As mentioned yesterday, Veleno has yet to be cleared to play but that could happen before tonight's game in Columbus.

A bit over 3 minutes to watch.

added 12:23pm, watch the full podcast below.

via the NHL PR department,

TNT to Crown Champion with Stanley Cup Final and Extensive Stanley Cup Playoffs Coverage; Rights to Up to 72 Exclusive Live Regular Season Games, Including NHL Winter Classic Each Season

Comprehensive Agreement Also Highlighted by Live Streaming Rights; Expansive Digital and Highlight Rights for Bleacher Report and More

Turner Sports, a division of WarnerMedia, and the National Hockey League have reached a multi-faceted, seven-year agreement set to begin with the 2021-22 season, it was announced today by Jeff Zucker, Chairman, WarnerMedia News & Sports, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. This historic multimedia rights agreement will bring the Stanley Cup Final and Stanley Cup Playoffs to TNT and TBS for the first time, along with providing Turner Sports rights to up to 72 regular season games and the NHL Winter Classic each season.

from Luke DeCock of the News & Observer,

Because this team expected no less than this, and because it has indeed elevated its game from last season and the season before, this can’t be enough. Amid the disruption of last season and the stifling uncomfortability of the playoff bubble, there were times when it seemed like the Hurricanes were merely happy to be there, especially as the Boston series went sideways.

There hasn’t been any of that this season, and there shouldn’t be any of that in the playoffs, and there can’t be any of it now. The stakes are just as high over the final eight games as they were over the first 48. In this division, with three heavyweights slugging it out at the top, finishing first means more than hanging a banner.

With the obvious and perennial caveat that every playoff series is its own miniature universe, the odds will lean heavily toward the team among the Carolina-Tampa-Florida trio that doesn’t have to play one of the other two in the first round. That 2-3 semifinal series in the Central Division has the potential to be an absolute slog, every bit as difficult as the division final will be. No disrespect to Dallas or Nashville, but the gap between the top three and the rest of the division is tangible and significant. There’s a reward for finishing strong, and the Hurricanes control their own destiny to claim it.

Closing out the season the right way and claiming the division title would be a statement of intent from a team that has shown its Stanley Cup window is as open as anyone’s. There are 12 players on this team who participated in the first-round win over the Washington Capitals in 2019. That core is as experienced in the postseason as it is going to get. With the addition of Vincent Trocheck, Brady Skjei, Martin Necas, Jesper Fast and Alex Nedeljkovic to that group, their time has come and it has come now.

more

THREE HARD LAPS

* The Hurricanes rallied in the third period to collect a point and become the first team from the Discover Central Division to clinch a berth in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Connor McDavid helped the Oilers overtake second place in the Scotia North Division with his third hat trick of 2020-21 and is now on pace for 99 points this season.

* The Predators prevented the Panthers and Lightning from clinching a postseason berth and were one of four teams to boost their playoff hopes on Monday.

There are 8 NHL games tonight beginning with Montreal in Calgary starting at 6:30pm ET. Cole Caufield will make his NHL debut for the Habs.

Tracey Myers of NhL.om has al the scenarios for the games.

Below, find the schedule for tonight.

from Brian Steinberg of Variety,

NBCUniversal has decided to cap a 16-year relationship with the National Hockey League, according to two people familiar with the matter, walking away from negotiations with the league, which is poised to triple the rights fees it collects from media companies with a new deal for a package it will launch with AT&T’s Turner Sports.

Turner will share overall rights with Disney’s ESPN, which struck a seven-year deal with the NHL in March that will give it control over a larger share of national games and other NHL properties. All told, these people suggested, Turner is likely to pay around $200 million a year for its NHL package, and ESPN is believed to be paying around $400 million — compared with the $200 million per year that NBC was paying the league for sole control of TV rights.

Turner and NBCU declined to make executives available for comment. An NHL spokesperson could not be reached for immediate comment. The aforementioned decisions have yet to be finalized these people cautioned, and could still change. Sports Business Journal previously reported some of the details.

An NHL rights deal would represent the most significant expansion of Turner’s sports portfolio in some time. Turner shares control of rights for NCAA March Madness with ViacomCBS and NBA rights with ESPN. The WarnerMedia unit recently renewed a deal for a package of games from Major League Baseball and has been working to build out its own celebrity golf tournament called “The Match.” But with parent AT&T looking to pare down its debt, Turner has not been expected to be a buyer of big sports packages in the recent past.

