Monday LNN: Beach Meets with Bettman, Sharks COVID Outbreak, Eichel Trade

Though the NHL’s schedule is back in full swing, the Kyle Beach story, and all of the fall-out surrounding the explosive revelations, continues to (rightfully) dominate the headlines. Lots to dig into from this weekend:

• On Friday, Kevin Cheveldayoff met with Gary Bettman to discuss his role in the Chicago Blackhawks’ covering up of Brad Aldrich’s abuse of Beach. The NHL elected to not discipline the Jets’ GM because they deemed he was “not responsible for the improper decisions” that were made. I personally find this to be a stunning abdication of the league’s duty towards the safety of its players. Cheveldayoff played dumb and that was enough to get him off the hook.
• Following that meeting, Bettman met with Beach on a video call on Saturday.
• While the league deeply disappointed me in how they handled the situation with Cheveldayoff, John Tortorella pleasantly surprised me with these thoughtful words following Beach’s interview:/

• Though virtually every player in the NHL is now vaccinated, there have been a a few cases of COVID-19 popping up here and there. On Saturday, the Sharks were without seven regulars, including Erik Karlsson, as well as their coach Bob Boughner. I expect that almost every team will go through something like this as the year goes on.
• On Friday, the Toronto Maple Leafs agreed to an 8 year, $60M contract extension with Morgan Rielly. Given the price set by Seth Jones and Darnell Nurse, this contract rates as a bit below market. Still, Toronto’s likely set its roster in stone for the next several years. Will it be good enough to win the Cup? To win a play-off series? Over at the Athletic James Mirtle tries to make the case that the Leafs have more flexibility than it may seem at first glance. I am skeptical.
• At the start of the season, it seemed like every day brought a new development in the Jack Eichel trade saga. Well, a month later we may finally be reaching the conclusion:/

All indications are Vegas and Buffalo are well down the track in discussions of what framework of a Jack Eichel trade would look like.

Where does it stand now? Many moving parts: roster, cap and injury complications. Amadio waiver claim was interesting.

Will it get done? 🤷🏼‍♂️

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) October 30, 2021

• Lastly, in Sens news, with Filip Gustavsson turning in yet another sterling effort on Friday, Bruce Garrioch opined that there could be some shuffling in the Sens’ roster once Matt Murray is able to return to play. Has Gustavsson supplanted Anton Forsberg?/