Rosner Wrap: Getting Girard, Gaudreau Bashing & More

Happy Monday! The New York Islanders continue to not announce moves, the only team that has not made a move during the free agency period, which began last Wednesday. With the acquisition of Sam Girard, the New York Islanders defense would be set for years, and their strength would remain a strength. Johnny Gaudreau is being bashed by Calgary Flames fans, while Hockey Canada’s rape scandal is not going away anytime soon, even with the Chief Executive Tom Renney retiring.

These stories and more in today’s Rosner Wrap:

NYI Hockey Now: The Colorado Avalanche want to retain forward Nazem Kadri, and Kadri wants to stay, but their salary cap situation is making it rather difficult. With only $3.9 million in space, newly appointed general manager Chris MacFarland has some work to do. The New York Islanders, who are also linked to Nazem Kadri, could actually help the Avalanche retain their star by acquiring defenseman Sam Girard.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now:  Jeff Petry is a brand new Pittsburgh Penguins,2 and it will take him some time to get used to the system coach Mike Sullivan has in place as well as how his teammates play. Given Petry’s offensive talents, the goal now is to pair him with a defensive defenseman.

Boston Hockey Now: The feel from the outside and the scuttlebutt around the NHL is that the contract extension talks between Boston Bruins and David Pastrnak, could last deeper than the Boston Bruins would like.

Philly Hockey Now: Now a Columbus Blue Jacket, former top free agent Johnny Gaudreau waited for his childhood team, the Philadelphia FlyeJrs, to clear enough cap space. They never did. But he is not being ripped for not joining Philly. He’s being ripped for leaving Calgary in the way that he did.

Washington Hockey Now: Once the Washington Capitals were on the clock, they knew “by far” who the best player available was, and secured an absolute steal. They made their way to the stage quickly, and from Omsk, selected left winger Ivan Miroshnichenko. It’s been a journey for Mirosshnichenko, who thankfully is now in remission after a battle with Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Montreal Hockey Now: Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes has known better than any NHL general manager what he or they would be getting for newly acquired Canadiens defenceman Mike Matheson. Hughes was Matheson’s player agent before he became the GM of the Montreal Canadiens, and he’s watched Matheson grow as a player just as importantly, as a person.

Florida Hockey Now: The Florida Panthers lost Claude Giroux to the Ottawa Senators as a free agent on Wednesday. Since then, the Panthers have signed three former Senators to one-year contracts. On Wednesday, not long after Giroux went to Ottawa, Florida signed forward Colin White. On Saturday, forward Chris Tierney was added — with defenseman Michael Del Zotto signed on Sunday.

Detroit Hockey Now: Red Wings of Tomorrow is assessing every prospect in the Detroit Red Wings system and what they are projecting to be in the future. We’ll be looking at the strengths and weaknesses of their game, as well as what the future holds for them as they advance through the Detroit organization. Today, we feature defenseman Gustav Berglund.

San Jose Hockey Now: Newly acquired San Jose Sharks forward Luke Kunin spoke to the media on Monday afternoon. The Sharks picked him up in a Draft day trade with the Nashville Predators that saw John Leonard and a 2023 third-round pick head to Nashville.

Vancouver Hockey Now: Tom Renney picked a handy time to retire as the Hockey Canada chief executive after eight years at the helm, announced in April and effective July 1st, just a week or so before we started to hear that the manure could hit the fan with the re-emergence of the 2018 World Junior, Team Canada rape scandal. It’s a somewhat quiet time on the hockey calendar folks, but this thing isn’t going to drift away, nor should it.