Daily Nuggets: Golden Knights Lock Up Hill; Big League Changes?

Wakey, wakey– fix yourself a bowl of cereal, brew some extra-strength coffee, and get ready for some early-morning hockey. Yes, you read that right. The Vegas Golden Knights take on the Buffalo Sabres today at 9:30 a.m.– hey, that’s the same time they announced the Adin Hill extension on Friday! The Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings keep winning, so the Golden Knights could use two points in the standings.

Elsewhere in the Daily Nuggets, the Edmonton Oilers are caught in a vicious cycle. One game, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl aren’t enough to carry the top-heavy Oilers to a win; in the next, they are. The NHL season could extend to 84 games, and they might cancel the 2026 All-Star Game. Also, 2022 was three years ago. Time does fly!

Golden Knights News

And there it is; on Friday, the Golden Knights announced they had signed goaltender Adin Hill to a six-year, $37.5 million contract extension. With the salary cap going up, this is a good deal. Here’s how it affects the Golden Knights moving forward.

There’s been some more movement in the standings. The Edmonton Oilers beat the New York Islanders in regulation on Friday, moving them to second in the Pacific Division. They lead the Los Angeles Kings by one point, but the Kings have two games in hand.

It’s just March 15th– beware the Ides of March!– but here’s what the playoffs would look like if they started today.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

The Athletic ($): There could be some major changes coming in the next few years. An 84-game schedule is being considered, and the league might cancel the 2026 All-Star Game.

New York Islanders Hockey Now: The Islanders fought hard but fell to the Edmonton Oilers in overtime. And they really did fight— they survived a shift in which Simon Holmström lost his stick, and Adam Pelech had to make a kick save. But in the end, Leon Draisaitl was inevitable.

Philly Hockey Now: The Flyers have their starting goaltender in Sam Ersson, but the backup position is up for grabs. Could they reunite with Alex Lyon in the offseason?

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins have won three in a row. A few years ago, that would have been par for the course. But this season, it’s jeopardizing a potential top-five draft pick.

New Jersey Hockey Now: I expected the Devils to struggle without superstar center Jack Hughes, but they’ve won three in a row. How are they doing it? Well, a certain winger stepped up in a big way. 

Ilya Kovalchuk has officially retired from the game of hockey at age 41. He played 926 games, skated for five teams, and ended his career with 443 goals and 433 assists.

NHL History: The Gr8 chase continues on Saturday, but let’s look back at the road Alex Ovechkin took to get here. On March 15th, 2022, Ovi scored his 767th goal and moved past Jaromír Jágr for third place on the all-time goals list.