Good morning Toronto Maple Leafs fans!

It’s the dog days of the off-season and there isn’t much news around so let’s have a quick run down of what I could find then you can go into the comments and argue about hot dogs and V-Tech phones and unlawful comments.

First up is the big one: Kirill Kaprizov has reportedly signed a deal with CSKA Moscow for one year and will go play in the KHL unless he gets the contract he wants from the Minnesota Wild.

Kaprizov has ‘tentative agreement’ in KHL, can still sign with Wild

This is a very common tactic in negotiating, as we saw with the Mitch Marner negotiations a couple summers ago.

This feels very familiar to Leafs fans having gone through three prolonged negotiations with star players.

As reported by The Athletic for weeks, the two sides remain in constant communication but are in a complete stalemate. The Wild are willing to sign Kaprizov to a contract in the $8 or $9 million range at a variety of terms, but Kaprizov’s camp continues to seek shorter term deals at more money.

With the Minnesota Wild heading to $12-14 million in dead cap after next season, they would love to keep the price tag low and team competitive.

In some lighter news, new Carolina Hurricanes defender Ethan Bear took a young fan shopping so he could attend hockey camp.

Ethan Bear went shopping with a local kid and purchased him equipment so he could attend hockey camp - Article - BARDOWN

I mean, I guess the headline says it all.

Some signings have come through the wire:

Canucks sign defenceman Olli Juolevi to one-year, $750K contract
Colton signs two-year contract with Lightning, avoids hearing
Flames sign defenceman Oliver Kylington to one-year, $750K deal
Rangers re-sign goalie Igor Shesterkin on four-year contract

Finally, Hockey Canada has announced that the back to back Stanley Cup winning coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning was named head coach for the Canadian Olympic team.

Lightning's Jon Cooper named Canada's head coach for Beijing Olympics

......if the NHL goes to the Olympics next year.

Yes, next year.

Enjoy this fine Tuesday folks.

From The Branches