NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 12, 2021

by | Aug 12, 2021 | News, NHL | 28 comments

Elias Pettersson wants to play for a winner, Sam Reinhart re-signs with the Panthers and the Jets avoid arbitration with Neal Pionk. Details and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

THE PROVINCE: In an interview with a Swedish hockey publication, Elias Pettersson said he wants to stay in Vancouver but also wants to play for a winning team that has a chance to go deep in the playoffs every year.

VANCOUVER, CANADA – Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson (NHL Images).

I feel like we’ve got a chance to do that next year,” said Pettersson. “If we have that chance when my next deal expires…I don’t know. I just want a chance to play where there’s a chance of winning.”

A restricted free agent, Pettersson’s contract negotiations with the Canucks are ongoing. The two sides are reportedly still not close to a deal.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pettersson’s remarks raised concerns on social media among Canucks fans concerned over the club’s direction under general manager Jim Benning. It’s even sparked some fear he’ll get an offer sheet from a rival club. That appears unlikely given the Canucks have sufficient cap space to match any offer plus the high rate of compensation they would receive if they opted not to match.

It’s believed Pettersson and the Canucks are currently discussing a long-term deal. Nevertheless, it’s fair to speculate whether the Canucks would have difficulty convincing Pettersson to re-sign before his next deal expires if the club is still spinning its wheels.

FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: The Panthers reached an agreement on a new contract with forward Sam Reinhart. It’s a three-year deal worth an annual average value of $6.5 million.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: A decent raise for Reinhart, who was recently acquired in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres. He earned $5.2 million last season on a one-year deal. Playing in a no-tax state like Florida likely contributed to his acceptance of that annual cap hit.

Reinhart, 25, is expected to skate at right wing on the Panthers’ top line alongside center Aleksander Barkov. He could provide a significant boost to their offensive depth as they look to take the next step toward Stanley Cup contention this season.

WINNIPEG SUN: The Jets avoided salary arbitration with Neal Pionk, reaching an agreement with the 26-year-old defenseman on a four-year contract worth an annual salary-cap hit of $5.875 million. He earned $3.15 million annually on his previous deal.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pionk has become an invaluable top-four blueliner for the Jets since being acquired from the New York Rangers two years ago. He’ll either play alongside Josh Morrisey on the first pairing or with recently acquired Brenden Dillon on the second pairing.

The Jets still have an upcoming arbitration hearing with forward Andrew Copp. He earned $2.28 million annually on his previous contract. Cap Friendly indicates the club is already over $2.1 million above the salary cap, though they’ll get some relief by placing Bryan Little ($5.29 million) on long-term injury reserve this season.

NEW YORK POST: Henrik Lundqvist could attempt an NHL comeback once he receives full medical clearance. The 39-year-old unrestricted free agent goaltender missed all of last season recovering from heart surgery.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: Former NHL star Jaromir Jagr appears poised for another season with his hometown club of Kladno in the Czech Republic. The 49-year-old helped his hometown team become champion of the second division in 2020-21 and return to the Extraliga for this season.







28 Comments

  1. Elias for Eichel

    Bueller?
    Bueller?

    • if I’m Vancouver … nyet

      • That would be….nej

    • ‘wants to play for a winning team that has a chance to go deep in the playoffs every year.’

      Buffalo nope

    • That would be a no.

  2. So I get it’s a team sport. But if you are asking to be paid like a star shouldn’t you expect yourself to elevate the team to contender status? Or at least be a huge part of that?

    • I don’t think those two things are mutually exclusive,

      • Can’t tell if you agree or not. If one is asking to paid top dollar as a star, and star is a player who should elevate a team much closer to contender, then it seems they should own some of the responsibility for the team being a contender. That responsibility comes with the paycheck

    • By that standard, Matthews, Marner & Mcdavid are failures due to their salary cap hit and the lack of Success of their teams.

      • In a way …. Yes they are.

      • By that logic I guess they are in the same company as these bums:

        Bernie Nicholls
        Curtis Joseph
        Cam Neely
        peter Bondra
        Darryl Sittler
        Sedin twins
        Ryan Miller
        Dino ;The Flash’ Ciccarelli
        Phil Housley
        Jeremy Roenick
        Pierre Turgeon

        Many, many, many great players don’t win a cup. Their value isn’t dependant on whether they’ve won, and we’ve all seen many players overpaid because they’ve won a cup even if they aren’t a significant player or are playing above their heads because of a linemate. There are great individual players that never win because you can’t win on your own, seems to be a team game to me. You think Cam Neely didn’t elevate his team and earn his contract because he didn’t wina cup?

