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NHL fans’ Adidas jerseys are about to become dated.

Early Tuesday morning, the NHL and Fanatics announced a new 10-year agreement that will see Fanatics become the league’s official on-ice jersey manufacturer beginning in the 2024-25 season.

To this point, Fanatics has produced officially licensed training apparel, replica jerseys, licensed memorabilia, and other fan apparel for the league.

“This expansion of our partnership with Fanatics is a reflection of our shared commitment to innovation, performance, and serving our Players and fans,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in a statement. “Fanatics is a sports industry market leader and with its proven track-record in e-commerce and retail operations, licensed fan merchandise and performance gear — including the popular NHL replica jerseys and Authentic Pro performance and training products — our Players and fans should look forward to what Fanatics will bring to the best uniforms in all of sports.”

The news today comes a little less than a year after ESPN’s Greg Wyshinski reported that Adidas would no longer supply the NHL’s on-ice jerseys after the 2023-24 season, choosing not to sign an extension with the league.

Adidas took over for Reebok as the NHL’s official jersey partner starting in 2017–18 season with a deal reportedly worth “at least double the $35 million annually that Reebok had been paying for the rights.”

Reebok became the NHL’s jersey manufacturer after the 2004-05 lockout. CCM and Starter are among the apparel manufacturing companies that worked with the NHL prior to the 2005 lockout.
According to Wyshinski, no major redesigns of jerseys will take place until 2026-27.
“This is a seminal moment in the history of Fanatics, and a testament to the hands-on, collaborative relationship with the NHL that we’ve built over the years,” said Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin. “In addition to our tireless commitment to super serving sports fans around the world, Fanatics has equipped athletes, coaches and team staffs with performance products across many sports for years. Everything we do as a company pushes the boundaries to create more highly engaged experiences and revolutionary products for fans, athletes, and partners, and I can’t wait to see our brand on official on-ice uniforms for the first time.”
This marks the first time Fanatics branding will be directly on an official player uniform for a professional sports property.

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They don’t ask how, they just ask how many — I guess.

The Day After is brought to you by NHL odds site Betway!

What a game it was Monday night as the Edmonton Oilers somehow managed to secure a 5-4 overtime win against the San Jose Sharks. It was far, far from a pretty performance for the team as a whole.

After a suspect first period tied at one, Kailer Yamamoto gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead 30 seconds into the first period. The problem? Two quick ones from the Sharks gave them a 3-2 lead halfway through the frame. Mattias Ekholm’s first of two got the Oilers back into it, however, and while Erik Karlsson’s second regained the Sharks lead in the second, Ekholm came up big again.

He sent the Oilers to overtime with just under four minutes left in the third period, and an electric overtime frame ended with Darnell Nurse blowing the doors off Rogers Place.

Here are a few things from the game…

Slow starts…

The Oilers really seem to struggle in games like these and my lord is it frustrating. Last night was another where the Oilers just weren’t in it whatsoever for a good chunk of the game. After one, the Oilers controlled just 42.86 percent of the shot attempts and 44.81 percent of the expected goal share at even-strength.

Halfway through the second period, however, it all flipped on its head and the Oilers ended up running away with it.

After the game, Ekholm admitted these types of games are tough.

“We could’ve been a lot better tonight I thought,” he said, “but at the same time, these games are hard.

“You got to work yourself up, you got to get yourself going. We stuck it out. Obviously, we could’ve been better, but at the same time, it’s hard to win in this league. We’ll take it and move on.”

Ekholm himself, meanwhile, had a tremendous game once again for the Oilers. With a two-goal performance last night, he’s now up to three goals and nine points in the 10 games since he joined the Oilers. At 5×5 with him on the ice, the Oilers have controlled 54.83 percent of the shot attempts, 58.43 percent of the scoring chances, 59.95 percent of the expected goal share and 75 percent of the actual goals scored outscoring the opposition 18-6.

I mean, yeah… what a trade. He’s been incredible for the Oilers. Worth every penny.

THE DAY AFTER IS PRESENTED BY BETWAY

You can’t trust Jack…

It’s not solely on Campbell’s feet, but he sure didn’t help the Oilers, that’s for sure. This isn’t meant to be me piling on when a guy is down already, but you can’t talk about last night’s game without his performance being mentioned. It’s remarkable in a sense to see just how poorly Campbell has played this season. It’s legitimately almost hard to believe.

Really makes you think about all the ink that was spilled about the relative woes guys like Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen had, hey? I’ve sure been thinking about that this season.

