A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. Ancestry.com did a deep dive. Turns out, I’m half Nordique.
1. Another Friday night news jump.
The Vancouver Canucks‘ blockbuster deal with the New York Rangers, their forever flirting partner, was finally consummated and mercifully put an end to the J.T. Miller–Elias Pettersson soap opera that has consumed hockey talk this winter.
Is Vancouver’s return underwhelming? Sure.
But trying to put out this fire with extinguishers filled with gasoline wasn’t working, and it feels best for all involved to shift bodies three time zones away and restart fresh.
As the survivor of the grudge match, though, the onus now falls on Pettersson to not only be the best Pettersson in his organization (there are a few) but, with Quinn Hughes ailing, the best player.
We’ll call the Rangers the early trade winner here, as Chris Drury lands the best player in the deal.
New York’s GM protected his first-rounder and took advantage of a trading partner living a P.R. nightmare and struggling to deal a player with trade protection.
Edge, competitiveness, heart — these were some elements the skilled Rangers had been seeking during their own tumultuous reset.
Miller, a familiar face, checks those boxes.
And it may not be a coincidence that the trade was finalized after the NHL and its PA announced its heightened salary cap projections for the next three seasons.
Sure, Miller’s $8-million salary is steep right now, as a guy still hunting his 10th goal of the season. But his pay slots in third among Rangers forwards, and he should benefit from a change of scenery that pits him with some great playmakers.
With the cap spiking, Miller will be fine value if he can rediscover his point-per-game pace.
Ever combustible, it’ll be fascinating to see how he meshes with his new, old team.
Last season, the Rangers took on Blake Wheeler — another all-star and strong personality known for being demanding of fellow teammates. Wheeler became humbled and driven. Teammates respected him.
It’s not a perfect parallel, of course. Miller is younger, more expensive and signed for longer. But his success in Manhattan will be dependent on his approach.
2. Poor Nathan MacKinnon and Leon Draisaitl.
As was the case the first time these Hart Trophy champs signed long extensions, they will soon be viewed as bargains for their respective teams.
The salary cap is spiking aggressively in the next three seasons — up $7.5 million, to $95.5 million in 2025-26; up another $8.5 million, to $104 million in 2026-27; up $9.5 million, to $113.5 million in 2027-28.
Superstars’ agents have taken to negotiating a percentage of the full pie, so the slices for MacKinnon ($12.6 million AAV through 2031) and Draisaitl ($14 million through 2033) will get thinner and thinner.
Chalk it up to bad timing. These cap spikes, though suspected, were unclear at the time the athletes put pen to paper.
But also chalk it up to safe thinking. MacKinnon and Draisaitl (they’re not alone; we’re just using the elite as an example) chose the maximum eight years of security over maximizing the system.
Take the approach of 27-year-old Auston Matthews, who is in Year 1 of a four-year pact that pays him $13.25 annually. That amounts to a shade over 15 per cent of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ total cap.
Were Matthews to simply maintain that same percentage of payroll when his deal comes up in 2028-29 and the cap ascends to, say, $123 million, he’d be looking at a salary in the range of $18.5 million.
The catch, of course, is Matthews must stay healthy and effective to get that payday.
Does this flush new landscape convince more stars to shorten the term on their ask and double dip?
3. Logan Thompson’s six-year, $35.1-million contract extension is what happens when an athlete takes control of his own career, doubles down on himself, then backs up self-belief with performance.
The Thompson tale is also a reminder that the smartest hockey minds still struggle to identify a great goalie before he breaks out.
Thompson was never drafted. He was released from his amateur tryout by the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder in 2019. He signed a PTO with the AHL’s Binghamton Devils.
He was signed by the Hershey Bears but never dressed for them, instead playing a season for the farm club’s farm club, the ECHL South Carolina Stingrays, then going unrenewed.
Thompson’s first two seasons with Vegas were mostly spent in Henderson, and once he delivered positive results for the Golden Knights at the NHL level, he was told that he wasn’t going to be their No. 1.
“It was difficult. I mean, I did ask to be traded,” Thompson told me in November.
“But at the same time, me and Kelly McCrimmon did have a really good relationship for many years. I was there for a while, and I expressed that I wanted a bigger role, and they just expressed that they had Adin Hill. He was their future goalie moving forward, and that was it. I was a little disappointed and not as upset to ask for a trade, but I think it was the best thing for me and my career.”
