NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 13, 2024
Connor McDavid is on the verge of 1,000 points, the Jets win again, candidates for the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2025, the Penguins trade Lars Eller to the Capitals, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: A four-point performance lifted Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid to within one point of 1,000 for his career in a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders. McDavid had a goal and three assists for 999 career regular-season points, including the primary assist on the overtime goal by Leon Draisaitl, who tallied twice in this game. Evan Bouchard had three points for the Oilers. Anders Lee scored two goals for the Islanders, who got a 38-save performance from goaltender Ilya Sorokin.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: McDavid can become the fourth-fastest and fourth-youngest player to reach the 1,000-point plateau when the Oilers faced the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Draisaitl has 12 goals, tying Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield and Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart for the league lead.
The Winnipeg Jets beat the New York Rangers 6-3, becoming the fastest team in NHL history to reach 15 wins while extending their winning streak to seven games. Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each scored two goals, Neal Pionk had three assists and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 33 shots for the league-leading Jets (15-1-0, 30 points). Will Cuylle had a goal and an assist for the Rangers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Jets announced earlier in the day that defenseman Logan Stanley was placed on injured reserve with a middle-body injury. They also claimed goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen off waivers from the Colorado Avalanche.
New Jersey Devils netminder Jacob Markstrom kicked out 34 shots in a 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers. Jesper Bratt and Dougie Hamilton each had two assists for the Devils. Sam Reinhart tallied for the Panthers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Panthers center Sam Bennett missed this game with an upper-body injury.
Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak scored with 1:47 remaining in the third period to lift his club over the St. Louis Blues 3-2. The Bruins overcame a 2-0 deficit on goals by Morgan Geekie and Charlie McAvoy, setting the stage for Pastrnak’s winner. Brayden Schenn and Oskar Sundqvist scored for the Blues, who’ve lost three in a row.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was a costly win for the Bruins as defenseman Hampus Lindholm left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury. There was no postgame update on his condition.
Ottawa Senators goalie Linus Ullmark made 27 saves in a 3-0 shutout of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Josh Norris, Tim Stutzle and Michael Amadio were the goalscorers and Artem Zub picked up two assists for the Senators. Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz turned aside 38 shots.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Senators dominated the Leafs in this game. They would’ve won by a wider margin if not for Stolarz’s performance in the Leafs net.
Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson had a goal and an assist to defeat the Calgary Flames 3-1. J.T. Miller picked up two assists and Kevin Lankinen made 28 stops for the Canucks. Justin Kirkland replied for the Flames, who got a 29-save effort from goalie Dan Vladar.
A four-goal second period carried the Seattle Kraken to a 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Jared McCann and Jordan Eberle each had two assists and Joey Daccord made 38 saves for the Kraken. Sean Kuraly and Zach Aston-Reese each had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, who’ve dropped three in a row.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton, Duncan Keith, Carey Price and Ryan Getzlaf highlight the first-year eligible candidates for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2025. The Hall’s bylaws allow the selection of four male inductees per year.
Other potential NHL player first-year eligible candidates include Tuukka Rask, Jason Spezza, Eric Staal and Dustin Brown.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Chara, Thornton and Keith should be locks for next season. Price and Getzlaf could get in for 2026.
Jarome Iginla and Ed Olczyk will join the Hall of Fame selection committee commencing with 2025 nomination and election proceedings.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: The Penguins traded center Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 2027 third-round pick and a 2025 fifth-rounder originally from Chicago.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Eller previously spent nearly seven seasons with the Capitals (2016-17 to 2022-23), helping them win the Stanley Cup in 2018. He’ll help them shore up their third-line center position for this season. Eller is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in July.
Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said he’d been working on trading Eller since the spring. He added that this move brought in additional assets while freeing up space on their roster for a younger player.
Does this trade signal a fire sale in Pittsburgh? I’ll have more about that in today’s Rumors update.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Anaheim Ducks placed Robby Fabbri (lower body) and Cam Fowler (upper body) on injured reserve and listed center Mason McTavish as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. They also placed veteran goaltender James Reimer on waivers.
