All posts by Josh Gold-Smith

Caufield: Extension talks with Canadiens ‘in the back of my mind’

Cole Caufield admits he hasn't fully blocked out his contract negotiations.

"You try not to (think about it), but you really can't really get away from it," the Montreal Canadiens star told the media, including TSN, on Friday. "It's everywhere, you hear it a lot. But for me, (I'm) just trying to stay away from it. It's going to happen when it happens."

On Tuesday, it was reported the Canadiens and Caufield's agent, Pat Brisson, opened preliminary contract talks roughly a month ago. The 22-year-old winger confirmed as much Friday and acknowledged he's given it some thought.

"Obviously, I love being here. I love this team and this group of guys, so (I'll) just take it one step at a time, but for sure it's in the back of my mind," he said.

When asked whether the dollar amount or terms are sticking points in talks, Caufield downplayed the notion of either one being a reason there's no deal yet.

"Honestly, I don't really see it like that," he said. "It's probably just (about) the best fit for me. (Brisson) and the guys behind the scenes take care of those things, but I'm not too worried."

Caufield also said he's in no rush to finalize anything at the moment. The young sniper is a pending restricted free agent who's in the final year of his entry-level pact. He's due for a hefty raise from his current average annual value of approximately $881,000.

The American has racked up 26 goals and 10 assists over 46 games in 2022-23. He produced 23 tallies and 20 helpers over 67 contests last season, including 22 of those goals in the 37 games he played after the Canadiens replaced head coach Dominique Ducharme with Martin St. Louis.

Caufield is in his third season and second full campaign with the Habs, who drafted him 15th overall in 2019. He won the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA's top men's hockey player in 2021.

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Pacioretty tears Achilles for 2nd time in 5 months

Max Pacioretty tore his Achilles tendon late in Thursday's win over the Minnesota Wild, the Carolina Hurricanes announced.

Pacioretty sustained the same injury in August, which delayed his Hurricanes debut until January.

Carolina acquired Pacioretty in a July trade with the Vegas Golden Knights. The 34-year-old scored three goals in the five contests in which he suited up with the Canes.

Pacioretty also departed Carolina's victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 12 with an injury that was unrelated to his first Achilles tear. He missed the next two contests with that ailment before returning Thursday.

The veteran forward has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, and especially recently. He was limited to 39 games last season and missed eight in 2021. Pacioretty was able to play all 71 tilts for Vegas in the abbreviated 2019-20 campaign, but he suited up for only 66 and 64 in the two prior seasons, respectively.

Pacioretty played his first 10 campaigns with the Montreal Canadiens, who drafted him 22nd overall in 2007. The Connecticut-born winger spent his next four with the Golden Knights before they shipped him to the Hurricanes.

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Panthers’ Staal exits after questionable hit by Habs’ Matheson

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Michael Matheson wasn't penalized for a hit that injured Florida Panthers forward Eric Staal on Thursday night.

Matheson stopped, turned slightly, and caught Staal up high when both players pursued the puck along the boards late in the first period.

Staal left the game and was later ruled out for the remainder.

The Panthers lost goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to an injury earlier in the contest.

Matheson, a former Panthers blue-liner who turns 29 in February, is in his first season with the Canadiens. Staal is a 38-year-old ex-Hab in his first campaign with Florida.

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Oilers’ Kane: NHL, players must promote themselves better

Evander Kane wants the NHL and his fellow players to improve the way they market themselves.

"Hockey has always been more of a reserved sport. We must do a much better job promoting our athletes as a league," the Edmonton Oilers forward told Andscape's Adam Aziz.

"It's not just on the league but also the players," Kane continued. "Guys have to want to put themselves out there. Get in front of the camera and open their mouths to showcase themselves. We don't have many guys that enjoy doing that type of stuff. I could count on one hand the guys who are genuinely good at it. When you look at many of the players the NHL tries to promote and use as faces of the league, they are some of the quietest, reserved people."

Some may interpret Kane's final point as a dig at Oilers captain Connor McDavid, but the winger heaped praise on the center when asked how McDavid handled reporters pointing out Kane's history of off-ice controversy when Kane was on the verge of signing with Edmonton last January.

"(McDavid is) the best player ever to play the game," Kane said. "It felt like the media had this hit piece on me and tried to get everybody to denounce and cancel me without knowing the facts. And you fast forward to almost a year later now, it's funny how things change.

"For Connor, it showed he was not a follower. He's a leader. We have a lot of followers in society and a lot of followers in our game. It was refreshing to see that type of leadership. When I looked at the landscape of where I could go at that time, his comments meant quite a bit to me."

