The September Avalanche Mailbag is here. Also, the Hurricanes nabbed one more PTO over the weekend and there are still quality restricted free agents without a contract.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — September 8.

Colorado Hockey Now

If you’re starving for Avalanche news, the bad news is, it was another slow weekend. The good news? It won’t be that way this week. The Avs are four days away from the opening game of the three-day long rookie showcase. Then we go right into media day and training camp.

Before the rookie tournament begins, I’d like to get one last Avalanche Mailbag to preview the season. Click the link below and use the comments section in the September Mailbag to submit your questions.

READ MORE: September is Here and Training Camp is Near — What Questions Do You Have? 

Around The NHL

I wrote about some PTOs the Avalanche could target. I listed five guys, three forwards and two defensemen. All of them are still available and nothing has been announced. But the Carolina Hurricanes added another PTO to their training camp roster in Kevin Labanc.

He joins two others, Oliver Kylington and Givani Smith.

With camps set to open in just over a week, there are still six RFA’s that haven’t yet signed a contract for the upcoming season. Three of them are more low key in Wyatt Kaiser, Alexander Holtz, and Rasmus Kupari, who is playing in Switzerland this year.

But then it gets more interesting. Luke Evangelista might not be a household name, but he’s a solid young player for the aging Nashville Predators. And the other two are Luke Hughes and Mason McTavish, both of which are top-four draft picks and have the potential to be superstars.

As we saw with Jeremy Swayman last year, and other examples like Trevor Zegras in the past, missing camp because of a contract holdout isn’t always the best decision for players.

New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils signed four PTOs on Friday. Here are the positions they’re fighting for in the lineup.

Detroit Hockey Now: The Red Wings are bringing rookie free agents to their rookie tournament.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Projecting the Penguins defense. 

San Jose Hockey Now: The Sharks had a resignation from their front office just weeks before the start of the new season.

Florida Hockey Now: Defense wins championships for the Florida Panthers. And their blueline is as stacked as ever after adding Seth Jones late last year and another veteran in July.

Vegas Hockey Now: The latest on Jack Eichel’s contract talks. The Golden Knights’ No. 1 center is among a star-studded free agent class next July that includes Connor McDavid, Kyle Connor, Martin Necas, Adrian Kempe, Artemi Panarin, and Kirill Kaprizov.

Most of them will likely sign before then, but it’ll still be interesting to follow all year.


Contribute to CHN's travel and support local journalism!