NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 2, 2021

by | Apr 2, 2021

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 2, 2021

A five-point performance by the Islanders Mathew Barzal, three more Canucks games are postponed by COVID-19 protocols, division stars and rookie of the month for March are announced, Nathan MacKinnon fined, and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: Mathew Barzal’s hat trick carried the New York Islanders to an 8-4 romp over the Washington Capitals. Barzal finished with five points while teammate Jordan Eberle scored twice. John Carlson tallied twice for the Capitals, who lost goaltender Ilya Samsonov early in the first period following an accidental collision with teammate T.J. Oshie. The Islanders are tied with the Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins with 50 points but the Capitals remain in first place in the MassMutual East Division on the basis of a game in hand.

New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal (NHL Images).

The Penguins, meanwhile, rode a 30-save performance by goaltender Casey DeSmith to a 4-1 victory over the Boston Bruins. Pittsburgh forward Branden Tanev returned to the lineup after missing six games and picked up an assist. The Penguins have won five straight but sit in third place behind the Islanders as the latter has two more regulation wins. Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo left the game with an upper-body injury. The Bruins sit fourth in the vision with 41 points, three ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers.

Speaking of the Rangers, they edged the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on an overtime goal by Mika Zibanejad. Artemi Panarin collected two assists for the Blueshirts while Sabres goalie Dustin Tokarski kicked out 44 shots. The Rangers are tied with the Flyers with 38 points but the latter holds fifth place with a game in hand.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The East division is getting quite interesting. The Penguins have surged to jockey with the Capitals and Islanders for first place, the Bruins are clinging to fourth place but are being threatened by the Rangers, who could soon surpass the struggling Flyers.

Third-period goals by Ross Colton and Brayden Point 66 seconds apart lifted the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 to snap a three-game losing streak. Point had two goals on the night while Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 36 shots. Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist for the Jackets. With 52 points, the Lightning holds onto first place in the Discover Central Division. The Jackets (36 points) remain in sixth place in the division, three points back of the Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks.

An overtime goal by Alex Wennberg gave the Florida Panthers a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Frank Vatrano scored the tying goal and collected an assist on Wennberg’s winner. The Panthers also have 52 points but remain in second place in the Central as the Lightning hold a game in hand.

The Carolina Hurricanes got a late goal by Jesper Fast to nip Chicago 4-3 and sit one point behind the Lightning and Panthers. Warren Foegele tallied twice for the Hurricanes. The Blackhawks remain tied with Nashville with 39 points but the latter holds fourth place in the Central on the basis of regulation wins.

As for the Predators, they missed an opportunity to open a lead over the Blackhawks as their six-game win streak ended in a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars. Joe Pavelski collected two assists for the Stars (34 points), who sit five behind the Predators and Blackhawks.

A shootout goal by Kevin Fiala lifted the Minnesota Wild past the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 3-2. Cam Talbot had a 35-save performance while Kirill Kapizov had a goal and an assist for the Wild (46 points), who moved within four points of second-place Vegas in the Honda West Division. The Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche each have 50 points but the latter holds first place because of regulation wins.

The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-1 as Brendan Gallagher and Phillip Danault each had a goal and an assist. Jake Allen made 23 saves for the Habs, who hold a six-point lead for fourth place over the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks with 41 points.

HEADLINES

Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov is the star of the month for March in the Discover Central Division. Colorado Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer is the Honda West star of the month. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby took home the honor for the MassMutual East Division while Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid is the Scotia North Division star for March.

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic was named the NHL’s rookie of the month for March 2021.

The Vancouver Canucks have had three additional games postponed as forwards Adam Gaudette and Travis Hamonic and a member of the coaching staff were placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list earlier this week.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Gaudette and his wife faced some flak on social media by several folks alleging they failed to properly protect themselves from COVID-19. In fact, the couple followed all guidelines and were informed they did nothing wrong by the team and health officials. The Gaudettes have no idea how they caught the coronavirus and don’t deserve being hounded by some ill-informed fans.

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon received a $5,000.00 fine from the NHL department of player safety for unsportsmanlike conduct against Arizona Coyotes winger Conor Garland on Wednesday.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Chandler Stephenson received a three-game suspension for elbowing Los Angeles Kings defenseman Tobias Bjornfot on Wednesday.

