Tom Wilson, the ‘heart and soul' of the Caps, stayed in control. It changed the game.
MONTREAL — In Games 2 and 3 of the Washington Capitals' Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens, winger Tom Wilson received a combined 14 penalty minutes. He actually spent more than 20 minutes in the box to serve those 14, after accounting for the time it took before a whistle that would release him from his coincidental minors with Josh Anderson in Game 2 and his 10-minute misconduct for a brawl with Anderson in Game 3.
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Some Things I Think I Think: Red Sox' biggest problem is plain to see
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Forsyth County leaders approve $225 million development in hopes of attracting the NHL
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New York Times
10 hours ago
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NHL rumblings: Latest on Kreider, Marchand, Tavares, Pettersson, more as the trade market heats up
The potential Chris Kreider trade from the New York Rangers to the Anaheim Ducks has kicked off what should be a rather intriguing summer. Intriguing because as I made calls over the Past few days, taking time away from the Stanley Cup Final to get caught up on offseason affairs, one central theme popped up: Where are the sellers? Advertisement The landscape in the NHL is changing with long-established rebuilding clubs like the Ducks, Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings all wanting to add — and even teams further down the pecking order like the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks wanting to get better by adding pieces as well. 'Almost everyone is looking to add or get better, pretty much,' one NHL general manager said Wednesday. 'There's almost no one purely selling.' Or as another NHL GM put it: What team is entering a new rebuild right now? 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What else I'm hearing from around the league: • On Kreider, a potential trade first reported by Frank Seravalli, there were more discussions Wednesday. The deal is agreed to, but Kreider would need to waive as Anaheim is on his No list. Kreider was doing his homework on Anaheim on Wednesday and will make a decision. I assume his old pal Jacob Trouba is selling him hard on it. Advertisement • Apparently Brad Marchand has decided he's going to score in every single game of the Stanley Cup Final. I'm kidding of course, but I mean, could anyone have anticipated this kind of playoff performance from the 37-year-old? His rejuvenation coincides perfectly with his pending free agency, and there's no question that contenders are licking their lips hoping to make him an aggressive offer come July 1. The door isn't closed on staying with the Florida Panthers, but with pending unrestricted free agent and Conn Smythe contender Sam Bennett a top priority for the Panthers and Aaron Ekblad also a pending UFA, it's probably most likely Marchand is going to market where total dollars will be the top probity moreso than the actual average annual value. I think he's going to get three or four years and easily north of $8 million a year. And yes, as others have wondered, I do believe the Toronto Maple Leafs will be among the possibilities for Marchand. I mean, he mentioned during the second-round series with Toronto that he grew up a Leafs fan. But to be clear, there are multiple teams in play for Marchand if and when he hits the market. • The Calgary Flames, the Vancouver Canucks and the Canadiens are among the Canadian teams looking for a young No. 2 center, but I would say among those three, the Canucks have the most interest in Wild center Marco Rossi. The Flames have mild interest (they would rather get a center with more size), and I don't think the Habs are on that very much at all. • Speaking of centers, there's a long list of teams eager to see where things go with the New York Islanders under new GM Mathieu Darche when it comes to Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat. Could either center become available? The answer is no. Darche has communicated with both star players that they're staying put. That's going to be disappointing for teams who were hoping to make offers on either. I think Montreal would have probably been one of those teams. But keeping both Barzal and Horvat is part of Darche's decision to not undergo a massive, long-term rebuild. He sees a team that can compete for a playoff spot next year. Advertisement Of course, there are going to be roster changes. I think the overall theme will be to get younger when possible. But overall, the idea is he's not dropping a grenade on the roster. Darche and head coach Patrick Roy are aligned on wanting to play a higher-pace brand of hockey, and certainly Barzal and Horvat are at the heart of that. • Pat Brisson, the agent for Jonathan Toews, has heard from multiple teams regarding interest in his client, who is returning to the NHL next season. But Brisson is keeping the list of real suitors down to three or four teams, max. The Winnipeg Jets, as discussed before, are one of those teams. I wonder about the Colorado Avalanche as an option as well, but regardless of where it goes, Brisson already has it narrowed down to a tight list. • Never say never, but all signs point to the Canucks keeping Elias Pettersson, whose full no-move clause kicks in July 1. The Canucks are encouraged by Pettersson's approach this offseason. While production over the past two years hasn't matched his $11.6 million salary (he's got seven more years on his deal), there