NHL Headlines and Rumors – September 14, 2024
Check out the latest on Ilya Sorokin, Phil Kessel, the latest Flyers speculation, and more in today’s NHL Headlines and Rumors.
DAILY FACEOFF: New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said Ilya Sorokin suffered an injury during offseason training. The 29-year-old goaltender is skating and could miss the first couple of days of training camp. Lamoriello doesn’t believe Sorokin’s ailment will keep him out of the lineup for the regular season.
New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported last week that Sorokin was dealing with something. We’ll likely learn more about his status following his training camp medical next week.
NEW YORK POST: Speaking of the Islanders, they’ve invited winger Matt Martin to training camp on a professional tryout offer (PTO).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Martin, 35, spent 13 of his 15 NHL seasons with the Islanders.
SPORTSNET: Phil Kessel isn’t ready to hang up his skates. Elliotte Friedman reports the 36-year-old winger still hopes for another NHL opportunity. The league’s reigning Ironman’s last NHL game was an Apr. 13, 2023 playoff contest with the Vegas Golden Knights.
The report suggests interest in Kessel among NHL clubs is lacking given his age and that he missed all of last season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Maybe someone will take a chance on Kessel with a PTO but it’s unlikely that he’ll land a job at this stage.
COLORADO HOCKEY NOW: Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen won’t be a full participant when training camp opens next week. The 29-year-old had shoulder surgery during the offseason and there’s no timetable for his return.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Avs were already facing the start of the season without Valeri Nichushkin as he’s in Stage 3 of the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program and remains suspended until mid-November. Team captain Gabriel Landeskog hopes to stage a comeback from knee surgeries but his status remains uncertain.
PHILLY HOCKEY NOW: The Flyers hired Wayne Simmonds as a community relations ambassador and hockey operations consultant. Simmonds, 36, spent nearly eight seasons with the Flyers, scoring 203 goals and 175 assists for 378 points in 584 games.
THE ATHLETIC: Speaking of the Flyers, Kevin Kurz believes forward Joel Farabee will be in the spotlight early on this season. The 24-year-old forward struggled last season and Kurz doesn’t have him pencilled in among their top-six forwards.
Training camp will determine how things shake out. Kurz suggests Farabee and his $5 million average annual value through 2026-27 could hit the trade block if the Flyers try to free up cap space for next season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Farabee sometimes popped up in last season’s rumor mill due to his inconsistent production. This season could determine if he has a future in Philadelphia beyond this season.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Rob Couch suggests Flyers prospect goaltender Alexei Kolosov could be a good option for the Nashville Predators to replace the departed Yaroslav Askarov, who was traded last month to the San Jose Sharks.
Kolosov, 22, is not attending Flyers training camp despite being on an entry-level contract.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s believed the Flyers will toll Kolosov’s contract a year if he stays in Europe this season. However, they might be willing to entertain trade offers for him.
TORONTO SUN: Maple Leafs performance coach Greg Harden passed away Thursday from complications due to surgery. He was 75.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: My condolences to Harden’s family, friends and the Leafs organization.
Senators fans must have been thrilled to wake up this morning and see that the collection of their prospects received a 9-1 s^%t-kicking at the hands of the Devils’ rookies.
My first inclination when I saw the score was to shrug and think, well, after all, why be surprised when no less than 8 of the 15 forwards, 2 of the 3 goalies, and 3 of the 8 D are undrafted players?
But that was quickly discarded by the likelihood that the composition of the Devils’ group had the same ratio of drafted to undrafted.
Whatever the case, there can be no excuse for such a pathetic display when you’re there to make an impression. Some impression!
mikeP, don’t think kessel is a good fit. Doesn’t play defense and we already have a lack of attention to the defensive side of the game. We don’t need more! Plus, didn’t play last year and he is getting older? Lekhonen is concerning however but they did say he would be fortunate to be a full participant when camp opened. As long as he is ready to go shortly. The younger guys it seems will get all the opportunities to make the roster. It’s their time anyways to prove they can make it: oluasson, kovalenko, foudy. Possibly Ritchie will get a chance?
I knew that would pee you off, George.
But hey: take solace in the fact that the Athletic’s Pronman ranks the Sens as # 5 in “pipeline prospects,” ahead of the Habs.
I may have rose coloured glasses on as I shake my head about that, but even if the assessment were reversed, Pronman is jazzed about the Sens young talent.
LJ,
FYI, the Habs/Leafs prospect game is being televised on RDS and on the RDS website.
Pre-game at 12:30m game time 1:00
I appreciate the tip, HF30. I will see if the RDS site will grant me access.
Is watching the rookie camp something you can do? If so, anyone jumped out?
LJ,
This link is for full rookie scrimmage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST6LrIzl_9g
It’s from early July and tbh I didn’t watch it as I thought it was too early for them to show anything seious
LJ ,,, and The Hockey Writers have the Senators ranked dead last in prospect rankings. Beauty is in the eye of the holder, indeed … lol.
I suppose we have to consider that this tournament is reserved for pure rookies as opposed to being a test for all “prospects” which would explain the absence of Tyler Kleven, Mads Sogaard, Zack Ostapchuk, Xavier Bourgault, Angus Crookshank, and the inclusion of a host of undrafted players, the vast majority of whom will never make it.
