1. Some interesting news from the NHL office yesterday with the league proposing a three year extension of the CBA, which is set to expire in 2022, provided the NHL or the NHLPA doesn’t opt out in 2020. The catch? The players head to South Korea for the Olympics in 2018. Seems reasonable, right? Honestly, this is just a PR play from Bettman and the NHL when the deal between the league and the IOC to send the players to the Olympics eventually falls through. The league can now easily blame the NHLPA as the reason why they’re not going to the Olympics. The biggest problem in all this? The NHLPA seems poised to authorize their opt-out clause in the CBA because of rising escrow costs to the players. We have a little bit less than 3 years before crossing that street and hopefully, like last time, cooler heads prevail.
2. Since I forgot to mention Lundqvist in Tuesday’s recap, here it is now. He’s had to be really good lately with the bit of extra work the Rangers have put him as of late. Yes, the Rangers have been scoring at a ridiculous rate, but there’s been an uptick in attempts allowed as well lately. Which is also why I’ve mentioned that once the Rangers goal scoring dries up, and it will, Lundqvist will have to be the equalizer in goal.
3. Moving on to Russia and NYR goalie prospect Igor Shestyorkin who has had a torrid start to the KHL season and was named KHL goalie of the month in October. You may have heard about his shutout streak, of 272:08 obtaining four shutouts along the way. During October, his GAA was 0.49 and his save percentage was an incredible .981. It’s early to speculate on the heir apparent to Lundqvist, but the future is looking bright.
4. A little bit of late breaking news on Kreider who is going to practice with the Rangers today after missing the last two games of the Canada trip. Larry Brooks reported that Kreider went back to New York to get tests on his spine to solve his neck problems. We’ll see if he plays tomorrow, although if he’s practicing today, he’s in a good spot for tomorrow.
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