Evan’s NHL Daily: 4 Nations Face-Off; Guentzel For Sale; Saved By Bobrovsky

Sometimes I wonder what the NHL is actually doing. We sat around for a week with nothing to talk about because the league gave Florida and Edmonton time off prior to the Stanley Cup Final. That would have been the perfect time to slowly release some news to keep people interested. Instead, we got nothing. Then, just a few hours before the Stanley Cup Final is about to begin, they hold a press conference and release all the news. I appreciate the news, but it didn’t need to be held onto until right before hockey was about to start back up.

The salary cap is going up more than expected. That’s kind of a big deal. In addition, the NHL released the schedule for the 4 Nations Face-off, which will take place in February of next year. The Avalanche will have a handful of players participating in that, but I’m still having a hard time getting excited for a tournament that won’t have all the best players in the world participating in it.

It sounds like Jake Guentzel will almost certainly hit the free agent market, unless some team swoops in and snags him beforehand. Carolina has put him up for sale if anyone wants to trade for his rights.

On the ice, Florida won Game One like I expected they would, but it didn’t look anything like I expected it to look. Sergei Bobrovsky was the only reason they won, stonewalling the Oilers and keeping them off the scoresheet. I guess that’s why they gave him $10 million a season all those years ago.

Colorado Hockey Now

The combine just took place in Buffalo, and the Avalanche are taking a very unique approach to everything. They’re asking questions, but they’re also playing board games with players they might be interested in picking at the NHL Draft.

Good news for all, as the salary cap is going up a bit more than expected. Here’s a look at the situation Colorado is currently in and where the Avalanche stand.

News On And Off The Ice

The NHL will pause for a few weeks in February, but not for an All-Star game. Instead, the 4 Nations Face-off Tournament will take place in Montreal and Boston, with Canada, USA, Finland, and Sweden battling to decide a winner. Pretty cool, but when guys like David Pastrnak, Leon Draisaitl, Nikita Kucherov, and a few others aren’t able to participate, I struggle to call it the best-on-best.

Here’s the schedule for the tournament. First players on the roster will be announced on June 28.

Full schedule for 4 Nations Face-Off: pic.twitter.com/XsEccgca3R

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 8, 2024

He played great for Carolina after being picked up at the NHL Trade Deadline, but maybe he priced himself out of town. The Hurricanes are shopping Jake Guentzel, plus other NHL trade chatter.

On the ice, the Florida Panthers took Game One of the Stanley Cup Final, but they didn’t look great doing so. Edmonton was easily the better team, but couldn’t find a way past the wall the Panthers had in net. Now they have to find a way to replicate that game, but you have to expect the Panthers to look a little bit better in Game Two. At least for Game One, they were saved by Sergei Bobrovsky.

National Hockey Now

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: No one loves draft picks more than Kyle Dubas. Every year, he loves trading back and acquiring more and more of them for additional ammo. He’s trying to do the same again this June for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Boston Hockey Now: Seeing what Bobrovsky is doing in Florida might make teams more interested in improving their goaltending situation, and actually paying good money and assets to do it. If Boston is to trade Linus Ullmark, it will have massive implications on the Bruins and the NHL.

San Jose Hockey Now: Who will be the next Head Coach of the Sharks? Could it be one of the better players in their franchise history, Marco Sturm?

Buffalo Hockey Now: It can’t be easy being a Sabres fan. There’s quite a few former Sabres playing for the Cup. Ranking the best ones left playing in the Stanley Cup Final.