Week In Review

The regular season has come to an end which has resulted in some notable news from both on and off the ice which is highlighted in our key stories of the week.

Changes For The NHLPA: Late Friday, the NHLPA quietly put out a news release that indicated they have started the process to find a new Executive Director.  Don Fehr has been in that role for more than a decade and has headed up the last two CBA negotiations which yielded sizable increases to the minimum salary and the recreation of the World Cup of Hockey, among other things.  He will stay on for the time being until the search committee – which consists of Ian Cole, Justin Faulk, Sam Gagner, Zach Hyman, Kyle Okposo, Nate Schmidt, and Kevin Shattenkirk – determines who his successor will be.

Blashill Out In Detroit: The Red Wings were the first team to make a coaching change as they announced that Jeff Blashill’s contract would not be renewed for next season, ending his tenure behind the bench.  Blashill had been with Detroit’s organization for over a decade going back to his time with AHL Grand Rapids and had spent the last seven seasons leading the Red Wings.  They missed the playoffs in each of the last six seasons and while some young players had strong years including Calder contenders Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, GM Steve Yzerman determined a change was needed.  Blashill’s tenure ends with a 204-271-72 record.

Price’s Future Uncertain: Canadiens goaltender Carey Price missed the majority of this season due to a knee injury and while he was able to suit up for five games down the stretch, the injury remains.  Speaking at his end-of-season media conference, the veteran indicated that his playing future is uncertain, stating that if things didn’t improve, he didn’t think he’d be able to continue playing; he even indicated that he prepared for Friday’s game as if it could be his last in the NHL.  Price has been the franchise goalie for Montreal for most of his 15-year career and still has four years remaining on his contract with a $10.5MM AAV.  If he’s unable to return, the Canadiens could put him on LTIR and then would need to either find a new starter by trade or in free agency.

Saros Injured: In order to get to the playoffs, the Predators had to lean hard on Juuse Saros as he led the NHL in games played this season.  Now that they’re there, they may not have his services after he suffered a lower-body injury in the final week of the regular season.  While the exact length of his injury wasn’t disclosed (as is basically an automatic at this time of year), missing Saros for any games would make an already difficult task considerably harder as Nashville gets set to take on Colorado in the opening round.  Connor Ingram and David Rittich are the tandem if Saros isn’t able to return.

From MLB To The NHL: When Chicago was conducting its GM search, one of the finalists was Jeff Greenberg, someone who had plenty of front office experience but not in the NHL.  Ultimately, the spot went to then-interim GM Kyle Davidson but the Blackhawks were able to land Greenberg as well, hiring him as an associate GM.  Greenberg had been with the Chicago Cubs since 2012 but will now change sports and look to help the Blackhawks work through what appears to be a fairly sizable rebuilding process.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

The calendar has turned to April but with three weeks left in the regular season, some of the expected mid-April offseason decisions will likely trickle over into May.  However, there was still some notable news over the past seven days which are recapped in our top stories of the week.

Michigan Exodus: Once Michigan was eliminated from the NCAA tournament, it was expected that the Wolverines would be losing several players in a hurry.  That’s exactly what happened.  Buffalo signed the top pick from 2021, inking Owen Power to an entry-level contract.  The AAV is $1.85MM which is low for a number one pick but he was ineligible for ‘A’ bonuses this season having signed so late and since there are limits on how quickly the bonuses can increase on a year-to-year basis, the 19-year-old wasn’t able to max out his bonus potential.

Meanwhile, Columbus got into the mix as well.  As expected, they signed Kent Johnson to his entry-level deal with the 2021 fifth-overall pick landing nearly the identical contract as Power did.  They also landed undrafted defenseman Nick Blankenburg on a one-year, entry-level deal.  Both his deal and Johnson’s begin this season so Blankenburg will hit restricted free agency this summer.  Seattle then signed Matty Beniers on Sunday as expected with the same terms as Power and Johnson.  The second pick from 2021, he led the Wolverines in scoring with 43 points in 37 games while also playing at the Olympics.

Done For The Year: The Devils are playing out the stretch as they sit at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division and now they’ll be without a trio of important players.  Top center Jack Hughes is out for the season with a sprained MCL, a tough end to what has been a very strong year as he had 56 points in just 49 games, providing the production that was expected with his top draft slot in 2019.  Meanwhile, New Jersey also opted to shut down winger Miles Wood after just three games for precautionary reasons after he missed most of the year following early-season hip surgery while defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler is also out due to a broken hand.

