With no shortage of interest in the open Pittsburgh Penguins general manager position, the club has added three more names to its list of candidates.
Pittsburgh has been granted permission to interview New York Rangers assistant general manager Chris Drury, Colorado Avalanche assistant GM Chris MacFarland, and Boston Bruins director of player personnel John Ferguson Jr., TSN's Frank Seravalli reported on Tuesday's edition of "Insider Trading."
The Penguins have received more than 20 expressions of interest in the position, Seravalli adds. Pittsburgh is reportedly hoping to shorten its list to six or seven candidates by the end of the week and hire its new GM within the next two weeks.
Drury, 44, played 12 NHL seasons before retiring after the 2010-11 campaign. The Connecticut native joined the Rangers as their director of player development in 2015 before being promoted to assistant GM in 2016. He's also been the GM of the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack since 2017.
The Avalanche hired MacFarland in 2016 after he'd spent 16 years in the Columbus Blue Jackets' hockey operations department. The 50-year-old also served as the Blue Jackets' assistant GM from 2008-2015.
Ferguson, 53, joined the Bruins organization in 2014. He's also served as a scout for the San Jose Sharks and as the GM for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Jim Rutherford resigned as the Penguins' GM last week after holding the position since June 2014.
The NHL postponed all Buffalo Sabres games through Feb. 8 due to COVID-19 concerns, the league announced Tuesday.
Forward Taylor Hall and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen have both been placed on the club's COVID-19 protocol list, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.
Buffalo was scheduled to face the New York Islanders on Thursday before playing a pair of games against the Boston Bruins on Feb. 6 and 8.
The Sabres played the New Jersey Devils, who now have 14 players on the COVID-19 protocol list, on Saturday and Sunday despite the Devils showing signs of an outbreak.
Buffalo reportedly requested more information from the league regarding the health of the Devils but was denied, according to The Athletic's John Vogl.
"Buffalo is furious with the league and with New Jersey," a source told Vogl.
It's unclear when the trio of postponed games will be rescheduled.
The Boston Bruins are off to a strong start this season and will likely get star winger David Pastrnak back in the lineup for Saturday's tilt with the Washington Capitals.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said he intends to play Pastrnak as long as he gets final clearance from the club's medical staff following Saturday's morning skate, according to WEEI's Scott McLaughlin.
Pastrnak, 24, underwent a right hip arthroscopy and labral repair in September. He said he's 100% ready to go, McLaughlin adds.
The sniper co-led the NHL with 48 goals in 2019-20 to capture his first career Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy. He also tallied a team-leading and career-best 95 points through 70 games.
Pastrnak ranks fourth in goals (155) since the start of the 2016-17 season and second in power-play markers with 60.
The Bruins are 5-1-1 this season and sit second in the East division entering Friday's action.
Minnesota Wild forward Kevin Fiala will have a hearing Friday for boarding Los Angeles Kings defenseman Matt Roy during Thursday's contest, the NHL's Department of Player Safety announced.
The play occurred in the second period. Fiala was handed a five-minute major and game misconduct.
The Fiala hit on Roy is bad, made worse when he caught an edge but Fiala realized right away it was bad pic.twitter.com/GywqW24oKm
— CJ Fogler 6'7" IQ 269 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) January 29, 2021
Thursday's contest between the Vegas Golden Knights and St. Louis Blues was postponed as the result of a Golden Knights player and member of the coaching staff entering COVID-19 protocol, the league announced.
Vegas announced Tuesday that its entire coaching staff was isolating "out of an abundance of caution." General manager Kelly McCrimmon assumed coaching duties for Tuesday's overtime loss against the Blues.
The Golden Knights canceled Thursday's skate, and the club's facilities will remain closed until further notice.
The league is reviewing and revising the Golden Knights' schedule, and a decision on next week's games will be made in the next 24-48 hours.
This marks the second game-day postponement for the NHL so far this season.
The contract is a two-way deal in Year 1 and transitions to a one-way deal ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.
Bowey, 25, recorded three goals and 17 points while averaging 17:54 of ice time over 53 games with the Detroit Red Wings last season.
The Washington Capitals selected the 6-foot-2 rearguard in the second round of the 2013 draft. He's amassed five goals and 39 points over 154 career contests.
Bowey will meet the minimum exposure requirements for the expansion draft by playing one more NHL game. The only Blackhawks defenseman eligible for exposure is Connor Murphy, according to CapFriendly.
