NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 25, 2025
Recaps of Friday’s games, how the three-team trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Hurricanes went down, the Islanders unveiled their Quarter-Century Team, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPPING FRIDAY’S ACTION
NHL.COM: A hat trick by Cole Perfetti powered the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-2 win over the Utah Hockey Club, snapping the latter’s three-game win streak. Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and two assists as the Jets (69 points) moved within three points of the league-leading Washington Capitals. Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton scored for Utah with team captain Clayton Keller picking up two assists.
Winnipeg Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This was a milestone game for Ehlers, becoming the first Dane in NHL history to reach the 500-point plateau.
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov scored in overtime and collected two assists in regulation play to down the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3. Nick Paul and Jake Guentzel scored two unanswered goals as the Lightning overcame a 3-1 deficit. Frank Nazar and Louis Crevier each had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This was Kucherov’s 100th career multi-point game. The win moved the Lightning into third place in the Atlantic Division with 55 points.
Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson tallied twice in a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. Wyatt Johnston, Matt Duchene and Evgenii Dadonov each collected two assists for the Stars, who moved ahead of the Minnesota Wild into second place in the Central Division with 61 points. Jack Eichel scored two goals for the Golden Knights, who’ve lost five of their last six games and cling to first place in the Pacific Division with 64 points.
The New York Islanders picked up their third straight win by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1. Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist while Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves for the Islanders (47 points), who sit six points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth. Tyson Foerster replied for the Flyers (50 points), who remain three points behind the Blue Jackets.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Islanders announced yesterday the signing of Tony DeAngelo to a one-year contract for the remainder of this season. This move suggests Isles blueliner Noah Dobson will be sidelined for the rest of the season. DeAngelo must first clear waivers before he can join the Islanders.
HEADLINES
The NHL world is still buzzing over Friday night’s blockbuster trade that saw the Colorado Avalanche ship Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in a three-team deal involving the Chicago Blackhawks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Follow this link for trade details and my reaction. The Hurricanes also acquired prospect forward Nils Juntrop from the Blackhawks in the deal.
THE ATHLETIC: Chris Johnston reports the Hurricanes may have been the only suitor for Rantanen given the Avalanche’s asking price. He revealed Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky was involved in trade talks with the Vancouver Canucks involving Elias Pettersson earlier this month and J.T. Miller earlier this week before shifting to Rantanen.
According to Johnston, the origins of this trade go back to last June when the Hurricanes were at an impasse in contract talks with Martin Necas. The Avalanche raised the issue at the time but a deal didn’t take place. The discussions resumed two months ago and eventually grew more serious.
League sources told Johnston that there were no advanced discussions with the Rantanen camp about a contract extension before the deal went down. The 28-year-old forward is UFA-eligible on July 1. Johnston claims Rantanen was blindsided by this move by the Avalanche.
SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman reports the Blackhawks brokered this deal between the Avalanche and Hurricanes. If Rantanen hits the open market on July 1, Friedman wouldn’t be surprised if the Blackhawks pursued him.
THE DENVER POST: Corey Masisak believes the Avalanche replaced Rantanen in the short term with a very good player in Necas. However, he noted that the 26-year-old lacks Rantanen’s track record of success, especially in the postseason.
Masisak also observed the move gave the Avalanche some salary-cap wiggle room for the rest of the regular season and possibly much more in the offseason.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Rantanen deal was the biggest in-season NHL trade in the salary-cap era since the Boston Bruins shipped Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks 20 years ago. It could open the floodgates to more creative moves involving big-name talent before the March 7 trade deadline. I’ll have more about that in today’s Rumor Mill update.
NHL.COM: The New York Islanders revealed their Quarter-Century Team on Friday.
The First Team comprises forwards Brock Nelson, John Tavares and Josh Bailey, defensemen Nick Leddy and Adam Pelech, and goaltender Ilya Sorokin.
The Second Team features forwards Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal and Frans Nielsen, defensemen Kenny Jonsson and Ryan Pulock, and goalie Semyon Varlamov.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Derek O’Brien cites reports from several Swedish media sources indicating Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson was defrauded by a Swedish real estate broker who is now in prison.
Pettersson lost the deposit on a luxury villa north of Stockholm that was revealed to have many flaws that required repairs. He successfully sued the broker to have the mortgage contract cancelled but it’s unlikely he’ll ever get the deposit back.
