Category Archives: Hockey News

Canucks sign Markstrom to 3-year extension

Jacob Markstrom is staying in Vancouver.

The goaltender signed a three-year, $11.01-million contract extension with the club on Thursday.

Markstrom appeared in a career-high 32 games as the backup netminder for the Canucks in 2015-16, going 13-14-3 with a 2.73 GAA and .915 save percentage.

The new contract carries an average annual value of of $3.67 million. The 26-year-old has one year and $1.55 million remaining on his original deal.

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Stiffer consequences for fighting among AHL rule changes for 2016-17

Fighting in pro hockey continues down the path of extinction.

The AHL Board of Governors met Wednesday to determine rule changes for the upcoming season, and starting in 2016-17, fighting will warrant harsher consequences.

The new rules state:

"Players who enter into a fight prior to, at, or immediately following the drop of the puck for a faceoff will be assessed an automatic game misconduct in addition to other penalties assessed."

Additionally, if a single player accumulates 10 fighting majors over the regular season, he will automatically be suspended for one game, with subsequent suspensions handed up until a player reaches 13 fights.

If a player reaches 14 fights and higher, suspensions will be two games.

On top of the changes to fighting, the league also opted to ban offending teams from using their timeout after an icing call, a tactic often used by coaches to provide a brief rest period.

The AHL has previously been a buffer zone for the NHL when it comes to adopting new rules, as the affiliate league tested both 3-on-3 overtime and hybrid icing before the NHL implemented them.

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Chris Kelly returns to Senators on 1-year deal

Chris Kelly is going back to where it all began.

On Thursday, the 35-year-old signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with the Ottawa Senators - the club that drafted him 94th overall in 1999.

Kelly played only 11 games last season for the Boston Bruins, scoring twice. He fractured his femur in November and was lost for the remainder of the schedule. He scored seven goals and added 21 assists in 80 games in 2014-15.

A Toronto native, Kelly spent the first seven years of his career in the Canadian capital, playing 463 regular-season games with Ottawa and recording 176 points.

He was traded to the Bruins in 2011, and the timing was perfect. He scored five goals and had eight assists in 25 playoff games as Boston won the Stanley Cup.

"We are excited to welcome Chris back to Ottawa," Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said. "In our evaluation of our roster we felt that we needed to add another player with the ability to succeed in close situations and on the penalty kill.

"Chris will be able to contribute to both of those while adding another accomplished leader to our group. He understands the type of commitment that is necessary to play at a championship level."

The Senators have been mostly quiet this offseason, but the addition of a strong two-way center in Kelly will help a young group that will be playing for a new head coach in Guy Boucher.

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Flames sign Matthew Tkachuk to entry-level deal

The Calgary Flames have agreed to terms with their first-round pick.

Matthew Tkachuk signed his three-year, entry-level contract Thursday, the club announced.

The Flames selected Tkachuk sixth overall in the 2016 draft.

The son of former NHL forward Keith Tkachuk racked up 107 points in 57 regular-season games for the OHL's London Knights in 2015-16, adding another 40 points in 18 playoff contests.

The 18-year-old winger helped the Knights to a Memorial Cup championship in the spring.

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Jets sign Perreault to 4-year, $16.5M contract extension

The Winnipeg Jets have signed Mathieu Perreault to a four-year contract extension, the club announced Wednesday.

The extension is worth $16.5 million, equaling a $4.125 million AAV.

Perreault, 28, signed with the Jets in 2014, and has proven to be a valuable centerman during his tenure with the team.

Perreault's scored 41 points in each of his seasons with the Jets. Last season, he averaged over 16 minutes of ice time and won 46.3 percent of face offs in 71 games - his lowest clip since 2010-11.

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5 players who never looked right in their new team’s jersey

The NHL's free-agency period yields new faces in new places, and though many players - often star players - find what they think is a fit, sometimes donning the colors of a new uniform just doesn't fit.

Here are five examples of NHLers looking strangely out of place.

Mike Modano - Detroit Red Wings

After 21 seasons with the Stars organization, Modano signed in Hockeytown for one year in 2010-11.

The most prolific American-born scorer in NHL history suited up in 40 games for the Red Wings, scoring 15 points, but the colors - nor No. 90 - suited Modano.

Martin Brodeur - St. Louis Blues

For 20 seasons, Brodeur was the backbone of the New Jersey Devils, capturing four Vezina Trophies and three Stanley Cups in the process.

However, the NHL's all-time leader in wins, shutouts, and games played had a seven-game stint with the Blues in 2014-15, and suffice to say, the new digs seemed odd.

Mats Sundin - Vancouver Canucks

Adding green to his jersey never looked right.

Following a torturous holdout in 2008-09, Sundin broke the hearts of Toronto Maple Leafs fans by signing a one-year contract with the Canucks.

The longtime Leafs captain and franchise leader in every major statistical category played 41 games with Vancouver, putting up 28 points before being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, and ultimately retiring.

Wayne Gretzky - St. Louis Blues

When The Great One was shipped from the Edmonton Oilers to Los Angeles Kings in 1988, the NHL flipped upside-down, but Gretzky's brief landing in St. Louis was flat-out unnatural.

After a reported rift in Los Angeles, Gretzky was traded to the Blues for Patrice Tardif, Roman Vopat, Craig Johnson, and two draft picks. What?

Regardless, No. 99 joined Brett Hull and the Blues for 18 contests and a brief playoff run, ended by Steve Yzerman's infamous blue-line slapshot.

Bobby Orr - Chicago Blackhawks

Few legends are as synonymous with the franchise they starred with as Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins, making No. 4's minuscule run with the Blackhawks one of the strangest in NHL history.

Orr signed in Chicago for the 1976 season, but chronic knee injuries limited him to only 26 games over three seasons.

The Hall of Famer wrapped up his illustrious career in the Windy City, but based on the results, it's no wonder how oft-forgotten his time with the Blackhawks is.

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