NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 1, 2023
Recaps of Tuesday’s games, the NHL and NHLPA discuss neck guards for its players, Paul Stastny retires, the Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy is suspended, and more in today’s Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson tallied a hat trick and defenseman Quinn Hughes had three assists in a 5-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. Colton Sissons and Dante Fabbro replied for the Predators. The Canucks end the month of October with a record of 6-2-1 while the Predators slipped to 4-5-0.
Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: A much better start for the Canucks compared to last season (2-5-2), 2021-22 (3-5-1) and 2020-21 (4-5-0). A healthy roster, strong performances from Pettersson and Hughes and the players’ adjustment to head coach Rick Tocchet’s system are among the contributing factors. Pettersson sits second among NHL scorers with 16 points and Quinn (11 points) is tied for the scoring lead among NHL defensemen.
The Los Angeles Kings downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1. Cam Talbot made 29 saves, Phillip Danault scored what proved to be the game-winner and Quinton Byfield collected two assists for the 5-2-2 Kings. John Tavares scored and William Nylander collected an assist to extend his season-opening points streak to a team record nine games for the 5-3-1 Maple Leafs.
HEADLINES
SPORTSNET: NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the league has initiated discussions with the NHL Players Association to increase neck protections among its players. The move comes following the death of former NHL player Adam Johnson on Saturday after his neck was accidentally sliced by a skate blade during an EIHL game in England.
TSN: Chris Johnston reports there’s a huge level of concern around the NHL about this issue with teams calling league headquarters for direction. Three teams (Pittsburgh, Washington and Carolina) have started the process of optional neckguards for their players while the Penguins are making them mandatory for their AHL and ECHL affiliates.
Pierre LeBrun, meanwhile, indicated that cut-resistant gear has been a topic of discussion for the past half-dozen NHL general managers meetings dating back to Evander Kane’s wrist injury last season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The NHL cannot implement changes to player equipment without the consent of the NHLPA. However, it sounds like the PA could be receptive to this issue. Teams are already taking action to allow their players the option of wearing cut-resistant gear. This could be something that gets put into practice more quickly than previous changes to equipment policies.
NHL.COM: Paul Stastny has retired after 17 NHL seasons. He had 293 goals and 822 career regular-season points in 1,145 games with the Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets, Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes. He also had 73 points in 118 playoff games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stastny’s best seasons were with the Avalanche, including a career-high 79 points in 2009-10. He reportedly sought the guidance of his father, Hall-of-Famer Peter Stastny, before reaching this decision. Stastny told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun that he’s interested in returning to hockey one day in a management role.
BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy received a four-game suspension from the NHL department of player safety for an illegal hit to the head of Florida Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson on Monday.
The Bruins also announced that blueliner Matt Grzelcyk will miss “a couple of weeks” with an upper-body injury.
DAILY FACEOFF: Bruins center Matthew Poitras and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Kevin Korchinski won’t be returned to their respective junior teams. Both will remain with their NHL clubs following their nine-game trials with their respective teams.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That means their entry-level contracts now go into effect and will count against their respective teams’ salary-cap payrolls for this season.
CBS SPORTS: San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture suffered a minor setback in his recovery from a lower-body injury that will keep him off the ice for a little while. Meanwhile. Sharks forward Alexander Barabanov will miss four to six weeks due to a broken finger.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The hits just keep on coming for the struggling Sharks. The absence of Couture has hurt their offense and Barabanov’s absence won’t help.
MONTREAL GAZETTE: Canadiens center Kirby Dach underwent successful knee surgery in New York on Tuesday. He’s expected to make a full recovery and be ready to return to action next season.
COLORADO HOCKEY NOW: Avalanche blueliners Cale Makar and Bowen Byram missed practice on Tuesday and are questionable for Wednesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Chicago Blackhawks center Conor Bedard is off to a promising start with six points in nine games. However, Ottawa Senators center Ridly Greig was the rookie points leader for October with seven points in eight contests.
THE SCORE: Buffalo Sabres rookie Zach Benson is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Edmonton Oilers signed center Sam Gagner to a one-year, two-way contract worth $775K at the NHL level and placed forward Adam Erne on waivers.
Should be a tough couple weeks for bruins with 2 top d out. But a chance to see top prospect Lohrei in nhl game action Next man up
As i said yesterday McAvoy should get 4 games.
He could’ve received more.
Yes you did Caper. It was a dumb thing to do for sure
Ya it was a dumb thing to do, 190′ from his own net.
Last time he was suspended was 2019, so repeat offender I think. Next one will be worse.
They need to bring up 2, a RD and a LD. Zboril has played on his off side, but guessing Mitchell along with Lohrei.
So if Lohrei, do you play him with a quality vet Carlo, or keep his minutes down with Shattenkirk? Mitchell and Lohrei together? Don’t like that last option.
I put him with Carlo so he has a good partner and give him some minutes. See how it goes.
Senators to hold news conference at 3.15 on TSN. I think they will fire Dorion.
I disagree with McAvoy getting 4 games. I agree the hit was high and late. I have no problem with the match penalty, and possibly a suspension of a game or at the most two, but not four. He did not come up and hit with his elbow to the head, rather he hit with his shoulder which is the cleaner method to deliver a hit. I would also compare McAvoy’s hit to other high hits from others (many with elbows or a players head driven into the boards) where no suspensions were handed out, and that sets the precedent and the basis of my argument.