NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 31, 2024
Milestone games for Anze Kopitar and Kyle Connor, the latest valuations of the league’s 32 teams, an update on Connor McDavid’s injury status, the Leafs trade Timothy Liljegren, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar had a goal and two assists (including his 800th career assist) to lead his club to a 6-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke picked up three assists and Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist in his return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch from the Kings’ previous game. Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice for the Golden Knights, who remain winless on the road (0-3-1).
Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar (NHL Images).
Winnipeg Jets winger Kyle Connor also had a goal and two assists (including his 500th career assist) as his club defeated the Detroit Red Wings 6-2. Neal Pionk tallied twice for the league-leading Jets (9-1-0, 18 points). Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond each collected two assists for the Red Wings.
New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom stopped 20 shots to shut out the Vancouver Canucks 6-0. Devils captain Nico Hischier scored his league-leading 10th goal and picked up two assists as his team moved atop the Eastern Conference standings (7-4-2, 16 points). Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs was in net for all six Devils goals.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Not to take anything away from the Devils’ dominant performance but the Canucks made it easy for them. They were a listless bunch in this game.
The Tampa Bay Lightning got a goal and two assists from Nikita Kucherov to beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2. Jake Guentzel scored twice and Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 33 shots for the Lightning. Avalanche stars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar each collected two points to extend their season-opening points streaks to 11 games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The injury-battered Avalanche played without forwards Ross Colton (broken foot, out six to eight weeks) and Miles Wood (upper-body injury, out seven to 10 days). They did get some good news as sidelined forward Artturi Lehkonen is expected to return to action next Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken. He’s been recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.
Another player with a goal and two assists was Mikhail Sergachev, leading the Utah Hockey Club to a 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames. Connor Ingram made 30 saves for the win while Nick Schmaltz and Dylan Guenther each collected two assists. Anthony Mantha scored for the Flames.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Calgary captain Mikael Backlund played in his 1,000th career regular-season game.
Since winning five of their first six games, the fizzling Flames have dropped four straight.
Columbus Blue Jackets netminder Elvis Merzlikins turned in a 26-save shutout to blank the New York Islanders 2-0, handing the latter their fourth loss in their last five games. Damon Severson and Justin Danforth were the goal scorers as the Blue Jackets end their October schedule with a record of 5-3-1.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s a testament to the Blue Jackets’ character that they’ve played as well as they have considering everything they’ve endured since late August.
Meanwhile, the Islanders have been shut out in four of their first 10 games. As of Oct. 30, their goals per game average (2.10) is last in the league.
HEADLINES
SPORTICO: released their annual evaluation of all 32 NHL franchises. All of them saw significant increases in their value since last year, with the average being 37 percent.
The top five were the Toronto Maple Leafs ($3.66 billion), New York Rangers ($3.25 billion), Montreal Canadiens ($2.93 billion), Boston Bruins ($2.67 billion) and Los Angeles Kings ($2.5 billion).
The Utah Hockey Club ($1.2 billion), Ottawa Senators ($1.14 billion), Buffalo Sabres ($1.13 billion), Winnipeg Jets ($1.1 billion) and Columbus Blue Jackets ($1.06 billion) made up the bottom five. Utah HC saw the biggest increase (78 percent) because of its relocation from Arizona.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Athletic’s James Mirtle explained the reasons behind these significant increases. The current CBA with its hard salary cap, robust revenue sharing with smaller markets, and the expansion into Las Vegas and Seattle are among the notable factors.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Oilers captain Connor McDavid will be sidelined with an injured ankle for two to three weeks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: McDavid could miss up to 12 games during that period. Nevertheless, the Oilers are probably breathing a sigh of relief that he’ll only miss at most three weeks.
TORONTO SUN/NBC SPORTS BAY AREA: The Toronto Maple Leafs traded defenseman Timothy Liljegren to the San Jose Sharks for blueliner Matt Benning, a conditional third-round pick in 2025 and a sixth-rounder in 2026.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Liljegren is signed through next season with an average annual value of $3 million. Benning’s contract also runs through 2025-26 and has an AAV of $1.25 million. The move frees up $1.75 million in much-needed salary-cap space for the Leafs. It also clears room for Jani Hakanpaa’s impending debut with the Leafs.
Liljegren struggled to establish himself as a top-four puck-moving defenseman with the Leafs. He’ll get a better opportunity to do so with the rebuilding Sharks, away from Toronto’s harsh spotlight.
DAILY FACEOFF: Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
RG.ORG: An in-depth analysis of the relationship between faster players and elite offensive production in the NHL. Unlike the past where size and shot mechanics were determining factors, faster players in today’s NHL are more likely to become elite stars, though it is no guarantee of stardom. The Colorado Avalanche appear to have tapped into that, sitting third over the past three seasons in total points (335) and winning the Stanley Cup in 2021-22.
We might miss McDavid for 12 games, but we have to survive those 12 games. We are missing Foegele, Mcleod, Broberg and Holloway. I will throw in Kesselring for spite.
Another horrible game by Detroit. So far, they have not managed more than 20 minutes of decent hockey per game.
They looked like a bar league team up against a team of polished pros yesterday. Detroit seemed to be playing a slow game of checkers while Winnipeg displayed a brisk confident game of chess.
It’s hard to understand how Lalonde will keep his job much longer.
The Wings are not alone in the category of rebuilding teams that were predicted to be better, but aren’t. The Habs, Sens, and Sabres are disappointment as well.
