With a long layoff coming until their next matchup, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney revealed the team’s Black Aces during a press conference earlier today, according to Boston Globe’s Matt Porter. The 12 players are expected to help the NHL team practice and likely to get some practice games in before the Stanley Cup begins on May 27.
The Black Aces will include forwards Anton Blidh, Paul Carey, Peter Cehlarik, Trent Frederic, Zachary Senyshyn, Jack Studnicka and Jordan Szwarz; defensemen Jeremy Lauzon, Urho Vaakanainen and Jakub Zboril; and goaltenders Kyle Keyser and Zane McIntyre.
- Golden Knights center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare will be seeking a multi-year contract on the open market, reports David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The 34-year-old was an important part of the bottom six group in Vegas over the past two seasons; his faceoff prowess and ability to kill penalties should help him garner some interest for teams looking to upgrade their fourth line. However, with several pricey extensions kicking in for next season, it’s unlikely that Vegas will be able to afford to retain him unless he’s willing to take a pay cut on the $1.45MM he received in each of the last two seasons.
- Hurricanes prospect Eetu Luostarinen will miss the remainder of the World Championships due to a knee injury, the IIHF announced. The 20-year-old was held off the scoresheet in four appearances. Luostarinen has one more left on his current contract with KalPa Kuopio of the Finnish SM-liiga and will likely make the jump to North America following the 2019-20 season.
A multi-year deal for a 34-year-old bottom-six guy??? He really is one of the better bottom-sixers when it comes to the PK & on the dots, but it’s both hard to justify a multi-year deal at his age and he might be hard-pressed to get that underwhelming $1.45MM matched elsewhere. At least his track record says he should get it, but it doesn’t look like it would come from Vegas, given their cap constraints.
^ this is a good response without all the buzzwords and satire MacJ