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With the Capitals losing to Buffalo last night and the Islanders winning, the race to the end is still fascinating. With an Isles fan drop in who wanted to focus on points%, here is the breakdown. The Islanders at 81 points in 75 games sit at .540, Philly at 83 points in 76 games sit at .546, the Wings at 82 points in 75 games sit at .547 and Washington with 82 points in 74 games sits at .554. Extended out, this could end up being Philly and Detroit battling for the final spot with the Islanders close behind (according to using points% as the gauge). This was some fan service, but I wanted to address a previous criticism.
As the season winds down, many of you are focused on free agents you may or may not want back. I’m going to try and sum up where many of you seem to be at.
David Perron - can still make the power play work, but at 35 it may be time to allow him to move on.
Patrick Kane - if there’s any chance of getting him again, get him. I don’t recall any negativity on that potential re signing.
Daniel Sprong - several of you are unhappy with his lack of usage and would like to see him back.
Christian Fischer - not a lot of discussion. You’ll have to let me know in the comments. Likely a depth player some of you would like to see replaced with a prospect in the system.
Austin Czarnik - not a lot of discussion. Let me know your thoughts?
Shayne Gostisbehere - early season returns were very positive in terms of power play, not sure where everyone is at this point.
James Reimer - Lyon’s late season performances along with prospects may have made Reimer the odd man out.
*Vrana and Simek come off the books. Tomorrow we’ll talk about potential buyouts or try to trade candidates.
** - the following is coverage of what was expected to be a multi hour call of ESPN’s parent company held. Fair warning, this may not interest you but there were a couple of interesting points made and a very disturbing format that signals some weak corporate stances.
Last year, the shareholder call was an open format for Disney/ABC/ESPN. The questions asked by shareholders last year were at times a bit more “spicy” than expected as shareholders expressed frustration regarding performance issues.
This year’s call was expected to have some similar content as 4 to 5 lawsuits against the company came out before the meeting. Instead, a few questions were pre screened, read by an A.I. attendant instead of shareholders and answered in quick (almost scripted) succession. Two were focused on ESPN.
One - the future of the network. While ignoring the concern of the loss of the NBA it was simply restated that ESPN will be a stand alone streaming service in 2025 (no specific date)
Second - is ESPN committed to women’s sports? (Yes, that was the whole question). By hitting 12 million views in a single game the women’s collegiate March Madness outdrew many of the men’s games and all but one NBA playoff game last year (14 million views). For anyone who’s aware, the current collegiate “star” is leaving for either the WNBA (subsidized by the NBA) or potentially to the big 3 after a 5 million dollar offer that would destroy a WNBA salary but could also hurt the player’s long term success.
The way this call was done was a literal shock as shareholders wanted answers to fiduciary duties, the dwindling audiences for ESPN and streaming services was glossed over badly. We now have to wait to see what the NBA bid does. Here’s why that matters. Even though it is a pale comparison of its former glory, money wise this is still an important IP for the network. Currently drawing 2B in broadcast dollars, compare that to the 330m the NHL is receiving. The WNBA is asking for 100m which is apparently a raise. IF the NBA broadcast rights are taken by Apple, Amazon, Youtube or Netflix it may bear that the WNBA will follow. That leaves college basketball as the breadwinner as the network potentially loses 60 to 70% of viewers by leaving broadcast.
Legally, it’s unknown if the NHL can go back to the negotiation table for higher returns with a major platform switch. Bally allowed all franchises a small window to leave last year. That is all we have. We have heard the League’s desire for Toronto, Edmonton and New York to have deep runs. There are other very new economic factors that would be inappropriate to comment on at this time. You can DM me but it’s not something I’m comfortable blogging about.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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