It would be unfair to put the Habs in the same category as the Wings, Sens, Sabres who have been at it for quite a while now
I would put them in there with the Ducks, Sharks and Hawks as Hughes only started three years ao (3 drafts) and yet has done a pretty good job. (Demidov, Slavkovski, Hutson, Fower, Reinbacher, Hage) + the acquisitions of Laine, Dach and Newhook and that magic trick of getting two 1rst round picks without investing anything with Sean Monahan.
The players drafted 3 years ago have only 2 years of development , 2 years ago only 1 and this year 0
Plus I think the Sens really look good in my opinion, the Sabres on the other hand….
Mike you can have all the draft picks you want,you are still taking a big chance on teenagers that are usually 3-4 years away! Some organizations use that excuse to buy time with their fans!
Iago, maybe it’s simply a question of shooting more – at least where their offense is concerned. At this writing they sit dead last with an average of 24.8 per game
https://sports.betmgm.com/en/blog/nhl/nhl-teams-with-most-shots-on-goal-this-season-stats-bm03/
Yes George, it would help, but it can be tough to shoot when the puck is in your own D zone so much.
Columbus is developing into the story of the year, and look no further than their offense, which ranks right up there with the top 10 in that category:
Goals Per Game To Date
Winnipeg – 4.6
Vegas – 4.6
Ottawa – 4.2
NYR – 4.1
Columbus – 3.9
Tampa – 3.9
N.J. – 3.9
Minnesota – 3.8
Seattle – 3.6
Florida & Colorado tied – 3.5
There are surprises at the other end of the scale as well, as indicated in the Top 10 Anaemic offenses
Edmonton & NYI tied – 2.2
Anaheim – 2.3
Nashville – 2.5
San Jose – 2.5
Detroit, Boston, Chicago & St. Louis – all tied – 2.7
Philadelphia – 2.9
Columbus also ranks among the Top 10 stingiest when it comes to goals allowed per game
Dallas 1.9
NYR – 2.3
Winnipeg & Carolina tied – 2.4
Minnesota – 2.7
Columbus, Anaheim & Tampa tied – 2.8
NYI – 2.9
Seattle – 3.0
The Top 10 needing to shore up their D and/or G
Pittsburgh – 4.4
Colorado – 4.2
Montreal & San Jose tied – 4.1
Buffalo – 3.6
Utah – 3.5
Detroit & St. Louis tied – 3.4
Chicago – 3.3
Philadelphia – 4.0
Above should read “Chicago & Ottawa tied – 3.3
This is my first post since that terrible incident that took the boys away from us.
The Jackets are playing for something bigger than points this season.
It’s inspiring to watch, to say the least.
Sean Monahan is a truly wonderful person and he’s leading the way.
I’m rooting for them harder than ever to make the playoffs.
Go, Blue Jackets!
I’m with you there Shoreorrpark … wishing them nothing but the best. What a story that would be if they could play their way into a playoff spot!
And they’re doing this without Boone Jenner and Voronkov p front and the veteran D-man Gudbranson – all on IR.
With almost $24 mil in cap space, they could also be active on the trade front, but here the GM must be careful not to upset what has become solid team chemistry.
\
I was also happy to see the besieged Merzlikins get the SO last night.
Yes, Columbus is “shocking”
Play a heavy game
Not to worry – Liljegren will soon take San Jose over the top
Freed up cap space will allow Hakenpaa into the lineup and steam roll any opposition that crosses his end of the blue line
@Shoreorrpark
Hats off to you as to you brief above ..
Very deep and Informative !
Yes, It will be very interesting to observe Columbus , and worth watching 4 Sure !!
Much more substance than my post above , 😮
Ahh, a little light-hearted sarcasm is ok Ken – but I think you’ll find that Liljegren will do very well in San Jose, now that he’s out of the glare.
As for Hakanpaa, I think by now that just seeing him out there in a game situation will be some sort of relief for Toronto. He’s probably going to need some well-placed minutes to help him get up to speed after missing all of training camp and not having played in a game situation since March 16.
The thing that struck me on the Liljegren deal is that, in addition to the conditional 3rd and the other later round pick, San Jose got Toronto to take 30 y/o Matt Benning and his $1,250,000 deal which has 2 seasons to run (including this one).
With almost $7.2 mil in cap space going in, it wasn’t as if SJ needed to do that … they could have kept both and still have over $4 mil.
So, did Toronto specifically ask for Benning, or did SJ insist they take him to leave the room necessary to make another deal?
Stay tuned, I guess.
Now, I am hearing Nylander is complaining about ice time
Where does it end with this team
Berube wants to make use of the full lineup …
This a team game ..,
Ken, it seems with some of these guys – and Nylander is hardly an exception – they can’t seem to grasp the basic fact that there is no “i” in “team” so the refrain will always be
me …. me ….me … /////// me – me
https://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/leafs_star_william_nylander_confronts_head_coach_craig_berube_about_his_ice_time/s1_17453_41153792
@George
1 certainly cannot complain about Nylanders play ..
He’s a dynamic player , comparable to Pasternick , at 1 time I considered he was a floater , but he is now elite , exciting to watch !
Always “gossip” no matter what we are up to ..
I also heard Nylander and Matthews aren’t exactly buddies ,
Nylander an introvert , who just as soon go home to his “2” dogs , always welcome him and never complain , lol !