Around these parts, we’ll do our best to give you everything you need to know about the Columbus Blue Jackets. We’ll also fill you in on the stories you may not have heard about (or those you didn’t think you need to know about), the social media buzz around the league, along with a few random nuggets for good measure.
Think of it as your morning coffee with a shot of hockey talk.
BOTTERILL TO BUFFALO: A few days after it was initially reported as imminent, the Buffalo Sabres made official the hiring of new GM Jason Botterill yesterday. Botterill, 40, was previously the Penguins’ associate GM under Jim Rutherford and is considered one of the rising stars in hockey management.
Many thought Botterill, who played parts of three seasons in Buffalo during a career cut short by a concussion, would eventually take the Penguins’ GM job once Rutherford retired, but it appears as though Pittsburgh’s head man isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. He takes over a Sabres team in a bit of turmoil, having just fired another head coach (Dan Bylsma) and another GM (Tim Murray) and desperately needing some stability.
Botterill covered many topics in his introductory press conference, including player evaluation, his philosophies, a timetable for hiring a new head coach, among other things. It was your standard intro presser, if that helps.
Fun moment captured here by the Bills, who are also owned by Terry and Kim Pegula: their new GM, Brandon Beane, was in the building at the same time as Botterill, and they both were named GMs of their respective teams by the Pegulas a day apart.
You guys new here?
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) May 11, 2017
Welcome aboard. #OneBuffalo pic.twitter.com/gRE4yxTTFa
With Botterill’s hiring in Buffalo, that means Blue Jackets assistant GM Bill Zito will remain with the club in his role. Zito reportedly interviewed with the Sabres earlier in their search process.
STONE COLD STUNNER: One of the weirder stories we’ve seen in a while was reported Thursday afternoon by TSN’s Darren Dreger, who is in Europe covering Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship. Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie, who is among Canada’s top point-getters so far in the tournament (seven points in three games, second among all defensemen), was injured while wrestling one of his teammates in their hotel room.
Dreger reported Barrie suffered a leg laceration and is being held out for the remainder of the tournament for “precautionary reasons.” If there’s ever a way to take yourself out of an international competition, this is probably way down the list of reasons to make that happen.
It’s just been one of those years for the Avalanche, who finished dead last in the NHL, fell perilously backward in the NHL Draft Lottery, and is reportedly on the verge of significant roster turnover. The 2017-18 season can’t come soon enough for Colorado.
CAPITAL DISAPPOINTMENT: Choke artists. Underachievers. Disappointing.
You name it and it’s probably been applied to the Washington Capitals.
Yes, those Washington Capitals who were eliminated once again by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 2-0 loss on Wednesday night at Verizon Center. For the ninth time in 10 series between the two clubs, the Penguins emerged victorious. That’s historical dominance.
And you have to feel for Alexander Ovechkin, who is under the microscope after the latest postseason failure in Washington. He’s made nine postseason appearances in his NHL career – all of it spent with the Capitals – and has never advanced beyond the second round. This, of all years, was supposed to be theirs; they loaded up in the offseason and added more at the trade deadline. They were backstopped by a Vezina Trophy finalist and were 7-8 impact forwards deep. The big deadline prize, Kevin Shattenkirk, made his debut on their third defense pair.
When you added all of it up, it seemed impossible for these Capitals to not be there at the end. But they’re not. Again. They’ll have plenty of questions to answer, both public and in private, before they get ready for next season – and it’s highly likely that they will have a much different look when training camp begins.
GOING FOR IT: The Edmonton Oilers are a blast. They’re right up there with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a “must-watch” candidate when looking through the nightly NHL schedule. Connor McDavid is incredible, Leon Draisaitl is quickly becoming a superstar, and they’ve got solid depth at all positions. It’s kind of a downer to see them eliminated, but at least we can take solace in knowing they’ll be back in this position for many years to come.
This was a breakout year for them. They’ve been waiting for this team to arrive in Edmonton for a while, and now it appears they’ll have that team for a while. GM Peter Chiarelli didn’t do anything flashy on the external front (yet), but they have some internal matters to deal with in the short term – namely a new contract for Draisaitl and possibly for McDavid, who is eligible to sign an extension on July 1.
Elliotte Friedman, one of the best reporters/insiders/human beings in the game, spoke Thursday about the Oilers’ potential desire to “go for it” in 2017-18. They have the pieces to make a big trade, they could also make a trade involving Jordan Eberle, or they could do something else. How’s THAT for specific?
“I would guess that the Oilers are going to go all-out to go for it next season because the finances of the NHL dictate that you’re going to have to. So I can understand why people would be excited,” Friedman said on 630 CHED in Edmonton.
ICYMI: Thanks to our friends in the Blue Jackets subreddit, we’ve got this glorious CBJ hat making an appearance in “Shameless”:
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