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Morning Skate

Tuesday Morning Skate: Happy for Lappy, Eichel rumors, Isles pull ahead

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Jack Eichel Flyers

Welcome to the Morning Skate, our roundup of links on Philly Hockey Now as well as other sites around the National Hockey Now network and hockey world!

Flyers News

 

  • The Flyers own the 13th overall pick in the NHL Draft after this week’s draft lottery, but should they use it? Probably not. Chuck Fletcher should use that pick as a trade chip to acquire an impact player that can help the team immediately. (Philly Hockey Now)

 

  • Seth Jones may want out of Columbus. Should the Flyers be interested in the right-handed defenseman to fill their biggest need? (Philly Hockey Now)

 

  • The Flyers are entering an offseason of change with the expansion draft looming. On top of that, a core shakeup could be in the cards after a disappointing season. We look at five Flyers that may have played their last game in orange and black. (Philly Hockey Now)

 

  • Alain Vigneault was talkin’ ’bout ‘practice in his end-of-season press conference. He also touched on a variety of other topics including Canadian restrictions, wanting a “normal season,” and feeling like he let “everyone down” this season. (Philly Hockey Now)

 

  • Chuck Fletcher will be at the helm in this crucial offseason. He talked about the Flyers’ need to improve. He said that he’ll need to “be creative” as the Flyers can “upgrade everywhere” this offseason. (Philly Hockey Now)

 


Around the NHL

OTR: Quinn To Sabres? Eichel, Makar, Jones, NHL Trade Market | PHN+ – (National Hockey Now)

There is yet no word on the scheduled meeting between Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel and Sabres management, or if the meeting has yet taken place. Based on all indicators, the two sides have some serious issues to figure out to keep Eichel, one of the premier centers in the league, off the NHL trade market.

There is rampant speculation the Sabres will select their new coach with Eichel in mind. We have one name to watch on that front, and he’s very familiar to the Metro Division and Boston fans.

However, Off The Record has been reporting for a few months the two sides are headed for divorce, but the coach could be the Hail Mary to keep the former second-overall pick.

 

Varlamov, Special Teams Leads Islanders to 5-4 Game 5 Win Over Boston – (NYI Hockey Now)

It was the middle of April when Barry Trotz was fielding questions about the New York Islanders struggling power and that “it’s got to be an element that doesn’t lose us games.”

Fast forward to Monday night and it was one of the main reasons the Islanders came away with a win in Game 5 of their Second Round series with the Boston Bruins. New York scored three power-play goals in their 5-4 win over Boston to take a 3-2 series lead back to Long Island for Game 6 on Wednesday.

 

Boston Bruins Cassidy: ‘More Like NY Saints Than The NY Islanders’ –  (Boston Hockey Now)

It’s readily apparent at this point that there isn’t much love lost between the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders.

The Boston Bruins were the better hockey club by pretty much all measures while outshooting the Islanders by a 44-19 margin, but those three power-play goals played the big difference-maker in a 5-4 Bruins loss at TD Garden.

 

Jonathan Marchessault Hat Trick Propels Vegas Golden Knights – (Vegas Hockey Now)

Jonathan Marchessault scored three goals to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 5-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche Sunday night, evening the best-of-seven Honda West Division Final at two games apiece.

Brandon Saad opened up the scoring for Colorado just 1:50 into the first period, but after that, it was all Vegas in another dominating performance.

Marchessault scored his first goal at 7:07 to tie the game. Just over a minute into the second period Max Pacioretty netted the eventual game-winner, followed by two more from Marchessault to complete the hat trick.

Patrick Brown wrapped up the scoring for the 5-1 final.

 

Avalanche off-day notebook: Bednar may play Byram in Game 5 – (Colorado Hockey Now)

OK, so I know many of you are depressed and feeling hopeless right now about the Avalanche. Let’s just take a step back for a moment, though, and take a look at the situation:

It’s a tie series, a best out-of-three series and the Avs have two of the three at home. No, the Avs haven’t looked competitive against Vegas for most of the last eight periods now, but also: as truly terrible as they were, they were five minutes away from winning Game 3. If the Avs can just find a way to get normal production from a couple guys like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, this series can swing back the other way in a hurry.

 

Source: Penguins Look for Veteran Goalie; Jarry, Malkin Safe from Kraken – (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

The Pittsburgh Penguins trade rumors and free agency whispers are true. The team is indeed looking for an experienced backup goalie to fortify the net should Tristan Jarry struggle in the regular season, or especially the postseason, as he did last month in the Penguins Round One loss to the New York Islanders.

A well-placed source in the Penguins organization confirmed the Penguins trade or free agency plans to PHN on Monday in response to recent public chatter and media speculation about the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft.

 

Five reasons why the Red Wings rebuild is tolerable – (Detroit Hockey Now)

Rebuilds are never easy on a fan base. It’s aggravating to watch a team that is realistically out of the playoffs before the season begins. The Red Wings have missed the playoffs for five consecutive seasons. Over the past two seasons, they have won 36 of 127 games. And Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman says it’s still going to take more time to transform this team into a contender.

But for some reason this rebuild doesn’t seem as painful as rebuilding efforts in other cities.  For example, there is far less negativity in Detroit than there is in Buffalo.

 

Could Fabian Lysell Add Spark to Sharks? – (San Jose Hockey Now)

Kyle and Erik are joined by Alexander Appleyard of The Athletic Philadelphia and Smaht Scouting to deep dive Swedish forward Fabian Lysell. Would Lysell be a good fit for the San Jose Sharks? We talk about Lysell’s statistical profile and what makes Lysell special (5:00). Might his details make it hard for him to crack the line-up (11:00)? Alexander talks about his ceiling and what his ideal linemates should look like (17:00) and compares him to some of the other potential players for the San Jose Sharks in the draft (22:30). We finish by looking at game-breakers in the draft (28:00) and our blood questions (31:30).


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Photo: Heather Barry Images

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Ryan is a proud graduate of Monmouth University. He has covered the Philadelphia Flyers for the better part of a decade at various outlets, including Sons of Penn and Broad Street Hockey. Ryan has also worked for NHL.com and NBC Sports Regional Networks. Whether it's a GIF, quick stat, analysis, or long-form column, he's got you covered.

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