Vladimir Provorov committed to Ohio State’s men’s hockey team Monday. Yes, that’s the younger brother of Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov.
Things that make you go, ‘hmm’?
Should we be reconsidering having Provorov near the top of Chris Johnston’s trade board on The Athletic?
Well, that remains to be seen.
“Ivan is happy to be in Columbus, happy to play there,” Provorov’s agent, Mark Gandler, told The Athletic on Tuesday, “He thinks that the team is going to go places. It’s clear that the team is better than it was last year. Personally, I have all the confidence in the world in (general manager) Don Waddell’s ability. He’s an experienced manager who knows what he’s doing. I think the team is going to improve every year.
“So we’ll just wait and see where it goes.”
So to be clear, would the top-four defenseman and pending unrestricted free agent be open to an extension in Columbus?
“Absolutely,” Gandler said. “Absolutely.”
“From the day I got (to Columbus), I’ve enjoyed my time here,” Provorov told The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline recently. “I like the city. I love the organization and the boys in the room. For me, I feel great here. But, obviously, a lot of times it’s out of your hands. So, I’m just focused on playing and doing the best I can and trying to help the team win.”
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But the decision by his younger brother, 16, to commit to Ohio State doesn’t necessarily impact what happens between Ivan, 27, and the Jackets. They’re separate business decisions, Gandler said.
“As far as his younger brother, the only thing that his decision has to do with Ivan is that he knows Columbus, the family knows Columbus, and they are comfortable for him to develop in Columbus (at Ohio State),” Gandler said.
Vladimir currently plays for the AAA New Jersey Rockets and obviously, at only 16, won’t be joining Ohio State for two or three years.
“Whether or not Ivan is still there, if Ivan stays it’s going to be a bonus, but it’s not really a determining factor,” Gandler said. “The determining factor is the fact that Ohio State is a very good program with an excellent coaching staff. It’s going places. In a very friendly, comfortable environment.”
The brothers are very close, Gandler said, despite the age difference. And it would be amazing if they were both in Columbus plying their craft at the same time, of course. But I wouldn’t read into that to imagine any big discounts are coming from Provorov ahead of July 1.
Gandler and Waddell haven’t discussed a possible extension yet. That discussion, which could go either way, likely waits for the New Year.
While I think the Jackets are open to an extension discussion, just as Provorov is, what remains to be seen is what both sides think is a fair number. Provorov is in the last year of a six-year contract with an average annual value of $6.75 million. He plays 23 minutes a night. He turns 28 next month. What’s he worth on July 1?
With the growing salary cap, agents and front offices are having very interesting conversations these days. Salaries are about to spike big time around the league over the next few years.
Whatever number (and term) the Jackets are comfortable with will almost surely be different than what the July 1 market could provide Provorov. So odds are, if the Jackets aren’t in a playoff spot closer to March 7 (although they’re still in the fight right now), he’s probably still getting traded. Could he still come back to the Jackets on July 1 in that scenario? Who knows.
But I would say the news this week of his younger brother committing to Ohio State at least gives everyone involved something to think about.
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Impressive Caps
The thing about this sport is that superstars go down and teams so often find a way.
The Toronto Maple Leafs forged along without Auston Matthews last month (going 7-2-0), and the Edmonton Oilers got it done short-term (2-1) without Connor McDavid earlier this season. So it’s not like anyone thought the Washington Capitals would be done after they lost Alex Ovechkin last month.
He did have 15 goals in 18 games before going down. I don’t care if he’s 39. They’re still going to miss that. But Washington going 8-3-1 in the 12 games since his injury has certainly been an exclamation point to one of the best surprise stories this season.
People keep waiting for the Caps to come down to earth. They haven’t.
They had one of the NHL’s most aggressive offseasons, which continued their retool from the past few years — as I detailed in a piece last month — and their stellar performance during No. 8’s absence only underlines where this team is now.
“I think it starts with John (Carlson) and Tom (Wilson) and our leadership group,” Caps GM Chris Patrick told The Athletic via text message Monday. “Both with their play on the ice and off the ice, they have helped reinforce what the team has been doing, which is continue to play with structure and consistency every night.”
Hat’s off, too, to head coach Spencer Carbery, and I wonder if we’ll start hearing his name a bit more often in the Jack Adams Award conversation if this season continues to go this way for Washington.
As for Ovechkin’s all-time goals record chase, that will resume in short order. He will potentially return either for one game just before the holiday break or should be ready to go for games coming out of the break.
Spencer Carbery looks like an early Jack Adams candidate. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Canucks’ needs
The Vancouver Canucks have been inconsistent so far this season, and Jim Rutherford’s appearance on HNIC’s After Hours over the weekend certainly gave one the impression they won’t sit on their hands, either.
League sources confirm that the Canucks are on the lookout for a top-four defenseman as well as a winger. And in keeping with Rutherford tradition, I would imagine GM Patrik Allvin would want to make a trade sooner than later and not wait until the March 7 deadline. He acquired Elias Lindholm on Jan. 31 last season, very much keeping with the Rutherford-esque style to get ahead of the deadline.
Filip Hronek’s injury has been difficult to overcome, so that has fueled the need to trade for a top-four D. Easier said than done, but I don’t think Vancouver will wait too long if it can find a fit.
Canes goalies
The Carolina Hurricanes were interested in Mackenzie Blackwood before he got dealt to the Colorado Avalanche last week. But they weren’t going to pay the kind of price the Avalanche did because while Colorado had a clear, urgent need to replace its No. 1 in net, Carolina believes strongly in its No. 1 goalie, Pyotr Kochetkov.
But what the Canes have been calling teams about for several weeks now is insurance in goal. And I believe they would have traded for a goalie by now had a willing trade partner materialized.
With Blackwood off the market, other goalies on the Canes’ radar include Utah’s Karel Vejmelka, the Ottawa Senators’ Anton Forsberg and the Calgary Flames’ Dan Vladar — all pending UFAs. But those teams aren’t in selling mode yet and some may not be at all depending on how their respective seasons go. They all are still in playoff races at this point. If any of them are willing to move those goalies, though, I believe Carolina would be willing to make a deal at any time.
Another name on Carolina’s radar is John Gibson — at the right price and certainly with the Ducks retaining salary. But it sounds like Anaheim has a higher price on Gibson than Carolina would be willing to pay right now. So I don’t see that happening unless that changes.
Mackenzie Blackwood has a .937 save percentage so far for the Avalanche and could earn an extension. (Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
Avs-Blackwood
It is pretty rare for a Stanley Cup contender to swap out both of its goaltenders before Christmas, and it’s certainly not what the Avalanche had in mind a month ago, but they felt the urgency to address their woeful goaltending.
Part of the decision to act this early in the season, especially when it comes to new No. 1 Blackwood, was the Avs’ belief that they had to jump the queue and get ahead of the other teams circling around San Jose on the goalie, notably Carolina.
But there’s another important reason for the early move: The Avs may have interest in making it a long-term relationship with Blackwood — and if they’re going to extend the pending UFA before July 1, they wanted as many games as possible to judge his performance before making that commitment. So waiting until March 7 didn’t make sense from that vantage point.
(Top photo of Ivan Provorov: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
