Mark Easson

21684 Articles

2013-14 Team Primers

We will be running two or three team season primers a day leading up to the start of the season. Teams are in no particular order. I'd like to thank McKeen's Hockey for the team outlooks and Dobber Hockey for…

Mark Easson

Free Agent and Rumor Hits: Kessel, Liles, Teams over the cap, Stepan, Boyle, Gagne and White

Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: Simmons thinks Phil Kessel could fall between Corey Perry's $8.6 million and Ryan Getzlaf's $8.2 million. Dion Phaneuf's new contract could be more complicated. Simmons wonders if the Flames would be interested in John-Michael…

Mark Easson

Injury Notes: Thorburn, McLaren, Rinaldo and Brown

Ken Wiebe: Jets forward Chris Thorburn has an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. Paul Hendrick: Maple Leafs Frazer McLaren had an MRI last night to determine severity of pinky finger injury. Philadelphia Flyers: Flyers Zac Rinaldo left last night's game…

Mark Easson

Lines and pairings from yesterday: Senators, Penguins, Canadiens, Stars and Jets

Don Brennan: Senators lines: Conacher with Da Costa and Stone, Kassian with Smith and Condra, Ryan with Spezza and Michalek. Pittsburgh Penguins: Penguins lines: Bennett-Malkin-Neal, Glass-Jeffrey-Kobasew, (Letourneau-Leblond)-Vitale-Farnham, Kuhnhackl-Ebbett-Payerl, Sill. John Lu: Canadiens lines: Galchenyuk - Eller - Gallagher;Prust - Reway - Collberg;Bournival -…

Mark Easson

Free Agent Hits: Boyle, Vrbata, Cowen and Whitney

Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area: Sharks Dan Boyle said yesterday that he would like to sign a multi-year deal with the Sharks. He is entering the final year of his six-year, $40 million deal. He'll make $6.67 million this year.…

Mark Easson

Morning Hits: Blues, Barrie, Coyotes, Hedberg and Biron

Jeremy Rutherford: Before Alex Pietrangelo's press conference, GM Doug Armstrong, coach Ken Hitchcock and Pietrangelo were standing in a circle talking. Armstrong jokingly said: "This might be the best team I’ve ever been associated with and the only thing that can screw…

Mark Easson

Injury Notes: Callahan, Bonino, McLaren, Tlusty and Brown

Katie Strang: Rangers Ryan Callahan said there is a "slim chance" the he could be ready for the start of the season, but he isn't ruling it out. Eric Stephens: Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said that Nick Bonino was fine…

Mark Easson

Lines from Yesterday: Stars, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, Hurricanes, Kings and Red Wings

Mark Stepneski: Stars Vern Fiddler centered Lane MacDermid and Brett Ritchie yesterday. Rob Mixer: Blue Jackets Redor Tyutin and Jack Johnson have been consistent pairings on the blueline. Scott Powers: Brandon Saad centered Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp again. Michael…

Mark Easson

Free Agent Hits: Cowen, Stepan, Thomas, Boll and Raymond

Bruce Garrioch: Expect Jared Cowen and Senators to come to a four year deal worth around $12 million today. James Gordon: The Senators offered Cowen a four-year deal worth around $3 million yesterday according to assistant GM Tim Murray. John…

Mark Easson

Injury Notes: Callahan, Huberdeau, Bjugstad, Brown and Talbot

Dan Rosen of NHL.com: Rangers Ryan Callahan will likely start the season on the IR following his offseason shoulder surgery. "Right now I don't ," Callahan said. "I guess you never know, but you've gotta see how it progresses. That's really…

Mark Easson

Morning Hits: Ekman-Larsson, Grabovski, Brassard, Pietrangelo and McLaren

Sarah McLellan: Coyotes Oliver Ekman-Larson will arrive in camp today. Katie Carrera: Capitals Mikhail Grabovski's visa situation will be resolved and he'll be at practice on Sunday. Andrew Gross: Rangers assistant coach Scott Arniel said there never was really any…

Mark Easson

Afternoon Hits: Red Wings, Polak and Tarasenko and some lines from today

Ansar Khan of MLive: The Red Wings are currently $2.4 million over the salary cap. They have 26 players under contract, 17 forwards, three more than they plan on carrying. Darren Helm will start the year on injured reserve. They…

Mark Easson