NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 20, 2023
The Blues name their new captain, the latest on Flyers forwards Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson, the Canadiens and Canucks make a trade on the eve of the start of training camps, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
STLTODAY.COM: Brayden Schenn was named as the 24th captain in St. Louis Blues history. The club made the announcement yesterday. Schenn, 32, spent the past six seasons with the Blues and was an alternate captain for the past three campaigns. He’s under contract for five more seasons.
St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I doubt that anyone was surprised that Schenn got the nod for the captaincy. A durable, versatile and reliable forward, he’s reached or exceeded 50 points five times over the past six seasons. Schenn’s been in a leadership role with the Blues for several seasons so this was probably an easy choice for the club.
PHILLY HOCKEY NOW: Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson are good to go when training camp opens on Thursday. The two veteran forwards missed all of last season due to injuries. Both players were scrimmaging with teammates prior to the start of camp.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That’s good news for the Flyers’ forward depth as they approach this season. It will also provide Briere with an opportunity to evaluate the performances of Couturier and Atkinson to determine their place and role in the club’s rebuilding process.
TSN: The Montreal Canadiens traded goaltender Casey DeSmith to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday evening in exchange for winger Tanner Pearson and a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins last month as part of the three-team Erik Karlsson trade, DeSmith wasn’t expected to start this season with the Canadiens.
Pearson is a veteran middle-six winger who’s in the final season of his contract and is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. He could become a bargaining chip for the rebuilding Habs by the March 8 trade deadline if he’s fully recovered from the hand injury that ended his 2022-23 campaign and plays well this season.
The Canucks, meanwhile, get a reliable backup for starting goalie Thatcher Demko while freeing up much-needed cap space. This move should also make them salary-cap compliant to start the season. Like Pearson, DeSmith is slated to become a UFA next July. Perhaps a solid performance will earn him a contract extension with the Canucks.
TWINCITIES.COM: The Minnesota Wild signed Calen Addison to a one-year contract worth $825K.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Coming off his entry-level contract and an inconsistent rookie season, Addison had no leverage with the cap-strapped Wild. The 23-year-old defenseman will need a better effort in his sophomore campaign to garner a better contract next summer when he’ll have arbitration rights.
TSN: The Senators re-signed forward Egor Sokolov to a one-year, two-way contract. He’ll earn $775K at the NHL level.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Senators are reportedly no closer to signing restricted free-agent center Shane Pinto as they report for training camp today. It’ll be interesting to see how long these negotiations go on. The 22-year-old Pinto has also surfaced in recent trade rumors but reports out of Ottawa claim the two sides are still working toward a new contract.
TSN: cited a report in The Athletic indicating the Chicago Blackhawks will not be naming a captain for this season. The club parted ways this summer with long-time captain Jonathan Toews.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The report noted that Seth Jones was keen to become the next Blackhawks captain. His performance this season could determine if he lands the role next season.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Detroit Red Wings have invited forward Artem Anisimov and goaltender Michael Hutchinson to training camp on professional tryout offers. Anisimov, 35, last played in the NHL in 2020-21 with the Ottawa Senators while the 33-year-old Hutchinson played 16 games last season with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Congrats Brauden
Addison at $825 K….. wow!
Re Habs/‘Nucks trade:
Wow…. This Cap space necessitated trade shows how expensive Cap space is
‘Nucks had to give up a third; AND Pearson ; AND had to take on DeSmith….. all just to net 1.45 M in Cap space in the trade
Habs won this trade hands down, and in spades….
Gain a 3rd
Gain Pearson …. If plays fair..,, can move him at TDL for something
Rid DeSmith that they were forced to take in this summers trade
Habs had the Cap flex !
What’s it going to cost Leafs to be Cap compliant…. Even with current LTIR they have to find $2.8 M…. AND, what if Murray somehow get’s healthy..,. Leafs then have to find another $4.7 M
I still say WW traded for an improvement at D (with a Cap hit in/around $5M); goes a long way to making Cap work; removes contract negotiations’ distractions; AND definitely moves team away from the handcuffing 1/2 Cap on 4Fwds team make-up
somehow players and their agents still don’t understand that simple point cap space is more valuable. most all of them make more than their parents did and much more than is needed to live well post hockey. greed is a killer of cup dreams
Hi AHN
I definitely can’t blame players (and hence, their agents) for negotiating a contract that gets them as much as they can…. Average NHLer doesn’t have a lengthy career; and most NHLers don’t have an Education (pre NHL) that can set them up for a post NHL career
So maximize the NHL contracts when you can
Note…. I’m referring to average NHL careers; not the Sid’s ; Kane’s; Toew’s; Ovi’s types of careers
Cut/paste from web:
“The average NHL player plays on average 4.5 years. However, when looking at the data in detail the top 25% of players played an average of 12 years, whereas the bottom 75% played an average of 2 years. ”
Source: “Hockey Answered” (Jones)
GMs…. have to burden more blame on this…. They hand out the contracts…. Effectively putting team IN that Cap situation
Tre came on board with Cap hell already in place
The AM deal was reasonably fair for term…. Obviously 8 year (for Leaf fans) would have been preferred
Dooby has made some fair moves for Pens but his refusal to buyout Granlund cost Pens valuable space (this year and out years) ; and loading up with 10 (ten) 4th liners; plus PTOs with only 1 3rd liner; AND still over Cap with less than 23 on roster…. Still problematic
HaHa Matt Murray and the word “healthy” never belongs in the same sentence
At the cost of picking up Pearson’s contract for one year and a portion of Petrys contract for two years, Hughes picked up a depth D-man, 2nd 3rd and 4th round picks, rid themselves of Hoffman’s contract as well as another player they didn’t need. Solid asset management. Hopefully they can get something for Pearson
Hi Pengy. Folks around here are thinking deSmith will be a decent backup for Demko. I’m getting the impression you’re not a deSmith fan. Could he be a serviceable 20-game backup?
