China has revealed the roster that will take part in the upcoming Olympics, a group that includes 12 players born in North America. Some of those have NHL experience in the past, including Spencer Foo, Ryan Sproul, and starting goaltender Jeremy Smith. These players are allowed to participate even without Chinese heritage given how long they have been playing for Kunlun Red Star in the KHL, which served as a proxy for the national team, according to the Associated Press.
Brandon Yip, a 36-year-old forward that played nearly 200 games in the NHL, will serve as captain of the club, which gained entry to the tournament as host nation. Yip scored 32 goals and 62 points in his 190-game NHL career, which ended after the 2013-14 season. After a stint in the AHL and another in Germany, he joined Kunlun in 2017. China will be in tough at the event, as they find themselves in a group with the U.S., Canada, and Germany. They open the tournament on February 10.
- When Jeff Carter’s two-year extension was announced yesterday, some immediately wondered what it meant for Evgeni Malkin’s future with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Josh Yohe of The Athletic writes that representatives for the star forward and Penguins GM Ron Hextall have discussed a new contract, and Malkin is “eager” to remain in Pittsburgh. For teammate Kris Letang things aren’t so rosy, as the defenseman believes he will get a raise on the current $7.25MM cap hit he currently carries, according to Yohe.
- Henderson Silver Knights coach Manny Viveiros has been medically cleared to return to his duties, effective immediately. Viveiros was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and has been away from the team for much of the season. In a statement, the veteran coach notes that his “prognosis is very good” and thanks his family, coaches, players, medical team, and Golden Knights organization for all the support he received over the past few months.
It’s good to see they’ll have some talent that will be somewhat on par with the other teams. Getting blown out, even by the other countries non-NHLers, does nothing to grow the game. Hopefully these games can be somewhat close.
once again, I will maintain not accepting an invite as the host nation is likely a bigger embarrassment than getting blown out. most countries will still try, as they should. it’s just sports.
Between the Habs losing Weber, Letang being from Montreal and Letang’s agent being the new GM there…
The Pens are going to have make 58 a real offer and soon to keep him off the market.
3 years at $8.6 million AAV.
See if Geno will do 3 years at $7 million AAV since he’s like a pretty rich guy.
I understand where they are coming from but man, oh man could they have had a haul this year at the deadline.
When they do start their rebuild it is going to be a long, long road.
We have as good a chance as anyone to win a Cup this year, but we should sell instead because….it’s just time or something…?
You don’t have as good a chance as anybody. You guys haven’t won a playoff series in three years. You are bringing back the same crew that has gotten a year older… and also keep in mind that there hasn’t been a true 82 game season leading into an immediate playoff in three years. With a team full of older core players I can’t imagine that’s going to make the playoffs go better. I respect what you guys have done, you have a great coach, and a group of old pros that can still hang. But when playoffs start I just don’t see it. Can you win a round? Maybe two? Sure. But I can’t see it going any further. This year, with all of these expiring, older UFA, was your last off ramp to seriously accelerate a rebuild. There’s really no other shot at acquiring assets moving forward, this year was your final chance. Again this is coming from a Ranger fan with the ultimate respect to what you guys have done but sometimes hard decisions have to be made. When the Rangers decided to strip it down, they were coming off of a a 102 point season and on this date had a record of 24-17-5 which is a 95 point pace. They were basically still a viable playoff team but understood they weren’t a Cup team. They also realized it was their chance to cash in on many valuable assets that would not be available to them in the near future. It certainly sucked when they did it and I was pissed at the time but again, I can see both sides of it. I mean, you guys could be going into a loaded draft with 3 firsts, 2-3 seconds, several thirds, and at least 1-2 top prospects added into your system. You could retool in a big, big hurry.
Name a team that you think has a better chance to win and I’ll explain to you why they do not.
The Avs goalies can’t stay healthy. Bob implodes in the playoffs. The Bolts have to be the first team to win 3 in a row in basically 40 years. Leafs are still built for regular season, not the playoffs.
It’s WIDE open and we have the pieces and the experience to have as good a chance as anyone.
Also, even after our window closes, we owe it to the fans to have these 3 play their whole careers in Pens jerseys and we owe it to them to give them best chance to win each year during that time.
Also also, I don’t want a retool. We do the full scorched Earth tear down here. As far as I can tell from sports history, the 83 Pens invented the tank job. It’s a good formula.