NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 18, 2024
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog remains focused on returning for the start of this season, Alex Nedeljkovic looks forward to another season with the Penguins, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
COLORADO HOCKEY NOW: In an interview with NHL.com, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said team captain Gabriel Landeskog is trying to return near the start of this season.
Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog (NHL Images).
Landeskog, 31, hasn’t played since Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. He’s been sidelined by two knee surgeries.
Bednar also indicated that forward Artturi Lehkonen could miss the start of the season following offseason shoulder surgery.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bednar said Landeskog’s potential return would boost the Avalanche roster. How effective he’ll be after missing two seasons recovering from knee surgeries remains to be seen.
TRIBLIVE.COM: Alex Nedeljkovic is happy to return with the Pittsburgh Penguins and looks forward to sharing the goaltending duties again with Tristan Jarry.
Nedeljkovic, 28, took over from a slumping Jarry as the Penguins’ starting goalie late in the season, keeping his club in the playoff race with a record of 8-1-3, a 3.05 goals-against average, and a .898 save percentage. He finished the season with a record of 18-7-7, a 2.97 GAA, and a .902 save percentage.
Eligible for unrestricted free agent status on July 1, Nedeljkovic instead signed a two-year contract extension in June.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Penguins need consistency between the pipes to reach the playoffs this season. They’re putting their faith in two goalies with reputations as streaky performers.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: The Toronto Maple Leafs reportedly signed free-agent defenseman Jani Hakanpaa to a two-year contract but have not officially announced it.
Hakanpaa, 32, is reportedly dealing with a career-threatening knee injury. He believes he can still play but not everyone involved agrees.
Last week, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said they were “working through that” and hope to get to it “sooner rather than later.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: As I mentioned last week, the definitive answer could come when the Leafs players undergo training camp medicals in mid-September.
BOSTON HERALD: Bruins forward John Beecher enters his sophomore season hoping to build on his rookie campaign.
Beecher, 23 had an up-and-down 2023-24, at one point spending almost two months with the Bruins AHL affiliate in Providence. However, he returned to the Bruins in March and played well down the stretch and in the postseason.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: The Washington Capitals could bring back their black Screaming Eagle jersey for their 50th anniversary this season.
Hakenpaa- I know very little about this defenseman
Unfortunate – as I heard very good things about this player
1. He is very hard to play against
Ken, a healthy Hakanpaa could turn out to be one of those very good quiet acquisitions that emerge every now and then. But the kicker is “healthy” … a gimpy knee is not something you want to see on a 6′ 7″ 225 lb giant.
Taken in Rd 4 104th overall by St. Louis in 2010, although never playing a game for St. Louis he has played 288 with Anaheim (47gp), Carolina (15gp) and Dallas (226 gp including 80 of 82 in 2021-22 and all 82 in 2022-23 – he missed 18 this past season with that knee ailment.
In 288gp he has 15g 30a 45 pts and has been a consistent + player at all stops.
Keep your fingers crossed – he could turn out to be a hidden gem.
I always like Jani on the Stars. Big, strong D man that is probably better suited for 3rd pairing. Hes a solid player that is more of a stay at home D man, but can get involved in the rush….He has a very strong shot, but doesn’t use it much. With his size, he can push people around but can also get skated past by good skaters. You probably won’t notice him all that much on the ice, which means he is not going to stand out either. Over all, solid player. Personally, I like him better than Dumba, but Dumba probably had a higher ceiling. I hope Jani can return to the NHL.
Hoping that Landeskog is available to play this year! He has really paid his dues rehabbing his injury!
Good news about Landeskog. Rooting for him big time. Most underrated captain and hockey player in the league. GO AVS!!!
Strong feedback from George , as always and Stars Fan .
Stars fan , obviously you have observed the player 1st hand and George – keep our fingers crossed as per his wonky knee !!’
All I have heard is arthroscopic !
