2021 NHL year in review: October

Finally Signing: While it took a while, the three remaining restricted free agents put pen to paper on new contracts. Ottawa held firm on its desire for winger Brady Tkachuk to sign a long-term contract, and while the Senators didn’t get a max-term deal, they came close as the two sides worked out a seven-year, $57.5 million contract, making him the highest-paid player on the team. The deal also contains a no-move clause in the final three years of the contract, the only ones eligible for any form of trade protection. Ottawa soon after gave Tkachuk the captaincy, and the Senators now have another long-term core piece locked up through his prime years.

Meanwhile, the Canucks had a pair of restricted free agents in defenseman Quinn Hughes and center Elias Pettersson. While they didn’t have to sign at the same time, it was widely expected that they would considering they’re represented by the same agency and the length of one contract would affect the other since they didn’t have the cap room to sign both to long-term deals. In the end, the duo basically signed together as Hughes received the long-term deal (six years, $47.1 million) while Pettersson settled for the bridge contract (three years, $22.05 million). Hughes will be an unrestricted free agent when his deal is up while Pettersson will have one RFA year remaining with a qualifying offer of 120% of the AAV ($8.82 million).

Kane Suspended: The NHL came down hard on then-Sharks winger Evander Kane for a violation of COVID protocol, handing him a 21-game suspension for what was later reported to be the usage of a fake vaccination card. It gave San Jose a short-term reprieve from having to decide if he was going to be around the team this season or not (and we all know what decision they eventually made). At the same time of its announcement, the league revealed that the other investigation it was conducting into allegations of domestic abuse could not be substantiated.

Beach Fallout: Following the release of findings into an investigation into allegations of sexual assault by Brad Aldrich in 2010 on what was later revealed to be former Chicago forward Kyle Beach, Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman immediately stepped aside. Bowman had been at the head of the Blackhawks since 2009 and admitted he made a mistake with how he handled things when he was made aware of the situation. Meanwhile, two days later, Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville resigned. He had been coaching Chicago at the time and also had been made aware of the situation back then. He will have to meet with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman before being permitted to coach again in the NHL. Andrew Brunette took over on an interim basis and still is running the bench in Florida.