NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 21, 2023
Recaps of Wednesday’s games, the league reached an agreement with Diamond Sports Group to continue local broadcasts for this season, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: The Seattle Kraken upset the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 as Joey Daccord matched a franchise record with 42 saves for the win. Brandon Tanev and Jordan Eberle scored for the 11-14-9 Kraken (31 points), who move within three points of a wild card berth in the Western Conference. Blake Lizotte replied for the Kings (18-7-4), who remain in third place in the Pacific Division.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the day, the Kraken announced that center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare will be sidelined for four to six weeks with a fractured leg bone suffered during their game against the Dallas Stars earlier this week.
Winnipeg Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi (NHL Images)
Winnipeg Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi scored for the fourth straight game and added two assists in a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. The win vaulted the Jets (19-9-3) one point over the Dallas Stars into first place in the Central Division with 41 points. Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist for the 15-13-4 Red Wings (34 points), but they’ve dropped four straight games and slipped two points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Despite missing 18 games with a knee injury, Vilardi has six goals and seven assists for 13 points in as many games. Meanwhile, Pierre-Luc Dubois (the player Vilardi was traded for this summer) has 12 points in 29 games in the first season of his eight-year, $68 million contract with the Kings.
As for the slumping Red Wings, they placed goaltender Ville Husso on injured reserve and signed netminder Michael Hutchinson to a one-year, two-way contract before the start of the holiday roster freeze on Dec. 20.
An overtime goal by Dylan Strome lifted the Washington Capitals over the New York Islanders 3-2. Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots while Hendrix Lapierre had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (16-9-4) as they moved into the final Eastern wild-card spot with 36 points. Hudson Fasching and Anders Lee scored for the Islanders (15-8-9) as they sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 39 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Speaking of the Capitals, they’re expected to sign defenseman Ethan Bear once the holiday roster freeze is lifted on Dec. 28. Bear participated in their optional morning skate yesterday.
HEADLINES
THE ATHLETIC: The NHL reached an agreement with Diamond Sports Group to continue local broadcasts to the end of 2023-24. This affects 11 franchises: the Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning.
It also ends those clubs’ agreements with Diamond, which filed for bankruptcy in March. The deal is similar to the one reached between Diamond and the NBA
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH: cited a report in the Wall Street Journal indicating Amazon is discussing possible investment with Diamond Sports Group. If an agreement is reached, Amazon Prime Video would become the streaming home for regional broadcasts, including those of the Blue Jackets.
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: Dish Network has dropped the Golden Knights’regular-season games on channel Vegas 34 because of a carriage dispute. Those games are still available on other means, including the team’s streaming service KnightTime+.
Speaking of the Golden Knights, goaltender Logan Thompson is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
TAMPA BAY TIMES: Lighting defenseman Mikhail Sergachev missed practice yesterday nursing an injured left foot. It’s uncertain if he’ll be able to participate in Thursday’s game against the Golden Knights.
DAILY FACEOFF: Edmonton Oilers winger Connor Brown is expected to be a healthy scratch for Thursday’s game against the New Jersey Devils.
PHILLY HOCKEY NOW: Ex-Flyers forward Nolan Patrick has not retired from hockey. He was listed as a “Retired pro with significant NHL experience” in his profile with The Power Play, a hockey coaching and mentorship program. The site has since edited his profile to read that he’s a “4X NHL Pro with significant experience.”
” Vilardi has six goals and seven assists for 13 points in as many games. Meanwhile, Pierre-Luc Dubois (the player Vilardi was traded for this summer) has 12 points ”
There’s also Alex Iafallo in that trade who has 5G and 10A for 15 pts.
We’ll see in time but many of us thought Jets came out like bandits in that trade.
Hab fans that I know were not on the PLD bandwagon. He’s a good player but nowhere near what the media frenzy built him up to be.
Let’s please give it more than 30 games before we pass judgment on the trade. Although it’s certainly not looking good for the Kings at this point. Although thankfully for PLD, the Kings are doing well. He’d really be under the gun if they were slumping.
Talk about a Really BAD Signing⁉️
Look at the Connor Brown one…
Edmonton Oilers pay him $750,000 for this year and
with 10 games played he then gets a $3.25M bounus thats payed out July 1st 2024..❗️😡
A Huge Leson learend here…. It should have been bases on Points❓
If Brown gets 40 points he gets 50%, of the Bounus
if brown gets 50 points you get the /Full 100% of the Bounus
and
He only has 1 point in all his 24 Games played…. Thanks Mr.Ken Holland for a Brutal waste of $4.M Dollars we cant aford….🙈
Don’t let GM Ken Holland do any more trades and make sure Jackson and the assistant GM’s and Coach are all on board with Hollands next trade….❓
That next Trade should be moving Jack Campbell out and his Very Bad $5.M Contract for 3.5 more years thanks again Mr Holland
He is Done at the end of June 2024 dont let him Screw it up any more ….⁉️ Please…
I’m with HF30.
We don’t have to wait to see what PLD’s ceiling is. this is his 7th year in the league, and he is playing in the same conference as Winnipeg so there is little style to adjust to.
Yes, he has scored 28 and 27 goals which is pretty darn good; but my opinion is the he’s not worth the 8.5 million/year he is getting paid, and he certainly would have cost the Habs waaaaay to much in picks and players had they acquired him.
I concede that this is separate from how Valardi, Iafallo, Kupari and the 2nd round pick in 2024 work out for the Jets in the long term, but on the basis of Dubois’ established performance, too much cost in $ and assets. And … the Kings have Kopitar and Danault, so, what was the need for PLD? The Kings list him as center …
A closer look at the Ottawa Senators who sit last in the Atlantic but have as games in hand on every team, 6 less than Buffalo and Tampa.
If Ottawa won all games in hand on each team ie Buffalo 6, Montreal 4, Detroit 5, Tampa 6
They would only pass Buffalo in the standings. Buffalo has 29pts Ottawa 22pts. 6 wins would push Ottawa to 34pts
Montreal has 32pts, Ottawa has 4 games in hand, the 4 wins would give 30pts still 2pts behind the habs.
Games in hands are nice but losing 5 straight might make the hill to steep to climb.
I find it hilarious that Ottawa and Seattle have similar records but in the West in means you are on the cusp of a wild card spot but in the East it means you are dead last.
The conferences are very different 🙂
Not a fan of Dubois. His last shift in Columbus is how I’ll always remember him. He wanted out of Winnipeg before the plane hit the runway. Now he has warm weather and money. Good for him I guess. But he’s a quitter.