The defensive play wasn’t perfect last night for the Oilers. Far from it. Too many broken plays, but at the end of the day, Campbell still let seven goals pass him. Four of those counted, three were called back, one was saved off the goalline by Cody Ceci and a few shots hit the post. Campbell struggled to make the big saves all night and got bailed out by the video team in a big way.

Look at the Noah Gregor goal that got called back early in the third. Far from an easy play, but that’s one where you need a big save made. If that goal doesn’t get called back, San Jose takes a 5-3 lead and it’s a very, very different came. As I wrote about yesterday morning when it was announced Campbell would get the start, the Oilers will be at an interesting crossroads this offseason.

The video crew…

Big credit to Jeremy Coupal and Noah Segall in the Oilers’ video room. They went 3-for-3 in reversing San Jose Sharks’ goals. Here’s what head coach Jay Woodcroft had to say:

“We have two video coaches that do a really good job for us and we have a process we believe in,” he said. “We spend a lot of time studying what gets called around the league.

“We ask a lot of questions and in the end, when you do your work like that, when the pressure time comes, we have a process that we follow and tonight we were proven right on a few. it wouldn’t happen without Jeremy and Noah.”

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.

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Date: 03/21/2023
Player: Tim May (F)
From: Black Dragons Erfurt
To: Black Dragons Erfurt
Information: 1 year
Source: You need a free account to view Transfer URL Sign In/Up

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Date: 03/21/2023
Player: Nico Brotschi (D)
From: EHC Burgdorf
To: EHC Burgdorf
Source: You need a free account to view Transfer URL Sign In/Up

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After a well earned day off on Sunday, the Maple Leafs got back work with a practice on Monday.

Everyone was present at the skate, except for TJ Brodie who blocked a shot vs. Ottawa and is considered day-to-day, per head coach Sheldon Keefe.

They’ll fly out to New York, where the team plays on Tuesday, and will make a decision on Brodie’s status then.

The news of the day, though, is that Noel Acciari took in a full practice on Monday. It looks like he might even get into their game against the Islanders tomorrow.

That’s very good news for Toronto considering how the collision looked and the fact that he didn’t return to the lineup in Ottawa. His presence will be felt heavily in what always is a big game against the Islanders.

In terms of lineup, the Maple Leafs iced this group at practice Monday:

Acciari, as we just spoke about, skated on a line with David Kampf and Zach Aston-Reese.

With this lineup, it looks like Erik Gustafsson will get back into the lineup in Long Island. Drawing out would be Luke Schenn who’s played in two-straight since returning to Toronto after the birth of his daughter.

All three goalies — Ilya Samsonov, Matt Murray, and Joseph Woll — were present for practice.

William Nylander will remain with Bobby McMann and Sam Lafferty for Tuesday’s game. Keefe said after practice that this line, with their speed, could help Nylander who’s been held pointless in three-straight games.

Keefe says he’s even trying to get John Tavares going again. The Maple Leafs’ captain hasn’t had trouble putting up points, but he hasn’t found the back of the net in four-straight.

Mitch Marner — who he’s back on a line with — could help with that.

It appears as though that Samsonov, after being out of the lineup on Saturday, will get the start against New York.

Keefe says the 26-year-old will play even though he and his wife are expecting a baby any time now. Samsonov has also said he’s injured, but will play when called upon.

Auston Matthews will stay on a line with Alex Kerfoot and Calle Jarnkrok for Tuesday’s game. A few days ago, Matthews praised Jarnkrok’s shot and it seems as though he really likes playing with the 31-year-old.

“He’s a really smart player,” Matthews said to reporters on Friday. “His release is pretty impressive too.”

Toronto will arrive in New York later this afternoon and take on Tavares’ former team on Tuesday night. Puck drop for that game will be at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Rss

Date: 03/20/2023
Player: Marcus Runnkvist (F)
From: Kiruna IF
To: Kiruna IF
Source: You need a free account to view Transfer URL Sign In/Up

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The Calgary Flames have a dozen games left in their regular season. Will they have games after that this season? That’s unclear right now. Life around the Flames right now is a swirling mass of uncertainty and possibility.

Amidst that swirling mass, let’s dive into the mailbag!

I wouldn’t say that Darryl Sutter relies on his veterans out of fear. But when you think you have a chance to win, you lean on your veterans because they’re predictable and reliable. And when the margin for error between making or not making the playoffs is razor thin, again, you probably double down on reliable, predictable veteran players because you know what to expect from them. Young players are fun and new and often rapidly improving, and they can be awesome. But they, by definition, have less experience and are more prone to mistakes as a result.

And when you’re the NHL’s league-leader in one-goal games (and losing them), you’re probably a little hesitant to roll the dice on relative newcomers over your tried and true veterans, even if the veterans are on the back-nine of their careers.

