NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 2, 2022
Hat trick performances for the Oilers’ Evander Kane and the Sharks’ Erik Karlsson, a four-point night for the Bruins’ Hampus Lindholm, plus evaluations of the 32 franchises, the Senators seek new ownership, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: The Edmonton Oilers got a hat trick from Evander Kane as well as a five-point performance from Leon Draisaitl to defeat the Nashville Predators 7-4. Connor McDavid scored twice (including his league-leading 11th goal of the season) and added two assists as the Oilers improved their record to 7-3-0. Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists as the Predators fall to 3-6-1.
San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson (NHL Images).
Erik Karlsson’s first career NHL hat trick couldn’t prevent the San Jose Sharks from falling 6-5 in a shootout to the Anaheim Ducks. Karlsson’s third goal tied the game at 5 to force overtime and the shootout frame. Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry scored for the Ducks in the shootout as they raise their record to 3-6-1. Timo Meier also scored twice for the Sharks as they drop to 3-8-1.
An overtime goal by Hampus Lindholm capped a four-point night for the defenseman as the Boston Bruins overcame a 5-2 deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5. With a 9-1-0 record, the league-leading Bruins are off to their best start in franchise history. The Penguins, meanwhile, are winless (0-4-1) in their last five games and fall to 4-4-2.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was a costly victory for the Bruins as goaltender Jeremy Swayman left the game in the third period with a possible left-knee injury while defenseman Derek Forbort suffered an upper-body injury in the first period.
The Tampa Bay Lightning downed the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on a third-period goal by Nikita Kucherov, who finished the night with three points. Brayden Point and Mikhail Sergachev each had a goal and an assist for the Lightning (6-4-0). The Senators (4-5-0) got goals from Claude Giroux, Mathieu Joseph and Dylan Gambrell. The latter was ejected for high-sticking Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak but he’s not expected to face supplemental discipline.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Lightning played without top defenseman Victor Hedman as he’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin made 19 saves to shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 1-0 on an overtime goal by Chris Kreider. Flyers netminder Carter Hart made 35 saves as the Flyers are 5-2-2 in their first nine games. The Rangers (6-3-2) played without Vitali Kravtsov as the 22-year-old winger will be sidelined for at least a week with an upper-body injury.
An overtime goal by Shea Theodore gave the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals. Alex Pietrangelo had three assists while Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights as they sit on top of the Western Conference with a 9-2-0 record. Dylan Strome had two assists for the 5-4-2 Capitals.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Capitals announced winger Connor Brown underwent successful surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee. He’s expected to be out for six-to-eight months.
Minnesota Wild winger scored twice and Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 34 shots in a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Nick Suzuki scored for the Canadiens (5-5-0) while the Wild’s record improves to 5-4-1.
The New York Islanders boosted their record to 6-4-0 by defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1. Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist while Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves for the win. Blackhawks goalie Alex Stalock left the game in the first period following a collision with Isles winger Casey Cizikas. The Hawks record sits at 4-4-2.
Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz scored twice and collected an assist in a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen got two assists for the Stars (6-3-1) as he returned to the lineup after being sidelined for three games with an upper-body injury. Kevin Fiala and Arthur Kaliyev replied for the Kings, who fell to 6-6-0.
Three unanswered third-period goals by Daniel Sprong, Yanni Gourde and Matty Beniers lifted the Seattle Kraken (5-4-2) to a 5-4 upset of the Calgary Flames. Joey Daccord stopped 36 shots for the win. Tyler Toffoli and Elias Lindholm each had two points for the 5-3-0 Flames.
The New Jersey Devils got two-point performances from Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes and Yegor Sharangobvich to drop the Vancouver Canucks 5-2. Jesper Bratt picked up an assist to extend his points streak to 10 games. The Canucks got two goals from Bo Horvat as they fall to 2-6-2 while the Devils are 7-3-0. Canucks defensemen Quinn Hughes and Riley Stillman were activated off injured reserve for this game.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Devils announced winger Ondrej Palat would be sidelined indefinitely after undergoing groin surgery on Tuesday.
Arizona Coyotes goalie Karel Vejmelka stopped 41 shots to backstop his club over the Florida Panthers 3-1. Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes (3-5-1) as they picked up their first win at Mullett Arena. Colin White replied for the Panthers, who fell to 5-4-1.
HEADLINES
SPORTICO: The average NHL franchise is valued at $1.01 billion USD.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers are the NHL’s top-two clubs in franchise valuations entering 2022-23. The Leafs are valued at $2.12 billion while the Rangers come in at $2.01 billion. The Montreal Canadiens ($1.7 billion), Chicago Blackhawks ($1.44 billion) and Boston Bruins ($1.41 billion) round out the top five.
