Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois is confident that he'll be able to work out a contract this summer with star forward Brayden Point.
Point, who has recorded 22 goals and 49 points so far in his third NHL season, will be one of over a dozen premium pending restricted free agents likely to command big bucks this summer, which brings the threat of an offer sheet.
But BriseBois isn't concerned about that possibility:
#tblightning GM Julien BriseBois held court for half hour. Lot of good stuff. BriseBois said he's "not concerned at all" about potential offer sheets this summer, on Brayden Point. Will find a way to keep the player. No talks until this summer though though
While BriseBois thinks he'll be able to ink Point long term, the first-year GM will likely have to do some finagling to make his roster fit under the salary cap.
Chabot took a big hit from Islanders enforcer Matt Martin in the second period, after which he left the game and didn't return.
The club continues to classify it as an upper-body injury. Boucher said on Friday night that it was not to the head.
Chabot is on a point-per-game pace for the Senators so far, having racked up 38 in as many contests. The 21-year-old blue-liner ranks second in the NHL in points among rearguards behind Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Jamie Benn downplayed the remarks from Dallas Stars CEO Jim Lites when asked about the comments on Saturday, less than 24 hours after the tirade.
“I don’t play for him," the Stars captain told reporters, including the Dallas Morning News' Matthew DeFranks. "I play for every player in this room and the coaching staff. I come to the rink and ... I’m proud to be a Dallas Star and proud to go out there every night and battle with these guys in games.”
Lites lambasted Benn and Tyler Seguin in a pair of interviews on Friday. He told The Athletic's Sean Shapiro that the duo "are fucking horseshit" and that the two forwards "were terrible" in Thursday's win over the Nashville Predators. He then told DeFranks that the "terrible play" from Seguin and Benn has "pissed me off."
Seguin also addressed the criticism on Saturday.
"I hear the message," he said, according to DeFranks. "I think Jamie and I hear the message. I think the whole team hears it."
Seguin added that Lites' assessments came as "a little bit of a surprise" because the two haven't had a conversation since the end of last season, according to Mark Stepneski of the club's official website.
Meanwhile, Lites implied that he wants Seguin, Benn, and their teammates to use his critiques as motivation.
The trade gives the club some added depth at the goaltending position. Backup Garret Sparks has just 26 games under his belt in his short NHL career. The club's AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, has struggled mightily this season, especially in goal. Kasimir Kaskisuo, Jeff Glass, and Eamon McAdam have each played double-digit games for the team and none have posted a save percentage above .891.
Hutchinson, on the other hand, has 106 NHL contests to his credit. He has spent the majority of this season with the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds where he's gone 2-3-1 with a .906 save percentage.
With 2018 winding down, theScore looked back at the previous 12 months and voted on the top 25 sportspeople of the year. Here's the third instalment, highlighting Nos. 15-11.
The vast majority of the world's top athletes train countless years and make endless sacrifices to reach the pinnacle of their sport. And then there's Kyler Murray. Not only was the Texas-born Murray a top-10 pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, but he also won the Heisman Trophy as the quarterback of Oklahoma in his "offseason." The latest two-sport star to grace the American landscape also has the potential to be one of the best, as the Oakland A's prospect is now being mentioned as a Day 1 pick in the upcoming NFL draft. Before he's forced to make that decision, he will lead the Sooners into the CFP semifinal against Alabama, hoping to end the Crimson Tide's three-year streak of reaching the final. - Dane Belbeck
14. Ada Hegerberg, F, Olympique Lyonnais
FRANCK FIFE / AFP / Getty
One of the most important figures in the history of world football hails from a modest Norwegian town of just 7,000 people, but she's more than capable of living up to her illustrious title. "Every female player deserves the same opportunity (as men) to develop," the first female winner of the Ballon d'Or wrote for The Players' Tribune. "There's so much talent out there all over the world that deserves a chance to shine." What a relief Hegerberg was given that chance, with the phenomenal striker racking up almost 300 goals at just 23 years of age. As influential off the pitch as she is on it, Hegerberg shooting down a now infamous sexist remark about twerking - while on stage accepting her Ballon d'Or, no less - was the perfect response from someone who has been such an outspoken advocate for equality in football. - Daniel Rouse
