B 12 O THEGLOBEANDMAIL | WEDNESDAY,SEPTEMBER11,
P.
K. Subban doesn’t want to
give advice to all the un-
signed young players
around the NHL. He just vividly
remembers his own experience
as a restricted free agent.
Before he signed a short,
“bridge” contract, he took some
motherly advice.
“My mom picked up the phone
and called me and said: ‘P.K., lis-
ten, you’re young still. You have
lots of time. If you’re ready to go
and play, go play,’ ” Subban re-
called. “And I went and played,
and won the Norris Trophy.”
Almost a dozen prominent re-
stricted free agents remain un-
signed on the eve of training
camps around the league, and
several situations threaten to lin-
ger into the season, as Subban’s
did in 2013 and Toronto’s William
Nylander’s did a year ago. Nylan-
der’s Maple Leafs teammate
Mitch Marner, Tampa Bay’s Bray-
den Point, Philadelphia’s Ivan
Provorov and Travis Konecny,
Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen, Bos-
ton’s Charlie McAvoy and Bran-
don Carlo and Winnipeg’s Patrik
Laine and Kyle Connor could all
be conspicuously absent when
camps open this week.
“Everybody’s waiting on some-
body to make a move,” Toronto
centre Auston Matthews said.
“I’m surprised there’s lots of guys.
It’s not just [Marner]. You’ve got a
lot of really good players that
aren’t signed yet. I guess everybo-
dy’s just kind of playing the wait-
ing game.”
Dominoes could start to fall
after Columbus signed restricted
free-agent defenceman Zach
Werenski to a US$15-million,
three-year deal and New Jersey
gave forward Pavel Zacha
US$6.75-million over three years.
The salary cap is a concern:
Toronto will have to use long-
term injury allowance to get Mar-
ner under contract, Tampa Bay
has less than US$9-million in cap
space for Point, Boston is roughly
US$7-million under with McAvoyand Carlo unsigned and Winni-
peg has US$15-million for both
Laine and Connor.
“Everybody’s got room to do
what they need to do,” NHL com-
missioner Gary Bettman said.
“You’re not looking at situations
where the restricted free agents
haven’t been made substantial
offers. It’s they and their agents
want more. I respect that.”
NHL Players’ Association exec-
utive director Don Fehr said he
would like all those players to
have the contracts they want, but
acknowledged, “That’s not prob-
ably the world we live in.” The
continuing contract stalemates
have sparked plenty of questions
about the lack of rights for re-
stricted free agents and the trend
toward younger players wanting
to cash in on their second con-
tracts.
“The team has you in a certain
situation where you have no
rights, so you don’t have much of
a say,” Boston defenceman Torey
Krug said. “That’s how it’s set up.
Those guys will make their big
bucks later on or whatever. It’s
just how it works.”
Krug said, “If you just look at
the star power, it’s potentially
damaging to some teams” if theycan’t get their restricted free
agents signed in time for the start
of the season. Nylander missed
the first two months last season
when contract talks were at an
impasse. Things could also drag
out with Marner and others.
“Every player just wants a deal
that they think that they de-
serve,” Nylander said. “There’s
always going back and forth, and
sometimes there’s no talking at
all. ... It’s always a tough process.
In the end, it’ll work out for both
sides.”
It didn’t work out between Ed-
monton and restricted free-agent
forward Jesse Puljujarvi, who
took his talents back to Finland
for the season. Zacha was in talks
to play in the KHL before signing
with the Devils on Tuesday.
The overseas route is far more
common for European players,
but is often considered a last re-
sort. If Laine plays anywhere but
Winnipeg or Connor stays home,
it affects everything for the Jets.
“Everyone wants them back,”
forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. “If we
don’t have those two guys for the
whole season, which I don’t think
is going to happen, then it does
change our team a little bit be-
cause then we’ve lost a lot of play-ers. As of right now, I obviously
see them coming back, hopefully
coming to camp, but coming back
to our team, and then it’s looking
good.”
The Bruins without McAvoy
and Carlo and the Flyers without
Provorov and Konecny are in a
similar spot. Boston could be
without half of its top four on
defence.
“It doesn’t bother us,” goalten-
der Tuukka Rask said. “I think it’s
more for the general managers
and coaches, that you don’t know
what’s going to happen.”
Based on his own experience,
Krug said, he thinks it can be a
distraction not to have key play-
ers in camp. He also believes what
players are doing in their down-
time matters.
“Are they still training, or are
they sitting there pouting and
wondering, ‘When am I going to
sign, and when do I actually have
to get serious and ramp things
up?’ ” he said. “It’s a different cir-
cumstance for all players. [But]
once you show up, the contract’s
over with and you just start play-
ing.”
