Written by: Kip James
Another week finished, and another week closer to hockey! Let’s take you on a run through on everything that happened this week.
Keller Contract
Yup, you read that right! The first of the big RFA’s has signed, and it’s in Arizona where Clayton Keller will stay. Keller signed for 8 years with a 7.15 million AAV.
NHL Media Day
It’s that wonderful time of the year again: NHL Media Day. This year we saw Cale Makar, Olli Matta, and other NHL players take part in the annual activities. We saw Makar make a kale smoothie, and Crosby reunite with Olli Matta.
Adam McQuaid in Boston
Adam McQuaid, an unsigned, unrestricted free agent, was spotted in Boston this week at a Bruins Captain skate. McQuaid most recently played for Columbus, but was beloved by both fans and team when he played in Boston. McQuaid was also at the Austism Awareness Summerfest with some Bruins players and Rob Gronkowski!
NWHL + Twitch
The NWHL announced this week that they’ll be partnering with Twitch as their Exclusive Live Streaming Partner. The league wants to work with Twitch because of their accessibility, their fan engagement opportunities, and the options they give fans for watching. The NWHL’s also hoping to increase fan interaction by using the Twitch platform.
Rookie Tournaments
The NHL’s rookie tournaments took place this week! We got to see players like Hughes, Byram, and Glass participate in live-streamed events on the NHL network. There were fights, hat tricks, and impressive play on all sides, even if Kakko did miss a game due to sickness.
Women Officials in the NHL
Four women referees-Katie Guay, Kelly Cooke, Kirsten Welsh, and Kendall Hanley–officiated in the rookie tournament. Some of them had officiated in college games or NWHL games before the tournament, but none in the NHL. Hopefully this leads to more women officials in the NHL soon!
NHL Ads
This week, the NHL released a series of ads based off some retro Apple ads that we can’t link (but we will post an image of!) because the NHL deleted it. They featured European players such as William Nylander, David Pastrnak, and Jesper Kotkaniemi. The ad campaign was based off of the ‘Think Different’ ads from the late 1990’s, and was sadly the latest misstep in the poor marketing that the NHL seems to be focusing on this season.
Lucic on McDavid’s Leadership
Milan Lucic made some pretty outspoken comments on the leadership situation in Edmonton on Wednesday. Lucic commented “…Your captain and your leader is in his 30s and he’s an older guy… that’s what you learn, you learn through experience…” (via Sportsnet). There’s no confusion as to what Lucic is alluding to, especially when he talks about the good leadership in Boston directly after that. As a veteran of the NHL, it’s no surprise that Lucic prefers captains with more experience, but it is surprising that he would be that direct about his displeasure in Edmonton.
Kendall Coyne and the Sharks
This week, Kendall Coyne announced that she would be joining the San Jose Sharks broadcast team as a color commentator in select broadcasts. Coyne formerly worked with Wednesday Night Hockey to comment on the Penguins at Lightning game.
Thornton Contract
Joe Thornton signed a one year, 2 million contract with the San Jose Sharks this week. The forty-year old veteran had signed with the sharks for two of his last contracts, so it surprises very few people that Thornton will return to the Sharks this season.