NEW YORK POST: Brendan Lemieux requested a trade from the Rangers prior to their dealing him last week to the Los Angeles Kings for a fourth-round pick. Lemieux made the request as he wanted to play for a team where he’d have a more meaningful role. He’d been seeing fourth-line duty this season with the Rangers.

THE SCORE: Roberto Luongo is expected to be named general manager of Team Canada’s 2021 World Championship team.

SPORTSNET: Wisconsin forward Cole Caufield, Minnesota State goaltender Dryden McKay and North Dakota forward Shane Pinto are this year’s finalists for the Hobey Baker Award. Caufield recently signed an entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens while Pinto inked a similar deal with the Ottawa Senators.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 8, 2020

by | Oct 8, 2020

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 8, 2020

The 2020 NHL Draft completes its second and final day, Taylor Hall is heading to free agency, the Blue Jackets re-sign Max Domi, and much more in today’s morning coffee headlines.

NHL.COM: The 2020 NHL Draft is now history following a marathon second day in which it took over seven hours to complete rounds two through seven.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: You can see the results for each round by clicking the above link to the NHL draft tracker. As for how long it took to go through yesterday’s rounds, the general managers and their staffs were drafting from home instead of at an arena in a host city as is usually done. That gave them a lot more time to evaluate which prospects they intended to select and to move up or down the draft order by swapping picks with other clubs.

ARIZONA SPORTS: Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong said Taylor Hall is heading to tomorrow’s unrestricted free agent market.

Arizona Coyotes winger Taylor Hall is heading to free agency on Friday (NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Coyotes gave up three prospects and two draft picks (including a first in this year’s draft) to acquire Hall in a trade with New Jersey last December. Hall played well for the Coyotes, with 10 goals and 27 points in 35 games, but his addition did little to significantly improve his new club. Their limited cap space made it almost impossible to re-sign him. His departure could ease the pressure from Armstrong to move captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson in a cost-cutting trade before the defenseman’s Friday deadline.

THE SCORE: One day after being acquired by the Columbus Blue Jackets from the Montreal Canadiens, Max Domi signed a two-year, $10.6 million contract with his new club.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: This is a sensible signing by the Jackets. Domi gets a raise over two-year, $6.3-million of his previous deal. The Jackets get a reasonable period of time to evaluate their new center’s performance to determine if he’ll be worth a longer-term deal.

Cap Friendly indicates this signing leaves the Jackets with just $1.725 million in cap space with first-line center Pierre-Luc Dubois to re-sign. However, Dubois’ coming off his entry-level contract and could get an affordable bridge contract. The Jackets could also place Brandon Dubinsky ($5.85 million) on long-term injury reserve as a chronic wrist ailment has likely ended his playing days, providing more cap space for DuBois’ next contract.

THE TENNESSEAN: The Nashville Predators placed center Kyle Turris on unconditional waivers for the purpose of buying out his contract. He had four years and $24 million remaining on his deal. The buyout will count as $2 million annually against the Predators’ salary cap through 2027-28.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Turris’ contract turned into a costly mistake for Predators GM David Poile. Desperate to free up cap space, he had little choice but to buy out that deal following unsuccessful attempts to trade the 31-year-old center.

THE SCORE: The Vegas Golden Knights re-signed forward Chandler Stephenson to a four-year, $11 million contract.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stephenson fit in well with the Golden Knights after he was acquired from the Washington Capitals last December. However, his new contract pushes Vegas’ cap payroll over the $81.5 million cap by $2.8 million. They are allowed to exceed the cap by 10 percent during the offseason, but that will complicate any plans to be active in the upcoming free-agent market. A cost-cutting trade or two will be necessary before the start of next season.

OTTAWA SUN: The Senators have decided to let winger Anthony Duclair become an unrestricted free agent after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. Duclair was a restricted free agent with arbitration rights and wasn’t given a qualifying offer by yesterday’s 5 pm deadline. GM Pierre Dorion declined to go into details but said Duclair chose to represent himself in contract talks. He added the club offered the winger a substantial raise over his previous salary.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: A puzzling development. Duclair made $1.65 million on a one-year deal last season. Dorion didn’t shut the door on the winger possibly returning to Ottawa. Maybe the Senators were concerned Duclair would get more via arbitration.

WINNIPEG SUN: The Jets re-signed defenseman Dylan DeMelo to a four-year, $12 million contract. DeMelo was slated to become a UFA on Friday.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: A good, affordable signing by the Jets. DeMelo joined the Jets before the February trade deadline and quickly adapted to his new team.

EDMONTON JOURNAL: The Oilers’ long contract standoff with Jesse Puljujarvi is over, re-signing the 22-year-old winger to a two-year deal worth an annual average value of $1.175 million. Puljujarvi spent all of last season playing in Finland hoping to force a trade by the Oilers.

NEW YORK POST: The Rangers traded center Lias Andersson to the Los Angeles Kings for the 60th pick in the 2020 NHL draft. Andersson was the seventh-overall pick in the 2017 draft but struggled to crack the Rangers lineup and spent the second half of last season playing in Sweden.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The stock of both young forwards really dropped over the past two years. There was even speculation at one point last season suggesting the two could be swapped for each other in a trade. Both players need a reset if they hope to salvage their NHL careers.

CBC: Montreal Canadiens Hall-of-Famer Guy Lafleur has undergone a second surgery to address a recurrence of lung cancer just two months following quadruple bypass surgery.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Best wishes to Lafleur for a speedy and complete recovery.

 

 










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 3, 2019

by | Dec 3, 2019

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 3, 2019

Stars of the week, more stories of abusive behavior by former coaches, and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: A five-goal first period powered the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-1 romp over the New Jersey Devils. Jack Eichel and Johan Larsson each had three points while Conor Sheary scored two goals. The Devils have dropped five of their last seven games.

Vegas Golden Knights winger Alex Tuch tallied two first-period goals as his club downed the New York Rangers 4-1. Malcolm Subban made 29 saves for the win. Following the game, the Golden Knights announced they’d sent a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft to the Washington Capitals for forward Chandler Stephenson.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The cap-strapped Capitals had to free up some salary to make room for sidelined winger Carl Hagelin’s imminent return. Stephenson should provide a bit of a boost to the Golden Knight’s penalty kill.

The New York Islanders beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1, leaving the latter winless in their last 10 contests. Jordan Eberle tallied twice for the Islanders.

St. Louis Blues goaltender Jake Allen turned in a 38-save performance to blank the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0. The Blues are unbeaten (8-0-2) in their last ten games. Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane’s 15-game points streak has come to an end. 

Derek Grant scored two goals and Ryan Miller made 34 saves (15 in the final period) as the Anaheim Ducks doubled up the Los Angeles Kings 4-2.

HEADLINES

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL’s three stars for the week ending Dec. 1 (Photo via NHL Images).

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, Calgary Flames goaltender David Rittich, and San Jose Sharks netminder Martin Jones are the NHL’s three stars for the week ending Dec. 1.

SPORTSNET: Hall of Famer Chris Chelios revealed former NHL coach Mike Babcock was ” a tough guy to play for” if you were a veteran player. He said Babcock told him his role during his sixth season with the Wings was to “babysit” blueliner Brett Lebda. He claims Babcock told him, ‘If you don’t like it, you can go see Kenny Holland — I’m sure he’ll trade you.”

Chelios also said Babcock attempted to scratch him from the 2009 Winter Classic. He claims the coach was disrespectful toward Mike Modano, making Modano a healthy scratch late in the 2010-11 season, thus preventing him from playing his 1,500th career game.

THE DETROIT NEWS: Chelios also said Babcock “verbally assaulted” Red Wings forward Johan Franzen during Game 5 of the 2012 playoffs against the Nashville Predators, causing the latter to have a nervous breakdown. Franzen confirmed the encounter, saying “I get shivers when I think about it. … It was coarse, nasty and shocking. But that was just one out of a hundred things he did. The tip of the iceberg.” He went on to call Babcock a “terrible person” and “a bully who was always attacking people.”

DETROIT FREE PRESS: Chelios claimed the players informed Red Wings GM  Ken Holland of the incident and he came into the room, make a speech and defended Babcock. Holland, who’s now the GM of the Edmonton Oilers,  said no player came forward to complain about Babcock’s behavior. Holland said he’s spoken to Chelios about the incident and the blueliner admitted it didn’t take place following the Nashville game. He said he was in the room when Holland told the players to come and see him if they had a problem with Babcock.

“The situation Chelios described had nothing to do with Franzen,” Holland said. “They were separate situations. That happened after a game in San Jose when someone had said something on a telecast about there being unrest in the locker room. I told players they could come to me if they had anything to say. No one did.”

THE SCORE: The Chicago Blackhawks announced they will be conducting a thorough review of assistant coach Marc Crawford after former NHL player Sean Avery claimed Crawford kicked him during a game while both were with the Los Angeles Kings.

Former NHLer Daniel Carcillo posted a transcript of former Vancouver Canucks defenseman Brent Sopel talking about Crawford’s troubling behavior during a Spittin Chiclets podcast last year. Sopel claimed Crawford kicked and choked him and attacked players personally.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Babcock’s firing opened the floodgates of stories from former players of his abusive behavior and those of Crawford and now-former Calgary Flames bench boss Bill Peters. I don’t think we’ve heard the last of these tales. 

CBS SPORTS: Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Colin Wilson (lower body) will undergo surgery and is expected to be out long term.

SPORTSNET: The Vancouver Canucks have granted goaltender Jacob Markstrom a leave of absence to attend his father’s memorial service.

OTTAWA SUN: Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki foiled a robbery attempt in Vancouver. He clotheslined a thief off his bicycle, wrestled him to the ground, and retrieved the backpack the man had stolen from a car.

TSN: The Montreal Canadiens placed goaltender Keith Kinkaid on waivers and recalled goalie Cayden Primeau and forward Matthew Peca. They also announced defenseman Victor Mete will be sidelined for two weeks with an injured ankle.

 










NHL Rumor Mill – August 7, 2019

by | Aug 7, 2019

NHL Rumor Mill – August 7, 2019

Updates on Mitch Marner, Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, and more in today’s NHL rumor mill.

LEAFS OFFER MARNER BETWEEN $9 – $11 MILLION PER SEASON

TSN: cites a recent report by The Athletic’s James Mirtle claiming the Toronto Maple Leafs offered Mitch Marcher between $9 million to roughly $11 million per season depending on the term. The club discussed three, six and seven-year deals with the Marner camp, who are reportedly uninterested in a maximum eight-year deal.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are said to have offered Mitch Marner between $9 and $11 million per season (Photo via NHL Images).

It’s believed Marner’s reps sought a deal comparable to teammate Auston Matthews’ five-year contract ($11.6 million annual average value). Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas recently said there was nothing new to report regarding negotiations with Marner but remained confident and optimistic.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The breakdowns for each contract was probably $11 million per season for seven years, somewhere around $10 million AAV for six years, and $9 million annually for three. My guess is the Marner camp will keep pushing for five years at close to $11 million AAV.

WILL MCAVOY AND CARLO RE-SIGN WITH BRUINS BEFORE TRAINING CAMP?

NHL.COM: Jone Lane wondered if the Boston Bruins can get restricted free agent defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo re-signed before training camp opens next month. He cited Bruins president Cam Neely recently telling NBC Sports the club has to plan and prepare for the possibility both might not report to camp on opening day.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Cap Friendly indicates the Bruins have over $7.2 million in salary-cap space. Unless they can get both blueliners to accept affordable short-term bridge deals, management could be forced to a salaried player to make room for their new contracts. Defenseman Kevan Miller and forwards David Backes and Charlie Coyle have surfaced in the rumor mill as possible trade candidates.

UPDATES ON THE CAPITALS AND STARS

NBC SPORTS WASHINGTON: In a recent mailbag segment, J.J. Regan was asked how the Capitals intend to become salary-cap compliant before the start of the season. They currently sit over $1.3 million about the $81.5-million cap. He doesn’t rule out trading defenseman Christian Djoos ($1.25 million) but doubts they’ll go that route because they’ll get next to nothing in return. Regan instead thinks they’ll demote Chandler Stephenson ($1.05 million), as his salary for next season “comes just under the maximum cap relief cutoff for players in the AHL.”

THE ATHLETIC: In a recent mailbag segment, Sean Shapiro believes the Dallas Stars are still waiting for the best offer for defenseman Julius Honka. He thinks a fourth-round pick is a realistic return. However, clubs that could have interest in Honka might prefer to wait and see if they can pick him up off the waiver wire in October.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – July 27, 2019

by | Jul 27, 2019

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – July 27, 2019

An update on Phil Kessel plus the latest contract signings and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines. 

THE SCORE: Phil Kessel is hoping to bring more than scoring to the Arizona Coyotes. He’s also hoping to take on a leadership role with the club.  “I haven’t really got to have that in my career. I think it’s going to be great. I’m going to do whatever I can to help these guys win and help them improve. (If) the young guys have questions or anything they want to talk about, I’m there to talk about it. Try to get our team better and them better.”

Phil Kessel hopes to take on a leadership role with the Arizona Coyotes (Photo via NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: During Kessel’s latter years with the Toronto Maple Leafs he was expected to become more of a leader. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out well. By his own admission, he’s a quiet person and not a “rah-rah guy.”

Kessel’s critics will scoff but he could be an effective leader with the rebuilding Coyotes. He’s now 31 and more mature than he was during his Leafs days. He’s also got more playoff seasoning and now in a market where the spotlight is considerably less harsh compared to his previous NHL stops.

NBC SPORTS: The New York Rangers avoided arbitration with Pavel Buchnevich, re-siging the winger to a two-year, $6.5 million contract. 

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The annual average value is $3.25 million. Cap Friendly indicates the Rangers are above the $81.5-million salary cap by over $4.1 million, with restricted free agents Brendan Lemieux and Anthony DeAngelo to re-sign. Something’s gotta give via trade or contract buyout. I’ll have more in today’s rumor update. 

NBC WASHINGTON: The Capitals avoided arbitration with forward Chandler Stephenson, inking him to a one-year, $1.05-million contract. 

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Capitals sit $1.3 million over the cap. They’ll also have to shed salary before the start of the season, though their options will be easier than those facing the Rangers. More on that in the rumors section. 

THE DETROIT NEWS: The Red Wings re-signed forward Dominic Turgeon to a one-year contract. 

TRIBLIVE.COM: The Pittsburgh Penguins traded a conditional sixth-round pick in 2021 to the Edmonton Oilers for prospect defenseman John Marino. 

The Vancouver Canucks extended their affiliation with the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings. 

SPORTSNET: The St. Louis Blues are donating equipment to the Hockey Hall of Fame celebrating their first Stanley Cup championship. 










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 25, 2018

by | Aug 25, 2018

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 25, 2018

Latest on Noah Hanifin, Tobias Enstrom, David Desharnais and more in your NHL morning coffee headlines.

SPORTSNET: Calgary Flames defenseman and restricted free agent Noah Hanifin said he’s “super close” to signing a long-term deal with his new club, perhaps as long as five years. The Flames acquired Hanifin during the 2018 NHL Draft weekend in a multi-player trade with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Defenseman Noah Hanifin is reportedly close to a new contract with the Calgary Flames (Photo via NHL Images)

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hanifin is coming off an entry-level contract. If he’s shooting for a five-year deal, my guess is he’ll get in the neighborhood of $5.25 million per season. 

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS: Former Jets defenseman Tobias Enstrom is returning home to Sweden, signing a contract with Modo. Enstrom, 33, spent 11 seasons in the NHL, starting with the Atlanta Thrashers and moving with the club to Winnipeg in 2011. 

NBC SPORTS WASHINGTON: Capitals forward Chandler Stephenson got an extra day with the Stanley Cup and used that opportunity to take the trophy to Humboldt, Saskatchewan. The town’s junior team, the Broncos, was involved in a bus crash in April that killed 16 people, including 10 players. 

“I just wanted to do what I could and help out as much as I could,” Stephenson told reporters Friday. “There’s a lot of talk about it just kind of going in the playoffs that if we were to win the Cup, that this is something that I wanted to do.”

SPECTOR’S NOTE: A touching gesture by Stephenson, which will hopefully help that still-grieving community heal.

CBS SPORTS: Former NHL forward David Desharnais has changed KHL teams, signing with Avangard Omsk. 

THE DETROIT NEWS: The Red Wings apparently will no longer use “Hockeytown” in its center ice logo. The Wing had copyrighted “Hockeytown” in the 1990s as the club went on a 25-year playoff streak that included four Stanley Cup championships. 

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The “Hockeytown” era was among the most impressive in NHL history but that time has now passed. The Wings are no longer the dominant franchise they once were. Maybe if they return to those lofty heights in the future, “Hockeytown” will return. 

NBC SPORTS: Arizona has become one of the fastest-growing hockey markets among states with NHL franchises in them. 

SPECTOR’S NOTE: That’s one reason why NHL commissioner Gary Bettman doesn’t want to give up on that market. If the Coyotes can finallly get their act together and ice a consistently competitive team, they could build interest in the sport even more.