Calling It A Career: Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf acknowledged last month that he had yet to decide his plans for next year.  That decision has now been made as the veteran has decided that this season will be his last.  The 36-year-old was the 19th pick back in 2003 and has spent his entire 17-year career in Anaheim.  In his prime, Getzlaf was a feared number one center who could play in all situations and he recently surpassed 1,000 career points, becoming just the 93rd player in NHL history to reach that particular milestone.  This season, Getzlaf has been limited to just 49 games but still sits third on the Ducks in assists, showing that even as he’s about to hang up his skates, he’s still a pretty strong playmaker.

Wilson Resigns: After missing the majority of the season while being on medical leave, long-time Sharks general manager Doug Wilson has tendered his resignation to focus on his health and recovery.  Wilson had been at the helm in San Jose since 2003 with the team making 14 playoff appearances during that time.  In the meantime, interim GM Joe Will will continue in that role until a permanent GM is hired.  The organization has committed to waiting for all prospective candidates to be available to be interviewed which suggests that Wilson’s replacement won’t be hired in the near future.

NCAA Champions: The University of Denver is the 2022 NCAA National Champions after beating Minnesota St. on Saturday night in the final game of the Frozen Four tournament.  It’s their ninth-ever title, tying them with Michigan for the most ever.  Flyers prospect Bobby Brink led the Pioneers in scoring this season with 57 points in 41 games which also made him the NCAA’s scoring leader.  He was rewarded for his efforts with a three-year, entry-level deal that begins this season, meaning that the 34th pick in 2019 should be making his NHL debut in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

We’ve hit the home stretch of the season and while most of the activity over the past week has been college players signing contracts, there was some notable news around the NHL which is highlighted in our top stories.

Done For The Year: The Flames will be without center Sean Monahan for the rest of the season as the center will soon undergo hip surgery.  It’s not the hip he had repaired last summer either which certainly is far from ideal for the veteran.  Monahan’s season ends with just 23 points in 65 games and he already has been placed on LTIR.  Meanwhile, Coyotes winger Clayton Keller suffered a broken leg which carries a recovery time of four to six months.  While it has been a tough year offensively for many Arizona players, that wasn’t the case for Keller as he had already set a new career high in goals (28) while his 63 points were two shy of his career best.  Now, the team will simply be hoping that Keller’s recovery won’t take the full six months as if that happens, his availability for the start of next season would be in question.

Ironman Streak Ends: One day, Keith Yandle’s record-setting ironman streak was going to come to an end.  It turns out that day was Saturday as the Flyers decided to make the veteran a healthy scratch, ending his streak at 989 consecutive regular season games played.  The move was somewhat controversial since Philadelphia is well out of the playoff picture but they’ve decided to ensure their prospects have the playing time.  Yandle has struggled considerably this season with just one goal along with 14 assists in 67 games, a far cry from the type of production he was putting up in his prime.

Two More For Goligoski: When Alex Goligoski signed a one-year, $5MM contract with the Wild last summer, it looked like he might be a one-and-done player with the team heading towards a cap crunch next season.  However, the defenseman has done well in his first season with his hometown team, picking up 28 points in 59 games while averaging nearly 19 minutes a night.  That was enough for Minnesota to decide to keep him around a little longer as they signed him to a two-year, $4MM extension which also contains a no-move clause.  Goligoski has been scratched a bit as of late after the acquisition of Jacob Middleton from San Jose but it’s still a pretty low price tag for a serviceable veteran who is set to reach the 1,000 games played mark next season.

GM Meetings Roundup: For the first time in two years, all 32 NHL general managers were able to meet in person with several items on the agenda.  The key headline was that the salary cap will still increase as expected to $82.5MM next season, an increase of $1MM, one that had been in some question due to lowered revenue projections when the Canadian teams were facing attendance restrictions.  While LTIR was discussed, no changes are forthcoming on that front (plus, it’s a CBA issue so changes would require the approval of the NHLPA).  Additionally, there are now plans to establish a database of no-move and no-trade clauses that would be jointly filed with NHL Central Registry and the NHLPA.  This, of course, comes on the heels of the since-voided Evgenii Dadonov trade where Vegas wasn’t aware that Anaheim was on Dadonov’s no-trade list.

