Week In Review

We’re in the calm before the potential storm when it comes to the March 8th trade deadline.  Despite that, there was still some notable news throughout the NHL over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Kekalainen Fired: After 11 seasons as general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen is no longer with the Blue Jackets after being relieved of his duties.  Columbus made five playoff appearances with Kekalainen at the helm but only made it to the second round once back in 2019.  But over the last three years, the Blue Jackets haven’t finished higher than sixth in the Metropolitan Division, a streak that is quite certain to be extended to four this season.  Between their declining performance and a failed head coaching hire in Mike Babcock who had to leave the team before ever coaching a game, the time was right to make a change.  That said, the Blue Jackets have several promising core youngsters so there is certainly some hope for the future.

Kessel Gets A Chance: If Phil Kessel is going to play an 18th NHL season, it might wind up being with the Canucks.  The veteran has joined their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford to work out with the team and if things go well, he could eventually join Vancouver in the coming weeks.  The NHL’s reigning Ironman, Kessel had 36 points last season for Vegas but wasn’t able to land a guaranteed deal in the preseason or through the first half of the year.  However, for what would certainly be low-cost injury insurance, Kessel could be a worthwhile depth pickup for the stretch run if his workouts in the AHL go well.

Five For Rielly: The Department of Player Safety handed down a five-game suspension to Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly for his cross-check on Ottawa forward Ridly Greig following an empty-netter late in last Saturday’s game.  The suspension conceivably could have been longer considering the league offered an in-person hearing, allowing for a suspension of six games or longer.  An appeal on the ruling was quickly filed and was heard by Commissioner Gary Bettman on Friday whose ruling is expected in the next day or two.  As the suspension wasn’t six games or longer, there is no secondary appeal option to a neutral arbitrator.  He has already served the first three games and is eligible to return to Toronto’s lineup on Thursday.

Guentzel To LTIR: The Penguins are still within striking distance of a Wild Card spot but getting there just got tougher as it was announced that winger Jake Guentzel has landed on LTIR due to an upper-body injury.  The injury isn’t a season-ender but he will be out until around the March 8th trade deadline.  The 29-year-old sits second on Pittsburgh in team scoring with 52 points in 50 games, the fourth time in the last five seasons that his scoring average is above the point-per-game mark.  A pending unrestricted free agent, it’s also possible that Guentzel will be traded by the deadline if the Penguins are out of the race.  If that’s the route they ultimately go, they’ll be hoping the injury won’t impact the offers they’ll receive.

More Injuries: Guentzel’s injury wasn’t the only one of note around the NHL.  Sharks forward Tomas Hertl underwent knee surgery and while his season isn’t necessarily over, it looks like he’ll be out for a good chunk of the remainder of the year, costing San Jose its top scorer.  In Philadelphia, blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen was a speculative trade candidate but any trade talk is likely on hold now as the veteran is out for a few weeks after having an upper-body procedure.  It stands to reason that moving someone with the contract he has (three more years after this season at $5.1MM) may be more of a summer move anyway.  Meanwhile, Rangers winger Blake Wheeler’s season has come to an early end due to a lower-body injury.  A return in the playoffs hasn’t been ruled out while New York will now be able to add his $800K base salary to its LTIR pool.

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The first full week of February is in the books.  While there wasn’t any activity on the trade market (compared to two notable swaps last week), there was still some notable news around the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.

Kings Hire Smith: With Jim Hiller taking over as interim head coach, the Kings elected to bring in an experienced assistant, hiring D.J. Smith.  Smith began the season with Ottawa as their head coach but was let go a little under two months ago after the team got off to a sluggish start.  Smith spent parts of five seasons behind the bench with the Sens but his time in this role with Los Angeles could be short-lived as the contract is only for the rest of the season.  Smith could be considered for other head coaching positions this summer or perhaps even the top job with the Kings if it’s decided that Hiller won’t be the full-time bench boss.

