It was a relatively quiet week in the hockey world and was one that ended on a sad note. Here are the top headlines from the past week.
Bryan Murray Passes Away: Long-time NHL coach and executive Bryan Murray passed away at the age of 74 on Saturday following a lengthy battle with cancer. He continued to work in the game up until his death as he had been serving as an advisor with Ottawa. Over an NHL career that spanned more than four decades, he served as a coach for parts of 17 years (winning a Jack Adams Award in 1983-84) and as a general manager for 21 years (and was named Executive of the Year in 1996).
Players On NHL Two-Way Deals Can’t Play In Olympics: As expected, the NHL provided some clarification regarding who is and is not eligible to play in the upcoming Winter Olympics. While it has been known for a while that active NHL players won’t be going, the same can be said for those that are on NHL two-way contracts that are playing in the minor leagues at that time. However, players that are on loan to European teams for the year and those that have been signed to entry-level deals but have been sent back to junior will be allowed to participate. Team USA has already reached out to 85-90 players as they start to put a shortlist of potential players together.
Oilers Ink Yamamoto To ELC: The Oilers wasted little time inking their top prospect from the draft back in June as they signed Kailer Yamamoto to a three-year, entry-level deal. The diminutive forward was one of the top scorers in the WHL last season (sixth overall) which is an impressive feat for someone in their draft-eligible season. He’s expected to return to Spokane in 2017-18 to continue his junior career. Yamamoto becomes the 16th of the 31 first round picks to have already signed their first NHL deal.
NHL Announces Preseason Schedule: The wait for NHL hockey is starting to get smaller as the league revealed the preseason schedule. The first game will be played on September 16th between Vancouver and Los Angeles; those two teams will also be playing a pair of games in China. The final games of the exhibition season will go October 1st.
Kaprizov signs with CSKA Moscow: The Wild will be waiting a while for one of their better prospects to cross the pond as winger Kirill Kaprizov has signed a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the KHL. The 20-year-old has already shown himself to be quite the capable scorer at that level, posting 42 points (20-22-42) in 49 games last year. There is no transfer agreement in place between the NHL and Russia so this doesn’t affect Minnesota in terms of retaining his rights but three years is a fairly long time to have to wait to have another shot at signing one of their more talented youngsters.