Sheldon Keefe on Denis Malgin making the team over Nick Robertson: "In Nick’s case, [waiver exemption] works against him… That’s the reality of the situation with the cap and a tight roster… He did all of the things we asked him to do"
After practice on Monday, head coach Sheldon Keefe discussed Denis Malgin making the team for opening night over Nick Robertson, the other final cuts, and John Tavares’ status for Wednesday night in Montreal.
Final Cuts & Practice Lines – October 10
D Jordie Benn and D Timothy Liljegren have been placed on long-term injured reserve.
D Carl Dahlström has been placed on injured reserve.
What did Denis Malgin do to earn the spot next to Tavares and Nylander in practice today over someone like Nick Robertson?
Keefe: In Malgin’s case, first of all, he is a guy who is coming in here at 25 years old. He already has 200 NHL games to his record. He has produced during that time. He has had some time away here, and from what I have seen, he has grown and developed his game.
That is really what I wanted to do in this camp and preseason — just watch and see where he is at mentally and let him use the opportunities he was getting to prove he can play in the NHL and help our team. I think he has done that.
He produced at a high rate — right near the top of the league in scoring — and also worked really hard away from the puck. He found ways to create no matter which game or what the competition was like. It seemed like he was still making his mark on each of the games. He was good and competitive in our practices.
To that end, we felt we would give him that opportunity. The fact that he is protected by requiring waivers works in his favour in this case.
In Nick Robertson’s case, it works against him. That is the reality of the situation we are in with the salary cap and carrying a really tight and short roster. We are going to have players you would otherwise have in the NHL that are going to have to start in the American league.
Everything I said about Malgin, Robertson did just the same. It was a tough decision. We saw tremendous growth in camp. We are very encouraged about where his game is at. We have all the confidence that he will be back here when needed.
How do you stress to a young player that it is a case of numbers not adding up in his favour and not letting it affect the progress he has made?
Keefe: I think the best we can do is just talk to him — be up front and honest. It is an unfortunate situation for a player who has worked very hard and is as competitive as he is. He did all of the things we asked him to do.
A player like him at his age is never a finished product. There is always benefit to playing in the AHL and helping a Marlies team that we want to see take steps and grow. That growth is only going to happen through the growth of the individuals. He can be a part of that.
At the same time, he will be playing lots and staying fresh and ready for when we need him as opposed to maybe being a scratch here. There are benefits there. But young players don’t want to hear that after they have gone out and done what they asked of them and shown that they can help the team and play.
It is just the reality of the situation. The flat cap creates a lot of these scenarios all around the league. We are trying to manage it as best we can.
How did John Tavares look today as he progresses toward a return?
Keefe: I thought he looked good. Most importantly, he got through the entire practice. Those are encouraging signs for tomorrow’s practice. He is encouraged. If all goes well for the rest of the day, he will come to tomorrow’s practice as though he is preparing to play. We will just continue to assess him.
Is it your understanding that if Tavares can’t play on Wednesday, you will play one player short in that game?
Keefe: That is my understanding. That is something we were prepared to do coming in through the offseason when we made the decision we did to add the players we did under the salary cap. We knew there could be predicaments like that like there have been in previous seasons. We have had several teams in the league playing short, and I am sure there will be again this season.
When we look at the big picture in the long run, we feel like adding a player like Jarnkork was something that we wanted to do. Thus, we run into these types of situations, but it doesn’t make it any easier for sure.
I believe our group is as deep as we have been since I have been here. We have really clear and defined roles throughout the group. We have lots of competition. Guys will be challenging to move up throughout the lineup. I think we are in a really good spot there.
It doesn’t say anything about how we feel about the players that won’t be on the roster. They are still very important players. They will be here in time naturally as we face the realities of an NHL schedule.
For a guy as meticulous as Tavares, are you always confident he is going to be doing everything in his power to get back as soon as possible?
Keefe: Yeah, for sure. He knows his body really well. He is really in tune with what is happening. He takes great care of himself. Our staff and our group as well as his team that he has that he trusts are doing everything they can to make sure he is healthy, feeling good, strong, fit, and all of those kinds of things. That is never in doubt.
Sometimes, the body takes a little longer than you would like. In his case, it seems to have been a little bit quicker. As I said, we will give him another day and monitor it. My sense of it — and the feedback that we have gotten — is that everything is progressing well. He will come tomorrow as if he is preparing to play, and then we’ll make a call from there.
There are a couple of good dressing-room guys in Kyle Clifford and Wayne Simmonds going down to the Marlies. Can you comment on that?
Keefe: Very similar. Again, it is the reality of where we are at with the cap and our roster. Frankly, ever since we made the decision to sign Calle Jarnkrork, I think we knew we were going to be tight a short, very tight roster. We believe that the addition of Jarnkork makes us a better, deeper team. As a result, you are going to have to make some decisions like this.
All of the guys we put on waivers — or in Nick’s case, that we sent down, and Holmberg is just the same — we really believe in. Clifford and Simmer, in particular, are guys who mean a lot to our team and to our room. If you are carrying a bigger roster, those guys are here and a part of our team in terms of how we feel about them and what they can bring and provide to our group.
The system is what it is and our situation is what it is. We had to make some decisions. The 12 forwards that we have remaining, I believe, make us a deeper and stronger forward group than we were a year ago. There are going to be some guys sliding down that depth chart.
How are you going to split up the starts with the goalies on Wednesday and Thursday?
Keefe: Murray will go Wednesday, and Samsonov will go Thursday. We will start that way. We will make our decisions from there. We have a plan for how things will go, but the plan changes every day. The back-to-back one is pretty straightforward. We will go from there.
Did the opportunity for Samsonov to face his former team factor into the decision?
Keefe: No, it didn’t. We wanted Murray to get the first game and get rolling that way with the schedule being what it is. I thought both goalies in practice today were really, really strong right from their goalie session into the practice. I thought those guys made a statement in the practice today with how they competed and how they were solid in the net.
Murray is going to go in the first game. The schedule is what it is — maybe not absolutely ideal, but maybe it is. I haven’t talked to Sammy about that specifically. Curtis [Sanford] has been handling that. It will be our home opener and his former team coming in. There will be a lot of excitement around that.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