I’m not sure if the NHL is hesitant to publicize it, but they might have some contractual strings that bind them. A lot of the data might be proprietary in some cases to the companies that help them collect the data. It does seem inevitable, though, that as the pool of collected data expands that the amount that becomes available for public analysis expands as well.

But I agree, the Big City Greens game was fantastic, and it would be awesome if the NHL keeps trying new, wacky things to try to draw in new fans.

I’m a big Jack Beck guy. He’s part of a long line of well-rounded, smallish young forwards in their system. OHL scouts I know rave about his two-way game, and he’s been really effective offensively for the Ottawa 67’s, too.

I think no matter what happens, the key for the Flames going forward is figuring out what pieces they think they can build around and which pieces they think they can leverage. I’m not thinking about anything like a tear-down, but if they need to punt a little bit of money out the door to gain some cap flexibility, are there any hockey trades available that would help the Flames change up the mix a little bit, get a bit of youth injected into the roster, and give them some salary cap breathing room.

They probably want to have the ability to have full-time spots for Jakob Pelletier, Matt Coronato and Walker Duehr. Being able to ease the likes of Connor Zary and Dustin Wolf into NHL roles rather than throwing them into the deep end would be preferable, if they can swing it.

As we discussed on Sunday, the big challenge will be trying to determine why the Flames underachieved, rather than overreacting and shipping everybody out of town.

If we’re being honest here, some of the most fun things about covering sports (or being a fan) is the utter, utter chaos of the end of the season. There’s no guarantee that the Flames make the playoffs, but it’s also not a foregone conclusion that they’ll miss either. The next few weeks are going to be a swirling vortex of uncertainty.

It could end in pain or pure fan joy, but if nothing else the final dozen games won’t be boring.

The FlamesNation Mailbag is presented by Newman Deans Real Estate Group and CIR Realty

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Date: 03/20/2023
Player: Thomas Olsen (F)
From: Vålerenga
To: Vålerenga
Information: 2 years
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Back again with another Monday Mailbag here at CanucksArmy!

The Vancouver Canucks continue to win games, the AHL team is on track to host a playoff game, and many of the prospects are diving into their playoff rounds.

There’s a lot going on in Canuckland and one big topic is ice time.

Quinn Hughes is fourth in average ice time since Rick Tocchet became the head coach and has been averaging 25:43 a night. If you look back over the past 12 games, Hughes is averaging an astounding 27:55 per game. It’s a lot of minutes for a defenceman on a team with no hope for the playoffs. Much of the ice time is low-intensity minutes on the power play but still, you are asking a lot of a player who doesn’t have an off switch of his own.

Hughes is a competitor and he will go out and give you everything he has on a nightly basis. It just seems a bit much is being asked of him at times. It’s a tough balance because you want to see how Tocchet can utilize Hughes in his system, but at the same time, this team needs to ramp up for the 2023-24 season, not a late push this year.

It’s not all necessarily about Hughes either. I’m sure he is capable of handling a large workload, he’s been doing it all throughout his hockey career.

This could be a good time to really see what Christian Wolanin looks like with 20 minutes of ice time or maybe just spread some ice time out for a Guillaume Brisebois or Kyle Burroughs.

It’s not the worst thing in the world to see Hughes playing 26 minutes a night. He’s their top defenceman and that’s what number one defencemen do. We are curious to see what happens when Filip Hronek returns from injury. Hronek has been skating out at 8 Rinks in Burnaby and could be practicing with the Canucks when they return from their current road trip.

We’re excited to see what the defence corps looks like with Hronek added into the mix. If he can live up to the hype, Hronek can be a vital piece to the Canucks’ top-four for years to come. It should also lighten the load for Hughes and that would just be nice. I think a lot of Canucks fans are with me when I say that it’s a bit worrisome to see multiple games of Hughes with over 30 minutes of ice time. The kid is asked to do a lot and maybe this is a time when you can release some of the pressure on his game and let him adjust to the structure instead of attempting (and often succeeding) to carry this team from the backend every game.

With all that being said, let’s not waste any more words. We’ve got great questions this week from the wonderful people of #CanucksTwitter and I’m all set to dive into the mailbag.

No more wasted words, it’s mailbag time, let’s go!

All three options are viable but from what I’ve heard from sources, the Canucks will likely be highest on NCAA guys, followed by Europeans and then CHLers coming in third place on the podium of spring free agents.

We have heard a lot of names from the NCAA be connected to the Canucks. There’s not as much smoke around the European class as it is a weaker class than past seasons. There is no Andrei Kuzmenko coming from the KHL or anything like that. As for the CHL free agents, I’m sure there’s been talk about some of these guys, but we have not heard a peep when it comes to potential signings from the WHL, OHL, or QMJHL.

