Claude Giroux is headed back to Ottawa.
Elliotte Friedman reported that Giroux will re-sign with the Senators, and Bruce Garrioch added that the new deal is expected to include more guaranteed money than the contract he played under last season. It keeps Giroux in place for Ottawa, with the financial structure of the agreement standing out as the key detail from the reporting.
Elsewhere around the league, Allan Walsh said a lot of younger NHL players may already be second-guessing deals they signed over the past year.
“There are so many younger NHL players right now regretting that they signed last year or during the season. Millions per year were left on the table.
It’s not just the explosion in salaries that I’ve been predicting on AP for the last year, it’s the term these young players locked themselves into for 7-8 years over the last 12 months.”
The Vancouver Canucks, meanwhile, are still weighing what to do with Elias Pettersson, and the hesitation is part of the story. On Sekeres and Price, David Pagnotta said Pettersson could benefit from a change of scenery, but Vancouver also worries about the possibility that he rediscovers his form somewhere else and the return doesn’t match his value.
“With respect to Elias Pettersson, other than the usual suspects, I’m not sure who else has entered the game. I’m told there are some new suitors, or at least conversationally have popped up.
I don’t know the specifics on them. Nobody’s telling me at this point, and I don’t want to just speculate for the sake of it.
But it certainly sounds like there were some new teams that have entered that mix, at least conversationally, with the Canucks. So we’ll see kind of where that, where that goes.
You know, the free agent market itself doesn’t offer too much in the top two, so you know there are a few third-line centers available. But if you’re looking to add to that, you know, top six, you’re probably going the trade route.
And there are a lot of teams, including the Canucks, that believe, you know a change of scenery would do him justice for output perspectives, and that’s also what the Canucks fear. So they have to make sure that if they do do this, and he goes back to point of game pace, that they’re not sitting there going, ‘Oh, we oops’d this one.’”
In Other News...
Have The Flames Finally Built A Prospect Pool That Matters
The Flames have spent the better part of Craig Conroys tenure trying to repair a prospect pipeline that had run thin, and the early returns are starting to look more substantial. After 33 draft picks, Calgarys system now has enough depth to sort players into clear tiers, with the most promising names beginning to separate from the rest and giving the organization something it has lacked for a while: real options.
At the top of that list are the blue-chip talents, but the more interesting part of the conversation may be the group just behind them, where several young players are pushing toward meaningful roles. Matvei Gridin, Cole Reschny, Simon Nemec, Henry Mews, Hunter Brzustewicz and Ethan Wyttenbach all sit in that next wave, while others such as Sam Honzek and Aydar Suniev are still trying to turn flashes into something more permanent. For a team that has been rebuilding its prospect base from the ground up, the question now is less whether the pool exists and more how much impact it can ultimately produce. [Read more 🡒]
Calgary Flames Fans Just Took A Brutal Hit To Daily Coverage
A major shakeup in Calgarys sports media scene is leaving Flames fans with a lot less to listen to on the daily commute. Rogers Communications is shutting down Sportsnet 960 and 660 NewsRadio after a review of its radio stations, ending a long-running local hub for Flames coverage that included reporting, analysis, debate and live game talk throughout the day.
The move also puts the team in a tough spot on the broadcast side, since the Flames will need to sort out alternative radio plans moving forward. For a fan base used to hearing familiar voices break down signings, trades and draft picks, the loss is more than just a station change, it strips away a significant part of the teams everyday coverage. [Read more 🡒]