Kuznetsov Takes A Leave: Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov has taken a leave of absence from the team and has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  This is the second time he has been in the program with the first one coming back in 2019.  The 31-year-old has struggled on the ice this season, averaging just 0.40 points per game, the lowest rate of his career.  There is no timeline for his return and while he is away from the team, his $7.8MM AAV will not count against Washington’s salary cap.

Injured Again: In his first game back after recovering from a left leg injury, Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev suffered another long-term injury, fracturing his fibula and tibia in that same left leg.  He underwent surgery the next day.  While no official timetable for his return was released, head coach Jon Cooper indicated that the blueliner would miss the rest of the regular season at a minimum.  Sergachev is a big part of Tampa Bay’s back end, logging over 22 minutes a night while being a key contributor so he will definitely be missed.  The Lightning now will be able to go over the cap by an additional $8.5MM once they place him on LTIR, giving them some extra flexibility heading into the trade deadline, albeit at a key cost with Sergachev out long-term.

Edmundson On The Block: In the weeks leading up to the March 8th trade deadline, buyers will be looking to add some extra depth on their back end.  One of the players they’ll be considering is Joel Edmundson as the Capitals are believed to be shopping the veteran.  The 30-year-old was acquired at the start of free agency for a pair of draft picks with Montreal retaining half of his $3.5MM cap hit.  However, Edmundson has underachieved with Washington, logging just over 16 minutes a night, well below his career average while chipping in with just three points in 34 games.  However, he has two deep playoff runs under his belt (2019 with St. Louis and 2021 with Montreal) and was effective in both of those which should help generate some interest in him as a proven postseason performer.

Suspensions: The Department of Player Safety handed out a pair of suspensions to defensemen this week.  First, Jets blueliner Brenden Dillon received a three-game ban for an illegal check to the head on Pittsburgh’s Noel Acciari, keeping him out of their lineup until this coming Saturday against Vancouver.  Speaking of those Canucks, rearguard Nikita Zadorov was handed a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head on Detroit’s Lucas Raymond.  He’ll be eligible to return on Thursday in a rematch against the Red Wings.  Meanwhile, another defender is likely to receive a suspension as Toronto’s Morgan Rielly will have an in-person hearing on Tuesday for his cross-check on Ottawa’s Ridly Greig following a late goal on Saturday.

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The All-Star break is almost upon us and once again, it was a busy week on and off the ice where several players took leaves while another entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  Here’s a rundown of the key stories of the week.

Setback For Chytil: The Rangers were hoping that they’d be getting a key center back soon with Filip Chytil returning to practice.  Instead, he suffered a setback in his recovery from a concussion in practice and soon after, the team announced that he’d miss the rest of the season and playoffs.  His season comes to an end after just ten games while New York now has a notable hole to fill in its lineup.  Notably, with Chytil confirmed to be out for the rest of the season, GM Chris Drury will be able to use Chytil’s money ($4.45MM) that’s on LTIR to go out and try to find a replacement on the trade market.

Gallagher Gets Five: Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher was handed a five-game suspension for his elbow to the head on Islanders blueliner Adam Pelech.  With the Department of Player Safety electing to only do a basic phone hearing, it’s the maximum they could suspend him for.  It’s the first suspension of Gallagher’s career; he’ll forfeit nearly $170K in salary and won’t be able to return until February 15th.  Meanwhile, Pelech, who has dealt with concussion issues, is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Parise To Colorado: Veteran winger Zach Parise had been speculated as an in-season signing for a while now but many thought he’d wind up back with the Islanders.  That isn’t the case as instead, he signed a one-year, $825K (prorated) contract with Colorado.  The deal doesn’t contain any additional performance bonuses.  Parise is a veteran of 18 NHL seasons, recording 429 goals, 21 of which came last season with the Isles.  While it doesn’t seem likely he’ll be able to score at that per-game pace after missing more than half the season, it’s a low-risk addition for Colorado who will likely spot him into the role they initially signed Tomas Tatar for before they moved him to Seattle.  The 39-year-old will make his Avalanche debut after the All-Star break.

