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- Morning Skate - Tuesday, March 22
Morning Skate - Tuesday, March 22
Morning Skate - Immediate Impacts & Men's D-I Tournament Preview
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Yesterday's NHL Scores
Last Night's News 📰
A WILD DEADLINE: Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin made his intentions clear after partaking in an active trade deadline by acquiring goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, defenseman Jacob Middleton, and forwards Tyson Jost and Nicolas Deslauriers. Although the team has not won a playoff round since the 2014-15 season, it looks like they are prepared to make a substantial postseason run this year.
NOT YOUR AVERAGE MONDAY: On a frantic day of pre-deadline activity, 33 trades involving 54 players took place as teams across the league got busy positioning themselves for the stretch run and beyond. The Hockey Writers has you covered with a breakdown of everything that happened at the deadline.
BOSTON BRU-WIN: After bolstering their defensive corps with the additions of Hampus Lindholm and Josh Brown, the Boston Bruins pulled even with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the third spot in the Atlantic Division with a 3-2 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens. Brad Marchand scored the OT winner in a come-from-behind victory for the Bruins.
BRING 'EM BACK: Lost in the shuffle of all the moves made on Monday, multiple players signed contract extensions. Jake DeBrusk (two-year, $8 million) of the Boston Bruins, Jesperi Kotkaniemi (eight-year, $38.56 million) of the Carolina Hurricanes, and Anton Forsberg (three-year, $8.75 million) of the Ottawa Senators were just three of the pieces secured by their teams.
Trivia Tuesday
How Well Do You Know the NHL Trade Deadline?
On March 5, 2014, Martin St. Louis was traded from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the New York Rangers in exchange for which player?
Ryan Callahan
Ryan McDonagh
J.T. Miller
Daniel Girardi
In March 2002, the New Jersey Devils traded Jason Arnott and Randy McKay for which two players?
Jamie Langenbrunner & Stéphane Richer
Jamie Langenbrunner & Valeri Kamensky
Joe Nieuwendyk & Valeri Kamensky
Joe Nieuwendyk & Jamie Langenbrunner
Who was the first player in Seattle Kraken history to move at the NHL Trade Deadline?
Nathan Bastian
Marcus Johansson
Calle Järnkrok
Mark Giordano
Answers can be found at the bottom of the email.
Trade Deadline: The Winners
Monday saw both a flurry of trades and a trade of Fleury. All told, 33 moves transpired as 54 players switched addresses, and that is before counting the busy lead-up to deadline day. Amidst all of that, a few teams stood out. Objectives may have differed, but various front offices found success alternately by loading up for a run at this year's Stanley Cup or accumulating future assets for players who didn't fit their current direction.
Regardless of what they were ultimately looking to accomplish, here's to the clubs that got to work ahead of the deadline and emerged as early winners:
Florida Panthers
Claude Giroux, a major addition for the Florida Panthers. (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
By adding Claude Giroux and Ben Chiarot to solidify one of the league's deepest rosters, the Florida Panthers secured some of the biggest speculated names among the forward and blue line corps. The wheeling and dealing, which also brought Robert Hägg into the fold, forced Florida to part with promising youngster Owen Tippett and a handful of picks, including two future first-round selections. In the end, the Panthers have positioned themselves nicely for a deep run this spring.
Anaheim Ducks
An exciting start to the season for the young Anaheim Ducks gave way to inexperience and inconsistency, taking them out of playoff contention in the Pacific Division. In response, new Ducks GM Pat Verbeek didn't hesitate in off-loading pending free agents while weaponizing the team's cap space to add seven picks and six players in the past week. None of Josh Manson, Nicolas Deslauriers, Hampus Lindholm, or Rickard Rakell were likely to remain with the team past this season, so Anaheim seriously maximized value here.
New York Rangers
Andrew Copp, formerly of the Winnipeg Jets (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
Maybe Chris Drury is not so bad at this whole GM thing. Drury helped solidify the New York Rangers in front of all-word goalie Igor Shesterkin, adding Andrew Copp, Justin Braun, Tyler Motte, and Frank Vatrano for the stretch run. Somehow the Rangers landed four bonafide NHL regulars without sacrificing anyone from their current roster, including rumored trade candidate Alexandar Georgiev, or a guaranteed first-round pick. Although, the conditional second for Copp becomes a first-rounder if the Rangers win two playoff series.
Chicago Blackhawks
Any potential full-blown tear-down will have to wait until the summer. However, Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson picked up two first-round picks in the Brandon Hagel deal while flipping Marc-André Fleury's expiring contract into a second-rounder that could become a first if Minnesota reaches the Western Conference Final. Given that Flower was acquired for AHLer Mikael Hakkarainen nine months ago, that's a solid return on investment.
Men's NCAA Division I Tournament Preview
Yesterday, we took a look back at the NCAA Division I Men's conference tournaments. Today, we're taking a look ahead to the NCAA D-I Men's national championship tournament, with the seedings and matchups revealed on Sunday evening. The bracket consists of 16 teams in four regionals, with the first round beginning on Thursday.
Michigan, Minnesota State, Minnesota Duluth, UMass, Harvard, and America International all received automatic berths by winning their conference tournaments, while the other teams got in as at-large bids.
