Amazon doc is legit, no easy fix to LTIR loophole, and 5 other NHL items

"That's not good enough! It's the finals! Dig in!! RIGHT NOW!!!"

The trailer for "FACEOFF: Inside The NHL," the upcoming Amazon Prime Video docuseries about the NHL and some of its top players, runs for one minute and 54 seconds. But six seconds in particular - the usually robotic Connor McDavid reaming out his Oilers teammates during the 2024 Stanley Cup Final - is all anyone cared about when the trailer dropped this week.

On the ice. Off the record. The new series FACEOFF: Inside the NHL premieres October 4th globally on Prime Video. pic.twitter.com/C2hDSosQO6

— NHL (@NHL) September 23, 2024

Those six seconds reveal more about McDavid's psyche than nine seasons of cliche-heavy interviews. It's a literal peek behind the curtain - an intensely private moment made public and theatricalized. In the full episode, the tension-filled scene in the Oilers' room runs closer to a minute.

"You'll watch him in this series, and I guarantee you, after watching six episodes, you'll have a completely different opinion of who he is and what he's about and how meaningful it is to win," NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer said at an event in Toronto promoting multiple Amazon-NHL programs.

"Raw" is the one word league executives and others involved in the production kept uttering on and off the record Monday. The NHL has finally invested in what fans want out of behind-the-scenes sports documentaries: unfiltered emotion, uncomfortable interactions, imperfection.

Previous NHL docs, like 2021's "All Or Nothing" series on the Maple Leafs or the various shows built around the Winter Classic, have been too careful. Some of the best scenes never saw the light of day because someone - say, a team executive - didn't want to deal with the extra attention it might create.

"FACEOFF" was produced by the company behind "Drive to Survive," "Break Point," and "Full Swing" on Netflix. Those shows work because they create three-dimensional characters out of their human subjects - which is exactly what the NHL is hoping this series can do for McDavid and his peers.

I've seen the entirety of Episode 1, which centers around the friendship and rivalry of Toronto's William Nylander and Boston's David Pastrnak. It's highly entertaining and, at times, riveting. It reminds me of the first episode of "Full Swing," which chronicled the rise of PGA buddies Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.

All six episodes of "FACEOFF" will be available globally on Prime Video as of next Friday. The other programs unveiled by the NHL and Amazon this week - NHL Coast To Coast and Monday Night Hockey - debut on Prime Video on Oct. 10 and Oct. 14, respectively. NHL Coast To Coast, hosted by Andi Petrillo every Thursday night, promises to be hockey's version of NFL RedZone.

Rogers' landmark 12-year Canadian TV rights deal expires following the 2025-26 season. Clearly, Amazon will be a major player at the negotiating table.

No easy fix to LTIR 'loophole'

The use of long-term injured reserve, mixed with the elimination of the salary cap come playoff time, has led to a few timely returns over the past decade. Famously, Stanley Cup winners Patrick Kane, Nikita Kucherov, and Mark Stone were all activated off LTIR after Game 82 of the regular season.

"I'd like to think the integrity of the teams and (players) are in the right place. But it's definitely unfortunate when you're playing a team that's $15 million over the cap," Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon said in early September at the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. "But, yeah, it is what it is," MacKinnon added about the legal, totally awkward LTIR loophole.

"It's a touchy subject in the league right now, I feel like," Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. "If you're using it, you like it. If you're not ... "

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly has spoken with all 32 general managers, and a "majority" of them would like the league "to continue to consider making some kind of adjustment that would alleviate some of the concerns." That's much easier said than done, of course, with any potential amendment to the collective bargaining agreement subject to NHL Players' Association approval. A more likely outcome is that the issue becomes part of the next CBA negotiations. (The current CBA expires Sept. 15, 2026.)

Maybe down the road teams will be forced to stay under the salary cap for the playoffs. Or maybe a less dramatic change will be made - one or two tweaks.

"There's probably some tinkering around that they could do with the rule," Suzuki said. "I don't know what that is, but I feel like it's definitely given teams a huge advantage. Sometimes you luck into it and other times it seems like it might be a strategy. I'm not in the medical room, so I don't really know what's going on with those teams. It could be all fair. Who knows."

Suzuki hits on an essential part of the issue: Most injuries are open to some form of interpretation. There's a lot of gray area. A player can be hurt and play through it, hurt and volunteer to sit out, or hurt and be told to sit out.