Extensions: The Blackhawks continued their recent trend of signing veterans to above-market extensions, inking goaltender Petr Mrazek to a two-year, $8.5MM deal.  The contract actually represents a small raise for the 31-year-old who is playing on a $3.8MM price tag and made it to Chicago as part of a cap-dumping move by Toronto.  But Mrazek has had a nice season, posting a .910 SV% in 34 games on a rebuilding team; keeping him around will give more time for youngsters Arvid Soderblom and Drew Commesso to develop.

Meanwhile, the Flyers signed a pair of players as well.  First, they made winger Owen Tippett a cornerstone piece of their future, signing him to an eight-year, $49.6MM extension.  The 24-year-old had a breakout year last season, notching 27 goals and 49 points in the first season of his bridge deal.  He has a chance to beat that this year, already collecting 18 goals and 30 points in 46 games.  Soon after, they agreed to terms on a two-year, $3.8MM extension with center Ryan Poehling.  The 25-year-old is in his first season with Philadelphia after signing with them as a non-tendered free agent in July.  Poehling has done well in a bottom-six role, picking up 14 points in 45 games while taking nearly ten faceoffs per game.

More Expansion Coming? While we’re not far removed from the last round of expansion when Seattle joined the league as its 32nd team, the Salt Lake City-based Smith Entertainment Group has filed a request to initiate a formal expansion process by the NHL.  Salt Lake City has been a speculative landing spot for a new or relocated franchise for more than a year as they’ve been working with the league behind the scenes to position themselves for an opportunity when one becomes available.  At this point, there is no formal expansion process in place but with the rising franchise values and thus a rising expansion fee, there could be one in the cards at some point in the not-too-distant future.

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With teams now past the midway point of the season, activity is starting to pick up across the NHL.  Here’s a rundown of the biggest stories in what was a very busy week across the league.

One In, One On The Way Out? As expected, the Senators signed RFA center Shane Pinto to a one-year deal that checked in at the league minimum of $775K.  The 23-year-old missed the first 41 games of the year after violating the league’s sports wagering rules, negating the two-year deal with an AAV in the $2MM range that was being negotiated.  Pinto will once again be a restricted free agent without arbitration rights this summer.  Meanwhile, the Sens are believed to be listening to interest in blueliner Jakob Chychrun.  The 25-year-old was acquired last season from Arizona in the hopes he’d shore up their back end but Ottawa has struggled in all facets in the first half of the year.  With one year left on his contract after this one with a $4.6MM price tag and the fact he’s on pace for his best season offensively, his trade value might be at its highest over the next few weeks if GM Steve Staios wants to make a big move.

Merzlikins Wants Out: After recently voicing his frustration over a lack of playing time but noting that he hadn’t asked for a trade, Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins has confirmed that he has now indeed requested to be moved.  The 29-year-old has bounced back from a tough showing last year, upping his save percentage from .876 to .905 but his game-to-game consistency has still been a concern, resulting in Daniil Tarasov getting an extended look as the starter.  With three years left after this one on his deal with a $5.4MM AAV and with Spencer Martin now in Carolina after being claimed off waivers earlier in the week, it seems unlikely that Merzlikins will see his request granted in the near future.

Coaching Change: With the Islanders struggling, some had wondered about Lane Lambert’s future with the team.  GM Lou Lamoriello indeed decided to make a change but who he hired caught many by surprise as Patrick Roy was named their new head coach.  Lambert spent barely a year and a half behind New York’s bench with his team playing to a 61-46-20 record while the Isles lost in the first round of the playoffs last year and Lamoriello clearly felt that a change could help kickstart this team.  He turns to Roy, who hasn’t been behind an NHL bench since the 2015-16 campaign, his third and final year with Colorado before he abruptly resigned the following offseason over a lack of say in personnel decisions.  He’s unlikely to get much input in that regard as long as Lamoriello is in charge but the former Jack Adams Award winner certainly had some success with the Avs and will now get his second crack at running an NHL bench.

