Saturday NHL Notebook
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Hockey Club signed forward Dylan Guenther to an eight-year extension worth $57.14 million on Friday.
Guenther will count just over $7.14 million annually against the salary cap over the term of the contract that runs through the 2032-33 NHL season. The 21-year-old is one of the youngest building blocks for the team that was known until earlier this year as the Arizona Coyotes and is now based in Salt Lake City.
“Dylan is elite in every aspect on and off the ice,” Utah general manager Bill Armstrong said. “He is a young, highly skilled forward with a shot that’s evolving into one of the best in the NHL. He’s also a first-class person with a strong determination to be great. We look forward to having Dylan as a core player for this organization for many years to come.”
Guenther split last season between Arizona and the American Hockey League’s Tucson Roadrunners. He had 18 goals and 17 assists for 35 points in 45 NHL games with the Coyotes.
PENTICTON, BC – Jake DeBrusk had a bit of an unfamiliar feeling as he prepared to hit the ice with his Vancouver Canucks teammates Thursday — butterflies.
The 27-year-old winger is no stranger to NHL training camps, but after seven seasons with the Boston Bruins, Thursday marked his first time skating with a new team.
“It was actually pretty nerve wracking. I was a little nervous going out there,” DeBrusk said after the Canucks’ first day of training camp in Penticton, B.C.
“It kind of caught me off guard, actually. But it was good. The guys are competing and it was fast out there. Trying to get chemistry and things like that, so it was exciting.”
DeBrusk inked a seven-year, US$38.5-million deal with the Canucks when the league’s free agent market opened on July 1, and was quickly pencilled in as a linemate for Vancouver’s star centre, Elias Pettersson.
The duo skated together in drills on Thursday, and DeBrusk was excited about the result.
“I think I’ve seen a lot of really wicked plays by (Pettersson),” he said. “And I’m sort of still catching up a little bit, but I’m starting to figure some of it out, I think. Any time you have a player like that that’s so dynamic, you want to just be consistent for him and just have someone that he can rely on.”
DeBrusk, who put up 19 goals and 21 assists in 80 games for the Bruins last season, brings speed and tenacity to the Canucks, Pettersson said.
MONTREAL – Martin St. Louis knows Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach can be difference-makers on the Montreal Canadiens’ second line.
The Canadiens head coach says his job now is to preach patience as the two towering forwards return to the ice from lengthy absences.
“It’s been a while since they’ve played, and it’s not easy to play in the NHL. When you’ve lost time, it’s hard to come back,” St. Louis said Friday, the third day of training camp at CN Sports Complex. “They’re players who have high expectations of themselves, so I’ve got to manage that day-to-day and remind them to relax, be patient.
“We all know what they can do – with time, repetition, you’ll see their game improve.”
The six-foot-five Laine, acquired a month ago from the Columbus Blue Jackets, hasn’t played since breaking his clavicle on Dec. 14. The former 40-goal scorer entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Jan. 28 for mental health reasons and was cleared to return on July 26.
After a strong training camp last year, the six-foot-four Dach’s season was over only four periods into the season. The 23-year-old from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee after a hit from Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Jarred Tinordi.
Laine and Dach have formed a second line with Alex Newhook and could have the responsibility of backing up Montreal’s well-oiled top trio of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky to start the 2024-25 campaign.
OTTAWA – The Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission marked a significant milestone for both the city and the team Friday with the announcement of a new downtown development that will include an NHL arena.
The Senators, under new owner Michael Andlauer, had entered a memorandum of understanding with the NCC in June 2022 to develop the downtown LeBreton Flats area, with a deadline of Friday to reach a deal.
With an agreement in principle announced Friday, the way is paved for the Senators to relocate from their current suburban home in Kanata at the Canadian Tire Centre to a more central location.
The Senators and the NCC have gone through this process previously, only to see a previous deal fall through in 2019. But at a press conference Friday, NCC chief executive officer Tobi Nussbaum and Senators president and CEO Cyril Leeder both said there were reasons to be optimistic that this time would be different.
“I think it’s different for a whole bunch of reasons, most notably we’re in a position now where everybody wants this to happen,” Leeder said. “So, the team wants it to happen, Tobi and his team want this to happen, the community wants it to happen.
“We really are at a point where having an arena downtown is going to be great for the Senators.”
The agreement includes the sale of 10 acres of land at LeBreton Flats to the Senators at what Nussbaum called “fair market value,” a price that has yet to be determined. This is an increase and a change from the original plan for a long-term lease of six acres.
CHICAGO (AP) — Taylor Hall said he woke up Thursday morning with a smile on his face.
For good reason.
Hall hit the ice with the Chicago Blackhawks for the first practice of training camp after he missed most of last season because of right knee surgery. It was an active offseason for Chicago in free agency, but Hall’s return might be the most important development for the rebuilding franchise.
“I’ve been through a long road of recovery and watched a lot of hockey and watched a lot of practices,” Hall said, “so for me to go out and play and join my teammates, there’s nothing more special for me. I feel like I have a better appreciation for what I do for a living now after being out for so long.”
Chicago acquired Hall and Nick Foligno in a June 2023 trade with Boston. The Blackhawks were about to select Connor Bedard with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, and the pair of veteran forwards were brought in to provide more leadership and scoring alongside the young center.
But Hall never got going in his first season with the team.
First, he was sidelined by a left shoulder injury. In his third game after he came back, Hall hurt his right knee when he was hit by Tampa Bay’s Michael Eyssimont on Nov. 9. He tried to play through it, but ended up exacerbating the injury in practice, leading to his season-ending ACL surgery.
Hall, who turns 33 in November, totaled two goals and two assists in a career-low 10 games. All he could do is watch as Chicago struggled to score on its way to a 23-53-6 record and a last-place finish in the Central Division.
Hall said he is “100% healthy” as training camp ramps up this year.
If Hall can regain his previous form, he could provide a big lift for Chicago as it looks to become a more competitive team. He played alongside Bedard and Tyler Bertuzzi during a camp-opening scrimmage. He likely will play on a wing on one of the team’s top two lines this season.
(Associated Press)