Melnyk Passes Away: We end on a sad note as Senators owner Eugene Melnyk passed away at the age of 62.  He bought the team back in 2003 back when it was in bankruptcy and relocation looked like a legitimate possibility.  Since then, the team has had its fair share of ups and downs but did make it to the Stanley Cup Final back in 2007 and Ottawa has amassed several quality pieces as they look to emerge from their current rebuild in the near future.  Everyone here at PHR joins those in the hockey world in extending our condolences to his family and friends.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

The trade market continues to be quiet with the deadline just over a week away but there was still some notable news on the transaction front which is highlighted in our key stories of the week.

Ristolainen’s Sticking Around: One of the more prominent potential unrestricted free agent defensemen is off the market as Rasmus Ristolainen signed a five-year, $25.5MM contract extension with the Flyers.  The 27-year-old continues to be one of the more polarizing rearguards around the league.  Philadelphia paid a significant price to get him at the draft including a first-round pick but his underlying metrics have never been good.  Nevertheless, GM Chuck Fletcher clearly values Ristolainen to make this type of commitment to him, one that actually represents a small dip in pay compared to his current $5.4MM AAV.

Subban Won’t Be Sticking Around: The Devils have informed veteran defenseman P.K. Subban that they will not be retaining him beyond this season.  The 32-year-old is in the final season of an eight-year, $72MM contract that at the time, made him the highest-paid defender in the NHL.  However, his numbers have tapered off in recent seasons and he has just 18 points in 56 games this season.  As a result of the decision to move on from him, New Jersey will likely try to find a taker for Subban’s services but since they can only retain $4.5MM of his AAV, that may be tricky to do and may require a third team to get involved to hold back another chunk.  Either way, Subban will be hitting the open market in July.

Good And Bad News For Dallas: Joe Pavelski has certainly impressed since joining Dallas three years ago and is on pace for a career year at the age of 37 as he has 23 goals and 37 assists in 57 games.  He decided he likes playing for the Stars and opted to turn down a shot at testing the open market, instead signing a one-year extension.  The deal is worth a guaranteed $5.5MM with an extra $500K in games played bonuses – $100K for every ten games played up to 50.  It’s a small decrease compared to the $7MM he’s making now while the bonus structure gives Dallas a bit of extra cap flexibility for next season since those can be rolled over to 2023-24 if needed.  Unfortunately for the Stars, the news wasn’t all good as blueliner Miro Heiskanen is out indefinitely due to a bout with mononucleosis.

Another Injury For Fabbri: Red Wings winger Robby Fabbri has had some tough luck when it comes to knee injuries over the years and it looks like he will be dealing with another one as he is believed to have suffered a torn ACL.  If that’s the case, his season will be over and he’ll be questionable for the start of training camp.  Fabbri has done well to establish himself in Detroit and has been one of their more consistent secondary scorers.  He has 30 points in 56 games this season and his performance was good enough for the team to give him a three-year, $12MM extension back in December.

McCann Gets Paid: Over the past few years, Kraken center Jared McCann had shown flashes of offensive upside but wasn’t able to put it together with any sort of consistency.  The opportunity to play big minutes with regularity in Seattle has helped him to realize some of that potential and for that, he was rewarded with a five-year, $25MM extension.  The deal contains a 10-team no-trade clause in the last four seasons of the deal, the only ones eligible for trade protection as the first year of the contract is an RFA-eligible one.  The 25-year-old leads Seattle in goals with 23 and is tied for the lead in points with 35 in 53 games this season.

The weeks leading up to the trade deadline can often be quiet and with so many teams this season being tight to the salary cap, this past week was no exception.  Nevertheless, there was some notable news around the hockey world over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Cancer For Top Draft Prospect: Winger Ivan Miroshnichenko has been viewed as one of the top prospects heading into the upcoming draft.  Unfortunately, he has a big fight to overcome before he can think about hockey again as it was revealed that the 18-year-old has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and could miss the entire 2022-23 campaign as a result.  The good news is that it’s believed to be the most common form and is curable but even with that, it’s likely to affect his draft stock in July.

