NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 11, 2024

by | Aug 11, 2024 | News, NHL | 8 comments

Potential candidates for the 2024-25 Calder Trophy, why the Linus Ullmark trade could be worthwhile for the Senators even if he moves on next season, the Canadiens hope their young stars take the next step, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

ESPN.COM: San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini goes into this season as the favorite to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as Rookie of the Year. However, he could be challenged by a dynamic field of promising young players making their NHL debuts this season.

Among the notables (in alphabetical order) are Dallas Stars center Mavrik Bourque, Utah Hockey Club winger Josh Doan, Anaheim Ducks winger Cutter Gauthier, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, Minnesota Wild center Marat Khusnutdinov, Colorado Avalanche winger Nikolai Kovalenko, Philadelphia Flyers winger Matvei Michkov, Sharks forward Will Smith, Stars winger Logan Stankoven, New York Islanders winger Maxim Tsyplakov, and Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf.

San Jose Sharks prospect Macklin Celebrini (NHL.com).

Others worth watching include Edmonton Oilers forward Matthew Savoie, Seattle Kraken center Shane Wright and Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Celebrini is the favorite based on his status as the first-overall pick in this year’s draft. Gauthier, Hutson and Michkov enter this season with their fair share of hype.

Some players, like Doan, Stankoven, and Wolf, will have an advantage as they saw some NHL action last season but not enough to be considered a rookie for 2023-24.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: Steve Warne believes the Ottawa Senators’ acquisition of Linus Ullmark still makes sense even if the 30-year-old goaltender departs as an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Having a proven starter between the pipes will boost the confidence of their young players. Ullmark could also be a positive influence for goalies Anton Forsberg and Mads Sogaard. If Ullmark plays poorly, it could be a core problem involving the defense rather than a goalie issue.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie in 2022-23 as a member of the Boston Bruins. Some point out that he won partly because of the strong Bruins defense in front of him.

Warne suggests that if Ullmark plays well for the Senators, it’ll be considered proof that shaky goaltending was the real issue holding them back in recent years. If he struggles, management can focus on bolstering the blueline.

THE SCORE: Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes hopes his promising core takes a big step forward in their development this season.

The focus will be on Juraj Slafkovsky, who made significant strides last season with 20 goals and 50 points after being moved to the top line alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, with 37 of those points coming in 46 games after Jan. 1.

We don’t need him to score 40 or 50 goals or it’s a failure,” said Hughes. “It’s about continuing to progress as a hockey player and to be the best version of himself, because we’re confident the best version of Juraj is going to give us a good chance to compete and win.”

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The rebuilding Canadiens aren’t expected to be a playoff contender this season. However, a strong season-long performance by Slafkovsky combined with the ongoing improvement of Suzuki and Caufield, the development of other younger players, and an overall healthier season could make the Habs a much more competitive club.

NEW YORK POST: Ethan Sears reports Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello isn’t fully closing the door on the return of unrestricted free agent forwards Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin. However, he believes the club will be moving on from those two.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lamoriello told The Athletic’s Arthur Staple the same thing a week ago. Never say never, but we’ll probably move on from those two. That seems about as close as the Isles GM will come to admitting that Clutterbuck and Martin won’t be back.







8 Comments

  1. IF it comes to Ullmark definitely moving on from the Senators, there are only 2 possibilities as to how that plays out:

    1) if, as the trade deadline approaches next season. the team is again sputtering among the also-rans, he will be dealt.

    2) if, as the trade deadline approaches, the team is in the thick of a playoff race, he will remain to the end, and leave as a UFA in the summer.

    The problem with 1) is, whether or not his performance to that point is viewed as part of the problem. If it is, they won’t get a helluva lot for him at the deadline. On the other hand, should his personal performance to that point be viewed as solid, the return will be suitably better.

    Where 2) is concerned, should they make the playoffs and do reasonably well once they start, he might very well re-assess his situation and be open to a new contract.

    In other words, prepare for ongoing Ullmark cannon-fodder chat from here to next year’s deadline.

  2. Makes sense regarding Ullmark,although you might run into the same problem that Boston did,having a limited market of teams that he will entertain being traded to!

    • That, too, crossed my mind Sr … but as I see it, if he and the team are both seen as sputtering they wouldn’t get much for him anyway, so they’d likely just ride out the season with him rather than try and find a team not on his no-go list that would even want him. Then it’s back to the drawing board where goalkeeping is concerned.

      And if that’s the way it plays out, they’ll be well on their way to challenging Buffalo when it comes to year after year of futility when it comes to making the playoffs, including rising speculation about some of their “stars” wanting out.

      In some way, the Senators are even more perplexing now than under Dorion. Staios has made a number of roster changes designed to shore up perceived weaknesses – including a complete coaching structure – and we won’t have any idea as to how all that plays out until we see how the team is doing by mid-December. If they’re in the thick of a race the moves will have obviously been beneficial … if not, look out.

      Right now PuckPedia shows Staios as having just $1,909,285 in cap reserve with 21 of 23 committed to – 12F, 7D and 2G – but why do they assume that includes call-ups LW Angus Crookshank and LD Tyler Kleven but not, for example, LW/C Ostapchuk?

      And why did Staios not buy out RD Travis Hamonic, who had a horrible season, who turns 34 in 5 days, and costs $1.1 mil off the cap? The buy-out would have cost $366,667 per for 2 seasons and the savings would leave him with $2,642,618 in cap reserve with 3 positions to fill. He then could bring in someone like UFA RD Clutterbuck for probably $1 mil, and still have $1,642,618 for either another from among the UFAs at rock-bottom cost and/or another ELC call-up.

      • Hold on, there are many more ways things can go right or wrong with the Sens. Like a scenario where the defense and Ullmark are not a problem but the team is still outside a playoff spot, what then?

        Young teams have many issues holding them back. Some big, and some you don’t see until you fix one. Then it’s on to the next one and hope you have some cap space or assets to facilitate another fix if one’s available.

        Until then, you hope for the best. 😆

      • That should read “UFA RW Clutterbuck …”

        Ron, of they are sputtering again come mid-December I feel safe in saying it WILL be traced to defense/goaltending issues, simply because their offense has been as consistently good as more than half the teams that made the playoffs for the past 3 seasons.

        And that’s without the services of Norris for the most part and, last season, half the schedule without Pinto.

        Bottom line – the Senators problems for the past 7 playoff misses have consistently been traced to overall team defense structure, the D itself and goaltending.

      • And after a bit of scrounging around I found another article by Steve Warne, this time in the Hockey News in June, explaining why Staios had no intention of buying out Hamonic.

        Sentimentality! And because he has “great leadership qualities.” JAY-zuv!

        So too does Alfredsson have “great leadership qualities” – so what? He delivers that now as a coach.

        Being a 7th D with minimal ice-time and a -10 in just 46gp, that isn’t contributing in any meaningful way as a player. If his leadership qualities are that good, then by all means buy him out and hire him as a coach.

        In the meantime, get a player who can actually give some quality time on the ice.

  3. Having lived in Ottawa for 8 years, Linus is already the best dressed in town.