Ken, lets assume Hakanpaa is good to go in September at $1,500,000 per. According to PuckPedia, who have not yet factored that deal into their Leafs page, they currently sit at 21 of 23 players committed to
12F Matthews $13,250,000), Nylander ($11,500,000), Tavares ($11,000,000), Marner10.903,000), Domi ($3,750,000), Kampf ($2,400,000), Jarnkrok ($2,100,000), Reaves ($1,350,000), McMann ($1,350,000), Dewar ($1,180,000), Knies ($925,000), Holmberg ($800,000)
7D Rielly ($7,500,000), Tanev ($4,500,000), Ekman-Larsson ($3,500,000), Liljegren ($3,000,000), McCabe ($2,000,000(, Benoit ($1,350,000), Timmins (1,100,000)
2G Stolarz ($2,500,000) and Woll ($766,667)
They currently have #1,275.333 in cap space – not enough to cover Hakanpaa’s $1.5 mil with out another move, never mind accommodating Robertson if and when he signs. Coming off a season of 56gp with 14g 13a 27 pts and 82-game averages of 21g 21a 42 pts and an expired ELC of $796,667, he has to be looking at something close to $2 mil on a bridge deal at least.
Should he get that and Hakanpaa is activated, they reach the full 23-player complement, but the combined $3,500,000 would put them $2,224,667 over the cap. So, if they wish to go into the season with a 23-man roster, there will need to be some further movement.
All signs point to some more activity on the trade front there IF Hakanpaa is good to go AND Robertson is re-upped.
How do you and other Leafs fans see it unfolding?
If Landeskog can play then someone now on the Avs is vulnerable. I’d like the Habs to be in on Mittelstadt.
Mittelstadt’s not going anywhere, LJ
Maybe not, Lyle, but if Landeskog comes back the Avs are going to have to do something with a current roster player. Add his salary for the next 4 years and as discussed yesterday the cost of resigning Rantanen and the Avs cap space gets smaller fast.
The point is, it won’t be Mittelstadt.
Vulnerable is putting it mildly. At the moment PuckPedia shows Colorado with $2,066,250 in cap space and 22 of 23 committed to – not including Nichushkin and his $6,125,000 who is suspended through to at least mid-November and Landeskog and his $7,000,000 cap hit who remains a medical ? as to his availability for opening night.
If and when both return to the lineup at some point, that combined $13,125,000 puts them at 24 roster players and $11,058,750 OVER the cap.
No demotion is going to cover that, so either Sakic is approaching both situations with the attitude that their likely returns are pipe dreams at best, or there would need to be some major trade(s) coming up.
I imagine that Sakic and his team have a whiteboard filled with scenarios.
One says: listen to LJ, trade Mittelstadt to the Habs.
LOL, ok LJ, let’s assume for a fleeting moment that Sakic would do that – his $5,750,000 moving out would take care of something less than half the over numbers, and since he would not be interested in any roster player with cap and term coming back – given that situation – what do the Habs offer that might interest Sakic for a quality player like Mittelstadt?
George:
The Habs have a two first rounders for 2025, the Avs 0. The Habs only other area of strength, is their D, so they can afford to give up a D or two. The Avs have a strong 1 – 4 in D, but they can certainly use depth, or a good prospect or two. And the Avs need to clear cap room.
To be clear, Mittelstadt would be an upgrade given the Habs current woeful scoring. He had a strong playoff series last season.
But he has also never scored more than 59 points in a season and likely now never will. His value to the Avs was in the likely absence of Landeskog, and his market value is that he is a center.
All of which to say that I truly don’t think he is worth trading the farm for, and my interest in him for the Habs comes – somewhat – out of the dog days of August hockey news.
I hear ya!
i don’t think the Avalanche would have made that investment in Mittlestadt if they shipped out byram for him only to turn around and ship him out for something else? i think the Avalanche believe Landeskog is coming back and he looks as though he is but if there is a disruption in his return, then i am sure they are considering all possible scenarios. but i don’t think mittlestadt would be one of them but who knows?