NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 27, 2022

by | Nov 27, 2022

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 27, 2022

The Devils’ Lindy Ruff reaches a coaching milestone, the Leafs’ Mitch Marner and the Stars’ Jason Robertson maintain their points streaks, and much more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff picked up his 800th career NHL win as his club defeated the Washington Capitals 5-1. Jack Hughes tallied his first career hat trick and Vitek Vanecek made 37 saves as the Devils (18-4-3) move into a tie for first place in the overall standings with the Boston Bruins. John Carlson replied for the Capitals as they fall to 9-11-3.

New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff (NHL.com).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ruff is the fifth NHL coach to reach the 800-win milestone. He’s also the leader in wins among active coaches. As for the overall standings, the Bruins hold a game in hand over the Devils. It will be interesting to see if these two clubs can maintain their strong performance through the first quarter over the remainder of the schedule.

Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner extended his points streak to 16 games with a goal and an assist in a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Auston Matthews had a goal and two assists while William Nylander had a goal and an assist as the Leafs (13-5-5) are 6-0-2 in their last eight games. Rickard Rakell tallied for the 11-8-3 Penguins.

A 41-save performance by Alexandar Georgiev carried the Colorado Avalanche over the Dallas Stars by a score of 4-1. Josh Manson had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (12-6-1). Dallas winger Jason Robertson collected an assist on Joe Pavelski’s goal to extend his points streak to 15 games but his Stars fall to 12-6-4.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the day, the Avalanche announced winger Evan Rodrigues will be sidelined for two-to-four weeks with a lower-body injury.

Vancouver Canucks winger Brock Boeser stretched his points streak to nine games with a goal in a 5-1 upset of the Vegas Golden Knights. J.T. Miller had a goal and two assists while Spencer Martin stopped 26 shots as the Canucks improved to 8-10-3. Jonathan Marchessault replied for the 16-6-1 Golden Knights, who hold a five-point lead over the Stars for first place in the Western Conference with 33 points.

The Edmonton Oilers got four unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the New York Rangers 4-3. Evan Bouchard scored twice, Dylan Holloway scored his first career NHL goal and Leon Draisaitl tallied the winning goal as the Oilers rise to 11-10-0. Ryan Lindgren collected two assists for the 10-8-4 Rangers.

Speaking of comebacks, the St. Louis Blues also scored four unanswered goals in a 5-4 win over the Florida Panthers. Jordan Kyrou tallied twice, including the winner in overtime, as the Blues improved to 11-10-0. Sam Reinhart had two assists for the Panthers (10-8-3), who were playing without captain Aleksander Barkov as he was sidelined by a non-COVID-related illness.

The New York Islanders also staged a four-goal rally as they dumped the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2. Zach Parise scored twice, Ryan Pulock collected four assists and Semyon Varlamov stopped 26 shots for the 15-8-0 Islanders. Lukas Sedlak and Joel Farabee scored for the Flyers (7-10-5) as their winless skid extends to 10 games.

A third-period goal by Brett Pesce lifted the Carolina Hurricanes (11-6-5) to a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames, ending their winless skid at five games. Dan Vladar made 30 saves for the 9-9-3 Flames but they’ve dropped three straight games. Flames defenseman Michael Stone returned to the lineup after missing 10 games with a non-disclosed injury.

HEADLINES

WINNIPEG SUN: Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck wants a rule change for an immediate stoppage of play when a netminder’s mask is knocked off or comes off during play. Hellebuyck lost his mask during a collision in Friday’s game against the Dallas Stars and was lying prone and shaken up on the ice with no stoppage of play, enabling the Star to score an empty-net goal.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The NHL situation rule allowed the Stars’ goal to stand. Hellebuyck was able to resume playing but he and teammate (and NHLPA representative) Adam Lowry would like clarity on this issue. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek suggest this could lead to a new directive from the league.

SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW: Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Friday’s 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. No word as to the seriousness of his undisclosed injury but he will be sidelined for at least a week.

THE ATHLETIC’S Michael Russo tweeted the Wild have recalled goaltender Zane McIntyre as a precautionary measure after one of their goalies had an issue at practice on Saturday.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Netminder Filip Gustavsson apparently left practice early.

CBS SPORTS: Tampa Bay Lightning forward Rudolfs Balcers is expected to miss the club’s upcoming three-game road trip with an upper-body injury.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 5, 2022

by | Aug 5, 2022

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 5, 2022

The Flames sign Jonathan Huberdeau to the richest contract in franchise history, the Sharks re-sign Mario Ferraro, and the Devils avoid arbitration with Miles Wood. Details and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

CALGARY HOCKEY NOW: The Flames signed Jonathan Huberdeau to an eight-year, $84 million contract extension. The average annual value is $10.5 million and comes with a full no-movement clause in the first six seasons of the deal, followed by a modified no-trade in the final two years.

Calgary Flames winger Jonathan Huberdeau (NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Flames have given Huberdeau the exact same contract that they offered Johnny Gaudreau before his departure to Columbus as a free agent. Both are talented playmaking wingers coming off career-best 115-point performances.

Since 2017-18, Huberdeau’s been among the league’s highest-scoring left wingers. His 415 points during that period are just six behind league leader Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins, three back of the New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin and 10 up on Gaudreau.

The difference here is the Flames knew what they had in Gaudreau. He’d been with them for the past eight seasons. They understood his strengths and weaknesses. Huberdeau, on the other hand, is something of an unknown to them and that could make this contract more of a risk.

Huberdeau will be 30 when the deal kicks in for 2023-24 and turning 38 when it expires. That’s typically a period when a player’s production declines as age and the wear and tear of a long career begin to take its’ toll. There’s also the question of how his performance will be affected by skating with a new team after spending the past 10 seasons with the Panthers.

It will be money well spent for the Flames as long as Huberdeau adjusts well to his new teammates and maintains his high level of production throughout most of his contract. Otherwise, it’ll increasingly become a salary-cap nightmare that hampers their efforts to become a contender.

SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW: The Sharks signed Mario Ferraro to a four-year contract. The 23-year-old defenseman will earn an annual average value of $3.25 million.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: In just three years, Ferraro has become an invaluable member of the Sharks defense corps. He averaged 23 minutes of ice time per game in 2021-22 while his shorthanded ice time (2:38) ranked second on the club. Ferraro was also their leader in blocked shots (151) and among their leaders in hits.

Ferraro skated alongside Brent Burns on the Sharks’ top pairing last season. With Burns’ trade to Carolina, he’ll likely remain on the top pairing with Erik Karlsson as his defense partner.

DAILY FACEOFF: The New Jersey Devils avoided arbitration with winger Miles Wood as the two sides agreed to a one-year, $3.2 million contract.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Wood missed all but three games last season due to hip surgery. He had 17 goals and 25 points in 55 games during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign.

THE NEWS & OBSERVER: Carolina Hurricanes GM Don Waddell expects to have forward Martin Necas under contract before training camp opens next month. The two sides are believed closing in on a deal. Waddell didn’t elaborate but it could be a two-year bridge deal worth about $3 million per season.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Necas, 23, is coming off his entry-level contract and lacks arbitration rights. He had a promising sophomore campaign in 2020-21 with 41 points in 53 games but managed 40 points in 78 games last season.

Rumors that he and head coach Rod Brind’Amour wasn’t on the same page prompted trade speculation. It appears the Hurricanes intend to retain him for the coming season.

THE SCORE: Michael Raffl has signed a two-year contract with Lausanne Hockey Club in Switzerland’s National League. The 33-year-old winger spent nine seasons in the NHL from 2013-14 to 2021-22 with the Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals and Dallas Stars.

TORONTO SUN: Rich Clune has retired after 16 professional seasons to join the Maple Leafs’ training department. Clune spent most of his career in the AHL but played five NHL seasons with the Leafs, Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators. He spent the past six seasons exclusively with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Best wishes to Clune in his new job.