SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 07/18/19 Boston Bruins NHL 1149788 Is McAvoy really in line for 'a huge contract' with Bruins? 1149815 You can’t judge a GM hire on Day 1, but NHL Seattle Maybe not makes a big splash with Ron Francis Buffalo Sabres Philadelphia Flyers 1149789 Based on Victor Olofsson’s AHL numbers, can we get a 1149816 Johnny Gaudreau preparing for fourth annual scholarship better sense of what he’ll do in a full season in Buffalo golf tournament 1149817 Flyers sign former first-round pick Chris Stewart to pro Calgary Flames tryout 1149790 DU’s David Carle on his first year, Ian Mitchell’s future, 1149818 Bryce Harper and Kevin Hayes try Tacconelli’s Pizza with landing Bobby Brink and … recruiting Auston Matthew Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy, who declares truce wit 1149819 Breaking down 2019-20 third-line competition after Flyers' Carolina Hurricanes signing of Chris Stewart to pro tryout 1149791 Ron Francis, forced out by the Hurricanes in 2018, is 1149821 Top 20 Flyers Prospects: A conversation with assistant heading back to the NHL GM Brent Flahr on the organization’s deep talent pool Chicago Blackhawks Pittsburgh Penguins 1149792 Alex Nylander canceled a vacation to participate in 1149822 Penguins Prediction Rewind: Bryan Rust landed in prime Blackhawks development camp. GM Stan Bowman was spot on top line impressed. 1149823 Who’s next to follow Teddy Blueger’s long road to 1149793 'We’ve done a lot’: Jeremy Colliton eager to get going with Penguins lineup? a deeper — and more versatile — Blackhawks roster 1149824 First Call: 1 Steeler loves his ‘Madden’ rating; Penguins 1149794 If Dominik Kubalik makes the Blackhawks, he could open legend Ron Francis gets new gig season in his native Czech Republic: ’That would be jus 1149825 Tim Benz: Can Penguins coach Mike Sullivan be 1149795 Blackhawks development camp: Goalie invitees vying for empowered by his contract extension? possible future NHL contracts 1149826 Sidney Crosby Q&A: Thoughts on aging, his future and 1149796 Stan Bowman shares thoughts on Nylander, Kubalik, the Wimbledon final Perlini and Blackhawks’ defense 1149797 Colliton excited to coach Blackhawks' versatile, gritty San Jose Sharks lineup 1149827 Sharks prospects to WATCH: Why Ryan Merkley still has 1149798 2019 Blackhawks development camp: Day 3 thoughts and time to develop takeaways 1149799 Jeremy Colliton on Blackhawks offseason additions and St Louis Blues how he plans to handle Crawford-Lehner workload 1149828 Q&A with Blues owner Tom Stillman on Mike Yeo, the final 1149800 15 things we’ve learned from Blackhawks development seconds of Game 7 and a parade that eclipsed expectat camp so far Tampa Bay Lightning Colorado Avalanche 1149829 ‘OK, (crap), am I done?’: How Luke Schenn revived his 1149801 J.T. Compher signs $14 million extension with Avalanche: career and landed with the Lightning “I love the team. I love the organization — and the f 1149802 DU’s David Carle on his first year, Ian Mitchell’s future, Vegas Golden Knights landing Bobby Brink and … recruiting Auston Matthew 1149830 Golden Knights’ Ryan Reaves gets brewery approved in 1149803 Avalanche sign J.T. Compher through 2023 Las Vegas 1149804 The bizarre case of Brandon Saigeon 1149805 .T. Compher re-signs with the Colorado Avalanche Washington Capitals 1149831 Can Nick Jensen handle a top-four role in Washington? Dallas Stars 1149806 How Stars goalie Ben Bishop can use his hometown St. Websites Louis Blues winning the 2019 Stanley Cup as 'fuel' 1149833 The Athletic / Is it weird to wear the jersey of someone younger than you? Detroit Red Wings 1149834 The Athletic / By the numbers: Grading every team’s 1149807 Dennis Cholowski wants to make Detroit Red Wings. contract efficiency Here's how he can 1149835 Sportsnet.ca / NHL’s Top 10 UFAs remaining: Latest 1149808 Death of former Red Wing Greg Johnson likely a suicide, rumours, reports police say 1149836 Sportsnet.ca / NHL's Top 15 RFAs of 2019: Latest 1149809 Detroit Red Wings ink Joe Hicketts to two-year contract rumours, reports 1149837 Sportsnet.ca / Keith Kinkaid's arrival should help Edmonton Oilers Canadiens manage Carey Price's load 1149810 With free agency all but over, Oilers’ Ken Holland has tough work ahead on the trade front Winnipeg Jets 1149832 NEW NORMAL: Jets have experience, patience for Montreal Canadiens handling RFAs Laine, Connor 1149811 Offseason ranking of the Canadiens’ top-20 prospects: 20- SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129 16 New Jersey Devils 1149812 Why Devils’ Reilly Walsh is facing an important season at Harvard in 2019-20 New