NHL.COM: Former Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland has joined the league’s hockey operations department as a consultant.
SPORTSNET: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league could look at playing more games overseas in the coming years as it continues to grow its brand globally.
McDavid is back to being the real deal.
Just saw the highlights. Wow. Almost had the 1,000 last night .
Jets ARE the real deal. I’m sure I’m not the only one who is completely shocked (from pre-season expectations) at their dominance so far.
Dubas again loses a trade (and to a Div rival!)
Can our owners pay $30 M or so to Jets to swap,Dubas for Chevy and Sully for Arniel?
Loses? He got a 5th and a third for an aging third line fourth line center. What did you expect?
Hi Chrisms
Read all the reporters responses on this.
The 3rd is for 3 drafts from now, that’s the issue where they have been clear that hr lost (once again) the trade.
3rd not the issue. So far down the road means much less value now. He should have also insisted on (as part of the trade) dumping one of the brutal hasbeens that we have
He also could have got Sprong for free …. Didn’t move on that
The only benefit to this move is forcing Sully’s hands into playing some of the WBS crowd
No matter what; Dubas has literally sunk this franchise. I can’t think of a single Penguins trade that he has won.
Sully has to burden blame as well. All other coaches sit players that either are not playing a full game or putting in full efforts or repeatedly making costly mistakes.
Monty sat his best player!!!
Sully has yet to sit the player that has been on the ice for 39% of all goals against over the last few weeks (including 3 against Stars)
Sully’s line juggling and D pairings and refusal to put problem children in the press box is costing us
So not all on Dubas
You realize that this losing season is by design right?
It’s grossly obvious to me that the Zibanejad / Trocheck swap of lines experiment should be over.
Last 3 games, Zibanejad / Laffrienere-5, Panarin -3.
Zibanejad looks lost. Why screw up both top lines while he tries to figure out his game?
Also, the most reliable pairing on D has been Schneider / Jones.
What does Jones have to do to earn a regular spot in the lineup?
Jones should call Jacob Bernard-Docker they can have a self help session and wonder together.
Also George, this is similar to the third period of the Bruins game. It had less to do with the Sens playing the right way and more to do with the Leafs simply doing nothing for 60 minutes (the Bruins for 22 minutes) As much as people harp on Sens fans for being doom n gloom—it’s been 7 effing years of ineptitude and horrendous coaching.
Also. It’s great that Noodles had some young ottawa play-by-play person last night, but her voice isn’t deep enough or fluid enough to be good at it. I tried lining up Dean and Gord on iHeart but they were always out of synch with the tv. This is a knock on her cause she’s a she. She knows her stuff. It was just kinda lousy. Like the Blue Jays broadcasts added this tall female. Deeper voice, more fluid analysis she was good.
Isn’t. ISN’T a knock on her cause she’s a she.
I hear you. It’s why my current mood is, as I have posted several times, “cautionary optimistic.”
What I wanted to see last night from Ottawa was total effort .., win or lose … and I got that. What I expected, as a result, was a tight game – about 25 – 28 shots at either end – and a one-goal differential at the end.
What transpired could have resulted in a 5-0 or 6-0 win for Ottawa if it hadn’t have been for Stolarz, who deserved a “star” in that one.
I should add that, seeing little incremental improvements is also encouraging. Last season, for example, the Senators posted just 2 shut-outs over 82 games. This season, 15 games in, they have 3.
The #’s on the Sens suggest they are playing very well. Green has them going pretty good 5 on 5, but puck not going in as often as expected, and their PP is clicking as well.
OTT fans haven’t experienced an Ullmark 2 month heater yet either, and he usually goes on one every year.
Starting to look like a playoff team IMO.
Ray, after the pattern that’s been showing itself so far this season, I’m waiting to see how they perform tomorrow against the Flyers at home – likely with Forsberg in goal.
And Dark G, I hear you as well on Bernard-Docker. Yeah, the Hamonic-Kleven pairing (3rd pairing) played well – again – and while I can understand Green’s approach to not fix what ain’t broke, he’s not doing this kid’s confidence any good by scratching him consistently.
