Good morning Hockey fans,
- Brandon Sutter, has announced his retirement after the Edmonton Oilers released him from his PTO. Sutter, who came back to play again after missing the last two seasons amid a battle with long COVID, wasn’t able to play up to his standards, and he announced he would step away from the game. Sutter last played during the 2020-21 with the Vancouver Canucks putting up 12 points in 43 games. He also tallied 152 goals and 289 points in 770 career NHL games, playing for Vancouver, the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. We wish him all the best and hope to see him soon back involved in the game.
- The Calgary Flames have signed Mikael Backlund to a two-year, $9 million dollar contract extension (with an annual average value of $4.5 million). They also named him the 21st captain in Flames franchise history, after going last season without one. Craig Conroy, the GM of the Calgary Flames noted that Backlund is a great leader on and off the ice, so much so, that this past summer, he was named the 2023 King Clancy Memorial Trophy winner for his humanitarian efforts throughout the 2022-23 season, becoming the first Flames player to win the award since Jarome Iginla in 2003-04. He is very deserving as Calgary looks to make the playoffs and still need to re-sign Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin.
- In other sad news (and there is no easy way to transition to this), Calgary Flames vice-president of data and analytics and assistant general manager Chris Snow has died of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was 42 years old, and had a beautiful family (his wife Kelsie, and their children Cohen and Willa). Chris was also a great leader on and off the ice, always willing to step up whenever need be and they noted in their press conference “He continued to do his job to the best of his ability every day.” The Calgary Flames Foundation has raised almost $600,000 for ALS research in a “Snowy Strong” campaign in honour of Chris Snow and we hope we can make strides combating this disease.
- The Anaheim Ducks also have taken care of some business as they have signed one of their big young stars Trevor Zegras, to a three-year, $17.25 million dollar contract (with an AAV of $5.75 million dollars). Zegras, 22, played 81 games last season on a struggling Anaheim team, and had 23 goals and 42 assists last season. He also is very electric and a great personality for the game and is making hockey fun, including the Michigan Goal. We wish him all the best, as the Ducks turn to trying to sign RFA Jamie Drysdale.
- The pre-season is way under way and there is a huge waiver wire happening as teams begin to trim down their rosters. Lots of guys are heading back to the AHL or Europe as they continue to develop and get back to their original rosters. We will see the regular season start on Tuesday, October 10, 2023 where we have the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning face off against each other.
- Speaking of the waiver wire, the Pittsburgh Penguins have added forward Jansen Harkins by way of Waivers from the Winnipeg Jets. Harkins, 26, who was a 2015 second round pick, was placed on Waivers on Sunday in hopes he’d clear and be able to help lead the offence with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose again this season but it looks like he will head to Pittsburgh. He spent his time between Winnipeg and Manitoba in the past few years (and put up 25 goals and 25 assists in 44 games last year). We wish him all the best.
- The Ottawa Senators have also placed Jacob Bernard-Docker, defenceman Jacob Larsson, left winger Matthew Highmore and right winger Egor Sokolov on waivers, as they try to continue to shed their roster. Bernard-Docker and Larsson were both first-round draft selections, with the former being selected 26th overall in 2018 by the Senators and the latter getting picked 27th in 2015 by the Anaheim Ducks. This comes after the they placed defenceman Lassi Thomson, who was picked #19th overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and he was picked up by Anaheim Ducks.
- We are looking forward to seeing more hockey as we continue to watch a lot of hockey and prepare for the new 2023/24 season.
Thoughts? Lots is ramping up as we near the beginning of the season. Therefore remember to tune in each week to get all the latest news in the world of hockey.
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- Pawel ‘The Cat’