      • You only listed cup non winners George. Petterson only said contender. Also how many of those players are quoted as saying they want to be on a contender while asking for Buku bucks?

      • Well Chris, not surprised you misunderstood the post since you didn’t even get my name right. Yes he said contenders, then you and Mike had a discussion where you literally called players like Matthews,Marner and McDavid failures, so I guess the players I listed are failures as well.

      • Autocorrect is a fun tool.

      • I see your point gee wid. Let me rephrase. I don’t recall any of those players publicly stating they wanted to be on a contender during negotiations.

      • That’s rephrasing? They’re failures…I mean, they never said they wanted to play for a contender and asked for a lot of money. It’s not the same thing, calling Matthews, Marner and McDavid failures at anylevel is patently ridiculous, let me fail like that. I suppose your career has been wildly more successful than McDavid? Sorry, let me rephrase that, you’ve never asked for a raise AND wanted to work at a good place?

        I’m half-joking, but seriously that was a bit much. And the flash is a great nickname for Dino.

      • Gee wilickers bud. You came out swinging today buddy. With your raise and work thing…if I publicly demanded that my company do well and also demanded a big raise I would hope I would have some feeling of personal responsibility for the company’s success. And if the company didn’t succeed I would consider it a bit of a personal failure.

      • I came out swinging? You called Connor McDavid a failure because some other guy wanted more money. I know you rephrase that a couple times but I just don’t get the logic. Agree to disagree I guess, I think he’s done pretty well for himself which is good for the team, at least I thought so. Maybe when he can strap that team on his back and win the Stanley Cup he won’t be such a failure. would be nice if one day his parents and the fans could be proud of him.

  3. It will be MOST interesting to see how the final lineup looks for all the NHL teams. Everyone with a new contract receives a raise of $1mil+!

    Well, not everyone because that’s just not possible if a team spent to the cap last year so that means some player/s have to go.

    So now we’re back to seeing the MOST interesting final lineups as we wonder if there will be a team with 9 players at $9 million in the future? That’s called “up close to the cap.”

    Would they shorten the benches and install ultimate prime seats at the highest ticket price?

    • Nasdaq40,

      The flip side of $9 million players is the tightening of contracts at the lower level, the role players.

      I’m interested to see how many good bargain basement contract players will be plucked off waivers this year.

  4. We’ll earned deal for Neal Pionk, who has proven to be a top pairing d-man for Jets. Jets should have spent Stastny’s money on Copp. They continue to waste cash on depreciating assets.

  5. Panthers sitting very good…. Kudos abound to Zito

    The roster mix looks very good; right now at $1.3 M UNDER the cap…. But that is for 25 players (including 3 goalies)…. So opening roster (which has to be no more than 23) will have them close to $3M in space

    If Bobo plays even at 75% of his Cap hit; and the youngster plays at his capability…. Panthers should be battling for first in Atl Div

    Can MLSE or Mario please negotiate with Vinny V to trade GMs

  6. I seem to remember John Tavares saying something similar to what Elias Pettersson in saying now.

    Evander Kane is the only player who can predict which team is going to win. Perhaps, Pettersson should be happy to be playing in one of the world’s most beautiful places. If the hockey gods smile equally on all teams, his team will win the prize once every 32 years, maybe while he is still playing.

    • Hi Francis

      Re “ If the hockey gods smile equally on all teams, his team will win the prize once every 32 years, maybe while he is still playing.”…. This Leafs fan would absolutely love a Cup every 32 years… 5 1/2 decades stinks😡🤬💩

      equal karma and complete parody would have odds at any Canadian franchise winning about 7 in about the last 3 decades… 1 (Habs in ‘93) in 32 years …. 😢…. and yes I remember the 7 straight ‘84 through ‘90…. just hoping for a Leafs cup in the next 10 years🙏🤞

      • Pengy–The Leaf’s problem may be honoring false gods. Did they think they were getting the God of War when they signed Tav Ares?

    • I didn’t read anywhere where he said he wasn’t happy.

  7. Firstly, much ado … ever heard a professional athlete say they don’t care about winning?

    But this is a tough one for the Canucks. Pettersson has undeniable talent but he is 6’2 and listed at 176 pounds. If you have ever seen him interviewed out of uniform you can see he could hide behind his stick shaft. He missed a significant amount of games last season and IMO is not built for the toll that comes with playoffs following an 82 game schedule.

    The Canucks can’t afford to not sign him but take on a risk with a long term, expensive contract.