13. Steph Curry, G, Golden State
Stacy Revere / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Steph Curry's growing impact on the game of basketball continued in 2018. Teams are taking (and making) the most 3-pointers per game in history, turning the NBA into a perimeter-driven league no matter the position. The average pace is fractions from 100 possessions per game for the first time in nearly three decades, and players are fearlessly chucking shots from well beyond the 3-point line early in the shot clock. Much of this can be directly related to the Warriors' dominance. Individually, Curry added a third NBA championship to his resume and has begun the new season on a torrid pace, averaging 28.6 points per game on a sparkling 46-percent shooting from deep. - Wael Saghir
12. Nick Foles, QB, Philadelphia Eagles
Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Was there a better 2018 sports story than Nick Foles? A backup to begin the 2017 season, the quarterback was thrust into the starting lineup after Carson Wentz tore his ACL in December. Despite being the NFC's No. 1 seed, no one thought the Eagles would win one playoff game, let alone the franchise's first Super Bowl. The ultimate underdog, Foles put together a spectacular playoff run, and now has Philadelphia charging toward the postseason after another injury to Wentz. And let's not forget, the Super Bowl MVP not only threw for over 350 yards and threw three scores last February, but he also suggested the legendary "Philly Special" play call. - Mike Alessandrini
Somehow, Breanna Stewart has evaded the debate over whether she will go down as the greatest women's basketball player of all time. That won't last long.
At 24 years old, the superstar power forward just capped one of the most remarkable years in hoops history, capturing the WNBA's regular season and Finals MVP honor en route to her first domestic title with the Seattle Storm. Stewart followed up her clean sweep of the circuit with a gold medal and tournament MVP award at September's Women's Basketball World Cup, leading Team USA in scoring with 16.3 points per game.
Off the court, Stewart has continued her advocacy for sexual abuse survivors, which was put into motion after revealing she was abused as a child. Stewart is perseverance personified. - Andrew Joe Potter
Saturday night will be a memorable one for both John Tavares and Lou Lamoriello.
For Tavares, it will mark the first game against his former club, the Islanders, since he elected to fulfill a childhood fantasy and sign with the Maple Leafs on July 1. As for Lamoriello, Saturday's visit to Scotiabank Arena will be his first since he stepped down as Toronto general manager and joined New York.
While Lamoriello's return is certainly a captivating story, it won't quite match the emotions that players on both teams are sure to feel as Tavares suits up against the club that drafted him first overall in 2009 and helped develop him into the superstar he is today.
For many Islanders fans and possibly a few former teammates, there is likely to be some bitterness toward Tavares' decision to seemingly jump ship, but Lamoriello contests that the five-time All-Star had every right to sign elsewhere.
"First of all, I knew him as a player by seeing my teams play against him," Lamoriello told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. "I got to know him as a person and got to spend time with he and his wife; he's as great a person as he is a player. It's unfair for any criticism that he has received because he had every right to make that decision. He gave everything he had when he was here. He had a right to do it. So I don't think anybody should begrudge him for any decision that he made because that was his right."
What should make burying the hatchet easier is that both clubs have been able to find success in the early going. The Maple Leafs sit second overall in the Eastern Conference behind the mighty Tampa Bay Lightning. The Islanders, meanwhile, are just two points out of the final wild-card spot in the East with games in hand on nearly all the teams ahead of them.
As for Tavares, he's thrived with the blue and white, sitting tied for second in the league with 26 goals to go along with 18 assists in 38 games.
Andersen has gone 3-0-1 in his last four games. He currently sits second in the league with 20 wins and ranks seventh in both goals-against average and save percentage among goalies who have played at least 15 contests.
Kaskisuo has gone 3-5-0 in 11 games this season for the AHL's Toronto Marlies, compiling a 4.12 goals-against average and a .866 save percentage.
Boucher added the Sens' top blue-liner is not dealing with a head injury, and a timetable for his return is unknown.
Frustration boiled over during the contest's dying seconds. The teams combined for 38 penalty minutes with less than a minute on the clock, which included a fight between Martin and Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki.
