Panarin: 2017 trade from Blackhawks still confuses me

New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin still can’t figure out why he was traded from the Chicago Blackhawks in 2017.

“When I played here in Chicago, I (thought) I would play here my whole life,” Panarin said after Wednesday’s 6-3 win over his former club, according to The Daily Herald’s John Dietz. “And then that (trade to the Columbus Blue Jackets) happened. It still confuse(s) me.”

Panarin played in the KHL from 2008-2015 before Chicago recruited him to the NHL. He made an immediate impact during the 2015-16 season, scoring 30 goals and 77 points and taking home the Calder Trophy.

He continued his excellent play during his second season in Chicago and then signed a two-year, $12-million contract extension.

“I don’t want to be that guy. I want to play on a winning team,” Panarin told his former agent, Dan Milstein, of signing a team-friendly deal, according to Dietz. “Give them the flexibility so they can retain the guys or sign the new guys because it’s not about me. I’m young. I’m going to make plenty of money in my future.”

In the summer of 2017, before his extension kicked in, Chicago dealt Panarin to the Blue Jackets in exchange for Brandon Saad and Anton Forsberg.

“I was not ready for that. It was a big surprise for me. I (felt) bad after the trade,” Panarin added.

The 28-year-old inked a seven-year, $81.5-million deal with the Rangers last summer. He’s on pace for a career year in his first season with the club, tallying 30 goals and 79 points in 58 games.

Babcock shamed Marner by sharing forward’s list evaluating teammates in 2017

Former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock used a humiliating motivational tactic with Mitch Marner during the forward’s rookie campaign in 2016-17.

The tactic involved Babcock asking a rookie to list his teammates based on their work ethic during the club’s annual fathers’ road trip – which occurred in January 2017 of that season – as first reported by the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan. The Athletic’s Ian Tulloch later reported that the rookie was Marner.

Once Marner complied, Babcock revealed the list to the players who’d been listed at the bottom, according to Koshan.

Marner addressed the incident Monday and said he’s thankful for how his teammates handled what could’ve been an ugly situation.

“It was just surprising,” the 6-foot winger said, according to TSN’s Kristen Shilton. “I was lucky enough that the guys that were there with me, none of them took it to heart and they knew it wasn’t up to me.

“It was huge for a first-year guy,” Marner said about his teammates’ support following the incident. “When I heard about (what Babcock did), I didn’t really know what to think. But I was lucky enough to have that first-year group with me and our team was very tight and very well-knit together. That was a lucky situation.”

Babcock – who was fired by the club last week in his fifth campaign behind the bench – expressed his regret about the decision but said he had nothing but good intentions for his young player.

“I was trying to focus on work ethic with Mitch – focusing on role models – it ended up not being a good idea. I apologized at the time,” Babcock said.

Marner, who remains sidelined with an ankle injury he suffered Nov. 9, has recorded four goals and 18 points this season.

Lupul discusses Leafs exit: My contract was ‘exceeding my production’

Joffrey Lupul quickly went from beloved star to financial burden during his roller-coaster tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Traded to Toronto by the Anaheim Ducks in 2011 along with Jake Gardiner and a draft pick in exchange for Francois Beauchemin, Lupul was coming off a serious back injury that could’ve ended his career and was included as a cap dump.

The former seventh overall pick, however, was rejuvenated in Toronto; he finished the 2010-11 season on a high note before enjoying a career campaign in 2011-12, tallying 66 points in 67 games while riding shotgun with Phil Kessel. He signed a five-year, $26.25-million extension with the Leafs during the following season.

But Lupul battled several injuries in 2014-15 and 2015-16. A shell of his former self, he played 101 total games those two seasons, tallying 35 points.

“My mindset had changed completely,” Lupul revealed to former NHLers Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette on Wednesday’s episode of the “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast. “I went from driving to the game pumping Nirvana to instead listening to talk radio, pulling my car into the garage like, ‘Please God, get back here in six hours.'”

The Maple Leafs controversially placed Lupul on long-term injured reserve ahead of the 2016-17 season and paid out the remainder of his deal.

