There’s no shortage of heavy news hanging over the NHL right now, and the darkest item by far comes out of Arizona State. St.
Louis Blues prospect Matthew Mayich is in an irreversible coma, and The Athletic reports that police are investigating what happened. The details are still coming into focus, but the situation is being treated as a serious one, with legal and possibly criminal fallout ahead.
Elsewhere, the league is dealing with a mix of injury news and off-ice firestorms. Sportsnet reported that Calgary Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau had a setback after surgery and won’t be ready for training camp. On the free-agent front, Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen said several teams are kicking the tires on a goal-scoring winger who remains unsigned just days before camp, even if the Ottawa Senators are not especially interested.
Then there’s the latest round of noise around Evander Kane. On Sheng Peng’s podcast, former Sharks defenseman Curtis Gabriel blasted Kane, then later went public with a heads-up that he had done so.
Patrick Marleau’s wife then jumped into the situation with a negative account and criticism of Kane’s character. Kane responded to both.
There was also a bit of movement on the rumor mill in Montreal. Tony Marinaro has continued making the case that Kirill Marchenko will eventually end up with the Canadiens because it makes too much sense, and Jimmy Murphy added that sources have been chattering about that possibility as well.
In Pittsburgh, the questions are more about direction than headlines. The big issues around the Penguins right now are trade watch, prospect patience, and what this season is really supposed to be about.
The club should announce its prospect tournament roster soon, and Detroit has now released the schedule. That means the Penguins’ prospect tournament is on the calendar, even if coverage will be limited.
There’s also a broadcast shift coming around the league. Amazon is set to absorb six teams’ local broadcasts, including Columbus, which at least gives the Blue Jackets a home. The move isn’t ideal for everyone, but it’s accessible and priced at $15 a month.
And after all that, there was one small piece of good news to end on: Penguins prospects are a family affair. The NHL highlighted brothers Liam, Landon and Markus Ruck skating together on the same line in WHL preseason action.
In Other News...
Penguins Face A Bigger Dan Muse Test In Year Two
The first year of the Mike Muse era gave the Penguins plenty to build on. Pittsburgh snapped its three-year playoff drought, finished with 98 points and even put Muse in the mix as a Jack Adams Award finalist, a strong opening act for a rookie head coach stepping into a team trying to bridge veteran expectations with younger talent that still needed time to grow. There were career years sprinkled throughout the roster, which helped stabilize a season that otherwise could have gone off course in a hurry.
Year two, though, is where the real test usually starts in Pittsburgh. The franchise has seen enough coaching second acts to know the follow-up season can be the harder one, and Muse will have to show he can keep the group moving forward while smoothing out some of the rough edges from last year, including a run of unsuccessful goalie interference challenges that became part of the backdrop. With veterans and younger players both needing the right kind of development, the question now is less about whether the Penguins can surprise and more about whether Muse can turn a good first step into something lasting. [Read more 🡒]