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Snapshots: Boucher, Islanders, Kalinin, Predators

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Ottawa head coach Guy Boucher will face his former team in Tampa Bay for the first time since they fired him back in 2013 but Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun notes that Boucher doesn’t bear any ill will towards his former organization.

Part of the reason for that is the amount of time that has passed since he was let go but a main reason is that very few players remain from Boucher’s tenure – just center Steven Stamkos and defenseman Victor Hedman.  In other words, GM Steve Yzerman has practically turned over the entire team over in the last three and a half years which Boucher believes makes this basically just another game for him:

“It’s been awhile. We’re talking almost four years and just so much has changed.  It would be a lot harder (if) it was all the guys I coached and those guys are coming in. Then I guess there would be emotion there.”

Despite all of the turnover, it’s hard to say that the changes haven’t worked as under Jon Cooper, the team has made three straight postseason appearances and has reached the third round of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock made his season debut last night but will have to wait a while to play his second game. He left the game yesterday after just four shifts after suffering a lower body injury and Newsday’s Arthur Staple reports (via Twitter) that he will be out for the next four to six weeks.  Pulock was taking the place of Nick Leddy who missed last night’s game with an upper body issue but Staple adds that Leddy is taking part in practice today.
  • The Devils are expected to activate center Sergei Kalinin (illness) off of injured reserve prior to tonight’s game against Minnesota, notes Fire and Ice’s Andrew Gross. To make room for him on the active roster, the team announced that they have sent left winger Miles Wood, their lone waiver exempt forward among their depth players, to their AHL affiliate in Albany.
  • Over the years, there haven’t been many Swiss-born NHL players but as Adam Vingan of The Tennessean writes, the Predators have had success finding players from there recently. There are currently eight Swiss players in the league and Nashville has three of them – defensemen Roman Josi and Yannick Weber as well as left winger Kevin Fiala.  They’re only the second team in NHL history to have three Swiss players on their roster.

Rangers Notes: Kreider, Hayes, Injuries

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After an early playoff exit last year, the Rangers have put an extra emphasis on speed this season, writes Allan Kreda of the New York Times.  Not only did they add fast skating forwards in Michael Grabner, Brandon Pirri, and Mika Zibanejad, they’ve also encouraged their blueline to play a faster game as well.  While their speed up front has been noticeable, head coach Alain Vigneault has been pleased with its effects on their back end:

“What I like is that we’re using it well defensively. We haven’t given up as many shots and scoring chances. That has permitted us to retrieve the puck quicker and put the speed on display and counterattack to where hopefully it’s more fun: the other team’s end.”

One player who has benefitted from the focus on playing faster is Chris Kreider, who is off to the best start of his career with three goals and four assists in the first four games of the season.  Kreider attributes his fast start to being eliminated so quickly in the postseason last year as that gave him more time to train over the summer and his combination of speed and size has been evident in the early going this season.  So far, he’s giving the Rangers a strong early return on a four year, $18.5MM deal signed late in July.

[Related: Rangers Depth Chart]

Other Rangers news and notes:

  • Center Kevin Hayes is also benefitting from playing quicker as a result of dropping “a pretty good amount of weight” over the summer, notes Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. After taking a step back during his sophomore campaign last year, Vigneault has boosted Hayes’ ice time by over two minutes per game early on while trusting him to take some key faceoffs.  Hayes has responded by winning 50% of his draws so far; by comparison, he won only 36% last season.
  • Rookie winger Pavel Buchnevich is expected to miss at least the next two games due to back spasms, reports Newsday’s Steve Zipay. As for defenseman Dan Girardi, there’s a chance he plays in one of New York’s games this weekend but won’t suit up in both contests.  He has missed the last two games with a groin issue.

Blackhawks Notes: Penalty Kill, Motte

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Through just nearly two periods in Friday night’s game against Columbus, the Chicago Blackhawks surrendered their second power play goal, in as many attempts, driving their penalty kill percentage down to an anemic 42%. The statistics revealing just how bad it’s been aren’t encouraging. The Hawks have given up 11 power play goals in just five games, while last season they only let in 46 powerplay goals through 82 games. Dimitri Filipovic tweets a statistical breakdown of Corey Crawford’s significant dip in save percentage when the team is on the kill. His point isn’t to blame Crawford, but instead, highlight the deficiencies of his teammates on the kill.

Strategically speaking, CSN’s Tracey Myers tweets that teams are using a net-front presence to score on the man advantage, and the Hawks seem more than willing to oblige. The Daily Herald’s Jon Dietz reports that the Hawks 5-on-3 marathon against St. Louis started the slide and is a culprit in the Hawks’ early tumble:

One reason the kill rate looks so bad — it was the second-worst in the league going into Monday’s games — is because of how St. Louis took advantage of 3 penalties in 94 seconds in the opener. That led to a 5-on-3 goal late in the second period and another tally early in the third.  Being short-handed for that long is not an easy task, and once a team scores it only breeds more confidence for the next opportunity — especially when that opportunity comes right away.

Dietz adds that the Hawks have done a poor job of clearing the zone, allowing teams more time to setup and prolong shifts, which leads to tired penalty killers. He also mirrors Myers’ thoughts of allowing players to camp out in front of Crawford without impediment.