“My contract was, at that point, exceeding my production on the ice,” he said. “I was hurt a lot. It was always something – my back, then my groin. I couldn’t keep myself healthy. And also, I had lost the confidence, not in my ability or skill set, but the confidence in like, ‘Am I going to make it through this game? I feel like shit today. Is there a chance I’m going to blow out my back or something?’

“They didn’t necessarily want me back on the team that year, and they made that pretty clear. But if I had full confidence in my body, I’m sure I would’ve put up a big fight and been like, ‘Hey, I don’t want to do this,’ but to be honest, I wasn’t sure.”

While the Leafs were gearing up for the 2017-18 season, Lupul, essentially shunned from the team, posted a photo from a snowboarding outing on Instagram. Responding to a comment about his LTIR designation, Lupul wrote: “Haha failed physical? They cheat, everyone lets them.” He quickly deleted the comment and apologized a few days later.

“I thought the situation, from my end, could’ve been handled a lot differently. It could’ve been sitting across the table from each other chatting about it instead of the way it went down but whatever. I don’t hold a grudge at anyone.”

Lupul skated in 701 career games, registering 420 points. Now retired, he’s still able to work out and snowboard, but his back prevents him from golfing more than twice a week.

Avs’ Johnson: Core players wanted to stay, help turn team around

The Colorado Avalanche have turned things around in a hurry.

Coming off an historically awful 2016-17, the Avs have reeled off nine wins in a row, currently sit in a Western Conference wild-card playoff spot, and are withing striking distance of third place in the ultra-competitive Central Division.

Following that ninth consecutive victory Saturday over the New York Rangers, defenseman Erik Johnson spoke about the commitment made by the team’s core players to avoid a repeat performance of last year.

“The way things went last year, I think the easy thing to say would have been: ‘It’s not working here, let’s go somewhere else, let’s jump ship,'” Johnson said Saturday, per Rick Sadowski of NHL.com. “The character guys and core guys in this room said we want to figure things out here in Colorado, make it work.”

Earlier this season, Colorado shook up the roster by coming through on a trade request filed last year by Matt Duchene, one made because he was tired of losing.

“I wanted to play playoff hockey,” Duchene explained at the time of the trade, per Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. “I’ve got eight playoff games to my name right now and that’s not where I want to be at this point of my career.”

Heading into Saturday’s game against Toronto, Duchene’s Ottawa Senators sat second to last in the Eastern Conference, all but out of the playoff picture.

Report: Fleury agreed to waive no-movement clause in February

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury agreed to waive his no-movement clause for the expansion draft in February, TVA Sports Renaud Lavoie reports.

The report confirms months of speculation, as the emergence of Matt Murray forced the Penguins to make a choice on their future in goal.

However, the agreement doesn’t guarantee Fleury will wind up in Vegas. The 32-year-old remains eligible to be traded elsewhere, and should the Golden Knights select him in expansion, the new franchise could hypothetically flip him for assets.

Fleury was drafted by the Penguins first overall in 2003 and won three Stanley Cups with the organization. But the younger, cheaper Murray has proven more than capable as an NHL starter, helping Fleury backstop Pittsburgh to championships in each of the past two seasons.

In 13 seasons with the Penguins, Fleury appeared in 691 regular-season contests, posting a record of 375-216-68 with a career .912 save percentage and 2.58 goals-against average. He’s Pittsburgh’s all-time leader in games played, wins, and shutouts (44).

Fleury’s contract includes two more seasons at a $5.75-million cap hit.

Crosby driven by winning: ‘You can’t match this’

There’s a reason why Sidney Crosby has won everything there is to be won in hockey. It’s what he lives for.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain and superstar celebrated his second straight Stanley Cup victory – and third overall – Sunday night, along with his second straight Conn Smythe Trophy, and told reporters it’s winning, and the emotion that comes with it, that keeps him going.

“I think this feeling right now,” Crosby said when asked what motivates him. “You can’t match this. This is what it’s all about, and to be able to share that with a group of guys, and a lot of them guys that you’ve played a long time with and understand how difficult it is and what you’ve had to go through and that kind of thing, to share it with family and friends, you know, is just … that’s what it’s about.”

Crosby called these Penguins – the first club to repeat as champs in almost 20 years – a very special team.

