NHL HHOF Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Enough Offense? 4 Bargain UFAs to Add Goals to Penguins’ Bottom-Six https://pittsburghhockeynow.com/pittsburgh-penguins-nhl-free-agents-tomas-tatar-lines-eric-staal/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icechipper Posted July 13, 2023 Author Share Posted July 13, 2023 Oskar Sundquist signs $775,000 w/Blues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted July 13, 2023 Share Posted July 13, 2023 Top five value NHL free agents still available for 2023-24 https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/top-5-value-nhl-free-agents-still-available-for-2023-24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Math Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 Whoops... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomdog Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 17 minutes ago, Math said: Whoops... Stupid is as stupid does. And unfortunately you can’t fix stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 Top remaining NHL unrestricted free agents include Tarasenko, Dumba https://www.nhl.com/news/best-of-remaining-nhl-unrestricted-free-agents/c-345180466?tid=281072352 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 (edited) Could This Really Be the End? – Unsigned NHL Free Agents Posted on August 20, 2023 by Diane Doyle https://novacapsfans.com/2023/08/20/could-this-really-be-the-end-unsigned-nhl-free-agents/ Every player who signs an NHL contract looks forward to having a long career, possibly a decade or more. But all good things eventually come to an end, including NHL playing careers. With the start of the 2023-24 NHL season less than two months away and NHL training camps starting in nearly a month, several long-term NHL players who became unrestricted free agents this summer do not have a new contract, and have not yet announced their retirement. Two prominent unrestricted free agents have already announced their retirements: Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. The discussion below is limited to prominent NHL players who are 34-years-old or older and who have still not signed a contract. Note: the age listed in this discussion is their age as of October 1, 2023. Zach Parise – Age 39 – Parise, a winger drafted in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, has played in the NHL since 2005-06, mostly with the New Jersey Devils and Minnesota Wild. Last year he played with the Islanders after the Wild bought out his contract. He scored 21 goals and had 13 assists with the Islanders. The report is that he will either re-sign with the Islanders or retire. Eric Staal – Age 38 – Staal, a center also drafted in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, has played in the NHL since 2003-04, mostly with the Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild and played in the AHL for the 2021-22 season. Last season, he played with the Florida Panthers and scored 14 goals and had 15 assists. No team offered him an NHL contract for 2021-22 and last season, the Panthers signed him early in the season after he had been on a PTO for training camp. It is uncertain whether he’ll be offered an NHL contract again. Brian Elliott – Age 38 – Elliott, a goaltender drafted in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, started his NHL career with the Ottawa Senators in 2007-08. He became a full-time NHL player after his trade to the St. Louis Blues prior to the 2011-12 season. Last season, he played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, serving as the backup to Andrey Vasilevskiy. Jaroslav Halak – Age 38 – Halak, a goaltender drafted in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, started his NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens in 2006-07. He became a full-time NHL player during the 2008-09 season. Last season he played for the New York Rangers, serving as the backup to Igor Shesterkin. The Capitals acquired him at the trade deadline in 2014. He is best known for his performance in the 2010 playoffs where he helped the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens upset both the Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2010 playoffs. Paul Stastny – Age 37 – Stastny, a center drafted in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, started his career with the Colorado Avalanche in 2006-07. He mostly played with the Avalanche and the St. Louis Blues. Last season, he played with the Carolina Hurricanes, scoring nine goals with 13 assists. Alexander Edler – Age 37 – Edler, a defenseman drafted in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, started his career with the Vancouver Canucks in 2006-07 and became a full-time NHL player the following season, aside from two games in the AHL. He mostly played with the Canucks but played with the Los Angeles Kings for the last two years. Nick Holden – Age 36 – Holden, an undrafted defenseman, made his NHL debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2012-13 