NHL Rumours: Kovacevic, Keefe, Devils, Maroon, Blues, Wild

Keefe expressed some frustration with Kovacevic, and spoke to the media afterwards. When a reporter was asking what Keefe thought about that comment, he was cut off by the head coach, who stated “Kovacevic needs to play better. That would help”.

Kovecevic hasn’t been playing his best as of late, but he has had a very strong season. Plenty of other Devils players are struggling too, but having a coach be that blunt about a player’s performance doesn’t come often, especially when a reporter asks a fairly unrelated question.

Pat Maroon Calls it A Career

With just 12 games to go and the Blackhawks already eliminated from playoff contention, Maroon announced to the fans at Enterprise Center in St. Louis that it would be his last season. Maroon, who is from St. Louis originally, played one season with the team, but gave them a lifetime worth of memories. Labeled as the hometown hero there, Maroon won the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2018-19, and was a big part of their identity and helping them find that success.

After eight teams, 840 games, 320 points, and 1076 penalty minutes, still with 12 games to go, “Big Rig” was a beloved player anywhere he went. He is a three-time Stanley Cup champion and iconically won them three years in a row.

Most will remember his career as a pure tough guy, playing fourth-line minutes, and not adding much offense. That couldn’t be more wrong. Yes, he was tough and would throw hits or fists whenever needed, but he was a great fit in the middle-six for most of his career. With seasons of 30+ points and even hitting 40, he was a lot more than just a plug-in player for the fourth line.

After announcing his retirement pre-game, he was given a massive ovation from the fans during a break in play. The arena erupted, and he was emotional. Not only that but he was also named as the first star of the game and given another ovation. It was a special night to watch, and the Blues fans did an excellent job of sending him off from his final game in his own city.

Wild Getting Significant Amount of Cap Space

The decision to buyout Zach Parise and Ryan Suter was controversial as they came with very significant buyout penalties, but the Wild have survived through it, and even thrived at times. With $13 million of the buyout penalty disappearing this offseason, and the projected salary cap increase, the Wild are going to be able to make some big moves in the offseason.

Dan Rosen at NHL.com wrote about this, and had some important quotes from general manager Bill Guerin.

“We don’t talk about it…We don’t use it as an excuse, if we had this or we had that, but that’s a big hit and then you deal with the injuries that we’ve dealt with. All of that stuff taken into account, I think our team is performing very well, coaches and players alike.”

Buyout penalties hurt. Having a cap hit of a player who doesn’t play for you isn’t ideal, but it made sense at the time. The Wild have some contracts to work out before making a big splash in free agency, including restricted free agent Marco Rossi, and superstar Kirill Kaprizov is eligible for an extension this summer. With a good group of players expected to hit free agency, the Wild could be very active. Whether they want to go after someone on the level of Mitch Marner, or they want to make a few smaller signings like Brock Nelson and Brock Boeser, they have plenty of options.

Considering the cap penalty and the injuries the Wild have gone through this season, they have had a very good regular season. They were in contention for the top of the division and conference for the first few months, but have fallen back a bit.