The first week of 2019 was a relatively quiet one around the league but there were still a few newsworthy moments which are highlighted in the top stories of the week.
Stone, Senators To Start Contract Talks Later This Month: The Senators have a pair of prominent unrestricted free agents that they need to find out if they can re-sign. Talks started with Matt Duchene earlier in the season and now that January 1st has passed, they can do the same with Mark Stone. The two sides are slated to begin talks within the next two weeks which doesn’t leave a lot of time to get something done between now and the trade deadline. If a deal can’t be reached, the winger will undoubtedly be a highly sought after player from contending teams that have the cap flexibility to bring Stone and his $7.35MM cap hit onto their payroll.
Extension For Hynes: Although the Devils have taken a step back from their surprising postseason appearance last year, the team is prepared to stay on their current course, signing head coach John Hynes to a multi-year contract extension. While the team didn’t disclose the terms, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that it’s a two-year deal. He’s in his fourth year behind the bench in New Jersey and his current deal was set to expire at the end of the season. Hynes has a career points percentage of .507 but the Devils have been slowly building up their roster and have considerable flexibility moving forward so the thought is that brighter days will soon be ahead.
Nilsson To Ottawa: With Craig Anderson out with a concussion, the Senators turned to the trade market for some help, acquiring Anders Nilsson along with Darren Archibald from Vancouver in exchange for Mike McKenna, Tom Pyatt, and a 2019 sixth-round pick. Nilsson is expected to be the starter until Anderson returns while the Canucks did the deal to give top prospect Thatcher Demko a spot with the big club and took on Pyatt’s $1.1MM deal to offset some money. Demko’s promotion meant that McKenna was supposed to be ticketed for the AHL to give Vancouver some extra depth but that didn’t work out as planned as the Flyers claimed the 35-year-old journeyman off of waivers.
Ovechkin To Skip ASG: Citing a need for additional rest to prepare for the second half of the season, Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin has decided to take a pass on playing in the All-Star Game despite being voted in as one of the captains. As a result, he will have to miss the final game before the break or face a mandatory one-game suspension in the first contest after the break. Meanwhile, the majority of the rosters were named later in the week as well as the coaches for the event which takes place on January 26th.
Oilers Shopping Spooner: It has not been a good season for Oilers forward Ryan Spooner. After a poor start with the Rangers, he was moved to Edmonton in a swap of players in need of a change of scenery. However, things haven’t gone any better for him there as he has just three points in 20 games while averaging a career-low 10:00 per night since the trade. Accordingly, he is once again on the trade block although they may have some difficulties moving him because of his contract. While New York is paying 22.5% of his contract, Spooner still has a $3.1MM cap hit through next season and while he’s only a year removed from a 41-point season, his lack of production this year will greatly limit the number of teams interested in him.
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