Daily Links

NYHN Daily: Dubas on Hot Seat, Tarasenko Expectation & More

Published

3 years ago

September 13, 2021

It’s Monday which means we are one week closer to hockey season. Here are the NHL stories to know in today’s Daily Links:

With David Krejci no longer on the Boston Bruins, the talk has been that Charlie Coyle will slot in as the second-line center. But he is not a player like Krejci. One player that could “bring some of what Krejci did” is likely looking at a change of address sooner rather than later: San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl. (Boston Hockey Now)

It’s not necessarily advice specific to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it applies. There are 48 somewhat-captive restricted free agents still waiting for contracts from their teams, and a dozen or so of those 48 are talented players struggling to crack the NHL lineups, including a few recent first-round picks. Phrased another way, they are RFAs who may or may not be immediately valuable to their teams but could be valuable to other teams with paper-thin rosters, significant injury issues, and temporary cap space. (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

Anton Lundell has been busy since flying to South Florida from his home in Finland two weeks ago. Not only has he joined a number of his new Panthers teammates on the ice, but he has thrown out the first pitch at a Marlins game and has visited Fort Lauderdale Beach. On Saturday, his quest to make the Panthers began in earnest as Florida kicked off the first practice of its development camp in Coral Springs. (Florida Hockey Now)

The young Detroit Red Wings might face more pressure than opposing players when the NHL Prospects tournament starts this week in Traverse City. A handful of players on the Detroit squad have a shot at making the Red Wings this season and they know that the evaluation process starts this week. If you think about it logically, if a player doesn’t show well in a tournament of young pros, how can you think he will be ready to compete in the NHL? The only safe bet to make the Red Wings out of the rookie crop is Moritz Seider and he’s not playing in this tournament. (Detroit Hockey Now)

Bo Byram has changed his look, for one thing. The kid with the oft-buzzed to the nub hairstyle has gone surfer dude. Maybe that’s all part of an overall change of philosophy on a lot of things, after a first NHL season that, frankly, didn’t go very well at all. New look, new year and – maybe – a new outcome. (Colorado Hockey Now)

Word is there is a re-engagement between the Buffalo Sabres and teams that still have an interest in acquiring center Jack Eichel via the NHL trade market, and the Vegas Golden Knights have everything to gain. The Golden Knights may or may not be present in those talks, but perhaps they should be in the mix. (Vegas Hockey Now)

Kyle Dubas acknowledged that his job as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs may be in jeopardy if they again fail in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. “I think it’s certainly fair to say that if there aren’t changes to our performance in the end that there will be changes to the organization,” Dubas said on “The Bob McCown Podcast” on Thursday. “That comes with the territory in operating in a market like this and operating with a team that hasn’t reached its potential in the playoffs.” (NHL)

Vladimir Tarasenko could start the season with the St. Louis Blues despite the forward asking for a trade, coach Craig Berube said. “I expect ‘Vladi’ to play for us,” Berube told “The Cam & Strick Podcast” on Tuesday. “I’m going to treat him like every other player. And yeah, he asked to be traded, and things happen, but again, you know, we want Vladi to play good hockey for us. … He’s going to have a role on the team like he always has, we’ll deal with it internally and we’ll go from there. (NHL)

Al Montoya said the NHL can’t take a “Field of Dreams” approach when it comes to attracting Hispanic fans. “You can’t rest on ‘If you build It, they will come,'” said Montoya, a former goalie who was the first Cuban American player in the NHL. “We need to go into these communities instead of us relying on having such a fantastic game and expecting them just to show up.” (NHL)

Scotty Bowman remembers the tear gas and the ensuing chaos in the acrid smoke, his struggle to get down the cement steps from the Montreal Forum’s standing-room area to the apparent safety of the auxiliary dressing rooms. “And then Dick pulled me into the Montreal Canadiens dressing room for 10 minutes before I got out the back door to my car,” Bowman said. “We had no idea what would be going on outside.” The friendship of Bowman, the winningest coach in NHL history, and Dick Irvin Jr., the iconic, retired television and radio voice of the Canadiens, dates to the 1950s. This rich, happy relationship is a riot, literally and figuratively. (NHL)