Uncategorized Archives - Boutique Hockey Agency

Craig Smith has come as advertised

Posted on May 4, 2021

BOSTON, MA – Over the past two months, Craig Smith has been on fire. The Boston Bruins‘ winger has been a points machine and has helped make the B’s second line dominant. With Smith’s first regular season with Boston nearly in the books, the Wisconsin native has come as advertised. The Black and Gold’s secondary scoring needed a spark which Smith has helped provide.

In 49 games this season, Smith has scored 13 goals and recorded 19 assists. His 32 points are the fifth most on the Bruins’ roster. In Smith’s first season in Boston, he has provided the offense the Bruins expected when he was signed in free agency.

Acquired early in season, defenseman Ian Cole fits right in with Wild

Posted on April 23, 2021

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Ian Cole has a system for packing.

He takes three or four hockey bags, fills them with clothes and then loads the bags into his car that’ll be shipped to his next destination.

“The car shows up all packed to the gills,” he said.

And when it’s time to meet his new teammates, the veteran NHL defenseman also knows what to do.

“Hey,” he says. “I’m Ian.”

A two-time Stanley Cup champion with almost 600 games of experience, Cole was traded for the fourth time in his career when the Wild acquired him from Colorado earlier this season. He ended up being the final addition to the 2021 roster, with the team letting last week’s trade deadline pass without making any changes.

But despite being the last to arrive, Cole is no longer an outsider. He has fused to the Wild with his enthusiasm and rugged style of play.

Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Jack Campbell beats Ottawa Senators for record 11-0 start

Posted on April 11, 2021

TORONTO, ONT – Jack Campbell made 27 saves to set an NHL record for consecutive victories to start a season and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators 6-5 on Saturday night.

Campbell (11-0) broke the mark of 10 wins to start a season set by Montreal’s Carey Price in 2016-17.

“I definitely owe the boys a nice Red Lobster dinner, that’s for sure,” Campbell said. “Definitely not what I expect out of myself, but thankfully we have a great team. They carried me tonight.”

Maple Leafs Acquire Riley Nash From Columbus

Posted on April 9, 2021

TORONTO, ONT – The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that the hockey club has acquired forward Riley Nash from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a conditional seventh round selection in the 2022 NHL Draft. The seventh round selection will become a sixth round selection if Nash appears in 25 percent of the Maple Leafs’ playoff games in 2021.

Nash, 31, has appeared in 37 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets this season and recorded a pair of goals and five assists. In 578 career NHL regular season games between Carolina, Columbus and Boston, he has recorded 172 points (63 goals, 109 assists), while adding two goals and six assists in 32 career Stanley Cup playoff games.

Travis Zajac traded to Islanders by Devils

Posted on April 8, 2021

NEWARK, NJ – Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri were traded to the New York Islanders by the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday.

New Jersey receives minor league forwards A.J. Greer and Mason Jobst, a first-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.

Palmieri and Zajac can each become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Palmieri has scored 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in 34 games this season and scored at least 24 goals in each of the prior five seasons. The 30-year-old forward is in the final season of a five-year contract he signed with the Devils on July 7, 2016.

“The opportunity to go and be a part of a team that has a chance to do something special is something every player wants,” Palmieri said. “That’s all you can ask for. I’m really looking forward to this opportunity.”

Jack Campbell’s joy in record night for Leafs a reminder of human side of game

Posted on April 8, 2021

TORONTO, ONT – Jack Campbell has emerged from unlikely circumstances to keep the Toronto Maple Leafs humming along amid a campaign that might otherwise have been swallowed whole by an injury to his goaltending partner.

And in establishing a new franchise record for consecutive wins on Wednesday night, Campbell went one further: He managed to show us the kind of real genuine emotion this sanitized pandemic season has so sorely been missing.

No Debate, Jack Campbell is the Maple Leafs’ Starting Goaltender

Posted on April 3, 2021

TORONTO, ON – An absent Frederik Andersen, an undefeated record this season and back-to-back wins against 2020 Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellybuck make it clear that Jack Campbell is the Toronto Maple Leafs’ starting goaltender.

With goaltender Frederik Andersen missing in action due to a lower-body injury and no clear timetable to return, Jack Campbell has stepped in and continued to help the Toronto Maple Leafs pile up victories.

On Friday, Campbell made 31 saves as his team defeated the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in a shootout and improved to 8-0-0 this season with a .951 save percentage.

Grimaldi Scores Four, Preds Set Records in Win Over Red Wings

Posted on March 26, 2021

NASHVILLE, TN – Rocco Grimaldi did his part to rewrite the Predators’ record books on Thursday night.

Grimaldi tallied his first-career hat trick in just 2:34 in the first period – and he finished with four goals in total – as Nashville cruised to a 7-1 win over Detroit to complete a two-game sweep of the Red Wings at Bridgestone Arena. The result gives the Preds their third consecutive win and a 5-1-0 mark in the past six outings.

Nashville exploded to score four goals within a 2:34 span before Thursday’s game was eight minutes old, and that outburst, along with Grimaldi’s franchise-record-tying four goals for himself, gave the Predators yet another satisfactory effort to win game No. 16 on the season.

And, of course, Grimaldi, who scored all four goals with his hockey stick he named Trudy, had himself a night.

Andrew Copp constantly pushing for more as Jets continue to climb

Posted on March 25, 2021

WINNIPEG, MB – As he sat in front of a microphone with his arms folded and a wide smile stretching across his face, Andrew Copp did his best to dig into his lifetime of hockey memories to identify a similar moment.

Doing the exercise in real time at a podium during a Zoom interview was probably not how the Winnipeg Jets‘ versatile forward envisioned celebrating the first four-goal game of his NHL career.

But when it comes to soaking in rare milestones like this one, a four-goal performance in a 5-1 triumph over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, you take them any way you can get them.