NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 9, 2023
The Golden Knights regain their series lead over the Oilers while the Blackhawks win the draft lottery. Details and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS DEFEAT OILERS IN GAME 3
NHL.COM: The Vegas Golden Knights regained the lead in their second-round series over the Edmonton Oilers with a 5-1 victory on Monday evening. Jonathan Marchessault scored twice while Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist. Adin Hill made 24 saves for the win relief of Laurent Brossoit, who suffered what appeared to be an injured right leg in the first period. Warren Foegele replied for the Oilers while Stuart Skinner got the hook after giving up four goals on 23 shots.
Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: No word yet regarding the severity of Brossoit’s injury. An update is expected sometime today. Hill did a fine job covering off for his sidelined teammate while the Golden Knights limited their trips to the penalty box, silencing the Oilers’ vaunted power play. They also effectively neutralized their opponents at even strength.
This was the worst performance by the Oilers in this postseason. They scored the first goal but spent the rest of the game on their heels, struggling to generate quality scoring chances while making costly mistakes in their own zone. They’ll need a much better effort in Game 4 on Wednesday or face returning to Las Vegas on the brink of elimination.
BLACKHAWKS WIN 2023 DRAFT LOTTERY
The Chicago Blackhawks won the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery, earning the right to select top prospect Connor Bedard in the first round of the draft on June 28. The Blackhawks had the third-best odds (11.5) of winning the lottery.
The Anaheim Ducks had the best odds (18.5) but slipped to second overall while the Columbus Blue Jackets (13.5) will pick third.
The Ottawa Senators’ first-round pick was 12th overall. As per the conditions of the Jakob Chychrun trade on March 1, that pick belongs to the Arizona Coyotes (stick tap to Cap Friendly).
1. Chicago Blackhawks
2. Anaheim Ducks
3. Columbus Blue Jackets
4. San Jose Sharks
5. Montreal Canadiens
6. Arizona Coyotes
7. Philadelphia Flyers
8. Washington Capitals
9. Detroit Red Wings
10. St. Louis Blues
11. Vancouver Canucks
12. Arizona Coyotes (via Ottawa Senators)
13. Buffalo Sabres
14. Pittsburgh Penguins
15. Nashville Predators
16. Calgary Flames
NBC SPORTS CHICAGO: Choosing Connor Bedard will positively affect the Blackhawks on and off the ice. He’ll help to improve the on-ice product while giving their fans a watchable star as the club continues its rebuilding program.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bedard on his own won’t turn the Blackhawks back into Stanley Cup contenders again. Management still faces the daunting task of surrounding him with a strong supporting cast via the draft, trades and free agency over the next several years. Nevertheless, Bedard gives them a solid foundation on which to base their rebuild.
There was a negative reaction on social media over the Blackhawks winning this lottery. The conspiracy-minded believe it was rigged to help the Hawks, though these are the type of people who would claim the lottery is on the level if their team had won.
Many were angry that the Blackhawks hadn’t had their 2023 pick stripped away as part of their punishment after an investigation two years ago revealed the club covered up Kyle Beach’s allegations that he was sexually assaulted in 2010 by the team’s video coach. General manager Stan Bowman was forced to step down for his role in the cover-up as did former Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville from his job as Florida Panthers head coach.
Given the Hawks odds, everyone knew they had a good chance of winning the lottery but no concern was raised before the event. While the outrage is understandable it probably wouldn’t have been on the same level had the Hawks got the second or third-overall pick or if they wound up much lower in the draft order.
NEW YORK POST: ESPN insider Kevin Weekes inadvertently revealed the Blue Jackets had fallen to No. 3 before deputy commissioner Bill Daly officially revealed it. The incident occurred just before the network went to a commercial break.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Some folks on social media saw this as proof that the lottery was rigged. They overlooked the fact that the lottery had been held well beforehand and not in real time on the air as Daly announced each position in the draft order. The network knew the results before the show went on the air and wrote their script accordingly. It was likely a technical error that led to Weekes’ accidentally revealing the Jackets’ position.
