What Else for March 12, 2019

For several days now, there has been talk of Don Waddell landing in Columbus. He resigned from his position in Carolina, and the Blue Jackets seemed particularly interested.
He had already been interviewed.
Now, according to Pierre LeBrun, it’s a done deal: Waddell is to work for the Ohio club’s hockey operations.Nothing is finalized yet but hearing that Don Waddell is the Blue Jackets’ choice to take over the top hockey ops job in Columbus.
If things proceed smoothly, should

The Matvei Michkov issue is one that has polarized social networks and the hockey world in general in recent weeks.
Rumors are swirling about the Russian winger’s eventual arrival in the National Hockey League with the Philadelphia Flyers, with many people reporting that he could make it to the NHL as early as next season.
It’s a situation we’re keeping a close eye on, given that Michkov is supposed to have a KHL contract with SKA St. Petersburg until 2026.
It would be quite a

As everyone knows, the Montreal Canadiens have a very good bank of prospects on hand right now, especially when it comes to defensemen.
The Habs have several good young defensemen who are exciting for the club’s future, and that’s part of the reason why the team’s fans have, for the most part, bought into the rebuilding plan sold by Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton.
If all goes well, the Tricolore shouldn’t have any problems on the blue line for several years.
The problem, ho

Honestly, so far, we can’t say that the two conference finals in the National Hockey League aren’t putting on quite a show.
In fact, we’ve been spoiled for choice with these two semi-final series, where every game is extremely close with a very high level of play.
Last night, Game 2 of the series between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers was no exception.
Rangers tie series on Barclay Goodrow overtime goal
After winning Game #1 3-0, the Panthers had the chance to d

Many fans clamoring for Matvei Michkov were surprised when Kent Hughes chose David Reinbacher in 2023. Hughes capitalized on the team’s needs by filling an important position on the right side of the defense.
Reinbacher thus became the first defenseman to be selected in his draft year. Not bad, but would the same thing happen this year?
According to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, the answer would be no. At least, that’s what he explained in a Q&A post on Reddit.AMA (Ask Me Anyth

Evander Kane had major gambling problems when he played for the Sharks. During a series against the Golden Knights, he was unable to pay the $500,000 he owed to a casino.
He even had to declare bankruptcy after losing $1.5 million in the space of a year due to gambling.
Now, with the Oilers, everything seems to be going well, except for a few golf stories here and there, but nothing really serious.
We all know the Canucks’ Green Men. They’re often very funny and come to disturb the

We told you about Louis Jean earlier today, but we’re going to tell you about him again, because there’s more news coming out about the former TVA Sports host.
Louis Jean was Kevin Raphaël’s guest on the Sans restriction podcast on Friday, and he went back over his departure from TV station TVA Sports, which unfolded in a strange way.
See this post on Instagram
A publication shared by Sans Restriction (@sansrestriction)
Louis Jean explains that his departure included a lo

For weeks, everyone around the Canadiens has been wondering whether Kent Hughes would consider selecting Russian forward Ivan Demidov in the fifth round of the upcoming draft. His talent could easily put him in the top-3, but his nationality could also be an inconvenience and push him down a few spots.
One has to wonder whether Kent Hughes would want to take a chance on a Russian player if Demidov is still available when the Canadiens announce their first pick.
For Scott Wheeler of The Athletic

Right now in the NHL, we’re obviously keeping an eye on the two association finals. One pits the NHL’s top team (Rangers) against the defending finalists (Panthers), while the other pits the Oilers, our Canadian favorites, against the Dallas Stars.
Two good series to keep an eye on.
Then there’s the amateur draft and the free agent period, which are always very interesting events. Personally, these are my favorite times of the season when the Habs aren’t in the spring to

Last February, hockey fans received the good news that the 2025 All-Star Game will be replaced by a Four Nations Tournament.
This tournament, which will pit Finland, Sweden, Canada and the United States against each other, will bring together the best players from each nation.
Originally, the competition was to be held in Montreal and Boston, but unlike the American city, this is less certain for the Quebec metropolis. Yesterday on BPM Sports, Renaud Lavoie pointed out that confirmation of Mont

When it comes to NHL-wide contract buyouts, Jesperi Kotkaniemi often comes to mind.
After all, not only would it be easy to buy him out at 1/3 of his contract, but the impact on the payroll would be less than $1 million per season.
That said, as I wrote earlier this morning, it’s unlikely. In my opinion, the club is waiting for another year (which would also be 1/3 of his contract) before making an official decision.I’d be willing to bet you a steak that Jesperi Kotkaniemi won&rsquo