Participants
#1 Michigan Wolverines
Location: Ann Arbor, MIRank: 2nd (Big Ten Champion)Record: 29-9-1Top Scorer: Matty Beniers (19 Goals, 22 Assists, 41 Points)Top Goalie: Erik Portillo (2.06 Goals-Against Average, .928 Save Percentage)
#4 American International Yellow Jackets
Location: Springfield, MARank: 17th (Atlantic Hockey Association Champion)Record: 22-12-3Top Scorer: Blake Bennett (18 G, 14 A, 32 P)Top Goalie: Jake Kucharski (2.39 GAA, .910 SV%)
#2 Quinnipiac Bobcats
Location: Hamden, CTRank: 7th (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference At-Large)Record: 31-6-3Top Scorer: Zach Metsa (9 G, 25 A, 34 P)Top Goalie: Yaniv Perets (0.96 GAA, .948 SV%)
#3 St. Cloud State Huskies
Location: St. Cloud, MNRank: 11th (National Collegiate Hockey Conference At-Large)Record: 18-14-4Top Scorer: Kevin Fitzgerald (17 G, 18 A, 35 P)Top Goalie: David Hrenak (2.26 GAA, .914 SV%)
#1 Denver Pioneers
Location: Denver, CORank: 4th (NCHC At-Large)Record: 27-9-1Top Scorer: Bobby Brink (14 G, 41 A, 55 P)Top Goalie: Magnus Chrona (2.20 GAA, .908 SV%)
#4 UMass Lowell River Hawks
Location: Lowell, MARank: 13th (Hockey East At-Large)Record: 21-10-3Top Scorer: Carl Berglund (9 G, 19 A, 28 P)Top Goalie: Owen Savory (1.89 GAA, .927 SV%)
#2 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs
Location: Duluth, MNRank: 3rd (NCHC Champion)Record: 21-15-4Top Scorer: Blake Biondi (17 G, 11 A, 28 P)Top Goalie: Ryan Fanti (1.87 GAA, .926 SV%)
#3 Michigan Tech Huskies
Location: Houghton, MIRank: 14th (Central Collegiate Hockey Association At-Large)Record: 21-12-3Top Scorer: Brian Halonen (21 G, 23 A, 44 P)Top Goalie: Blake Pietila (1.91 GAA, .918 SV%)
#1 Western Michigan Broncos
Location: Kalamazoo, MIRank: 5th (NCHC At-Large)Record: 25-11-1Top Scorer: Drew Worrad (9 G, 35 A, 44 P)Top Goalie: Brandon Bussi (2.60 GAA, .910 SV%)
#4 Northeastern Huskies
Location: Boston, MARank: 12th (Hockey East At-Large)Record: 25-12-1Top Scorer: Aidan McDonough (24 G, 14 A, 38 P)Top Goalie: Devon Levi (1.52 GAA, .9 ory (1.89 GAA, .927 SV%)
#2 Minnesota Golden Gophers
Location: Minneapolis, MNRank: 6th (Big Ten At-Large)Record: 24-12-0Top Scorer: Ben Meyers (16 G, 21 A, 37 P)Top Goalie: Justen Close (1.89 GAA, .928 SV%)
#3 UMass Minutemen
Location: Amherst, MARank: 9th (Hockey East Champion)Record: 22-12-2Top Scorer: Bobby Trivigno (20 G, 28 A, 48 P)Top Goalie: Matt Murray (2.27 GAA, .919 SV%)
#1 Minnesota State Mavericks
Location: Mankato, MNRank: 1st (CCHA Champion)Record: 35-5-0Top Scorer: Drew Worrad (9 G, 35 A, 44 P)Top Goalie: Brandon Bussi (2.60 GAA, .910 SV%)
#4 Harvard Crimson
Location: Cambridge, MARank: 15th (ECAC Champion)Record: 21-10-3Top Scorer: Matthew Coronato (18 G, 17 A, 35 P)Top Goalie: Mitchell Gibson (2.11 GAA, .919 SV%)
#2 North Dakota Fighting Hawks
Location: Grand Forks, NDRank: 8th (NCHC At-Large)Record: 24-13-1Top Scorer: Riese Gaber (15 G, 22 A, 37 P)Top Goalie: Zach Driscoll (2.36 GAA, .907 SV%)
#3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Location: South Bend, INRank: 10th (Big Ten At-Large)Record: 27-11-0Top Scorer: Max Ellis (16 G, 12 A, 28 P)Top Goalie: Matthew Galajda (1.98 GAA, .930 SV%)
Schedule - All Times Eastern
Albany (NY) Regional
Thursday, March 24: #1 Minnesota St vs. #4 Harvard (Noon, ESPNU) | #2 North Dakota vs. #3 Notre Dame (6:00 PM, ESPNU)
Saturday, March 26: Albany Regional Championship (4:00 PM or 6:30 PM, ESPNU)
Loveland (CO) Regional
Thursday, March 24: #2 Minn. Duluth vs. #3 Michigan Tech (3:00 PM, ESPNU) | #1 Denver vs. #4 UMass Lowell (9:00 PM, ESPNU)
Saturday, March 26: Loveland Regional Championship (4:00 PM or 6:30 PM, ESPNU)
Worcester (MA) Regional
Friday, March 25: #1 Western Mich. vs. #4 Northeastern (Noon, ESPNU) | #2 Minnesota vs. #3 UMass (6:00 PM, ESPNU)
Sunday, March 27: Worcester Regional Championship (4:00 PM or 6:30 PM, ESPNU)
Allentown (PA) Regional
Friday, March 25: #1 Michigan vs. #4 American Int'l (3:00 PM, ESPNU) | #2 Quinnipiac vs. #3 St. Cloud St. (8:00 PM, ESPNU)
Sunday, March 27: Allentown Regional Championship (4:00 PM or 6:30 PM, ESPNU)
Frozen Four (TD Garden, Boston, MA)
Thursday, April 7:
Allentown Regional Champion vs. Loveland Regional Champion (5:00 or 8:30 PM, ESPN2) | Worcester Regional Champion vs. Albany Regional Champion (5:00 PM or 8:30 PM, ESPN2)
Saturday, April 9:
National Championship (8:00 PM, ESPN2)
Trivia Answers
NHL Standings
