NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 6, 2021

by | Jan 6, 2021

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 6, 2021

​The NHL announces sponsors for its realigned divisions, plus updates on David Pastrnak, Dougie Hamilton, Alexander Kerfoot and more in today’s morning coffee headlines.

NHL.COM: The league has partnered with four sponsors for its realigned divisions for the upcoming 2020-21 season. They will be known as the Scotia NHL North Division, Honda NHL West Division, Discover NHL Central Division, and the MassMutual NHL East Division.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Or, as I and most hockey fans will refer to them, the North, West, Central and East Divisions.

This news will surely raise hackles among hockey purists already upset over ad logos appearing this season on the players’ helmets. But, as The Athletic’s Scott Burnside indicates, this move is necessary to offset some of the lost revenue this season from the absence of fans due to COVID-19 restrictions.

This could be simply a one-time thing, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the practice of division sponsors continues when things (hopefully) return to normal next season.

NBC SPORTS BOSTON: Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy yesterday said David Pastrnak was making progress in his recovery from offseason hip surgery. The original prognosis for the winger was mid-February but Cassidy suggested it could be a little earlier than that.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: A late January or early February return for Pastrnak seems possible. The sooner the high-scoring winger returns to the Bruins first line, the better their chances of maintaining their status as a Stanley Cup contender this season.

NHL.COM: Dougie Hamilton wants to remain with the Carolina Hurricanes and hopes the two sides can work out a new contract. The 27-year-old defenseman is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Hamilton said he’ll leave the negotiations to his agent and focus on the upcoming season.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell has indicated a willingness to sign Hamilton to a contract extension. The blueliner’s asking price and the Hurricanes’ inclination to meet it will determine if he has a future in Carolina.

Hamilton was considered a serious contender for the Norris Trophy last season until sidelined by a broken leg last January. Another Norris-worth performance could price him out of the Hurricanes’ comfort zone.

CBS SPORTS: Toronto Maple Leafs forward Alexander Kerfoot was banged up in training camp yesterday and is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: Winger Alex Tuch took a maintenance day yesterday as a precautionary measure after experiencing soreness following the first day of on-ice drills on Monday.

NEW YORK POST: The New York Islanders have reportedly signed free-agent winger Matt Martin to a four-year contract worth an annual average value of $1.5 million. He’ll be 36 when this contract expires.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: This deal ensures Martin could retire as an Islander, though he could be selected by Seattle in this summer’s expansion draft if left unprotected. The checking-line winger is considered one of the Isles’ glue guys, the type of hard-working player who brings the team together.

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Stars defenseman Joel Hanley missed practice yesterday. He’s been declared “unfit to practice” and listed as day-to-day.

THE SCORE: Former Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill was hired by the Seattle Kraken as an assistant general manager to GM Ron Francis. Former Chicago Blackhawks executive Norm McIver was hired as the Kraken’s director of player personnel.

NHLPA: Colin Wilson officially announced his retirement yesterday following 11 NHL seasons with the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche. He scored 113 goals and 286 points in 632 regular-season games.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Best wishes to Wilson and his family in their future endeavors.

Congratulations to Team USA for their 2-0 victory over Team Canada to win the gold medal at the 2021 World Junior Championships. It’s the fourth straight time in as many meetings that Team USA has defeated Canada in the gold-medal game.

Florida Panthers’ goalie prospect Spencer Knight made 34 saves for the shutout. Anaheim Ducks prospect center Trevor Zegras had a goal and an assist while Los Angeles Kings prospect center Alex Turcotte also tallied for the Americans. Zegras led the tournament with 18 points and was named tournament MVP.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Russia may be Canada’s oldest hockey rival but the United States is the biggest rival and has been for some time.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 26, 2020

by | Nov 26, 2020

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 26, 2020

An eye injury ends Johnny Boychuk’s playing career, the Lightning re-sign Mikhail Sergachev, the latest return-to-play news and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

NEW YORK POST: A gruesome eye injury suffered during the 2019-20 season has prematurely ended the playing career of Johnny Boychuk. The 36-year-old New York Islanders defenseman suffered poor peripheral vision and optic nerve damage from two separate incidents that would make it unsafe to continue his 13-year career.

New York Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk (NHL Images).

The Islanders, however, have not announced Boychuk as retired, meaning he’ll likely go on long-term injury reserve. That will allow the Isles to exceed their accruable cap space limit by the $6 million annual average value on his contract, which expires at the end of 2021-22.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Best wishes to Boychuk in his future endeavors. He collected 206 points in 725 games with the Colorado Avalanche, Boston Bruins and the Islanders, winning the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011.

According to Cap Friendly, the Isles have just $3.9 million in salary-cap space. Placing Boychuk on LTIR will free up sufficient space to sign restricted free agent center Mathew Barzal.

For those of you wondering why Boychuk hasn’t retired outright, it would mean forfeiting the remaining salary on his contract.

TAMPA BAY TIMES: The Lightning yesterday re-signed Mikhail Sergachev to a three-year contract worth an annual average value of $4.8 million. The 22-year-old defenseman was a restricted free agent coming off his entry-level contract.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sergachev has rapidly blossomed into one of the Lightning’s top defensemen whose best seasons are still ahead of him. He’ll become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at the end of it.

The deal is also structured to pay him more in the final season when league revenue is expected to improve. Cap Friendly indicates he’ll get $2.4 million in actual salary this season, $4.8 million in 2021-22 and $7.2 million in 2022-23. It’ll cost the Lightning big bucks to qualify his rights and re-sign him at the end of this deal.

Sergachev’s new contract also pushes the Lightning above the $81.5 million salary cap by $1.9 million. They must also sign center Anthony Cirelli and blueliner Erik Cernak. I’ll have more about their possible moves to become cap compliant in today’s Rumor Mill.