Extensions: There should be an uptick in contract extensions over the next couple of weeks and that started over the weekend.  First, Arizona handed center Travis Boyd a two-year, $3.5MM extension with the 28-year-old in the midst of a career year.  Boyd’s previous high in salary in a single season was $800K and now he’ll average more than double that much over the next two seasons.  Meanwhile, Ben Hutton went from having to start the season on a minor league tryout to securing a new two-year, $1.7MM deal from the Golden Knights.  The 28-year-old has logged nearly 15 minutes a night on the back end for Vegas this season and as a result, earned a small raise on his league minimum salary this season.

Interim Tag Lifted: Chicago’s search for their next general manager is over and it turns out they had the right fit all along as the team removed the interim tag from Kyle Davidson, elevating him to the full-time role.  The 33-year-old has been with the organization since 2010 when he started as an intern and has now worked his way up to the top role and had been in the interim role following the departure of Stan Bowman.  Bowman has committed to a rebuilding process for the Blackhawks and has already started to rebuild the front office, parting ways with long-time executives Mark Kelley (VP of Amateur Scouting) and Ryan Stewart (assistant GM).

Del Zotto Drawing Interest: Generally speaking, players that clear waivers with multi-year contracts that wind up in the minors don’t typically garner much interest at the trade deadline.  That doesn’t appear to be the case for Senators blueliner Michael Del Zotto following a report that teams are calling about the 31-year-old.  Del Zotto is signed through next season with a $2MM AAV, a contract that Ottawa will either need to pay down or take a similarly-priced player back.  The veteran has been quite productive with AHL Belleville, averaging over a point per game since joining them and would provide some teams with a bit of extra firepower from the back end.

Stalock To Sharks: With James Reimer out week-to-week and Adin Hill already on IR, the Sharks decided to swing a move to bring back a familiar netminder, acquiring Alex Stalock from Edmonton in exchange for future considerations.  San Jose actually drafted the 34-year-old back in 2005 but that’s not what makes this notable.  Stalock was originally expected to be out for the season due to myocarditis but worked his way back to full health and got into five games with AHL Bakersfield before the swap and now he’s back in the NHL.  Even if he doesn’t play much, that’s still a nice accomplishment considering his situation just a few months ago.

With the NHL off for several days due to the All-Star break, it was a fairly quiet week around the league although there was still some news of note which is recapped in our top stories.

Updated COVID Protocols: The NHL and NHLPA jointly announced several changes to their COVID protocol.  Notable among the changes is the removal of the enhanced safety measures put in earlier in the season as well as removing the daily testing requirement for fully vaccinated players as well as lifting the testing requirement for close contacts.  That should result in a significant reduction in the number of players of COVID protocol but it won’t eliminate them entirely as earlier today, New Jersey’s Jack Hughes and Carolina’s Jesperi Kotkaniemi both entered COVID protocol.

Columbus Injuries: The Blue Jackets have had a tough year on the injury front this season and that trend continued with two more injuries.  First, defenseman Jake Bean will be out for four weeks due to a groin strain.  The 23-year-old has impressed after coming over from Carolina in a draft day trade, logging more than 21 minutes a night on the back end, good for third among Columbus blueliners.  Two days later, winger Eric Robinson was ruled out for six weeks due to an MCL sprain sustained on a hit from Florida’s Radko Gudas.  Robinson has 17 points in 42 games this season and is one point away from matching his career high.

Three For Greenway: The Wild took care of one of their pending restricted free agents early, inking winger Jordan Greenway to a three-year, $9MM contract extension.  The 24-year-old is in the final year of his bridge deal and would have been owed a $2.52MM qualifying offer this summer.  This contract gives him a bit more than that while Minnesota locks in a power forward at an affordable price.  While they likely would have preferred to work out a long-term pact, their cap situation for next season with higher buyout costs for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter would have made that difficult.  Greenway also received an eight-team no-trade clause in the final season of the deal, the only year he was eligible for trade protection as it’s the only UFA-eligible year covered in the contract.

