NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 11, 2022
Jack Campbell is looking forward to his role as the Oilers’ starting goalie, Jonathan Drouin hopes to change his luck this season, the Kings re-sign Mikey Anderson, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
THE ATHLETIC: Jack Campbell is excited about the opportunity to help the Edmonton Oilers become a Stanley Cup champion. The 30-year-old goaltender signed a five-year, $25 million contract with the club in July following 2 1/2 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I just can’t wait to do my part to try to help out and to get to the next step of being a champion,” said Campbell. He acknowledged the Oilers have a lot of work ahead of them but he’s ready to help them out as best he can as their starting netminder.
“For Edmonton to believe in me and allow me to be here for five years and get to work with this group every single day and try to accomplish some amazing things, I’m just so excited.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Campbell is getting the opportunity in Edmonton that he thought he’d earned with the Maple Leafs over the past two seasons. This will provide him the chance to silence the critics who point to his inconsistent play over the second half of last season as justification for questioning his abilities as a starting goalie.
MONTREAL HOCKEY NOW: Canadiens winger Jonathan Drouin is seeking a fresh start in the coming season by changing his sweater number from 92 to 27. He wore the latter number during his junior years with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads and his tenure with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Drouin, 27, has been sidelined by injuries and a mental health break over the past several seasons. He’s in his contract year and eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next July.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hockey players are a superstitious bunch. Most will look for anything to change their puck luck, including a number change.
Drouin needs something to help him have a healthy and productive season. It will determine if he has a future with the Canadiens and if not, will bolster his stock in the free-agent market.
TSN: The Los Angeles Kings signed defenseman Mikey Anderson to a one-year, $1 million contract.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Anderson, 23, is coming off his entry-level contract and has become a key part of their blueline corps over the past two seasons. His lack of arbitration rights gave Kings general manager Rob Blake the hammer in contract talks but that will change next season when the young blueliner becomes arbitration-eligible.
The Kings have one restricted free agent left in defenseman Sean Durzi, who is also coming off an ELC. With less than $1.4 million remaining in cap space, he’ll probably get a deal similar to Anderson’s.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Dominik Simon has rejected an offer from the Penguins to attend training camp to sign with Czech Elite League club Sparta Praha. The 28-year-old forward spent most of his seven NHL seasons with the Penguins along with stops with the Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks, amassing 77 points in 256 career games.
NJ.COM: Jonathan Bernier won’t be ready to start the upcoming season with the Devils. The 34-year-old goaltender underwent hip surgery in January and it isn’t clear when he’ll return to the lineup.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bernier’s in the final season of his two-year contract with the Devils. They’re pressed against the $82.5 million salary cap but could place him on long-term injury reserve if necessary to garner some cap relief.
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH’s Jim Thomas recently reported via Twitter that all 32 NHL teams were informed they will be returning to normal, pre-pandemic media access regulations.
I hope Jack Campbell has a great year with the Oilers. I just wish the Leafs could have afforded to resign him. He is the kind of player you love to have on your team.
I’ve posted this a few times already so I guess one more time won’t hurt. Drouin’s ship with the Habs has sailed. His time with the Habs has been marked with injuries, inconsistency and underachievement. It’s unrealistic to expect a sudden turnaround this year.
Drouin has topped out as a guy who’ll put up 45-50 points a season in a not very consistent manner and not really contribute very much defensively. Not necessarily a bad player to have, but more is expected from a #3 overall choice for whom a top prospect, who’s developed into a solid D-man, was given up. It wasn’t only his fault, he was mishandled some. The prior managements decision to put him at center was not very smart.
A change of scenery would be best for team and player. Hopefully he’ll play well enough to at least bring in a useful return at the deadline.
I have to think someone coming to the Habs as a French Canadian, and who has heard the comparisons to Sergachev, has not helped a guy who has suffered from anxiety. Definitely see a change of scenery as beneficial, and likely.
Drouin is unrealistically scrutinized and blamed for imagined shortcomings by fans who demand more.
His desire and effort is questioned despite his willingness to move to centre when told.
His work in corners and crease is questioned despite being known as a skill player, not a mucker.
His defensive work is questioned despite his consistent back checking and defensive zone slot coverage.
His heart is questioned despite never pointing a finger, complaining or attempting to shift responsibility on others.
Andrew Mangiapane, Adrian Kempe, Ondrej Palat, Jakub Vrana aren’t getting run out of town despite having similar stats and contracts.
He would have had a much better career if he accepted being send down to Syracuse way back when. The guy has always been a head case, and yes, hopefully he has straightened that out, but it will be too late for the Habs.
You’re not wrong about Syracuse.
I was about to call baloney, but I looked up both Mangiapane and Kempe’s stats and cap hits. While both of them have scored more goals, their point totals are $ are comparable, so fair comparison/comment.
So I go back to my previous comment that he suffers from comparison to Sergachev and the extra pressure francophones have in Montreal.
HabFan, those guys were not #3 overall picks. Those guys were not traded for their new teams top prospect who went on to become the better player by far. These are not fair comparisons. I’m sorry but there’s no making excuses for Drouin’s failure to become a solid and consistent player as a Hab.
The signing certainly gives the kings LIFE!