NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 12, 2024
Recaps of Wednesday’s games and the latest on Kirill Kaprizov, Tom Wilson and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Ottawa Senators winger Drake Batherson had a four-point night, including a natural hat trick, to lead his club to a 5-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Batherson also tallied his 100th NHL goal. Linus Ullmark made 31 saves while teammates Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle each had two points as the Senators have won three of their last four games. Cutter Gauthier scored and John Gibson stopped 29 shots for the Ducks, who’ve lost four straight (0-3-1).
Ottawa Senators forward Drake Batherson (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The win gives the Senators 28 points (13-13-2), putting them within two points of a wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.
The New York Rangers nipped the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in the battle of two struggling clubs. Mika Zibanejad netted his 300th career regular-season goal and Adam Fox had a goal and two assists for the Rangers, who picked up their third win in their last 11 games. Owen Power and Tage Thompson replied for the Sabres, who have lost eight straight games (0-5-3).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sabres were in third place in the Atlantic Division before their losing skid began. If the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, the Sabres will drop into last place in the Eastern Conference.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff is pushing every button trying to snap his club out of its funk. He benched defenseman Owen Power and forward JJ Peterka for parts of this game. Power’s turnover in the first period led to Zibanejad’s goal, earning him a seat on the bench for the rest of the period.
The win leaves the Rangers (31 points) holding the first wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. Defenseman K’Andre Miller left the game in the third period with an upper-body injury. There was no postgame update on his condition.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold is committed to getting franchise superstar Kirill Kaprizov signed to a contract extension.
“Well, it’s a priority,” said Leipold. He indicated the 27-year-old winger is “a big part of our future.” Leipold said he’s discussed Kaprizov’s next contract with general manager Bill Guerin as they try to figure out what the salary cap is going to be. “It’s an important part of our strategic plan to get him signed for as long as we can.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kaprizov is signed through 2025-26 with an average annual value of $9 million. He can sign an extension with the Wild on July 1, 2025.
Kaprizov is jockeying for the NHL scoring lead, making him an early favorite to win the Hart Memorial Trophy, something no Wild player has ever done. If he takes home the Hart, the cost of signing him will rise considerably, making him one of the league’s highest-paid stars.
Leipold and Guerin will want to know next season’s salary cap as that will give them a better idea of what it could be in 2026-27, the first season of Kaprizov’s next contract.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman projected the cap could rise by five percent to $92.4 million in 2025-26 as mandated in the CBA. He hinted it could go beyond that if the league and the NHL Players’ Association agree to increase it beyond the five percent limit. The higher the cap rises for next season, the higher it’ll go in 2026-27, giving the Wild more room to accommodate Kaprizov’s next contract.
SPORTSNET: Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson suffered a small fracture to his sinus cavity during Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. He went briefly to the locker room but returned and finished the game. His face swelled up and got worse on the flight back to Washington. However, he returned to practice on Wednesday wearing a bubble mask.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Columbus Blue Jackets placed forward Yegor Chinakhov (upper body) on injured reserve and recalled goaltender Jet Greaves from their AHL affiliate in Cleveland.
THE WINNIPEG SUN: Jets forward David Gustafsson suffered a concussion after taking a punch to the jaw from Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic on Tuesday. He missed practice on Wednesday and is in concussion protocol.
TORONTO SUN: The Maple Leafs placed forward Alex Nylander on waivers. The younger brother of Leafs star William Nylander has no points in five games seeing limited playing time.
NHL.COM: David Bonderman, who led the ownership group that brought the Seattle Kraken into existence, passed away on Wednesday at 82.
Dubas,
Pick up Nylander
Far better than some of the “depth” we’re playing.
Tried that already. Didn’t work. No reason to keep making the same mistakes over and over. FYI, after this latest comment, I am 100% convinced you are actually Pengy.
Pretty sure pengy is haunting the home of Jack Johnson at this point. ☹️
Chrisms
Jack Johnson haunts every home
Randino
Nylander DID work out fine for that loe Cap hit. Sully just wouldn’t play him.
