Evan’s NHL Daily: Calgary Does Something, Avalanche Youngsters Impress

Calgary was supposed to be the busiest team in the NHL over the summer. Instead, they stood pat. On Wednesday, their patience appeared to pay off, as they were able to sign one of their more important players. Will that open the door to more extensions?

With the Colorado Avalanche, Nate Clurman is making moves up the depth chart, and two youngsters really impressed in their NHL preseason debuts.

All that and more in this Thursday edition of Evan’s Daily.

Colorado Hockey Now

Ivan Ivan and Maros Jedlicka impressed in their Avalanche debuts. Check out some of their best moments from Monday’s game.

Film Room: Young Avalanche Forwards Impress In Preseason Debuts (+)

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Nate Clurman talks about what he worked on over the summer to prepare for this training camp, Cale Makar skates, and the Avalanche preview what their powerplay may look like.

Around The NHL

Not only were the Calgary Flames able to lock down an important player, but they also found their Captain in the process.

Mikael Backlund will be sticking around for another two years beyond this next season at a very reasonable $4.5 million per year. It’s a very reasonable deal for Calgary, who also named Backlund Captain on Wednesday. I know the Avalanche were interested in Backlund this summer, but Calgary didn’t seem interested in moving him. Now we know why.

Will this open the door for more extensions for the Flames? Maybe Elias Lindholm? Or Nikita Zadorov? It’s a start for a franchise that lost two key players one summer ago.

National Hockey Now

The Pittsburgh Penguins are about to unleash a lineup close to what they might use on opening night, including Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang on the same powerplay.

Teams are interested in Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk.

Like the Avalanche, the Canadiens have a prospect learning under the guidance of Igor Larionov.

New Jersey Devils mailbag, training camp edition.