NHL Weekly Roundup: Gaudreau, MacKinnon Injury & More
By Aly Dhanani
NHL Weekly Roundup: Gaudreau Contract, McKinnon Injury & More
Every week on a Monday or Sunday, check out the NHL Weekly Roundup, where I catch you up on the latest news and rumours in the hockey world.
On Johnny Gaudreau…
According to the Calgary Herald, Johnny Gaudreau and agent Lewis Gross put aside contract talks with the Calgary Flames until after the trade deadline, and have now resumed talks this week.
"We let the trade deadline (pass) … we put it aside since (Flames GM) Brad (Treliving) was pretty busy,” Gaudreau said on Thursday. “We’ll see what happens in the next week or so because trade deadline’s done. We’ll see if anything happens.”"
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Gaudreau, 22, is the Flames leading scorer as a sophomore, with 26 goals and 70 points in 70 games. The pending RFA will command big dollars this offseason, and the Calgary Sun states that a likely contract extension in Calgary would be the biggest contract in Flames history (similar to Vladimir Tarasenko‘s 8 year, $60M deal with the Blues last year).
More on the Flames, 38-year-old goalie Niklas Backstrom, 38, is expected to make his first start in 72 games after being traded to Calgary at the trade deadline.
On Nathan MacKinnon…
Friday night, Colorado Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon injured his knee in a shootout win against the Flames, and is expected to miss Sunday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers. With Matt Duchene also out at least a week, the Avalanche recalled winger Mikko Rantanen, who was the #5 prospect on my recent article about the top 10 prospects.
Defenseman Eric Gelinas, who was acquired from the Devils deadline day, was also hurt that game. He went straight to the tunnel after taking a big hit into the boards. MacKinnon, 21, is also an RFA this year and is set for a big payday. And with the Avalanche having a projected $7.3M in cap space this offseason (projections via CapFriendly ) and Mikkel Boedker, Tyson Barrie and MacKinnon due new contracts, who goes?
Rumours, Rumours and more Rumours…
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As teams tank and other teams fall short of their playoff aspirations, rumours are swirling around regarding potential moves made this offseason.
A hot topic among analysts this week was a the future of Ottawa Senators winger Mike Hoffman, who has seemed to be clashing with coach Dave Cameron over playing time the past few weeks, and after an ugly arbitration with the Senators last year, the Senators leading goal scorer may not want to return to Ottawa. The following quote is via Sportnet‘s Elliote Freidman on his 30 thoughts column:
"“Are we looking at the final 15 games of Mike Hoffman’s tenure in Ottawa? Sure looks like it. The winger was benched Saturday in Toronto, then played 13:46 the next night against Dallas. I talked about it with one agent (not Hoffman’s), who points out the contract power pendulum will switch from the club, which did very well in his arbitration case last summer, to the player. He is one year from unrestricted free agency, and can go to arbitration once again. This time, his resume is deeper, as he’s become one of the best even-strength scorers in the league. Unless the Senators believe in him enough to offer a lengthy extension, and their usage certainly indicates doubt, you can’t let him walk for nothing.”"
According to The Fourth Period , Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin took many calls on Lars Eller, Alex Galchenyuk, and Max Pacioretty this trade deadline, but there wasn’t an offer good enough to pry either from Bergevin’s hands. With Galchenyuk being moved back to centre, interest remains in the pending RFA.
What will the Canadiens do? The last rumour was again from Freidman, as he reports one team (Dallas or Chicago?) called the Boston Bruins about Zdeno Chara, but they were turned away because Boston wanted to keep him for the playoffs. An offseason move to be addressed?
More puck prose: NHL Games To Watch This Week (Mar.20-Mar.26)
The Leftovers: Canadiens to keep Therrien, Coyotes address Tidnordi situation.
March 11th, Arizona Coyotes GM Don Maloney addressed the media about defender Jarred Tinordi‘s 20 game suspension for violating the NHL’s PED policy: He’s still a young player with lots of upside,” . “So we’ll address Jarred’s situation with us at the end of the season”
“It’s a tough break for him, but he’s responsible for what he puts in (his body),” Maloney said. “He understands it. He knows it. He’s taking responsibility, and we’ll support him and hopefully we’ll deal with him in the offseason.” (Quote via TFP)
Next: San Jose Sharks Showing They Deserve to be Taken Seriously
According to a report from TVA‘s Renaud Lavoie, the Montreal Canadiens will not be considering any coaching changes this offseason. This means head coach Michael Therrien will be back for 2016-17. The Canadiens got off to an amazing 12-2-0 start, but a couple of months after that everything went downhill.
Stay tuned for next week’s NHL weekly roundup