Nylander for sure better than some of the knuckle dragging defensive lacking “depth” forwards we have; and barely over league min.
Again, not Pengy, but good to see that you’re 100% convinced.
Dubas, do not do anything of the sort.
Game 2 of an important road trip for Boston especially after they were embarrassed in Winnepeg Tuesday!Losing 8-1;but going 3-0 on the fight card proves nothing!Looks like Boston and Nashville are becoming the biggest free agent losers!Lindholm looks more like a bottom 6 center production wise and Zadorov looks like a bottom 6 role player.Trotz has already painted himself into a corner by saying he won t trade any of his high priced free agents!
A Question for All….❓
I was chatting with 3 Hockey friends this week over Coffee, My Big Topic this week I wanted to through out there was the Length of
A Re-Tool & the Length of A Build…🤔
The 2 Question’s…
1/
How long do you think an ( Average ) Re-Tool Takes…..❓
2/
How long do the think an ( Average ) Full Re-Build Takes…❓
The Reason Im Asking this Average is we all chatted about it and all had different Answers….but then we all agreed, this could be the ( average answer ) ie,
9-10 or 1-2
We were All Quite close to each other and for all different Reasons It Was Very interesting Conversation…..
I just thought i would through it out there to get your thoughts….❓
Willie the length of the average rebuild is 7 years, at least that is what was reported.
Meaning the team, who missed the playoffs, starts trading vets and pending UFA’s for picks and prospects. To the time they make the playoffs again.
Some take longer, BUF 14 year streak of missing the post season, some take less like Leafs and Rangers. If OTT makes it this year I think it will be bang on 7 years, or maybe 8. George would know.
Retool not sure how to define that exactly.
Ray, if Ottawa makes it this season it will be their first appearance in 7. However, if you check out their upcoming schedule over the next month, and their lack of even adequate back-up goaltending, that is becoming increasingly unlikely and they could then match Detroit’s drought which is now at 8 … and counting.
For starters, they need more goals from the back-end. Last season they got 47 goals from their D. So far this season they are on a pace for 15!
Overall, their offense, which last season produced 255 goals, is on pace for the exact same number. Their overall D last season gave up 288 goals. So far this season they are on a pace to allow 255 – a slight improvement, thanks almost entirely to Ullmark.
Hey Ray …
Answers
our most common answer with my 3 hockey buddies was all said
100 % on the Re-tool
A 50-50 spilt on a Re-build
3-4 years for a Re-tool depending on the state of the team………….❓
7-8 and 8-9 years for a Team Re-Build…..❓
Thanks,
ps
i thought more of you would have put your 10c worth in on this one….🤔⁉️⁉️
Most teams that bottom out and then return to the playoffs is usually 7-10 yrs… the Leafs did it the year after they won Matthews and we know how well that’s going.
I think a rebuild is complete when a team is a regular cup contender, not just get in the playoffs and win a round or two. That cup contending window opens and shuts very quickly, a lot faster than a rebuild or retooling.
Williew
My guess is 6-8 years avg. on rebuild (tear-down to strong competitive playoff team).
Retools vary so much. All depends on how bad the retooling team is at start of retool; and how many albatross contracts they have at the start of re-tool. but maybe 3-5 years??
Thanks again for the concern and well wishes yesterday. As I said then, hockey (and other suddenly mundane topics) have been the furthest thing from my mind for a couple of weeks now so, where the Senators are concerned, I was somewhat surprised this morning to see them sitting so close to a WC spot after their win over Anaheim last night.
Any optimism, however, was quickly dashed when I looked at their schedule starting tomorrow in Carolina up to January 12, a stretch of 15 games during which they will play 12 on the road, including 5 back-to-back affairs, thanks to the World Junior tournament being held in Ottawa.