DAILY FACEOFF: Carolina Hurricanes winger William Carrier underwent surgery to repair a lower-body injury and is expected to be sidelined for at least two months.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: If Carrier is out for the season the Hurricanes could place him on long-term injury reserve and use the salary-cap savings to add another player before the trade deadline. He’s in the first season of a six-year contract with an AAV of $2 million.
Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman is expected to return to action on Saturday against the Avalanche. He missed the Bruins’ 2-0 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday with a minor upper-body injury.
Pittsburgh Penguins winger Bryan Rust is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
NHL.COM: St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist was fined $2,000.00 for embellishment by the department of player safety.
TORONTO SUN: The Maple Leafs recalled goaltender Matt Murray and returned Dennis Hildeby to their AHL affiliate.
CALGARY SUN: The Flames assigned little-used defenseman Tyson Barrie to their AHL affiliate for conditioning. He’s appeared in nine games this season, the last being on Nov. 12.
THE BUFFALO NEWS: Sabres center Ryan McLeod is expected back in the lineup when his club faces the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. He missed the last three games with a nagging injury.
DAILY FACEOFF: The San Jose Sharks signed center Colin White for the remainder of the season on a two-way contract. He began this season on a minor-league deal with their AHL affiliate.
Re “Elliotte Friedman reports the Blackhawks brokered this deal between the Avalanche and Hurricanes. ”
It’s almost as if he’s inferring the whole deal was Davidson’s
We do know however he is referring to the fact that retention by Davidson was the way yhe deal was able to go down
What’s lost in this all is that Davidson is a big big winner in this
He’s down a roster player, so he’ll have to replace that spot with an AHLer
Taking that into account, Chicago actually gains well over $600 K cash commitments
Their retaining only $3 M (pro-rated); $5.25 M left (pro-rated); replaced by an AHLer at/near league min(pro-rated)
What did Davidson get in trade:
1) between $600-$650 K extra cash
2) Chance to see what one of their AHLers can do
3) Ensures (with Hall out and AHLer replacement) they don’t move up in standings and may slip to last for best lottery odds
4) AND they got a 3rd rounder (their own… so like a late 2nd rounder) in the trade
Nice work Davidson!
“So like a late 2nd rounder “
Uhhhhh no, it’s a lot like an early 3rd rounder, what a bizarre spin to put in it.
The grass is only greener if it’s not Dubas tending the lawn.
Out of all that you seem to think picking 63rd or 64th is a huge difference from picking say 55th-60th.
The point is, Chicago gained somewhere between $600 K to $650 K in cash, gained a good pick; pretty well assured their draft lottery odds don’t fall; and get a chance to see how a younger player does at the NHL
All that for doing a bit of paperwork plus the time spent in a few Zoom meetings and/or teleconferences
Hawks now have their own 1st,2nd and 3rd for a chance to steal an RFA with an offer sheet this summer? Or am I thinking too far ahead?
Their own 3rd coming back is for ‘25 which has no affect on OS this summer.
They still own their own 1st, 2nd, 3rd in ‘26; which does allow them to be used for an offer sheet this summer
Uh 8787, we’re in 2025 now. It’s this summer. Time goes fast doesn’t it?
Chicago should have gotten the 3rd for Hall.
They should have gotten another pick for retaining salary on Rantanen.
Only getting a 3rd to broker this deal is a loss.
Good Trade for both teams and they get what they Want-Need, Avs & Cane’s
The Canuck’s again
Looks like they have Missed the Boat on a number of trade’s for both these two Canucks Centers
Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller…
Carolina- Now Avs 26 year old Centre Martin Necas
and other stuff…
With all these 5 teams Now out…
Carolina,
Avs,
NYR
NJ
Boston
Not sure how much onger they can deal with thr Turmoil with the Canucks Team……….❓
Great trade Carolina bad for Avs fans
Hall will be pushed to play hockey for once
A true goal scorer in Caroline makes this team tougher to beat
Avs start to bottom out and MacKinnon ask for a trade because of not enough tallent around him
Avs ar not done. They may have cleared space for something much bigger!
Agreed I think the Av’s have another move coming !
Avs decided they could not pay Rantanen. Necas is a good young player. I think they did ok considering they still lost the best player in the deal. What teams had a player like Necas(ppg and under contract) and could take the chance they could resign Rantanen for 13-14 mil?