We have heard about the Canucks looking to work out some CHLers at their development camp but that is still pretty far away from a CHLer earning an NHL contract spot in a similar way to Arshdeep Bains. You will likely see some CHLers come to development camp and compete at the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton but those players will likely be on AHL contracts like Tristen Nielsen or Quinn Schmiemann.

The Canucks currently have five contract spots and if we had to guess, it’s likely to be filled by three or four NCAA guys.

They will certainly be getting some players back down to the AHL before the playoffs.

Vasily Podkolzin, Noah Juulsen, and Christian Wolanin are three players who will be eligible to go down and play in the playoffs with Abbotsford.

Last season, Podkolzin was dropped in the AHL for the playoffs and things didn’t work out well for the Abbotsford Canucks as they were swept in the play-in series. Now, each of Podkolzin, Juulsen, and Wolanin has spent a good chunk of this season in the AHL. Their addition for the playoffs is going to be more of a boost than a drop-in. These guys know the coach well from their time this season and will bring an added jolt to the AHL roster.

They are interested in right-shot defencemen Jake Livingstone and Sam Malinski.

We’ve heard Max Sasson and Max Andreev as two forwards to watch.

Livingstone should go deep into the NCAA tournament but Sasson, Malinski, and Andreev are three names who could be out before the month passes to April.

We also expect the Canucks to land some NCAA guys on AHL deals. Just like they did last season with Marc Gatcomb last year.

You’d hope to see Jack Rathbone and Nils Höglander back in the NHL. They aren’t on our prospects list, but are still young players.

It’s going to require an injury to get any more players from Abbotsford up to Vancouver this season as the Canucks reached their four-call-up limit within 35 minutes of the deadline passing.

Aside from that, Linus Karlsson is another guy who is deserving of a look in the NHL.

It looks like Daimon Gardner has been playing fine since tearing his MCL at the beginning of the season. He’s got nine goals and 22 assists through 33 USHL games with the Tri-City Storm. We’ve caught some highlights here and there on him but haven’t spent a lot of time scouting the player this season.

We are waiting for him to go to Clarkson in the NCAA next season to really begin evaluating him. If he was shredding the USHL, we would have spent more time on him.

As for Jackson Dorrington, we have had a lot of viewings of him this season and have really liked his toughness on the backend. He was a teammate of Aidan McDonough at Northeastern and played most of the season on the right side even though he is a left-shot defenceman.

Dorrington finished the season with no goals and six assists through 35 games and was a steady defensive presence for Northeastern on their second pairing for most of the season. He skates well, loves to hit and always protects his crease. Long road for him to become a legit NHL prospect but early returns have certainly not been bad.

The only name that really comes to mind on this question is right-shot defenceman Filip Johansson.

He’s been eating up big minutes in the SHL this season and saw a nice jump in his offence compared to what he did in his first three SHL seasons.

It’s no shocker for me to say that the Canucks are weak on the right side of their defence and Johansson will be given a chance to succeed in the NHL this year. It will likely be a similar scenario to Nils Åman.

Johansson will be given a chance and if he looks like he fits the part, some NHL time will come his way.

There just aren’t any dark horses this season. Maybe we will have one for the 2024-25 season.

Likely see Nils Höglander in a bottom-six role and Linus Karlsson will probably start in Abbotsford.

It’s really going to depend on what the Canucks do with their wingers like Brock Boeser, Connor Garland, Vitali Kravtson, Anthony Beauvillier and more.

There’s a lot to sort out with this team on the wings.

I have not heard anything about the Canucks being interested in Samuel Johannesson.

He had a strong offensive season and is one of the few defencemen to watch for as a European free agent.

NHL.

No question in my eyes.

I’d choose Conor Garland for that return.

It feels like enough as it creates much-needed cap space while adding two prospects and creating middle-six opportunities on the wing for guys like Vasily Podkolzin, Nils Höglander, Vitali Kravtsov, and even Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Danila Klimovich down the road.

Garland has three more years on his contract after this season. This trade proposal of yours would really open up some doors for young players over the next three seasons.

Well, that wraps up another Monday Mailbag here at CanucksArmy.

Thanks to everyone who sent in a question this week. We wouldn’t be able to do this article without you.

Enjoy another week of Canucks hockey and we will see you next Monday.

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Date: 03/20/2023
Player: Stefan Diezi (F)
From: EHC Arosa
To: EHC Arosa
Information: 1 year
Source: You need a free account to view Transfer URL Sign In/Up

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NHL fans’ Adidas jerseys are about to become dated.

