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PTO season is pumping hard in the NHL.
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Among those getting late summer invites to training camps are forward Steven Lorentz with the Maple Leafs, an agreement confirmed by the team Wednesday, after he didn’t re-sign following a Stanley Cup win in Florida. And there’s a name from the past coming to Ottawa; 38-year-old forward Nikolay Kulemin, a former Leaf and New York Islander, who after six years in his native Russia’s KHL will get a shot with the Ottawa Senators.
Goalie Michael Hutchinson could be joining his seventh NHL team after the New Jersey Devils announced they’ve brought him in for depth. He made two stops in Toronto during his NHL tenure and spent last year with the Detroit Red Wings. The Devils will also take a look at 6-foot-1 defenceman Jakub Zboril, who last played full time in the NHL two years ago for Boston, one of three Bruin first-rounders in 2015 that included forwards Jake DeBrusk and Zachary Senyshyn.
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The Sens also added to their defence by going the PTO route, with Caden Addison, who has been in the Western Conference with Minnesota and San Jose the past few years.
The offers add to one given Tyson Barrie earlier this week by Calgary. The defenceman hopes to stay in the NHL after previous stops in Colorado, Toronto and Edmonton, before the Oilers made him part of the big Mattias Ekholm trade with Nashville.
The Waterloo-raised Lorentz, a centre-left winger had 43 points in 230 regular-season games around the league and was in 16 playoff games for the Panthers. He’s a distant relative of former NHLer Jim Lorentz, the veteran Buffalo Sabre forward and colour commentator, who caused a stir in the 1975 Stanley Cup final for swatting a bat that was buzzing players near the foggy ice surface of humid Memorial Auditorium.
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Lorentz got an earful from animal lovers in the ensuing days and in one of the wildest coincidences in pro sports, was a spectator at Exhibition Stadium eight years later when Yankees outfielder Dave Winfield killed a seagull with a baseball during a game against the Blue Jays and was charged by police with cruelty.
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FUNERAL FOR GAUDREAU BROTHERS
The entire Columbus Blue Jackets team will attend a Monday service in Media, Pa., for Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau. It will be at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in suburban Philadelphia and live streamed through the Jackets’ website to the many grieving friends and fans throughout the hockey world.
The brothers died a week ago when struck from behind by a car while riding their bicycles on a rural road in their home state of New Jersey, the night before the scheduled wedding of their sister. Sean Higgins, the 43-year-old man charged with two counts of death by auto and alcohol-related offences, had his first pre-trial hearing on Thursday postponed until Sept. 13 to allow his recently appointed attorneys more time to prepare.
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On Thursday, player agent Lewis Gross added a touching send-off for his two clients with a statement.
“Money never drove these boys, family did,” Gross said in reference to Johnny initially refusing an offer from Calgary so he could play another year at Boston College with Matthew and also Matthew breaking a contract in Sweden because he missed wife, Madeline.
Later, NHL free agent Johnny would take less cash to play in Columbus than other cities because he believed so deeply in their Stanley Cup future. Gross saw the whole family a month ago at their charity golf tournament. Madeline pregnant with the couple’s first child. In his statement, he thanked Gaudreau’s parents, Guy and Jane, for trusting his company to represent them.
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“The hockey might be over, but my commitment to John and Matt will last throughout my life. Not a day will go by when I don’t miss you two. An agent’s dream, two players who became friends, two players who became family.”
Gross has established a foundation in their memory through his Edgewood Cliffs, N.J., business office.
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MARC STAAL RETIRES
A second Staal brother has announced his retirement this summer. At age 37, defenceman Marc said Thursday he’s not returning after 17 seasons, but will join the New York Rangers as a player development assistant, specializing in the club’s blue line prospects.
Marc, most recently a Philadelphia Flyer, played his first 13 seasons with the Rangers after he was selected by them 12th in 2005. His 892 games with New York are the sixth most in franchise history, trailing only hall of famers Harry Howell, (1,160), Brian Leetch (1,129) and Rod Gilbert (1,065) as well as Ron Greschner (981) and Walt Tkaczuk (945).
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Eric Staal, who played 18 seasons, just signed a one-day contract to retire as a Carolina Hurricane, where he broke in back in 2003. Jordan, the third of the Thunder Bay natives, is current captain of the Canes.
ICE CHIPS
The Leafs have extended defenceman Marshall Rifai for two seasons, beginning in 2025-26 with an AAV of $775,000 US. The gritty 6-foot-2 Rifai made his NHL debut last year in two games, while getting 23 points in 60 total appearances with the AHL Marlies. He has 189 penalty minutes in 126 AHL matches … Also ending his NHL career after 17 seasons and 1,078 games is Alex Goligoski, most recently with the Minnesota Wild … Matt Cullen, one of two Americans to play at least 1,500 NHL games and two-time Stanley Cup winner Kevin Stevens were among four people elected to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame on Thursday. They joined Olympian Brianna Decker and Major Frederic McLaughlin, founder of the Chicago Blackhawks, to be honoured in December.
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