Extensions: A pair of centers in very different situations inked new deals with their current teams.  First, the Blackhawks signed Jason Dickinson to a two-year, $8.5MM extension.  Dickinson is in the middle of a breakout season offensively, notching 15 goals already; he had yet to crack double-digits over the past five years.  He was a pending unrestricted free agent but will now continue to serve as a bridge veteran in Chicago.  Meanwhile, the Capitals inked a key part of their future, agreeing to terms with Aliaksei Protas on a five-year, $16.875MM extension.  The 6’6 23-year-old has just ten career NHL goals in 134 games but is a little under half a point per game this season.  Clearly, Washington believes that he can get to another level offensively and be a strong middle-six piece for the foreseeable future.

Leaves Of Absence: Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin will be away from the team indefinitely as he has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  The 28-year-old was in the midst of his best season offensively as he notched 22 goals and 20 assists in his first 40 games before stepping aside.  There is no set timeframe for how long he might be out as Nichushkin will only return once he’s cleared by program administrators.  Meanwhile, the Flames announced that winger Dillon Dube has been granted an indefinite leave of absence to attend to his mental health.  Last season, the 25-year-old had a career year with 45 points but he has struggled this season with just seven points in 43 contests and will now take some time away from the organization.

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The holiday break is upon us so it was a relatively quiet week around the NHL.  Nonetheless, there was some news of note which is recapped in our key stories.

Hutton Extension: Not long after signing with Vegas the first time, Ben Hutton inked a two-year extension, the last season of which is 2023-24.  But instead of testing the open market next summer, he has decided to stick with the Golden Knights, signing another two-year extension.  The new deal will carry a cap hit of $975K, a raise of $125K on his current contract.  The 30-year-old was expected to be a depth defender but has basically been a regular this season, getting into 29 games so far, picking up nine points while logging over 16 minutes a night.

Poitras Loaned: The Bruins will be without one of their regular centers for the next couple of weeks as they loaned Matthew Poitras to Team Canada for the upcoming World Juniors.  The 19-year-old made a strong early impression in Boston this season, earning a full-time spot in the lineup and while he had slowed down a bit lately, he still has 13 points in 27 games.  Notably, this delays Boston’s timeline for needing to decide on allowing him to accrue a full season of service time toward free agency.  That threshold is 40 games on the roster (not 40 games played) but since he’s on loan, that clock will stop for the time being.

Smith Fired: The Senators have been a trendy pick to be a playoff team for a few years now but they have continually come up short.  After another sluggish start this season, the team opted to make a change, firing head coach D.J. Smith.  Taking his place is long-time NHL bench boss Jacques Martin who had joined Ottawa earlier this month as a consultant.  Smith departs Ottawa with a 131-154-32 coaching record, good for just a .464 points percentage while the Sens never finished higher than sixth in the division under his tutelage.  At 71, Martin is hardly a long-term option behind the bench but it seems likely he’ll serve as the coach for the rest of this season.  He’ll be tasked with trying to fix Ottawa’s consistency issues along with their challenges in the defensive end.  However, they hit the break 15 points out of a playoff spot so a second-half postseason push seems rather unlikely at this point.

Bear To Washington: Over the last few weeks, free agent Ethan Bear has been speculatively linked to Washington.  That deal is now one step closer to being made official as the team announced that they expect to sign him at a later date.  The reasoning for not doing so right away likely corresponded with the holiday break; with Bear still working his way back from a shoulder injury, there’s little need for them to sign and pay him until he’s ready to play.  Speculatively, a deal should be finalized this coming week or soon after.  The 26-year-old logged over 18 minutes a night on the back end with Vancouver last season and will give the Capitals some quality depth as they look to hang onto a playoff spot.

Injury News: There was some good and bad news on the injury front across the NHL.  The Red Wings welcomed back captain Dylan Larkin after missing a little more than a week of action after sustaining a head injury against Ottawa, one that yielded a six-game suspension for David Perron which is still going through the appeal process.  Meanwhile, in Minnesota, the Wild will be without Mats Zuccarello on a week-to-week basis due to an upper-body injury.  The 36-year-old is still going strong this season, averaging a point per game in his first 28 contests.  Anaheim had plenty of injury news as well as they welcomed back center Mason McTavish and Jamie Drysdale early in the week while losing Leo Carlsson for four to six weeks in that same game.  Then on Saturday, they activated Trevor Zegras off IR after he missed 20 games with a lower-body injury.  The Ducks are well out of playoff contention but getting some of their top young players back will certainly be beneficial from a development standpoint.