and became a full-time NHL player In 2013-14. He played with numerous teams in his career including the Colorado Avalanche and the Las Vegas Golden Knights. He played the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons with the Ottawa Senators. Derick Brassard – Age 36 – Brassard, a center drafted in 2006, made his NHL debut in 2006-07 with the Columbus Blue Jackets and became a full-time NHL player the following year. He played for the Blue Jackets and the New York Rangers for the first several seasons of his career but several other teams after that. He played the 2022-23 season with the Ottawa Senators where he scored 13 goals and had 10 assists. Phil Kessel – Age 35 – Kessel, a winger drafted in 2006, started his NHL career during the 2006-07 season with the Boston Bruins, playing just two games in the AHL. He primarily played with the Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins and Arizona Coyotes. Last season, he played with the Vegas Golden Knights where he scored 14 goals and recorded 22 assists. Ironically, he played in all of his team’s regular season games but only played in four playoff games during the Golden Knights’ playoff run on their way to the Stanley Cup. Kessel has scored 413 goals, recorded 579 assists, and scored 992 NHL points throughout his career. Jonathan Toews – Age 35 – Toews, a center drafted in 2006, started his NHL career during the 2007-08 season with the Chicago Blackhawks, and played his entire career with Chicago. Last season he scored 15 goals and recorded 16 assists in just 53 games. He is taking the 2023-24 season off to focus on recovering from long Covid which has been an issue for him since 2020, and hopes to make a comeback in 2024-25, but the combination of his advancing age and being out of action for over a year will work against him. While he offers great leadership qualities, an NHL General Manager may feel he may not be able to handle the rigors of playing an entire NHL season, due to his health issues. He scored 372 goals and recorded 511 assists for 883 points during his career. Carl Hagelin – Age 35 – Hagelin, a winger drafted in 2007, made his NHL debut in 2011-12 with the New York Rangers and became a full-time NHL player during 2012-13. He has played with the Rangers, Anaheim Ducks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, and Washington Capitals. The Caps acquired him in a deadline deal in 2019. He missed the end of the 2021-22 and the entirety of the 2022-23 season due to an eye injury and hip surgery. He ended the season by getting the same hip resurfacing surgery that Nicklas Backstrom had during the 2022 off-season. It is unlikely that Hagelin will play in the NHL again. Wayne Simmonds – Age 35 – Simmonds, a winger drafted in 2007, began his NHL career in 2008-09 with the Los Angeles Kings. He played with the Kings for three seasons before getting traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, with whom he spent the bulk of his career. He played with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2020-21 through 2022-23 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Given that he was often a healthy scratch during his last season with Toronto, it is unlikely that he will play in the NHL again. Patrick Kane – Age 34 – Kane, a winger drafted in 2006, started his NHL career during the 2007-08 season with the Chicago Blackhawks. He played his entire career with Chicago until getting traded to the New York Rangers at the 2023 trade deadline. Due to hip issues, he has undergone the same hip resurfacing surgery that Nicklas Backstrom underwent. There are rumors of NHL teams being interested in his services but the issues with offering him a contract are the fact he won’t be returning until December or January at the earliest and whether he can regain his old form after that, given his age. Edited August 26, 2023 by NHL HHOF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted August 27, 2023 Share Posted August 27, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 Why the Coyotes Should Target This Three-Time Stanley Cup Champion Former Arizona Coyotes forward and three-time Stanley cup champion Phil Kessel is still looking for a new home heading into the 2023-24 season. https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/arizona-coyotes/analysis/why-the-coyotes-should-target-this-three-time-stanley-cup-champion Former Coyotes forward and three-time Stanley Cup champion Phil Kessel is looking to continue his career into the 2023-24 season according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. Friedman also added that Kessel has informed teams he is not concerned about being an every-day player despite currently holding the NHL’s iron-man streak with 1,064 consecutive games played. Should the Coyotes target the 35-year-old veteran forward? Kessel played in Arizona from 2019-2022 where he had 42 goals, 91 assists and 133 points in 208 games. While the Coyotes have a lot of depth at the right wing