Early Tuesday morning, the NHL and Fanatics announced a new 10-year agreement that will see Fanatics become the league’s official on-ice jersey manufacturer beginning in the 2024-25 season.

To this point, Fanatics has produced officially licensed training apparel, replica jerseys, licensed memorabilia, and other fan apparel for the league.

“This expansion of our partnership with Fanatics is a reflection of our shared commitment to innovation, performance, and serving our Players and fans,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in a statement. “Fanatics is a sports industry market leader and with its proven track-record in e-commerce and retail operations, licensed fan merchandise and performance gear — including the popular NHL replica jerseys and Authentic Pro performance and training products — our Players and fans should look forward to what Fanatics will bring to the best uniforms in all of sports.”

The news today comes a little less than a year after ESPN’s Greg Wyshinski reported that Adidas would no longer supply the NHL’s on-ice jerseys after the 2023-24 season, choosing not to sign an extension with the league.

Adidas took over for Reebok as the NHL’s official jersey partner starting in 2017–18 season with a deal reportedly worth “at least double the $35 million annually that Reebok had been paying for the rights.”

Reebok became the NHL’s jersey manufacturer after the 2004-05 lockout. CCM and Starter are among the apparel manufacturing companies that worked with the NHL prior to the 2005 lockout.
According to Wyshinski, no major redesigns of jerseys will take place until 2026-27.
“This is a seminal moment in the history of Fanatics, and a testament to the hands-on, collaborative relationship with the NHL that we’ve built over the years,” said Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin. “In addition to our tireless commitment to super serving sports fans around the world, Fanatics has equipped athletes, coaches and team staffs with performance products across many sports for years. Everything we do as a company pushes the boundaries to create more highly engaged experiences and revolutionary products for fans, athletes, and partners, and I can’t wait to see our brand on official on-ice uniforms for the first time.”
This marks the first time Fanatics branding will be directly on an official player uniform for a professional sports property.

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They don’t ask how, they just ask how many — I guess.

The Day After is brought to you by NHL odds site Betway!

What a game it was Monday night as the Edmonton Oilers somehow managed to secure a 5-4 overtime win against the San Jose Sharks. It was far, far from a pretty performance for the team as a whole.

After a suspect first period tied at one, Kailer Yamamoto gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead 30 seconds into the first period. The problem? Two quick ones from the Sharks gave them a 3-2 lead halfway through the frame. Mattias Ekholm’s first of two got the Oilers back into it, however, and while Erik Karlsson’s second regained the Sharks lead in the second, Ekholm came up big again.

He sent the Oilers to overtime with just under four minutes left in the third period, and an electric overtime frame ended with Darnell Nurse blowing the doors off Rogers Place.

Here are a few things from the game…

Slow starts…

The Oilers really seem to struggle in games like these and my lord is it frustrating. Last night was another where the Oilers just weren’t in it whatsoever for a good chunk of the game. After one, the Oilers controlled just 42.86 percent of the shot attempts and 44.81 percent of the expected goal share at even-strength.

Halfway through the second period, however, it all flipped on its head and the Oilers ended up running away with it.

After the game, Ekholm admitted these types of games are tough.

“We could’ve been a lot better tonight I thought,” he said, “but at the same time, these games are hard.

“You got to work yourself up, you got to get yourself going. We stuck it out. Obviously, we could’ve been better, but at the same time, it’s hard to win in this league. We’ll take it and move on.”

Ekholm himself, meanwhile, had a tremendous game once again for the Oilers. With a two-goal performance last night, he’s now up to three goals and nine points in the 10 games since he joined the Oilers. At 5×5 with him on the ice, the Oilers have controlled 54.83 percent of the shot attempts, 58.43 percent of the scoring chances, 59.95 percent of the expected goal share and 75 percent of the actual goals scored outscoring the opposition 18-6.

I mean, yeah… what a trade. He’s been incredible for the Oilers. Worth every penny.

THE DAY AFTER IS PRESENTED BY BETWAY

You can’t trust Jack…

It’s not solely on Campbell’s feet, but he sure didn’t help the Oilers, that’s for sure. This isn’t meant to be me piling on when a guy is down already, but you can’t talk about last night’s game without his performance being mentioned. It’s remarkable in a sense to see just how poorly Campbell has played this season. It’s legitimately almost hard to believe.

Really makes you think about all the ink that was spilled about the relative woes guys like Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen had, hey? I’ve sure been thinking about that this season.

