Morning Flurries: Teemu still loves Joe Sakic

With another day off from for the Colorado Avalanche, there wasn’t a whole lot of news to talk about Monday. The team will be back at practice this morning and we will hopefully get an update on Mikko Rantanen’s recovery.

At the very least we can wish the Big Moose a happy 23rd birthday.

To fill the off day, Lauren made sure to update everyone on how the baby Avs are doing with her weekly Prospect Report.

He may have only spent one season in Denver but is seems as though Teemu Selanne has a lot of fond memories about his time with the Avalanche. During an appearance on TSN in Toronto yesterday evening, Teemu was asked who his favorite teammate of all time was - he wasn’t allowed to say Paul Kariya. It didn’t take long for Selanne to blurt out the first name most people think of when talking about hockey in Colorado.

It’s also interesting to hear that a guy like Selanne - who is one of the best to ever play the game - say that he prefers the way the NHL is now to the style of his era.

For those of you with subscriptions to The Athletic, Ryan did a great job of updating - and explaining - where things sit between Altitude and the big-3 cable providers.

In other league news, the Chicago Blackhawks made a small trade but one that could help them in a few Central Division battles down the road. The team traded away disgruntled winger Brendan Pelini - who was acquired last season as a part of the Dylan Strome/Nick Schmaltz deal.

Alec Regula is a name you might not know, but he is heck of a prospect and a guy that the Blackhawks were lucky to get for Perlini. In 10 games with the London Knights, Regular has 4 goals and 11 points - that puts him 15th among OHL defenders so far this season. He’s not really seen as a blue chip prospect but Regula is a big kid (6’4”, 210 lbs) who skates well and can move the puck.

Drafted 67th overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Regula is a right-shooting defender that has great size and a skill set that will bring him to the NHL. There’s a very good chance he becomes a mainstay in the bottom-4 of Chicago’s blue line in a couple years. Not a bad return for a guy in Perlini who clearly wasn’t a part of the organization’s plans.

Morning Update

In big Central Division news, it seems as though the Nashville Predators have locked up their best defender for the next eight years. It’s a huge contract that comes along with a full no-movement clause but if anyone is worth it, it’s Roman Josi - he’s as good as he is handsome.