NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 21, 2023
The Bruins name their new captain, Steve Stamkos hasn’t had any contract extension talks yet with the Lightning, plus updates on William Nylander, Mattias Ekholm, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: The Bruins named Brad Marchand as the new captain, replacing Patrice Bergeron who retired in July. Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs praised Marchand’s development over his 15 seasons with the club, noting that he had the opportunity to learn from former Bruins captains such as Bergeron and Zdeno Chara.
Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Marchand’s pesky style of play and his lengthy list of fines and suspensions from earlier in this career had some fans questioning this decision by the Bruins. However, the evolution of his game into an elite scoring winger combined with his lead-by-example performances made him an obvious choice as Bergeron’s successor.
For those who believed defenseman Charlie McAvoy would’ve been a better choice as Bruins captain, his day will come within the next several years. The 35-year-old Marchand will likely retire within the next five years. Marchand is also slated to become an unrestricted free agent in 2025 if he and Bruins management fail to reach an agreement on a contract extension before then.
TAMPA BAY TIMES: Lightning captain Steven Stamkos told reporters yesterday that he was disappointed in the lack of contract extension talks with management. “It was something that I expressed at the end of last year that I wanted to get something done before training camp started,” said Stamkos. “There haven’t been any discussions.
Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said having Stamkos finish his playing career with the Lightning was in everyone’s best interest. However, his captain will have to wait until the end of this season before negotiations begin. “Steven and I share the common goal of bringing the (Stanley) Cup back to Tampa,” said BriseBois. “That’s our objective. In order for us to do that in future years, we’re going to need to spend our cap dollars as wisely as possible.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Re-signing Stamkos won’t be easy for the Lightning. They’ve been pressed for cap space in recent years due to the high cost of retaining their best players, resulting in a steady erosion of their overall roster depth.
With the cap projected to rise by $4 million next season, the Lightning have just over $12 million in cap space with 16 players under contract. I’ll have more on Stamkos in today’s Rumors update.
TSN: The Toronto Maple Leafs intend to try William Nylander at center for the coming season. The club also announced that goaltender Matt Murray will soon undergo a “significant surgery” while defenseman Jake Muzzin will remain on long-term injury reserve with a cervical spine injury.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Leafs experimenting with moving Nylander from the wing is to see if they can add more scoring to their third line while moving David Kampf down to the fourth-line center role. The move also comes with Nylander in a contract year as he’s slated to become a UFA next summer.
Murray will be joining Muzzin on long-term injury reserve with a combined $10.3 million.
DAILY FACEOFF: Edmonton Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm will miss the start of training camp with his hip flexor injury. There’s no timeline for his return.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Subsequent reports suggest Ekholm won’t be sidelined for long. He regularly skated with Evan Bouchard last season on the Oilers’ second defense pairing.
OTTAWA SUN: Senators general manager Pierre Dorion claimed he and Shane Pinto’s camp are inching toward a new contract for the 22-year-old center. The two sides have reportedly closed the gap in their negotiations but work remains to get a deal done.
Meanwhile, center Josh Norris will be skating with a non-contact yellow jersey as the Senators hit the ice for training camp. Norris tweaked his shoulder during a recent captain’s skate in Ottawa but it isn’t considered a serious injury.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Senators aren’t taking any chances with Norris. An injured shoulder requiring season-ending surgery limited him to just eight games in 2022-23.
TSN: Montreal Canadiens center Christian Dvorak will miss the opening month of the regular season as he continues to rehab from his March 15 knee surgery.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That explains in part why the Canadiens brought back Sean Monahan for another series.
MONTREAL GAZETTE: Speaking of the Canadiens, Paul Byron announced his retirement as a player and has joined the franchise as a player development consultant. In 521 games over 12 seasons, the 34-year-old two-way winger had 98 goals and 110 assists for 208 points with the Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres and Calgary Flames. He also had 11 points in 36 playoff games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hip injuries force Byron’s retirement after missing the entirety of last season. His energetic play and leadership made him popular with his teammates and a fan favorite in Montreal, especially during the Canadiens run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: And speaking of players moving on to front-office roles, Patric Hornqvist joined the Panthers’ hockey operations department as a development coach and scout. Hornqvist, 36, announced his retirement in July due to season-ending concussions suffered in December.
NASHVILLE HOCKEY NOW: A DUI criminal charge against Predators head coach Andrew Brunette has been dropped. Brunette was accused of driving his golf cart under the influence in Florida earlier this year.
THE PROVINCE: The Vancouver Canucks confirmed defenseman Tucker Poolman will not play this season due to ongoing migraine symptoms plaguing him since 2021-22.
COLORADO HOCKEY NOW: Saku Maenalanen has been released by the Avalanche from his professional tryout offer after failing his training camp medical.
ARIZONA SPORTS: The Coyotes signed forward Jan Jenik to a one-year, two-way contract.
Interesting notes.
Norris already eh? Who saw that coming—everyone.
How about a big glass of biosteel everyone? It’s about to get a whole lot cheaper.
How the Hell do you “tweak” a shoulder while skating? Maybe it occurred when he was tying his skates?
Would love to see the line combos that Toronto is trying out with Nylander as Center. Anyone see anything posted on how the top 3 lines are being paired?