The defensive play wasn’t perfect last night for the Oilers. Far from it. Too many broken plays, but at the end of the day, Campbell still let seven goals pass him. Four of those counted, three were called back, one was saved off the goalline by Cody Ceci and a few shots hit the post. Campbell struggled to make the big saves all night and got bailed out by the video team in a big way.

Look at the Noah Gregor goal that got called back early in the third. Far from an easy play, but that’s one where you need a big save made. If that goal doesn’t get called back, San Jose takes a 5-3 lead and it’s a very, very different came. As I wrote about yesterday morning when it was announced Campbell would get the start, the Oilers will be at an interesting crossroads this offseason.

The video crew…

Big credit to Jeremy Coupal and Noah Segall in the Oilers’ video room. They went 3-for-3 in reversing San Jose Sharks’ goals. Here’s what head coach Jay Woodcroft had to say:

“We have two video coaches that do a really good job for us and we have a process we believe in,” he said. “We spend a lot of time studying what gets called around the league.

“We ask a lot of questions and in the end, when you do your work like that, when the pressure time comes, we have a process that we follow and tonight we were proven right on a few. it wouldn’t happen without Jeremy and Noah.”

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.

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Date: 03/21/2023
Player: Tim May (F)
From: Black Dragons Erfurt
To: Black Dragons Erfurt
Information: 1 year
Source: You need a free account to view Transfer URL Sign In/Up

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Date: 03/21/2023
Player: Nico Brotschi (D)
From: EHC Burgdorf
To: EHC Burgdorf
Source: You need a free account to view Transfer URL Sign In/Up

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After a well earned day off on Sunday, the Maple Leafs got back work with a practice on Monday.

Everyone was present at the skate, except for TJ Brodie who blocked a shot vs. Ottawa and is considered day-to-day, per head coach Sheldon Keefe.

They’ll fly out to New York, where the team plays on Tuesday, and will make a decision on Brodie’s status then.

The news of the day, though, is that Noel Acciari took in a full practice on Monday. It looks like he might even get into their game against the Islanders tomorrow.

That’s very good news for Toronto considering how the collision looked and the fact that he didn’t return to the lineup in Ottawa. His presence will be felt heavily in what always is a big game against the Islanders.

In terms of lineup, the Maple Leafs iced this group at practice Monday:

Acciari, as we just spoke about, skated on a line with David Kampf and Zach Aston-Reese.

With this lineup, it looks like Erik Gustafsson will get back into the lineup in Long Island. Drawing out would be Luke Schenn who’s played in two-straight since returning to Toronto after the birth of his daughter.

All three goalies — Ilya Samsonov, Matt Murray, and Joseph Woll — were present for practice.

William Nylander will remain with Bobby McMann and Sam Lafferty for Tuesday’s game. Keefe said after practice that this line, with their speed, could help Nylander who’s been held pointless in three-straight games.

Keefe says he’s even trying to get John Tavares going again. The Maple Leafs’ captain hasn’t had trouble putting up points, but he hasn’t found the back of the net in four-straight.

Mitch Marner — who he’s back on a line with — could help with that.

It appears as though that Samsonov, after being out of the lineup on Saturday, will get the start against New York.

Keefe says the 26-year-old will play even though he and his wife are expecting a baby any time now. Samsonov has also said he’s injured, but will play when called upon.

Auston Matthews will stay on a line with Alex Kerfoot and Calle Jarnkrok for Tuesday’s game. A few days ago, Matthews praised Jarnkrok’s shot and it seems as though he really likes playing with the 31-year-old.

“He’s a really smart player,” Matthews said to reporters on Friday. “His release is pretty impressive too.”

Toronto will arrive in New York later this afternoon and take on Tavares’ former team on Tuesday night. Puck drop for that game will be at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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Date: 03/20/2023
Player: Marcus Runnkvist (F)
From: Kiruna IF
To: Kiruna IF
Source: You need a free account to view Transfer URL Sign In/Up

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The Calgary Flames have a dozen games left in their regular season. Will they have games after that this season? That’s unclear right now. Life around the Flames right now is a swirling mass of uncertainty and possibility.

Amidst that swirling mass, let’s dive into the mailbag!

I wouldn’t say that Darryl Sutter relies on his veterans out of fear. But when you think you have a chance to win, you lean on your veterans because they’re predictable and reliable. And when the margin for error between making or not making the playoffs is razor thin, again, you probably double down on reliable, predictable veteran players because you know what to expect from them. Young players are fun and new and often rapidly improving, and they can be awesome. But they, by definition, have less experience and are more prone to mistakes as a result.

And when you’re the NHL’s league-leader in one-goal games (and losing them), you’re probably a little hesitant to roll the dice on relative newcomers over your tried and true veterans, even if the veterans are on the back-nine of their careers.