He has a lot more years to go than Hamonic. If they’re not going to play him – trade him.
Now, after wins over Boston and Toronto, we’ll see if the Senators have jelled and progressed beyond their one step forward – two steps back routine against Philadelphia at home on Thursday.
Watching the game last night I could see why Berube was visibly frustrated … in the first two periods Nylander looked like he was in a daze, coughing up the puck for at least two great scoring chances, including the first goal just seconds into the 1st period. Marner was essentially invisible, and Ekmann-Larsson – on the ice for all 3 goals against – appeared confused in his own end. Only Stolarz gave total effort, facing 41 shots.
In short, that was not what I expected to see … I was hoping for a total effort game from the Senators – win or lose – but the Leafs performance was baffling.
Re Sen’s and Leafs game
Sen’s out played the Leafs in every are, Ullmark was outstanding…
Sen’s look like they are starting to Jell as a team.
Very happy to see young Tyler Kleven hold down his 3rd LD position👏
No wonder Berube was losing it on …The Fat Cat leafs do look like there in to the game most nights❓
Mitch Marrnierr is playing himself out of a contract and could end up being trade bate, this kid is very inconsistant, Nylander had a poor game last night
George Ottawa and Toronto both got total team efforts last night. Unfortunately for different reasons. Ottawa showed us the team effort to win and Toronto showed us the team effort to lose, except Stolarz, the one bright spot. I can see Ottawa moving up the standings, Tampa Boston and Toronto better be looking in the rearview mirror or over their shoulders, the competition is coming up hard and fast
Yogi, could it have been a case of “looking past” the game at hand and thinking about going into Washington tonight?
I’ve seen teams do that before – Ottawa’s been guilty of it all too often the past few seasons – but, man, that was a strange one to watch.
Ottawa’s not that good … nor is Toronto that bad. Berube looked like he wanted to shake the Hell out of someone.
I hate to disagree with you George, but I am really starting to think Ottawa IS that good… but they are just figuring that out now for themselves…
I’m close, theSaint … but I want to see how they play tomorrow night against Philadelphia.
Last season there were stretches to get the fans excited – like beating Tampa and Toronto – then getting clobbered by Chicago and Columbus – patterns like that.
I would buy that if they were playing the Jets maybe, but Washington no. I might give them a bit of leeway because of the amount of games they play. Tonight will be 5 games in 7 nights with some travel involved, but Ottawa`s been making some noise and they in the same division as Toronto, so Ottawa should be the more important game to them. I did one thing that made laugh last night. On Ottawa`s 3rd goal Gregor flying down the left wing, known for his speed, was almost caught by Tavares.
Time to fire Sully?:
Penguins can not put off major changes for much longer – PensBurgh:
https://www.pensburgh.com/2024/11/12/24294586/penguins-can-not-put-off-major-changes-for-much-longer
8787 Your owner does not like to fire coaches that have time left on their contracts! Check when Sullys contract comes to an end! Did this often as owner of his other team,The Red Sox!
Agree Sr that these owners don’t often do that; but now is the time.
Gretz (article I provided link to) lays out the rationale and I agree in principle with most of it.
Sully continues to dress a non optimal roster; won’t sit or put into the press box those that are repeatedly costing the team; and generally he is not motivating the team properly.
Something major needs to be done ; and losing in s trade to a div rival is not thr way to go.
Re; Pen’s
is Sully Not on his 1st year of a 3 yr deal………🤔
he is on $5.5.M PA……❓for 3 years
no way they let him go
its
more like fire Dubby the GM…..
he has done a poor job with the Pen’s first person fired should be Him….❓
Why fire sully….?
the whole team is not playing well, All 3 goaltender are playing poor, Same poor d its the same as last year… but worse
Sid is there only player who is playing well….
