NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 28, 2021

by | Nov 28, 2021

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 28, 2021

​Canadiens assistant GM Scott Mellanby resigns amid reports linking Habs to Jeff Gorton, Artemi Panarin and Andrei Svechnikov fined, Islanders games postpone through Nov. 30, game recaps and much more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

MELLANBY RESIGNS AS HABS ASSISTANT GM, CLUB LINKED TO GORTON

SPORTSNET: Scott Mellanby resigned yesterday as assistant general manager of the Montreal Canadiens amid reports linking the club to former New York Rangers GM Jeff Gorton.

Former New York Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton (NHL.com).

Elliotte Friedman reported there’s a widespread belief Marc Bergevin will not return as Canadiens general manager following this season. Friedman felt Bergevin recommended Mellanby as his successor or for a more significant role with the club. There had been recent discussions between team owner Geoff Molson and Mellanby but the latter resigned after being informed the club was going in a different direction.

The Canadiens reportedly sought and received permission from the New York Rangers to speak with former Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton. Friedman said Gorton would not be taking over as the Habs GM but could fill the role of president of hockey operations or another senior front-office role.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Based on the initial reports, it appears Molson has made a mess of this situation by upsetting Mellanby and alienating Bergevin, who is now a lame-duck general manager. TVA Sports’ Louis Jean reports Bergevin was hurt by how this went down, that he was kept in the dark and only learned about this situation through the media.

Nevertheless, this could still work out for the Canadiens if the end result is Gorton taking over as president of hockey operations. It would be a significant step toward returning this floundering franchise to respectability and perhaps a long-overdue rebuild.

Gorton did a fine job building up the Rangers roster. He signed Artemi Panarin, acquired Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba and drafted Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko. Before that, he was an assistant general manager for several seasons with the Boston Bruins. During a brief period as their interim GM in 2006, he acquired Tuukka Rask, drafted Phil Kessel, Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic, and signed Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard.

Molson has indicated the role of Canadiens GM has to be filled by a Francophone or someone who is bilingual. Gorton is neither but he would hold a role of considerable influence within the organization with input on trades, signings, drafting and player development.

Should Gorton get the role of hockey ops president, finding Bergevin’s successor becomes their next priority. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels mused about Patrick Roy, Roberto Luongo, Martin Madden Jr., Vincent Damphousse and Mathieu Darche as possible candidates. Jeff Marek reported the Canadiens have not contacted Patrick Roy about a role in the organization.

It will be interesting to see how the coming week unfolds in Montreal.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: Speaking of the Canadiens (6-15-2), they got a rare win by upsetting the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3. Jake Allen made a career-high 47 saves for the win while Josh Anderson scored twice and Tyler Toffoli and Christian Dvorak each had a goal and two assists. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby also had a goal and two assists while teammate Bryan Rust remains sidelined by an undisclosed injury. Canadiens defenseman Chris Wideman missed the game with an upper-body injury.

The Florida Panthers’ season-opening home winning streak has ended at 11 games after falling 4-1 to the Seattle Kraken. Former Panthers goalie Chris Driedger made 33 saves while teammate Jordan Eberle celebrated his 800th career NHL game with two goals.

Mikko Rantanen’s hat trick powered the Colorado Avalanche over the Nashville Predators 6-2. Cale Makar collected three assists while Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky each had two helpers. Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram returned to the lineup after missing six games with a concussion.

The Edmonton Oilers ran up a 3-0 lead over the Vegas Golden Knights and held on for a 3-2 victory. Mikko Koskinen turned aside 36 shots while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman and Jesse Puljujarvi scored for the Oilers. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were held off the score sheet by the Golden Knights.

Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar had three assists and Carl Gundstrom tallied twice to double up the Ottawa Senators 4-2. Kings forward Brendan Lemieux was ejected from the game for biting Senators captain Brady Tkachuk’s hand during a scrum in the third period. Tkachuk wasn’t pleased, calling what Lemieux did “the most gutless thing somebody could ever do” following the game.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lemieux could also earn supplemental discipline for his antics. He bit Tkachuk’s hand hard enough to draw blood.