Ask and you shall receive.
Thompson and the Washington Capitals are flourishing. You love to see a guy get his payday the hard way.
“I’m just having a lot of fun. It’s good to get here — a fresh start,” Thompson said.
“Everyone accepted me with welcome arms, and I’m just having fun playing hockey and just loving the game. That’s the biggest thing. There hasn’t really been a bad day or a day when I don’t want to come to the rink. You come here, and we’re a big family.”
4. Quote of the Week.
“Whatever role they put me in. I’ll play (expletive) right D if they need me to.” — Seth Jarvis, Team Canada’s extremely keen 13th forward.
5. Pat Maroon, a 2024 deadline rental, played just two regular-season games for the Boston Bruins before jumping into a Round 1 rivalry with the Maple Leafs.
Unprompted, the 36-year-old spilled great insight into the mental edge the Bruins held over their opponent in that seven-game grudge match.
“You know what was funny? All those guys were like, ‘Oh, we want Toronto. They never beat us.’ Everyone was so confident in that room: We’re not losing this game. Game 7, there’s no way we’re losing this game. Everyone was so confident: ‘(Expletive), we’re not losing,’” Maroon said during this week’s candid and entertaining Spittin’ Chicklets appearance.
“Jake DeBrusk was like, ‘I own Toronto.’ Out of the gates, he came out hot. He was scorin’. I was like, ‘This is great.’ Obviously, it was a panic when we were (up) 3-1. They kinda played really good without (Auston) Matthews there for a second. They got to their structure; they got to their game. But (Jeremy) Swayman was nasty for us. He stole some games for us.”
Toronto’s injury-plagued rally forced what Maroon described as an “epic” deciding game at TD Garden. William Nylander gave the visitors a lead, but Hampus Lindholm tied things up with “a muffin,” Maroon said, that snuck past Ilya Samsonov.
Heading into a do-or-die fourth period, Maroon marvelled at the absence of worry in the home dressing room.
“I’ve never been in a Boston-Toronto series, so to have that much confidence going into a series was (expletive) awesome. Obviously, we were up 3-1 and we kinda blew it the last two games there, but going into Game 7, everyone had this mentality of: We’re winning this game,” Maroon said, thinking back to the third and final intermission.
“We knew. We’re like, ‘OK, boys. Who wants it? Who’s scoring this goal?’ I thought I wasn’t going to get a shift.”
(He did. One. And almost scored before David Pastrnak played hero.)
6. Pouring one out for the Utah Yetis, raising a flag for the Utah Outlaws.
A trademark by the cooler company is preventing Utah Hockey Club owner Ryan Smith’s group from naming the newest NHL team the Yetis, and contender Wasatch proved too obscure for folks outside the shadows of the mountain range.
So, now Smith is down to three options: Utah HC (the default), Utah Mammoth or Utah Outlaws.
Yes, we’re aware of the short-lived Las Vegas Outlaws — the 2015 (and 2015 only) Arena Football League franchise owned by Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil.
But it’s a pretty bad-ass nickname, and these Outlaws will surely have more staying power.
“Utah Outlaws” is also a half-rhyme that rolls off the tongue nicely. There is also the irony of Utah being one of the lowest-crime states in the union.
Rhymes and irony are two of my favourite things.
Please vote for the Outlaws, Utahans.
7. I Love That for You is an excellent, albeit under-watched, Showtime series created by and starring Vanessa Bayer, whose protagonist lies about the return of her childhood cancer in an effort to keep her job.
I love that for you was also my first thought Thursday with regards to Craig Conroy and the Calgary Flames‘ trade for Philadelphia forwards Joel Farabee, 24, and Morgan Frost, 25.
A couple of months ago, outsiders wondered if Conroy would sell even harder than last season. Would the first-time GM go scorched earth and deal away core players with term? Nazem Kadri and Rasmus Andersson would have garnered high interest.
Instead, Conroy’s plucky hockey team has benefitted from fantastic coaching, goaltending and belief. That room has earned this trade. This “shot in the arm,” as Conroy puts it.
Acquiring two everyday NHLers in their pre-prime under club control is no easy feat — even if Frost was having a heckuva time earning John Tortorella’s trust.
