NHL News: Travis Sanheim Case Settled, Olympic News, Plus Women’s Hockey
Travis Sanheim settles on new bridge deal with Philadelphia Flyers
Travis Sanheim — credit USA Today Photos

Travis Sanheim Settles on New Deal

The last potential arbitration case was settled on Saturday with little fanfare as the Philadelphia Flyers and Travis Sanheim came together on a two-year bridge deal for the defenseman.

Elliotte Friedman: This deal pays Travis Sanheim $4.675 million AAV. Now, the 25-year old defenseman has a contract that bridges him to unrestricted free agency.

Let’s dig into this a bit further as PuckPedia adds some details as far as salary breakdowns and more.

The Philadelphia Flyers did try to fortify their defense this offseason. Now, does Sanheim make that jump everyone expects him to?

He played nearly 22 minutes a night and was less and less utilized offensively. Despite that, Sanheim found a way to produce some positive metrics on an awful defensive team.

His even-strength numbers did show potential (top five in defenseman points) even if the goaltending was a cesspool in 2021.

This was more about getting Sanheim signed to a bridge deal. If the deal works out, the defenseman is going to cost a lot more money in two years when he hits unrestricted free agency.

Men’s 2022 Olympic Hockey News

Larry Brooks: It made too much sense that the IIHF would cover the insurance for any player who plays in the Olympic qualifiers. Insurance typically becomes the sticky issue and during COVID, that has been a case on several occasions.

This sets up the inevitable possibility that NHL players do go overseas for the Winter Olympics in Beijing come February of 2022.

It is safe to say when that agreement is announced, the 2021-22 NHL schedule will be quickly amended. After all, the contingency for an Olympic break is already set up.

Women’s Hockey Tournament Underway

World Sports Ranking: The Women’s World IIHF Ice Hockey Tournament was a long time coming that felt like it never was.

Yet, here we are. The fun and the crazy part are that the United States, Canada, and Finland are all in the same group. So there are the 2019 winners with the two “Superpowers” of the sport.

Oh, by the way, Russia or ROC is in that group as well. They are hardly slouches when it comes to hockey. Keep in mind, that it is very early in the tournament. The preliminaries were electric when Canada faced off against Finland. Just wait until the United States clashes against Canada.

It is only the beginning of what expects to be a tournament that will be full of intensity boiling over. Consider that the women did not get to play the 2020 version and so far, the competitive balance has been quite good.

Expect it to only get better.

Evgeny Svechnikov Signs with Manitoba Moose

Illegal Curve: The Manitoba Moose announced that they have signed former Detroit Red Wings forward, Evgeny Svechnikov to a one-year deal.

Svechnikov was hampered by injuries and a seeming lack of development in his time with the Detroit organization. He will get a second chance and a much-needed change of scenery.

In four years and 41 games with the Red Wings, Svechnikov produced seven goals and 12 points. He will have a chance to make the Winnipeg Jets out of training camp.