Five Key Stories: 11/1/21 – 11/7/21

The beginning of November yielded quite a bit of activity around the NHL with the biggest ones being highlighted in the key stories of the week.

More Changes In Chicago: Blackhawks interim GM Kyle Davidson made a significant change in one of his first moves since being promoted as he fired head coach Jeremy Colliton along with assistants Tomas Mitell and Sheldon Brookbank.  Taking over behind the bench is Derek King who will also carry the interim title but will remain in that role for the rest of the season.  Chicago is off to a terrible start this season with a 1-9-2 record heading into Sunday’s contest so the move doesn’t come as much surprise.  The team posted an 87-92-26 record under Colliton’s tutelage in his first stint behind an NHL bench.  King now finds himself in the same situation as he looks to try to turn things around quickly.

Prospect Loans: A pair of notable prospects are heading overseas.  Although William Eklund certainly looked like he belonged in the NHL with his early-season performance, the Sharks decided to send him back to Sweden for the remainder of the year.  This is a move that’s primarily based on contractual control over his performance; Eklund now won’t burn the first year of his entry-level deal and will still have three years left on his deal and seven seasons of club control heading into 2022-23.  Meanwhile, the Rangers assigned Vitali Kravtsov to Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL, allowing the prospect to resume playing.  Kravtsov elected not to report to AHL Hartford after being sent down last month with a trade request following soon after.  That clearly hasn’t happened and now, the 21-year-old will at least get to play and try to help boost his value around the league.

Eichel Traded: It’s over.  After months of speculation, the Sabres traded center Jack Eichel along with a 2023 third-round pick to the Golden Knights for winger Alex Tuch, prospect center Peyton Krebs, a 2022 first-round pick, and a 2023 second-rounder.  Eichel is now set to undergo artificial disk replacement surgery this week and will miss three-to-five months while recovering.  The move gives Vegas the number one center they have been coveting, assuming that Eichel returns to full health.  There will be cap complications to navigate through once Vegas is fully healthy and there is a cap crunch coming for next season and beyond.  Meanwhile, Buffalo had to make a cap-related move of a different kind, acquiring the rights to Johnny Boychuk from the Islanders for future considerations.  Boychuk’s playing days are over but his $6MM AAV will be on Buffalo’s books, keeping them over the cap floor.  The trade appears to be relatively well-received on both sides with our readers assigning a ‘B’ grade for both teams.

Key Injuries: It was a tough week on the injury front for several teams who saw some key players land on injured reserve.  Capitals winger Anthony Mantha is out indefinitely after undergoing shoulder surgery, a big blow for a team that’s already banged up when it comes to some of their top forwards.  Meanwhile, Blue Jackets winger Patrik Laine’s strong start has been put on hold as an oblique injury will keep him out for the next four-to-six weeks.  Vegas, who has been hit harder than pretty much everyone on the injury front this season, suffered another blow as a broken foot for William Karlsson will put him on the shelf for the next six weeks.

Big Money For Fox: Rangers defenseman Adam Fox wasn’t slated to become a restricted free agent until July but he won’t be getting to that point as the 23-year-old instead signed a seven-year, $66.5MM contract extension.  The reigning Norris Trophy winner set a new record for the richest contract given to a blueliner coming off their entry-level deal while his $9.5MM AAV puts him tied for the fourth-highest price among all NHL defenders starting in 2022-23.  The price tag is certainly justifiable as Fox has quickly become one of the elite rearguards in the league and is off to another impressive start this season with a dozen points in as many games.  Notably, New York gains an extra four years of club control on Fox, ensuring that he won’t be able to hit the open market until 2029 at the earliest.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.