NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 19, 2023
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos tallies his 500th goal, Erik Karlsson leads the Sharks to an upset win over the Stars, the Canadiens hope to re-sign Cole Caufield to a long-term contract, and much more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos scored his 500th career goal with a hat-trick performance in a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point each had a goal and an assist for the Lightning (29-13-1, 59 points), who sit two points behind the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division. J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes each had two points for the Canucks as they slipped to 18-23-3 on the season.
Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stamkos also reached the 20-goal plateau for the 13th time in his 15-season NHL career. He’s the third active player to score 500 career goals, joining Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (810) and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (538).
The San Jose Sharks overcame a 3-0 deficit to upset the Dallas Stars 5-3. Erik Karlsson led the way for the Sharks (14-23-9) with a goal and three assists while James Reimer made 33 saves. Jason Robertson scored his 30th goal of the season for the Stars (26-13-7) as they remain stuck in second place in the Central Division with 59 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Robertson also set a Stars record by becoming the fastest Dallas player to reach 30 goals in a season (46 games), breaking Mike Modano’s previous record of 30 in 48 games in 1993-94.
The league-leading Boston Bruins (35-5-4) picked up their third straight victory with a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders. Charlie McAvoy had a goal and an assist while Linus Ullmark kicked out 25 shots for the Bruins. With 74 points, they hold a 12-point lead over the Carolina Hurricanes in the overall standings. The Islanders dropped to 23-19-4 (50 points) to sit one point back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth.
Speaking of the Penguins, they dropped a 5-4 decision to the Ottawa Senators on an overtime goal by Brady Tkachuk, who finished the night with four points. Thomas Chabot collected three assists as the Senators improved to 20-21-3. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each had three-point performances for the 22-15-7 Penguins.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Penguins recently moved defenseman Kris Letang to injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 28. Meanwhile, the Senators placed blueliner Artem Zub (lower body) on IR.
Colorado Avalanche forwards Artturi Lehkonen and Mikko Rantanen each scored twice to douse the Calgary Flames 4-1. Nathan MacKinnon collected two assists for the fourth straight game while Alexandar Georgiev kicked out 34 shots as the Avalanche (23-17-3, 49 points) move to within two points of the Flames (21-16-9, 51 points) for the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Avalanche played this game without defenseman Cale Makar, who is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Avs blueliners Erik Johnson skated in his 900th career NHL game.
HEADLINES
SPORTSNET: Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said his club hopes to sign Cole Caufield to a long-term contract during his midseason state-of-the-franchise press conference on Wednesday. The 22-year-old sophomore winger leads the Canadiens with 26 goals in 45 games this season. He’s in the final season of his entry-level contract.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Caufield is going to get a significant pay raise. It’s just a question of how much his average annual value will be.
The Canadiens could prefer signing Caufield to between $7.5 million and $8 million annually to keep his salary within range of linemate Nick Suzuki’s $7.875 million AAV. Caufield’s agent, however, could seek between $9 million and $10 million annually, especially if the young winger reaches 50 goals this season.
TSN: The Canadiens also announced rookie winger Juraj Slavkovsky has been sidelined for three months with a lower-body injury that won’t require surgery. Forward Jake Evans (lower body) will miss eight to 10 weeks.
Forwards Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia are both out until the All-Star break with upper-body injuries. Meanwhile, goaltender Jake Allen (upper body) will be sidelined for at least a week.
TSN: The Buffalo Sabres placed forward Vinnie Hinostroza on waivers. The Nashville Predators also placed forward Mike McCarron on waivers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sabres had been trying to trade Hinostroza. McCarron recently received clearance to return to action after completing a stint in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.
NHL.COM: The Detroit Red Wings acquired center Jasper Weatherby from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for forward Kyle Criscuolo. Weatherby, 24, played 50 games with the Sharks last season.
Silver Seven, late yesterday in the Rumors thread you posted “How many times has the Presidents Cup winner gone on in a big way in the playoffs and cup win ? Didn’t look it up but definitely a curse . I say Bruins lose in second round. Just like Florida last year”
I knew the President’s Cup winners had a history of not going on to win Lord Stanley and your comment got me curious, so I looked it up – in the 37 years since the introduction of the President’s Cup, that winner has gone on to win the Cup just 8 times – the last time in 2012-13 by Chicago. Here’s a complete history:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidents%27_Trophy
I’d just like to go on record to predict that this year the winner’s total will increase to 9.