IN OTHER NEWS…
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen is listed as day-to-day after being struck in the face by a puck during Game 3 of his club’s second-round series with the Seattle Kraken. He is not in concussion protocol but is uncertain for Game 4 tonight in Seattle.
TSN: Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov is feeling better and will undergo tests (including an MRI) to determine his status for Game 4 against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday. Samsonov suffered an upper-body injury during Game 3 after teammate Luke Schenn accidentally fell on him trying to break up a play near the Leafs net.
New Jersey Devils winger Tomas Tatar was fined $5,000.00 for high-sticking Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho during Game 3 of their second-round series on Sunday.
CBS SPORTS: Speaking of the Hurricanes, goaltender Antti Raanta participated in practice yesterday after missing the last two games due to illness.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: The Panthers signed prospect Mackie Samoskevich to a three-year entry-level contract.
ILLEGAL CURVE: Winnipeg Jets winger Nino Niederreiter will play for Switzerland in the upcoming IIHF World Championship
SPORTSNET: The Vancouver Canucks were fined $50,000.00 for violating the NHL’s offseason training rules. They reportedly held on-ice sessions with a number of players in mid-April after the season ended, which is a violation of the CBA.
NHL.COM: Former NHL winger Vic Stasiuk passed away over the weekend at age 93. Stasiuak spent 14 seasons in the league from 1949-50 to 1962-63 with the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins. In 745 regular-season games, he scored 183 goals and 437 points along with 34 points in 68 playoff games. Between 1969-70 to 1972-73, he was head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, California Golden Seals and Vancouver Canucks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: My condolences to Stasiuk’s family, friends and former teammates.
Third overall isn’t bad for the Jackets. I would have preferred Fanilli, but Carlsson is a good choice, too. And, no, I don’t see Jarmo and JD selecting Michkov, despite his projected goal scoring numbers. The Jackets have more good to very good wingers than they can keep on their roster. But they have never had a real #1 center, which Carlsson projects as
I hope Michkov is available at #5 and the Habs take him.
Being tied up for 3 years doesn’t concern me as most guys spend time in Junior or college for a few years anyways.
As a rebuilding team he’d arrive just in time for a Hab run to the top.
Centers, HF30. Centres. Mind, this comes down to the Habs evaluation of those available at # 5, but surely there will be one available that they deem could be a # 2 center.
There are too many intangibles around Michkov. Will be available in three years. Does he want to come to the NHL? Would the world situation at that time prevent it? Does Michkov have the character they are seeking to build around? How reliable is the at a distance evaluation of him? What is his character like – an asset valued by the Habs?
Most important to me is the Habs being able to develop the prospect for their desired style of play.
Too many what ifs and I wonders for my liking. Draft picks are challenging enough already.
HabFan, it’s not just the next 3 years that bother me with Mitchkov. The way things are with Russia, there’s more than a slim chance that he may never be able to get out. Also, seeing as how he committed long-term to the KHL even though he could have expected to be a high pick makes me wonder if he even wants to come over. And as LJ says, the team’s development coaches would not be able to work with him while he’s in Russia.
LJ, Howard.
With all the apparent risks taken into account, Michkov is considered to be a natural scorer that rivals Bedard.
Scoring can’t be taught and he has it in spades.
From a positional point of view the Habs have many prospects at centre who “look” good and time will tell. Beck, Davidson, Kidney will be pushing soon enough.
A few weeks ago some were speculating that Dorion made a mistake in giving up his 1st round pick to Arizona in the Chychrun deal, since there was a distinct possibility at the time that the team might be in the lottery mix.
Well, as confirmed yesterday, the pick was Top 5 protected and that became moot when their pick turned out to be # 12 – which goes to Arizona.
A whole lot better than meeting Arizona’s early demands of two 1st round picks, a top prospect and a young roster player.
So, for the second straight year Ottawa won’t have a 1st round pick … unless, somehow, DeBrincat gets dealt before or at the draft for a return that includes a 1st rounder. Stay tuned!