Sports observers will want to see if a Turner deal with the NHL comes with any sort of streaming rights for HBO Max, the streaming video hub which has become one of AT&T’s top business priorities.

continued

from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

Patrick Roy is ready and open to a National Hockey League return.

That message was broadcasted by his new agent, Neil Glasberg, on Monday when Glasberg fired off a tweet destined to pop up in the feeds of NHL owners and managers.

Roy, the 55-year-old Hockey Hall of Famer and four-time Stanley Cup champion, is happy acting as general manager and head coach of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. He is not departing the junior club.

But when Roy was approached by Glasberg -- whose PBI Sports & Entertainment represents more NHL coaches than any other agency -- and pitched the idea of exploring a return to the big leagues, Roy was enthused.

The two signed an agreement over the weekend in preparation for the inevitable coaching and executive changes that will take place following the conclusion of the 2020-21 regular season.

Several teams -- including the Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks -- do not have a coach under contract for 2021-22.

“He could be a president of hockey ops. He could be a GM. He could be a co-GM. He could be a head coach,” Glasberg told Sportsnet Monday. “It's going to be situational. That's the truthful answer.”

continued

NEW YORK (April 26, 2021) – San Jose Sharks center Patrick Marleau and clinical nurse educator generalist Jane Vergara have been named the NHL’s “First Stars” for the week ending April 25.

Throughout the 2020-21 season the NHL is celebrating the remarkable efforts of the off-ice stars who make it possible for us to play our games amid a pandemic by honoring frontline healthcare heroes from the regions represented by the League’s weekly and monthly “Stars.”

Vergara, a clinical nurse educator generalist at a local San Jose hospital, hires and teaches clinical staff and contracted nurses to ensure they are well-informed and confident in providing exceptional patient care. She has taken charge of various types of teaching throughout the hospital, helping grow the Clinical Education, Practice and Informatics Department over the past five years.

Vergara has not been slowed down during the pandemic, instead rising to every occasion as her hospital has adapted to new equipment. She always maintains a positive, enthusiastic and humorous energy that she incorporates into her training, helping staff members stay engaged and excited about their work.

Rounding out the “Three Stars” of the week are Minnesota Wild goaltender Cam Talbot and Florida Panthers left wing Jonathan Huberdeau. More on each NHL player’s performance can be found below:

15 1/2 minutes of Joe Veleno after practice is first up, followed by 16 1/2 minutes of Jeff Blashill below.

from John Ourand and Mark J. Burns of Sports Business Journal,

NBC has officially pulled out of the bidding for the NHL’s second TV package, according to U.S. and Canadian sources. Next season will now mark the first time since the '05-06 campaign that the network will not carry any NHL games. NBC would not comment on this story.

continued, the article is supposed to be free to read but at this point it is not, I will keep an eye on it.

via Ansar Khan tweets,

Filip Hronek not practicing today. Hronek and Marc Staal only #RedWings who’ve played all 50 games.

Lines used during 5 on 5 drills:
Vrana-Rasmussen-Filppula
Erne-Namestnikov-Zadina
Panik-Veleno-Gagner
Helm-Glendening-Svechnikov
No official word yet on whether Veleno is cleared to play.
Fabbri still on ice but not taking part.

Blashill going over strategy with Veleno. Veleno then taking face-off practice with Glendening. Looks like he might be ready to play.

from Emily Kaplan of ESPN,

The NHL is a league of time-tested traditions, and one of the players' favorites is the rookie solo lap. Last week, before Florida Panthers goalie Spencer Knight made his NHL debut, it was his turn.

"Usually guys are excited, pumped up, going full speed," said former NHL goaltender Roberto Luongo, who now oversees the Panthers' Goaltending Excellence department. "I was watching Spencer, and he was just like strolling around the rink. Casual."

After the game -- in which the 20-year-old Knight stopped 33 shots in a 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets -- Luongo went down to congratulate the rookie in the locker room.

"I was talking to him for a couple minutes, asking him, 'So, how do you feel? Were you nervous?'" Luongo said. "And he was like, 'Oh, no, I was good.'"