An overtime goal by rookie Lucas Raymond gave the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, handing the latter their fifth loss in six games. The Sabres’ Jeff Skinner sent the game to overtime with the tying goal late in the third period.

The Dallas Stars picked up their fourth straight win by nipping the Arizona Coyotes 3-2. Braden Holtby made 25 saves for the Stars, Joe Pavelski had two assists and Roope Hintz scored his seventh goal in his last eight games.

St. Louis Blues forwards Pavel Buchnevich and Ivan Barbashev each scored twice in a 6-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko collected three assists. Jackets defenseman Adam Boqvist scored twice for the Jackets. Before the game, the Blues placed winger James Neal on injured reserve.

The Winnipeg Jets overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat the Calgary Flames 4-2. Kyle Connor led the way with two goals for the Jets to snap a five-game skid while ending the Flames’ win streak at four games. Flames winger Milan Lucic was ejected in the second period for boarding Jets defenseman Dylan DeMelo.

IN OTHER NEWS…

NEW YORK POST: Rangers winger Artemi Panarin was fined $5,000.00 for throwing one of his hockey gloves at Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand on Friday. Panarin said he was incensed over Russia-related insults made toward him by Marchand.

NEWSOBERVER.COM: Carolina Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov was fined $5,000.00 for kneeing Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Laughton on Friday.

NEW YORK POST: The NHL has postponed the New York Islanders’ next two games through Nov. 30 after Casey Cizikas became the eighth player on the club to test positive for COVID-19.

OTTAWA SUN: The Senators yesterday placed goaltender Matt Murray on waivers. He’s expected to report to their AHL affiliate in Belleville if he goes unclaimed today. The Senators also claimed forward Adam Gaudette off waivers yesterday from the Chicago Blackhawks.

NBC SPORTS PHILADELPHIA: Flyers forward Nate Thompson missed practice yesterday after suffering a shoulder injury during Friday’s game against the Hurricanes.










NHL Rumor Mill – October 28, 2021

by | Oct 28, 2021

NHL Rumor Mill – October 28, 2021

​Speculation over who could become the next general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks in today’s NHL rumor mill.

THE ATHLETIC: Mark Lazerus and Scott Powers listed their potential candidates to replace Stan Bowman as general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks. Bowman stepped down on Tuesday following the release of Tuesday’s report into the findings of an independent investigation into allegations of sexual assault of two players by former video coach Bradley Aldrich.

Former New York Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton (NHL.com).

Among the notable names on their list were NHL senior director of player safety Patrick Burke, analytics guru Meghan Chayka, former Los Angeles Kings assistant GM Michael Futa, former Rangers GM Jeff Gorton, former player and current TV commentator Ed Olczyk, Carolina Hurricanes assistant GM Eric Tulsky and NHL analyst Kevin Weekes.

DAILY FACEOFF: Frank Seravalli included Gorton and Weekes on his list of potential candidates, joining interim Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson, Montreal Canadiens assistant GM Scott Mellanby, Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray and former Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford.

TSN: Darren Dreger believes the Blackhawks need experience in the GM’s chair going forward. He suggested Rutherford, Gorton and former Penguins and New Jersey Devils GM Ray Shero.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Blackhawks could stick with Davidson or look to someone else within their organization. Perhaps they think outside the box and bring in someone with limited management experience such as Chayka. Olczyk or Weekes.

Dreger could be right that they’ll look to someone with experience who can be a steady hand on the tiller. Gorton could be the best bet here given his rebuilding efforts with the Rangers.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 26, 2021

by | Aug 26, 2021

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 26, 2021

Tuukka Rask on when he expects to return to action, former Rangers GM Jeff Gorton talks about his firing, the Flyers sign Derick Brassard, and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

NBC SPORTS BOSTON: Tuukka Rask said his recovery from offseason hip surgery is going well and he’s hoping to return to action around Christmastime or January.

Tuukka Rask could return to the Boston Bruins by midseason (NHL Images).

