The Sheet Blog: Stars, Wyatt Johnston working on contract extension
To no surprise, I’m told the Dallas Stars and Wyatt Johnston are working away at what his next deal will look like. Ideally, Stars GM Jim Nill would prefer to have Johnston’s number nailed down before making Trade Deadline moves, but this isn’t a perfect world. It sounds like the Stars forward is in the $8-8.5 million AAV range on an eight-year deal. Nice hat trick by the 21-year-old last night against the St Louis Blues.
You have to give props to Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson. Many thought he wouldn’t be able to steer out of the skid that was the Seth Jones situation, and Davidson has come out of it with an even stronger-looking Hawks team for the future, picking up a young starting goalie, a first-round pick and a significant amount cap space. It was obvious last week that this relationship was clearly over with Jones musing about playing elsewhere and doubling down on his discontent, blasting his team for not improving going back to the start of the season. Those are all tough words to come back from, and it put Davidson’s back up against the wall. Normally a GM in that spot ends up making a deal that leads to his demise, but Davidson pulled off the opposite. I had people saying this was going to be a ‘giveaway’ deal; with teams knowing the situation Davidson was in, they were going to surrender Jones for pennies on the dollar. And while I’m sure there were some tough moments for the Hawks GM, he was able to bring this to a swift conclusion and moved along the Hawks’ rebuild nicely.
When you consider how crucial it is to keep Quinn Hughes happy, coupled with an increase in ticket prices next season, there’s no way the Vancouver Canucks take a step back.
If the Calgary Flames lose to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, would that be enough for Craig Conroy to let Nazem Kadri wiggle loose for the Trade Deadline? Maybe drop him off in Dallas on Thursday?
Now, I haven’t watched a whole lot of the Anaheim Ducks this season, but I’ve been watching more lately to get a sense of how the rebuild is coming along and how the future of the team looks. For those who watch the Ducks on a consistent basis, is it just me or is Jackson LaCombe the best player in that group right now? Game in and game out he impresses me more than the rest of the prospects.
With ownership more involved in hockey decisions than ever, one thing we should always keep in mind is how the guy who pays the bills feels about certain players. Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula always had an affinity for forward Zemgus Girgensons and is now said to cite JJ Peterka as a favorite for various reasons. Not that this makes the German forward an untouchable, but it does complicate any possible trade.
Sticking with Buffalo, I don’t think anyone is untouchable, but some deals will certainly be harder to make than others. Buffalo’s weird. I look at the team and LOVE a lot of the players but just don’t like them all together, if you know what I mean. It doesn’t help that most are playing a level up than where they should be.
Hands up who had Jesperi Kotkaniemi as a tough guy? He handled his mitts great against Dylan Cozens last week, channelling his inner Torrie Robertson wearing the Hartford Whalers colors. Kotkaniemi is 4-0 in career scraps now after decisions over J-G Pageau, Alexey Toropchenko and Robert Hag according to hockeyfights.com.
For people interested in these types of questions/trivia notes – will Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Jost be the last two players to wear both the Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques uniforms? Both were on Colorado for fated Lake Tahoe outdoor game in 2021 where the Avalanche wore Nordiques reverse retros.
Bravo to the Seattle Kraken, the NHL and referee Wes McCauley who co-ordinated getting the two officials who were recently assaulted at a youth hockey game to the Kraken game against the Canucks on Saturday. Not only did the team host the pair, but they also got to visit the officials’ room during pregame. The Kraken plan to host the two youth teams involved in the game where the assault took place along with the officials at their March 12 game against the Montreal Canadiens.
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