The Arizona Coyotes are the lowest-valued franchise at $465 million with the Florida Panthers the second-lowest at $595 million. The Columbus Blue Jackets ($600 million), Carolina Hurricanes ($615 million) and Buffalo Sabres ($636 million) complete the remaining bottom five clubs.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: No surprise that five Original Six franchises dominate the franchise valuations given their respective markets and long histories in the league. I’m a bit surprised that the Hurricanes are among the bottom feeders given their improvement in recent years, sitting 13th overall in attendance last season. That’s likely due to their fan cost index being among the lowest in the league.
OTTAWA SUN: The Sportico report also indicated the Senators are going up for sale months after former owner Eugene Melnyk passed away. The current ownership has retained the services of a New York-based investment bank to facilitate the sale. League sources indicate the expectation is the franchise will remain in Ottawa.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The current Senators ownership has a memorandum of understanding with the city of Ottawa to build a new arena at LeBreton Flats near downtown. The Sun reports they have until next September to get a lease in place for the land. A new ownership group should help to ensure the project goes forward.
Some skeptics will suggest new ownership could still move the Senators. That’s unlikely to happen because such a move must have NHL approval. Contrary to popular belief, league commissioner Gary Bettman prefers to keep franchises in their current locations. It was his efforts that led to Melnyk buying the team nearly 20 years ago, ensuring they would remain in Ottawa.
NHL.COM: Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak and New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin are the NHL’s three stars for October 2022. Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto was named the month’s top rookie.
TSN: John Lu reports Winnipeg Jets defenseman Logan Stanley will be sidelined for a couple of weeks with a slight fracture in his foot.
Couldn’t watch the entire game had to get up early, I figured the bruins were toast after 2 got a nice surprise when I woke up. Lindholm playing like a man possessed. It’s still too early to tell but they are starting to like 2011. With Swayman injured they have no one to step in. And Forbort has been playing well this season. But like I said it’s early. A big hi going out to all the shutins those who couldn’t get out to the game and special mention to the new owner Ches fish n chip SOP
Combined 9 straight losses for Leafs and Pens; Pens 21st; Leafs 23rd in League standings…. Not a good day for me
Tanger out and Ruhweedel in playing the number 1 team in the league…. I felt there was zero chance of any game points. Great they got up 5-2…. But you knew that Bruins were coming on full tilt. Message didn’t get to Pens
Bruins are very good …. Duh!!
Pens D… very Bad. Duh!!
Of course CR had a bad game…. But wait for it…. (Chrisms, are you ready for this)….He was not Pens worst D-Man last night (shocking)…..Petry was horrendous. Dumo was on par with CR and Rutta just a very thin hair better.
When the top 2 D-men are just 23 and 26; and the coach decides to play an obviously struggling Petry , closing in on 28 minutes AND let’s CR play 14+….. odds stacked against Pens
This game very well could have been 8-5 Bruins. The “participation” point is greatly appreciated….Thanks Bruins for your generosity.
Looks like Oil had a ho-hum game… (Leon 5 points; McD 4; Kane gets a Tre )… NOT!!!
….. “and the barn doors were blown off as 4,500 fans watched “….. still a nightmare
Had to laugh… dominated in shots 42-21 and heavily dominated in chances. Got an EN…. so really score was 2-1 (and both Yotes goals were PPGs)…. Definitely deserving first star … Vejmelka (41 of 42)…. But all 3 stars were Yotes???
Nice snipe PPG by Suzuki…. Spoiling the Flowers shutout ( BTW….Caulfield [with an errant deflecting poke check by Middleton] did the same [shutout spoiler] against the Flower last week)
Re “ The Arizona Coyotes are the lowest-valued franchise at $465 million”…… and falling…. Rapidly!!!!
Those evaluations; although just released; were calculated/evaluated/projected a couple month ago…. Pre the most recent embarrassments by the Yotes franchise (cite “temp dressing rooms, and inability to sell out the 4,960 for the home opener (note 200 “student” bench seats… marching band etc….were supposed to be sold at $25 a pop; but half were given away)
$465 M …. Move it to Houston…. Count an immediate doubling of the value…. Which would increase avg NHL Franchise value by $15 M!!!
Even if the Tempe citizens vote Nyet…. Does anybody believe that Gary will finally admit his gaff and let the League make the prudent (logical, most profitable, correct, etc etc) decision… and move Yotes to Houston (or ANY other place)??
Re any thoughts of sale/move Sens….. while keeping Yotes in Arz…. forgeddabowdid !
One of the TSN Hockey Insiders said that there is interest from a Toronto businessman in purchasing the Sens amongst local interests as well. I think this whole moving the Sens is a story just for the sake of a story and carries no weight. Plus there are plans in motion for a new building for the team.
Did Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl just say “goodbye” to everyone as far as the scoring race goes.
Little early for that Caper, but McDavid and Drai were always a couple favorites. Rolling early.
Not sure if you saw that backhand pass by Draisaitl to Kane to tie the game at 1, but wow.
Not many guys in the league can make that pass on the backhand.