Do the Habs play Pearson with Suzuki & Caufield, giving him an opportunity to play first line minutes, thus increase his trade value later in the season??
If they can turn him over for a 2nd round pick through the season, that would equate into a 2nd & 3rd round pick for DeSmith. Excellent.
As a Habs fan I would have been more than happy with just a 3rd pick for him.
Pearson is a middle six player not first line BUT his game could complemunt Suzuki and Caufield well. He’s a fair size body who plays physical, strong on boards and corners.
It’s a good trade for both teams.
Habs have a crowed roster with 12 forwards and 3 more ready to come off IR, the call-ups could be few with all these vets!…..unless the injury bug hits again! 😣
Lot s of spare parts for Habs! Still going with quantity over quality! Will sustain you with your fans for a while, but when will that end! Draft picks are a coin toss,interested to see how many of these picks make it!
” It will also provide Briere with an opportunity to evaluate the performances of Couturier and Atkinson to determine their place and role in the club’s rebuilding process.”
Their role in rebuilding will be generating draft picks at the trade deadline if they don’t get hurt again.
Couturier’s full NMC shuts that down. Atkinson has a 10-team NTC but his $5.8 million AAV through 2024-25 could be difficult to move in a season with a flattened salary cap.
I generally don’t think NMC or NTC shut down trades – – – they just give the player control to ensure they go somewhere favorable if they are amenable to move.
But I didn’t realize that Couturier’s contract runs 7 more years through 2030 at $7.75M. Ouch!
I figured he would waive his NMC to get off a full blown rebuild, but now I don’t think there is a team that would take on that contract given his age and injury history (even if Philly retains salary).
You don’t think NMC or NTC shuts down trades? You might want to have a word with the St. Louis Blues and Torey Krug about that!
Lyle, there are plenty of players who have NMC and NTC clauses that get traded. They do not prevent trades.
They give players the final approval rights to the trade/destination. Krug didn’t like the destination, so he vetoed it. It was his right.
That doesn’t automatically mean Krug would veto a trade to a different, more beneficial team.
Patrick Kane had a NMC clause last year. That did not shut down trade optoins. It just gave him the say where it would actually go.
I’m fully aware that players waive their NMC and NTC clauses to get traded. However, you made the assumption that Couturier and Atkinson would be moved for assets at the trade deadline. Those clauses, however, means we cannot make that assumption as they could be unwilling to leave Philadelphia. You also said that you didn’t think NMCs and NTCs shut down trades. I provided you with a specific recent example where it did.
Addison, hardly got a raise over league minimum. Hopefully he can get his life back on track, and show he wants to be there.
Pretty sure that C goes the Bedard in the next season or two, no? Hawks don’t want to make the maple leaf mistake and not give it to their star player.
The star player has to prove that he’s worthy of wearing the captaincy.
Lyle, I don’t disagree. I’m thinking that’s why the hawks didn’t name a captain. Give the kid a year or two. See what he’s made of the old fashioned way(without going through the pics on his phone).
not surprise the Canucks traded Pearson the first chance they got. It got pretty ugly this past season when Pearson (or his agent) started blaming the Canucks for misdiagnosing his injury, resulting in setbacks and missing most of the season
Habs & Canucks trade,
it was good for both teams, Canucks get a good back up as they had nobody in the pipeline ready to take that that role on.
Canucks get to move out whats been a bit of a distraction to the canucks and $3.25M Salary now they are only $2M over in Cap Space, with Tucker Poolman still out they will be cap compliance
Habs GM gets a 3rd pick back, He like’s to colect picks, gets a big winger for there 3rd line even if he is over payed….. they can Flip him at the trade deadline for an other pick 👍
Captain Brad Marchand Boston Bruins he will lead them to the promise land.
You mean, the penalty box.
I just removed a post from a reader espousing political views from this thread. Once again, readers are reminded to keep their comments related solely to hockey and to keep their political views to themselves. If you want to espouse those views, find a political website to do so.