Welcome back hockey fans! Welcome to Week 11 of our news from around the world of hockey and around the league. Hoping you are all doing well, so let’s jump right in. The news from around the league this week:
- The NHL have announced that they have hired former Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland to their hockey operations department as a consultant. Holland has an extensive resume with a lot of experience and he will bring a fresh perspective to the league. We wish him all the best.
- We have a trade in the game. The Washington Capitals have traded for centre Lars Eller, who was previously on the team from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a 2025 5th-round pick and a 2027 3rd-round pick. Eller, 35, spent 7 seasons with the Capitals and helped them win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2018. This season, Eller has put up 4 goals and 3 assists in 17 games, in his second season with the Penguins. This may be a sign that Pittsburgh is looking at rebuilding/retooling a bit given their difficult start to the season of 6-9-2. They face off against the Detroit Red Wings while the Caps take on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- Speaking of the Maple Leafs, it sounds like defenceman Jani Hakanpaa has been removed from the LTIR conditioning loan and could be playing soon for the team, after signing a one-year, $1.47 million deal. We hope to see him playing soon after last appearing for the Dallas Stars.
- The Calgary Flames have announced that Anthony Mantha will be out for the remainder of the season due to an ACL injury sustained in the game against the Montreal Canadiens, that will require surgery, planned very soon. Mantha, 30, signed a 1-year, $3.5 million contract and had put up 4 goals and 3 assists in 12 games thus far. This will be a bit of a loss to the Flames, who have had a good start to the season going 8-9-3 and competing thus far for a playoff spot. But the team has some good young prospects that can come in and fill that role.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have claimed Dante Fabbro off of waivers after being placed there by the Nashville Predators, who is a right handed shot defenceman and has played 6 games for the Predators and already 1 one game for the BLue Jackets. This does give the Blue Jackets some depth on the blueline as the team has struggled a bit going 5-8-2 thus far and losing to the Seattle Kraken.
- The Vancouver Canucks have traded forward Daniel Sprong to Seattle for future considerations. Sprong, 27, has played 9 games for the Canucks this season, putting up 1 goals and 2 assists. He is normally a bottom 6 guy who can do a lot for each team and we wish him all the best in Seattle. Vacnouver is coming off a 3-1 win against the Calgary Flames, while the Seattle Kraken are coming off a 5 to 2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
- We also had the Hockey Hall of Fame ceremony take place and fans got to see the inauguration, Jeremy Roenick, Shea Weber, Pavel Datsyuk, Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell in the player category along with David Poile and Colin Campbell entered as builders. It was a beautiful ceremony and it showcases the impact people in the world of hockey have on and off the ice.
- As always, there is a lot more news so make sure to tune in for our aired Season 6, Episode 11 of Two Guys & Hockey Talk. We dive into some great topics and much more.
Thoughts? Questions? Suggestions? Then remember to tune in each week to get all the latest news in the world of hockey. For more hockey news, different takes or if you want to chat about anything hockey give me a follow @hockey_two on TWITTER and give us a follow on YouTube, or at https://twoguysandhockeytalk.com/.
- Pawel ‘The Cat’
