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The Winnipeg Jets the last team still looking for a head coach |
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Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ryan Ellis is progressing in the rehabilitation of his pelvic injury and yet the Flyers don't know whether he will be ready for training camp.
"I don’t know how anyone could predict that right now," General manager Chuck Fletcher said.
"That’s certainly the hope and the goal. We’ll have to see. Again, he’s starting ramp up the rehab, which is great that he’s at the point where he could ramp it up."
The uncertainty is still problematic for an organization that wants instant improvement.
"Certainly, further along now compared to a month or two months ago," Fletcher said. "Saying that, the bulk of his rehab is still ahead of him. He’s starting to intensify his off-ice workouts. Its’s going well, but there is still several steps to go before he gets on the ice. It’s still difficult, if not impossible, to predict where he’s going to be at in three months. The last month has been encouraging, but there is still more work to do."
The Flyers have just over $5 million in cap space remaining with five players left to sign. They don't have enough space to pursue a free agent defenseman. If they want a veteran defenseman, they may have to make a trade
The Notebook:
2. Hearing Rick Tocchet is still in the mix for the Winnipeg Jets' job, along with Scott Arniel. Former Jets player Arniel was the early favorite and now I'm not sure. The Jets are the only team still looking for a coach.
3. Reports are circulating that Jim Montgomery is getting the Boston Bruins' job. He turns 53 today. Quite a birthday present.
4. According to the Ottawa Sun, Adam Gaudette will not receive a qualifying offer from the Senators. He will be an unrestricted free agent. Gaudette played well for Team USA at the recent World Championships, contributing six goals and two assists.
5. This season’s Stanley Cup Final averaged 4.6 million viewers and reached an average of 1.8 million people 18-49 – up 84% and 99%, respectively. That's compared to the 2021’s Stanley Cup Final average.
6. How hard is it to stay healthy in the NHL? According to StatMuse, only 25 players were able to play all 82 games this past season.
7. Wayne Gretzky played 1,487 games and registered two or more points in 824 of those games. That means he posted multiple points in 55.4% of the games he played. That's why he is the Great One.
8, The most multi-point games by an active player is Sidney Crosby's 421. He has produced two or more points in 37.9% of his NHL games.
9. Happy Birthday Steve Duchesne. He played defense for six NHL teams (Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Quebec, St, Louis, Ottawa and Detroit). He scored 20 or more goals in a season three times in his career. Duchesne helped the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup in 2002. He turns 57 today.
10. There's a funny video on Twitter showing a police officer trying to kick Colorado defenseman Bowen Byram out of his own Stanley Cup parade. He thought Byram was a fan. Can't blame the officer. Byram looks young because he is young.
11. With the Minnesota Wild trying to re-sign Marc-Andre Fleury, it's fair to wonder where they could move Talbot. Of course that presumes Fleury will re-sign there. How about Washington?
12. Team USA Director of Hockey Operations John Vanbiesbrouck talking about U.S.-born draft prospect Logan Cooley: "He's the kind of player that you love to watch as a fan...he does special stuff. When it comes to the way the game is trending, he's a perfect fit. He has a lot of craftiness in him. People love that unpredictability he has."
13. New Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde admits he bears a resemblance to Uncle Fester from the AAdams Family television show.
14. Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman was succinct in explaining why he wanted Lalonde as his new coach: “He has proven himself as an excellent coach at every level and has spent the last four seasons in the National Hockey League as part of a very successful program in Tampa Bay. We feel he is ready to take the next step in his career as the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings.”
15. The betting world isn't buying the notion that the Habs may spurn Shane Wright at No. 1. Wright is listed as a -200 favorite. Juraj Slafkovsky is +110 and Cooley at +2000.
16. Detroit Red Wings forward Oskar Sundqvist is the latest player to take note that GM Steve Yzerman can be intimidating. "He’s kind of terrifying,” Sundqvist said to Andy Strickland and former NHL tough guy Cam Janssen on the Cam & Strick Podcast. Sundqvist said he was nervous talking to Yzerman. “I was super scared," he said. "It’s kind of nerve wracking. People are scared when he walks in. But I think that’s how a GM should be."
17. Sorry to hear that former Toronto Maple Leafs player Jim Pappin died this week. He was credited with scoring the Stanley Cup-clinching goal when the Leafs won in 1967. NHL.com had the rest of that story: Pappin's shot seemed to graze Pete Stemkowski's skate on the way to the net. But Pappin had a bonus in his contract that he would receive if he won the Stanley Cup goal-scoring race. Legend has it that Stemkowski gave credit to Pappin scoring the goal in exchange for unlimited access to the pool Pappin was planning to build.
18. It may be a slow turn, but the goalie carousel is moving: the Buffalo Sabres re-signed 41-year-old Craig Anderson for one year at $1.5 million and the Dallas Stars signed Scott Wedgewood for two years at $1 million per season. We will soon know whether the Toronto Maple Leafs buyout Petr Mrazek's contract. Anderson played well for Buffalo last season, but at this stage of his career injuries are almost a given.
19. The Columbus Blue Jackets added grit to their by giving the Nashville Predators a fourth-round pick for 6-foot-2, 210-pound right wing Mathieu Olivier. The cool fact about this trade is that Olivier was born in Biloxi, Mississippi. He's a Canadian but was born there when his father was playing in the ECHL.
20. Thirty years ago today, June 30, 1992, arbitrator Larry Bertuzzi's decision allowed the Philadelphia Flyers to acquire center Eric Lindros from the Quebec Nordiques in a trade for centers Peter Forsberg and Mike Ricci, goalie Ron Hextall, defensemen Steve Duchesne and Kerry Huffman, a first-round pick in the 1993 NHL Draft and $15 million. The Nordiques also made a Lindros deal with the New York Rangers. The arbitrator ruled that the Flyers trade was valid.
By the way, Lindros is now 49. Hextall is 58.
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