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PHT Morning Skate: Players play Fortnite for charity; Progress for NHL return?

2020 NHL Draft players Fortnite charity return

A visitor takes pictures at the stand of the “Fortnite” computer game at the media day of the Gamescom video games trade fair in Cologne, western Germany, on August 20, 2019. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP) (Photo credit should read INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.com.

Progress in return from Pandemic? 2020 NHL Draft updates

• Pierre LeBrun reports that the NHL and NHLPA made some progress regarding a possible 24-team playoff format. Naturally, LeBrun adds that there’s still a lot of work to be done. (TSN, with more at The Athletic [sub required], also check LeBrun’s Twitter thread)

• LeBrun, Bob McKenzie, and others gave recent updates that don’t sound great for an early-June 2020 NHL Draft. There’s still a lot of “to be determined” to all of this, of course. (Various reports, including Thursday’s edition of TSN Insider Trading.)

• Senators owner Eugene Melnyk spoke with FAN 590’s Roger Lajoie about a number of topics on Sunday. In expressing excitement for the 2020 NHL Draft, Melnyk said fans should start seeing signs of a competitive team as early as the 2020-21 season. “Now’s the time to enjoy the fruits of our labor.” (FAN 590/Ottawa Citizen)

• Speaking of drafts, David Staples painstakingly compared NHL experts vs. writers/pundits to see how well draft rankings pan out. Seems like it’s very close. If you’re even mildly interested to find out how accurate prognostications can be, this is worth a look. It might be even if you just want to kill some time. (Edmonton Journal)

• Chris Therien took the longform approach with his thoughts on how sports may change thanks to COVID-19. (Flyers)

Other hockey/NHL links (Fortnite fun included)

• Elliotte Friedman provides the lowdown on a class-action lawsuit being settled involving minimum wage in the CHL. (Sportsnet/CHL release)

• Looking back at how Dave Andrews helped to shape the AHL as we know it. (The Score)

• Really great look at Kings prospect Jaret Anderson-Dolan, who was raised by his two moms: Fran and Nancy. (Los Angeles Times)

• J.T. Compher and Zach Hyman teamed up to create “The NHLPA featuring Fortnite.” More than 60 NHLPA members are participating in the event, which is scheduled to stream on Monday from 2-5 p.m. ET. They’re playing as trios in the battle royale video game, with a charity prize pool of $200K. Hyman will be commentating, while Compher is going to be building walls very quickly and what not with teammates Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Nieto. (More on the event at NHLPA.com/event is set to stream on Twitch)

• Emily Kaplan put together a brilliant “grudge report” list. Kaplan picks one thing that each of the NHL’s 31 fan bases can’t seem to let go. Good stuff. (ESPN)

• Wild defenseman Matt Dumba saw his 2018-19 season cut short when he got injured fighting Matthew Tkachuk. Dumba contemplates a season ending prematurely for the second year in a row. Also, big news: he has a new dog. (Pioneer Press)

[More: November PHT Q&A with Dumba, which included his thoughts on fighting.]

• Darren McCarty dished on feuding with Claude Lemieux, fuming at Mike Babcock (but picking up some coaching tips), on the “Locked on Wings” podcast. (Locked on Wings/The Detroit News)


James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.