Headlines

  • Islanders Sign Victor Eklund To Entry-Level Contract
  • Jets Re-Sign Morgan Barron To Two-Year Deal
  • Jeff Skinner Signs With Sharks
  • Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Henry Thrun
  • Avalanche Sign Josh Manson To Two-Year Extension
  • Stars Trade Matt Dumba To Penguins
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Utah Mammoth
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Five Key Stories: 3/2/20 – 3/8/20

March 8, 2020 at 8:58 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

While the time for trades has come and gone, there were still quite a few newsworthy stories from around the NHL which are highlighted in the key stories of the week.  (Among the top non-NHL stories was the cancellation of the Women’s World Hockey Championships.)

Metropolitan Injuries: Carolina has been hit hard by injuries on the back end this season.  Already without Dougie Hamilton, they will now be missing Brett Pesce for the rest of the year as he is out four to six months after undergoing shoulder surgery.  To make matters worse, Sami Vatanen, one of their deadline acquisitions, suffered a setback in his recovery and is out indefinitely.  The injuries weren’t just limited to the Hurricanes though as Blue Jackets winger Josh Anderson was also ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery that carries a recovery timeline of four to six months.  The speculative trade candidate will become a restricted free agent this summer.

Cap Projections: One of the annual traditions at the GM meetings is a rough projection of next year’s salary cap.  It always tends to be on the optimistic side and this time is no exception.  NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly indicated that the projected range is from $84MM to $88.2MM with the number requiring negotiation with the NHLPA when it comes to their inflator that they can exercise.  Even at the low end, that represents a $2.5MM increase but it probably isn’t realistic to expect much more than that as the higher the Upper Limit is, the more escrow that will be withheld.  In recent years, the NHLPA has used less than the maximum inflator (5%) to try to help curtail that and this will likely be the case again this offseason.

Julien To Stick Around: With the Canadiens set to miss the playoffs for the third straight season and fourth time in five years, some were wondering if Montreal would be making a coaching change.  GM Marc Bergevin quickly put an end to that speculation, announcing that head coach Claude Julien will return for the 2020-21 season.  Julien is in his fourth season with the team (his second stint with the Canadiens overall) and the results have been relatively mediocre overall with Montreal posting a .525 points percentage in that span.  However, he has done enough to earn the continued confidence of Bergevin who will be looking to tweak his roster this summer to help try to get them back into the playoff discussion.

Offside Changes Ahead? The offside rule has come under fire since the institution of the ability to challenge for it on goals.  The current rule is that a players’ skate must be on the line to be deemed onside.  That may soon be changing.  At the GM meetings, they voted to amend the rule to make it that the skate can simply be over the plane of the line to be onside.  That would simplify the review process and would eliminate quite a few of the offside challenges overall.  There are still two more hurdles to clear before it becomes official though as it still has to get through the Competition Committee and be ratified by the Board of Governors in the offseason.

Richard Passes Away: Hall of Fame winger Henri Richard passed away at the age of 84 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s.  He spent his entire 20-year career with Montreal, playing in a franchise record 1,258 games.  His 1,046 points are the third most in team history behind only Guy Lafleur and the late Jean Beliveau.  On top of that, he won an NHL record 11 Stanley Cup titles as a player, a record that is almost assuredly going to stand the test of time.  In 2017, the ‘Pocket Rocket’ was named to the NHL’s All-Time Top 100 players and was one of the most revered players in the history of the Canadiens.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

Uncategorized Week In Review

Rangers Sign Jeff Gorton And Chris Drury To Contract Extensions
Main
Minor Transactions: 03/09/20
View Comments (0)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Islanders Sign Victor Eklund To Entry-Level Contract

    Jets Re-Sign Morgan Barron To Two-Year Deal

    Jeff Skinner Signs With Sharks

    Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Henry Thrun

    Avalanche Sign Josh Manson To Two-Year Extension

    Stars Trade Matt Dumba To Penguins

    Panthers Sign Mackie Samoskevich To One-Year Deal

    Golden Knights Beginning To Work Out Jack Eichel Extension

    Lightning Acquire Sam O’Reilly From Oilers For Isaac Howard

    NHL, NHLPA Ratify Four-Year CBA Extension

    Recent

    Flyers Promote John Snowden To AHL Head Coach, Hire Two Assistants

    Islanders Sign Victor Eklund To Entry-Level Contract

    San Jose Sharks Re-Sign Jack Thompson

    Edmonton Oilers Make Multiple Coaching Changes

    Jets Re-Sign Morgan Barron To Two-Year Deal

    Montreal Canadiens Wish To Retain Mike Matheson

    Five Key Stories: 7/7/25 – 7/13/25

    Daniel Sprong Receiving KHL Interest

    Lightning Sign Scott Sabourin

    Alex Ovechkin Could Play Beyond 2025-26

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Mammoth Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2025’s Top 50 Unrestricted Free Agents
    • Sam Bennett Rumors
    • Nikolaj Ehlers Rumors
    • Mitch Marner Rumors
    • Marco Rossi Rumors

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    • Support Pro Hockey Rumors And Go Ad-Free
    • 2025 Free Agent Focus Series
    • 2025 Offseason Checklist Series
    • 2025 NHL Free Agent List
    • 2026 NHL Free Agent List
    • Active Roster Tracker
    • Coaching Staff Directory
    • Draft Pick Tracker 2025
    • Key Offseason Dates
    • Offseason Trade Tracker
    • Pro Hockey Rumors On X
    • Pro Hockey Rumors Polls
    • Waiver Claims 2024-25

     

     

     

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version