The Edge of Lori: Paying the Price

By Lori Bennett

Sports Columnist

NHL Noise

Thursday was a big business day in the NHL with one of the top free agents finally choosing a new home. Nazem Kadri, who has split his career between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Colorado Avalanche, signed a seven-year deal worth $49 million with the Calgary Flames. The deal iced the cake on an active off-season for the Flames.

After losing Johnny Gaudreau to free agency, and then trading Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers for a package that included Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, GM Brad Treliving took another giant step in adding quality to his roster. Kadri is fresh off a 28-goal and 87-point season, not to mention a Stanley Cup.

This deal was possible because Treliving had already made a trade to create cap space. The Flames traded centre Sean Monahan and a conditional first round pick in 2025 to the Montreal Canadiens for future considerations. This was a classic salary dump, where the Habs received a first rounder to take on one year of Monahan’s contract. Monahan is recovering from hip surgery and hopes to return to action.

The deal raised significant questions about how the Habs could acquire Monahan when

Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes told the media that goalie Carey Price is unlikely to start the 2022-2023 season and may not play at all this coming year. Price has been placed on the LTIR, and there is speculation his NHL career is over. – © Carolline Mimeault / Pixabay

they are so tight to the salary cap themselves. GM Kent Hughes met with the media following the trade. He said there was no imminent trade to create space and reported that the availability of cap space is connected to Carey Price’s situation. Hughes said the current status respecting Price is concerning – they do not expect him to start the season, and they do not know if there is a path forward for him to play at all this coming year. There are real questions about whether Carey Price can ever return to NHL action.

In other NHL news, hockey fans were able to watch their teams’ top prospects compete in the 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship this past week. The tournament, which had been delayed from its typical Christmas season due to COVID-19, took place in Edmonton.

The World Juniors are usually a fan favourite, but this year has had more empty seats than fans. Timing may be a factor for several reasons – August is not typically hockey viewing season, and with NHL camps soon to open, some of the best prospects, including first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, are not participating. The tournament is also taking place with a backdrop of a sexual assault scandal surrounding Hockey Canada.

On Wednesday, the quarter-final matchups saw Finland eliminate Germany, Sweden eliminate Latvia, Czechia upset the United States, and Canada eliminate Switzerland. The semi-finals were scheduled for Friday with Canada facing Czechia and Finland taking on Sweden. The medal games were to take place on Saturday.

Several prospects showed off their hockey prowess. Mason McTavish, a prospect of the Anaheim Ducks, was the leading scorer heading into the semis.

The Ottawa Senators were well represented, with Roby Jarventie (Finland) and Ridley Greig (Canada) having impressive showings. Matthew Coronato, from Team USA and property of the Calgary Flames, was in the top ten for scoring, as well as Roni Hirvonen (Finland) of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Montreal Canadiens liked what they saw from Jan Mysak, captaining Czechia to a giant upset of the United States. Joshua Roy also performed well for Team Canada, seeing time on the first line.

The Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks fans saw their 2022 first rounders, Brad Lambert (Finland) and Jonathan Lekkerimaki (Sweden) respectively, in competition for the first time since the draft.

The Edmonton Oilers had a pair of prospects participating in Luca Munzenberger (Germany) and Joel Maata (Finland), also teammates at the University of Vermont.

Hockey fans are also getting a look at some players who will be drafted at the 2023 amateur draft, including Connor Bedard, who is expected to be selected first overall.

Blue Jays Babble

Last weekend the Toronto Blue Jays were home for a series against the Cleveland Guardians with 52 games remaining in their regular season and in another slump.

On Friday, Jose Berrios was rocked in an 8-0 loss. On Saturday, one-run homers from Teoscar Hernandez and Matt Chapman led the Jays to a 2-1 win. Then on Sunday afternoon the story was misplays and errors as the Jays lost the rubber match 7-2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 0 for 4 ending his hitting streak at 22 games. The loss was their sixth in eight outings.

On Monday the Jays opened an important three-game series against a division rival, the Baltimore Orioles. They got some good news with George Springer activated from injury for the opener, but Yusei Kukuchi had a rough go allowing six runs in 3 innings in a 7-3 loss.

On Tuesday the Jays bats were cold again in a 4-2 loss. On Wednesday Ross Stripling was activated from injury and pitched a stellar game against the Orioles, allowing just one hit in 6 innings pitched. The result was a 6-1 win. With the way Kikuchi has been pitching, a healthy Stripling should displace him from the starting rotation.

On Thursday the Jays headed to New York for another division rival series, this one a four-game weekender against the Yankees. The season is winding down, and the Jays had better start winding up if they want to see playoff action.