Some Early Betting Odds For The NHL Hart Trophy
Some Early Betting Odds For The NHL Hart Trophy
NHL Rumor Mill – January 20, 2021
NHL Rumor Mill – January 20, 2021
The latest on Keith Yandle, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and more in today’s NHL rumor mill.
SPORTSNET: In his latest “31 Thoughts” column, Elliotte Friedman reported on what led to the speculation over Keith Yandle’s future with the Florida Panthers. Prior to the start of their season, there was talk the veteran defenseman would be a healthy scratch from their season-opener amid rumors he might be asked to waive his no-movement clause.
Florida Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle (NHL Images).
The club wanted to change its culture, become tougher to play against and hold players to account. New general manager Bill Zito comes from a demanding franchise (Columbus Blue Jackets) and there were rumblings during the offseason that Yandle didn’t fit into the organization’s plans.
The club denied asking Yandle to waive his no-movement clause, which the blueliner confirmed. However, over the past two weeks, the 34-year-old rearguard felt his character was being called into question. Several of his teammates stood up for Yandle and made it clear they wanted him in the lineup.
Friedman doesn’t think this story is over, suggesting perhaps the club wouldn’t mind if the players used this situation as a rallying cry. There’s a rumor suggesting Yandle would waive his NMC for the Boston Bruins but Friedman doesn’t see him as a fit given their avoidance of taking on long-term contracts.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sounds like Zito mishandled this situation. Friedman noted some of the Panthers felt Yandle needed to improve his defensive play but none of them questioned his character. It’s one thing to demand accountability for a player’s performance but this quickly blew up into a bigger issue that still has the potential to become an unnecessary distraction for the Panthers unless the air is cleared.
I agree with Friedman’s take regarding Yandle and the Bruins. Taking on an aging blueliner with a questionable defensive game and a $6.35 million AAV through 2022-23 wouldn’t be a wise decision to improve their blueline.
Friedman believes there are several “very, very good teams in the weeds” on Pierre-Luc Dubois waiting to see how the Columbus Blue Jackets handle the situation. He’s curious to find out what the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning think.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Avalanche have a superstar centering their first line in Nathan MacKinnon, while Nazem Kadri’s worked out well as their second-line center. Dubois doesn’t seem to be a fit there unless the plan is to knock Kadri down to the third line or ship him out. Ditto the Lightning, who have Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Yanni Gourde centering their top-three lines, with captain Steven Stamkos who can slide into the center position when necessary.
Assuming either or both clubs wanted Dubois, they’ll have to part with a center or a forward who can have an immediate positive effect on the Jackets’ forward lines. Kadri, Point or Cirelli fit that description but I don’t see their respective clubs parting with them.
Don’t forget that both teams have limited salary-cap space this season. Any deal for Dubois will have to be as close to dollar-for-dollar as possible to take on his $5 million annual average value. Even if the Avs or Bolts were interested it’s probably too complicated to pull off that trade.
Friedman said he’d heard during the offseason that the Edmonton Oilers were close to a contract extension with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. However, things have gone quiet for a while.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: There’s talk the Oilers don’t want to go above $7 million per season for Nugent-Hopkins, which could explain the silence of late. Then again, maybe the two sides have decided to just put things on hold while the season is underway.
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ interest in Jack Roslovic can’t be tied to their opening two losses. They’ve been interested in the 23-year-old Winnipeg Jets forward for some time.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s Dan Kingerski recently reported second-hand sources told him during the offseason that Penguins GM Jim Rutherford was interested in Roslovic. Kingerski noted the Jets could use some blue-line help. The Penguins have nine defensemen, including Pierre-Olivier Joseph on their taxi squad.
Oilers general manager Ken Holland contacted Jimmy Howard to see if the 36-year-old goaltender was interested in a reunion in Edmonton. Howard played for Holland when the latter was GM of the Detroit Red Wings. Howard, however, declined the offer and intends to announce his retirement soon.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: No offense to Howard, who had a long and mostly productive career with the Red Wings, but this shows how desperate Holland is to improve his goaltending.
NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 20, 2021
NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 20, 2021
Recaps of Tuesday’s games, Hurricanes-Predators game postpone over COVID-19 concerns, Avalanche trade Ian Cole to Minnesota, Elias Pettersson fined, and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Jack Hughes enjoyed his first two-goal game and added an assist as his New Jersey Devils held on for a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers. Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 47 saves for the win. Artemi Panarin collected two assists for the Rangers, who lost center Mika Zibanejad to an apparent upper-body injury after falling into the corner boards late in the third period.
New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hughes and Blackwood were the Devils’ stars in this contest. This was Hughes’ best game in his young NHL career, showing the skills that made him the first-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. An update on Zibanejad’s status could be made later today.
The Philadelphia Flyers blanked the Buffalo Sabres 3-0 thanks to a 40-save performance by goalie Brian Elliott. Kevin Hayes had a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who lost defenseman Philippe Myers and center Morgan Frost to injuries during this contest. Both are slated for MRIs today. Sabres goalie Carter Hutton didn’t return for the third period following a collision in his crease in the second period. Earlier in the day, the Sabres moved winger Kyle Okposo (undisclosed) on injured reserve. He’s yet to play a game this season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: A big bounce-back win for the injury-depleted Flyers after getting drubbed 6-1 by the Sabres on Monday. The Sabres had plenty of opportunities to score but Elliott held them off the board.
An overtime goal by Frank Vatrano lifted the Florida Panthers over the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4. Panthers’ goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves, the most notable stopping Patrick Kane on a penalty shot. Patric Hornqvist and Carter Verhaeghe each scored twice for the Panthers while Dominik Kubalik tallied twice for the Blackhawks, who still seek their first win of the season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s going to be a long, painful season for the Blackhawks. They’ve given up five goals in each of their first four games.
The Pittsburgh Penguins swept their two-game series with the Washington Capitals with a 5-4 overtime victory. Sidney Crosby tallied the winner in the extra frame as the Penguins overcame a 4-2 deficit. Tom Wilson scored twice for the Capitals. Penguins defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Juuso Riikola left the game with undisclosed ailments and will be evaluated today.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Crosby collected three points in this contest and is now the Penguins’ leading scorer with five points.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored in overtime as the Winnipeg Jets overcame a 3-1 deficit to edge the Ottawa Senators 4-3. Blake Wheeler had a goal and an assist and Mark Scheifele collected two assists for the Jets. Senators rookie Tim Stuetzle missed the game with what’s been called a minor injury but he isn’t expected to be sidelined for long.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: A tough loss for the Senators, who out-shot the Jets 41-28 in this game.
Tyler Bertuzzi potted an overtime winner to give the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 decision over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Wings forward Bobby Ryan scored his fourth goal in his first three games of this season, becoming the first player in franchise history to achieve that feat.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: A well-earned victory for the rebuilding Red Wings over a Blue Jackets team whose best players have been anything but through most of the first week of their season.
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon collected two assists, including his 500th career point, in a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Anze Kopitar had two helpers for the Kings. The Avs were playing without goaltender Pavel Francouz and winger Andre Burakovsky as both remain sidelined by injuries suffered during practice on Monday.
The Carolina Hurricanes-Nashville Predators game was postponed after five Hurricanes players (Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jordan Staal, Teuvo Teravainen and Jaccob Slavin) were placed in COVID-19 protocol. The rescheduled game will be played at a later date.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This probably won’t be the last game to be rescheduled during this season. The Dallas Stars had their first four games postponed and rescheduled after several players were placed in COVID-19 protocol during the final days of training camp.
HEADLINES
THE DENVER POST: Prior to the Colorado Avalanche’s game with the Los Angeles Kings, they shipped defenseman Ian Cole to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for blueliner Greg Pateryn.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Wild made this swap because general manager Bill Guerin was looking for an experienced stay-at-home defenseman. He also knows Cole from their days with the Pittsburgh Penguins and likes what the blueliner could bring to his roster.
The Avs, meanwhile, shed all but $800K of Cole’s $4.25 million annual average value while taking on Pateryn’s $2.25 million AAV. It allows the to put Pateryn on the taxi squad if necessary to create room for promising blueliner Bowen Byram.