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun tweeted NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman haven’t spoken since last Thursday. He believes that speaks to how the players feel about the league’s requests for increases to the salary deferral/escrow rates. LeBrun thinks there’s still time to salvage this but next week could be crucial.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: LeBrun could be referring to starting the season by the proposed date of Jan. 1. I think the time’s run out for that. However, there’s an ongoing belief among the punditry that the two sides will work something out to start up the season by late January or early February.

THE SCORE: Team Canada is halting its World Junior selection camp and entering a 14-day quarantine period after two players tested positive for COVID-19. Workouts and meetings will be conducted via video call while scrimmages for the weekend are canceled. The 2021 World Junior Championship is slated to begin on Christmas Day in a bubble environment in Edmonton similar to that used by the NHL for the 2020 playoffs.

SPORTSNET: A memorial fund for the late Joey Moss raised nearly $1 million through a 50/50 raffle. Moss, the long-time dressing room attendant for the Edmonton Oilers and the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos, passed away in October at age 57.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 19, 2020

by | Nov 19, 2020

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 19, 2020

The players aren’t receptive to changing salary deferral or escrow rates, plus the latest on Pierre-Luc Dubois, Olli Juolevi and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

LATEST RETURN-TO-PLAY NEWS

TSN: Pierre LeBrun reports the NHL Players Association isn’t keen on changing salary deferral and escrow rates agreed upon in the extension to the collective bargaining agreement. This emerged from yesterday’s PA board meeting. No vote was taken on the subject as part of the discussion.

LeBrun said this is a timing issue for the NHL. Players are entitled to 50 percent of hockey-related revenue. The more they take this year, the more they’ll owe in debt payments in later years. However, the PA took that into account when it agreed to the CBA extension.

SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman reports the league asked for an additional salary deferment and for the players to consider raising the escrow rate. Under the memorandum of understanding, escrow is capped at 20 percent for 2020-21, with the rate dropping to six percent for each of the final three years of the agreement. The league reportedly requested to increase that rate to 8 or 9 percent. The players believe the league now seeks an additional $300 million in savings.

The requests indicate the league has concerns over revenue shortfalls exceeding previous projections. Without fan attendance, the 50/50 revenue split tilts in the players’ favor. He wonders how the shortfall will be made up and under what mechanism if the escrow rate is too low.

Friedman doesn’t believe this will derail the return-to-play plans as both sides are keen to return to the ice. Nevertheless, the league’s request didn’t sit well with the players.

NEW YORK POST: Larry Brooks reports the league sought an additional 13 to 16 percent in salary deferral on top of the 10 percent already agreed to under the MOU, as well as raising the escrow rate on those final three years to as much as 9.5 percent. Brooks claimed the league’s requests “annoyed, if not angered, the union membership participating in the call.”

The NHL’s requests, however, weren’t delivered in the form of an ultimatum. Brooks said the PA will likely identify issues, “perhaps systemic issues,” that it would like reopening in a renegotiation.

Brooks also reported a preliminary 60-game schedule was delivered to the NHL and NHLPA within the last 48 hours. He also cited sources claiming the CBA discussions aren’t expected to derail ongoing discussions for the tentative Jan. 1 start date.

TORONTO SUN: Lance Hornby reported more than 100 members of the PA took part in yesterday’s call, including its executive, return-to-play committee, team reps and some rank-and-file members. They feel they made significant long-range financial sacrifices and consenting to spend weeks in the 2020 playoff bubble away from their families.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The players are within their right to reject those requests after making substantial concessions in the recent CBA extension. Still, the league is also justified in its concern over higher-than-expected revenue shortfalls.

The MOU was agreed to at a time when it was hoped the pandemic would recede, allowing the NHL to stage its 2020-21 schedule with a full schedule and fans in the stands. However, that’s not going to happen while the second wave of the pandemic rages across the United States while COVID rates rise at alarming levels in the provinces where the Canadian teams reside.

PuckPedia indicates one problem with salary deferral is there are 26 players whose salaries cannot be deferred because of the large signing bonuses in their contracts. They include Toronto Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin and Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price.

The hockey-related revenue issue remains a significant sticking point even if it isn’t currently jeopardizing the return-to-play discussions. The two sides don’t have much time to work this out if they hope to meet their timeline to open the season on New Year’s Day. It’ll be interesting to see what transpires between now and the end of November.

IN OTHER NHL NEWS…

NHL.COM: Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen remains confident his club will re-sign Pierre-Luc Dubois before training camp opens for the 2020-21 season. The 22-year-old center is a restricted free agent completing his entry-level contract.

SPORTSNET: Olli Juolevi is finally healthy after several injuries delayed his transition to the Vancouver Canucks. The 22-year-old defenseman was the sixth-overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.

OTTAWA SUN: Senators prospect Tim Stuetzle was named to Team Germany for the 2021 World Junior Championships.

TSN: Senators prospect Ridly Greig tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 8. He’s asymptomatic and self-isolating at home. He hopes to join Canada’s world junior selection training camp on Nov. 22 when his 14-day quarantine period is over.

THE SCORE: Speaking of the 2020 WJC, Canada’s deputy chief of public health is optimistic about the proposed health and safety protocols for staging the tournament in Edmonton. “I think the proposals and what’s been put forward to us at the present time look very promising. It looks very good,” said Dr. Howard Njoo. The WJC will be held under quarantine bubble conditions similar to those of the NHL during its 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.

CBC.CA: Former NHL star Rick Vaive recently released his biography titled “Catch 22: My Battles in Life and Hockey.” He details his feuds with former Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard and former Hockey Night in Canada commentator Don Cherry, as well as his struggles with alcohol addiction.