Evan's Daily
Evan’s NHL Daily: MacKinnon, Avs Updates; MacDermid/Rempe
I’m sure the NHL would love to hand out their star of the week choices to other players, but Nathan MacKinnon has been so dominant this year that he just keeps racking them up. On Monday, he added another one to his name this season.
It was a light practice for the Avalanche, and they didn’t even have enough bodies to fill out four lines, but we did get our first peek at Zach Parise since getting hurt on Monday.
Over in the Eastern Conference, Kurtis MacDermid was brought in to fight again Matt Rempe, but when the guy won’t drop the gloves, there’s not much he can do. Rempe only made matters worse later in the game.
All that and more in this Tuesday edition of Evan’s Daily.
Colorado Hockey Now
Taking a look at the deadline moves made by Chris MacFarland and grading them.
Practice Updates
Jared Bednar didn’t speak to the media on Monday, but the team did still hold a light practice. They didn’t have enough bodies to fill out a full lineup, as both Artturi Lehkonen and Chris Wagner were missing. Lehkonen was listed as sick on Sunday, but still wasn’t ready to practice, and was replaced on the top line by Valeri Nichushkin.
Zach Parise skated on his own in a non-contact jersey prior to practice, and did travel with the team. He didn’t look like a guy ready to play tomorrow, but we’ll see. Chris Wagner was sent down to the Eagles, with the Avalanche brining Fredrik Olofsson back up to the NHL. I did ask PR if there was an update on Nikolai Kovalenko’s arrival, and was told there wasn’t one yet. On Sunday, I was told they’ve had an update on his injury status either Monday or Tuesday.
Also, Yakov Trenin has changed his number to 73, for those that care.
Star MacKinnon
Another ridiculous week for Nathan MacKinnon means the NHL had to award him with another first star award. You can’t ignore 10 points in three games. It should be noted that the Avalanche should have faced Thatcher Demko this week, but he hurt his knee and will miss a few weeks.
⭐ MacKinnon led the NHL in assists and points while extending his home point streak to 32 games and taking the lead in the Art Ross Trophy scoring race, helping the @Avalanche post a 3-0-0 homestand. #NHLStats: https://t.co/Rai4AVi1HQ pic.twitter.com/IuYPTObOdU
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 11, 2024
Rempe/MacDermid
The heavyweight’s are a dying breed in the NHL, but everyone expected to see a Matt Rempe/Kurtis MacDermid bought on Monday night. I guess Rempe had no intention of making that happen, as he wouldn’t drop his gloves with the former Avalanche fighter.
We’ve entered Rempe vs MacDermid watch pic.twitter.com/kQt5VOFgqf
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) March 11, 2024
Of course, Rempe might be sitting out for a while after this game, as he threw a chicken-wing elbow to the head of the Devils Siegenthaler. Brandon Gallagher got five games for a similar hit earlier this year. Will the NHL and player safety just copy and paste their work again?
#NYR’s Matt Rempe assessed 5 minute major and game misconduct for elbowing #NJDevils’ Siegenthaler pic.twitter.com/ySphW2Clqr
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) March 12, 2024
After the game, MacDermid was not impressed, as you’d expect.
Kurtis MacDermid wasn’t too pleased with Matt Rempe after the Devils-Rangers game.
•••
(🎥: @SNYtv, @NJDevils) pic.twitter.com/S32U1uCPs1— JayOnSC (@JayOnSC) March 12, 2024
These two teams play one more time before the end of the year on April 3. I’m sure the NHL will be watching closely.
National Hockey Now
Erik Karlsson back to Ottawa? That seems a bit far fetched to me.
Tomas Hertl explains why he chose to leave and go to Vegas.
The Panthers will have to play without Aaron Ekblad for a while.
What the heck is going on in Philadelphia with Ryan Johansen?
The Red Wings are finding it out for themselves – J.T. Compher isn’t really a 2C.