NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 31, 2025
Recaps of Thursday’s games, the Flyers and Flames make a multi-player trade, the 4 Nations Face-Off captains are unveiled, the Oilers reveal their Quarter-Century Team, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF THURSDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves to shut out the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 in what is likely to be his final game at the Bell Centre. Liam Ohgren, Marco Rossi, Devin Shore and Frederick Gaudreau were the goalscorers as the Wild picked up their third straight win to move ahead of the Dallas Stars into second place in the Central Division with 66 points. Jakub Dobes made 23 saves in his first regulation loss (5-1-1) as the Canadiens(53 points) are 0-3-1 in their last four games and sit four points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Fleury, 40, is expected to retire at the end of this season. He received a standing ovation from Montreal fans and the Canadiens lined up following the game to shake his hand. The shutout was his 76th, tying him with Tony Esposito and Ed Belfour for 10th all time.
The Ottawa Senators got an overtime goal from Thomas Chabot on his birthday to nip the Washington Capitals 5-4. Josh Norris scored on a penalty shot and collected two assists and Claude Giroux reached the 1,100-point milestone as the Senators sit third in the Atlantic Division with 58 points. Washington captain Alex Ovechkin had a goal and two assists to move within 19 goals of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s goal record of 894. The Capitals are in first place in the Eastern Conference with 74 points, one behind the league-leading Winnipeg Jets.
Speaking of the Jets, they tallied four unanswered third-period goals in a 6-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. Mark Scheifele tallied twice and Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves as Winnipeg picked up their fifth straight win. Brad Marchand and Elias Lindholm replied for the Bruins (56 points), who dropped one point behind the Blue Jackets in the Eastern wild-card race.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy returned to action after missing seven games with an upper-body injury. Jets center Morgan Barron missed this game as he’s week to week due to an upper-body injury.
As for the Blue Jackets, they downed the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on an overtime goal by Cole Sillinger. Adam Fantilli also scored for the Blue Jackets, who’ve won three of their last four, two of them in overtime. Tomas Hertl scored his 20th goal to extend his points streak to 11 games as the Golden Knights sit second in the Pacific Division with 68 points.
Detroit Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon kicked out 45 shots to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2. Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin tallied in the shootout rounds as the Wings overcame a 2-0 deficit to pick up their fourth straight win. Leon Draisaitl netted his league-leading 36th goal as the Oilers three-game win streak ended.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Red Wings (55 points) are two points back of the Blue Jackets in the Eastern wild-card race. Meanwhile, Edmonton (68 points) holds first place in the Pacific Division with a game in hand over the Golden Knights. John Klingberg was held scoreless in his season debut with the Oilers.
Mikko Rantanen scored his first goal with the Carolina Hurricanes and Jaccob Slavin tallied the game-winner in a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Seth Jarvis got his 20th of the season as the Hurricanes extended their points streak to seven games (6-0-1) and sit second in the Metropolitan Division with 68 points. Connor Bedard and Ilya Mikheyev scored for the Blackhawks.
Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy turned in a 28-save shutout to blank the Los Angeles Kings 3-0. Brandon Hagel scored two goals and collected an assist for the Lightning, who ended a two-game losing skid and hold the first Eastern wild card with 57 points. The Kings have dropped four straight (0-3-1) and have one win in their last seven contests. They hold third place in the Pacific Division with 58 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lightning backup Jonas Johansson missed this game as he’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
The New York Islanders defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 as goalie Ilya Sorokin stopped 23 saves for his third shutout. Rookie Marc Gatcomb scored his first NHL goal as the red-hot Isles (53 points) won their sixth straight game, sitting four points behind the Blues Jackets in the Eastern wild-card chase. The Flyers have lost four of their last five game, sitting five points back of the Jackets.
Calgary Flames forward Matt Coronato scored twice and set up another to lead his club over the Anaheim Ducks 4-1. Dustin Wolf made 30 saves for the Flames as they hold the final Western Conference wild-card spot with 57 points. Frank Vatrano scored for the Ducks as their three-game win streak is over.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Flames and Flyers were involved in a multi-player trade last night. Calgary traded Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier, a second-round pick in the 2025 draft and a 2028 seventh-rounder to Philadelphia for forwards Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. Read on for further analysis in the Headlines below.
The Seattle Kraken defeated the San Jose Sharks 6-2. Brandon Montour scored two goals and Chandler Stephenson had a goal and two assists for the Kraken. Carl Grunstrom and Tyler Toffoli replied for the Sharks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kraken defenseman Ryker Evans and Sharks forward Alex Wennberg missed this game as they’re day-to-day with upper-body injuries.
