Donya Abramo

About Donya Abramo (@virtual_don)

The Athletic says the Capitals have the second worst farm system in the NHL

On Monday, Senior NHL prospects writer for The Athletic Corey Pronman kicked off his ranking of all 31 NHL teams’ farm systems and prospects for the 2019-20 season. The Washington Capitals rank second worst in the NHL, according to Pronman, with only the Calgary Flames below them.

With some exciting prospects already in the Capitals’ systems, such as goaltender Ilya Samsonov, defenseman Alex Alexeyev, and recent 2019 NHL Draftee and forward Connor McMichael, the ranking of 30th out of 31 teams is a little bleak. However, it is an improvement over Pronman’s ranking of the 2018-19 Capitals prospects, who came in 31st.

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By Donya Abramo 1 week ago

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Roberto Luongo to become first Florida Panthers player to have jersey retired

The Florida Panthers announced on Monday that goaltender Roberto Luongo would become the first player in the history of the franchise to have their jersey retired. The ceremony will happen on Saturday, March 7, 2020, when the Panthers host the Montreal Canadiens.

Luongo announced his retirement from the NHL on June 26, 2019, capping off a 19 season career at age 40. His 489 career wins placed him third of all time, with only Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy ahead of him. At the time of his retirement, Luongo was also one of three goaltenders in NHL history to play 1,000 games.

In addition to his on-ice achievements, Luongo was also a respected voice in the Flordia community. In the wake of the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, Luongo saluted the activist students in an emotional pregame speech at the Panthers’ first home game following the incident.

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By Donya Abramo 1 week ago

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Sidney Crosby on his relationship with Alex Ovechkin: ‘We’ve had some good moments, some bad ones’

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby put away his green golf socks and sat down with former teammates Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney to chat on their hockey podcast Spittin’ Chiclets.

While the interview was filled mostly with anecdotes and stories about Crosby’s career with the Penguins, the conversation turned his years-long rivalry with Ovechkin’s and whether or not the two share a relationship when they are off the ice.

“Yeah, pretty much on the ice,” Crosby confirmed. “I mean we see each other at different events and stuff, you know awards and things like that. But yeah, it’s pretty much on the ice and it’s had its moments over the years. I think that’s to be expected. We’ve kind of been built up against each other from day one, but we’ve had some good moments, some bad ones, but that just comes with playing against him so much.”

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By Donya Abramo 2 weeks ago

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Kevin Shattenkirk says he was ‘pissed off’ after being bought out by the New York Rangers

As an unrestricted free agent in 2017, Kevin Shattenkirk had several teams who offered him a max seven-year deal. Instead, he took a four-year, $26.6 million deal to play with his hometown Rangers. “When it came down to it, [it was] not a numbers or terms thing, but it was where was going to be the best fit for me,” Shattenkirk said at the time. “Obviously, the opportunity to play for my lifelong favorite team and to live out a lifelong dream was something that I couldn’t let pass by.”

Two years and a month later, Shatty’s tenure in New York unceremoniously ended as the Rangers bought out the remaining two years left in his contract weeks after he became a father for his first time.

Monday, after signing a one-year, $1.75 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Shattenkirk sounded off about the situation, saying he was “pretty pissed off” about the Rangers buying him out.

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By Donya Abramo and Ian Oland 2 weeks ago

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Tampa Bay Lightning sign Kevin Shattenkirk to one-year, $1.75 million contract

Less than a week after the New York Rangers bought out the remainder of Kevin Shattenkirk’s contract, the former Capitals defenseman has found his next team in the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Vice president and general manager of the Lightning, Julien BriseBois, announced on Monday that the Lightning had signed Shattenkirk to a one-year, $1.75 million contract. The 30-year-old defenseman tallied 51 points over 119 games with New York Rangers, and was an on-and-off healthy scratch while on the team. The addition of restricted free agent Jacob Trouba to a seven-year, $56 million deal dropped Shattenkirk further down the Rangers’ depth-chart.

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By Donya Abramo 2 weeks ago

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Radko Gudas is ‘honored to be a part of one of the best teams in the NHL’ and ‘not having to block Ovi’s shot anymore’

Former Washington Capitals goaltender Michal Neuvirth and current defenseman Radko Gudas are ex-Philadelphia Flyers teammates and brothers-in-law. Ahead of the start of the 2019-20 season, Gudas spoke to the Czech media via iSport.cz about Neuvirth’s move to Toronto on a PTO and his own expectations for the upcoming season with the Capitals. (Yes, the same Czech outlet where Neuvirth once said Braden Holtby was “my weakest competition yet.”)

“I’m looking forward to the winning atmosphere of the team,” Gudas told iSport.cz, as translated by RMNB’s Alexandra Petáková. “They’ve been among NHL’s top teams for the past five years, everyone there knows how to win. The Capitals won the Stanley Cup a year ago, so I’m sure they’ll want to win it again. I think summer is too long for them this year, I’m sure they’ll all be motivated. I’ll be honored to be a part of one of the best teams in NHL.”

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By Donya Abramo 2 weeks ago

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New York Rangers buy out remaining two years of Kevin Shattenkirk’s contract

Former Capitals defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has been bought out by the New York Rangers, according to The New York Post’s Brett Cyrgalis. The Fouth Line’s David Pagnotta confirmed the news.

Shattenkirk, who signed a four-year, $26.6 million deal with his hometown team in July 2017, fell to fourth on the depth chart among right-handed Rangers defensemen after the team acquired and signed restricted free agent Jacob Trouba to a seven-year, $56 million deal.

Kevin and his wife Deanna had their first child, a boy named Connor, in early July.

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By Donya Abramo 3 weeks ago

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Matt Duchene jokes he’s looking for a new Christmas album after Michael Buble calls him an ‘idiot’ for leaving Columbus

Over the weekend, Canadian crooner Michael Bublé took aim at former Blue Jackets Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky and Matt Duchene during his concert in Columbus, Ohio. According to Twitter user @DMaetsMedia, Bublé told the audience that all three players were “idiots for leaving” during free agency on July 1st. Bublé also said that he’d been rooting hard for the Blue Jackets to take out Tampa Bay in the playoffs.

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By Donya Abramo 4 weeks ago

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Nic Dowd and Paige Dowd reveal gender of baby

A few days after Paige and Nic Dowd announced that they were expecting their first child in January 2020, the couple took to their Instagram Story to share a few photographs of the gender reveal.

In the photographs, Nic — sporting a “don’t stop retrieving” shirt, representing the couple’s fur baby, Arlo — and Paige cut into a white cake, with blue and pink macarons and soft, matching color brush strokes along the edge of the cake. Removing the slice revealed a candy surprise inside.

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By Donya Abramo 1 month ago

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Here’s an uncanny glimpse at what the Washington Capitals will look like as old men

This week, the old-age filter on FaceApp has gone viral. Social media users have looked on in both intrigue and horror as the app has transformed selfies of themselves into old people with scary-good accuracy.

So we wondered, how well will our favorite Washington Capitals players age in 40 years?

Spoiler alert: not well!

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By Donya Abramo and Ian Oland 1 month ago

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About Donya Abramo (@virtual_don)