Rask also stated he’s only interested in playing for the Bruins. While not engaged in ongoing contract talks with general manager Don Sweeney, the unrestricted free agent goaltender said the two had good discussions and he believes they’re on the same page. He also said money won’t be an issue, saying he’ll be a cheap goaltender for them.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Bruins are expected to start the season with Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman as their goaltending tandem. If Rask returns by midseason, Swayman can be sent to the minors as Cap Friendly indicates he’s exempt from waivers.

The performance of Ullmark and Swayman could complicate Rask’s potential return if they’re both playing well. Nevertheless, his comments suggest he’s going to be in the club’s plans at some point in the coming season. He’ll have to be an affordable signing as they’ve got $1.089 million in cap space without adding Swayman’s $925K.

NEW YORK POST: Former Rangers GM Jeff Gorton said he was surprised that the fallout from the Tom Wilson-Artemi Panarin brawl last season included his dismissal and that of team president John Davidson. “I didn’t know it was going to turn into that, it surprised me that it turned into what it turned into,” he told the “Cam & Stick” podcast.

Gorton also spoke about the statement the team released following that incident condemning the NHL department of player safety for only fining Wilson instead of suspending him. “You might have seen it the first time I did,” he said, adding it was crafted and released by the team’s PR staff. Gorton also said he, Davidson and now-former head coach David Quinn regularly discussed improving the club’s toughness over time.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Rangers’ reaction to Wilson’s manhandling of Panarin and the light punishment he received seems to have been driven by team owner James Dolan. He cited the club’s lack of toughness during the official announcement of the firings of Gorton and Davidson in May. It also accounts for shipping Pavel Buchnevich to St. Louis for Sammy Blais and the acquisition, and signing of rugged forward Ryan Reaves.

NBC SPORTS PHILADELPHIA: The Flyers signed forward Derick Brassard to a one-year, $825K contract.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Brassard addition leaves the Flyers with just over $381K in cap space for the coming season.

WGR 550: Defenseman Robert Hagg is skating in Buffalo and settling in after being traded to the Sabres last month by the Flyers as part of the Rasmus Ristolainen deal.

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS: Former Jets forward Mason Appleton is very excited about being part of the Seattle Kraken’s inaugural roster. He spent three seasons with the Jets before being selected by the Kraken in last month’s expansion draft.

CALGARY SUN: The Flames signed forwards Glenn Gawdin and Justin Kirkland to one year, two-way contracts.

 










Rangers Fire Davidson and Gorton

by | May 5, 2021

Rangers Fire Davidson and Gorton

The New York Rangers fired team president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton. Chris Drury has taken over for Davidson and Gorton but it’s uncertain if that’s on an interim basis.

Former New York Rangers GM Jeff Gorton (left) and former team president John Davidson (NHL.com).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Gorton had been general manager since July 2015 while Davidson became president in May 2019. Under those two, the Rangers had engaged in a rebuilding program, bringing in younger players.

Reports indicate this move is unrelated to the Rangers issuing a statement yesterday regarding the incident involving Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson on Monday. Davidson and Gorton apparently sought to distance themselves from that statement.

The New York Post’s Larry Brooks cited sources saying a difference of opinion had emerged between those two and Rangers CEO James Dolan. Davidson and Gorton were taking a patient, long-term view while Dolan apparently wants the club to take the next step in the process. It’s also reported Dolan was unhappy with the Rangers’ performance this season, particularly after their two recent back-to-back shutout losses to the rival Islanders.

That “next step in the process” could mean Drury goes shopping in this summer’s trade and/or free-agent market. Perhaps veterans with a year remaining on their contracts, such as Mika Zibanejad or Ryan Strome, get peddled in the offseason. Maybe Drury attempts a blockbuster move by offering up some promising prospects and/or young players for a young impact star.

It’ll be interesting to see what the future holds for current Rangers coach David Quinn. While he kept his job there’s no certainty he’ll be back next season. Drury could prefer to bring in a more experienced NHL bench boss or could be directed by Dolan to do so.










Rick Nash Trade Tree Continues to Sprout Roots for Rangers

by | Mar 27, 2021

Rick Nash Trade Tree Continues to Sprout Roots for Rangers