HEADLINES
CALGARY SUN: Morgan Frost is considered the focal point of last night’s trade between the Flames and Flyers. Flames general manager Craig Conroy made no secret of his search for a center. Adding the 25-year-old Frost and the 24-year-old Joel Farabee is seen as building for the future while providing an immediate boost to their roster.
NBC SPORTS PHILADELPHIA: Frost and Farabee were former first-round picks who didn’t pan out as hoped with the Flyers. Kuzmenko turns 29 next week and is a pending unrestricted free-agent winger who is struggling to regain his scoring touch. Pelletier, 23, is a pending restricted free-agent winger.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Flames are retooling for the future but they’re also battling for a wild-card spot. This move addresses both issues and could prove to be a winning move for Conroy if Frost and Farabee flourish in Calgary.
Kuzmenko could be flipped by the March 7 trade deadline by the rebuilding Flyers for another draft pick. Pelletier is a former first-rounder who struggled to crack the Flames lineup. He’ll have a better opportunity in Philadelphia to become a full-time NHLer and reach his full potential with his new club.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: The captains for the 4 Nations Face-Off were announced yesterday by the NHL. Canada’s captain will be Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews will lead Team USA, Sweden will be captained by Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, and Finland by Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: No shocking surprises here.
NHL.COM: The Edmonton Oilers unveiled their Quarter-Century Team on Thursday.
Forwards Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, defensemen Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse, and goaltender Dwayne Roloson comprised the First Team.
The Second Team featured forwards Ryan Smyth, Shawn Horcoff and Ales Hemsky, defensemen Mattias Ekholm and Jason Smith, and goalie Tommy Salo.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen is listed as week-to-week with a knee injury and will not play for Finland in the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.
DAILY FACEOFF: Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov played in his 1,000th NHL regular-season game on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Kings.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: Speaking of the Panthers, they placed defenseman Adam Boqvist on waivers.
THE SCORE: Utah Hockey Club removed one of the finalists for its new team name and resurrected another. They dropped Wasatch in favor of Outlaws, joining Mammoth and their current name among the three candidates being voted on by Utah fans.
TSN: Former goaltender, NHL executive and TSN radio personality Shawn Simpson passed away on Wednesday at age 56. Simpson was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the 1986 NHL draft and spent three seasons with their then-AHL affiliate in Baltimore. He went on to work with the Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs as a team executive before joining TSN radio in Ottawa in 2012 until 2023.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: My condolences to Simpson’s family, friends, teammates and co-workers.
It was great (well not for Habs) to see the Flower get a shutout in his last game played (a Wild/Habs Stanley Cup Final isn’t happening)in front of his home town crowd.
“The Outlaws”…I actually like that. I guess those in attendance at the game on Wednesday said NFW to “Wasatch”
With “The Outlaws” as a potential name it opens up some interesting possibilities on branding. Are the Smith’s going to seek out licensing rights to Paul Newman’s image (Butch Cassidy was from Beaver Utah)?
…with a nod to Japanese baseball, why not the Utah Ham Fighters!
I’d never heard of them Harry, so I just looked them up
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
What a moniker
It looks like “Nippon-Ham” is a food processing conglomerate that owns (owned?) the team; “Hokkaido” the location; and “Fighters” the team brand/name
I had posted before that it would have been nice for the SLC franchise to have a name representing the beautiful scenery/topography of Utah (5 spectacular National Parks).
Then they threw in “Wasatch”, which does in fact pay tribute to the Wasatch mountains and area that abuts Salt Lake.
Still a bit of a mouthful and those in attendance spoke up on Wednesday; enter “The Outlaws”
Anything BUT the completely boring “Hockey Club” would be fine by me.
I’m guessing there is plenty of moniker ideas around “Mammoth” and “ Outlaws”
Looks like about 30,000-35,000 individuals will make the decision over the next 3 games. Most should be season ticket holders so local and should be a reasonable representation (statistically) of the feel of the team’s fan base.
I was really hoping for “Wasatch.” When Utah came to town, every rink would be filled with the hometown fans waving signs with frozen penis’.
Scratchin’ my head on this
I don’t get the context. Do the Wasatch mountains have a phallic shape?
Watched the Oilers/Wings tilt. I thought for sure after the first period this was going to be an Oilers cake walk.
But McLellan has Wings playing “never say die” Hockey ; and Lyons pulled up his jock strap and stood on his head after the first two goals.