After the Carolina game they play the first of the back-to-backs at home on Dec 14 against a much-improved Penguins team, then hit the road for games December 17 and 19 in Seattle and Calgary, back-to-backs Dec 21 and 22 in Vancouver and Edmonton, then 6 days off (spent where?) before resuming with another back-to-back Dec 28 and 29 in Winnipeg and Minnesota, then yet another back-to-back Jan 2 and 3 in Dallas and St. Louis, and finishing in Detroit Jan 7, before returning home to face Buffalo on Jan 9. Followed by the 5th back-to-back in that stretch on Jan 11 and 12 at Pittsburgh and home to Dallas.
If they’re anywhere near a playoff spot on the morning of January 13 they will be a factor in the playoffs. Needless to say, however, I’m not holding my breath. Not when you look at the offensive contributions from their D which amounts to 5 goals – at or near the bottom of the league in that respect, with Sanderson’s stats particularly noticeable -28gp 1g 14a 15 pts and a glaring minus 14.
Adding to the overall inconsistency is the complete waste of $17,700,000 off the cap on these 5 players:
Amadio – 28gp 2g 4a 6pts minus 5 – $2,600,000
Pinto – 20gp 1g 2a 3 pts minus 9 – $3,750,000
Perron – 9gp 0g 0a 0pts minus 4 – $4,000,000
Zub – constantly on IR – $4,600,000
Forsberg – 11gp .889 save % (last game 12 shots against, including 1 in the 3rd period – the winning goal naturally – $2,750,000
Unfortunately, with the possible exception of Pinto, none of the above are tradeable. On this upcoming road trip from Hell, they’ll need to ride Ullmark as much as possible because Forsberg simply can’t be trusted anymore. If Staios can find a better back up somewhere who might be available, he needs to make that move as soon as possible.
Penny, I have one point in favor of the Sens. After watching them, Buffalo, and Detroit, I noticed one important ability in Ottawa’s favor – they defend their own netfront far better than Detroit or Buffalo. This is an issue I have been harping on for my Wings for about 5 years now, and Lalonde doesn’t seem to be willing or able to improve it, which is one reason why I want a new coach here.
I second the new coach here. What else does Lalonde have to do to get shown the door?
Yes George, this is going to be the do or die stretch of games.
Unfortunately… Ottawa always seems to be HORRIBLE in the west… so I will just watch and take it as it comes.
If Ullmark can just hit his stride… they can come out of that with some wins.
So true, theSaint. What they need is a repeat of the 2014-15 miracle run of Andrew Hammond,aka The Hamburglar, who went on an incredible streak, including a western swing, that took a team then nowhere near a playoff spot into the spring dance. We’re due for some good luck.
https://www.silversevensens.com/ottawa-senators-re-wind-the-one-and-only-hamburglar-run-nhl/
Who was that Sen’s Team last night…….
they played Great….⁉️
100% Agree George,….
29 yr old Kevin Lankinen Canucks back up they brought in for $875,000…
He has played fantastic..
in Games this year, 20, GA, 2.65 SV% 0.908👌
The Sens should go after him, A 4 yr deal at $2.M per❓
As I kept pointing out during “free agent frenzy” Williew, why in Hell did nobody sign this guy sooner than they did – which only came in Vancouver after they first gave him a pto?
As I showed repeatedly, his most recent stats were quite decent in – I think it was – Carolina (or was it Nashville?). Anyway, with quality goaltending being so damned difficult to find, this guy should have been among the FIRST UFAs to get offers. Especially from Ottawa.
Now they’d have to give up assets to get him when they could have had him likely for $1.5 mil – less than half what they’re paying Forsberg. Staios missed the boat badly there.
Everybody outside of Boston knew the off-season moves they made would bite them hard.
The goalie saga was mishandled, Zadorov is a pylon, Lindholm showed he was over-rated in Vancouver and DeBrusk who was let go would be the high scorer on the team.
Habfan30, Sweeney can t blame or fire any more coaches! It s on him and his roster!