Indeed, Conroy would have made an interesting seller. Turns out, he’s a shrewder buyer.
Contrary to our pre-season predictions, the Flames are a legit wild-card contender. Can’t wait to see how their GM’s big move can affect the group.
These are the surprises that make sports great — and another example of the scorched-earth rebuild (see: Buffalo, Chicago, San Jose) falling out of vogue.
(P.S. Just because Showtime cancelled Bayer’s series doesn’t mean some streamer shouldn’t pick up I Love That for You. Smart show.)
8. Speaking of remodelling on the fly …
Kaapo Kakko was the headline name in the mid-December trade between the Seattle Kraken and Rangers, but New York’s end of the bargain looks better with the re-signing of pending UFA Will Borgen (just before news of the salary cap jump, too).
Seldom do six-foot-two, 204-pound, 28-year-old, right-shot, top-four defencemen become available.
Since arriving in Manhattan, Borgen has seen his ice time leap from 15:12 to 18:34. He’s doubled his goals and assists in fewer games, despite starting a career-low 31.6 per cent of his shifts in the offensive zone. He’s throwing more hits and blocking more shots.
Most importantly though: He’s given lefty K’Andre Miller, another pending free agent, a steady partner.
“They take tough starts, they take top players,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette told reporters.
“They’re both big. They can skate. I think they’ve done a really good job together. The pairs seem to be getting stronger as they get a little more accustomed to each other. I think that they’ve been really good, but the pairings have been good, as well.”
Borgen got his payday this week. Miller could be next. And the once-spiralling, news-making Rangers are back in the (crowded) wild-card mix.
9. Marc-Andre Fleury said he had goosebumps on his skin and tears in his eyes.
If there’s a more perfect hometown sendoff than the show a 40-year-old Flower put on in Montreal, we’d be hard-pressed to imagine it.
Beset by injuries to key players, the visiting Minnesota Wild limited the Montreal Canadiens to a scant 19 shots, helping their soon-to-be Hall of Famer earn his first shutout since March. While backup Filip Gustavsson blended into the loving road crowd with a homemade sign asking for one more year:
“I was a little stressed for this game, playing my last one here, in Quebec, in front of family and friends. I’m glad it went well,” Fleury told reporters after the 4-0 win.
“I had some emotions and blurry eyes. I guess I’m getting soft as I’m getting older.”
I know it’s a long shot, but how about Fleury for the Lady Byng?
The NHL is about to bid adieu to a true gentleman and a wonderful character who is still maintaining a high level of play (11-5-1, .908 save percentage).
10. Few things make us happier than the impossible-to-dislike Kenan Thompson’s loyalty to the Anaheim Ducks — 30 years after he starred as Russ Tyler in D2: The Mighty Ducks.
The comic actor was gifted a custom TYLER sweater in Anaheim’s new home orange and regifted it to friend Seth Myers on the latter’s talk show:
Thompson then seemingly jokingly asked for the sweater back.
Turns out, the hockey fan wasn’t kidding at all.
Anyone who caught last weekend’s Saturday Night Live spotted Thompson rocking his Ducks orange during Timothée Chalamet’s farewell to the audience.
Love it.
11. The letter Chris Tanev wears on his sweater is invisible — but his teammates can see it anyway.
“He’s so good with the guys,” Bobby McMann said of the 15-year veteran. “Especially guys that maybe haven’t been here long enough, he’s really good at chatting guys up, understanding what their situation is. Just a good leader.”
Generally reserved and soft spoken, Tanev is the only-speak-when-necessary type. But his words typically cut straight to the heart. And he’s not hesitant to address a forward as quickly as a fellow defenceman.
“Not necessarily in the rah-rah type,” McMann explained. “But he’s always seeing the game from the defensive side of it, seeing what the forwards could do better, like where we can be. And he’s definitely vocal in bringing those sorts of things up. Strategic-wise, how can we get pucks into the zone easier and things like that.”
12. Simon Benoit was letting the F-bombs fly last time he held court for the TV cameras inside the Maple Leafs’ room at morning skate:
The following game day, when jokingly informed his language was too spicy for a follow-up interview, Benoit laughed.
The bruising blueliner revealed that his mom rang him within minutes after hearing multiple bleeps in her 26-year-old son’s scrum. He got a scolding.
Moms are the best.
