We’ve hit the home stretch of the season and while most of the activity over the past week has been college players signing contracts, there was some notable news around the NHL which is highlighted in our top stories.
Done For The Year: The Flames will be without center Sean Monahan for the rest of the season as the center will soon undergo hip surgery. It’s not the hip he had repaired last summer either which certainly is far from ideal for the veteran. Monahan’s season ends with just 23 points in 65 games and he already has been placed on LTIR. Meanwhile, Coyotes winger Clayton Keller suffered a broken leg which carries a recovery time of four to six months. While it has been a tough year offensively for many Arizona players, that wasn’t the case for Keller as he had already set a new career high in goals (28) while his 63 points were two shy of his career best. Now, the team will simply be hoping that Keller’s recovery won’t take the full six months as if that happens, his availability for the start of next season would be in question.
Ironman Streak Ends: One day, Keith Yandle’s record-setting ironman streak was going to come to an end. It turns out that day was Saturday as the Flyers decided to make the veteran a healthy scratch, ending his streak at 989 consecutive regular season games played. The move was somewhat controversial since Philadelphia is well out of the playoff picture but they’ve decided to ensure their prospects have the playing time. Yandle has struggled considerably this season with just one goal along with 14 assists in 67 games, a far cry from the type of production he was putting up in his prime.
Two More For Goligoski: When Alex Goligoski signed a one-year, $5MM contract with the Wild last summer, it looked like he might be a one-and-done player with the team heading towards a cap crunch next season. However, the defenseman has done well in his first season with his hometown team, picking up 28 points in 59 games while averaging nearly 19 minutes a night. That was enough for Minnesota to decide to keep him around a little longer as they signed him to a two-year, $4MM extension which also contains a no-move clause. Goligoski has been scratched a bit as of late after the acquisition of Jacob Middleton from San Jose but it’s still a pretty low price tag for a serviceable veteran who is set to reach the 1,000 games played mark next season.
GM Meetings Roundup: For the first time in two years, all 32 NHL general managers were able to meet in person with several items on the agenda. The key headline was that the salary cap will still increase as expected to $82.5MM next season, an increase of $1MM, one that had been in some question due to lowered revenue projections when the Canadian teams were facing attendance restrictions. While LTIR was discussed, no changes are forthcoming on that front (plus, it’s a CBA issue so changes would require the approval of the NHLPA). Additionally, there are now plans to establish a database of no-move and no-trade clauses that would be jointly filed with NHL Central Registry and the NHLPA. This, of course, comes on the heels of the since-voided Evgenii Dadonov trade where Vegas wasn’t aware that Anaheim was on Dadonov’s no-trade list.
Melnyk Passes Away: We end on a sad note as Senators owner Eugene Melnyk passed away at the age of 62. He bought the team back in 2003 back when it was in bankruptcy and relocation looked like a legitimate possibility. Since then, the team has had its fair share of ups and downs but did make it to the Stanley Cup Final back in 2007 and Ottawa has amassed several quality pieces as they look to emerge from their current rebuild in the near future. Everyone here at PHR joins those in the hockey world in extending our condolences to his family and friends.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.