Top 10 goalies
NHL Network: Top 10 list for goaltenders for the 2019-20 season.
1. Andrei Vasilevskiy
2. Sergei Bobrovsky
3. Ben Bishop
4. Carey Price
5. Tuukka Rask
6. Marc-Andre Fleury
7. Braden Holtby
8. Jordan Binnington
9. Pekka Rinne
10. John Gibson
Matthews on Marner
Craig Morgan of the Athletic: Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews when ask if he’s spoken with Mitch Marner about playing in Zurich (Matthews played there before being drafted). Matthews says he hasn’t, nor have they talked about Marner’s contract situation.
“If he wants advice, Willie (Nylander) is probably a good guy to talk to because he went through it last season (signed in December). I’m sure they have probably chatted about their similar situations. I signed halfway through the season last year, so it’s different.
I’m not really too worried about it. I don’t know what’s going to happen because I’m not in those conversations but I’m sure (Dubas) and his whole team will figure that whole thing out. They find a way to work themselves out. They always do.”
NHL discipline for Kuznetsov possible but unlikely
Matt Larkin of The Hockey Hockey News: It’s unlikely that Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov will miss any NHL games for testing positive for cocaine at the World Championships earlier this year. Players are randomly tested during the season for PED’s.
“Unlike the IIHF, cocaine is not considered a performance enhancing drug and is therefore not a Prohibited Substance under the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program,” Daly said in a statement released by the NHL Friday morning. “Instead, it is considered a drug of abuse that is tested for and for which intervention, evaluation and mandatory treatment can occur in appropriate cases.”
If there is a 2021 World Cup, Kuznetsov would be eligible to play for Russia as it’s hosted by the NHL and NHLPA and not the IIHF.
The NHL will be meeting with Kuznetsov and some sort of disciplinary action could come down. From the NHL’s understanding according to Bill Daly, Kuznetsov “has voluntarily sought help through the education and counselling program provided for in the NHL and NHLPA collective bargaining agreement.”