this reaction in the next 24 hours ... If Tarasenko keeps silent, does not comment on the situation in any way - it turns out that he agrees with his agent.

So, the agent expressed his thoughts.

This damages Vladimir himself, damages his relationship with the club.

Well, I don’t think that after this Tarasenko will be loved by the fans, ”Shevchenko said.

Division changes and first match schedule

St. Louis will be one of ten teams to kick off the 2020/21 regular season.

Already on January 13, Craig Berubi's wards will go to visit Colorado.

However, taking into account the latest changes, this confrontation will take place within the Western, not the Central division.

Due to travel restrictions that arose in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL leadership was forced to significantly change the composition of the divisions.

The Northern, Western and Eastern ones came to replace the Capital, Atlantic and Pacific ones.

The central one, although it retained its former name, was renewed by more than a third in terms of the composition of the participants.

Only "Chicago", "Dallas" and "Nashville" kept the place, and they were accompanied by "Carolina", "Columbus", "Detroit", "Florida" and "Tampa Bay".

Of course, the creation of the Northern Division, which is entirely composed of Canadian teams, stands apart.

Until the last moment, it was possible that teams from the Land of the Maple Leaf would follow the example of the basketball Toronto Raptors and move to the United States for the duration of the season, but in the end this idea was not implemented.

It was also announced that the regular season will run from January 13 to May 8.

During this period, each team will play 56 matches, and it will compete exclusively with its territorial neighbors.

A similar trend will continue in the playoffs, where confrontation between teams from different divisions will become possible only at the stage of the third round - in the finals of the Eastern and Western conferences.

As for the participants in the matches, the NHL has made changes to the regulations, according to which any hockey player can refuse to participate in the championship for safety reasons.

According to TSN, this is possible if the players themselves or their family members are at risk in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.

In this case, the athletes will lose their salaries, and their contract will be suspended with an extension of one season.

At the same time, it is reported that during the away matches of hockey players, guests will be extremely limited in movement in order to exclude the disease COVID-19.

Athletes and coaching staff will only be able to visit the arena, training ground and hotel where they will eat.

Athletes will not be allowed to use the hotel's gym.

Also, players will be forced to comply with certain rules and during transfers.

So, each athlete must be assigned a certain place both on the plane and on the bus.

Meals on board should be excluded whenever possible.