Colorado Avalanche: News from around the NHL June 18, 2014

CBC has an article about "Ten Reflections" of the Cup playoffs.  Number Seven is about MacKinnon.

7. Nathan Mackinnon will be amazing in 2014-15

MacKinnon's impressive Stanley Cup playoff debut is a distant memory because his Colorado Avalanche were eliminated on April 30. But he enjoyed a strong first-round against the Minnesota Wild with two goals and 10 points in seven games.

MacKinnon turns 19 on Sept. 1 and I expect him to be among the league's top point producers after all the confidence he picked up with his playoff performance.

Reportedly the Flams (you guys love me, right?!) are interested in Spezza.

One Canadian team has reached out to try to get Senators' captain Jason Spezza.

He likely doesn't want to go there.

League sources say the Calgary Flames have made a pitch to the Senators for their top centre but what they're offering and the destination itself make the chances of a deal happening slim.

While Flames' GM Brad Treliving deserves credit for trying to make a splash and rebuild, sources say Spezza has no desire whatsoever to stay in Canada and has told the Senators as much.

Thornton won't be a Bruins next year.

Tears flooded the streets of Boston yesterday when the Bruins announced to the world that they would not be bringing back their beloved enforcer Shawn Thornton for another season, allowing the 36-year-old fighter-and-not-much-elser to explore free agency come July. He might be the first in a sizable movement.

This was a big, big deal. You can tell it was a big deal because the Bruins even bothered to announce this. In a separate entry on their website. In a video. About a guy who had eight points in 64 games this season and only got 8:48 a night. Usually, when a guy like that leaves town, no one so much as raises an eyebrow. Who cares? But Thornton is special in Boston. He goes to Dropkick Murphys shows and he does local credit union commercials. He's beloved because he fights, first and foremost, and he's occasionally a funny if overly moralizing quote, and — as anyone who covers the team regularly will swear up and down at the slightest provocation — is “good in the room.”