Verbeek To Anaheim: After running with Jeff Solomon as their interim GM for close to three months, the Ducks made their decision on who their next GM will be, hiring Pat Verbeek away from Detroit.  Verbeek has spent the last 15 seasons in an NHL front office, working his way up from being a scout to an assistant GM and this will be his first opportunity to run a franchise.  With three prominent pending unrestricted free agents in defensemen Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm plus winger Rickard Rakell, Verbeek will have his work cut out for him quickly.  Meanwhile, the Red Wings wasted little time finding Verbeek’s replacement, promoting Shawn Horcoff to assistant GM and GM of AHL Grand Rapids.  The long-time NHL center has been in Detroit’s front office since retiring back in 2016.

Key Events Revealed: As is often the case at the All-Star Game, the league revealed some of their key events for next season.  The 2023 Winter Classic will be hosted by Boston at Fenway Park with an opponent yet to be determined.  Carolina will host a Stadium Series game at Carter-Finley Stadium, home of the NC State Wolfpack for their first-ever outdoor contest.  Also, Florida will host the All-Star game on February 3rd and 4th.  The NHL also intends to resume their Global Series although that was also the plan for this season before that was scrapped due to COVID.

With the trade market basically being non-existent at the midway point of the season, most of the biggest news in the NHL over the past seven days came away from the rink, including the rescheduling of over 100 games.

Flyers Injuries: On top of seeing their losing streak extend to 11 games marking the second stretch of at least 10 straight losses this season, Philadelphia also got hit hard by injuries to a pair of key forwards.  First, center Kevin Hayes will miss three to four weeks after undergoing a procedure to drain fluid from his adductor region.  The veteran has been limited to just 20 games this season with multiple IR stints plus a stint in COVID protocol.  Meanwhile, winger Joel Farabee will be out for up to four weeks with an upper-body injury.  The 21-year-old has seen his production drop like many Philadelphia players this season but he still has 11 goals in 33 games.

Two For Orlov: Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov received a two-game suspension for his knee-on-knee hit on Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers.  It’s the second time that the 30-year-old has been suspended after being hit with one for a boarding incident back in 2014.  He missed games against Boston and Ottawa and will be able to return on Monday against Vegas.  Ehlers, on the other hand, won’t be returning for a while as he was placed on LTIR on Saturday, freeing up the cap space for them to activate Blake Wheeler.  As a result, Ehlers will miss at least 10 games and 24 days.

Setback For Price: Canadiens goaltender Carey Price hasn’t played at all this season with his recovery from offseason knee surgery going slower than expected.  It turns out that the veteran recently had a setback and will be essentially starting from scratch in his recovery as he tries to work his way back to the ice at some point this season.  Montreal has struggled considerably this season with Jake Allen and Samuel Montembeault between the pipes and with Price having four years left on his contract, they will be balancing a fine line between having him return in a situation where they have no playoff hopes while also wanting to ensure that their star goalie won’t have any question marks heading into 2022-23.

New GM: Still with Montreal, they now have their replacement for former GM Marc Bergevin as Kent Hughes was named their new general manager.  The 52-year-old has never worked in an NHL front office but has plenty of experience around the NHL having served as a player agent and had more than $290MM of contracts on his roster before deciding to go with this career change.  Like Executive VP of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton, Hughes received a five-year contract and the duo will look to rebuild a Canadiens team that has gone from a Stanley Cup Finalist to lottery contender in roughly six months.

Protocols Changing: There should soon be a sharp decline in the number of players testing positive for COVID-19.  Following the All-Star Game, the only times that players and team staff will be tested is for cross-border travel or if they’re showing symptoms.  Roughly 73% of NHL rosters have tested positive this season so that decrease was likely to happen on its own with players not being subject to testing for three months after that time but a few weeks from now, the list of players in COVID protocol should be pretty short.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

It was a fairly quiet week around the NHL with the biggest controversy stemming from the players that weren’t on the list of players named to the All-Star Game.  There were, however, a few other stories of note over the past seven days which are covered in our top stories of the week.

Hofmann Leaves, Doesn’t Return: When Blue Jackets winger Gregory Hofmann took a leave of absence from the Blue Jackets late in December, it wasn’t a big deal.  His first child was about to be born and teams let their players take a few days away from the team when that happens.  However, Hofmann has decided not to return, first prompting a suspension from the team.  Then, a few days later, the team ran him through unconditional waivers, allowing them to terminate his contract.  Columbus acquired the rights to the 29-year-old from Carolina last season and brought him over to the NHL this year where he had held his own in a limited role, picking up seven points in 24 games.  Instead of coming back, he’ll stay home with his family and will rejoin EV Zug of the Swiss NLA.  He’ll also be eligible to play in the Olympics since Columbus released him instead of leaving him under suspension.

