NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 13, 2020
In today’s NHL morning coffee headlines, the Stars are within a game of reaching the Stanley Cup Final, Lou Lamoriello is GM of the Year, an update on Brayden Point, and the Canadiens acquire Joel Edmundson from the Hurricanes.
NHL.COM: The Dallas Stars are one game away from the Stanley Cup Final after edging the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Final. Anton Khudobin made 32 saves for the win while teammates Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn were the goal scorers. Alec Martinez tallied for the Golden Knights.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Khudobin flat out stole this game for the Stars, who were outshot 33-20 in this contest and outplayed for long stretches by the Golden Knights. He’s been Dallas’ most valuable player throughout this postseason and has to be considered among the leading candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy.
New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello is this season’s winner of the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award. The off-season signings of Semyon Varlamov and Derrick Brassard, re-signings of Anders Lee, Anthony Beauvillier, Jordan Eberle and Brock Nelson, and acquisitions of Andy Greene and Jean-Gabriel Pageau were cited as factors in Lamoriello receiving the award.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lamoriello has his critics but there’s no question his moves ensured the Islanders remained a playoff club this season. His wheeling and dealing also got the Isles to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 1993.
The Tampa Bay Lightning could be without first-line center Brayden Point for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Islander. Point left Game 2 with an undisclosed injury and missed Game 3. He participated in practice yesterday.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Don’t be surprised if Point is a game-day decision.
MONTREAL GAZETTE: The Canadiens yesterday acquired defenseman Joel Edmundson from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2020. Edmundson, 27, is slated to become an unrestricted free agent on Oct. 9.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I expect the Habs will re-sign Edmundson, who earned $3.1 million on a one-year contract this season. They like his size and physical play on the left side of their blueline. This move leaves the Canadiens with 11 picks in this year’s draft.
If Edmundson is re-signed, it could set the stage for another move or two by the Habs. I have more on that in the rumors sections.
Boy, Khudobin is surging to the top of this year’s class of UFA goalies with each passing game he literally steals from the potent Golden Knights.
And, therein, lies the conundrum, not only for the Stars (do they try and re-sign him?) but also any team looking to dip into the UFA deep pool of goalies. Because, just how much do you invest – in cap and term – in a goalie just turned 34 who’s coming off a cap hit of $2.5 mil?
Starting to wonder if it’s the goalies or Vagas can’t score or maybe a combination of both.
Seem moving from Toronto to NYI wasn’t an issue for Lou.
Nice pickup by MTL resigning for multiple years shouldn’t be an issue. Habs are trending.
I know one thing … it ain’t doing Pengy’s playoff pool any good!
Habs are a middle of the pack team they need to make a decision stay the course or move some older players for picks and prospects. To me the latter makes most sense but hey what do I know. Not sure they make playoffs next year some team would need to stumble bad.
Good point. The Habs need to do one or the other. If they decide to rebuild, they must trade guys like Tatar for picks and prospects. But if they believe they can make the playoffs next season, they have to bring in a scoring winger. The problem the last couple of years is that Bergevin has done neither.
True, Howard, Berry hasn’t brought in a top tier scorer. In part because of the difficulty in bringing in UFAs to Montreal ( he’d have to overpay to compensate for the tax challenges), and in part because Montreal is on so many no trade lists. Perhaps this off season a flat cap might make the Habs competitive.
A big problem is also that many free agents don’t have confidence in Bergevins ability to build a contending team.