Elliotte Friedman

Report: The Capitals are trying to move money to bring back Brenden Dillon

The Washington Capitals are facing a salary-cap crunch this offseason. The team has six roster spots to fill and only $8.9 million to work with according to Cap Friendly and are already resigned to likely losing Braden Holtby.

One of the Capitals’ top targets this offseason is retaining trade deadline acquisition Brenden Dillon. The defenseman is coming off a five-year, $16.35 million deal ($3.27M AAV) he originally signed with the San Jose Sharks in June 2015.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the Capitals are willing to go to great lengths to keep Dillon on the team.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 49 mins ago

0 Comment

Report: Mike Babcock was a finalist for Capitals head coaching job, but ‘noise’ around him sunk his candidacy

Elliotte Friedman wrote about the Capitals’ coaching search and the eventual hiring of Peter Laviolette in his latest 31 Thoughts column. While Friedman believes Laviolette was the team’s ultimate first choice, he reports that Mike Babcock, who won the Stanley Cup in 2008, got a lot of consideration from the Capitals because his interview went so well.

MacLellan only interviewed Laviolette and Babcock face-to-face due to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 2 weeks ago

0 Comment

Elliotte Friedman on the Capitals coaching search, what went wrong in the bubble

Sportsnet analyst Elliotte Friedman was a guest on NHL Network on Tuesday and gave some more insight into the Capitals coaching search.

Over the weekend, Friedman reported that the Capitals have interviewed Mike Babock and Gerard Gallant during Hockey Night In Canada’s Saturday Night Headlines segment. In late August, he also reported the team had interviewed Peter Laviolette after asking for permission from the Nashville Predators.

During the interview with EJ Hradek, Friedman handicapped Mike Babcock’s chances of becoming head coach while also giving context on what went wrong for the Capitals in the bubble.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 3 weeks ago

0 Comment

Report suggests Mike Green may retire

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has an excellent podcast that he hosts with Jeff Marek, entitled 31 Thoughts. Friedman does this on top of his reporting for Hockey Night In Canada and his must-read 31 Thoughts articles online.

In the latest episode of his podcast, Friedman and Marek did a post mortem on teams that lost in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, including the Edmonton Oilers.

While analyzing the Oilers’ defense, Friedman made a surprising revelation about former Capital Mike Green. Green, 34, “is retiring,” Friedman said at the 1:04:30 mark.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 2 months ago

1 Comment

NHL players who need visa extensions, such as Ilya Samsonov, are being ‘strongly encouraged’ to return by June 21

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the NHL is telling players who need visa extensions to play in the postseason to return to their home cities by June 21. This would require certain foreign players to return to North America 19 days before the potential start of Phase 3, training camps, on July 10.

Most player visas expire on June – the final day of NHL contracts and the end of the league’s calendar year.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 4 months ago

3 Comments

All 4 rounds of the NHL Playoffs will be best-of-7 series, teams will be re-seeded after every round

The NHL and NHLPA have worked out several of the remaining details of the 24-team playoff format.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the NHL playoffs will be re-seeded after every round. All playoff series will be best-of-seven, while the qualifying round will be best-of-five.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 4 months ago

0 Comment

Report: NHL training camps won’t start at least before July 10

Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that NHL players were informed that Phase III, the beginning of NHL training camps, won’t start before July 10.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 4 months ago

1 Comment

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.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 4 months ago

0 Comment

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.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 5 months ago

0 Comment

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.”

(more…)

By Ian Oland 5 months ago

1 Comment

12 3 4 5

Page 1 of 5