George
I will take that bet only way bruins no win cup is injury
As a player off odds it looks like time for another president winner to hoist
Of the 36 recipients through 2022, eleven (31%) qualified for the Final and eight (22%) won the Stanley Cup
Kinda hedging your bet there. All playoff teams get injuries
Chrisms is right
But fair bet
Would want odds (partially mitigating injury risk) but they need not be long odds
George. I didn’t see the last line. Whoops. I agree
They are solid through all 4 lines and have better-than-average D and Goaltending + the C magic of Bergeron, a rejuvenated Krejci, and DeBrusk and Foligno silencing their critics …. and the best clutch players in the league in Marchand & McAvoy (plus they won’t have to go through Ottawa – 🙂
They also have a pretty decent player named Pastrnak.
I posted late last night about Caufield and I’ll post again. I don’t see him signing long term at $7.5-8m. In the year since the coaching change in Montreal, only 7 players have more goals than him. He’s already a big time goal scorer and he only just turned 22. Goal scorers get paid and with the cap likely to go up in the coming years, and with the team likely to improve, Caufield will bet on himself.
If Caufield does sign for $7.5-8m., it’ll likely be for three or four years, setting himself up for a big payday while he’s still quite young. It’ll likely take $9-10m. to get him to sign for seven or eight years.
Like anything Howard; that would be a gamble no different then Montreal signing him for 8yrs.
In some cases a bridge make sense for the player and I agree with you on this and it makes sense for Caufield.
I think Montreal signs him for 8yrs and if they can’t sign him for 8 the deal will be for 4yrs so he is still an rfa at the end of the deal.
I believe he signs 8yrs at $7.75
I hope you’re right Caper but I think it’ll take more money
I think 2 great comparable for Caufield would be Jack Hughes 8 million avv and Jason Robertson 7.75 avv. So 8 million for 8 years is more than fair for Caufield. If he keeps progressing then it will be a bargain but it’s still a risk that both teams and players take. Obviously if you’re Montreal you try to get him at 7 or 7.5 but I think 8 is fair for both
Congrats to Steven Stamkos, a good Markham boy who has overcome multiple serious injuries to reach 500 goals.
Let’s hope he has a really long rest this summer to enjoy his achievements.
Well done BCLeafFan, cheers to that.
Stamkos is definitely in my top 5 players. Glad to see him have so much success.
George
We (you and I) didn’t get our wish last night
Dominant play by Sens
I’m sure you noticed (no surprise)…. CR on for 3 of 5 Sens goals
Were it not for a post; bail out by P-O j; and a spectacular save by DeSmith…. CR could have handed Sens 3 more goals
Talbot had a rough game…. Sens could have won in reg say 6 or 7 to 2 were it not for (A) Talbot; and (B) in Pens end … post, P-O J and De Smith preventing 3 more CR “give me’s”
Sully needs his head examined…. CR 21 1/2 mins; P-O J only 12?????
Heard someone call in and they stated that Pens have never won a game the CR has played over 18 1/2 minutes in…. I’d have to check all games (don’t havr time).., but certainly sounds highly likely
Certainly not saying Pens would have won last night if they sat CR…. Sens played well, dominated huge chunks of the game; deserved the win… but you can see how bad CR is
Something up with Sully…. 21 1/2 mins CR; and noticeably hurting team; while P-O J playing very very well …. Only 12???? It’s nuts
BTW…. Will agree with all penalties last night save for the P-O J one…. Definitely not a penalty (just as play by play and colour said… “not a penalty”)
Well, I thought that late 1st period boarding call on Norris against Malkin was a bit chintzy. Malkin turned his back to Norris just as he was closing in – no way he could have stopped – and the veteran Malkin then did some embellishments – crap he quickly shook off to get the pp goal.
No I thought he deserved that penalty ; enough time to change path… it’s subjective and high speed; could go either way; but overall right call IMHO
I do think Malkin was buzzed for a bit… concussion protocol observers should have taken him off… should not have gone on the PP
Call/no call… no diff ; best team won
Pens snuck out of our Capital with a point
Glad you got to witness the CR pain we Pens fans have been experiencing… I wasn’t kidding was I
Aww come On, Man. I know you’re a Penguins fan(atic) but that was a classic case of a veteran sucking in a relative novice, Concussion Protocol my Royal Canadian Butt. He knew exactly what he was doing, having learned the technique through European soccer. There was no protocol because he told them there was nothing wrong – he got what he wanted – a late period penalty down 2-1.
The ref was sucked in – just like Norris. That BS has to stop.
Sorry George
Have to disagree; got hit in the head; didn’t look good; and he should not have played on IMHO
This was certainly not an Ovi or Wilson hit; but his head got hit; and I truly believe he was buzzed for a bit
If the reverse had happened; I think you’d agree that spotters should have acted
We agree to disagree on this; as I’ve said many times; that’s the beauty of this site…. Differing opinions…. If we all agreed wouldn’t be an exciting site
Irrelevant to the game…. Right team won…. Should have won in reg
Sens on the upswing
Pens withering
We’ll see if Pens can play properly tomorrow
Plz…. No CR