This is going to be an exciting trail end of the season to watch regarding those Eastern Wild Card (AND 3rd spot in Atlantic) races.
Look out Leafs (I say with a wicked sneer). Leafs have played the lowest number of road games. Over the next 31 days they play only 1 single home game. They are 4-6-0 in last 10( and now only getting one homer in over a month). Leafs only 4 points up on Sens for 3rd in the Atlantic; and only 5 up on last WC spot.
Although not likely that they’d miss the playoffs; I think a few on here like me would like to see that happen to the Leafs.
In the East, the Road Warriors are split evenly between those playing at a .500 pace and up and those plugging along below .500 when playing away from home:
Washington 27gp 18-7-2 – .704
Florida 27gp 18-10-1 – .611
New Jersey 26gp 14-10-2 – .577
Toronto 21gp 11-8-2 – .571
NYI 25gp 11-9-5 – .540
NYR 25gp 12-11-2 – .520
Carolina 26gp 12-11-3 – .519
Detroit 23gp 10-10-3 – .500
Ottawa 27gp 12-13-2 – .482
Philadelphia 28gp 11-12-5 – .482
Montreal 24gp 11-12-1 – .479
Tampa 26gp 11-13-2 – .462
Pittsburgh 28gp 9-14-5 – .411
Boston 26gp 9-14-3 – .404
Buffalo 25gp 9-14-2 – .400
Columbus 26gp 8-14-4 – .385
Toronto and Florida are right there among the top 4 at healthy .571 and .577 paces, and should they just maintain those stats – or even slightly lower – over their remaining games, they’re in little danger of falling back into WC territory. By the same token, those that have visions of catching them – NYI, NYR, Detroit, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Montreal and Tampa – would need to considerably improve their road performances.
Sadly, your likely right re Leafs.
Depending how long Tavares and Knies are out, Toronto has almost no net front presence and it really shows. The fact that Nylander is your top guy to go to the dirty areas guy, says a lot about the team right now. They tried Lorentz in Knies spot, but apparently he wasn`t able to battle for the puck in the corners and in front of the net to create enough open ice for Marner and Matthews. Matthews playing hurt isn`t helping and no amount of money will get Marner to go into the dirty areas. So this western swing for the Leafs could be a difference maker for the Leafs season. Only 6 points ahead of 9th place and out of the playoffs. Outside of Washington and Carolina you could say the rest are all fighting for the wild card spots right now
I should have included Boston in that group of teams “that have visions of catching them” as their road record is near the bottom of that group – like night and day for home games vis-a-vis away
8787 One post too low, but I read on THN yesterday that while “Wasatch loosely translates to “Low Place in High Mountains” and is also the name of the range in SLC, it also translates to “frozen penis.” You’d think someone would have done their research before proposing that name. https://thehockeynews.com/news/nhl-utah-swaps-out-wasatch-it-means-what-in-name-vote-for-a-potential-game-changer
Hi PullingTheGoalie
Thanks
Sorry for some reason I couldn’t open your link
Everywhere I could find says that “Wasatch” is Anglicized from the Ute (Indigenous peoples of the area of Utah and some bordering states) language and translates to
“people of the mountains”
or
“low pass over high range.”
Or
“mountain pass”
I found another place that says the Shashone (another indigenous peoples of the area) have loosely translated “Wasattsi” as “Blue Heron” or others have the Shashone “Wasattsi” as loosely translating to “ Land of many waters”
The Frozen Penis translation sounds like it came from either an all night kegger or a Frat party I attended as a freshman in ‘92
Would be cool if that was the true translation
Just think of the free handouts in place of bobble-heads
Hi PullingTheGoalie
Thanks
Sorry for some reason I couldn’t open your link
Everywhere I could find says that “Wasatch” is Anglicized from the Ute (Indigenous peoples of the area of Utah and some bordering states) language and translates to
“people of the mountains”
or
“low pass over high range.”
Or
“mountain pass”
I found another place that says the Shashone (another indigenous peoples of the area) have loosely translated “Wasattsi” as “Blue Heron” or others have the Shashone “Wasattsi” as loosely translating to “ Land of many waters”
The translation you suggested sounds like it came from either an all night kegger or a Frat party I attended as a freshman in ‘92
Would be cool if that was the true translation
Just think of the free handouts in place of bobble-heads
Flames GM,🔥 Win’s Trade with Philadelphia✔️
They get 2 young players they have been looking for in a Centre & Winger, A 25-year-old centre Morgan Frost and 24-year-old winger Joel Farabee.