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The final full week of November is in the books and it was a stretch that was dominated by injury news.  We recap the biggest headlines in our key stories.

Back On The Market: Jaroslav Halak’s time with the Hurricanes came to a quick conclusion with the veteran requesting and being granted his release from his PTO agreement.  The 38-year-old was brought in a couple of weeks ago when Frederik Andersen was diagnosed with blood clots with the hope that he’d give Carolina some extra depth between the pipes.  However, the team wasn’t prepared to offer him a contract at this point, likely prompting Halak to try to move on.  Halak has done quite well for someone picked in the ninth round, putting together a 17-year NHL career so far.  He’ll have to wait a little longer at least before he has a shot at making it 18.

Done For The Year: When the Blackhawks picked up Taylor Hall over the summer, the hope was that he’d be a capable top-six scorer to give top prospect Connor Bedard some support.  Unfortunately, things haven’t gone as planned.  Hall has dealt with multiple injuries already this year and his latest one, a torn ACL, will end his season prematurely as he’ll undergo surgery on Monday.  Hall’s year comes to an end with just two goals and two assists in ten games, hardly the start to his time in Chicago anyone was hoping for.  He has one year left on his contract after this one with a $6MM AAV.

Perry Gone Indefinitely: Still with Chicago, midway through the week, Corey Perry was a surprise scratch with head coach Luke Richardson calling it an organizational decision.  Saturday, GM Kyle Davidson stated that the veteran would be gone for the “foreseeable future” while declining to provide further details or comment on any speculation.  Meanwhile, soon after that, his agent released a statement stating that Perry has stepped away to attend to personal matters, somewhat contradicting Chicago’s assertion of his absence being an organizational decision.  Perry has been relatively productive this season, sitting fourth on the team with four goals and five assists through 16 games but those totals won’t be getting added to for a while by the looks of it.

More Injury News: A tough start to the season just got a bit tougher for Columbus as they’ll be without one of their top defensemen for at least the next six weeks as Damon Severson is sidelined with an oblique injury.  Columbus picked up the 29-year-old in a sign-and-trade with New Jersey who gave him an eight-year, $50MM contract; he was off to a decent start with eight points in 19 games while logging nearly 21 minutes a game.  Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs will be without John Klingberg for a while as he has been placed on LTIR as his undisclosed injury is not healing as well as hoped.  He had struggled when he was in the lineup and didn’t provide the offensive boost Toronto was expecting.  It wasn’t all bad news on the injury front, however, as the Lightning welcomed back goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy as he has fully recovered from the back surgery he had in training camp.  How did Tampa Bay celebrate?  By becoming the first team in NHL history to score at least eight goals on 14 or fewer shots in a game since shots were first officially tracked in 1955-56.

Girard Enters Player Assistance Program: Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard has taken a leave of absence from the team to enter into the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  The blueliner stated that he “made a proactive decision to take care of my mental health, and will be entering treatment for severe anxiety and depression that has gone untreated for too long and led to alcohol abuse”.  The 25-year-old has become an integral part of Colorado’s back end in recent years but will now be away from the team indefinitely as he works through the program.

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As the calendar turned to November, there was plenty of news of note across the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.

Senators Out A First-Round Pick And A GM: Back at the 2022 trade deadline, a move that would have sent Evgenii Dadonov from Vegas to Anaheim was vetoed after the fact when it was revealed the Ducks were on his no-trade list.  The Golden Knights weren’t aware of that fact, resulting in them asking the league to look into it.  That investigation is now complete and they came down hard on Ottawa, who had dealt the winger to Vegas the previous offseason.  It was determined that they withheld the no-trade details during the trade call and as punishment, they will be required to forfeit a first-round pick in 2024, 2025, or 2026.  It’s their choice as to which year they opt to forfeit and it must be their own selection, not one they acquired from another team (such as the one they received from Detroit in the Alex DeBrincat trade).

