The Ditch part deux

Ryan Reaves will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Saturday.

The Vegas Golden Knights forward is facing discipline for an illegal check to the head of Vancouver Canucks forward Tyler Motte.

The incident occurred with 3:33 remaining in the second period of Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round at Rogers Place in Edmonton, which the Golden Knights won 3-0.

Reaves was given a match penalty at 16:30. Motte did not play the remainder of the second period but returned to play the third period.

The following grounds are being considered for supplemental discipline: illegal check to the head. However, the Department of Player Safety retains the right to make adjustments to the infraction upon review.

NHL.com
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Reaves being Reaves...

 

Killorn to have hearing for actions in Lightning game
Forward facing discipline for boarding Islanders forward Nelson in Game 2 of East Final

Alex Killorn will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Thursday.

The Tampa Bay Lightning forward is facing discipline for boarding New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson.

The incident occurred 5:51 into the first period of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Killorn was given a five-minute boarding penalty and a game misconduct at 5:55. Nelson left the game then returned midway through the second period.

Tampa Bay won 2-1 to extend its lead in the best-of-7 series.

The following grounds are being considered for supplemental discipline: boarding. However, the Department of Player Safety retains the right to make adjustments to the infraction upon review.

NHL.com

 

that was a bullshit hit by Killorn. also really screwed TB there only having 9Fs after that.

 

Killorn got 1 game...

 

welcome back Joe, its been a while...... i think.

 

trade makes sense for both teams.
Minnesota banking on Bjugstad's health here. good luck with that. Johansson gives them a probable top 9 wing and helps that aging core a bit.
Buffalo upgrades a vacuumous hole at C behind Eichel. I really like this for the immediate Buffalo squad. And lets be honest, Marcus Johansson wasnt working up there.

 

You hit every point. I liked Marcus but he did not ft for the role Buffalo desperately tried to plug him into. With Cozens coming up, Staal allows them to shelter him for at least a year at 3C, or more likely, on the wing.

 

Wild announce they will not sign Koivu...

From the Wild:

"Mikko Koivu was a true leader both on and off the ice during his 15-year career with the Wild. From being drafted sixth overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, making his NHL debut on Nov. 11, 2005, being named the team’s first full-time captain on Oct. 20, 2009 and wearing the ‘C’ for the last 11 seasons to becoming the first player to play all 1,000 NHL games with Minnesota on Dec. 1, 2019, Mikko’s legacy will live on forever in our organization.

His hard work, dedication and team-first mentality will be extremely difficult to replace in our lineup. Off the ice, Mikko’s impact in the State of Hockey was immeasurable as he went out of his way to make a positive impact on so many people in our community, including his charitable contributions to Children’s Minnesota.

We thank Mikko for everything he has done for our organization and wish him and his family the best in the future."

 

So no Mikko Koivu and no Eric Staal.
Welcome to Minnesota Kirill Kaprizov, you’ll be playing wing and center on your own line

 

Guerin seems to be aggressively tearing down the Wild. They weren’t going to be good in 20-21, so being proactive may be prudent. Still, it’s a bit shocking to see them move on from names and talent with little to show for it.

 

And reportedly listening to offers for Dumba.
The signings of Suter and Parise were huge swings and misses.

I like your perspective on it Dan, Guerin is just proactively doing what needs to be done.

 

Good stuff guy's.

What I dont understand is Guerin trading picks... for example a conditional 7th for Nick Bjugstad. Its not much, but why trade potential, when your blowing things up?

Zucker gone, Koivu gone, Staal... coaching changes - they seem desperate, but i guess thats why they call it 'blowing things up'.

 

That 7th will remain a Wild selection if conditions (and Bjugstad’s history) is a guide. And Rutherford is paying half his salary. That’s too good to pass up on for virtually every team.

 

they need someone to play center Will.
Id say that Guerin did really well in that deal. First shoe to drop for the league, it's going to be very expensive to shed salary this off season and this was the first indicator.

 

The latest from Bettman regarding next season...

The NHL is planning for a full 82-game schedule next season and the usual four-round, best-of-7 format in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Commissioner Gary Bettman said Saturday.

"I anticipate playing a full season next season, 82 games, full playoffs," Commissioner Bettman said. "How and when we do that is something that we don't all have enough information to make any decisions, and anything would just be sheer speculation. Our goal is to get back to as greatest sense of normalcy as possible under whatever circumstances are presented."

The NHL initially targeted Dec. 1 as a possible start date for next season with the understanding that it was flexible and could be pushed back. Commissioner Bettman said next season might not begin until late December, if not possibly January.

The NHL paused this season March 12 because of concerns surrounding the coronavirus. It developed a Return to Play Plan that included 24 of the 31 teams and resumed play Aug. 1 with games in two Canada hub cities with no fans in the arenas. It began with a Stanley Cup Qualifiers round of round-robin games and eight best-of-5 series.

All Western Conference games were played at Rogers Place in Edmonton; all Eastern Conference games through the second round of the playoffs were played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

Edmonton has been the hub city for the conference finals and the Stanley Cup Final, which can extend to Sept. 30. Commissioner Bettman was speaking there prior to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars.