In exchange, the Flames traded 29 yr old UFA
Andrei Kuzmenko, 23 yr old LW Jakob Pelletier, and A 2nd-round pick in 2025 and a 7th -rounder in 2028.
Great Job Craig Conroy 👍
They Got 2 good young players 25 yr old Centre & A 24 yr old winger, Both Really needed A change
PS,
8787, Agreed with you coments on the game, I also Watched the Oilers/Wings . I Also thought for sure after the first period this was going to be an Oilers cake walk.
Stu Skinner let in 2 soffties Goals, he looked Very slow to react, I know him & his wife just had there 2nd baby 2-3 days ago…. ❗️
Maybe they need to play Calvin Pickard for the next 2-3 game to get Stu back up to Speed….👍
Steve Y has a very good young goaltender coming up maybe next year, 23 yr old Sebastian Cossa
who is 6ft6 & 210lb,
He played here in Edmonton for the Oil kings,
He was a Very Good Goaltender seen him a few times in games this year. on the Red wings farm team he has posted very god numbers…
G 24, GA 2.20 SV% .921
The Red Wings need to Draft a Good Young Centre…
like a Ivan Ryabkin, the 6ft & 200lb Russian who just came over a month ago…❓
I Dont know if he will be there around 13 to 16 mark where the wings will likly pick as they will miss the playoffs i think they may need to trade there 1st in 2026 and a 3rd pick in 2025 to try to get him he has lots of Potential….🤔
Not sure what game you were watching willie, but Stu didn’t let in 2 softies.
The first one was tipped down from 2 feet in front of his nose, and Larkin came in alone, cut across the crease at full speed, and beat him. Stu stopped 32 of 34 and both goals were grade A.
Agree the Oil looked like they would win in a walk, had chances to bury the wings and didn’t. Call it goalie’d, luck or didn’t finish I dunno. Wings got back in it, and played well in the 2nd half of the game.
If you only score 2 in today’s NHL, you lose way more than you win.
Calgary made off like bandits in this trade.
Frost and Farabee are both capable and have shown upside and reportedly interest was shown in them this past offseason.
In return Kuzmenko, who got a big contract after a big year then dropped and stayed off, Jakob Pelletier who never got off , 2nd might work, 7th a hail mary.
On the wild card I still think Sens, Wings ,Penguins and Blue Jackets will be in. Bruins and Lightning will fall out.
I think the Habs will not make it either they had too much ground to make up and sustaining that streak to the end is too much to expect .
They should look and probably are calling on Patrik Allvin with regard to Pettersson
Like bandits even?
Both of these guys only clame to fame is successfully underachieving since being drafted. Oh and Farabee gets way too much money to barely get 50 points and 20 goals…..BARELY. And Frost…..enjoy the defensive lapses. Haven’t read a single Flyer fan opinion that was lamenting this trade.
Maybe you can make a case that Torts is the factor here, and that with a different coach and environment maybe you get different results.
The flyers got out from farabees contract and added some picks. Kuzmenko was not their prize it…it was ridding themselves of the farabee contract. Moving it and not having to retain while getting some draft picks is seen as a win from their perspective.
Flyer fans are good with the deal as far as I can see from comments online and by that token it should give some pause to flames fans as to the expectations they have on these two players.
Are you saying that Pittsburgh will finish ahead of Tampa Bay?
Maybe I’ve missed something fundamental with their roster, including goaltending, but for the life of me I just can’t see them climbing over 7 teams – all cooperating by losing more than Pittsburgh – with 25-odd games left in the schedule.
Pens in playoffs ain’t happenin’
Already struggling
Leaps and bounds to make up (and jump more than a handful of teams)
Our D is already terrible and Dubas is going to ship out our best D-Man
He also may be shipping out our top scorer
If Crosby ends his career here; he’ll never play in an NHL playoff game again.
As an aside, I would offer a lowball pro-rated 1 year contract to our newly UFA hometown lad.
He’s got everything to prove to be in demand this summer. Signing with a contender he’s not getting showcased and will sit and/or play 4th line low minutes
Here, Sully could offer him some top 6 minutes. Even more minutes if Dubas moves our top scorer.
Saad in, Nieto down, makes Pens better. Gives more interest. Won’t get us in. We’ll still pick in the 7th-12th spot, but at least we’ll win a couple of extra games and perhaps stem the attendance rapid slide
the thing is, why would Saad choose the Penguins? Whoever he signs with it’ll have little to with money and much more a chance to be on a winner.
Dark G,
I think Torts is a big part of the problem as both were on upward trajectories till he took over as coach.
They gave up next to nothing for them.
