Elliotte Friedman

Report: NHL could begin 2020-21 season in bubble or hubs, not expected to have exhibition games

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Chris Johnston spoke with David Amber to talk about the latest developments between the NHL and the NHLPA on Friday.

While Friedman repeated his earlier report that the players and the league are focusing on a 52-56 game regular season, he did share a a bit of new news. Friedman says the NHL is not expected to have any exhibition games before the start of the new season.

Johnston added that while the players and owners want to play in their home arenas, the league may be forced to begin the season in a bubble or hubs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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By Ian Oland 2 months ago

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Report: NHL/NHLPA having talks about a 52 to 56 game regular season that starts on January 15

The NHL and NHLPA have been cranky with each other over the last week and there have been some concerning headlines such as Gary Bettman says NHL not trying to back out of CBA and NHLPA weighing options if NHL cancels season.

But on Friday, there were finally some “positive developments” — Elliotte Friedman’s words, not mine — on next season. According to Friedman, “it sounds like” the NHL’s Escrow Ask of the players is going away and many the details for next season have been settled.

Friedman made his comments to Sportsnet 590 The Fan on Friday morning.

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By Ian Oland 2 months ago

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Brian MacLellan’s ‘tell’ that Henrik Lundqvist is likely going to sign with the Capitals

According to reports, recently bought-out Henrik Lundqvist is set to sign a one-year deal with the Washington Capitals on Friday, the first day of free agency.

Capitals GM Brian MacLellan was asked about the rumors on Tuesday night after Round One of the NHL Draft concluded.

“We’re looking for a backup veteran goaltender,” MacLellan said on Tuesday. “He’s a really solid candidate for us.”

But it was what MacLellan did after he responded which really communicated everything you needed to know.

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By Ian Oland 4 months ago

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Report: Capitals interested in signing Henrik Lundqvist

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman ended a Hockey Central segment with a bit of a bombshell, at least in these parts, about Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist, 38, was recently bought out of the final year of his contract by the New York Rangers earlier this week. It’s unclear what’s next for the future Hall of Fame goaltender, but if Hank chooses to play another year in the NHL, the Capitals could be his landing spot.

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By Ian Oland 4 months ago

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Elliotte Friedman on Capitals’ possible moves ahead of free agency, Brenden Dillon’s price tag

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman delivered some more bite-sized nuggets of Capitals analysis on his 31 Thoughts podcast along with Jeff Marek.

Friedman elaborated on his report from earlier in the week that the Capitals were trying to “move money” to bring back pending UFA Brenden Dillon.

One player that could possibly be out the door is bottom-six forward Richard Panik, who ended the season on the fourth line after he was expected to be a mainstay on the third.

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By Ian Oland 4 months ago

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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.

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By Ian Oland 4 months ago

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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.

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By Ian Oland 4 months ago

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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.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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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.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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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.

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By Ian Oland 7 months ago

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