Around the NHL: A legendary Devil, a longtime Islander, and a down Flyer

Recent signings

• Tyler Pitlick is still in the NHL – he’s signed a one year deal with the St. Louis Blues for league minimum ($750,000). Pitlick split last year between Calgary and Montreal, the latter where he got to play with his cousin Rem Pitlick.

• Mark Kastelic has extended with the Senators. 2 years x $835,000 cap hit. Kastelic was a 5th round pick – 125th overall – for the Senators back in 2019. A low risk signing for someone with 6 points in 24 career games.
• Since it is a Flames-centric website – Calgary has inked their 6th round pick from 2021 to an entry-level deal: Lucas Ciona. With the Seattle Thunderbirds, Ciona is off to a torrid start with 17 points in his first 9 games.

NHL firsts

• Mason Shaw (MIN) and Zac Jones (NYR) scored their first NHL goals this past week.

Unleash the Mullett

• The Arizona Coyotes opened the season in their new home with a loss to the Winnipeg Jets. Christian Fischer scored the first goal in the college arena which brings it’s own unique vibe to a professional sports venue. Agree or disagree with it, the Coyotes are going to make Arizona State University their home for the foreseeable future. And they do hand out some slick looking mullet headpieces.

• Some of the NHL players have chimed in about the arena and what they thought of it. The ice got some glowing compliments from the Jets and Rangers players, but there were some comments about the dressing room situations for the guests.

Honouring a legendary Devil

• The New Jersey Devils held a ceremony to honor Ken Daneyko’s career as both a player and media member. He leads the Devils in all time games played by any player (1283) as well as Penalty Minutes (2516). That plus three Stanley Cup championships give the fans in Jersey lots to be grateful for. After retiring he immediately went into broadcasting for the Devils on their local MSG television network. From the 1982 draft to today – a lifetime Devil.

A Flyer down

• It was announced Flyers top center Sean Couturier would be out 3-4 months following surgery on his back. Couturier has struggled with injuries in his career before so it’s always brings about a cautious air around it. The Flyers are already without defenceman Ryan Ellis for the indefinite future – having arguably their best skater on the shelf for a long time is not going to help.

A long time on Long Island

• Islanders forward Josh Bailey – drafted 9th overall in 2009 – recently played his 1,000th game for the Franchise. Bailey to date in his career has collected 178 goals and 379 assists for 557 points. He’s currently 3rd all-time in games played for the Islanders and is only 59 games away from tying Dennis Potvin for 2nd.