Elliotte Friedman

Report: NHL and NHLPA now focusing on a 24-team conference-based playoff as return plan

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the NHL is continuing to move towards a 24-team playoff plan without fans that would allow the league to finish its suspended 2019-20 season.

The plan is somewhat different than the plan that was reported by TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie last week and circulating among players. This return-to-play scenario would not have a group stage and the playoffs would be determined by conference seeding.

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By Ian Oland 4 days ago

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Report: NHL to hold virtual online draft as early as June 5th

The NHL Draft will not occur in Montreal this year and will instead be held online virtually.

Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the news in an appearance on NHL Network on Wednesday.

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By Ian Oland 4 weeks ago

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Report: NHL’s plans to resume 2019-20 season at a neutral site are now dead

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski are reporting that the NHL’s plans to resume the 2019-20 season at a neutral site are now officially dead.

Over the last few weeks, the NHL has listened to several cities make pitches — such as Manchester, New Hampshire, and Grand Forks, North Dakota — to potentially host the rest of the 2019-20 season.

“I’d say it’s one possibility, for sure, and it’s something that has been considered and something that has been discussed,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said on April 14. “It’s not our preferred result or outcome.”

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By Ian Oland 1 month ago

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Report: NHL will close locker rooms to media due to coronavirus fears

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that NHL locker rooms, starting today, will no longer be open to the media as the league tries to protect itself from the coronavirus. All interviews moving forward will be conducted in a formal press conference area.

The change was made due to a recommendation from the United States’ Centers for Disease Control. The NBA, MLB, and MLS are expected to follow suit.

The locker rooms closing comes as over 350 people in the United States have contracted the disease, including three people in Maryland

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By Ian Oland 3 months ago

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Report: The Washington Capitals will not play a game in Russia next season

The Washington Post reported in November that the Washington Capitals were interested in playing an NHL regular-season game in Russia as soon as next year.

“We’ve talked about different things overseas, and we’ve talked about some in Russia or some in Sweden,” Capitals President Dick Patrick said to The Washington Post then. “We’re not sure; it’s a league decision. They’ve talked about China, too, which would be like an exhibition game. I personally wasn’t too intrigued with that. I think it is just too hard on players during training camp. It could happen next year or the year after. If we are going to do it, it would probably be one of those years.”

Tuesday, Elliotte Friedman reported that the Capitals will not play a game in Russia next season, but the NHL is still exploring the possibility of having the Capitals and Blues play there during the 2021-22 season

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By Ian Oland and Donya Abramo 4 months ago

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Report: Brian MacLellan promised Chandler Stephenson he’d land in a ‘good situation’ when it became clear he had to be moved

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that Capitals GM Brian MacLellan told Chandler Stephenson that he would do his best to put the bottom-six forward in a favorable situation when it was clear the Caps no longer had room on the roster for him. The Capitals ultimately traded Stephenson to the Vegas Golden Knights for a fifth-round pick, reuniting the Canadian forward with the man who originally drafted him, the Golden Knights’ President of Hockey Operations.

Friedman revealed the nugget in his 31 Thoughts column.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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Report: Nicklas Backstrom has begun contract extension talks with the Capitals

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the Washington Capitals and Nicklas Backstrom are in talks on an extension. Backstrom is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

Friedman reported the news during Hockey Night In Canada’s Saturday Headlines segment.

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By Ian Oland 6 months ago

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31 Thoughts Podcast: The Capitals have interest in acquiring Jason Zucker from the Wild

Sportsnet analyst Elliotte Friedman recorded an episode of the 31 Thoughts Podcast with reporter Chris Johnston from the NHL Draft over the weekend.

Friedman spoke about a variety of players that could be moving including Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker. According to Friedman and Johnston, there are several teams interested in landing the left wing, who scored 21 goals and tallied 42 points in 81 games last season. The Washington Capitals are one of those clubs.

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By Ian Oland 11 months ago

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Report: The Capitals are trying to re-sign Carl Hagelin

Friday morning, the Washington Capitals made their first significant move of the offseason, flipping Matt Niskanen and his $5.75 million cap hit to the Philadelphia Flyers for Radko Gudas ($3.35 million). With the Flyers hanging on to approximately $1M of Gudas’s salary for next season, the Capitals received a salary cap savings of approximately $3.4 million for next season.

That cash should go a long way to keeping the team intact with young players like Jakub Vrana, Andre Burakovsky, Christian Djoos all restricted free agents and Nicklas Backstrom and Braden Holtby eligible for extensions in July.

But according to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, the Capitals would like to use part of that cap space on Carl Hagelin. The Capitals acquired Hags at the deadline from the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

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By Ian Oland 12 months ago

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Report: Capitals assistant GM Ross Mahoney believed to have interviewed for Oilers’ vacant GM position

After the Edmonton Oilers fired general manager Peter Chiarelli during the second intermission of a game in January 2019, Oilers CEO Bob Nicholson told the press that the organization would not rush to fill the position of GM.

“We are not in a rush, but as soon as we find a GM that we feel is right for the culture of the Oilers, we’ll name that person,” Nicholson said. “When that will be, there is no deadline on that. … We have to get the right one.”

But with the 2019 NHL Draft fast approaching and NHL free agency on the horizon, the Oilers need to make a decision soon. And, according to Elliotte Friedman’s 31 Thoughts column, one of the names being floated for the job is Capitals’ assistant GM Ross Mahoney.

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By Elizabeth Kong 1 year ago

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