NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 18, 2024
The Stars re-sign Esa Lindell and Thomas Harley, Canucks forward Dakota Joshua reveals testicular cancer diagnosis, plus other notable signings and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: The Stars signed defenseman Esa Lindell to a five-year contract extension with an average annual value of $5.25 million. They also signed a two-year contract with blueliner Thomas Harley with a $4 million AAV.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lindell and Harley are among the Stars’ top three blueliners along with Miro Heiskanen.
Dallas Stars defenseman Esa Lindell (NHL Images).
Lindell, 30, was slated to become an unrestricted free agent next July. He’s taking a pay cut on his next deal as his current AAV is $5.8 million. His new deal comes with a full no-trade clause in the first three years and a 20-team no-trade list in the final two years. He also gets signing bonuses during the first three years.
Harley, 23, is coming off his entry-level contract. He’s accepting a bridge deal but his next contract will likely be longer and more lucrative. He enjoyed a breakout performance in 2023-24, tallying 47 points in 79 games.
THE PROVINCE: Canucks forward Dakota Joshua revealed he was diagnosed with testicular cancer during the summer. The tumor was successfully removed and the 28-year-old is expected to make a full recovery. Joshua hopes to resume playing soon but there is no timeline for his return to the Canucks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Here’s hoping Joshua makes a complete recovery. Testicular cancer is no joke. Thankfully, nearly 100 percent of cases are curable.
Joshua can draw inspiration from Phil Kessel. He was also diagnosed with testicular cancer early in his NHL career. He made a full recovery, going on to become the NHL’s reigning Ironman and a three-time Stanley Cup champion.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Spencer Lazary reports the Los Angeles Kings signed winger Arthur Kaliyev to a one-year contract worth $874, 125.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kaliyev, 23, reportedly requested a trade after the Kings were eliminated from the opening round of the 2024 NHL Playoffs. However, he was completing his entry-level contract and had little leverage to force a trade.
BUFFALO HOCKEY NOW: The Sabres signed restricted free-agent forward Peyton Krebs to a two-year contract with an AAV of $1.45 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Krebs was another player coming off his entry-level contract. He was part of the trade that sent Jack Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights in November 2021. The young forward has struggled to establish himself with the Sabres, relegated to fourth-line duty last season.
PHILLY HOCKEY NOW: Flyers general manager Daniel Briere hopes goaltender Alexei Kolosov changes his mind and returns to the club from Belarus. Until then, Briere said the club is moving on.
Kolosov, 22, is under an entry-level contract with the Flyers. They’re unwilling to loan him back to KHL club Dinamo Minsk, who have also moved on and carry three goalies on their roster.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The report claims Kolosov wanted assurances of a guaranteed roster spot with the Flyers. That won’t happen with Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov as their tandem for this season. Given his contract status, Kolosov has no choice but to return to the Flyers if he wants to keep playing this season.
TSN: The Toronto Maple Leafs signed goaltender Jon Gillies to a professional tryout offer (PTO). Gillies, 30, last played in 2022-23, splitting time between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: The Panthers agreed with Broward County on a lease extension for Amerant Bank Arena that could keep the club in Sunrise through 2043.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The report indicated this deal should end rumors of the Panthers looking into constructing a new arena closer to Ft. Lauderdale. It also noted that potential new development around their current venue would likely keep them there.
SPORTSNET: Alexander Edler will sign a one-day contract to officially retire from the NHL as a member of the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 11. The 38-year-old defenseman spent 15 of his 17 NHL seasons with the Canucks, becoming a key part of their blueline and helping them reach the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.
Edler played in 1,030 career regular-season games with the Canucks and Los Angeles Kings from 2006-07 to 2022-23, finishing with 104 goals and 335 assists for 439 points. He also had 40 points in 93 playoff contests.
DAILY FACEOFF: Former NHL forward Tyler Ennis announced his retirement on Tuesday. Ennis, 34, played 13 seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers from 2009-10 to 2021-22. He spent the last two seasons playing in Europe.
Ennis played 700 career regular-season games in the NHL, scoring 144 goals and 202 assists for 346 points. He also collected 12 points in 24 postseason games.
MONTREAL GAZETTE: Former NHL blueliner Chris Wideman also retired on Tuesday. The 34-year-old spent six seasons in the NHL from 2015-16 to 2022-23, finishing with 20 goals and 78 points in 291 regular-season games along with 4 points in 15 playoff contests.
SPORTSNET: The Edmonton Oilers and assistant GM Brad Holland mutually agreed to part company. He’d been in that role since 2022-23. Holland is the son of former Oilers GM Ken Holland.
