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NYHN Daily: Rask Defends Coaches, Brassard Signs with Philly & More
Tuukka Rask is standing by his head coach Bruce Cassidy’s and goalie coach Bob Essensa’s joint decision that Rask start for the Boston Bruins in Game 6 of the 2021 second-round series with the New York Islanders. Throughout the years, Rask’s teammates have come to his defense, with forward Charlie Coyle calling the Rask haters ‘bozos’ a few days after Game 6 in June, and even his former teammates still have his back. Speaking after Rask’s segment on Wednesday ended, former Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton went to bat for his good friend. (Boston Hockey Now)
Chuck Fletcher and the Philadelphia Flyers added some depth on Wednesday. The team announced that they have signed Derick Brassard to a one-year contract worth an average annual value (AAV) of $825,000. Brassard is a veteran center that has experience playing with a few key members of the Flyers, including head coach Alain Vigneault. (Philly Hockey Now)
The numbers that the newest members of the Detroit Red Wings will wear this season were unveiled by the club on Wednesday. Here’s a look at what they’ll be wearing, who wore it most recently, and who wore it best. (Detroit Hockey Now)
The San Jose Sharks’ newest scout came from Twitter. In 2010, Christopher Boucher began putting his hand-tracked micro-stats out to the world, on Twitter and Montreal Canadiens blog Eyes on the Prize, among other places. These were stats that few were tracking — in large part because of the time involved with manual tracking — events like passes into the slot and controlled zone exits, to name a few. “I thought my only reader was gonna be my brother,” Boucher told San Jose Hockey Now, laughing. “It’s not something my wife would read.” Five years later, SPORTLOGiQ hired Boucher to combine his hockey micro-stats acumen with their revolutionary AI tracking. (San Jose Hockey Now)
Tuukka Rask said he would ‘be a cheap goalie’ for the Boston Bruins if they decide to sign the unrestricted free agent. Rask, who had offseason surgery, said he could be ready to return in late December. The 34-year-old was expected to need 5-6 months to recover after having surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip in late July. He has played his entire NHL career with the Bruins. (NHL)
When Pierre McGuire was introduced as Ottawa Senators senior vice-president of player development last month, he said he was optimistic about the organization’s direction. McGuire reiterated those feelings of optimism on Wednesday in an interview with TSN 1200 Ottawa. “The future is amazingly bright here. It really is. It’s really awesome to be a part of it, I’ve got to tell you,” McGuire said. (TSN)
Chicago Steel forward Adam Fantilli, a top prospect for the 2023 NHL Draft, has decided to play with the University of Michigan, according to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger. (TSN)
Which bench bosses are feeling the heat? And which currently unemployed head coaches are keeping their eyes peeled, just waiting for the opportunity to jump back in hockey’s top league? Here are options for each. (SI)
Another year, another edition of the annual front office confidence rankings. How much faith does each fan base put in their front office? That’s what we try to uncover every offseason using the wisdom of the crowd to inform the process. Each front office has its ability graded in six categories: roster building, cap management, drafting and development, trading, free agency, and vision. This is the sixth annual version of the list, and it gets bigger and bigger every year. This year there were nearly 17,000 responses for those voting on just their favorite team and 650 for the full-team survey. (The Athletic)
Marco Rossi has scored many bigger goals in his life than a first-period tying goal in a friendly match against Italy. Heck, this is a blue-chip prospect who in 2019-20 became the first European in history to lead the OHL in scoring and the second European import in OHL history to be named MVP. (The Athletic)
It’s the dead zone of the offseason, so you know we’re getting weird. It’s fine, all the important people are at a cottage, we can do whatever we want and nobody will notice. Today, that means tackling a simple question: Can we come up with a six-man starting lineup of well-known NHL players whose last names all rhyme? Plot twist: This isn’t a simple question after all. But for once, it’s not because the answer is hard to find, although (spoiler alert) it’s that, too. (The Athletic)