were teams monitoring that situation given how thin the UFA market is. But it sounds like Vancouver wants to keep him. • The Carolina Hurricanes, not surprisingly, are ready to make a splash. They've got $30 million to spend under the salary cap. The Canes intend to inquire on pending UFA Mitch Marner, as many contending teams do, but their eggs are not all in that basket. They are ready to take a run at several free agents and also are inquiring on the trade front. Get ready to see Carolina mentioned in a lot of speculation over the next four weeks. They also need to add on defense with the expectation that pending UFA Dmitry Orlov will go to market. • Utah is looking to take a big swing. It's listening on the No. 4 pick, but you just don't see top-five picks traded very often, and while I think GM Bill Armstrong is genuinely fielding calls on it, I don't think that pick moves. But Utah absolutely wants to be aggressive in upgrading, and I believe it would be among the more serious suitors for Sam Bennett if he goes to market. (I still think he probably re-signs in Florida.) • The Nashville Predators won't be setting off July 1 fireworks after two consecutive years of adding big names. The Predators want to let their roster settle. They might make a subtle signing or two, but nothing too flashy. They've got several players entering the last year of their deals (guys like Micheal Bunting, Colton Sissons, Michael McCarron, Jeremy Lauzon) so if they don't bounce back, they could sell at the March trade deadline, but otherwise it's about keeping the path open for some of their top prospects. • The Chicago Blackhawks are exploring options to add to their forward group. They feel like they're in a good spot on the back end with their young guys and set in goal. They want to start turning the team over to their younger players overall, so while they would like to add a player or two up front this offseason, they also don't want to hinder their younger players' path to quality playing time. So while the Hawks are looking to add up front, I don't think they're going to chase something unreasonable or do anything that doesn't make sense in terms of the path they're on. Advertisement • The Kings continue to have discussions with Vladislav Gavrikov's camp. This one is hard to read right now. I think there's a pretty robust market on July 1 for the pending UFA defenseman, given how thin the position is in free agency this year. The list is eight or nine teams deep that I believe would be making Gavrikov an offer July 1. (I would put the Rangers in that group of suitors.) But the door hasn't been closed on L.A. to this point, either. All things being equal, though, this feels like Gavrikov is more likely going to market than not. • Jamie Benn's agent, Bayne Pettinger, was slated to speak with Stars GM Jim Nill about the pending UFA captain before the end of this week. There's mutual interest in getting a deal done. Ditto with pending UFA Matt Duchene as far as ongoing discussions; his preference would be to stay in Dallas if possible. • The Leafs and John Tavares' camp continue to talk and touched based again this week. There remains mutual interest in getting something done, but finding that sweet spot on a fair deal isn't quite there yet. The idea that Tavares might sign for a bargain $5 million AAV seems like a stretch to me. It's going to have to be above that to get it done given the year he just had, although term is part of the equation as well. • In non-player news, I reported Wednesday that league sources have informed me that Ron Burkle, Mario Lemieux and David Morehouse have decided to explore the possibility of buying back the Penguins from Fenway Sports. Burkle and Lemieux sold the Penguins to Fenway in 2021. Fenway made public several months ago that they were seeking to sell a minority share. But the intention here from the Burkle, Lemieux and Morehouse group, as I understand it, would be the buy back the entire team. I've also heard that Fenway had been in talks with another potential group. We'll see where this all goes, but it sure is interesting to hear that Super Mario wants back in. • In CBA news, the NHL and NHL Players' Association had another bargaining session Wednesday and continue to get closer and closer to a CBA extension. I'm told that there are still a handful of issues that need ironing out but that the feeling is, barring a major setback, there could be a CBA done by the end of the month and perhaps in time for the June 25 Board of Governors meeting. • And finally, one of the by-products of having a decentralized draft is how much impetus it put on NHL team execs and player agents to get their face-to-face time at the recent combine in Buffalo. One NHL GM said it was the busiest combine he can remember in terms of taking meetings to prepare for the trade and free-agent market. One veteran agent said he had 20 meetings in a few days. Never seen anything like it, he said. Advertisement And that's because for the June 27 and 28 NHL Draft, GMs will be at their team headquarters across the 32 markets, not in one place. So from here on out this month, it's all phone work. It's still too early for most of the high-profile trade conversations to go next level. So much of what happened in Buffalo was planting seeds and trying to get a sense of the market. But the first round of the draft on June 27 will act as the first deadline, of sorts, of the offseason as far as trades that may involve first-round picks. (Top photo of Nate Schmidt, John Tavares and Brad Marchand: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
