- CSNNE.com
Morning Skate: Sabres' Okposo back on the ice
Players on American Hockey League contracts will be eligible to play in the 2018 Winter Olympics. President and CEO David Andrews confirmed through a league spokesman Wednesday that teams were informed they could loan players on AHL contracts to national teams for the purposes of participating in the Pyeongchang Olympics. The AHL sent a memo to its 30 clubs saying players could only be loaned for Olympic participation from Feb. 5-26. The Olympic men's hockey tournament runs from Feb. 9-25. Like the NHL, which is not having its players participate for the first time since 1994, the AHL does not have an Olympic break in its schedule. The AHL's decision does not affect players assigned to that league
- NBC Sports
PHT Morning Skate: 3 coaches that are on the hot seat going into 2017-18
–The Hockey News continues their “2020 Vision” series with the Boston Bruins. –It was five years ago this week that Shea Weber signed that huge offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers. If Nashville doesn’t match the offer, there’s probably no P.K. Subban in Smashville, maybe Peter Laviolette keeps his job in Philadelphia, and maybe the Flyers don’t miss the playoffs as often.
- USA Today
Blues sign Colton Parayko to five-year extension
The St. Louis Blues signed defenseman Colton Parayko to a $27.5 million, five-year contract just before the sides were set to go to arbitration on Thursday. Only sharpshooting winger Vladimir Tarasenko is signed longer as the Blues have captain Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester and Parayko locked up as their top three on defense. "Colton coming on the scene the last couple of years gives us a real good right side now obviously with Alex and Colton for a number of years moving forward," general manager Doug Armstrong said. Armstrong said if Parayko had gone to arbitration, the contract would have been for two years and the Blues could have worked something out in 2019 before he hit unrestricted free agency.