New owner Michael Andlauer decided that this was the final straw for GM Pierre Dorion.  While initially termed as a firing, Dorion officially resigned his position.  He was at the helm in Ottawa since 2016 and helped bring in top young talents like Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, and Brady Tkachuk to the fold but more recently, he’ll be remembered for creating an unworkable cap situation that limited them from re-signing Shane Pinto before his gambling suspension.  Steve Staios, who just joined the organization a little over a month ago, will serve as interim GM.

Four For McAvoy: Boston’s back end took a big short-term hit as defenseman Charlie McAvoy received a four-game suspension for an illegal check to the head on Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson that saw him receive a match penalty at the time.  The 25-year-old had gotten off to a strong start to his year with eight points in nine games but that’s on hold for now.  With Ekman-Larsson returning to Florida’s lineup quickly, McAvoy has appealed the ban, a move that doesn’t typically happen too often (although Rasmus Andersson went that route last month with no success).  Since it’s under six games, the appeal will be heard by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

Backstrom Takes A Leave: Long-time Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom underwent hip resurfacing surgery back in June 2022 but returned to the lineup earlier than expected.  He made it through training camp and the first few weeks of this season but has decided to take an indefinite leave of absence from the team while he determines his next steps.  The 35-year-old has spent the entirety of his 17-year NHL career with Washington and sits second to Alex Ovechkin for the most points in franchise history; it remains to be seen if he’ll return to add to his 1,033 career points.  Backstrom is signed through next season with a $9.2MM AAV so retirement won’t be on the table but he has already been placed on injured reserve and will likely be shifted to LTIR at some point.

Talks On Hold: Not long ago, it looked like the Flames were making progress on extension talks with prominent pending unrestricted free agents Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm.  However, with the team off to a rough start this season, sitting just 3-7-1, those discussions are now on hold.  If GM Craig Conroy determines that the team isn’t as close to winning as he originally hoped, it’s possible that he turns around and becomes a seller at which point locking up his two key UFAs could work against him.  For now, it appears it will be a wait-and-see approach to see if Calgary can turn things around but they’ll need to show some progress sooner than later.

Hanging Them Up: Veteran center Paul Stastny has decided to call it a career, announcing his retirement at the age of 37.  The 2005 second-round pick played in 17 seasons at the top level with five different teams including eight years with Colorado who originally drafted him.  In his prime, Stastny was a quality two-way middleman who was above average at the faceoff dot throughout his career.  He hangs up his skates with 293 goals and 529 assists in 1,145 career regular season games; his 822 points rank him in 20th place among U.S.-born players in NHL history.

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The week around the hockey world ended in tragedy, with former Penguins center Adam Johnson passing away.  Meanwhile, it was a busy week across the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.

Draft Changes: A majority of teams have told the league that they would like to decentralize the draft, meaning teams would no longer send large contingents to the draft city and that it would work more like the drafts of the other major league sports.  With that, the NHL’s intention is now to switch formats no later than 2025 with 2024 not being ruled out either.  In our current reader poll, it’s fair to say that this change is not exactly a popular one.

Lots Of Injuries: It has been a tough week on the injury front across the league.  Blackhawks winger Taylor Hall’s shoulder injury isn’t getting better so he’s now on IR and listed as week-to-week.  That’s the same designation for Coyotes winger Jason Zucker who is dealing with a lower-body issue.  At one point, it seemed like Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce was going to be out long-term.  While that’s not the case, he underwent surgery on a lower-body injury and will miss two to four weeks.  Meanwhile, Canadiens blueliner David Savard and Senators rearguard Thomas Chabot both sustained fractured hands that will likely keep them out of their respective lineups until sometime in December.

