NHL Rumors: Senators, Bruins, Maple Leafs, Exhibition Games, More

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, while teams are getting ready for the NHL playoffs with exhibition games, there is news that the Ottawa Senators are busy off the ice and are going to be making a big change to their logo. Torey Krug of the Boston Bruins talks his future with the team after the announcement of a new CBA, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have questions about line combinations.

Senators Changing Logo

The Ottawa Senators have decided to turn back the clock. The team announced they’ll making a major change and altering their logo, according to The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian.

Ottawa Senators Radek Bonk
Ottawa Senators Center Radek Bonk (Ezra C. Shaw /Allsport)

Salvian reports that the franchise is bringing back something very similar to the two-dimensional logo that they debuted in 1997. The team has decided they like the more retro look of the old logo, which better represents the Roman style of their centurion logo. The news was met with wide praise by Ottawa fans.

These changes will feature redesigned jerseys, plus include a brand new third jersey, all in the hopes that the organization can appeal to a wider audience, better represent their younger roster, and increase merchandise sales.

The new-look jerseys and logo mockups have been sent to the league for approval, the source said. The logo has also been sent to sponsors for updated branding for the 2020-21 season. A date for unveiling the new look to the public has not yet been set, the source said. The Senators declined to comment.

source -‘Source: Senators to return to vintage 2-D logo for next season’ – Hailey Salvian – The Athletic – 07/13/2020

Related: Buffalo Sabres Jersey History

NHL to Hold Exhibition Games Prior to Play-ins

THe league announced Tuesday night that they’ll be scheduling three days of exhibition games between some of the NHL’s biggest rivals playing in this very unique postseason. While fans and media are excited to have hockey back, and now sooner than expected, there are some questions about pitting rivals against one another in meaningless games where injuries could hamper the actual postseason contests.

For example, what are the chances the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers won’t try to beat the tar out of each other before the games that matter begin? Sure, there may be a sense of not going too hard when the results don’t matter, but these two teams have heat with one another and their regular season games were nasty affairs. There’s a portion of the fan base and media arguing the optics of someone like Connor McDavid getting hurt in that game would be terrible for the NHL.

At the same time, there are fans who are excited about rivals playing each other because those are the matchups the fans really want to see and there’s no guarantee they’ll play each other during this road to the Stanley Cup.

The game schedule is below:

July 28:

Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia – 3pm
Toronto vs Montreal – 7pm
Edmonton vs Calgary – 9:30pm

July 29:

Tampa Bay vs Florida – 11am
Colorado vs Minnesota – 1:30pm
Carolina vs Washington – 3pm
St. Louis vs Chicago – 5:30pm
Islanders vs Rangers – 7pm
Vancouver vs Winnipeg – 9:30pm

July 30:

Nashville vs Dallas – 3pm
Boston vs Columbus – 6pm
Vegas vs Arizona – 9pm

Related: The Best Free Agent Signings in NHL History

Torey Krug Preparing for Free Agnecy

Even though he admits the new CBA is good for the players, Bruins defenseman Torey Krug now knows his time in Boston could be coming to an end. He said the lower salary cap could mean the Bruins don’t have the space to keep him.

Torey Krug #47 of the Boston Bruins
BOSTON, MA – JANUARY 23: Torey Krug #47 of the Boston Bruins. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic cites Krug who said:

I don’t really know what’s going to happen,” Krug said. “I’m just trying to take it day by day and worry about the playoffs right now. I’ll have to probably prepare for free agency. Then we’ll see what happens there. In terms of what’s going on with the Bruins and everything else, that’s probably a question for someone else.”

source -As Torey Krug readies for playoffs, he acknowledges time in Boston could end’ – Fluto Shinzawa – The Atheltic – 07/13/2020

Krug also mentioned that being a free agent right now is concerning, and not just when it comes to money and a lower cap. Like other UFA’s, he’s had 3-4 months off, he’s about to dive head first into some of the most intense hockey, and there’s a better chance of injury. Not knowing your future is something he admits he’s thought about.

“Being a free agent that goes into this situation, it’s definitely risky. I’d be lying if I said it’s not,” Krug said.

Related: Best Jets/Thrashers from Around the World

Maple Leafs Unsure About Line Combinations

While head coach Sheldon Keefe said he saw some good things from certain line combinations at the end of the regular season, he’s not sure how he’s going to set up his lines yet for the postseason.

Toronto Maple Leafs Mitch Marner Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews
Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitchell Marner and Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)

“…we’ve got two weeks here and I expect to move things around a little bit here and there just to try different things and get guys comfortable with each other and renew some chemistry,” he said. He added, “I expect it to move around a fair bit, but we like the fact that really within that top-six forward group we’ve got lots of combinations that can work.”

With that in mind, Keefe’s focus has been on defense where he says the team needs to see the biggest improvement. As per TSN, “I don’t think it’s any secret that we got to be a lot better defensively,” he said after Tuesday’s workout. “There’s no area of our game defensively that we were satisfied with. We’re not kidding ourselves here.”

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