“Contrary to popular belief, league commissioner Gary Bettman prefers to keep franchises in their current locations.”
Where was this with the original Jets and the Nordiques? He also wasn’t putting up a fight when someone in Houston was trying to buy the Oilers back in the 90s.
Katz bought the Oilers for a mere $200 million back in 2008, and now they are valued at $1.29 billion!?
That is a heck of a return on investment.
KevJam: The Jets and Nordiques relocated because there was no individual or organization willing to purchase those teams and keep them in Winnipeg and Quebec City. The Canadian dollar was at an all-time low plus the cities of Winnipeg and Quebec City declined to build new arenas for those teams.
Bettman and the league board of governors approved the sale of the Oilers to a local group of investors who would keep the team in Edmonton. If he had wanted the Oilers to move to Houston, the board of governors would’ve rejected the sale of the Oilers to that local group. It was Bettman who brought in Eugene Melnyk to buy the Senators and keep them in Ottawa. It was Bettman who paved the way for the Atlanta Thrashers to relocate to Winnipeg when no buyers stepped forward willing to keep the franchise in Atlanta.
Look at the state of the Coyotes today. Playing in a 5000-seat arena with no guarantee of a new building. Jumping around from one arena to another, plus getting kicked out of one, and yet Bettman refuses to move them to another city. Where was this fight for the original Jets and Nordiques? The NHL even took over financial control of the Coyotes to keep them in Arizona.
The level of the fight by Bettman to keep the Coyotes in Arizona wasn’t even close to keeping the Jets and Nordiques in their cities. It also wasn’t there when the Oilers were close to moving to Houston.
KevJam: The Coyotes’ current arena situation has nothing to do with Bettman. That’s the result of the current ownership and their dispute with the city of Glendale over the arena lease agreement. I agree that the commissioner and the league board of governors have gone to extreme lengths to keep the Coyotes in Arizona. I suspect it’s because of the size of the market (one of the largest in the United States) and its potential if the Coyotes can ever start icing a competitive franchise That would explain why they’ve kept finding new owners for that club over the years.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that the Jets and Nordiques were relocated because no person or organization stepped forward to buy those teams and keep them in Winnipeg and Quebec City. The circumstances at that time left Bettman and the league with no choice. The Canadian dollar was at an all-time low and it adversely affect all Canadian clubs but the Toronto Maple Leafs. BTW, it was Bettman who implemented revenue sharing (called the Canadian assistance plan) that helped Canadian clubs stay afloat until the end of the CBA in 2004. Now, all struggling teams qualify for revenue sharing if they meet certain criteria.
And as the link you provided regarding the Oilers indicates, the ownership group from Edmonton still needed league approval to purchase the franchise, which they received. You can speculate all you want about whether or not Bettman was happy about it. The fact remains the Oilers remained in Edmonton. Oh, and he also stepped in to help facilitate negotiations between Oilers owner Daryl Katz and the city of Edmonton over the construction of Rogers Place when those talks threatened to go off the rails.
Again, Bettman was the one who brought in Melnyk who kept the bankrupt Senators from moving in 2003. And he’s the one who shepherded the relocation of the Thrashers to Winnipeg because no buyer could be found to keep the club in Atlanta.
Oh, one more thing. The NHL needed the approval of any sale of the Oilers from the Alberta Treasury Branch (ATB). They were the ones who were in control of the Oilers after calling in Pocklington’s loans. It just so happened that they approved the sale to the Friends of the Oilers with conditions first. If those conditions weren’t met than Les Alexander’s offer would have been approved.
KevJam, the Nordiques (1995) and original Jets (1996) moves came in years 2 and 3 of his tenure … quite possibly he was still trying to establish himself in the role and felt this was no time to put up stubborn resistance to such moves.
Not sure when that Houston-Edmonton situation arose in the 1990s.
Here is a quick article about it.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/throwback-thursday-edmonton-oilers-stay-1.4028105
Needless to say, Bettman was only happy to receive Les Alexander’s offer. Only speculating here, but probably really bummed when the Friends of the Oilers came up with the $5 million down payment.
Bettman’s number 1 plan when he first came in as commissioner was to build the game in the US and start collecting the higher US dollar. What is better to do that, than moving established teams to US markets? Then they won’t have to go through the struggles of an expansion team. Especially if one of those teams is an up-and-coming team like the Nordiques were. The plan was already there when he came in.
KevJam: You claim “moving established teams to US markets” was no better way to “build the game in the US and start collecting the higher US dollar because “then they won’t have to go through the struggles of an expansion team.” Since Bettman took over as commissioner, however, the league has welcomed eight teams through expansion compared to just two Canadian teams that relocated. And one of those expansion teams (Atlanta) moved to Winnipeg. So your theory doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.
As a Bruin fan it’s been awhile that I don’t get worried if they fall behind. When this team gets Krech and Charlie back holy moly they should roll. Hopefully Ullmark can carry the mail until Swayman is back.
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