Whenever that happens to be.THEASSOCIATEDPRESSBignamesstillunsignedasNHLcampsopen
‘Everybody’sjustkind
ofplayingthewaiting
game’ashigh-profile
freeagentsthreatento
holdoutforthedeals
theyfeeltheydeserve
STEPHENWHYNO
C
hris Stewart’s bags were packed.
Minus any suitable NHL offers last summer, the
big forward was ready to pull up stakes and head to
Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League in hopes of
resurrecting his career.
Then he got cold feet.
“I just heard too many horror stories, so when it came
down to actually going I backed out last minute,” said Stew-
art, who had signed on with HC Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia.
“It just didn’t feel right.”
After some time away from the game, that change of heart
led the Toronto native and veteran of nearly 700 NHL games
down an even less-travelled path – Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey
League.
Stewart, who turns 32 in October, wound up inking a deal
with the Nottingham Panthers, putting up six goals and 13
points in 23 games.
“The fans definitely loved their beers,” he said with a
laugh. “They had all their soccer chants going. The hockey is
better than I expected. It was fun just to play in a stress-free
environment, handle the puck and score some goals.
“It was a step in the right direction and was phase one of
the plan for making my comeback. I was thankful to get the
opportunity. Now we’re moving on to phase two.”
That started with a recommitment to training this
summer in his hometown with Biosteel founder Matt Nichol
alongside a host of NHLers and other professional and junior
players.
Stewart – who has 160
goals, 321 points and 729
penalty minutes in 652
career regular-season
NHL games over 10 sea-
sons with six franchises- then saw an opening
with the Philadelphia
Flyers, agreeing to a pro-
fessional tryout (PTO)
in July.
Never shy about
throwing his weight
around, the 6-foot-2,
242-pound winger – who
has six goals and 11
points in 39 playoff
games – says he is keen
to make an impression when training camp opens later this
week.
“It kind of just happened by chance,” said Stewart, one of
16 players across the NHL on PTOs. “Once I saw [the Flyers]
got rid of Wayne Simmonds, Dale Weise and traded Radko
Gudas, they didn’t have a lot of physicality in their lineup.”
Plenty of familiar faces didn’t hurt either.
Stewart signed his most recent NHL contract with the
Minnesota Wild back in 2016, when Flyers general manager
Chuck Fletcher was in charge. He was also put on waivers by
Fletcher in February, 2018, before getting scooped up by the
Calgary Flames.
“Things didn’t work out the way I wanted in Minnesota,”
said Stewart, who had just 45 points (25 goals, 20 assists) in
146 games with the club.
Flyers assistant coach Ian Laperrière, meanwhile, is a
member of the newly hired Alain Vigneault’s staff and played
for the Colorado Avalanche when Stewart was a rookie on the
team in 2008-09. “If anyone knows me as a player, it’s defi-
nitely those guys,” the 18th pick in the 2006 draft said.
Stewart said even though hockey is trending toward
smaller, quicker players, there’s still a need for size and
strength – as long as they can skate.
“As much as the game’s changed, you look at the Stanley
Cup final and the last two winners, they’re both physical
teams,” he said. “Come playoff time, you definitely need a
couple guys in your lineup that bring that sandpaper and can
wear teams down. On top of that, I’m confident in my offen-
sive abilities. My last year in the league, I had 10 goals in 50
games on the fourth line playing 11 minutes.
“I can skate with these young guys. I’m a big guy, I can
move. I’m going into Philly to make some noise.”
But the thought did cross Stewart’s mind last season that
his NHL life might be over. If that was the case, he says he
wasn’t going to lose any sleep.
It will be an uphill battle to make the Flyers – players on
PTOs are without contracts and promised nothing – but he’s
eager to give it one more shot.
“I’m very comfortable in my own skin,” Stewart said. “I
played 10 years in the NHL. I’d give anything to have an 11th,
but if I don’t, is that going to make me feel any less success-
ful? I don’t think so. I wanted to put my best foot forward and
have one last summer of giving everything I had.
“Whatever happens in October, I’m willing to live with it.”
THECANADIANPRESSStewarthopesforNHL
comebackwithFlyers
JOSHUACLIPPERTONThen-Calgary FlameChris Stewart.
SERGEIBELSKI/USATODAYSPORTSOn Tuesday, Bruneau recalled
how Andreescu’s self-assurance
was put to the test backstage
about half an hour before the
match was about to start, when
Williams entered and began
warming up in the same spot
Andreescu had favoured all tour-
nament.