I’m not sure if the NHL is hesitant to publicize it, but they might have some contractual strings that bind them. A lot of the data might be proprietary in some cases to the companies that help them collect the data. It does seem inevitable, though, that as the pool of collected data expands that the amount that becomes available for public analysis expands as well.

But I agree, the Big City Greens game was fantastic, and it would be awesome if the NHL keeps trying new, wacky things to try to draw in new fans.

I’m a big Jack Beck guy. He’s part of a long line of well-rounded, smallish young forwards in their system. OHL scouts I know rave about his two-way game, and he’s been really effective offensively for the Ottawa 67’s, too.

I think no matter what happens, the key for the Flames going forward is figuring out what pieces they think they can build around and which pieces they think they can leverage. I’m not thinking about anything like a tear-down, but if they need to punt a little bit of money out the door to gain some cap flexibility, are there any hockey trades available that would help the Flames change up the mix a little bit, get a bit of youth injected into the roster, and give them some salary cap breathing room.

They probably want to have the ability to have full-time spots for Jakob Pelletier, Matt Coronato and Walker Duehr. Being able to ease the likes of Connor Zary and Dustin Wolf into NHL roles rather than throwing them into the deep end would be preferable, if they can swing it.

As we discussed on Sunday, the big challenge will be trying to determine why the Flames underachieved, rather than overreacting and shipping everybody out of town.

If we’re being honest here, some of the most fun things about covering sports (or being a fan) is the utter, utter chaos of the end of the season. There’s no guarantee that the Flames make the playoffs, but it’s also not a foregone conclusion that they’ll miss either. The next few weeks are going to be a swirling vortex of uncertainty.

It could end in pain or pure fan joy, but if nothing else the final dozen games won’t be boring.

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Date: 03/20/2023
Player: Thomas Olsen (F)
From: Vålerenga
To: Vålerenga
Information: 2 years
Source: You need a free account to view Transfer URL Sign In/Up

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Back again with another Monday Mailbag here at CanucksArmy!

The Vancouver Canucks continue to win games, the AHL team is on track to host a playoff game, and many of the prospects are diving into their playoff rounds.

There’s a lot going on in Canuckland and one big topic is ice time.

Quinn Hughes is fourth in average ice time since Rick Tocchet became the head coach and has been averaging 25:43 a night. If you look back over the past 12 games, Hughes is averaging an astounding 27:55 per game. It’s a lot of minutes for a defenceman on a team with no hope for the playoffs. Much of the ice time is low-intensity minutes on the power play but still, you are asking a lot of a player who doesn’t have an off switch of his own.

Hughes is a competitor and he will go out and give you everything he has on a nightly basis. It just seems a bit much is being asked of him at times. It’s a tough balance because you want to see how Tocchet can utilize Hughes in his system, but at the same time, this team needs to ramp up for the 2023-24 season, not a late push this year.

It’s not all necessarily about Hughes either. I’m sure he is capable of handling a large workload, he’s been doing it all throughout his hockey career.

This could be a good time to really see what Christian Wolanin looks like with 20 minutes of ice time or maybe just spread some ice time out for a Guillaume Brisebois or Kyle Burroughs.

It’s not the worst thing in the world to see Hughes playing 26 minutes a night. He’s their top defenceman and that’s what number one defencemen do. We are curious to see what happens when Filip Hronek returns from injury. Hronek has been skating out at 8 Rinks in Burnaby and could be practicing with the Canucks when they return from their current road trip.

We’re excited to see what the defence corps looks like with Hronek added into the mix. If he can live up to the hype, Hronek can be a vital piece to the Canucks’ top-four for years to come. It should also lighten the load for Hughes and that would just be nice. I think a lot of Canucks fans are with me when I say that it’s a bit worrisome to see multiple games of Hughes with over 30 minutes of ice time. The kid is asked to do a lot and maybe this is a time when you can release some of the pressure on his game and let him adjust to the structure instead of attempting (and often succeeding) to carry this team from the backend every game.

With all that being said, let’s not waste any more words. We’ve got great questions this week from the wonderful people of #CanucksTwitter and I’m all set to dive into the mailbag.

No more wasted words, it’s mailbag time, let’s go!

All three options are viable but from what I’ve heard from sources, the Canucks will likely be highest on NCAA guys, followed by Europeans and then CHLers coming in third place on the podium of spring free agents.

We have heard a lot of names from the NCAA be connected to the Canucks. There’s not as much smoke around the European class as it is a weaker class than past seasons. There is no Andrei Kuzmenko coming from the KHL or anything like that. As for the CHL free agents, I’m sure there’s been talk about some of these guys, but we have not heard a peep when it comes to potential signings from the WHL, OHL, or QMJHL.

