Adam Proteau gives his take on early attendance issues in Winnipeg and Buffalo, Kevin Labanc's status on the Sharks and the wait in Ottawa to free up room for Shane Pinto. Welcome back to Screen Shots, a regular THN.com feature in which we tackle a few different hockey topics, and discuss them in a few short paragraphs. You know the routine by now, right? Let’s get on with the show:
There’s been some recent discussion on low attendance in certain NHL markets – in particular, Winnipeg, Buffalo and San Jose. The Jets have averaged only 12,052 fans – 80 percent of capacity – and their past two home games generated only 11,226 fans and 11,521 fans. It's not ideal, obviously, but it’s not something Jets supporters can shy away from. But Winnipeg isn’t the only team with attendance issues. The Sabres had a sell out in their first home game on Tuesday, but two nights later, only 12,598 fans were in the building. Their average capacity through those two games is 78.1 percent – the worst in the league. For a team that’s extremely exciting like the Sabres, it has to be alarming to Buffalo management and ownership that fans aren’t clamouring to be in the rink at every game, but there has to be an acknowledgment about the world we’re currently living in and the effect it has on selling tickets night in and night out. The Sharks aren’t much better than Winnipeg and Buffalo, but they’ve also had embarrassingly low attendance, including a game on Tuesday where only 10,378 people were in the seats. The Sharks are in a massive rebuild, and you can understand why long time San Jose supporters aren’t thrashing about trying to get their hands on tickets. Ultimately, fan support is a major factor in teams remaining in their current market. But the good news is NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has been a staunch supporter of financially troubled teams – the Arizona Coyotes are the best example of this in the past – and we don’t expect any of the Sabres, Jets and Sharks to relocate. But they have to admit ticket prices may be too dear for some people in our current economy and adjust their expectations accordingly. The optics of empty buildings are troubling, but franchise values continue to rise drastically for good reason: business on the whole is still very good, so attendance isn't the biggest issue at the board of governors level. If the Jets, Sabres and Sharks continue to struggle to sell tickets, there may be a day of reckoning down the line. But for now, it’s all about putting out an entertaining product at the proper price points. The on-ice challenge of winning is paramount, but very close behind it is the business of the game, and it will be intriguing to see what the aforementioned franchises do to fill the rinks for every game. Another situation in San Jose this week took place when veteran winger Kevin Labanc was rumoured to be put on waivers by Sharks GM Mike Grier. That rumour did not end up happening, but it speaks to Labanc’s tentative status as a member of the Sharks. The 27-year-old Labanc – who is San Jose’s fourth-highest-paid forward at $4.725 million, per PuckPedia – was a healthy scratch for the first three games of the Sharks’ season, and he made his debut this year on Thursday. Labanc will be a UFA next summer, and that may make him especially attractive as an asset for teams looking to cut down on their salary cap commitments. Labanc amassed 18 assists and 33 points in 72 games last season, a major drop from his career-high 39 assists and 56 points in 2018-19. But on a better team, he could return to producing that amount of offence. Let’s face it, the Sharks will be talent-challenged for quite some time to come, and Grier will almost assuredly cut ties with Labanc this year. But we think Grier will hold out on moving Labanc until the trade deadline when teams will be more desperate for a pure rental asset like Labanc. His days in San Jose could be numbered, but it may take a few more months before the team and player part ways. Finally, let’s return to another player currently struggling to be an NHL player – Senators forward Shane Pinto, who remains on the sidelines without a contract. Pinto has next-to-no leverage at the moment, and the capped-out Sens do not have the space to sign him. If Ottawa was at the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings, Senators GM Pierre Dorion would have more pressure and urgency to alter the roster and find a way to bring in the talented, young Pinto. However, so long as the Sens keep playing well with three straight wins heading into Saturday, they hold the hammer in contract negotiations. How do we see the Pinto situation unfolding? We’re guessing that, in the next couple of weeks, Dorion does make a trade allowing Pinto to sign a one- or two-year contract at about $2 million per season. That’s not what the Senators have done with most of their other key young players – virtually all of Ottawa’s core are signed to lengthy contracts – but the eventual cap crunch makes Pinto’s saga different. For now, the Sens are in control of matters, but they need to figure out a way to bring Pinto back into the fold and keep him interested in playing for the organisation for the long term. It’s a balancing act of sorts, and right now, Pinto isn’t even at a point where he’s on the wire. But that could change, and relatively soon. Should Ottawa struggle, the cries for Pinto will increase, but while the Senators are winning many more games than they’re losing, there’s no impetus to bring him back.
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