Dan and Sat are joined by Shayna Goldman of The Athletic to talk about the Canucks' process catching up to the results and some headlines from around the NHL. Also, hear from Canucks Insider, Irfaan Gaffar, on what the Canucks are looking at ahead of the deadline.
This podcast was produced by Josh Elliott-Wolfe.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
Veteran free agent Phil Kessel is in Vancouver and will begin working out with AHL Abbotsford, Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced Tuesday.
Kessel has gone unsigned since becoming a UFA last summer. He said in November that he's eager to play and doesn't care about upholding his NHL-record ironman streak if he finds a fit.
The 36-year-old is on a 1,064-game regular-season streak but was a frequent scratch in the playoffs last spring as the Vegas Golden Knights marched to the Stanley Cup.
Kessel registered 14 goals and 22 assists in 82 games last season and is eight points shy of 1,000 for his career. He and Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet have previously worked together with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Arizona Coyotes.
The Canucks have approximately $316,000 in available money, according to CapFriendly, so they'd likely have to make a corresponding move to make room for Kessel.
Vancouver enters Tuesday's contest against the Chicago Blackhawks leading the league with 76 points.
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Dan and Sat discuss ESPN's ranking of defencemen in the NHL and Quinn Hughes' rank among them. Also, they get into what has changed for Hughes this season and how that's contributed to his growth.
This podcast was produced by Josh Elliott-Wolfe.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly has been suspended five games for cross-checking Ottawa Senators forward Ridly Greig, the NHL's Department of Player Safety announced Tuesday.
Barring an appeal, Rielly will be eligible to return from the ban on Feb. 22 against the Vegas Golden Knights. This is the first career suspension for the longtime Leaf.
The incident occurred in the final moments of Toronto's 5-3 loss to the Senators on Saturday. Rielly cross-checked Greig up high after the rookie took a slap shot into the empty net to cap off the contest.
Ridly Greig buries the empty-netter with a slapshot and Morgan Rielly takes exception 😳 pic.twitter.com/6NISK4AMSt
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 11, 2024
"This is also not an inadvertent or accidental use of the stick while leveraging for body position or other hockey purposes," the league said in their explanation. "This play occurs well after the goal has been scored, late in the game with the score out of reach, and for the sole purpose of retribution.
"Rielly pursues Greig for some time, and has sufficient opportunity to choose to engage him in a different manor, or ensure that this cross-check is delivered solely to the body. Instead, fully in control of this play at all times, Rielly chooses to lift his stick to the level of Greig's head and neck."
The brouhaha has been the topic of much debate for the past few days. Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves made waves with his comments Monday in support of Rielly's retaliation.
Rielly has taken just three major penalties in his 11-year career, including the game misconduct he earned Saturday. Before that, he'd racked up just eight penalty minutes this campaign.
The 29-year-old finished fourth in voting for the Lady Byng Trophy in 2019.
A key player for the Maple Leafs, Rielly has chipped in with 43 points - including 16 on the power play - in 50 games this season while averaging over 24 minutes of ice time per contest.
Detroit Red Wings forward David Perron was suspended six games earlier this season after an in-person hearing with the league for cross-checking Senators blue-liner Artem Zub. Perron appealed the suspension, but it was ultimately upheld.
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Matt and Blake talk about the Canucks ending (winning?) their road trip in Chicago against the still Bedard-less Chicago Blackhawks; Brock Boeser's appearance on Spittin' Chiclets and finally getting to 30 goals to "shut up" the media; ESPN finally giving Quinn Hughes his due with their defence rankings. The guys also look at Seattle and Arizona, barely hanging on in the Western Conference playoff race, and the potential availability of their UFAs prior to the trade deadline.
Irf Gaffar joins to talk deadline: Chris Tanev, Jake Guentzel, the profile of depth pieces. Does Cup experience matter? Handedness? Size? Irf sizes up a potential arms race in the Pacific with Vegas and Edmonton, comments on making defensive trades, and gives his take on the Canucks' form of late.
John Shannon joins and talks "The Code." He reveals that he has a leather-bound copy of the code, talks about the Detroit-Vancouver rematch Thursday, how he wasn't bothered by Ridley Greig's slapshot into an empty net, and how retribution often puts a team at a competitive disadvantage. John comments on the Penguins and Kraken falling out of the race and who might be available, as well as the Super Bowl telecast and its huge viewership. Presented by Applewood Auto Group.
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Brad Marchand will become the eighth Bruin to appear in 1,000 games with the franchise when Boston takes on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, but the captain is more focused on the future than the milestone.
"Feeling very grateful to have experienced all the things that I have and to be a part of so many great teams and be part of the best organization in the world," he said Monday, according to NHL.com's Eric Russo. "The more I think about it, I do know how extremely grateful and fortunate I've been. But at the same time, I still try to not get caught up in it because I feel like I have a lot of time left, still have so many big dreams and goals.
"I still feel like a kid a lot of times, so many things that I want to accomplish with this group and this team. You don't ever want it to end."
One of those dreams is to make the Hall of Fame.
The Bruins selected Marchand in the third round of the 2006 NHL Draft. He's added his name into the organization's record books through 999 games, ranking fifth all-time in goals (397) and points (910) as well as first in shorthanded goals (35). Boston won the Stanley Cup during his first full NHL season in 2010-11, and Marchand currently boasts the second-most postseason goals (53) and points (128) in franchise history.
Bruins head coach John Montgomery said he feels Marchand is worthy of a call to the Hall, and the winger is ready to put in the work.
"Is it achievable? I don't know," Marchand said. "I see the amount of time I feel like I can still play. I don't know what it takes to get there, but I'm going to play every single day and come to the rink every day and try to get better and try to play as long as I can. If it happens, it happens."