Another Investigation: Evander Kane has been no stranger to NHL investigations as the league had done three separate ones on him over the last few months.  That number can now be increased to four as the league will take a closer look into the incident that caused San Jose to terminate the remaining three-plus years of his contract.  Kane has already been suspended for a violation of COVID protocol this season and if the league deems that another one is warranted here, it could affect the 30-year-old’s short-term chances of catching on with another team.  Edmonton is among the teams that have confirmed they have interest in signing the winger.

Officially Back: In a move that should have come as a surprise to no one, the Bruins officially brought back veteran goaltender Tuukka Rask, inking him to a pro-rated one-year, $1MM contract.  The deal also contains a full no-movement clause.  Rask made it clear over the offseason that he only intended to play for Boston this season if he decided to return after recovering from his hip surgery.  The 34-year-old has played in 561 career NHL games, all with the Bruins, and will partner with Linus Ullmark down the stretch while Jeremy Swayman has been sent back to Providence of the AHL.  As for Boston’s cap situation, this contract was basically all they could afford which will put them in a money-in, money-out spot if they want to make any more changes before the trade deadline.

Three For Merrill: After playing for three teams over the past two seasons and having to settle for a one-year contract in free agency back in July, defenseman Jon Merrill received some security from Minnesota, inking a three-year extension that carries a $1.2MM AAV.  The 29-year-old has had a nice season on the third pairing for the Wild, averaging just shy of 18 minutes per game while chipping in with 11 points, more than double what he had last season with Detroit and Montreal.  It’s the longest contract for Merrill since his entry-level deal so he gets some welcome stability while Minnesota gets a capable depth blueliner for a pretty good price tag.

Lidstrom Returns: Nicklas Lidstrom is once again a member of the Red Wings.  No, the Hall of Famer isn’t coming out of retirement but he has rejoined Detroit’s front office, becoming their new vice president of hockey operations.  Lidstrom, who patrolled the back end for them for 20 years, is no stranger to their front office having worked for them as a scout for three years soon after his retirement in 2012.  This time around, however, he’ll be much more involved in all parts of hockey operations.  He joins Pat Verbeek, Niklas Kronwall, Jiri Fischer, Dan Cleary, Mark Howe, Kris Draper, and Kirk Maltby among former Red Wings working under Steve Yzerman in their front office.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

The first full week of 2022 brought some notable surprises which are highlighted among the key stories of the week.

Klingberg Unhappy? Stars defenseman John Klingberg is one of the top blueliners that’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer.  He was hoping for an extension but that clearly hasn’t happened yet and that isn’t sitting well with him.  A report surfaced earlier in the week that he had requested a trade and while Klingberg tried to walk that back a little bit when speaking with reporters including Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News, he didn’t accomplish that too much.  While he acknowledged he’d like to stay, he also admitted he doesn’t “feel like I’ve been appreciated”.  The 29-year-old is set to command a max-term contract and if an extension doesn’t come over the next couple of months, his name is going to start to come up frequently in trade speculation.

Leaving Early: It’s rare that a college player leaves midseason to turn pro but desperate times called for desperate measures for Carolina, who signed goaltender Jack LaFontaine to a one-year, entry-level contract.  The 24-year-old was the goalie of the year in the NCAA last season while being a Hobey Baker finalist while posting a 1.79 GAA along with a .934 SV%.  The plan was for him to remain at Minnesota but with the team having several injuries among their goalies on NHL contracts, they’ve had to turn to him a little earlier than expected.  LaFontaine immediately loses his NCAA eligibility and will not be able to return to the Golden Gophers once the injury situation for the Hurricanes stabilizes.

Kane Released: The Sharks have parted ways with winger Evander Kane, terminating his contract after he cleared unconditional waivers.  In doing so, they are trying to rid themselves of the remaining salary and cap hit on his contract (roughly $23.5MM between now and 2024-25).  The team is citing a breach of contract and failure to abide by AHL COVID protocol which is believed to revolve around a flight he took to Vancouver during his isolation period and an assertion that he didn’t return when he was supposed to.  The NHLPA and his agent have already stated that they intend to grieve this decision so this story is far from over.  In the meantime, Kane technically becomes an unrestricted free agent but if his grievance comes with an intent to restore his original contract in San Jose, it’s possible that he holds off on signing for the time being.