TSN: The Washington Capitals will wear their black “screaming eagle” jersey for six games in 2024-25.
Jim Nill has my vote as one of the best GM S in the game! His contracts for Benn and Seguin have held them up a little bit but the Stars supporting cast is one of the best in the NHL!
I agree about Nill. Detroit has never been n the same in the draft since he left for Dallas.
the drafting since Jim Nill joined Dallas is almost a cant miss in the first 2 rounds.
2nd round magic in Robertson, Hintz, Stankoven…
Oettinger and Johnston were late 1sts.
they also have guys who seem to jump from their AHL team right into the Dallas system.
Camps open today and, with the signings of Krebs in Buffalo, Harley in Dallas and Kaliyev in L.A., there are still 6 RFAs swinging in the wind led, of course, by Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman who, it seems, either wants almost all of – or more – than the $8,630,667 Sweeney has in cap reserve with 22 of 23 signed. Either that, or the delay relates to term. Whatever the case, I doubt the Bruins – or their fans – want to start the season with Korpisalo as # 1 backed by the untried Bussi.
One which I thought would be concluded by now is that of RD Moritz Seider of Detroit.. Yzerman has $8,748,194 in cap space after signing Lucas Raymond and Jonatan Berggren and is now just 1 short of 23 – a big 1.
Winnipeg, with $5,776,309 in cap space and a full complement of 23 on the main roster, is likely hoping to get Cole Perfetti on a new deal similar to Ottawa’s Shane Pinto’s 2-year $3.5 mil per. Once he is signed they will need to option someone to the AHL – likely one of their two ELC forwards.
New Jersey, with 21 of 23 signed, has $4,976,103 left in their cap to sign F Dawson Mercer who, according to rumours, is seeking something just over $4 mil per and on a short-term deal. New Jersey, meanwhile, would prefer he sign at around $3.5 to enable them to fill out the roster with one of their better ELCs.
Nashville, with just $1,495,801 in cap space and 21 of 23 on the main roster, still has to re-up C Philip Tomasino. Clearly, barring some other move, that likely won’t be sufficient to get him into the line-up AND an ELC call-up.
With a whopping $19,974,166 in cap space and a full complement of 23, the Calgary Flames either don’t think much of RFA LD Ilya Solovyov OR the latter thinks significantly higher of himself to accept what they’re offering. With only 10 NHL gp he’s in no position to play hard-to-get and had better sign for what they’re offering if he expects to either be on the main roster or, a first call-up option from the AHL.
I’m guessing the contract talks for Harley went something like this…”Listen kid, you deserve more, but if you take this bridge deal, by the end of it, we’ll be done with Seguin’s contract and you’ll get paid!”
But what if I suffer a serious injury between now and then?
Agree could be gist of the wording from Nill
But his agent may have concurrently counselled “listen kid, I realize there is always a chance of a career ending injury and the resulting concern re long term income. But you’re young and strong and that concern has a very very low probability. Take a 2 year bridge; continue on your upward path from this past year; then next summer you’ll get to sign an 8 year extension approaching 8 figures. The end result is earning mid 80’s M$ over the next 10 years.
@8787
The Penguins prospects tournament was terrific. They won the tournament again like last year in Buffalo. They beats Boston’s prospects, the beat Ottawa’s prospects and they beat Buffalos prospects.
Vasily Ponomarev, Tristan Broz, Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunene. Austin Hayes. Owen Pickering, Bruineke and Goalie Sergi Musharev were brilliant.
The Penguins prospects are much better than they were a couple years ago..
Everyone was lke oh the Penguins lost the Guentzel trade…aawwhhhhh no they didn’t
Michael Bunting
Vasily Ponomarev
Ville Koivunen
the latter two will be in the nhl this year and later this year..Vasily Ponomarev this year Ville Koivunen next year.
Mc Groarty is in and maybe Tristan Broz too.
What with these young kids in the NHL Today⁉️
Flyers GM Daniel Briere did the right thing telling the young Russian- Belarus Alexei Kolosov NO…
When Kolosov wanted A Guaranteed NHL roster spot with the Flyers ❗️
in the NHL you have to earn your spot
Now Briere said the club is moving on.
and he has gone home to Mommy🤔😂
Or something far, far worse – a young, vibrant unemployed athlete back in Russia …. let’s see … where can he be put to maximum use? …. hmmmmm
Kolosov is Belarussian.
Why do you always feel the need to bring politics into these conversations every chance you get?
