Category Archives: Hockey News

Canadiens associate coach Muller signs 2-year extension

Montreal Canadiens associate coach Kirk Muller isn't going anywhere, as he and the team agreed to a two-year contract extension on Sunday.

Muller spent the past two seasons behind the Canadiens' bench, working alongside former coach Michel Therrien and current bench boss Claude Julien.

Previously, Muller spent two years as an assistant with the St. Louis Blues and parts of three seasons as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes. He was also an assistant coach with the Canadiens from 2006-11.

Prior to joining the coaching ranks, the longtime NHL veteran skated in 1,349 games, including four seasons with Montreal, where he served as a captain during the 1994-95 campaign.

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Jets sign Morrissey to 2-year deal

The Winnipeg Jets have signed defenseman Josh Morrissey to a two-year extension worth $3.15 million per year, the team announced Sunday.

Morrissey was the Jets' only remaining restricted free agent.

In 81 games with Winnipeg last season, the 23-year-old netted seven goals and 19 assists. He also finished fourth among Jets defensemen with just over 20 minutes in average ice time.

In 164 career games, Morrissey has notched 13 goals and 33 assists.

The Jets selected Morrissey with the 13th overall pick in the 2013 draft.

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Hurricanes’ Rask will be out months says Brind’Amour

It could be some time before Victor Rask joins his Carolina Hurricanes teammates on the ice.

The 25-year-old underwent surgery on his fourth and fifth fingers on his right hand Thursday after slicing them while making food. The team ruled Rask out indefinitely, but head coach Rod Brind'Amour says "it's going to be months."

"It's not going to be quick," he added, according to Hurricanes.com's Michael Smith.

Brind'Amour noted that Rask cut tendons in the fingers, according to Chip Alexander of The News Observer.

Rask is coming off a down 2017-18 season that saw him post a career-low 31 points in 71 games.

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Humboldt assistant GM Jason Neville resigns: ‘I will always be a Bronco’

Humboldt Broncos assistant general manager Jason Neville is leaving the organization.

Neville announced the move in a statement Saturday night, writing that "this was not an easy decision, but I know it is the right choice for me." He concluded by saying that, although there is nothing specific lined up, he plans to stay in the hockey world and will always have reverence for Humboldt. "I do know I will always be a Bronco," he wrote.

Both the Broncos' official Twitter account and general manager/head coach Nathan Oystrick offered thoughts on Neville's decision as well.

Neville was instrumental in assembling the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team for the upcoming season following the tragic bus crash in April that left 16 dead and 13 injured.

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Humboldt assistant GM Jason Neville resigns: ‘I will always be a Bronco’

Humboldt Broncos assistant general manager Jason Neville is leaving the organization.

Neville announced the move in a statement Saturday night, writing that "this was not an easy decision, but I know it is the right choice for me." He concluded by saying that, although there is nothing specific lined up, he plans to stay in the hockey world and will always have reverence for Humboldt. "I do know I will always be a Bronco," he wrote.

Both the Broncos' official Twitter account and general manager/head coach Nathan Oystrick offered thoughts on Neville's decision as well.

Neville was instrumental in assembling the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team for the upcoming season following the tragic bus crash in April that left 16 dead and 13 injured.

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Tavares responds to Lou: ‘I have no regrets in the way I performed’

John Tavares acknowledges that he deserves blame for the New York Islanders' shortcomings during his tenure, and wishes the team had accomplished more, but he's at peace with his contributions.

The Toronto Maple Leafs forward expressed as much when asked if he was surprised by Islanders president of hockey operations Lou Lamoriello's comments from earlier this week in which the former Leafs GM said there was "no aftermath" in the wake of Tavares' departure, and that it would be different if the Isles had won championships.

"In the nine years (I was there) we made the playoffs three times and got past the first round once, so we obviously fell short of where we wanted to get to and we didn't have as much consistent success as we (would have liked)," Tavares said to reporters, including TSN's Mark Masters, on Saturday.

"Being the captain there as long as I was, I should shoulder a lot of that responsibility in not doing a good enough job and leading that team," he added. "I wish I could have done a better job, but I know I gave it everything I had, and looking back, I have no regrets in the way I performed ... I just obviously wish we'd had more success and done a better job."

Tavares departed the Islanders ranking fifth on the club's all-time points list and seventh all time in goals, despite sitting outside the top 10 in games played.

He signed a seven-year, $77-million contract with the Maple Leafs as a free agent on July 1.

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Dubas says stalled Nylander deal won’t set any marketplace records

Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs won't be setting a new bar to sign restricted free agent William Nylander.

With day two of Leafs training camp underway, the Swedish forward is yet to sign a new contract, and the status of negotiations between him and the club is largely up in the air. Dubas, however, shed a bit of light on the situation Saturday, saying that Nylander's new deal will certainly be within the confines of the Leafs' salary cap restrictions.

"If we want to sustain success here we can't be setting any marketplace records," Dubas said, according to Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star.

"Sometimes players might not like it very much, but I'm sure they'd rather win than be on a team that can't."

Shortly after signing free agent John Tavares to a seven-year, $77 million deal, Dubas was asked how he plans to manage the next contracts of Toronto's group of young stars. He responded by saying "we can, and we will" retain Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews long-term.

Nylander has posted back-to-back 61-point efforts in the first two full seasons of his career. His value has been compared to that of Nikolaj Ehlers of the Winnipeg Jets and David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins.

Both men signed big-money extensions in September 2017, with the former agreeing to a seven-year, $42-million deal, and the latter inking a six-year, $40-million pact.

The Maple Leafs have an estimated $13.3 million in available cap space for 2018-19, according to Cap Friendly.

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