Luongo laughed recalling the moment. "I mean, my first game I was so nervous I could barely hold it in," said the 42-year-old, who ranks third all time among NHL goaltenders with 489 wins. "But Spencer was like, 'I just told myself to enjoy the game, and I did.' ... I was like, oh my God, this is great."

Hype and hoopla have surrounded Knight ever since he played for Avon Old Farms prep school as a first-year student.

continued

from NHL.com,

Andrew Shaw is ending his playing career because of concussions, the Chicago Blackhawks forward said Monday.

The 29-year-old was placed on long-term injured reserve March 5. He last played Feb. 9, when he sustained a concussion in a 2-1 overtime win against the Dallas Stars, and was advised by the Blackhawks medical staff to discontinue his career in hockey because of the potential long-term consequences

Shaw scored four points (two goals, two assists) in 14 games this season.

"There comes a time when every athlete needs to realize when their health is a priority and a future with their family is what is most important," Shaw said in a statement. "That point for me is now. After several concussions, doctors have strongly recommended I stop playing the game that I love. For once in my life, I am going to listen.

"I am extremely proud of what I accomplished in my career, and I want to make it clear: I would not change anything about it. I won two Stanley Cups, made lifelong friends -- and some enemies, too -- and will cherish those memories for the rest of my life."

continued

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

The Sabres gave the Rangers the puck, and the Blueshirts took it. The Sabres gave the Rangers time and space, and the Blueshirts took that, too. If you want to deduce that the Sabres gave the Rangers the game at the Garden on Sunday night, well, the Rangers took that, as well.

And so, after the 6-3 victory achieved against a team that allowed the Blueshirts to flaunt their skill without a heck of a lot of opposition, the Rangers have returned to the fringes of the playoff race, back to within four points of the Bruins for the final divisional invite after gaining four points on Boston within 48 hours.

The B’s, beaten by the Sabres on Friday and by the Penguins on Sunday afternoon, still hold two games in hand. They have nine to go, as opposed to seven for the Rangers, whose final two games are set to be played in Boston on May 6 and 8. The Bruins will still have two to play following that set, one at home against the Islanders before their finale in Washington.

So the Rangers in essence need to pick up at least four points on the Bruins over the next five games and then sweep Boston in regulation time. Owning the regulation wins tiebreak, that would clinch a playoff spot.

continued

from Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

Mike Sullivan is very good, maybe the best coach in the NHL. He has done terrific work with the Penguins this season despite losing 249 man-games to injury or illness. The proof is in the East Division standings where the team sits in first place. It’s in the overall standings where its 67 points are more than any team but Vegas (70) and Carolina (68).

But the challenges never end for Sullivan. His task now is to get the Penguins to duplicate their performance Sunday afternoon against the Boston Bruins — again and again. If he can do that, he and the team will have an excellent chance to win their third Stanley Cup in six years.

The Penguins played a strong postseason-style game in their 1-0 win. They kept their composure and didn’t take a single penalty. They didn’t get frustrated with the Bruins’ stifling defense, didn’t take foolish chances and didn’t allow many odd-man breaks. They remained patient and waited for their stars to capitalize on an inevitable opportunity to win the game.

It really was a perfect playoff-type performance.

continued

from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

The season began with six NHL head coaches entering the final year of their respective deals. As the end of the regular season approaches, five of them are still in that position.

Only Jeremy Colliton in Chicago has been extended in that group. So where are we with the five remaining pending free-agent coaches? Let’s take a look:...

Jeff Blashill, Detroit: No idea. I truthfully have zero sense of where this one is headed. A year ago, GM Steve Yzerman decided to pick up Blashill’s option for this season. Now the coach is up. It’s been a full-blown, organic rebuild in Detroit, and in that context, I feel like Blashill has coached the Red Wings to be pretty competitive on most nights and there’s been growth among the younger players. But honestly, you can see the merit on either side of whichever decision Yzerman makes: Blashill has earned the chance to stick around, I truly believe that, but it might also be time for a fresh voice as the rebuild enters its next phase. As I said, I have no gut feeling on this one.

more (paid) coaches on the last year of their contract...

THREE HARD LAPS

* With three of 16 postseason spots already accounted for, the Hurricanes and Panthers look to inch closer to a berth in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight.

* Mika Zibanejad helped the Rangers keep their playoff hopes alive with his NHL-best third hat trick of the season.

* The Penguins continued their success at PPG Paints Arena and moved past the idle Capitals for top spot in the MassMutual East Division.

from Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun,

Size must really matter in Washington.