Kane has been one of the most outspoken players ever since he arrived in the NHL, and he's been trying to get the league to improve its marketing efforts for years. Back in 2014 while with the Winnipeg Jets, he questioned why other leagues were better at it and said hockey is in the entertainment business.

"If you are mindful of that, maybe me winning money in Las Vegas and being excited about it - like anyone else would - isn't the worst thing in the world," he said at the time.

The veteran forward was referring to the furor that arose over a photo he posted on Twitter during the lockout in 2012 that showed him holding stacks of money and pretending to use them as a phone to call boxer Floyd Mayweather from his Vegas hotel room.

Kane is in his second season with the Oilers and his 14th in the NHL.

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Canucks unveil 3rd jersey featuring classic skate logo

The Vancouver Canucks are turning back the clock and acknowledging their history in more ways than one with a new alternate uniform.

The club revealed its new third jersey on the same night it paid tribute to late fan favorite Gino Odjick, who donned the original "Black Skate" sweater during his playing days. He died Sunday at the age of 52.

The Canucks used the "Black Skate" as their primary logo from 1978-97, according to SportsLogos.net. They've occasionally brought the classic jersey back in smaller doses, including for a few games in 2019-20 during their 50th anniversary season.

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Flyers’ Provorov refused to wear Pride Night jersey during warmup

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov chose not to take part in the pregame warmup before playing in Tuesday's win over the Anaheim Ducks because the hosts were celebrating Pride Night to support the LGBTQ community.

"I respect everyone. I respect everybody's choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion," Provorov said afterward, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer's Giana Han.

The blue-liner, who is Russian Orthodox, declined to elaborate and said he'd only take hockey questions. The team also prevented reporters from following up on the subject, per Han.

The club emphasized its inclusion efforts in a postgame statement.

"The Philadelphia Flyers organization is committed to inclusivity and is proud to support the LGBTQ+ community," the statement reads, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia's Jordan Hall. "Many of our players are active in their support of local LGBTQ+ organizations, and we were proud to host our annual Pride Night again this year. The Flyers will continue to be strong advocates for inclusivity and the LGBTQ+ community."

Flyers head coach John Tortorella spoke to reporters before Provorov and made the same point the rearguard did, stating Provorov was "being true to himself and his religion." The bench boss added, "That's one thing I respect about Provy," and said he didn't consider benching him for the game itself.

The Flyers wore Pride-themed warmup jerseys and used warmup sticks wrapped in rainbow-colored Pride tape before Tuesday's game. The team also hosted a pregame skate for local LGBTQ youth, who attended the game as guests of the club and then met forwards James van Riemsdyk and Scott Laughton afterward.

Last Tuesday, it was reported the Flyers were listening to calls about Provorov's potential availability in a trade. The 26-year-old is under contract through 2024-25.

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Report: Bruins, Pastrnak make progress in extension talks

The Boston Bruins and David Pastrnak appear to be closer to getting a deal done.

The two sides made progress in extension negotiations last week, TSN's Darren Dreger reported on Tuesday's edition of "Insider Trading."

Pastrnak, a pending unrestricted free agent, has vaulted into the Hart Trophy conversation during his contract year. The 26-year-old ranks second in the NHL with 35 goals and third behind only Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl with 62 points across 43 games. He's notched 19 more goals and 22 more points than the closest teammates.

The dynamic winger is the Bruins' highest-paid forward. He's in the final year of a six-year pact carrying a cap hit of $6.67 million, according to CapFriendly.

Pastrnak shared the "Rocket" Richard Trophy with Alex Ovechkin in 2019-20 when they racked up 48 goals apiece. Pastrnak is in his ninth campaign with the club that drafted him 25th overall in 2014.

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Sens’ Chabot: Blowout loss to Avs one of the worst games I’ve played

Thomas Chabot was frank when assessing his performance in a 7-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.

"Especially for myself, I think it was probably one of the worst games I've ever played, personally," the Ottawa Senators defenseman said. "It happened, it's a game, but it's unacceptable for me. You've got to move on, (and) it's going to be a long night thinking about it."

Senators captain Brady Tkachuk also wasn't proud of his or Ottawa's play in the blowout.

"It's embarrassing," he said. "(We) just can't keep doing this. It's frustrating. I'm at a loss for words right now.

"I wouldn't even say we were looking for answers," he added. "We were just awful all night from start to finish. I don't think we had momentum shift on our side. They were just coming at us all game, (and) it was just unacceptable. That can never happen."

