Tag: Mikael Backlund

NHL Rumors: Vancouver Canucks – Hutton, Salary Cap Space and Free Agents

On the Vancouver Canucks ... Rick Dhaliwal: Looking like defenseman Ben Hutton's time with the Canucks could be up. It would be a surprise if the Canucks didn't explore the idea of trading him at the draft in June. Rick…

Mark Easson

NHL Rumors: Deadline Fallout – Roundup of Friedman’s 31 Thoughts

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: It's believed that the Montreal Canadiens asked the Los Angeles Kings for Tyler Toffoli, Gabriel Vilardi and possibly more. The Senators asked the Minnesota Wild for Charlie Coyle plus more. Pacioretty might have been okay with…

Mark Easson

NHL Rumors: Looking at the Top 12 Pending Unrestricted Free Agents

On the top 12 pending UFA's ... Luke Fox of Sportsnet: Looking at top free agents and any recent rumors and notes about them. 1. John Tavares - New York Islanders - Both the Islanders and Tavares continue to say…

Mark Easson

NHL Rumors: Ottawa Senators, Calgary Flames, and Erik Karlsson

On the Ottawa Senators ... Murray Pam: Erik Karlsson on all the trade speculation: "It's true. It happened (Gretzky was traded). By no means I'm not even anywhere close to that. I'm not sure why a parallel has been drawn…

Mark Easson

2018 NHL Free Agent Watch: Joe Thornton and Mikael Backlund

Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks While the Sharks got off to a bit of a slow start, their seven wins in the last ten games has their record at a decent 8-6-0. Jumbo has again played a key role as…

Kevin Wickersham

Pacific Division: Calgary Flames Season Outlook

Calgary Flames 2017-18 Outlook Forwards Calgary’s promising young forwards, including leading scorers Johnny Gaudreau (61 points in 72 games) and Sean Monahan (a team-high 27 goals contributing to 58 points) hope to build on success next year. Matthew Tkachuk, vital…

Kevin Wickersham

NHL Rumors: Thomas Vanek, and the Calgary Flames

On Thomas Vanek ... Michael Russo: Free agent Thomas Vanek is still going over his NHL options including the Red Wings: "I've got to make up my mind sooner than later" ... "this is something I've never been through. Usually I went…

Mark Easson

NHL Rumors: Calgary Flames – Gaudreau, Bennett and Backlund

On the Calgary Flames, Johnny Gaudreau, Sam Bennett and Mikael Backlund ... Chris Nichols FanRag Sports: Flames GM Brad Treliving was on Sportsnet 960 and was asked about Johnny Gaudreau's "Yeah, it'd be sweet," comments about playing for the Philadelphia Flyers…

Mark Easson

NHL Rumors: Calgary Flames – Brouwer, Expansion, Johnson, Versteeg and Stone

On the Calgary Flames ... Eric Francis of the Calgary Herald: Flames forward Troy Brouwer will likely be left unprotected for the expansion draft. When the Flames gave up a second round pick for Curtis Lazar, it meant they likely…

Mark Easson

NHL Injuries: Blues, Wild, Capitals, Senators, Bruins and Flames

On the St. Louis Blues  ... Jeremy Rutherford: Based on yesterday's practice lines it appears that Paul Stastny and Jori Lehtera are in and Ivan Barbashev and Zach Sanford are out. Jeremy Rutherford: Stastny was also practicing on the Blues…

Mark Easson

NHL Injuries: Pens, Panthers, Flyers, Devils, Hawks, Wings, Kings and More

On the Pittsburgh Penguins ... Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Defenseman Kris Letang missed his seventh consecutive game with a lower-body injury. Goaltender Matt Murray suffered a lower-body injury in the second period and didn't return for the third.…

Mark Easson

NHL Injuries: Preds, Kings, Stars, Flames, Hurricanes, Sabres and More

On the Nashville Predators ... Adam Vingan of the Tennessean: P.K. Subban missed his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury. "A little disappointing," Predators general manager David Poile told 102.5-FM on Tuesday afternoon. "We all thought that there was a…

Mark Easson