“I’m really happy to be a part of this group, and a good chunk of the guys are returning from last year, so it’s pretty special,” he said. “You know, we set out to try to go back to back. We knew it was going to be difficult, but I think that’s probably where the most joy comes out of, is just knowing how difficult it is now to go back to back and knowing that we overcame all those things. It’s a pretty special group.”

Mission accomplished. And in the salary cap era, no less.

Back to Back: Penguins repeat as Stanley Cup champions

Repeat.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are back-to-back Stanley Cup champions.

Sidney Crosby and Co. defeated the Nashville Predators 2-0 in Sunday’s Game 6 to win the Stanley Cup Final 4-2. Patric Hornqvist scored the winning goal at 18:25 of the third period, and Carl Hagelin sealed the deal with an empty-net goal. Matt Murray was spectacular in the crease, stopping 27 shots to earn his second straight shutout.

It’s the fifth Stanley Cup in Penguins history, each won on the road, and the third in the Crosby and Evgeni Malkin era.

The game was filled with controversy, after an early second-period goal by Colton Sissons was ruled no-goal after referee Kevin Pollack blew the play dead early having lost sight of the puck.

The referees did their best to try and make it up to Nashville, the Predators going on four power plays to Pittsburgh’s none, but Peter Laviolette’s crew couldn’t find the back of the net.

Pittsburgh is the first team to repeat as Cup champs in the salary cap era, and the first since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998.

Crosby was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, earning the nod for the second straight year. He finished the playoffs with eight goals and 19 assists.

Oilers GM happy to have Eberle

Jordan Eberle has the support of Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli, despite being held without a goal in 13 playoff games this spring.

Eberle was called out by head coach Todd McLellan for not doing enough during the Oilers’ playoff run, but Chiarelli is willing to cut the winger some slack.

“(He’s) a very good offensive player and (I’m) happy to have him on our team,” Chiarelli told TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

Futher to that, Chiarelli believes Eberle’s playoff performance was unfairly characterized, and he doesn’t feel the need to defend the player in the face of that.

Still, the GM did take some time to expand.

“I think outside of two players he probably had the most positive touches of the puck on our team,” Chiarelli said. “I really don’t feel the need to defend him, he didn’t have a great playoffs – he didn’t have a good playoffs – but he did a lot of things that we expected of him. He just didn’t have the offence that we expected him to have in the playoffs. What he does, he creates space with his touches and I thought he played well.”

Eberle made 507 regular-season appearances with the Oilers before finally getting a taste of the postseason, averaging 27 goals per every 82 games during that time. Chiarelli compared Eberle’s playoff debut to that of Pavel Datsyuk, who registered three goals and six points in 21 games back in 2002. The difference here, though, is that Eberle is 27, whereas Datsyuk was only 22 at that time.

Eberle remains under contract with the Oilers for two more seasons at a cap hit of $6 million annually.

Report: Extension talks between Sharks and Vlasic, Jones going well

The San Jose Sharks appear well on their way to locking up two key cogs on their back end.

Nearly three months after defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic admitted that he would like to finish his career with the Sharks, his agent Bob Sauve spoke to NBC Sports California and noted that talks are “going well” between Vlasic and general manager Doug Wilson, according to CSN Bay Area’s Kevin Kurz.

Vlasic has one year remaining on his current five-year, $21.25-million contract and will make $4.25 million next season. He has become one of the team’s most dependable shutdown defenders, while his play in recent years has also earned him spots on Team Canada’s 2014 Olympic Roster and World Cup of Hockey squad where he captured gold with each.

Meanwhile, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported on Wednesday that the Sharks remain in talks with goaltender Martin Jones on an extension which could come as early as July.

Jones has one year remaining on his current three-year, $9-million deal.

It’s looking to be a busy next few weeks for the Sharks.

Flyers sign Gostisbehere to 6-year extension

The Philadelphia Flyers have signed defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Friday.

The deal is reportedly worth $27 million over six years, averaging out to a $4.5-million salary cap hit, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

The 24-year-old completed his second full season with the Flyers last year, finishing with seven goals and 32 assists in 76 games.

Philadelphia selected Gostisbehere in the third round of the 2012 draft.