BCIeaf Fan
I was just reiterating my previous call from a month ago which I mentioned not wanting to bet against Crosby.
Tampa is a shade of what they used to be but on the other hand Jon Cooper is a great coach and in my eyes a master at game planning so its a tough call.
If Tampa gets the goaltending they are used to having, they will make the playoffs comfortably and possibly win the division.
I think the Leafs are more at risk than the Bolts.
I think the Flames did very good in this trade. They gave up next to nothing.
I would bet $100 that neither of those draft picks turn into a player as good as either one of the guys the Flames got. Likely don’t even get a full time NHL player.
Farabee looks to be overpaid for what he produces, and if he isn’t a 200′ player, then he will need to become one. Sometimes when players move, and they get the same message from another team and coach it settles in. Or they just learn over time.
So there is some risk, as who knows if he figures it out and puts it together, but well worth the price they paid IMO. As they paid close to nothing.
Flame need some offense, they got some.
BCLeafFan, if something undoes Tampa’s season it will be their road record – 26gp 11-13-2 – .462 points pace – which is not usually what you see at the end when looking at the 8 teams that are in the playoffs
At his writing, of the 8 teams currently holding down a playoff spot, 4 have very good road records: Washington .704; Florida .611; New Jersey .577; Toronto .571; and one could use a light boost – Carolina .519.
The other 3 need anywhere from a marginal improvement (Ottawa .482 and Tampa .462) to a massive one – Columbus .385.
That’s because of the 7 teams breathing down their necks, 3 are already at or over the .500 mark (NYI – .540; NYR .520; and Detroit .500. The other 4 would need to see improvements, again ranging from marginal to massive: Philadelphia .482 and Montreal .479 needing slight improvements from here to the end when on the road, while the other 2 would need to go on a near-record away winning binge: Boston .404 and Pittsburgh .411.
I guess what I’m getting at is … why are those teams so unproductive on the road compared to their home records? If they go through 41 road games at percentage points well below .500 what makes them – or their fans for that matter – confident they can suddenly turn it around in the playoffs? It doesn’t work quite like that, and usually signals an early exit.
Then, of course, there’s no place like home where the record shows that 15 of the 16 teams in the East are all playing at .500 and above – 8 of them WAY above to varying degrees – within their friendly confines:
Carolina 26gp 20-5-1 – .789
Washington 24gp 16-4-4 – .750
Columbus 25gp 17-5-3 – .740
Tampa 24gp 16-7-1 – .688
Ottawa 24gp 15-7-2 – .667
Boston 27gp 16-8-3 – .648
Toronto 30gp 19-11-0 – .633
New Jersey 27gp 15-8-4 – .630
Florida 25gp 14-9-2 – .600
Detroit 28gp 15-11-2 – .571
Montreal 27gp 13-10-4 – .556
Pittsburgh 25gp 12-10-3 – .540
NYI 25gp 12-11-2 – .520
NYR 25gp 12-11-2 – .520
Philadelphia 25gp 12-12-1 – .500
Buffalo 25gp 10-12-3 – .460
George O, what a cluster f—-k the East has become!The entire division is at risk!4-10 all eastern conference teams!l wonder if teams will follow Philly and start making deals?This is going to go down to the last game of the year!
That’s been my take since pre-season Sr where I “predicted” (for want of a better word) that this season in the East we’d see the tightest race from the WC slots all the way down to the 16th team.
And I was close, except for Buffalo whose 14-game winless skid dug too deep a hole. But I continue to say they will be handful for many teams down the stretch who may unwisely take them for granted as an easy 2 points.
All the others will be knocking each other off at about the same frequency each right down to game 82.
And that’s just great for the fans.
Good analysis, George, the Leafs play out west before the break. If their mediocre efforts continue, they will be in the kind of slump that no playoff contender can afford this year.
I wonder if Matthews’ captaincy for the Four Nations was Guerrin’s way to make sure he didn’t back out to rest.
In terms of actual winning, leading and performing under pressure, there were a lot better options.
Captains probably don’t make much of a differnce in an All Star competition like this, but it really should have been M. Tkachuk with the C and Eichel + Q.Hughes getting A’s.
that’s an interesting theory Foley. I hadn’t considered it. I was just miffed that a few others people better suited on that team weren’t picked.
I like the trade for Calgary. Farabee had 22 G and 50 points last year. Frost was 19 and 46 just a year ago. Outside of a Torts system, that probably translates to 30 goals and 70 points in an environment that provides offensive opportunity.
Kidding.
Kind of.