SPORTSNET: Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson was fined $3,987.07 for slashing Calgary Flames center Sean Monahan during a game on Monday night.
NHL.COM: The league will pause the use of pucks with embedded tracking technology because of performance issues. A new supply of tracking pucks will be received soon and put into service once quality-control testing is completed.
Florida Panthers Could Face Big Changes Following This NHL Season
Florida Panthers Could Face Big Changes Following This NHL Season
NHL Rumor Mill – January 19, 2021
NHL Rumor Mill – January 19, 2021
Are the Panthers thinking of pursuing Pierre-Luc Dubois? Should the Sabres target Marc-Andre Fleury? Who could be the odd-man-out on the Avalanche blueline? Find out in today’s NHL rumor mill.
COULD THE PANTHERS PURSUE DUBOIS?
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: Jimmy Murphy reports there’s a theory that the reason Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito efforts to get Keith Yandle to waive his no-movement clause was to set up for a deal to acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Could the Florida Panthers attempt to acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Florida Panthers (NHL Images).
As the former assistant GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Zito helped draft Dubois third overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. Murphy also cites an NHL scout suggesting that’s also the reason behind the recent Aleksander Barkov rumors.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: If Zito was trying to move Yandle I don’t believe the Jackets would’ve been interested even if the Panthers absorbed part of his $6.35 million annual average value. The Jackets’ defense corps is pretty much set, which is why they could send Markus Nutivaara to the Panthers in the offseason in a cost-cutting move. Yandle would have to be moved in a separate deal to another club to free up the cap space for Dubois’ $5 million AAV.
I don’t doubt Zito would love to acquire Dubois but I don’t see him moving Barkov to do so. If anything, I think he would envision Barkov remaining as the Panthers’ first-line center with Dubois centering the second line.
SHOULD THE SABRES TARGET FLEURY?
Murphy also cites an NHL scout suggesting the Buffalo Sabres should target Marc-Andre Fleury. “What the BLEEP are the Sabres waiting for? Get Fleury!”, the scout said. Murphy believes the Vegas Golden Knights are ready to move the 36-year-old goaltender. The Sabres could use an upgrade between the pipes but an NHL management source isn’t sure Sabres GM Kevyn Adams has looked into it.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: There are seven million reasons why the Sabres haven’t acquired Fleury. That’s his annual average value for this season and next. He also has a modified no-trade clause and could be unwilling to accept a trade to Buffalo. Cap Friendly, meanwhile, shows the Sabres only have a projected $1.2 million in cap room right now. Fleury is an expense they can’t afford.
COULD THE AVALANCHE MOVE A DEFENSEMAN?
THE DENVER POST: Mike Chambers and Mark Kiszla discussed what the Colorado Avalanche could do to address their blue-line logjam. The Avs already possess considerable depth in talented young defensemen in Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Samuel Girard, Ryan Graves, Conor Timmins and Bowen Byram, plus they have veterans Erik Johnson and Ian Cole.
Chambers suspects Cole could sit if the young blueliners continue to impress. Kiszla wonders if GM Joe Sakic could use one of those rearguards as trade bait. Johnson’s contract ($6 million AAV, no-movement and modified no-trade clause) would be difficult to move. Chambers suggests Girard would be the most tradeable. Losing his $5 million AAV over the next seven seasons would free up cap room to add a forward or a goaltender.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Avalanche GM Joe Sakic might at some point consider using one of his defensemen as trade bait to address a roster issue before the Apr. 12 trade deadline. Johnson’s contract all but ensures he won’t be going anywhere. Cale Makar is untouchable and I don’t think Sakic will move Byram or Timmins. Toews is also likely to stay put after signing a four-year deal following his acquisition from the New York Islanders last fall.
Girard, Cole and Graves could become trade candidates. However, there’s no certainty Sakic will shop any of the defensemen this season. We’ll just have to see how things unfold.
Johnson’s no-movement clause means they can’t put him on their taxi squad this season without his permission. I can see them shuttling Byram and Timmins in and out of the taxi squad in the short term. Cole is a UFA this summer but the Avs could prefer hanging onto him for this season.
NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 19, 2021
NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 19, 2021
Recaps of Monday’s games, the stars of the week, plus updates on Patrik Laine, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Mitch Marner scored twice and Frederik Andersen made 27 saves to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Winnipeg Jets 3-1. John Tavares also scored for the Leafs. Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 35 shots. The Jets were also playing without winger Patrik Laine, who’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Earlier in the day, the Leafs learned winger Nick Robertson will be out at least four weeks with a knee injury.
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That was the Leafs’ most complete game of this young season after inconsistent defensive play dogged them in their previous contests.
The Buffalo Sabres picked up their first win of the season by thumping the Philadelphia Flyers 6-1. Sam Reinhart and Curtis Lazar each scored twice while Jack Eichel and Taylor Hall each collected three assists.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: A well-earned victory by the Sabres, who blew the game wide open with a three-goal second period. Their dominating performance seemed to catch the Flyers off-guard.
Jake Allen made 25 saves in his Montreal Canadiens debut while rookie Alexander Romanov scored his first NHL goal in a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. The Habs held Oilers stars Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins goalless for the second straight game.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Allen’s steady performance is a reminder of why the Canadiens acquired him as Carey Price’s backup last summer. Expect to see Allen spelling off Price in more back-to-back games throughout this season.
Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan each had two points to lead the Calgary Flames over the Vancouver Canucks 5-2. Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves to pick up his second straight win over his former club.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canucks dominated the first period, outshooting the Flames 16-4 but the latter turned the tables and changed the course of the game by outshooting the Canucks 20-3.
The Columbus Blue Jackets picked up their first win of the season by hanging on to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2. Joonas Korpisalo made 35 saves, while third-period goals by Alexandre Texier and Pierre-Luc Dubois secured the win. Bobby Ryan scored both goals for the Wings, who played without Robby Fabbri and Adam Erne due to COVID-19 protocols.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Dubois only played one shift in the final seven minutes of the second period but head coach John Tortorella denied benching the center. Dubois has requested a trade so his lack of playing time in the middle frame was bound to raise some eyebrows.
New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov turned in a 27-save shutout to blank the Boston Bruins 1-0. Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the only goal as the Isles managed just 17 shots against Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask. Boston defenseman Matt Grzelcyk left the game with what appeared to be an injured right shoulder. No update was provided on his status following the game.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Bruins are the league’s lowest-scoring club thus far with just three goals. They’re definitely feeling the absence of sidelined sniper David Pastrnak. They’re also missing the blue-line production of departed defenseman Torey Krug while winger Jake DeBrusk is off to a disappointing start.
Justin Faulk scored two goals, Mike Hoffman collected his first of the season and Jordan Kyrou tallied the game-winner as the St. Louis Blues edged the San Jose Sharks 5-4. Logan Couture scored twice and collected an assist while Brent Burns had a goal and two assists.
The Carolina Hurricanes held on for a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators. Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho and Vincent Trocheck each had a goal and an assist. Predators winger Viktor Arvidsson also had a goal and an assist.
Anaheim Ducks goalie John Gibson’s 34-save performance backstopped his club to their first win of the season in a 1-0 shutout of the Minnesota Wild. Nicolas Deslauriers netted the game’s only goal.
The Vegas Golden Knights rallied past the Arizona Coyotes with four straight goals on route to a 4-2 victory. Reilly Smith scored twice in the third period, including a shorthanded goal. Earlier in the day, the Coyotes learned captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson will be sidelined three-to-four weeks with a lower-body injury.
HEADLINES
Minnesota Wild rookie winger Kirill Kaprizov, Philadelphia Flyers winger Travis Konecny and Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos are the NHL’s three stars for the week ending Jan. 17, 2021.
TRIBLIVE.COM: Winger Kasperi Kapanen has finally joined the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup. A delay in processing his work visa and a mandatory seven-day quarantine period resulted in Kapanen missing training camp and the Penguins’ opening games of the season.
TAMPA BAY TIMES: Lightning winger Blake Coleman was placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list.
CALGARY SUN: The Flames signed defenseman Michael Stone to a one-year, two-way contract. He’d attended Flames training camp on a professional tryout offer.
TSN: The New Jersey Devils claimed goaltender Aaron Dell off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs.