2018 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world. There have been several big trades and free agent signings, plenty of changes behind the bench, and much more. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. We begin with a look back at January.
Dundon Takes Over In Carolina: The Hurricanes have a new majority owner after Thomas Dundon officially took over from Peter Karmanos, who still holds a minority share of the team for now. He has quickly become one of the more hands-on owners in the league and has inserted himself into hockey operations. While that’s not common for an owner, he has stated a commitment to keeping the team in Carolina which gives them some more stability moving forward as the talk of potential relocation has come to an end.
Johannson Passes Away: There was some sad news in this month as long-time USA Hockey executive Jim Johannson passed away at the age of 53. During his tenure which began back in 2000, he helped Team USA capture 64 medals in major international competitions, including 34 gold, 19 silver, and 11 bronze and had just helped assemble their entry into the 2018 Olympics as well prior to his passing. Johannson also revamped their development model which has helped their program become a success at all levels.
Cogliano Gets A New Deal, Loses His Streak: January was both good and bad for Ducks center Andrew Cogliano. First, he secured a new three-year, $9.75MM contract extension, earning a small raise on the $3MM AAV he had on his previous deal. Unfortunately for him, the celebration was short-lived as just two days later, he was suspended for two games which ended his ironman streak at 830, the fourth-longest streak in NHL history. Had the suspension not happened, he would have made a push for the all-time record of 964 (Doug Jarvis) early next season. Not surprisingly, he has played in every game since then but is off to a quieter than usual start offensively in 2018-19 as he has scored just twice in Anaheim’s first 38 games.
Duclair Traded: The Coyotes and Blackhawks made a trade involving a notable youngster (and that won’t be the only time that note will come up in this series) as winger Anthony Duclair was dealt to Chicago in a four-player swap that also saw defenseman Adam Clendening go to the ‘Hawks in exchange for winger Richard Panik and center Laurent Dauphin. While the move gave Chicago some extra cap flexibility, Duclair didn’t pan out and was ultimately non-tendered in June. Clendening also suffered the same fate and both players wound up in Columbus. Meanwhile, Panik had a decent run to end the season with Arizona last year and remains with them where he has posted 13 points in 33 games so far. Dauphin cleared waivers back in October and is with the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate in Tucson.
Five Years For Mayfield: Despite having just 65 NHL games under his belt at the time, the Islanders inked defenseman Scott Mayfield to a five-year, $7.25MM contract extension. The move raised plenty of eyebrows at the time given that long of a commitment to an unproven player while Mayfield clearly valued job certainty over the potential of getting a better opportunity elsewhere; he was on pace to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the time. The early returns have been impressive for the Islanders as Mayfield has become an important part of their back end, logging nearly 19 minutes a game while sitting second on the team in scoring by a defender.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Love these series