In today’s NHL news and rumors rundown, the hockey world is shocked by news that Washington Capitals’ forward Tom Wilson was not suspended for his actions in Monday’s game. Many are asking what he has to do at this point, especially considering his history with suspensions and fines. There is more on Travis Green extension talks out of Vancouver and the Ottawa Senators lose players for the rest of the season. Finally, the Edmonton Oilers have announced they officially signed goaltender Ilya Konovalov and we update the Connor McDavid watch to 100 points.
Wilson Not Suspended, Capitals Organization Taking Heat
After a melee on Monday that saw Wilson pin Pavel Buchnevich down with a stick to the back of the neck, then throw Artemi Panarin head first onto the ice surface, the forward with a checkered past for suspensions and fines got away virtually unscathed. The NHL Department of Player Safety chose not to suspend the player, fining him only $5,000, the maximum allowable.
There’s a ton of outrage based on the decision but what’s also troubling is that the Capitals official Twitter account posted a photo of Wilson promoting his violent behaviour. They deleted the tweet 30 minutes after posting it but the damage had already been done and the organization is catching a lot of flack for the decision to brag about Wilson’s decision making. A team official told The Athletic that the tweet didn’t meet the team’s social media standards and was therefore removed.
Ironically, Wilson will get to continue playing after his actions, but Evgeni Kuznetsov and Iyla Samsonov, who are close friends, were both scratched from a game after arriving late to a team function. The team-imposed discipline might not last longer than one game.
Canucks Head Coaching Update
Donnie and Dhali asked The Athletic’s Thomas Drance during an interview for an update on the talks between the Vancouver Canucks and head coach Travis Green. Apparently an offer was made to the coach, but there’s no details on that offer or if the two sides are any closer to getting a contract finalized.
Drance said:
“I haven’t heard a lot about that offer, to be totally being honest with you Rick. I think that fundamentally nothing has changed on this front, right. Whether an offer was made or not, the sense I get and what I’m hearing is, that there is no movement.
He added that if an offer was made, it probably wasn’t a very strong one and that speaks volumes about the intentions of who is exactly is leaking those details.
Oilers Sign Konovalov
The Oilers have signed goaltender Ilya Konovalov to a two-year entry level contract beginning in the 2021-22 season. The team made the announcement ahead of their 5-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night. Konovalov, 22, appeared in 19 games this season for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL and posted a 9-7-2 record, 2.29 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.
The Oilers are extremely excited about their goaltending pipeline. Not only have they added Konovalov, but the AHL announced this week that Bakersfield netminder and Oilers prospect Stuart Skinner has been named the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the Month for April.
In other Oilers news, Connor McDavid scored four points on Monday putting him at 91 points in 50 games. He needs nine points in the final six games to reach 100 on the season. The watch continues and many who believed he was going to get close but maybe not reach the milestone are starting to realize it was crazy to bet against No. 97.
Senators Won’t Play Chabot, Brown in Final Four Games
It looks like the Senators are shutting down two of their regulars for the rest of the season. Reports are that star defenceman Thomas Chabot is unlikely to play the remaining four games of the regular season after suffering an upper body injury in a game against the Winnipeg Jets. This according to head coach D.J. Smith.
Defenceman Josh Brown will also likely miss the rest of the season due to an injury.