Lets face it now they are going no where this season again⁉️ with the young Ottawa and Buffalo Team starting to play very well,……
and the Caps being a big surprise this season no way these Pen’s make it
Sully is a great coach Why would they fire him
the farm is bare & its time for a Pen’s re-build..❓
Hi Willie
The article lays out why the answer right now is to let Sully go.
I agree with most of the rationale of his (Gretz) argument.
Some of us in here have been saying it’s time to tear it down and re-build it for the past two seasons – at least. Tinkering – and coming close (which only counts in horseshoes) – has been the WORST approach imaginable.
Same with “Sid is a Pen for life!” Why? Dealing him alone would have brought back very good assets, including high picks. Same – to a lesser extent – with Malkin. Is having both “retire as Pens” more important than trying to ensure the future of the franchise?
Professional sport has no room for sentimental and feel-good initiatives – at least not to those fans who recognize pro sports as mercenary by nature. Lea Durocher said it best “nice guys finish last.”
Cheer up guys! The Pens usually play tonight’s opponent very well, the Red Wings.
George
Tear down was not a bad idea
Should have been started this summer or last.
Committing to “still making team competitive” and actually promising Crosby that he would make team better is completely different to what he has actually done
I need only cite these moves as but a few that are completely against that doctrine as well contrary to his promise to Crosby:
Accairi
Gryzlyk
Nietto
Hayes
Lizotte
All 5 well overpaid. All were weak (either defensively or offensively) players at time of Penguins acquisition
With the exception of Hayes; they are short and light
Only Lizotte can be considered “mid” career age
Johnny Z
Pens “should” win tonight but that just may be the worst thing for the franchise…. A nibble of hope (again) preventing a much needed change
We’ve been blessed with 5 cups in just over 3 decades but this implosion during the twilight of 2 first ballot HOFers and another HoFee is just brutal
Change is a MUST now
Yes George. It is more important. It might be different if the three cups didn’t happen. But they did.
Heh. I guess we just see pro sports through different lens, Chrisms.
I can’t say why – nor have I ever tried to figure it out while growing up. As family and friends and co-workers around the water cooler routine latched onto the “star” concept – some buying expensive sweaters with their “hero’s” name etched across the back – I enjoyed (and played) team sports appreciating the TEAM approach – everyone has a specific job – some to do the scoring others to prevent the other side from scoring. As a fan, no one player rose above the rest in my view.
And when things go sour team-wise, anyone is expendable – for the right price.
Well i didn’t have a third period come back being down by 2 on my bingo card.
The list Lyle has for hof candidate, the only one i would give consideration to is Duncan Keith with his 3 rings.
The first inductee should be Alexander Mogilny!
If you can have Brian Burke get the Sedin twins and Luongo in the hall all in the same year, you can definitely have Mogilny in the hall.
Bruins deserved the win last night, finally got rewarded in the 3rd. Thankfully as that would have been a tough one to lose.
Hopefully build off it, and good to see Geekie get a big goal after being a healthy scratch for 3 games (deserved). They need him contributing some offense.
My 4 for the HOF this year would be Keith, Chara, Thornton and Mogilny. I can see a world where Price gets in instead, but he is borderline IMO. Gets in eventually, but not an obvious first ballot guy.
@George
Baffling !!!!
Confusing …
1. Domi has 0 goals , seems non existent
2. Nylander – 2 blatant giveaways , resulting in goals
3. Unfortunate -Pacoretty went down , the 2nd line was clicking
4. The teams drive , self awareness, , heart is not there
5. There are a lot of holes in this lineup , I am sure can be addressed in the off season with more cap space
6. Ottawa has Won the last 4 games in a row at Scotia Bank arena
Ken you only come out when they lose, always negative. Do yourself a favour, find a different team to cheer for. It`s a game of mistakes for crying out loud, to which you do very well and give Ottawa some credit. They played a great game and at both ends to boot
I see where Hakenpaa has been activated off LTIR and is expected to be in the line-up tonight in Washington.
@ Yogi
I am not sure what game you were watching …
Leafs were brutal , and George and other people on here have mentioned the same , therefore , do not tell me what team to cheer for .