On the surface, that would appear to be the big reason the Capitals agreed to throw in so many extras when they traded Jakub Vrana (6-feet, 197 pounds) to the Detroit Red Wings for Anthony Mantha (6-foot-5, 234 pounds) at the deadline.

There’s not much else separating the principal pieces of this season’s blockbuster.

The 25-year-old Vrana, selected 13th overall in 2014, had 11 goals and 25 points in 39 games at the time of the trade.

In 2019-20, his best of five seasons with the Capitals, he scored 25 goals and 52 points in 69 games.

The 26-year-old Mantha, picked 20th overall in 2013, had 11 goals and 21 points in 42 games when the deal was consummated.

In 2018-19, his best of five seasons with the Red Wings, he had 25 goals and 23 assists in 67 games.

And it’s not like one has proven to be more clutch than the other when the chips are down.

continued

from Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette,

Canadiens fans can be forgiven if they’re now thinking the first 10 games this season might have only been a dream.

The Canadiens started the season with a 7-1-2 record while outscoring the opposition 44-27.

Spotlight on Canadiens’ 2021 disappointments | HI/O Bonus

Since then, the Canadiens have a 13-16-7 record and have been outscored 108-90. They now have a minus-1 goal differential for the season.

The Canadiens had a 9-5-4 record with Claude Julien as head coach and are now 11-12-5 under interim head coach Dominique Ducharme following Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to the Flames in Calgary. This team has been getting worse instead of better as the season goes on.

While Canadiens fans might have been dreaming about a 25th Stanley Cup 10 games into the season, missing the playoffs now looks like a real possibility. After two wins in two nights over the Canadiens, the Flames are only four points behind in the chase for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division with Montreal holding one game in hand.

The final game of this three-game series Monday night in Calgary (6:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM) will be huge.

continued

from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

Jonathan Bernier stopped the first 43 shots fired at him on Saturday and a career-high 50 through regulation.

Then, wouldn’t you know it, Jamie Benn scored on the first shot of overtime to lift the Dallas Stars past the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 at Little Caesars Arena.

Such is the nature of three-on-three OT, when turnovers more often than not lead to odd-man rushes, resulting in quality scoring chances.

Still, the Red Wings had no business being in overtime after Dallas tilted the rink during the first two periods and held a 51-17 edge in shots after 60 minutes.

Bernier stole a point for his team.

“That’s my job, to stop pucks, and it’s tough to come out and have a performance like this and not win,” Bernier said.

Filip Hronek gave away the puck to Benn in the neutral zone. Benn carried into the Detroit end on a two-on-one and whipped a shot past Bernier at the 32-second mark.

“Benn made a nice play,” Bernier said. “He looked pass the whole way. I think (Hronek) was sliding down, so he took that away, and (Benn) was still trying to find a passing lane but at the last second, he shot it. He made a nice shot. I felt like it hit my blocker, so I wasn’t sure it went in.”

continued

added 9:51am, video of Mickey Redmond after the game last night, watch below.

A Wings fan aks what UFA players from Detroit should Yzerman bring back.

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- If I’m ESPN and I’ve got NHL back on my network next season, my first phone call is to Ray Ferraro, who used to do ESPN work. My second phone call is to Gord Miller, assuming Chris Cuthbert isn’t going anywhere. And then you build around Steve Levy, assuming he can be available with his Monday Night Football duties still significant.

- Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor may be the best offensive player in the NHL who nobody talks about. All he does is score. He’s on 39-goal pace this year, scored 38, 34 and 31 the three previous years. And he’s only 24.

- The more you watch Quinn Hughes, the more you realize he does things that no one else can do.

- Patrick Marleau will be in the Hockey Hall of Fame one day. But should he be there before Jeremy Roenick, Keith Tkachuk, Alex Mogilny, Daniel Alfredsson or Theo Fleury? Or Joe Thornton? Not if I’m voting.

more

THREE HARD LAPS

* The Wild benefited from a six-goal outing to win and have qualified for the postseason for the eighth time in nine seasons (since 2012-13).

* Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle (915 GP) now trails only Doug Jarvis (964 GP) for the longest “Ironman” streak in NHL history.

* The Capitals and Penguins each skated to victories on Saturday and continue to jockey for top spot in the MassMutual East Division.