position, there isn’t any risk in signing a player of Kessel’s caliber. Kessel provides a veteran presence to a young Coyotes team as he can really help mentor some of the rising prospects including Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Barrett Hayton and Matias Maccelli. Even at his current age, Kessel is still able to produce. During the 2021-22 season, Kessel played a big role for the Coyotes and had a strong statistical season tallying eight goals, 44 assists and 53 points while playing all 82 games. Kessel played in the Valley just two seasons ago so he still has connections with some current players on the team as well as people in the organization. There are no signs toward the Coyotes signing Kessel at this moment but nonetheless it is still a move that makes sense and one they should consider heading into training camp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 (edited) UFA Phil Kessel wants to play in 2023-24, open to ending ironman streak https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/ufa-phil-kessel-wants-to-play-in-2023-24-open-to-ending-ironman-streak/ Hope everyone had a great summer; enjoy your final weekend of freedom. But first: a quick blog on Phil Kessel. The three-time Stanley Cup champion wants to play again in 2023-24. But, the most significant detail is that he’s let teams know it won’t be a problem if he’s not an every-day player. Kessel is the NHL’s Ironman, the only player in league history to play at least 1,000 games in a row. His current streak is 1,064 — 75 more than Keith Yandle, whose record Kessel broke last season. (Kessel did not appear in all of Vegas’s playoff games, but the postseason does not factor into consecutive games records.) Letting teams know this detail in advance is important, because ending these streaks causes enormous stress if there is not buy-in from the player. In 2020-21, for example, Florida teammates made their displeasure very clear when the Panthers wanted to scratch Yandle from the lineup at the start of the season. He didn’t miss a game. Kessel had 14 goals and 36 points last season, so he’s still a factor. He’s also eight points from 1,000. The other thing that helps him is, at age 35, he’s eligible to sign a one-year minimum contract with bonuses that could slide to next season. There’s not much cap space available right now, so that’s a benefit for anyone seeking a scorer. Carolina’s Brent Burns, by the way, has the next-longest active streak, at 761 games. We’ll see where this goes over the next few weeks, but Kessel’s making a concession to keep things going. Edited September 3, 2023 by NHL HHOF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted September 6, 2023 Share Posted September 6, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted October 9, 2023 Share Posted October 9, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 Put Eric Staal and Phil Kessel together on the same team! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted November 25, 2023 Share Posted November 25, 2023 Did Zach Parise retire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 1 hour ago, NHL HHOF said: Looks like he's still in his game shape, too. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 (edited) Kessel to work out at home of Canucks' AHL affiliate Free agent forward had 36 points for Golden Knights last season, has played for Vancouver coach Tocchet https://www.nhl.com/news/phil-kessel-to-work-out-at-home-of-vancouver-canucks-ahl-affiliate ByNHL.com @NHLdotcom February 14, 2024 Phil Kessel will be working out this week in Abbotsford, British Columbia, home of the Vancouver Canucks' American Hockey League affiliate, general manager Patrik Allvin said Tuesday. “Yeah, Jim (Rutherford, Vancouver president of hockey operations) the last couple of weeks was talking to his agent,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said after his team’s 4-2 win at the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. “He’s going to go down there and skate for two or three days. We’ll see how he is down there and reevaluate from there.” The 36-year-old free agent forward, who is in Vancouver, has not played in the NHL this season. He had 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) in 82 regular-season games with the Vegas Golden Knights last season. However, after playing in their first four Stanley Cup Playoff games, Kessel was a healthy scratch for the rest of the postseason, including the Stanley Cup Final, when Vegas defeated the Florida Panthers in five games. Selected by the Boston Bruins with the No. 5 pick in the 2006 NHL Draft, Kessel has 992 points (413 goals, 579 assists) in 1,286 games with the Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Arizona Coyotes and Golden Knights. He has 83 points (34 goals, 49 assists) in 100 postseason games, winning the Stanley Cup three times. Kessel also owns the NHL record for most consecutive games played, which is active at 1,064. “I played with Phil for a while,” said