Boston will honor Marchand for reaching the 1,000-game milestone in a pregame ceremony on Feb. 19.
"It is special to look back and see how far (I've) come, but hopefully it's just a building block to many more," he said.
The Bruins' 32-11-9 record is the second-best in the league, but they will be looking to rebound from Saturday's listless 3-0 loss to the Washington Capitals when they take on the Lightning.
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Another day, another split for our sides and totals. The Devils cruised to victory against the Kraken, but, unfortunately, the Golden Knights laid a rare egg at home.
We'll take the split and aim for a sweep with a couple of sides for Tuesday's card.
The Senators are really starting to turn a corner. They own a 6-2-2 record over the last 10 games and have posted sparkling underlying numbers, controlling a larger share of the expected goals at five-on-five than all but the Panthers during that span.
Shane Pinto's return has given the Senators three lines capable of driving play and producing offense, while the team's defense is making some traction under head coach Jacques Martin.
Although the goaltending remains hit-and-miss, that shouldn't be too problematic against the Blue Jackets.
They spend a lot of every game on their heels and aren't the most threatening team to opposing goaltenders. The Jackets rank 22nd in expected goal generation and 24th in goals over the last 10 games.
They also have goaltending issues of their own. Elvis Merzlikins has allowed three-plus goals in nine of his last 11 starts, while Daniil Tarasov has conceded at least three in all but two games all season.
I don't think the Blue Jackets' defense and goaltending will hold up against a vastly improving Senators team. Injuries to Adam Fantilli and Yegor Chinakhov also make it a lot harder for Columbus to keep up offensively.
Look for the Senators to take care of business inside 60 minutes.
Bet: Senators in regulation (-130)
The Hurricanes finally look like the team everyone expected them to be before the season.
They're dominating in the shot and chance departments every night. With Andrei Svechnikov healthy again, Carolina is much more likely to convert those edges into results.
The Hurricanes are also getting improved play between the pipes. They don't need great goaltending to win games because of how strong they are defensively. Carolina just needs competency, which the team is now getting.
On paper, the Stars have a much better goaltending tandem. Jake Oettinger hasn't been great this season, though, and the play we're seeing from him and Scott Wedgewood is especially underwhelming.
Dallas owns a .895 team save percentage since the calendar flipped. That's nowhere close to good enough for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations.
If the Stars aren't going to reliably get saves, I don't like their chances against an elite shot-generation team that gives up very little at the other end.
I also think Dallas removing Wyatt Johnston from the top line is a mistake the team may pay for in this game. The top line with Pavelski is only plus-three on the season over 400 minutes (it's plus-eight with Johnston over a much smaller sample), and their underlying numbers are nowhere close to as strong.
Without Johnston, Dallas' top line is much less likely to win a best-on-best battle against Carolina's top line.
This should be a hotly contested game, but I like the Hurricanes to leave with two points when all is said and done.
Bet: Hurricanes (+100)
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X at @ToddCordell.
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Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.
It was a solid start to the week for our player props. We cashed two of three, including a Jack Hughes goal prop at a fruitful +130 price.
We'll look to keep the ball rolling with three more plays for a massive Tuesday card.
Pastrnak is always a priority target on home ice. He's averaging 5.2 shots on goal per game in Boston this season and has gone over his total at a healthy 62% clip.
The 27-year-old's hit rate is even higher if the contest is remotely competitive. Of the last five home games that Pastrnak failed to hit his total, all five were decided by three-plus goals. If the matchup is close and there's reason to push for more offense, Pastrnak comes through at an even higher rate.
I expect we'll get a competitive game in this one. The Bruins are coming off a shutout loss in their own building and are looking to get back on track. The Lightning - winners in seven of their last 10 - won't be pushovers against a divisional rival.
Seven of the past eight contests between Boston and Tampa Bay were decided by two or fewer goals, with one goal being the difference in five matchups. The games are almost always close when these two sides square off, which no doubt plays a part in Pastrnak having five shots or more in six of the last eight versus the Lightning.
Look for Pastrnak to rebound following a quiet game against the Capitals.
Odds: -125 (playable to -140)
Like many goal-scorers, Caufield has rather extreme home/road splits. He averages four shots per game in Montreal and has a 56% success rate. However, he produces just 3.1 shots per contest and hits 40% of the time on the road.
Caufield has a mouthwatering matchup on home ice Tuesday, which is what I love about him. The Ducks are one of the NHL's worst shot-suppression teams, giving up nearly 33 shots per game this season.
Anaheim struggles mightily at five-on-five and is an unmitigated disaster while killing penalties. It ranks 32nd in shot attempts against and 31st in expected goals against on the penalty kill. The Ducks also average 6:28 per game down at least one man - the highest total in the NHL.
At home against a poor defensive team that parades to the box nightly, Caufield couldn't find himself in a better position for shooting success.
Look for him to stay hot and go over his total at home for the eighth time in 11 games.
Odds: -122 (playable to -135)
Since joining the Red Wings, Kane has shown remarkable consistency with his shot generation. He's averaged 3.3 shots on nearly six attempts per game and has gone over his line 14 times in just 20 tries. That's a 70% success rate.
Kane has skated on the second line since rejoining the lineup following injury. I don't think that's a bad thing, at least not in a road game against Edmonton.
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch tends to use best on best, meaning the dominant trio of Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins should mostly see Detroit's top line.
That would lead to a lot of ice for Kane against the Leon Draisaitl line, which doesn't spend as much time in the offensive zone and gives up many more shots and chances.
Kane recorded three shots on eight attempts when these teams met in January. He also recorded at least three shots in nine straight meetings versus the Oilers dating back a few seasons.
Odds: +124 (playable to -115)
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X at @ToddCordell.
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