Another Deal Terminated: Kane’s contract wasn’t the only notable termination of the week.  Following a breakdown over who was covering additional costs on Calgary’s arena project, the deal was terminated as a January 1st decision deadline came and went without an extension or an agreement reached.  The Flames have played in their current arena since 1983 and a new facility for them has been high on the priority list for them for several years now.  However, they’ll be going back to the drawing board now and will continue to play out of the Saddledome for the foreseeable future.

Crouse Receiving Interest: The more notable veterans in Arizona are the ones drawing attention – look no further than the reported asking price for Jakob Chychrun – but one player that’s more under the radar that is garnering interest is winger Lawson Crouse.  The 24-year-old is on pace for a career year offensively and has two years of team control remaining after this one at an affordable $1.533MM cap hit.  That has the Coyotes well-positioned to yield a strong return for Crouse if they decide that he’s not a part of their long-term plans.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

This past week will largely be remembered for two things – a bunch of players being placed into COVID protocol and numerous games being postponed.  However, there was some other notable news across the NHL over the past seven days which is highlighted in our key stories of the week.

Labanc Out Long-Term: A tough season for Sharks winger Kevin Labanc has gotten even worse as he will miss the next three months after undergoing surgery to repair a shoulder injury.  The 26-year-old had been off to a particularly rough start offensively with just three goals and three assists in 21 games, marking the third straight season that he hasn’t played close to the same pace he had back in 2018-19 when he had 56 points in 82 games, earning himself a four-year, $18.9MM contract in the process.  Labanc will be eligible to be placed on LTIR if San Jose needs to free up cap space although that shouldn’t be an issue for them in the short term at least.

Good News To Bad For Spezza: It was an interesting 24 hours or so for Maple Leafs center Jason Spezza.  First, his six-game suspension for a kneeing incident on Winnipeg’s Neal Pionk was reduced to four games by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on appeal which is an outcome that doesn’t happen very often.  That made him eligible to return right away.  However, that good news was quickly tempered as he was placed into COVID protocol less than 24 hours later.  Toronto is among the teams who have had their games postponed through the holiday break.

Maurice Resigns: There was a big surprise out of Winnipeg when head coach Paul Maurice suddenly tendered his resignation.  It wasn’t related to an off-ice concern, he simply felt he had taken the team as far as he could and that the team would benefit from a new voice.  Maurice also indicated that he had less enjoyment at the rink lately with the various COVID protocols.  The ‘new’ voice for the Jets is a familiar one with assistant Dave Lowry taking over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.  Maurice departs with a 315-223-62 record at the helm of the Jets and sits fourth in NHL history in total games coached with 1,684.

More Selling In Arizona? When the Coyotes started selling off their players, the belief was that there was one untouchable in defenseman Jakob Chychrun.  Now, it appears they’re at least open to the idea of moving him as well following a report that they’re gauging the market on the 23-year-old with a hefty asking price.  Chychrun’s numbers aren’t the greatest this season – seven points and a league-worst -29 plus/minus rating in 26 games but he’s logging significant defensive minutes on one of the worst teams the league has seen in quite some time; the ugly numbers are to be expected.  With a $4.6MM AAV through 2024-25, there will be no shortage of teams interested in acquiring him but will anyone be willing to pay the price?  We’ll find out over the months to come.

Fabbri Extension: Red Wings winger Robby Fabbri will be sticking around for the foreseeable future after he agreed to a three-year, $12MM extension.  The deal does not contain any trade protection.  Fabbri is in his third season with Detroit and has been a capable secondary scorer since being acquired, notching 32 goals and 31 assists in 111 games.  If he can stay healthy (and that has been a question mark throughout his career), Fabbri should be able to give the Red Wings a reasonable return on this deal, especially since they’re not dealing with any salary cap issues now or in the next few seasons.  Fabbri is one of nine Detroit players that have been in COVID protocol at some point over the past week which has resulted in their games being postponed until after the holiday break.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.