Dater’s Daily: MacKinnon Contract Update, Avalanche Rookie Roundup

A good Tuesday to all. Last really hot day of the week, and then things will finally cool down some in the Denver area. Some notes, quotes and links, starting with one on Nathan MacKinnon:

• My sources say there is still a lot of work left to do on getting a deal done Depending on your definition of “close”, as MacKinnon told some out-of-town reporters last week in a spoon-fed media construct in Vegas, that may be a relative term at this point.
• A deal will get done on this, I have zero doubt. But, at least as far as things stood on Monday, there is a lot of ground still to cover in getting it done.
• Oskar Olausson scored two goals in the two games he played for the Avalanche in the Rookie Faceoff in San Jose. It’s clear he’s got natural scoring ability. Question is, is he good enough to play away from the puck yet at the NHL level? I think it’s a long shot he makes the team out of camp based on that, but maybe he’ll get something of an early-season audition.
• Way too early to make any judgment, but the Avalanche may have found a nice prospect in goalie Ivan Zhigalov. The seventh-round draft pick in 2022 got the shutout in Monday’s Rookie Faceoff finale against Arizona and made some nice saves among his 19 overall.
• “Zhiggy” is 6-3, 167 pounds.
• He’s only 19, so you won’t see him in the NHL for a while, but Monday was a nice start for the kid.
• We’ll see if Valeri Nichushkin can start training camp on time. Let’s not forget, he had a very bad broken foot in the Cup Final and needed surgery. He may not be ready to go on Thursday, but, again, we’ll see.
• Very bad news for the Philadelphia Flyers Monday (Philly Hockey Now)
• A trade happened between the Rangers and Stars (Hockey News)
• Sonny Milano is going to Calgary on a PTO (Calgary Hockey Now)
• Claude Giroux is now an alternate captain with the Senators (TSN)
• Here’s how Nazem Kadri looks in a Flames sweater (Twitter)