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Less than a month into the Stanley Cup playoffs and already we know some trends -- and calamities -- that will lead to sure changes for next season. Let's start by addressing the positive aspects of what has taken place over the first round and then some:
First of all, Jacques Martin saved his job in Ottawa; Joel Quenneville and GM Larry Pleau did the same in St. Louis; and it would appear that the everybody will be back in Carolina where Paul Maurice is the only coach that hockey town has ever known.
In one place or another, Pat Burns and Ken Hitchcock will be back in the National Hockey League. The guess here is that Burns lands in Philadelphia, where general manager Bob Clarke does not have the back-the-coach mentality that Hitchcock would require to sell his system to the players. As for Hitchcock, sit and wait to see what shakes out in Toronto or in New York where the Rangers might ultimately be led behind the bench by Mark Messier.
Once the free-agent season opens, Tony Amonte will be chased at warp speed by the New York Islanders. In fact, Amonte might be chased BEFORE the free agent season, like Jeremy Roenick was last season. The NHL apparently had no problems with
the Philadelphia Flyers striking some sort of gentlemen's agreement with the Phoenix Coyotes before free agency began last summer, and the Flyers were given permission to talk to Roenick before July 1. With that as a precedent, expect a lot of turning-the-other way while deals are made and then -- voila -- a trade happens between the two teams in which a player such as Daymond Langkow winds up in Phoenix the next day for two draft picks.
The Atlanta Thrashers will likely move their second overall draft pick while sitting at the draft table. Expect the Buffalo Sabres to be in line, and part of the requested package will be NCAA shutout record-holder Ryan Miller of Michigan State. Either that, or some sort of deal is made with the Islanders for Rick DiPietro.
The Flyers will not open the season with either Czech goalie Roman Cechmanek or Czech center Jiri Dopita. Cechmanek is being forced out by a locker room that has already forced out a coach, and Dopita was a major disappointment. Best guess is a trip to Edmonton for one or both Czechs.
The Bruins will decide to keep either goalie Byron Dafoe or forward Bill Guerin. Bet on the goalie staying as power forwards are a more ready commodity.
Dean of Discipline Colin Campbell is likely to exit the league office, and it would be of his own volition. Just listening to Campbell speak as he tried to make heads or tails out of the marching orders he has from the NHL makes you think he would be enjoying life a whole lot more behind an NHL bench, or as part of an team rather than the league.
The league will spend part of the summer with a major pow-wow on dirty hits and cheap tactics. There will be some talk of abandoning the two-referee system to no avail, but a powerful lobby will form to do away with the instigator rule.
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim under GM Bryan Murray will face a huge decision on Paul Kariya. Remember, Murray could not make it work with Pavel Bure in Florida, and while Kariya is far more earnest a player than Bure, watch for Anaheim to at least test the market to see what they can get in return.
The New York Rangers will chase Philadelphia free-agent defenseman Luke Richardson, and the Flyers are also likely to deal defenseman (and former captain) Eric Desjardins to Detroit.
Despite names such as Mike Richter, Curtis Joseph, Guerin and Amonte, the hottest name in the total free agent market will be Bobby Holik. And don't be so sure about the Rangers being his next home until the Dallas Stars make a pitch, and maybe even Atlanta. It would be a tough sell, but Holik would be the glue the Thrashers need with rookies such as Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk. On the surface, it doesn't make sense that Holik would go to a team with no chance to win the Cup, but Holik is not a guy who thinks only on the surface -- and a great sell job about being a part of the future of the franchise, beyond being just a player, would be enticing.
The success of the Ottawa Senators is going to bring back the dreaded phrase neutral-zone trap into play all next season.
The season will start and end with Bob Clarke as the general manager of the Flyers -- no matter what happens in between.
Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN.
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