GeorgeO if Chychrun can stay healthy this is a steal of a deal for Ottawa.
Can’t stay injured for his career right?
Bummer.
Hey George O! It’s May! Your birthday month.
Happy Birthday Month George!
Don’t always agree (do agree much more than not) but I do appreciate the effort and research you do in putting out your post.
Have a great day today and every day.
Many thanks Caper. Yep, friggin’ 85 today! Where do the time go? LOL.
As for Chychrun, we can only hope that he can stay relatively healthy, although his injury history suggests otherwise. After having gone through that with Murray and then Talbot, it is a tad frustrating,
Hopefully – for Ottawa fans anyway – Dorion can get a decent return for DeBrincat this off-season. But one way or another I think he’s history here.
Heh … as for agreeing all the time …. I would imagine if that were the case and we all agreed on everything, this would become more boring than listening to a throne speech in Parliament.
Happy 85th Birthday George….👏👌
hope you have a Great Day
Happy birthday George
1Happy Birthday George !
Happy birthday G!
Where’s the party at?
Woo, woo! HB, George.
Cheers in 85 🍺🍺
Happy birthday George!
Happy Birthday, George! Let’s hope you get to celebrate it next year with a play-off victory for the Sens.
In interesting summary of the players involved with the three celebrity bids. I’d be surprised if the group with Ryan Reynolds doesn’t win the bid.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/09/ryan-reynolds-wants-to-expand-his-sports-empire-will-snoop-stop-him
The Oilers played the Replica Game of Game 1…⁉️
Just Horrible
The Oilers d played Poor, Nurse looked Horable Again untill He woke up in the last minute and got involved…
Nurse Realy need’s to play Way More Tougher and be Way More physical… he was the oilers Worst d/man last night
the 3rd line played great for the Oil,
they better replica Game 2 if not Nurse need to get traded before Julky 1st or we are stuck with him at $9.M for 8 years🙈
I am not a conspiracy theorist at all, but why not do the lottery live? The badly filmed release of Bettman afterward only stoked the theories. Overall the lottery is better than the old race to last hockey, but transparency is KEY.
I am glad that Dorion was smart with this year’s first overall pick. I think the same situation is coming up in 2025, but top ten protected if I remember correctly.
I think he will be recouping some picks when he sends Debrincat away.
Oilers… that was just beyond horrible. They scored quickly, then got tied up quickly, managed to muster some decent pressing in the Vegas end but started to flag about half way through period one. Once Vegas scored that second goal to close out the first, it already felt over and the Oilers played like it.
You can watch it on Youtube theSaint.
The eligible teams were present as well as as a company that certifies the process. Like an Earnst and Young
Ah, I did not see. I only saw them announce before the Oilers game and then post the video on Facebook later.
We get the scripted made for TV version after the fact.
A slightly different comment, from Lyle’s introductory comments about the agitation amongst some because Chicago won the lottery.
To those who feel the Hawks haven’t been punished enough, I wonder if they support the North Korean government’s version of the three generation punishment:
“If you commit a crime, your children and grandchildren will also receive the full brunt of punishment, which often involves a lifetime in prison. Children born in prison are raised as prisoners because their “blood is guilty.”
The blow back is similar to the reaction when the Habs drafted Mallioux a few years ago. With both the Hawks and Mallioux punishment was meted out. But for some, never enough. I wonder if hell is not hot enough for them. Strange, unhealthy mentality.
Yeah, but North Korea is ruled by a certifiable wing-nut who should be removed from this mortal plain by a 45 slug between the eyebrows.
The NHL head office may have their “moments” which sometimes defy explanation … but they ain’t at THAT level.
As incomprehensible as the decisions are from the misnamed Player Safety department of the NHL, my comment was in response to the internet mob and their metaphorical pitchfork and torch mentality.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if bedard sends out a statement on draft day that he will not wear a logo that’s become synonymous with sexual assault and turning a blind eye.