2022 NHL Draft date
Montreal Canadiens: The 2022 NHL Draft will be held on July 7th and 8th in Montreal.
Smith retires
TSN: 33-year old Zack Smith retired from the NHL yesterday. He played in 612 games for the Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawks.
Blues bringing in two on PTOs
St. Louis Blues: The Blues have signed forwards James Neal and Michael Frolik to PTOs. Neal played 20 games for the Oilers last season and Frolik 10 for the Canadiens
Lou Korac: “Interesting that the #stlblues have brought in James Neal and Michael Frolik on PTO’s but unless Doug Armstrong has something up his sleeve in regards to moving people off the current roster (other than perhaps Tarasenko), I don’t see where these vets would fit in cap-wise.”
Gauthier on a PTO
TSN: The New Jersey Devils have signed forward Frederik Gauthier to a PTO.
Fleury thought he’d retire a Golden Knight
Nicholas Cotsonika of NHL.com: Marc-Andre Fleury thought that he would be retiring as a Vegas Golden Knight.
“I’ve been doing what I love a long time, right?” Fleury said. “So I didn’t want to be overly selfish about things. I thought I was going to maybe retire and finish it out, maybe live there after hockey. So it was a little bit of a change of direction.
“But the been great helping me make myself comfortable in the city. The school has been great for the kids. They love it. They’re playing soccer. The wife loves it. So yeah, no complaints.”
Fleury is in the last year of his contract and hasn’t talked to the Chicago Blackhawks about a contract extension. He wouldn’t he talk about if the Blackhawks are not a playoff spot at the trade deadline.
“I would rather have success with this team, be good and make the playoffs and go for a run, right?” Fleury said. “That’s my goal coming here, and that’s what I’m focused on.”