NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is asking the Arizona Legislature to pass a bill - Senate Bill 1149 - that would provide public funds for a new arena for the Coyotes.
In a letter submitted Tuesday, Bettman maintained the Greater Phoenix region represents a "strong hockey market which we are proud to have included in the NHL." At the same time, however, the current home arena situation is untenable at best.
Bettman wrote:
The Coyotes current location in Glendale at Gila River Arena is not economically capable of supporting a successful NHL franchise. For the past 15 years a succession of ownership groups have have tried everything imaginable to make the Glendale location financial sustainable. Our combined efforts have all yielded the same result - a consistent economic loss.
The simple truth: The Arizona Coyotes must have a new arena location to succeed. The Coyotes cannot and will not remain in Glendale.
On Feb. 3, Arizona State University pulled the plug on a proposed new home for the Coyotes in Tempe.
The passing of Bill SB 1149 would open up $225 million in public funds for a $395-million arena project in the East Valley area of Phoenix.
In the meantime, the Coyotes remain on a year-to-year lease at Gila River Arena.
The changing of the guard in Los Angeles is going to be a rough transition, to say the least.
While the Kings still have a few premier offensive pieces in Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter, they're also shelling out over $18 million this season for four forwards over the age of 30 - with only Carter living up to his hefty salary.
The club has established an identity as a hard-nosed, veteran squad, well aware of what it takes to cut it in the big leagues. But what does that mean for the few young prospects on the roster?
For winger Tanner Pearson, it means a much-improved payday is coming up quick.
Putting points on the board
The 24-year-old has taken a significant step forward this season, already boasting a career-best 22 goals and 40 points with 17 games remaining on the Kings' schedule.
He posted just 15 goals and 36 points last season, but has raised his points per game pace for the fourth consecutive season in 2016-17, currently sitting at a clip of 0.63.
Pearson has been especially clutch as of late, posting the ninth-most goals in the league (11) since the calendar turned to 2017. His four game-winners over that span are tied for third-most in the league.
His totals aren't exactly jaw-dropping, but their importance to Los Angeles' success is much more clear when viewed in the context of his team's overall production.
Kings of complacency
Heading into the home stretch of the season, Pearson is the only King aside from leading scorer - and linemate - Carter to top 20 goals.
Kopitar, who's made his name as one of the most talented pivots in the sport, has only eight goals up to this point, despite posting 25 just last season and reaching the 20-goal plateau on seven other occasions throughout his career.
Veteran sniper Marian Gaborik, who potted 27 goals for L.A. two seasons ago, has been limited by injury once again, hindering his effectiveness. The 35-year-old has yet to suit up for a full campaign since joining the Kings, and has just seven goals through 42 games this season.
Meanwhile, Pearson's fellow young gun, Tyler Toffoli, has missed 19 games as well, his tumultuous season causing a regression in terms of his goals per game and point per game paces. He's managed just 12 tallies on the year so far.
Ready for a raise
As the Kings scratch and claw for one of the final Western Conference playoff berths, Pearson and Carter have seemingly been the only success stories, each posting resurgent offensive campaigns to help their club make the climb.
In the case of the younger King, it couldn't have come at a better time.
Pearson's modest two-year, $2.8-million deal expires this summer, at which time he'll become a restricted free agent. There's no question this season's circumstances are going to bump up the young forward's value.
Imagine if he had hit free-agency just one year earlier?
At the tail end of 2016, six players sat above Pearson on the team's scoring chart.
Toffoli emerged as the better of the two prospects, finishing with 31 goals on the season, while Kopitar, Carter, and Milan Lucic each topped the 20-goal plateau. Even defenders Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin outscored Pearson that season.
But what a difference a year makes.
Pearson seems set to finish as the Kings' second-best goal-scorer this time around, already sitting with 10 more goals than the team's next-highest scorer.
He won't be raking in an absurd amount of cash this summer, but with the rest of the team's forward corps faltering - and aging - and Pearson hitting a new level, he's undoubtedly made good on his bridge deal and earned a significant raise.
Los Angeles has $13.6 million in projected cap space next season, according to CapFriendly, with most of its core names already locked up long term.
That means there should be plenty of room to bump up Pearon's annual salary. And after two years of earning half as much as fellow youngster Toffoli, Pearson's performance has him set to see a much smaller discrepancy when the two sign their next deals this summer.
Don Sweeney's tenure as general manager of the Boston Bruins hasn't exactly been well revered by the hockey community. But at least one of his moves has, and will continue to, pay major dividends for his club.
Right before last summer's free agency period hit, Sweeney inked defenseman Torey Krug to a four-year, $21-million contract extension, a decision that's gotten nothing but positive returns so far.
Krug, 25, is manufacturing a career season, and has emerged as the Bruins' most reliable rearguard among an otherwise average platoon of defenders.
Save for Schultz's and Shattenkirk's impending July 1 pay raise, Krug's $5.25-million cap hit is substantially smaller compared to the who's who of all-stars he trails in production.
With only six goals to his name, Krug has staked his claim as a premier setup man - of his 38 assists, Krug's recorded the primary helper on 24 of the tallies he's had a hand in creating.
If Krug needed a new deal this summer instead of last, it's safe to assume that after the season he's put together, he'd fetch more money than his current contract. Instead, Sweeney can allocate the extra funds to improving his club as a whole, a task that starts with mapping a new contract for sniper David Pastrnak.