This can lead to vague return dates that can be stretched out, if necessary.

"I've heard a theory where you have to play the last game of the regular season to play in the first round. Maybe that can help," MacKinnon said.

Pinto primed for breakout

At this point last year, Shane Pinto was an unsigned restricted free agent. Not a month later, the Senators center was suspended 41 games for "activities relating to sports wagering." He chose to not appeal the NHL's punishment.

"It was a blessing in disguise in a sense," Pinto, 23, said at the player media tour. The consequences of a long suspension, he added, "taught me not to take things for granted. It can be taken away from you pretty quickly."

Pinto shed light on the situation during a July appearance on the "Empty Netters" podcast, saying he had U.S.-based friends place online bets on his behalf while he was living in Canada. A sports betting operator and league partner flagged his account, which led to an investigation and the suspension.

"I won't go into detail about that. I just didn't know any better," Pinto said when asked in Vegas about the sequence of events. (For the record, the league said in a press release that Pinto never bet on NHL games.)

Pinto signed a two-year, $7.5-million contract extension this offseason following a strong showing in the second half of last season (54-point pace over 82 games) and at the world championships (nine points in eight contests).

The shaky health of fellow center Josh Norris - who's undergone three surgeries on the same shoulder - offers an incredible opportunity for Pinto. He can snatch the second-line center role at five-on-five and potentially work his way onto the top power-play and penalty-kill units. Put another way, the Senators are desperate for a consistent two-way presence down the middle.

The desperation extends beyond center. Ottawa hasn't made the playoffs in seven seasons, and although a mini offseason makeover raises the floor of this squad, for the most part the 2024-25 Sens will go as far as their core - led by Brady Tkachuk, 25, and Tim Stutzle, 22 - and head coach Travis Green take them.

"There's been a lot of distractions for us," Pinto said. "This year is the first year where there's nothing leading up to training camp. No real annoyances or new ownership. We're steady. We have stability now."

"It's time," he added, "for us to become men this year."

Quick hits

Mack attack: Those in Macklin Celebrini's inner circle insist 2024's top pick and Sharks rookie is the most driven young athlete you'll ever meet. "He truly lives the game. On a mission. You can feel the intensity when you're around him," texted one confidant. Where did that next-level single-mindedness come from? "It's something my parents ingrained in me when I was young," Celebrini told theScore. "If you want to do something, do it to the best of your ability. Don't do it with half your energy or half as good as you could do it. For me, that's how I looked at it: If I really wanted to do this, and this was my passion, why not give my all? Why not give everything I can to succeed?"

Berube's rep: Craig Berube finished his playing career with 3,149 penalty minutes. The new Maple Leafs bench boss gives off similar no-nonsense vibes as a coach. Yet, behind the scenes, Berube's unquestionably a "player's coach," according to Blues forward Robert Thomas. Berube, who coached Thomas for five-plus seasons, checks off two key boxes: He's an all-around honest person, and he's a straight shooter. Players trust him. "Out of all the coaches I've had, he's probably the most available," Thomas said. "He's walking around the locker room talking to guys - not about hockey, (but) about life, how you're feeling, how you're doing. I think he gets to know everyone on a personal level. That allows him to really get the best out of guys."

Miro love: Connor Bedard wasn't eased into the NHL last year. The Calder Trophy winner logged more than 15 total five-on-five minutes (roughly a full game's worth for Bedard) against each of Cale Makar, Drew Doughty, Roman Josi, Jaccob Slavin, and Josh Morrissey - some of the world's top defensemen. Asked in early September which blue-liner was most difficult to face, Bedard paused for a beat before landing on the Stars' Miro Heiskanen. "He covers so much ice," Bedard, 19, said. "It feels like he takes three strides and he's all the way up the ice. He's someone who really pops out to me."

Neck guards: Oct. 28 will mark one year since Adam Johnson's death. The former NHLer was cut by another player's skate blade in a game in England. Starting this season, AHL players must wear cut-resistant neck protection. The NHL is "moving in that direction" too, Daly said in early September. The league has proposed mandatory neck protection to the players' association, but it's a nuanced issue. "NHL players don't want to be told, necessarily, what to do and what not to do, particularly when it could affect performance on some basis. They're not going to jump into allowing us to make it mandatory," Daly said of the union's say in the matter. "But I think they're working constructively with us to at least make the players aware of the benefits of protecting themselves better than they have in the past."

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.