Last night, we learned that the Hurricanes were likely to lose their GM, Don Waddell, Marc Bergevin’s best friend.
As we understand it, there have always been doubts about his departure to Carolina, and then yesterday, he interviewed for the vacant position in Columbus.
I don’t know about you, but at this point, I didn’t like his chances of coming back to Carolina. When you interview elsewhere…
And now it’s been confirmed: the Hurricanes have announced that the te

Let’s talk about the Hurricanes.
Right now in Montreal, they’re a popular team because of the rumors surrounding Martin Necas. We’re not sure who we’ll have to talk to to get him, but hey.
Necas, who is also linked to the Bruins by Elliotte Friedman, is expected to leave during the off-season.
But it’s interesting to note that the same Friedman, on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, mentioned that the Canucks, who talked to the Hurricanes about Necas at the last deadline, mi

All over the NHL, there’s a lot of talk about the next NHL amateur draft, which will take place in just over a month’s time in Vegas. And it’s only going to intensify over the next few weeks.
In Montreal, we’re also wondering (again) whether Kent Hughes and his gang did the right thing by drafting David Reinbacher fifth overall last summer, when guys like Matvei Michkov (who should be arriving in North America in September), Dalibor Dvorsky, Ryan Leonard and Zach Benson

At the moment, Martin Necas’ name is circulating en masse in Montreal.
It makes sense, really. After all, not only is it a real possibility on the table, but there’s a growing understanding that his days in Carolina are numbered.
In Montreal, he’d clearly fill a position.Would you like to see Martin Necas in a Canadiens uniform next season?pic.twitter.com/l4Oj03tbeK
– L’Antichambre (@Antichambre) May 23, 2024But of course, Montreal isn’t the only possible des

Over the summer, there are only two players (in my opinion) who will get the most attention on the heels of their restricted free agent status with the Habs: Justin Barron and Arber Xhekaj.
The others? They’re lower-priority files, let’s say.
And since Justin Barron’s demands are somewhat suspect, since he doesn’t have the upper hand in negotiations, it’s always the Sheriff’s job when it comes to summer RFAs.
But that doesn’t mean Kent Hughes can’

After the Eastern Final, it was time for the Western Final to get underway last night in Dallas, as the Stars hosted the Oilers.
It was, of course, the first game of the series.
After an uneventful first period, there was a lot more action in the second. In the opening seconds, Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring to give the Oilers the lead.Leon gets the party started for the Oilers!pic.twitter.com/f0hfG5HLh9
– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 24, 2024Then, a few minutes later, Zach Hyman doubled

For the past few years, the Hurricanes have been one of the NHL’s top teams. That doesn’t translate into a ton of playoff success, but we’re talking about a team that, year after year, wins a lot of games.
The core is solid, after all.
And one of the architects of that success is GM Don Waddell, who’s been on the job since 2018. The club has made the playoffs in each of the six seasons under his stewardship, a fine track record.
According to Pierre LeBrun’s report

There are only a few weeks left before the NHL draft. The Canadiens, drafted fifth, are hoping to draft a forward, so they’re hoping the clubs ahead of them will take defensemen.
Because if Ivan Demidov and Cayden Lindstrom are drafted before the Habs’ turn to speak, Kent Hughes might just trade his pick.
Macklin Celebrini will (almost certainly) go first, but after that, it’s more complicated. The Ducks (3rd) seem to have more organizational needs on defense, but the Blackhaw

This morning, the WNBA officially announced an expansion to Toronto. This will be the first Canadian team on a circuit that is currently booming in popularity.
The wave of new recruits to the circuit, led by Caitlin Clark, is giving the league wings.
Justin Trudeau was on hand this morning for the occasion, and took the opportunity to praise the work of the WNBA commissioner, noting that she was “bigger than Gary Bettman”.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s got jokes about Gary Be

Once again this summer, the National Hockey League’s off-season will be an interesting one to watch from start to finish.
We’re likely to see a lot of movement across the 32 NHL teams, as well as a draft that promises to be very exciting.
I’d even go so far as to say that we could be in for an even busier off-season than usual, considering all the names currently circulating in transaction rumours.
Just imagine if Mitch Marner were to be traded this summer.
In short, pretty mu

All four quarter-final matches of the World Ice Hockey Championship were played today.
Earlier today, Canada defeated Slovakia 6-3, while Switzerland beat Germany 3-1.
And in the final minutes, the other two quarter-final games came to a close, with two players in particular being watched, a forward and a Montreal Canadiens prospect, in Cole Caufield with the USA and Oliver Kapanen with Finland.
In Caufield’s case, well, his tournament came to an end today, as the USA were eliminated by t