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Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes solved the team’s salary cap problems with one swift move Wednesday, placing goaltender Carey Price and his US$10.5-million cap hit on the long-term injured reserve (LTIR) list.
Price has four seasons left on his contract with an annual cap hit of $10.5 million.
Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes solved the team’s salary cap problems with one swift move Wednesday, placing goaltender Carey Price and his US$10.5-million cap hit on the long-term injured reserve (LTIR) list.
Hughes’s announcement at a noon news conference in Brossard overshadowed the news that restricted free-agent forward Kirby Dach signed a four-year deal worth US$13.45 million.
The decision to place Price on LTIR was no surprise. When Hughes acquired Sean Monahan and his US$6.35-million cap hit last month, Hughes said burying Price’s cap hit was a matter of when and not if.
Price, 35, spent most of last season recovering from off-season knee surgery and played in only five games at the end of the season. He posted a 1-4 record with an .878 save percentage and a 3.63 goals-against average.
Hughes said he will have further news when Price meets with the team doctors prior to training camp, but the knee hasn’t responded to treatment. Price has a history of knee problems dating to the 2014 Olympic Games and it’s possible he’ll never play again.
He has four seasons remaining on an eight-year, US$84-million deal he signed in 2017.
The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was selected fifth overall in the 2005 NHL draft. He won the Vézina Trophy as the top goaltender and the Hart Trophy as most valuable player in 2015. In 712 career NHL games, all with the Canadiens, Price owns a GAA of 2.51 along with a save percentage of .917.
Dach, 21, who was the third overall pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019, said was looking forward to a fresh start in Montreal.
“I just want to enjoy hockey and then we will see what the future holds for me,” said Dach, adding that he has fully recovered from a wrist injury that hampered him in Chicago.
“I have always had confidence in my game and this will be a bit of a new start,” added Dach. ”There were ups and downs, some things I could control, some I couldn’t. I feel comfortable with my game, I skated with a few guys today and my main concern is to be able to play freely, to be creative and to use my instincts. It’s going to be about trusting myself around the net, shooting more. That’s what I’ve been working on this summer.”
Both sides seemed happy with the terms of the contract. Hughes said it was actually a couple of two-year contracts. He said Dach will be paid a little more than market value in the first two seasons, but the deal will even out over the full term.
Price might not be the only player on LTIR to start the season.
Hughes described forward Paul Byron, who is coming back from hip surgery, as being in “grey area” that may require him going onto LTIR to start the season. Byron scored four goals and added three assists in 27 games last season and underwent what was a described as a minor procedure in the off-season.
There are also question marks about whether Monahan and Jonathan Drouin will be ready to begin the season. Hughes said Monahan, who is coming off hip surgery, will skate with his teammates Thursday and is feeling good. Monahan expects to return for opening night, but Hughes said the team won’t rush him.
The same goes for Drouin, who is coming off his third wrist surgery.
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Chiefs: Host the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
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AP NFL:
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