It’s a game of mistakes , what a joke ????
Maybe , you should another sport , obviously , you haven’t got a clue when it comes to hockey !!
The McGroarty trade has not aged well.
That’s putting it mildly, Everydayboots.
But, hey, maybe he’s gifted with a keen sense of prescience. One look at that Jets roster told him he had about as much chance of immediately making that roster as the proverbial snowball in Hell.
Problem is, after just 3 gp in Pittsburgh where he did absolutely nothing, he’s played 9 in the AHL with 1g 1a 2 pts. Meanwhile, Brayden Yaeger, the C the Jets got in the deal, is off to a good start in the WHL with 10G 12a 22 pts in 16gp.
McGroarty, along with Ponomarov. Puustonen, Broz and a couple of other whose names I can’t recall, were going to add youthful zest to an aging core and push the team that “missed the playoffs by just 2 points last season” into a solid playoff spot. Guaranteed. Book it.
Kick the Pens fans when we’re already very depressed why don’t ya
That was sarcasm and not directed at you
Just sad but true
The trade was a loss at the minute it was made
Chevy had an asset that literally had ZERO/zip/zilch value to him
McGroarty mad it clear he was never going to sign with Jets
So Chevy is the motivated seller and would need to put a premium on a trade to get something back
Dubas did NOT have to make the trade
He (Dubas) had the upper hand in the trade negotiation
Instead of getting ANYTHING in premium he traded the one year younger player who was drafted in the same position and who was playing great in the WHL
One draft year later meant ownership of player (before UFA) one year more
At the very least Chevy should have ponied up an extra mid rounder (4th or 5th in ‘25). That’s at the very least.
That’s without knowing how poorly McGroarty would br playing so far
The zilch in extra for the trade AND the current discrepancy in play; just makes this very painful
Again, Dubas did NOT have to trade. Chevy HAD to trade.
I will always root for the Saskatchewan kid Yager, but if we’re going to live in reality, we have zero idea who won this trade and won’t know for at least 2-3 years.
McGroarty is simply the most recent 20 yr old who thought he was all that, but in reality also had zero idea how difficult being solid NHL player really is. He and his agent know that WPG is a good team, and that PIT isn’t so an easier path to NHL. PIT got the bigger stronger player with excellent skill, WPG got a sniper back with high hockey IQ. We will see how it turns out. Anybody who thought he would step in and impact an NHL team was hoping vs thinking.
You know who else knows the Pens aren’t that good, PIT ownership and Dubas. I knew they were aging out before Dubas got there, so did multiple folks on here who aren’t rooting for them. Do folks honestly believe Dubas didn’t know that going in? That he didn’t discuss it with ownership prior? Do folks think Crosby doesn’t know? These are not stupid people.
Eyes were wide open folks, they are giving it a go with an aging core and a past best player in the world who is still close to top 10 in the NHL. That was the plan, results will be what they are, and they will course correct only if it gets really ugly, which I am thinking it might, but we will see. Only then will most of the fans will be on board with big changes, even Crosby might, or he agrees to a trade, or maybe he decides to stay even if they suck worse. How the heck would I know how he feels about that.
Nobody is screwing up, Dubas is trying to keep it together with duct tape and baling wire, which was the plan all along, just ain’t working. I am guessing ownership isn’t all that surprised.
Whoever puts the boxscores together at ESPN has it in their head that Lorentz is a D-man – right from the get-go during the pre-season to date, they list him among the D –
https://www.espn.com/nhl/boxscore/_/gameId/401687844
Re Back up Goaltender…
Today James Reimer is on wavers or last last night,
he is a very good back up @36…
Buffalo should look at claming him and sending young Devon Levi 22 yr old down to the AHL
Levi is Not ready for the NHL and need at least one more year down there……🤔
Looks like they heard you Willie.
WoW..
thanks the Saint
had to look that one up…. Great pick up bye buffalo, James Reimer will do well as there back up… 👍
Levi is Not ready for the NHL and need at least one more year in thje AHL or they will ewaste him!!