While some members of
Andreescu’s team wanted to ask
her if she wanted to move, Bru-
neau was adamant that she stick
to her spot, and the two warmed
up side-by-side.
“We spent a lot of time making
sure she was not going to be in-
timidated, so we’re not going to
start right before the match to
give her the spot for warm-up,”
he said. In the end, he says he
believes it made a difference.
“Serena, there’s an aura
around her,” Bruneau said. “Hon-
estly, she’s a legend. But you can-
not back off.”
While the team had originally
planned an earlier return to play,
Bruneau said Andreescu’s sched-
ule was changed to give her more
time to recover and “come down”
from her U.S. Open high.
She will meet the media in To-
ronto on Wednesday before be-
ginning training for the Beijing
Open, which is part of the sport’s
top level of events below Grand
Slams such as the U.S. Open. Beij-
ing is one of four Premier Manda-
tory tournaments on schedule.
Bruneau says Andreescu also
hopes to qualify for the season-
ending WTA Finals, Oct. 27
through Nov. 3 in Shenzhen, Chi-
na.
Andreescu is fourth in the
standings for the Finals. The top
eight qualify for the event.THECANADIANPRESSAccordingtocoachSylvainBruneau,seeninMontrealonTuesday,somechangewillbeinevitableforBianca
Andreescu,whowillneveragainentertournamentsasanunderdog.PAULCHIASSON/THECANADIANPRESS
Andreescu:Player’steaminitiallyplannedforan
earlierreturn,butchosetomaketimeforrecovery
FROMB 11HIROSHIMA,JAPANCanadian
qualifierLeylahAnnieFernandez
lost6-7(2),7-6(5),7-5toJapan’s
NaoHibinointhefirstroundof
theJapanOpenonTuesday.
Fernandez,a17-year-oldfrom
Laval,Que.,wontwomatches
earlierthisyearagainstworldNo.
146HibinoatsmallerCanadian
events.
TheFrenchOpenjunior
championthisyear,Fernandez
servedforthematchagainst
Hibinoat5-4inboththesecond
andthirdsets,butcouldn’tfinish
itoff.Thematchlasted2hours
54minutes.
THECANADIANPRESSANNIEFERNANDEZ
FALLSTOHIBINO
ATJAPANOPENOTTAWAAfter finishing at the
bottom of the standings last
season, the Ottawa Senators are
optimistic they can surprise a
few people this year.
With a new coaching staff led
by former Toronto Maple Leafs
assistant D.J. Smith, along with a
handful of other fresh faces, the
Senators are eager to get started
at training camp later this week.
“[A fresh start] might have
been something we needed here
after two years that didn’t go the
way we wanted,” veteran for-
ward Jean-Gabriel Pageau said at
the club’s annual preseason golf
tournament on Tuesday. “To
have that fresh start and go in
and know the guys, get to know
the coaches and starting on a
new page will be very good for
us here.”
Talk of a rebuild began ear-
nestly last season after the Sen-
ators parted ways with Erik
Karlsson, Mark Stone, Matt
better than we’ve been the last
two years.”
A key contributor will be
defenceman Thomas Chabot,
who had a breakout season last
season with 14 goals and 41
assists.
It appears Zaitsev will start
the season on Chabot’s right
side, but Smith said Dylan
DeMelo and Ron Hainsey could
also see time there.
Chabot is entering the final
year of his entry-level contract,
and Dorion said talks continue
to try to get him to sign an
extension.
Once again, the Senators will
play without a captain, as they
will select three players to act as
alternates.
This year’s camp will feature
62 players – a larger number
than in many previous years – as
Smith looks to create a compet-
itive environment.
THECANADIANPRESSDuchene and Ryan Dzingel, and
culminated with the firing of
coach Guy Boucher late in the
year.
During the off-season, the
Senators hired Smith as the new
coach and signed veteran free
agents Ron Hainsey and Tyler
Ennis, both formerly with the
Leafs. Ottawa acquired Connor
Brown and Nikita Zaitsev from
Toronto in exchange for Ben
Harpur and Cody Ceci, while
also landing Artem Anisimov in
a trade with Chicago for veteran
Zack Smith.
General manager Pierre Do-
rion says he is excited to see
how the changes will play out
on the ice.
“I think [this group] is ready
for a new challenge,” Dorion
said. “D.J. has spoken to every
one of the players that are fight-
ing for spots, and they know
what’s expected of them and
they know we have to be muchSENATORSANTICIPATEFRESHSTARTWITHNEWFACESAFTEROFF-SEASONOFCHANGE
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