NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 21, 2022
Recaps of Sunday’s action plus a roundup of overnight moves as the 3 pm ET trade deadline approaches in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev turned in a season-high 44-save shutout performance to blank the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0. Chris Kreider scored his 41st goal of the season while Frank Vatrano tallied his first goal as a Ranger since his acquisition last week from the Florida Panthers. The Hurricanes remain in first place in the Metropolitan Division with 88 points but the second-place Rangers are just three points behind them.
Alex Ovechkin reached the 40-goal plateau for the 12th time in his career but his Washington Capitals fell 3-2 to the Dallas Stars. Roope Hintz scored two goals for the Stars (72 points) as they move within one point of the Vegas Golden Knights for the final Western Conference wild-card berth. With 80 points, the Capitals remain one point behind the Boston Bruins, who hold the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Capitals defenseman John Carlson was injured in the final minutes of the game when he crashed into the end boards following a cross-check by Stars captain Jamie Benn. No update on his status following the game but Capitals coach Peter Laviolette considered it a dirty hit by Benn. We’ll find out soon enough if the league agrees with him.
Winnipeg Jets winger Kyle Connor scored a goal and collected three assists to lead his club to a 6-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Jansen Harkins scored twice for the Jets as they sit four points out of a Western wild-card spot with 68 points. Taylor Raddysh scored and picked up an assist for his first points with the Blackhawks since his recent acquisition from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
An overtime goal by Rasmus Dahlin lifted the Buffalo Sabres over the Vancouver Canucks 3-2, handing the latter their five loss in their last six games. J.T. Miller had a goal and an assist for the Canucks, who also sit four points out of the final Western wild-card berth.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canucks’ recent stumble could prompt management to make a more significant move before today’s trade deadline. They made a couple of minor moves yesterday by shipping Travis Hamonic to the Ottawa Senators and acquiring Travis Dermott from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Philadelphia Flyers center Kevin Hayes tallied two second-period goals in a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders, ending the latter’s points streak at six games. Islanders veterans Cal Clutterbuck and Andy Greene were held out of this game for “maintenance” reasons as both were banged up in recent games.
The San Jose Sharks tallied three unanswered third-period goals to double up the Arizona Coyotes 4-2. Noah Gregor had a goal and an assist while James Reimer made 23 saves for the win. Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes.
HEADLINES
PUCKPEDIA: has the full breakdown of Hampus Lindholm’s eight-year contract extension with the Boston Bruins. He gets an average salary-cap hit of $6.5 million with a full no-movement/no-trade clause in the first five seasons followed by a 15-team no-trade list in the final three.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: The Panthers placed defenseman Aaron Ekblad on long-term injury reserve. He’s expected to miss the remainder of the regular season with an apparent leg injury.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This will provide the Panthers with some salary-cap flexibility to add another player before today’s trade deadline if they wish. They acquired Robert Hagg yesterday from the Buffalo Sabres.
NHL.COM: The Ottawa Senators traded forward Nick Paul to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for forward Mathieu Joseph and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL draft.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Paul had a career-high 11 goals with the low-scoring Senators. Joseph is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights but he likely would’ve become a UFA as the Lightning might not have qualified his rights. He’ll be much more affordable than Paul for the Senators to re-sign. Some observers wonder if the Lightning will put Paul with the recently acquired Brandon Hagel to form a new energy line.
The Los Angeles Kings acquired defenseman Troy Stecher from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2022 draft.
The Seattle Kraken traded defenseman Jeremy Lauzon to the Nashville Predators in exchange for a 2022 second-rounder.
The Dallas Stars acquired goaltender Scott Wedgewood from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2023.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Stars made this move because backup Braden Holtby remains sidelined by a lower-body injury and Anton Khudobin recently underwent season-ending hip surgery.
The Winnipeg Jets have brought back forward Mason Appleton by acquiring him from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a 2023 fourth-round pick. The Kraken had selected Appleton during last summer’s expansion draft.
ARIZONA SPORTS: Reports indicated the Coyotes have acquired the rights to college prospect Jack McBain in exchange for a second-round pick in 2022.
NHL.COM: The Pittsburgh Penguins signed defenseman Mark Friedman to a two-year, one-way contract extension with an annual average value of $775K.
TORONTO SUN: The Maple Leafs placed goaltender Petr Mrazek on waivers and signed Finnish goalie Harri Sateri to a prorated $750K contract for the remainder of the season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I guess that means the Leafs won’t be acquiring a goalie in the trade market.
When I saw the 2-0 score…. I thought…. There goes the scary Shesterkin again…. But it was Georgiev 😳
Leafs Goalies on waivers…. Mrazek (if cleared) saves Leafs only $1.07 M (Max that can be buried)… Seteri (if cleared) replacing him, puts $750 K back on…. Net savings is $320 K…. Yes every morsel of Cap counts…. But this alone is not setting Leafs up for major space for a Major acquisition
Seteri , from all accounts, seems to be a very good low cost add…. So many teams need a Goaltender back-up upgrade…. Is Seteri going to clear waivers?
Re McBain “acquisition”….in reality it’s for his rights …. If he’s not signed… a 2nd for nothing
Certainly McBain would like a chance on a team where he will lay C, and not be sent to the AHL….
Why not wait until summer to make his decision of where to go
Yes for sure Yotes will have a spot for him…discounting Ladd…Yotes only (as at now) have 5 forwards under contract for next year, with none who are solely C’s
That said…. Yotes highly likely to be in the same boat or similar in the summer
No rush for McBain, he can listen to other pitches in the summer…. and what player in their right min wants to play 4 years (or more) to start their NHL career, in front of 4,000 (5 K absolute max) fans, with almost no TV viewing, and when on TV… brutal televised sight lines; AND for a team entrenched at the NHL bottom …. for the foreseeable future….
Unless he is eying the bigger/longer term picture… of being on the high profile, big audience, great arena, full crowd life f the Houston Yotes in a year or two….. can we have a Bettman retirement 👍👏👍👏🤞🤞🤞
Why did Ottawa trade a 3rd round pick, they could’ve had for free?
Hamonic i believe is unvaccinated; if this is true, it could be Ottawa is looking at Ottawa and thinking a change on restrictions (if not all ready) that will allow Hamonic to travel in and out of the Country. Would need the same from The US side.