Deen’s Daily: Team Canada Goalie Battle; Wild, Rossi Re-Engage; Nazar Signed For How Much?

Team Canada isn’t set at the goalie position. Does that open a door for the Avalanche’s starter? Also, the Minnesota Wild might sign their young center after all, and the Blackhawks jumped the gun and paid one of theirs.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — August 22.

Colorado Hockey Now

The Avalanche are already confirmed to be sending two players to the Olympics to represent Team Canada in Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. They’ll likely have a third in Devon Toews.

But could Mackenzie Blackwood also make the team? It felt like he was in the running until Hockey Canada left him and others off the orientation camp invite list. But the general manager of the team isn’t ready to commit to his goalies just yet.

READ MORE: Room for Blackwood? Team Canada GM Says Goalie Competition Is ‘Wide Open’ for Olympics

Around The NHL

Wild, Rossi Re-engage: After a summer of trade rumors and speculation, it sounds like Marco Rossi and the Minnesota Wild are back at the negotiating table, looking to strike a deal before training camp for the restricted free agent.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt as let down from an offseason like I was this year. It’s still August, and things could still happen. But Marco Rossi was supposed to be a big trade chip and nothing happened.

And he’s not the only one. This was supposed to be the summer of trades. Jason Robertson? Rasmus Andersson? Nazem Kadri? Heck, even Martin Necas? Nobody moved. Not yet. And those are just a few of the names we thought would be dealt.

Chicago Hockey Now: Another team signing another inexperienced player before they’ve made their mark in the league. Chicago locked up Frank Nazar to a long-term deal on Thursday, just 56 games into his NHL career.

I’ve written this before, but I go back and forth on these types of deal. They could really, really pay off, but they’re wildly risky. I’ll use this example again: What if the Avalanche tried to get ahead of the game in 2022 and signed Alex Newhook to this kind of deal? He was supposed to be the future permanent 2C, right?

Nazar’s numbers aren’t as good as Newhook’s in 2022, but he was also a higher draft pick with more hype around him. Let’s hope, for their sake, this pays off for the Blackhawks.

Philly Hockey Now: Rick Tocchet is the new head coach for the Flyers and he wants to bring the energy back to their arena.

New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils are due for a big year. Here are a few burning questions heading into 2025-26 for a team looking to rebound from a tough ending to their season.

Florida Hockey Now: The Panthers took the Stanley Cup on an end-to-end tour of Canada, thanks to some of their star players.