GATINEAU — Moncton has moved into 1st place. Thurso keeps turning heads. Masham’s struggles continue. St-Hubert all but throws in the towel. Here are your week 7 news and notes!
WEEK 7 MATCHUPS
COMPTON [1-4-2]: 3 | SAGUENAY [1-5-1]: 7
Emotions were high in this matchup as Compton’s GM Kevin Daoust was very irritated with his team’s performance come Sunday. He made impulsive and regrettable statements after the game, saying he was prepared to blow up the team and go through a full rebuild. He later walked this back, indicating he would wait until the February trade deadline before making a decision. With this loss, the Rough Riders have fallen to 9th place, and are now only one point ahead of the last place Colibris.
The defending champs finally pull through, getting their first win of the season. It has been a dismal season for the Saguenay Colibris, but they can now breathe a sigh of relief and hope to build on this positive result.
Here’s what GM Mathieu Lapointe had to say after the game (click for video).
3 STARS
1. Evgeni Malkin [COM]: 1-4-5, 13 SOG in 3 GP
2. Patrick Kane [COM]: 0-4-4, 20 shots in 3 GP
3. John Carlson [SAG]: 0-4-4, 7 hits, 5 blocks in 3 GP
MONCTON (6-1-0): 8 | VALLEYFIELD (5-2-0): 2
The battle for 1st place ended up in a convincing win for the Moncton Acadians. They move into first place and get their 4th win in a row. The Valleyfield Roteux suffer their second loss of the season and are now in 2nd place in the GHL. Both teams had goaltending issues, but Moncton ultimately takes the cake, winning all offensive skater categories, something they’ve made a habit of doing this season.
3 STARS
1. Andrei Svechnikov [MON]: 2-3-5, 10 shots, 6 hits in 4 GP
2. Brock Nelson [VAL]: 4-1-5, 10 shots, 5 hits in 4 GP
3. David Pastrnak [MON]: 3-1-4, 17 shots in 3 GP
THURSO [4-3-0]: 6 | GATINEAU [3-3-0]: 3
Thurso with the upset of the week here. The Raie had a solid week, but the Draveurs were simply nowhere to be found. Their offense went cold and their goalies were abysmal. Oilers star forwards Leon Draisaitl (Gatineau) and Connor McDavid (Thurso) continue their domination of the NHL, to the surprise of no one. They were by far the best players in this confrontation.
Thurso is now in 4th place, which is the most surprising story of the season so far. Gatineau remains in 3rd position.
3 STARS
1. Connor McDavid [THU]: 4-3-7, 14 shots in 4 GP
2. Leon Draisaitl [GAT]: 0-5-5, 12 shots in 4 GP
3. Artemi Panarin [GAT]: 3-1-4, 7 shots in 3 GP
TEXAS [3-2-2]: 5 | ST-HUBERT [1-4-2]: 5
St-Hubert and Texas both had great performances in Week 7. In fact, they would have beaten every other team in the league this week had they not faced each other, which makes the tie all the more fitting.
GM Jacob Chartré and the Gutters now have a 3-2-2 record, good for 5th in the league. Chartré has been patienty waiting for his team to take off after he was seen as the early favourite to win it all this year, but there have been a few bumps along the road. They are certainly showing signs of strength, but they will need to string a few wins together if they hope to challenge the league’s top dogs.
For GM Dominik Manseau and the Jets, this was a bittersweet result. They had the better week in the skater categories, but ultimately fell just short of the win due to a very unlucky situation that had Connor Hellebuyck making 6 saves on Saturday night due to Laurent Brossoit‘s equipment issue. Those 6 saves ended up being enough for the Gutters to secure the goaltending categories by the smallest of margins you’ll ever see.
3 STARS:
1. Teuvo Teravainen [STH]: 2-5-7, 17 shots in 4 GP
2. Brad Marchand [TEX]: 3-4-7 in 4 GP
3. Pierre-Luc Dubois [TEX]: 3-2-5, 11 shots, 4 blocks in 4 GP
NEPEAN (2-4-1): 4 | MASHAM (3-3-1): 4
This one came down to the wire with Masham adding goaltender James Reimer who came through with a clutch shutout on Sunday evening, securing the tie. Nepean had led for most of the week which had GM Felix Laliberté awfully worried. They had lost their last two matchups prior to this week.
Jordan Binnington‘s stellar performance and a 29-hit boost from Ryan Reaves were key factors for the Napalm in this victory. They come out of it with a valuable point and stay in the race for a playoff spot.
3 STARS:
1. Jordan Binnington [NEP]: 2-0-0, 0.50 GAA, .983 Sv%
2. Ryan Reaves [NEP]: 29 hits (!) in 3 GP
3. Sebastian Aho [NEP]: 3-2-5, 17 shots in 4 GP
*Honourable mention to Jack Eichel who also had 5 pts of his own.
TRADES & RUMOURS
Some of the potential trades we talked about in week 6 ended up materializing. There is a feeling some teams will start thinking about a rebuild/retool with the week 10 pick trade deadline approaching rapidly. Grab your popcorn because it’s about to get hectic real soon.
In a shocking blockbuster move, the promising rookie and first overall selection in the 2019 Prospect Draft, Jack Hughes, was traded to St-Hubert for Matthew Tkachuk, Anthony Mantha and a 2nd round pick. The Jets also get a 16th round pick back.
With this deal, Masham makes a clear statement: they will do anything it takes to win this year, even if it means trading away a future franchise player. The two players acquired in this trade will join an already-impressive forward group made of Jack Eichel, Jonathan Huberdeau, Claude Giroux, Anze Kopitar, Sean Monahan and Jamie Benn, among others. The Scrappeux are 0-2-1 in their last three weeks, but look for them to turn it around pretty quickly. The addition of these two studs makes GM Laliberté’s troupe look pretty dangerous. He has had high hopes for his team since the beginning of the season and he continues to believe he can contend for the GHL championship this year.
St-Hubert, on the other hand, is all but throwing in the towel for the rest of the season. Their offense has taken a huge hit with the loss of these players, their peripherals are below average and Carter Hutton has been disappointing. Even if Manseau says he will continue to ice a competitive team, it is hard to see a path to the playoffs for St-Hubert at this juncture.
Now for the positive side. By pulling the trigger on this deal, GM Manseau has skillfully assembled the best young core in the league, composed of Elias Pettersson, Rasmus Dahlin, Kappo Kakko and now Hughes. Since his arrival as the general manager, Manseau has put a strategic long-term plan into execution, and he will certainly enjoy the fruits of his labour when these young stars reach their potential.
An update on the Steven Stamkos sweepstakes. It was reported last week that GM MacKinnon was looking for a ”lesser keeper and a player who could help now”. GHL analyst Pierre LeBrun debunked those reports today, after he confirmed that the asking price is actually ”two players that could help now and an early main draft pick”. If they don’t want a keeper player back in a potential Stamkos deal, it could mean there’s someone else they would rather keep who’s currently on the team.
Jeff Skinner finally gets traded, but not for much, as Texas lands a 10th round pick and gives back a 12th. This deal can only work in St-Hubert’s favour if Skinner heats up. If he doesn’t, there’s no shame in dropping him either, especially if you give up virtually nothing to acquire him.
GHL GAZETTE 