I don’t know the make-up of the Habs roster but it’s likely configured along the same lines, with a clutch of undrafted players.
Only way to be able to analyze what they can do in competition.
With all due respect to Phil Kessel, if he wanted to continue his career into his late 30s he really needed to focus on his fitness and defensive play, which he seemingly did not. At least he didn’t wash out as early as Dany Heatley, who in his prime was a better goal scorer than Kessel.
Heh, teah … Kessel may not be ready to hang them up but reality is telling him otherwise.
Avs are short on NHL players, why not give Kessel a PTO to try to make the team?
mikep, Kessel is a RW who turns 37 next month and hasn’t played a game in over a year. For a 5′ 11″ 210 lb F who has been notoriously overweight at the best of times, that can’t be ideal.
They’d be far better off bringing in James van Riemsdyk, Keven Labanc or even Mike Hoffman on a p.t.o.
Camps open in 4 days and there are still 11 UFAs – some arguably significant components of their rosters and others whose continued absence seems to defy logic.
SIGNIFICANT COMPONENTS
G Jeremy Swayman of Boston, which has $8,630,667 in cap reserve with 22 of 23 signed and their # 1 goalie apparently seeking something well north of $9 mil. Who blinks first?
LD Thomas Harley of Dallas who are 3 short of a full 23-man roster with $6,243,759 in cap space, almost all of which – if not more – is likely being demanded by the big D-man who just completed a 79gp season with 15g 32a 47 pts and a +28. Could Dallas be one of those teams needing to make a deal to free up sufficient space to flesh out their roster, or do they go with 2 short of 23 after signing Harley? They don’t have an LTIR to utilize.
RW Lucas Raymond and RD Moritz Seider of Detroit which, despite having $17,646,194 in cap space, are also 3 short of 23 and are clearly having trouble getting Raymond and Seider to agree to amounts within that total. Which also probably explains why another mundane RFA, RW Jonatan Berggren. coming of an ELC of $925,000 and a season of 12gp with 2g 4a 6 pts, has yet to be signed. Clearly, what Raymond and Seider are demanding adds up to more than what they’d have left over to sign Berggren.
Winnipeg, according to Puckpedia, has $5,776,309 in cap space and a full complement of 23 on the main roster and Cole Perfetti still to sign. The 5′ 11′ 185 lb left-shooting F this past season played in 71 games with 19g 19a 38 pts and a +13 and has career totals of 140 games played with 29g 46a 75 pts and is a cumulative +24, coming off an ELC of $894,167. Once he is signed, a player will need to be optioned to make room, so that would make the available cap space closer to $6.8 mil – but surely he and his agent can’t be looking at anything approaching that!
UFAs WHOSE HOLD-OUT LACKS ANY LOGIC
New Jersey, with 21 of 23 signed, has $4,976,103 left in their cap but it would seem F Dawson Mercer, who just completed an 82gp season with 20g 13a 33 pts thinks he is worth that much, or perhaps just enough that it would prevent the Devils from bringing someone up to get to the 23-man limit – despite the fact his stats also showed a glaring minus 28.
Buffalo, with 22 of 23 and $8,449,484 in cap space, has only C Peyton Krebs to re-up, he of a just completed 80gp season and all of 4g 13a 17 pts and a +2. Obviously, they have plenty of cap space to sign this guy but the fact they haven’t yet indicates Krebs is seeking something significantly more than they’re offering. He is one who could be sitting well into the season.
Los Angeles is shown with a full 23-man roster and only $1,321,666 in cap space with 6′ 2″ 210 lb RW Arthur Kaliyev still to sign after playing 51 games this past season with 7g 8a 15 pts and coming off an ELC of $894,167. They’re probably offering no increase at all, wanting him to re-up at that level, perhaps on a 1-year “show me” deal. He, too, could still be unsigned well into the start of the season – or requesting a trade.
Nashville ($1,495,801 in cap space with 21 of 23 on the main roster has C Philip Tomasino still unsigned coming off a 41 game season with 7g 13a 20 pts and an expired ELC of $863,334. Obviously not enough to re-up him and flesh out the roster with a call-up. Another team maybe trading someone to free up cap space?
Calgary, sitting on $19,974,166 in cap space and, according to Puckpedia, a full complement of 23, has only LD Ilya Solovyov to re-up. This is a hard one to figure considering the huge cap space and Solovyov, coming off an ELC of $898,333, having just 10 NHL games under his belt (0g 3a 3 pts) and in no position to dicker. What could possibly be the hold-up in this case?
Thank god training camp opens soon! Last 2 weeks has been full of redundancy! I thought Kessel retired last year!The above lists and teams need to do something to end this logjam!
Why should any care about Phil’s fitness? All the guy has ever done is score and never miss games. Phil has also always been credited with being a fast player. This is not track and field people. The object of the game is to put the puck in the net more than the other team and Phil has a history of getting that done. A team like Col would be wise to give Phil a shot to see if he can contribute.
Kessel has signed a PTO with the Chestnut/Kobatashi Frankenfurters
well, he and the frankfurters should get along famously!