NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – June 29, 2022

by | Jun 29, 2022 | News, NHL | 28 comments

The Lightning reveal their list of injured players, the 2022 draft order is complete, and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

SPORTSNET: Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point suffered a significant tear to a quadriceps muscle during the Stanley Cup playoffs and will require several weeks of recovery.

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point (NHL Images)

General manager Julien BriseBois revealed Point wasn’t the only player hampered by injuries during the Lightning’s run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare entered the playoffs with an MCL injury in one of his knees. Forwards Anthony Cirelli, Nick Paul and Corey Perry suffered shoulder/AC joint sprains during the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Rangers. Cirelli also dislocated his other shoulder while Paul suffered an MCL sprain in the Stanley Cup Final.

Forward Brandon Hagel fractured a foot during the second-round series with the Florida Panthers. Defenseman Ryan McDonagh suffered a mangled finger blocking a shot in the Rangers series.

Nikita Kucherov suffered a sprained MCL in the Stanley Cup Final. BriseBois also said nearly every player on the roster sustained multiple contusions over the course of the playoffs.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lightning head coach Jon Cooper wasn’t kidding earlier this week when he said they would’ve had to ice half of their minor-league roster if this had been the regular season. Such is the price paid in pursuit of hockey’s greatest price.

NHL.COM: The end of the Stanley Cup Final means the final positions in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft have been set. The Montreal Canadiens hold the first-overall selection having won the draft lottery in May. The Edmonton Oilers hold the No. 29 position and the Winnipeg Jets No. 30 having acquired that pick from the New York Rangers. The Lightning will select 31st overall and the Stanley Cup champion Avalanche will pick 32nd overall.

The draft will be held at the Bell Centre in Montreal with the first round on Thursday, July 7 and rounds two through seven on Friday, July 8.

TSN: Slovakian winger Juraj Slafkovsky edged out Canadian center Shane Wright in Bob McKenzie’s final ranking of the top 100 prospects in this year’s draft.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Wright was considered the top prospect throughout this season and remained so on most final rankings, including NHL Central Scouting’s list.

Bear in mind that whoever is ranked No. 1 doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be chosen by the Canadiens. Quality depth at center has been a longstanding issue for the Habs. While they could select Slafkovsky, I expect they’ll choose Wright or Logan Cooley of the US National Team Development Program.

DAILY FACEOFF: Matt Larkin looks back at the 2012 NHL Draft and what went wrong with top-four picks Nail Yakupov, Ryan Murray, Alex Galchenyuk and Griffin Reinhart.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: An interesting review of how the scouts and the teams got it wrong with those players. Because of those flops, there’s a belief the 2012 draft was one of the worst in NHL history. However, Larkin reminds us that Vezina Trophy winners Andrei Vasilevskiy and Connor Hellebuyck, Lady Byng Trophy winner Jaccob Slavin, puck-moving blueliner Morgan Reilly and scoring winger Filip Forsberg were among the notable stars to emerge from that draft.

VEGAS HOCKEY NOW: The Golden Knights have added John Stevens, Sean Burke and Mike Rosati to their coaching staff.

BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: Former Bruins center Marc Savard has become in demand to return to the NHL assistant coaching ranks. However, he’s not interested in leaving his job as the bench boss of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires unless he gets an offer to become an NHL head coach.

WGR 550: Buffalo Sabres co-owner Kim Pegula is progressing well and recovering from an undisclosed health issue. The family requests their need for privacy continue to be respected during this time.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Best wishes to Pegula for a full recovery.

DAILY FACEOFF: Scotiabank and Canadian Tire are pausing their sponsorship of Hockey Canada over a settled lawsuit that stated several OHL players sexually assaulted a woman at a Hockey Canada event in the summer of 2018. Hockey Canada has come under fire for its handling of the investigation and the lawsuit, including the federal government passing a motion calling for an independent investigation of the organization.

THE ATHLETIC: Sportsnet has confirmed it is canceling its Hometown Hockey series after eight seasons. Host Ron MacLean will be returning full-time to “Hockey Night in Canada”. It is not immediately clear what the cancellation means for co-host Tara Stone.







28 Comments

  1. The Habs could go with Slaf if they’re confident on acquiring/signing PLD… I think it makes more sense for them to pick Wright and keep him in the OHL for another year.

    • I think the Habs still go with Wright. Even Slafkovskys biggest boosters admit that it’s a toss up. McKenzie also said that a panel of ten different scouts could very well have gone with Wright. Center is obviously a more important position and Wright’s all around game is better. Slafkovskys numbers in the Finnish league this year paled in comparison to other recent high picks from that league. Even Kotkaniemi, and we all saw how that turned out. I’m always wary about picking players based on play in international tournaments which feature players from such hockey powers as France and plenty of guys who’d have a hard time making an ECHL roster.

  2. I wouldn’t mind Savard in some role maybe assistant coach for the bruins. Anyone they get for that job is heading for an Excedrin season. Nothing is going to help. Once Sweeney signs Bergeron Neely may want to extend him for yet another year. This guy is the real Teflon Don, nothing ever sticks to him

    • Nobody Sweeneys like The Sweeney! He’s the Sweenyest! 😉

  3. “The Golden Knights have added John Stevens, Sean Burke and Mike Rosati to their coaching staff.”

    So much for my personal choice (John Stevens) to replace Luke Richardson as Assistant Coach/Defense in Montreal.

    • No one from Boston going with Cassidy huh?

      • Steve. That is kinda odd the departing coach usually does take some staff. As new coach like to pick their own people

    • Rick Bowness is the guy the Habs should get to replace Richardson. Veteran coach with head coaching experience. Just what they need.

