In and NHL trade rumors and news update, how many defensemen can the Winnipeg Jets lose before they need to make a trade. No, this is like a kind-of ‘How many Jets does it take to screw in a lightbulb’ kind of joke.
Jack Johnson is responding to trade rumors in Pittsburgh and it will be interesting to see if Auston Matthews has a run-in with a particular Ottawa Senators players tonight.
Jets Down Another Defender
The Winnipeg Jets can’t catch a break. Already having lost several defensemen via either trade, free agency or potential retirement, Winnipeg has lost another blueliner. Nathan Beaulieu has suffered an upper-body injury and will be out for four weeks according to Murat Ates of The Athletic.
So now, not only do the Jets not have some of their best weapons on the blue line, they don’t have one of the personnel they’d hope could pick up some of the slack.
The team claimed Carl Dahlstrom off waivers in hopes that might help but the team will be in tough to start the season.
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Johnson Fires Back at Trade Rumors out of Pittsburgh
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now writes that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson is not too pleased about his name being out there in trade rumors, especially since the insinuation is that it’s all but a done deal.
The Penguins pushed back too. Both sides weren’t happy the media began discussing the deal like it was imminent or that they’d be informed of the Penguins’ plans. Johnson said of the rumors:
“I was made aware of (the report) when I came off the ice (Sunday),” Johnson told PHN. “No, it’s not true. (The report) is unfortunate…Mr. Rutherford never went to my agent or came to me.”
Jim Rutheford said:
“That was some pretty shabby journalism because all these reporters here have 24-hour access to me,” Rutherford told our friends at 93.7 the Fan Tuesday morning. “When you’re going to write something like that you probably should go right to the person that can answer the question.”
Clearly, if a trade is being worked on, both the Penguins and Johnson’s people don’t like that it’s out there. Johnson is still part of the Penguins practices, lining up beside Justin Schultz.
Still with the Penguins, goaltender Casey DeSmith sounds a bit upset about the fact he was waived, if it was because of his salary.
DeSmith signed a three-year, $1.25 million per extension last January and Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that DeSmith was under the impression the best goaltender would get the job regardless of salary. He said had he’d known salary would have prevented him from making the Penguins he “probably would have taken less money.”
DeSmith and his new wife bought a house in Pittsburgh and were moving in during training camp. He thought he was here to say.
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Changes to Sportsnet Announce Crew
Sportsnet president Bart Yabsley made it clear to Sean Fitz-Gerald of The Athletic on Wednesday and rumors of Don Cherry leaving Sportsnet after other significant changes to the announce crew just aren’t true. He isn’t going anywhere. “Don’s a Canadian icon,” Yabsley said on Monday. “There’s just no question about it.”
Yabsley added that there’s not a question as to whether or not Cherry would be back on the air. He will be. As for the other departures, — Nikc Kypreos, Doug MacLean, John Shannon, Scott Morrison and others — Yabsley explained they were about “trying to set the business for the future.
“We’re evolving as a business,” he added. “It’s not about this summer. It’s not about this season. It’s about the next five, 10, 15 years.”
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Matthews Might Want to Watch His Back
Ottawa Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki might be looking for a little retribution tonight as the Senators take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Borowiecki didn’t find Matthews’ preseason trolling of Senators forward Scott Sabourin all that funny.
The video of the incident where Matthews looked at the back of Sabourin’s jersey and then asked “who are you?” went viral and Borowiecki said
to The Canadian Press’ Lisa Wallace, “I thought it was a little bit disrespectful, to be honest.” Calling Matthews naturally talented, he added:
“I’m not sure Auston appreciates what it’s like being a fighter down there, it’s a role he never had to play. It’s really tough when you know you’re going to fight double digits every year and ride the bus around and get paid $70,000.”
Jason Spezza is also a healthy scratch for tonight against the Senators. He knows the plan and will get into the lineup the next night.
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