Canucks forward Conor Garland, who played with Kessel on the Coyotes from 2019-21. “[He’s] one of my close friends, so I’m just excited. I’ll probably go see him tomorrow in Abbotsford. “It’s more of just, I’m glad to see someone who is so good hopefully get another chance. He deserves a shot in this league, and he’s a three-time (Stanley) Cup winner and a Hall of Famer, and I think he deserves to play. We’ll see what happens, but I’m just happy for him.” Vancouver (36-12-6) leads the NHL in points (78) and points percentage (.722) in its first full season under Tocchet, who was hired Jan. 22, 2023, to replace Bruce Boudreau. Tocchet is very familiar with Kessel, having worked with him while he was an assistant with the Penguins during their back-to-back Stanley Cup championship seasons in 2015-16 and 2016-17. During those two seasons, Kessel combined for 129 points (49 goals, 80 assists) in 164 regular-season games and 45 points (18 goals, 27 assists) in 49 playoff games. Following that second championship, Tocchet was hired as coach of the Coyotes, and two seasons later, Arizona acquired Kessel as part of a trade with the Penguins for Alex Galchenyuk and Pierre-Olivier Joseph on June 29, 2019. Kessel played the next three seasons with the Coyotes, including the first two under Tocchet, who agreed to part ways with them May 9, 2021. Kessel signed a one-year contract with the Golden Knights ahead of last season. “I haven’t talked to him at all,” Tocchet said. “But I know Phil, especially from the Pittsburgh days.” Asked what he thought Kessel could add, Tocchet said: “I don’t know, I haven’t seen him skate. I have to see how he’s skating down there, to be honest with you.” Canucks forward Dakota Joshua said it was “great news” to hear Kessel would be skating in Abbotsford. “Just another veteran presence, someone who’s won before, and it’s nice to have those guys in the room,” he said. “That’d be a big help.” NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report Edited February 19 by NHL HHOF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Kessel 'wasn't a fit' for Canucks, remains unsigned 36-year-old forward, 3-time Cup winner now ineligible for playoffs if he agrees to NHL contract https://www.nhl.com/news/phil-kessel-was-not-a-fit-for-vancouver-canucks-remains-unsigned VANCOUVER -- Phil Kessel will not be eligible to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season after he and the Vancouver Canucks were unable to come to a contract agreement prior to the deadline on Friday. The 36-year-old forward arrived in Vancouver on Feb. 12 and had been skating with the Canucks' American Hockey League affiliate in nearby Abbotsford. Kessel, who has been an unrestricted free agent since winning the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights last season, can still sign an NHL contract and play this season but would be ineligible for the playoffs. "Phil is a great person and well-respected player, what he has done in the League, a three-time Cup winner, [he] wanted to come back to play," Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said Friday. "With roster complications and how we want to play, unfortunately at this point it wasn't a fit for us." Kessel had 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) in 82 regular-season games with Vegas last season but after playing in their first four playoff games, he was a healthy scratch for the rest of the postseason, including the Cup Final. He also owns the NHL record for most consecutive games played, which is active at 1,064. Selected by the Boston Bruins with the No. 5 pick in the 2006 NHL Draft, Kessel has 992 points (413 goals, 579 assists) in 1,286 games with the Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Arizona Coyotes and Golden Knights. He has 83 points (34 goals, 49 assists) in 100 playoff games, winning the Stanley Cup three times, including back-to-back with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017 with Allvin, current Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford and current Canucks coach Rick Tocchet. Those relationships appeared to make the Canucks a good fit for Kessel's return, but as Allvin said Friday, Vancouver did not have enough NHL salary cap space to add a player without removing one from the roster. "In order to facilitate a trade for us, we needed to move a player out to get a player in so obviously that's a tougher situation," Allvin said. Vancouver did not make any trades after acquiring forward Elias Lindholm from the Calgary Flames on Jan. 31 for forward Andrei Kuzmenko, defenseman prospects Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo, a first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and a conditional pick in the 2024 draft. The Canucks (41-17-7) lead the Pacific Division by 11 points over the Edmonton Oilers after not qualifying for the playoffs last season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL HHOF Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.