      • He has ruled out working for a rebuilding club. At his age I don’t blame him. He’s worked long enough to be picky about if/where he’ll work again.

    • Has Jon Stevens accomplished anything noteworthy that I may be missing for him to be so highly regarded by your good self? (I’m not being smart, just curious. He seems like a very unremarkable coach, but perhaps I’m missing something.)

      • As you referenced Pete:

        “Am I interested in going to a team rebuilding? Absolutely not. If I had a shot at a Stanley Cup — then I might have to listen to that. But that would be the only draw for me, if I had a really good chance on a team that would be really close to winning a Stanley Cup. I am not interested in any part of a rebuilding team. I’m too old for that.”- Rick Bowness

        Who was his assistant coach running the D? John Stevens

  4. An interesting collection of hockey news.

    While there are some that love that Home Town Hockey, I find it cheezy and goofy. I don’t mind Tara Stone as an on-air personality, but she would be wise to get away from the CBC and go do something else. OR we could pray to some tv gods and ask her to replace Christine Simpson who should have retired about a decade ago. Additionally I’d move on from Ron McLean. I used to think that he kept Don Cherry in check…now I’ve seen it’s the other way around. His constant Canadian history musings and puns simply have the rest of the panel sitting there baffled and waiting for him to move the show along.

    Marc Savard – Ottawa Connections. Give him the Sens AHL Bellville Team. Promote both the Mann brothers. I believe NHL coaches should do some time in the AHL for the simple fact that coaching hungry junior kids who are willing to do whatever you say is WAY different than managing mulit-million dollar egos in the NHL. And the Martin St.Louis experiment is the exception….and still hasn’t been proven.

    • Agree with you on Ron & Tara, but I don’t mind Christine.

      Marc Savard has stated he’ll only leave for an NHL Head-Coaching job, so you can rule out Belleville.

  5. I know it was different Mngmt., but what’s deal with Dvorak? Gave up a 1st and 2nd. Is he not considered 2C?
    Are they planning on moving him to wing or shopping him?

    • Dvorak’s play picked up noticeably after Ducharme was fired – along with everyone else on the team. I see him as a solid #2 center. He, Suzuki and Wright should leave the Habs strong up the middle going forward

    • Dvorak had a bad season last year with a terrible start, yet by the end of the year he matched his usual stats. His faceoff numbers were the best of his career, 56.7%

      For an ugly year, he was more than decent as a 2C.

    • I wouldn’t trade Dvorak. He played much better after Ducharme was fired – like everyone else. I see him as a solid #2 center who’ll contribute 45 or so points a year and provide good all around play. Him, Suzuki and Wright should leave the Habs solid up the middle going forward.

  6. A few days ago Captain Obvious put forth the notion that, when all the various injuries are revealed, those suffered by the Lightning could be widespread. He was right on the mark. A truly gutsy performance top to bottom.

    • If there was a series changer it was no Braydon Point in the Bumper spot on the Bolt’s PP, which failed them in the finals.

    • Yes indeed a gutsy performance by the Bolts.

      But everyone steps over the Avs’ injuries as well, including Burakovsky, Girard, Khadri, and Cogliano. Those are the ones we know about, as the Avs haven’t revealed who else was playing hurt.

      • Bobby Orr played on one leg half of his career didn’t here him making excuses. Bergeron played with a punctured lung and didn’t make an excuse. Excuses are for losers every team plays hurt every year that’s what makes hockey players worth watching unlike the NBA.

  7. Rod Brind’amour, Jeremey Roenick, Alex Mogliny and Theo Fleury are not in the Hall.

    Did you know Brian Burke is a member of the selection committee

    Kyle Connor finished 8th in the voting for left wing on the NHL allstar Ballot. Connor scored 47g with 46a

    Not to mention Brad Marchand did not finish in the top 10 in voting. Bergeron and Pastrnak both finished in the top 10 (Bergeron 7th and Pastrnak 5th)

    • Rob the bod has a chance, but the other 3 don’t. They are disliked for a variety of reasons, and Marchand is disliked for obvious reasons.

      The Hall of Fame use to be for excellence. Now people who were “very good” get in routinely. It seems to have lost it’s sense of purpose. What the heck did the Sedin’s ever achieve???? Without a Cup you should have to achieved excellence in some way. They were “very good” but hardly all-time greats.

    • Pete we have a difference of opinion there; Brind’Amour be my last choice of the players listed.

      Not once a 40 goal scorer yes i know his other skill set.

      In their prime at one point would you trade Mogilny, Roenick or Fluery all 50plus goal scorers for Brind’ Amour.

      I would agree that the Hall has diminished and maybe this year there should not have been any player selected to the Hall.

      I would also add and the 4 players i listed the top pick for me if any would be Mogilny. I think you have to take everything into consideration of what he did just to get to the NHL.

      • Give your heads a shake fellas, the Sedins were other-worldly and most deserving of their first ballot selection.

        Nonetheless I agree with your sentiment about excellent vs very good.

      • Have to appreciate what Mogilny did Caper, played in a offensive era, but the rest of the guys are in the Hall, doesn’t make sense why he isn’t. Same for JR and Theo.
        I would trade any of those 3 for Rod the Bod, Roenick would be close.

        But I am partial to 200′ C’s who produce offense, he’s the kind of guy you win playoff games with.

      • Extremely talented Mr Curtains but about as fierce as your average door mouse.

  8. Realise I am commenting on an article underneath the article linked by Lyle, but nice to see Lehkonen gets some media props for his contribution to the Avs cup run. Always appreciated his game in Montreal.