The Senators trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes before giving up two more goals in the second period and three in the third. Mikko Rantanen, Artturi Lehkonen, and Alex Newhook each buried a pair of tallies in Colorado's victory, with the latter two players adding an assist apiece. Brad Hunt potted the other marker.

Colorado only outshot Ottawa by four (33-29). Still, the victors controlled puck possession and converted one of their two power-play opportunities, while the Sens went 0-for-3 on the man advantage. The Avalanche also accounted for 57.49% of the game's expected goals and a 51.85% share of the scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Chabot's underlying numbers illustrate how poorly he played. The Senators controlled only 33.12% of the expected goals with him on the ice at five-on-five and a mere 23.53% share of the scoring chances. He had one giveaway and no takeaways in 23:13 of ice time.

To his credit, the 25-year-old ranks among the NHL's best in terms of his workload, averaging 25:59 of ice time to go along with 22 points in 37 games this season.

Colorado had lost seven of its previous eight games, including a humiliating 3-2 defeat to the league-worst Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. The Avalanche have been without numerous impact players all season due to injuries.

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Canucks probing their handling of Pearson’s injury after Hughes’ remark

The Vancouver Canucks are looking into how they dealt with Tanner Pearson's season-ending injury after teammate Quinn Hughes raised concern about the situation Thursday night.

Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford told Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre the club started an internal review Friday to find out exactly what happened with the veteran forward. Rutherford claims he didn't know there were any potential issues with Pearson's medical care until Hughes brought it up following a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

"I feel bad for him. I mean, it wasn't handled properly, and you know, it's not really a good situation he's got there, and hopefully, he's going to be alright," Hughes said.

The blue-liner clarified the comments Friday.

"I wasn't trying to direct blame at anyone," Hughes said, according to MacIntyre. "I don't think it's really anyone's fault. It's just an unfortunate situation. But in a situation like that, of course, I care about my teammates and, you know, I hate to see a guy go through hell like that."

Rutherford added that upon hearing what Hughes initially said, the executive spoke to general manager Patrik Allvin and head coach Bruce Boudreau, both of whom also claimed to be unaware of any issues pertaining to Pearson aside from his multiple setbacks.

"At that point, I just started to gather information and talk to people that are involved and start to do an investigation as to what really happened," Rutherford said. "Other than that, I can't say a whole lot because we're dealing with the privacy of medical information.

"We take the situation very seriously. We certainly have to look at everything here when something like this happens, and we're going to continue to do that."

Rutherford said he plans to assemble those in the organization from management, the medical staff, and Pearson or his agent, Joe Resnick, on a conference call so everyone can be involved in the discussion.

Pearson will miss the rest of this campaign after having a third surgical procedure on his hand, the club announced on Allvin's behalf earlier Thursday. The 30-year-old was originally expected to be out for only four-to-six weeks after undergoing his first surgery on the ailment Nov. 10, one day after injuring his hand. Pearson then had a second one performed a month later after it didn't heal as planned.

He was limited to 14 games this season, collecting one goal and four assists. The Canucks acquired him in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins in February 2019. Pearson is under contract with Vancouver through 2023-24.

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McDavid bemoans shootouts: ‘Crappy way to finish a game’

The best hockey player in the world understands why the NHL uses shootouts, but he's not a big fan of them.

Connor McDavid made that clear when asked whether he'd favor going from five minutes of three-on-three overtime and then a shootout, if necessary, to 10 minutes of extra time in the same format with no shootout.

"I'd like that," the Edmonton Oilers captain told Sportsnet's Tim Micallef on Friday's edition of "Tim and Friends."

"No one loves the shootout," McDavid continued. "It's a crappy way to finish a game, but at the end of the day, it's about the players' health and safety. It's a long season. The overtime taxes a lot of guys, so making that longer could have some effects there, but I agree with you in the sense that no one wants to see a game end in a shootout."

McDavid, a two-time MVP who turned 26 on Friday, is the Hart Trophy favorite again this season. He entered the evening leading the league in goals (35) and tied for the top spot in assists (44). He was also pacing the Art Ross Trophy race by a whopping 16 points (with 79) while possessing favorable underlying numbers over 43 contests.

The Oilers have played only one game that's required a shootout this season; a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 15. The team is 2-3 in games that have gone beyond regulation in 2022-23, with two wins and two losses in overtime.

Edmonton occupies fifth place in the Pacific Division at 22-18-3.

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