In the first edition of theScore's 2021 Vezina Trophy Power Rankings, we get an early look at which netminders have been the toughest to beat so far this season.
Since the sample sizes are still quite small, goaltenders must have made a minimum of four starts to be considered. Here are the five puck-stoppers who've stood out the most through the opening two weeks.
GAA = Goals against average xGA/60 = Expected goals against per 60 minutes SV% = Save percentage HDSV% = High-danger save percentage GSAA = Goals saved above average
5. Vitek Vanecek, Capitals
Patrick Smith / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Record
GAA
xGA/60
SV%
HDSV%
GSAA
3-0-2
2.70
2.68
.918
.810
2.19
Vanecek's emergence has been a welcome revelation for the Capitals with regular starter Ilya Samsonov on the COVID-19 protocol list. The 25-year-old has faced over 30 shots in four of his first five NHL starts, and he's yet to drop a game in regulation. He also ranks seventh in minutes played among goalies, and Vanecek has done an excellent job helping the Capitals stay steady during what could have been a rocky start.
4. Joonas Korpisalo, Blue Jackets
Jamie Sabau / National Hockey League / Getty
Record
GAA
xGA/60
SV%
HDSV%
GSAA
1-1-2
2.45
2.83
.928
.878
3.24
Korpisalo has quietly been one of the league's most reliable goaltenders so far. The 26-year-old has outperformed his expected goals-against average by a decent margin, and he ranks fifth in goals saved above average among all goalies. Those metrics show his elite play despite only earning one win.
3. Philipp Grubauer, Avalanche
Matthew Stockman / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Record
GAA
xGA/60
SV%
HDSV%
GSAA
4-2-0
2.17
2.34
.919
.841
2.24
The Avalanche haven't been as dominant as many expected to start, but that's not Grubauer's fault. The German allowed two goals or fewer in four of his first five starts, and he's tied for the league lead in wins.
It's a shame Grubauer was injured during the club's postseason run in the bubble, but the 29-year-old continues to prove he's more than capable of being the starter for a top team after spending much of his career as a backup.
2. Semyon Varlamov, Islanders
Mike Stobe / National Hockey League / Getty
Record
GAA
xGA/60
SV%
HDSV%
GSAA
3-1-0
1.00
2.17
.966
.895
7.34
It took opponents 142:10 of action to finally beat Varlamov this season, as the Islanders puck-stopper appears to have carried over his form after an incredible playoff run last summer. The Capitals finally got to Varlamov for three goals on Tuesday, but the 32-year-old has still allowed only four goals over four games, and he boasts the best save percentage and second-best goals saved above average among all netminders.
1. John Gibson, Ducks
David Becker / National Hockey League / Getty
Record
GAA
xGA/60
SV%
HDSV%
GSAA
3-1-2
1.67
2.92
.948
.846
8.20
Gibson is off to yet another red-hot start. The Ducks goaltender has been sensational while also managing one of the largest workloads thus far, ranking second in shots against and fifth in minutes played among all goalies. Anaheim owns the league's worst offense and has scored just 10 goals with Gibson in net, and he's still won half of his starts.
Maintaining his top-tier numbers behind the rebuilding Ducks will be a tall task, but Gibson possesses the ability to single-handedly keep the club in the postseason race.
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere has been removed from the club's COVID-19 protocol list and is expected to make his season debut against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, the team announced.
The 27-year-old previously tested positive for COVID-19 and rejoined the Flyers at practice Monday for the first time since Jan. 8.
Gostisbehere is looking to rebound from a down season in which he recorded a career-low 12 points through 42 contests. He was made a healthy scratch early in 2019-2020 and underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in January, which kept him out of the lineup for 14 games down the stretch.
He ranks first in points (153) and power-play goals (14) and second in total goals (34) among Flyers blue-liners since the start of the 2016-17 campaign.
Philadelphia will hope Gostisbehere can provide a defensive boost, as the Flyers rank 25th in goals against per game (3.50) heading into Tuesday's action.
Campbell appeared to tweak something in his leg during the final minutes of Sunday's contest, but he remained in the game to record his second victory of the season.
A few plays after the injury occurred, Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk accidentally fell on Campbell's leg while attempting to score the tying goal.
After receiving some postgame criticism, Tkachuk called it "classic" to accuse him of deliberately trying to injure the Leafs puck-stopper.
The Leafs and Flames meet Tuesday night for the second of nine matchups between the sides this season.