Saw this on Twitter:
Tyler Bertuzzi is skating with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
Matthew Knies joins John Tavares and Sam Lafferty.
William Nylander is centering a line with Max Domi and Calle Järnkrok
Did anybody really think the Bruins were going to name anybody other than Marchand.
There wasn’t a second choice.
Just like when Marchand retires it will go to McAvoy.
Marchand teammates love him, he has a great relationship with his teammates. Marchand leads the way on the ice and drags his teammates into the fight.
Reading comments from non bruins fans, who are not happy with this decision. Made me wonder, why do you care? Most teams i couldn’t tell you who their captain is; curious why it was bother a non Boston fan.
Great choice and only choice
It’s only a great choice if Marshy has completely changed his ways. Including squawking at the refs every time he gets called for a penalty. That has hurt the Bruins for a few years now. Hope he’s on point
PB, for one i hope he doesn’t completely change his way.
Just to clarify, no Marchand doesn’t squawk at every penalty he gets. Most times he just skates to the box.
Sometimes he gets one of them Marchand penalty. Meaning they wouldn’t call it on anyone else. However them calls are based on history and when he gets one of them, he better be in the refs face.
I’m excited to see how he does as captain.
Marchand Is the ultimate team guy a true stud of team hockey probably not another obvious choice other than Mark Messier.
Putting Nylander as the number 2 C and having 11 million Tavares as number 3 C is only going to strengthen Nylander’s ask.
Dave, what if Willie is the #3 C, with goals and assists dropping off from last year’s pace? What happens to the $10 M ask?
Smart move by the Leafs. If another player can step into WW’s wing spot and score 30 goals, someone who will work for less than $10 M per year, then you don’t mind letting WW leave.
And if WW blossoms into a potential #2 center, Tre could be willing to pay WW close to $10 M, knowing that the Tavares contract would expire after the first season of Willie’s extension.
Hopefully he becomes a 2ctr. And signs with his pal pasta. Now that would put a fly in the leaf ointment 😖
I’ve been projecting just this since they came into the league.
If that happens Willie wont be a leaf next season. No matter what the leafs are offering
What if Keefe pulls his usual and puts Nylander back on the wing after training camp?
Yes your right, they may put him at 2nd or 3rd, if its 3rd…..
and they try to low-ball him he will walk 100% to become a UFA a first line RW on any team in the NHL….👍
He is way better than John Tavares @34 yrs old and 2 years left at $11.M…….
i would move out JT and free uo his $11.M even if he has a NTC,
Ask Tavares to wave it the if he says no,
buy him out next year, re-tool the D, and add a UFA forward.
Next year they have 8 UFA players and $33M. in cap space if they can move JT and his $11.M salary they would have $43.M in cap space to re tool…..
lots of options open for the leafs….⁉️
Tavares cap hit if bought out is $10,393,334. That’s a savings of only $606,606, so no, that’s not going to happen.
Kudos to Paul Byron on a fine career. Who will ever forget his SHG scored from his knees to beat the Leafs in the playoffs in 2021.
I’m glad the Habs are keeping him on in their player development team. He can certainly teach young players a thing or to about perseverance and effort.
I think the Norris situation is why we have seen little movement from Dorion… he’s gauging whether this will be an LTIR season for him. Pinto would then slot in number 2 and Greig at 3.
Hammer, I think if Toronto put him at the 3 C position and his production drops off then he won’t re-sign there when he know he can be a # 1 wing with another organization. He has already proven what he’s worth. I think putting him as the 3C would be a moronic move.
The Norris situation is exactly why Dorion should have locked up Pinto months ago.
Pressuring the kid and trying to undervalue him as a 3C when he already played 2C.
Trade him like he’s a 2C but pay him like he’s a 3C is a great way to motivate a payer…..not.
TML is are almost trying to ruin Nylander, not wiling/able to pay him, makig him an overpaid 3C.
Habs screwed up Drouin by making him play centre, sure hope TML aren’t making the same mistake.
Ruin is a big stretch. As a fan of the team, Nylander has only played a center position when a regular center has been injured.
I don’t see a problem with giving him reps at a position he used to play when he was younger so when called on, he will be able to adjust easier. It’s smart asset management really. And usually a good player that is capable of playing wing and center are usually a bit more desirable than just a winger.
Anyway if this does work out, which I doubt, it would be great for the team on many levels. I’m more curious about Bertuzzi experiment more than anything.
Well. If it’s been years and years without a cup being captained by one of the classiest players… why not flip the script and have one of the douchiest players captain the team? Can’t hurt to try
Chrism I don’t think Max Domi has done enough in the league to warrant being named the captain of the Leafs.
😂😂
Nice.
I do not blame Stamkos for being disappointed given his contributions to the franchise. Neither do I blame Brisebois who, as usual, is walking a tightrope keeping the Lightning’s Cup window open while tap-dancing around the cap ceiling. He needs the flexibility of seeing how the team fares this season and how a multitude of factors (including injuries) will affect his trade-deadline decisions. He made a difficult decision to offend a valued veteran in the interests of the team as a whole.
I agree Mark Allan, the Jets overpaid Wheeler and signed him for too long just to reward him for what he did in the past. And don’t get me wrong, Wheeler gave his all game in and game out.