Curious if the Rangers offered Lafy to the Avs…..
Avs should have gone all out to sign Rantanen. They say that the team that gets the best player wins the trade. That’ll be so in this deal. No need to worry about paying him more than Nate. Time moves on, the cap goes up and salaries go up.
8787 So how does this help Bedard?
There is very little change to Bedard
He’s missing 33 games of “mentorship” (quotations intended) of Hall. That’s it.
Hall wasn’t coming back next year
This was more about the organization
1) save cash
2) Gain pick
3) chance to see an AHLer in NHL action
4) strengthen chances of not moving up in standings and therefore maintaining (perhaps bettering) lottery odds
Good deal for BlackHawks
WOW! I am stunned. Gotta admit, this is tough to digest. I often say players like Rantanen ” don’t grow on trees”. So, I have mixed emotions @ present. IDK , the return I’m not sure I have a such of a problem with but what Rantanen has done for the Avalanche historically can’t be taken lightly!! He has been a beast. Can’t help but wish him well except against us!!!
PS: Went to bed looking forward to the tilt against Boston and woke up to this news about 2 AM thought it was a rumour. WOW!!!
tommy boy,
You guys scored in a big way with this trade.
Rantanen was going UFA and resigning him would be a stretch if at all possible
You got 2 young guys, one of which is ppg and nowhere near his ceiling.. Necas has been mistreated ever since they took Kotkaniemi and he will break out in a big way when liberated from Carolina.
Drury is the solid kind of young player every team needs, reliable not flashy.
You guys also got enough cap room to pick up more
habfan30, you are probably right. I know that those guys are good but still difficult. A lot of Avalanche fans are intoxicated by the speed/skill we possess but we also could utilize some grit into the mix. That’s how we won in 22: helm, cogliano, kadri, aube-kubel. Maybe I am in denial, IDK. We are going to find out!!! Won’t get past Dallas & Vegas of the world without a little more grit. Oil, too! You could throw in Minnesota, Winnipeg as well
HF30: Did you mean to say “mistreated”? If so, then why did Necas resign with the ‘Canes?
LJ I think I resigned with the Canes because he was still an RFA hence the current 2 yr contract.
But I’m not sure but I think at the time it was often rumored he was available.
🤷🏻♂️
LJ
Yes I meant mistreated.
As an RFA he didn’t have much choice but to sign a deal.
He did the smart thing, signed a bridge for just 2 years taking him to UFA and freedom to get a big payday elsewhere.
He’s top 5 for goals in his draft class, top 10 in points and one of the lowest paid.
Habfan30, Necas was -2 in the Avs lost to Boston today!Hold on to your thought in evaluating Necas!
Sr,
Necas played 25 min, and the Avalanche outshot the Bruins 28/15.
No reason to hold off evaluating Necas who didn’t even have a practice, seems Bednar agreed.
Drury had a good game too.
Bruins were badly outplayed for most of the game so questioning Necas regarding the game is nonsense.
Perhaps a slight short term hit (balance of season and plyoffs [if they don’t do another move])
But they got two for one player swap and it looks like from reports that he was going UFA market testing (so Avs 8 year contract advantage gone) and Avs would not have been outbidding other 7 year contracts
The 2 coming in are younger
Necas not at Rantenen’s production level; but not that far off either
Necas younger
Necas under contract for next year
So if Avs were not getting Rantenen for next year anyway; they got a replacement (slightly less productive but younger) with term; another player; AND 2 picks ; AND space (that those picks could be used towards)
That’s certainly a fair return
I am not sure how to describe this trade !?!?
If Carolina can sign Rantanen Grand theft Auto …
Best winger in hockey – IMO
Although – Nylander , Marner , Pastranak- highly skilled as well ..
This trade wasn’t even talked about ..
Came out of no where
Cap reasons , sorry for Colorado
Maybe Necas is a sleeper in the deal ??
Treliving can now follow up with some magic !
And the effort against Boston was less than enthusiastic, really tough game to watch. Both teams going through the motions, IMO. The Avalanche poor with the puck, just give it away. IDK, tough business but that’s the way it is! It seems like the Avalanche were happy to be up 1-0 and that was good enough but the bruins did nothing the whole game. I was surprised by both teams lack of effort for important points to be at stake? The Avalanche carelessly giving the game away.