We have heard about the Canucks looking to work out some CHLers at their development camp but that is still pretty far away from a CHLer earning an NHL contract spot in a similar way to Arshdeep Bains. You will likely see some CHLers come to development camp and compete at the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton but those players will likely be on AHL contracts like Tristen Nielsen or Quinn Schmiemann.

The Canucks currently have five contract spots and if we had to guess, it’s likely to be filled by three or four NCAA guys.

They will certainly be getting some players back down to the AHL before the playoffs.

Vasily Podkolzin, Noah Juulsen, and Christian Wolanin are three players who will be eligible to go down and play in the playoffs with Abbotsford.

Last season, Podkolzin was dropped in the AHL for the playoffs and things didn’t work out well for the Abbotsford Canucks as they were swept in the play-in series. Now, each of Podkolzin, Juulsen, and Wolanin has spent a good chunk of this season in the AHL. Their addition for the playoffs is going to be more of a boost than a drop-in. These guys know the coach well from their time this season and will bring an added jolt to the AHL roster.

They are interested in right-shot defencemen Jake Livingstone and Sam Malinski.

We’ve heard Max Sasson and Max Andreev as two forwards to watch.

Livingstone should go deep into the NCAA tournament but Sasson, Malinski, and Andreev are three names who could be out before the month passes to April.

We also expect the Canucks to land some NCAA guys on AHL deals. Just like they did last season with Marc Gatcomb last year.

You’d hope to see Jack Rathbone and Nils Höglander back in the NHL. They aren’t on our prospects list, but are still young players.

It’s going to require an injury to get any more players from Abbotsford up to Vancouver this season as the Canucks reached their four-call-up limit within 35 minutes of the deadline passing.

Aside from that, Linus Karlsson is another guy who is deserving of a look in the NHL.

It looks like Daimon Gardner has been playing fine since tearing his MCL at the beginning of the season. He’s got nine goals and 22 assists through 33 USHL games with the Tri-City Storm. We’ve caught some highlights here and there on him but haven’t spent a lot of time scouting the player this season.

We are waiting for him to go to Clarkson in the NCAA next season to really begin evaluating him. If he was shredding the USHL, we would have spent more time on him.

As for Jackson Dorrington, we have had a lot of viewings of him this season and have really liked his toughness on the backend. He was a teammate of Aidan McDonough at Northeastern and played most of the season on the right side even though he is a left-shot defenceman.

Dorrington finished the season with no goals and six assists through 35 games and was a steady defensive presence for Northeastern on their second pairing for most of the season. He skates well, loves to hit and always protects his crease. Long road for him to become a legit NHL prospect but early returns have certainly not been bad.

The only name that really comes to mind on this question is right-shot defenceman Filip Johansson.

He’s been eating up big minutes in the SHL this season and saw a nice jump in his offence compared to what he did in his first three SHL seasons.

It’s no shocker for me to say that the Canucks are weak on the right side of their defence and Johansson will be given a chance to succeed in the NHL this year. It will likely be a similar scenario to Nils Åman.

Johansson will be given a chance and if he looks like he fits the part, some NHL time will come his way.

There just aren’t any dark horses this season. Maybe we will have one for the 2024-25 season.

Likely see Nils Höglander in a bottom-six role and Linus Karlsson will probably start in Abbotsford.

It’s really going to depend on what the Canucks do with their wingers like Brock Boeser, Connor Garland, Vitali Kravtson, Anthony Beauvillier and more.

There’s a lot to sort out with this team on the wings.

I have not heard anything about the Canucks being interested in Samuel Johannesson.

He had a strong offensive season and is one of the few defencemen to watch for as a European free agent.

NHL.

No question in my eyes.

I’d choose Conor Garland for that return.

It feels like enough as it creates much-needed cap space while adding two prospects and creating middle-six opportunities on the wing for guys like Vasily Podkolzin, Nils Höglander, Vitali Kravtsov, and even Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Danila Klimovich down the road.

Garland has three more years on his contract after this season. This trade proposal of yours would really open up some doors for young players over the next three seasons.

Well, that wraps up another Monday Mailbag here at CanucksArmy.

Thanks to everyone who sent in a question this week. We wouldn’t be able to do this article without you.

Enjoy another week of Canucks hockey and we will see you next Monday.

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Date: 03/20/2023
Player: Stefan Diezi (F)
From: EHC Arosa
To: EHC Arosa
Information: 1 year
Source: You need a free account to view Transfer URL Sign In/Up