Belarus is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization under the auspices of Russia.
If they haven’t already you can bet Putin will come calling for manpower.
Every chance? George occasionally does that but every chance isn’t even close. That being said… talking about how big a player is….
Politics? If politicians had done their job there wouldn’t be a full-scale war going on – in two places.
Whether you like it or not, it pisses me off that young men are dying on both sides and families ripped apart while SOCCER and HOCKEY players get a free pass. There’s your “hockey” connection.
It may not fit your comfy little sports world but I, for one, choose not to shove my head up my arse and pretend what’s going on does not impact negatively on hockey.
@ NHBlueshirt94 … And just in case you don’t think the subject hasn’t made its way into sports talk elsewhere, check these out … and there’s lots more
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/34846112/how-war-ukraine-impacting-russian-players-nhl-beyond
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russian-hockey-player-conscription-nhl-1.6548030
And when Belarus starts drafting athletes like Kolosov to participate in Russia’s war with Ukraine, then you can vent about it here. Until then, your speculation about Kolosov is baseless and was not part of the discussion about why he didn’t want to play with the Flyers, George. Let it rest.
What’s with these young kids today that don’t want to sign with the NHL should be what’s with NHL team that has trouble attracting kids.
Imagine that , Gauthier chooses college instead of the NHL with the Flyers and Kolosov chooses to live in Belarus instead of the USA with the Flyers.
On top of which political snide commentary is tossed in.
Reality is that professional sport has the luxury of removing players choice of where to be employed.
No other field dictates where you can apply despite heavy investment in education, training, apprenticeship, residency.
For the most part, players cannot choose where to go until age 27 and the most common retirement age is 28-29.
In other words most players are locked in by teams as to where they will play via draft and trade.
Players have been using different tactics to try and gain some control like up front bonus, NMC, RFA arbitration, public trade requests and not signing at all.
That is true HF30, we all have the ability to work where we want, move and live where we want, even other countries if they accept you in. For the borderline, or below average player, they may never get that option.
From the NHL’s perspective, the competitive balance would shift if that were the case. The teams that suck would have a harder time getting out of the cellar, as who want to play on a crappy team and lose repeatedly? Smaller markets are not always as attractive to some players. What about the tax debate we had the other day?
So does that lead to fewer teams if the smaller markets can’t compete for talent? If a crappy team can’t get out of the basement because their high profile draft picks don’t sign, do they cease to exist? Fans don’t buy tickets to watch their home team lose with no future path to success. Team loses $$.
I think it would lead to fewer teams, and that would mean fewer jobs for hockey players.
Just my opinion.
RB,
I’m not arguing against “the system” I’m just stating that it shouldn’t be surprise or a reason to denigrate a kid if he gets his back up and says no.
After all he’s the one opting to forego millions of dollars that come with an ELC.
Actually, HF30, there are indeed other fields where employees are restricted in various ways. A few examples: if you want to receive training to be a doctor or a pilot in the military you accept that you owe a certain # of years service, and they tell you where you will be deployed. Is playing for Philly worse than being stationed to a war zone?
Some provinces will tell foreign trained physicians the price of admission as a practicing doctor in Canada may be several years in remote communities.
Collective agreements often have clauses that give preference to senior employees in vacation scheduling, promotional opportunities and the like.
It’s hard for me to dredge up sympathy for a 20 year old whose first job pays him in excess of $800,000 a year, in addition to all the lucrative benefits of the collective agreement, ongoing professional training and chef prepared daily meals.
Yeah, I wouldn’t be chipper about spending 5 years in Winnipeg before becoming an UFA, but I think I’d get over it with the first paycheque.
Which is why so few kids balk at reporting to teams that draft them.
Is playing for Philly worse than being stationed to a war zone?
About the same.
That was worth a chuckle, Chrisms.
Which was duly noted, linked to, and commented on in yesterday’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
https://www.spectorshockey.net/2024/09/nhl-morning-coffee-headlines-september-17-2024/
George,
if Belarus sends solders in to Russia/Ukraine
you can bet Germany will go Right Through Belarus in a week❗️ and stop at the Russian border.
Im surprized Ukraine has not given Nato a 100 Mile peice of land up in the NW area from Poland and Belarus border at this stage.
If you guys want to talk geopolitics take it to another site. I’m not having this thread getting derailed.
You got it, and since you’re deleting my posts do me a favour and delete all the other ones in this thread and the other.
Sorry Lyle,
your right, this no place here for politics/war
Make breakaways not war man. ✌️