"My preference would be to stay out of summer as much as possible," Commissioner Bettman said. "Our fans typically like watching us through the fall, winter and into the spring, and it's always been a goal to be done by the end of June. Playing in late July, August and September was important to do now. If we can avoid it we will, but it's premature to have an answer other than we understand the issue and we're going to try to deal with it as best we can."

Commissioner Bettman said the NHL is looking into every option for how next season could play out but that it's premature to draw conclusions because much will depend on government restrictions that could be in place because of the pandemic.

"There is still so much we don't know," the Commissioner said. "Nobody can tell me whether or not the border between Canada and the United States is going to be open by a date certain. Nobody can tell me what the state of COVID-19 is going to be. Nobody can tell me whether or not our arenas will be able to have either socially distanced or fully occupied buildings."

NHL.com

 

Draisaitl wins Heart and Lindsay...

Josi wins Norris...

Hellebuyck wins Vezina...

Makar wins Calder...

 

Craig Anderson will not be offered a contract by the Ottawa Senators, general manager Pierre Dorion said Wednesday.

The 39-year-old goalie was 11-17-2 with a 3.25 goals-against average and .902 save percentage in 34 games (31 starts) this season, and 202-168-46 with a 2.84 GAA, .914 save percentage and 28 shutouts in 435 games (422 starts) during 10 seasons with the Senators.

Anderson, who will become an unrestricted free agent Oct. 9, is first in Senators history in wins and second in shutouts, two behind Patrick Lalime.

"Craig should be given so much credit, it's one of the best trades [former Senators GM] Bryan Murray made," Dorion said. "He's the winningest goalie in this organization. I'll go on the record and say he's the most performing goalie in this organization, the best goalie we've ever had. But it's time for us to take another direction and we thank him for everything he did."

Anderson, acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche for goalie Brian Elliott on Feb. 18, 2011, was 21-18 with a 2.30 GAA, .928 save percentage and three shutouts in 40 Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Senators and helped them reach Game 7 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Final, a 3-2 double-overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He won the Masterton Trophy for perseverance and dedication to hockey in 2016-17, when he had to take several leaves of absence to be with his wife, Nicholle, who was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a rare form of throat cancer. The day after Game 7 of the conference final, Anderson learned Nicholle was cancer-free.

"When we made that run a few years ago, everyone knows that Craig was probably our MVP," Dorion said. "It's unfortunate that we were never able to win a Cup with Craig, but Craig did many wonderful things for this organization."

Selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the third round (No. 73) of the 2001 NHL Draft, Anderson is 289-251-67 with two ties, a 2.84 GAA, .913 save percentage and 42 shutouts in 648 games (633 starts) with the Senators, Avalanche, Florida Panthers and Blackhawks.

Anders Nilsson and Marcus Hogberg each backed up Anderson in 2019-20. Nilsson (concussion) hasn't played since Dec. 16 and is not yet on the ice, but Dorion said he's feeling better and thinks he'll be ready by next season.

Braden Holtby, Corey Crawford, Robin Lehner, Jacob Markstrom and Anton Khudobin are among pending unrestricted free agent goalies. Matt Murray can become a restricted free agent, and Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford told The Athletic on Aug. 24 that Murray or Tristan Jarry (a pending RFA) likely will be traded prior to next season.

Joey Daccord, 24, will compete with Filip Gustavsson, 22, to start for the Senators' American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville after going 15-6-2 with a 2.61 GAA, .915 save percentage and one shutout in his first full pro season. Daccord has made one NHL start for Ottawa, allowing five goals on 40 shots in a 5-2 loss at the Buffalo Sabres on April 4, 2019.

Junior goalies Mads Sogaard, 19, and Kevin Mandolese, 20, each is working his way up.

"First and foremost, we're going to look internally at what we have," Dorion said. "If a free agent does make sense, we're going to look at that possibility. We will be well prepared. We're going to have meetings about free agents, the coaching staff, [coach D.J. Smith], [assistant GM Peter MacTavish] and myself. I've always believed that a coach should be involved in this process because he's going to play these players."

The Senators (25-34-12, .437 points percentage) failed to make the playoffs for a third straight season and did not make the Stanley Cup Qualifiers as part of the NHL Return to Play Plan. They have the No. 3, No. 5 and No. 28 picks in the 2020 NHL Draft, to be held Oct. 6-7. Ottawa acquired the No. 3 pick in the trade that sent defenseman Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks on Sept. 13, 2018 and the No. 28 pick from the New York Islanders in a trade for center Jean-Gabriel Pageau on Feb. 24.

It's the first time a team has had two top-five selections since the Islanders (No. 1 and No. 5) in the 2000 NHL Draft.

"We're going to draft the best player that's going to help us win as we move forward through this plan," Dorion said. "We have a lot of needs. We finished in 30th, 31st and 30th place over the last year, so we have a lot of needs. We have a lot of prospects coming at multiple positions, but we're going to draft who we feel is going to help us win in the near future and in the long term."

NHL.com

 

I like your perspective on it Dan, Guerin is just proactively doing what needs to be done.


I agree Matty.........something has to be done..........and change can be a Good Thing.....according to Bill.