York Rangers 1149813 The salary-cap hell the Rangers are still trying to navigate 1149814 How Vitali Kravtsov compares to similar players who’ve made the jump from the KHL 1149788 Boston Bruins Basically, McAvoy at this point will need to sign the qualifying offer given to him by the Bruins or sit out until he agrees to a long-term second deal with the Boston. The reality is this: The Bruins young D-man has zero Is McAvoy really in line for 'a huge contract' with Bruins? Maybe not leverage this time around in negotiations aside from being a key player for the B's in both their present and future plans. Then again, the Bruins did pretty well in the first half last season when McAvoy was barely a presence while battling through concussion-related issues, and before he By Joe Haggerty July 17, 2019 12:21 PM put together a very strong second half and postseason during their run to Game 7 of the Cup Final. There’s quite the interesting debate going on these days about just how There’s no reason to think they can’t do the same this season with a much Bruins RFA defenseman Charlie McAvoy should get on his second Stanley Cup Final-worthy group if McAvoy’s camp plays hardball and contract. holds out ahead of NHL training camp. NBC’s Pro Hockey Talk tweeted out a story proclaiming that both All signs point to McAvoy getting a big raise and eventually getting the McAvoy and Columbus Blue Jackets D-man Zach Werenski should be in cap-busting contract that he’s clearly going to be looking for, and he line for “huge contracts” and conjured up some numbers that put those could get it as soon as a year from now at this time. But the 21-year-old two young defenseman in a class with Drew Doughty and Erik Karlsson needs to earn it first, and shame on Don Sweeney and the Bruins if they at the same stage of their careers. shell out tens of millions of dollars on an admittedly talented, highly-gifted player before he’s done the kind of things that earn players that type of Certainly the 21-year-old McAvoy and 21-year-old Werenski have shown money at the NHL level. promise as excellent puck-movers and developing two-way D-men in their short NHL careers. But to lump the two of them together into the Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 07.18.2019 same class is not something I’m sure the Bruins would do at this point in their separate negotiations. First off, both Doughty and Karlsson were Norris Trophy finalists before they got their massive contracts. Secondly, do you know how many games Doughty missed with injuries before he signed his eight-year, $56 million contract? He missed seven NHL games with injuries in his first three seasons with the Kings, including just one in his first two seasons in Los Angeles. Doughty also put together a 16-goal, 59-point masterpiece sophomore season, all while averaging 24 plus minutes of ice time per game over those first three NHL seasons in L.A. McAvoy & Carlo are high priorities for B's All due respect to a special talent in McAvoy who idolizes Doughty, but he hasn’t even been close to that kind of dominance yet in his very promising, young NHL career. He was brilliant in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and he's shown big time flashes for the B's, but he's also missed almost 50 games with injuries over the last two years. Werenski has averaged 13 goals and 40 points in his three NHL seasons with Columbus and missed a total of nine NHL games in his first two seasons before playing the full 82-game schedule this past season for the Blue Jackets. He’s a lot closer to Doughty in terms of a comparable situation at this point in his young NHL career. Werenski has the ability to be offer-sheeted by other prospective NHL teams, and has all the makings of an RFA who could cash in on something similar to the massive eight-year, $60 million deal signed by Florida’s Aaron Ekblad a couple of seasons ago. McAvoy, on the other hand, has topped out at seven goals and 32 points in the better of his two NHL seasons (his rookie campaign) and has missed a whopping 47 games due to injuries in his first two seasons. McAvoy also can’t be tendered with an offer sheet by other NHL teams because he has fewer than three full years of NHL service based on the 40-game rule adopted by the league when it comes to restricted free agents. So really there are very few parallels between Werenski’s negotiating leverage right now and McAvoy’s situation headed into his third NHL season with Boston. If McAvoy wants to get the “huge contract” with the B’s then he’s going to have to earn it with a dominant, healthy season that he has yet to put together at the NHL level.