Krug's evolved into a legitimate top-pairing defender, and beyond nearing a new career high in points, he's averaging the most shifts per game (26.8) among all Boston's blue-liners. He's become an integral piece to the Bruins' core, and for the next three seasons after this one, he'll be doing so at a premium.
Boston Bruins forward Ryan Spooner has been diagnosed with a concussion and will be sidelined indefinitely in accordance with NHL protocols, general manager Don Sweeney announced.
The injury occurred during the third period of Monday's loss in Ottawa.
Spooner's injury comes as the Bruins sit third in the Atlantic Division and in search of their first playoff berth in three years. Spooner had also been playing better as of late under interim head coach Bruce Cassidy, who had slotted him back in a familiar third-line center role.
The 25-year-old appeared in 65 games for the Bruins this season, with 11 goals and 23 assists to his credit, good for sixth in team scoring.
Not much is known about what's ailing Kris Letang, but we do know he won't be traveling with the Pittsburgh Penguins on a five-game road trip that will span the next eight days.
Officially listed as being out with an upper-body injury, Letang hasn't played since Feb. 21, and head coach Mike Sullivan - who recently admitted the timeline is longer than day to day - isn't keen on discussing the particulars.
"Our medical staff has a good handle on it," Sullivan said Tuesday, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "When he’s ready to play or he’s getting close, and we get him on the ice, we’ll let you guys know. I really don’t want to go down the road of talking details of his injury. We’re hopeful here that he’s making progress."
Letang has missed time in recent years due to a variety of injuries, concussion and stroke being the most serious.
In 41 games this season, he's recorded five goals and 29 assists.
Of all the names to find themselves listed on new rosters after the trade deadline, Ben Bishop's was arguably the most intriguing.
The former Tampa Bay Lightning netminder's change of address wasn't the surprise - he was involved in trade talks dating back to last summer - but rather the fact that the Los Angeles Kings dealt for his services. And one day after longtime starter Jonathan Quick returned from injury, no less.
Now, as the Kings fight to claim a playoff spot, the potential of a timeshare in net looms, with Quick and Bishop both ranking among the top starters in the game.
That might not be a very welcome development for Bishop given his thoughts on splitting time in the past.
In an interview with ESPN's Scott Burnside this week, Bishop said the Lightning's setup in net this year wasn't exactly ideal.
"I was a little frustrated at the beginning of the season," Bishop said. "Coming off of probably my best season of my career and not getting to play as much as I wanted to in Tampa. I wanted to kind of keep it the same as the last three years, because it had been working.
"We started switching goalies back and forth in Tampa, and it wasn't working. We were falling in the standings and it was making me a little bit upset. Why fix what's not broken?"
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
Bishop posted an impressive .921 save percentage over his three-and-a-half seasons with the Lightning, alongside 17 shutouts. He finished second in Vezina Trophy voting last season, losing out to Washington Capitals starter Braden Holtby.
Following the deal that sent Bishop to California, Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said the trade wasn't simply a backup plan in case Quick was unable to find his form.
But he also stopped short of naming either man as the club's No. 1 option.
"Best-case scenario, assuming Jon is at the top of his game, what’s the best number of games to play him?" Lombardi said to Jon Rosen at the time. "We had sketched that out, and said, ‘You know what? It makes a lot of sense for him, but we better get essentially another No. 1.'"
In the four games since Los Angeles acquired Bishop, he and Quick have each started twice. Quick earned the Kings' only win during that stretch - a shootout victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Maple Leafs broadcaster Joe Bowen will call his 3,000th game Tuesday when Toronto hosts the Detroit Red Wings at Air Canada Centre.
What's exceptional about Bowen, and one of the many reasons he's become entrenched in Maple Leafs history, isn't simply the passion and enthusiasm he brings to the booth every night. It's that he has maintained it through so many lean years since his start almost 35 years ago.
To celebrate his zest across 3,000 nights, relive his call from a potential landmark moment in franchise history and harbinger of future glory: Auston Matthews' four-goal debut.
The Philadelphia Flyers will look to up their odds at a postseason ticket with three critical contests on this week's docket.
With dates against the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins, the Flyers will need to collect points from teams surrounding them in the playoff chase. Both Toronto and Boston stand ahead of the Flyers, while Buffalo is just two points behind.
All three matches are on road ice. Philadelphia is five games under .500 away from home this season (11-16-4), with the team faring much better in its own barn, posting a 19-10-4 mark.
The Flyers sit three points outside of the East's final playoff seed, held by the New York Islanders, while three clubs separate the two squads.
Konecny recently returned from an ankle injury that kept him out of the lineup for nine games. He registered two shots in Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals. The rookie forward is expected to suit up alongside Chris VandeVelde and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare on Tuesday vs. the Sabres.
Philadelphia made the postseason in 2015-16 but saw an early exit against the Capitals. The Flyers have not won a playoff series since 2012.
NHL executives are evidently content with the otherwise contentious offside rules for coach's challenges and video review.
Executive vice president and director of operations Colin Campbell said Tuesday at the annual general manager meetings that there will not be an amendment to the offside rule and challenge process, according to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun.
LeBrun said the issue will remain "status quo."
If not close to unanimous among fans and media types, there's been a strong opposition to this aspect of video replay. Most are bothered by the length of time it can take to overturn a call, while many others believe the frame-by-frame analysis - and the determination that players are indeed offside, but only fractionally - simply exceeds reason.
The issue will most certainly be revisited down the line. Considerations include abolishing the current mandate, or implementing more subtle modifications like honoring a lifted skate as onside and limiting the time coaches have to issue a challenge.