Pinto Suspension: The bad news in Ottawa didn’t stop with Chabot as the NHL announced that unsigned center Shane Pinto has received a 41-game suspension for activities relating to sports wagering, to quote its press release.  The exact nature of the violation was not revealed publicly with the league noting that Pinto did not bet on NHL games.  The Sens have since rescinded all of their previous contract offers to Pinto, who is now almost certain to sign a low-cost, one-year deal once he is cleared to return in mid-January.  While there is a December 1st deadline for unsigned restricted free agents to sign deals, that rule will be waived for Pinto and the Sens.  Instead of Ottawa potentially getting him back in a week or two, it’ll now be a few more months before that happens.

Retirements: A trio of long-time NHL forwards hung up their skates.  First, after failing to catch on with Anaheim in training camp, winger Zack Kassian retired at the age of 32.  The 13th pick in 2009 played in 661 games over parts of a dozen seasons, collecting 203 points, 913 penalty minutes, and 1,360 hits.  Long-time Montreal center Tomas Plekanec was next to retire; he had been playing for his hometown team in Czechia but suffered an early injury that ended his season prematurely.  The 40-year-old played in 1,001 NHL games, all but 17 of which came with the Canadiens.  Lastly, Joe Thornton officially called it a career at the age of 44.  The top pick back in 1997 last played in 2021-22 and he amassed over 1,500 points in 1,714 games over parts of 24 NHL seasons.  He currently sits 12th in league history in points and sixth in games played.

Bowness Steps Away: The Jets are currently without head coach Rick Bowness as he has taken a leave of absence to be with his wife who suffered a seizure and was hospitalized earlier in the week.  Bowness is in his second season behind the bench in Winnipeg and obviously, there is no timetable for his return.  Associate coach Scott Arniel, who has head coaching experience from his time with Columbus a little more than a decade ago, is currently serving as their interim bench boss.

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The beginning of the NHL season was full of big signings.  This past week didn’t have any of that as instead, it was headlined by plenty of injuries.

Out For The Year: After having a breakout season that was still limited by injuries, hopes were high for Canadiens center Kirby Dach this year.  However, his campaign came to an early end as he suffered a season-ending torn ACL and MCL last weekend against Chicago.  He will undergo surgery once the swelling subsides.  The 22-year-old had a career-best 38 points last season despite only playing in 58 games, a decent first impression after being acquired from the Blackhawks at the draft.  He’ll have to wait a while to make his second impression now.

Extension Progress: Noah Hanifin’s willingness to sign an extension in Calgary (or perceived lack thereof) has been a key discussion point for several months now.  At one point, it looked like he wasn’t interested, then he was, then he wasn’t again.  Now, a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests that Hanifin is indeed willing to work on a new deal and that some progress has been made on that front.  The 26-year-old has been a reliable part of the back end for the Flames for the past five seasons (plus the first couple of weeks of this year) and is set to earn a considerable raise on his current $4.95MM AAV.

Four For Andersson: Still with Calgary, the first notable suspension of the 2023-24 campaign is in the books as Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson received a four-game ban for his elbow on Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine.  The hit occurred in the dying seconds of Friday’s game while Laine is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.  Andersson and the NHLPA have decided to appeal the ruling.  Unlike in some other leagues, players can’t play while they’re appealing so Andersson sat out the first game on Sunday against Detroit.  The appeal will be heard by Commissioner Gary Bettman and given how long it typically takes for a hearing with him, it’s possible the appeal might wind up primarily being to try to mitigate some of the forfeited salary of nearly $95K.  If the suspension stands, the last game he’ll have to sit out is the Heritage Classic (an outdoor game against Edmonton) next weekend.

More Injuries: Another player who will likely miss the Heritage Classic is Oilers center Connor McDavid.  He left Saturday’s game against Winnipeg late in the third period with an upper-body injury.  The good news for Edmonton is that he won’t be out for long (just one to two weeks) but with the Oilers struggling out of the gate this season with just a single win in their first five games, McDavid’s absence won’t help matters.  Meanwhile, Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi will miss the next four to six weeks with a sprained MCL.  The 24-year-old was a key part of the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade this summer but was injured in just his third game of the season.

Seattle Injuries: It has been a tough start to the season for the Kraken as they have just one win in their first six games.  Things are going to get harder for them with a pair of longer-term injuries on the wings.  First, Brandon Tanev will miss four to six weeks with a lower-body injury.  The 31-year-old was coming off a career year with 35 points while chipping in with 190 hits and will be missed on their third line.  Meanwhile, Andre Burakovsky will miss six to eight weeks with an upper-body injury.  The 28-year-old was productive in limited action last season with 39 points in 49 games and was being counted on to be a big part of Seattle’s attack this year.  Those plans will be on hold for now.  Tanev has been placed on IR while Burakovsky will be heading there soon enough as well.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

The first week of the NHL season is in the books and as is often the case, it was a busy week on the transactions front with extensions highlighting the majority of the key stories.

Seven For Toews: Term was believed to be a sticking point in extension talks between the Avalanche and defenseman Devon Toews but the two sides were able to bridge that, agreeing to a seven-year, $50.75MM extension.  The 29-year-old has become a key cog on Colorado’s back end after being acquired from the Islanders for a pair of second-round picks, very quietly putting up back-to-back years of at least 50 points while logging at least 25 minutes a night in both of them.  While this deal starts at age 30 meaning that it could carry a bit of risk at the end, it’s fair to suggest that Toews took a bit less than he could have received on the open market to make sure he stays with the Avs for the long haul.

Ruff’s Sticking Around: A year ago in the early going, there were chants of “fire Lindy” from some of the crowd in New Jersey after the Devils got off to a slow start.  Of course, they rebounded, putting up their highest point total in franchise history while getting to the second round.  Not surprisingly, New Jersey has rewarded head coach Lindy Ruff for his efforts, inking him to a multi-year contract extension.  His original deal had expired but Ruff had exercised his option for this season, creating a ‘lame duck’ situation that teams often try to avoid with their bench bosses.  Ruff is now set to lead the Devils for the foreseeable future.

Sticking Around: Well, we can forget about the idea of Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele testing the market next summer.  Widely speculated to be unwilling to extend with Winnipeg to the point where trade options were explored, the two decided to stay with the Jets after all as both players signed identical seven-year, $59.5MM contract extensions.  Hellebuyck has been a workhorse between the pipes for most of his now nine-year career, leading the league in shots faced four times and games played four times.  This contract makes him fourth in AAV among all netminders.  As for Scheifele, the franchise’s first pick after they moved back to Winnipeg has been a dependable scorer for a long time now, having picked up at least 60 points in eight straight years.  Both players now have chances to play out their entire careers with the Jets, a scenario that didn’t seem plausible just a few weeks ago.

Sabres Lock Up Blueliners: There was an expectation that contract extensions would get done for Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power during the offseason.  They might have come later than expected but they did get done.  First, they made Rasmus Dahlin one of the highest-paid players in the league, giving him an eight-year, $88MM extension.  The 2018 top pick has blossomed under head coach Don Granato, becoming one of the top offensive rearguards in the league while being an all-situations player.  He will be the third-highest-paid defenseman in the league.

Meanwhile, Owen Power’s extension was completed a little later in the week as well; he received a seven-year, $58.45MM pact.  The 2021 top selection has less than 90 games of NHL experience under his belt so this comes with some risk but if he becomes a true number one option as well, Buffalo’s back end will be a strong spot for years to come.  Notably, the agreement only buys the Sabres two extra years of club control.

Garland On The Block: The Canucks freed up some payroll last month when they moved Tanner Pearson to Montreal but they have more work to do on that front.  To help accomplish that, they’ve given Conor Garland and his agent permission to try to work on a trade.  The 27-year-old is coming off a 46-point season which isn’t bad but with three years left at a $4.95MM cap charge, they haven’t gotten the best bang for their buck.  A handful of teams are believed to have shown interest so far while Vancouver is thought to be hoping to open up $1MM to $2MM in room in a trade while adding some help on the back end.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.