Then again, should the struggles come as a surprise? Last March, CSN Chicago had a lengthy article centering on the Hawks’ problems shorthanded when they were ranked (at the time) 24th in the league. Though they were missing both Marian Hossa and Marcus Kruger at the time, maybe it’s a trend that was forewarned months earlier.

In other Blackhawks news:

  • Tyler Motte scored his first NHL goal against Columbus Friday night. After Jonathan Toews rushed the net and generated a juicy rebound, Motte banged in the opportunity for his first goal as a Chicago Blackhawk.

Injury Updates: Coyotes, Winnik, Rask, Wild

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Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith has been sent back to Arizona to be evaluated by team doctors, notes Sarah McLellan of AZ Central.  He left Tuesday’s game in Ottawa with what is believed to be a knee injury.  Head coach Dave Tippett stated that no firm diagnosis has been given and accordingly, there’s no word yet on how long he might miss although the team has placed him on injured reserve.  Craig Morgan of AZ Central adds (via Twitter) that the placement was made retroactive to October 18th.

Also from McLellan, winger Jamie McGinn is expected to rejoin the team on Saturday although he’s not expected to play right away as the team wants to get him into some practices before putting him in the lineup.

In the meantime, the team will run with backup Louis Domingue (who is between the pipes again tonight against the Islanders despite being pulled early last night in Montreal) and third stringer Justin Peters.

Other injury news from around the league:

  • While Washington left winger Daniel Winnik was able to return to the game on Thursday despite taking a puck to the head, he didn’t come away completely injury free, writes Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. After the game, head coach Barry Trotz told reporters that Winnik lost a small piece of his ear on the play.
  • Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask did not skate with the team on Friday as he once again is dealing with ‘general soreness’, reports CSN NE’s Joe Haggerty. Rask was dealing with this issue when he sat out last Saturday against Toronto although he returned to the lineup this week and made 28 of 29 saves in a win against New Jersey on Thursday.  As a result, he is now listed as questionable to play on Saturday night against Montreal.
  • Minnesota blueliner Jared Spurgeon suffered an upper body injury in the third period against Toronto, notes Michael Russo of the Minnesota Star-Tribune. Meanwhile, left winger Erik Haula looked to further aggravate an existing lower body issue on Thursday night and Russo adds that he is not walking particularly well off the ice.  Both players did not practice.  Defenseman Marco Scandella, who didn’t play due to an illness versus the Leafs, did skate and potentially could slide into Spurgeon’s spot in the lineup if he is unable to play Saturday against New Jersey.

Jets Receiving Calls On Ondrej Pavelec

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The Winnipeg Jets have received some calls regarding goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, ESPN’s Craig Custance reports (Insider required).  However, those calls have been more of the tire-kicking variety than concrete trade negotiations.

Pavelec is currently suiting up for the Manitoba Moose of the AHL where he has a 1-0-1 record with a 2.89 GAA and a .919 SV% in two games so far.  It’s his first season in the minors since 2008-09 in just the second year of his pro career.

The 29 year old cleared waivers back in the preseason, in large part due to his contract.  Pavelec is earning a salary of $4.75MM with a cap hit of $3.9MM in the final season of a five year deal signed back in June of 2012.  The Jets also wanted youngster Connor Hellebuyck to start the season with the deal and because of Pavelec’s deal, he was the logical candidate to be waived, particularly after posting just a .904 save percentage in 2015-16.

For a trade to happen, it’s highly likely that Winnipeg will have to eat a sizable amount of salary (they’re allowed to retain up to 50%).  Even so, that may be a more palatable solution for them compared to carrying a ‘buried’ cap hit of $2.95MM for Pavelec while he is in the minor leagues.  Accordingly, the asking price would likely not be particularly high and may very well depend on how much other teams would want the Jets to retain.

On the surface, it would seem logical to think that Los Angeles is one of the teams that has been or will be kicking the tires on Pavelec.  The Kings will be without Jonathan Quick for the next three months and currently have a tandem of Jeff Zatkoff and Peter Budaj who have both been in the minors themselves in recent seasons.  Pavelec would at least give them someone who has been a starter at times in recent years and is more suited to handle a starting workload.

Of course, Winnipeg may be inclined to wait on moving Pavelec for now to see if other injuries arise to create more trade demand down the road.  In the meantime, he’ll continue to suit up in Manitoba as the highest paid goaltender in the minors.

Douglas Murray Announces His Retirement

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Veteran defenseman Douglas Murray is hanging up his skates, he told Tomas Ros of Aftonbladet (link in Swedish).  While he believes he can still play in the NHL, he hadn’t received a contract offer and evidently was not interested in pursuing another contract in a different league.

Murray last played in the NHL with Montreal in 2013-14, picking up two assists in 52 games.  He secured a tryout deal with Calgary late in 2014-15 as well as the 2015 preseason but was unable to secure a contract.  Between those two NHL teams, he also suited up in eight games in Germany with Kolner Haie in 2014-15.

The 36 year old is a player whose skill set was highly valued several years ago but since then, players like him have been phased out of the league.  Murray was best known for his physicality and willingness to block shots although he was far from the best of skaters.  As the NHL shifts towards more speed and puck skills, the demand for players like Murray has subsided quickly.

For his career, Murray played in 518 games, mostly with San Jose with brief stints in Pittsburgh and Montreal as well.  He scored just seven goals while adding 57 assists but added 412 penalty minutes, 1,097 hits, and 756 blocked shots spending most of his time as a stay-at-home third pairing defenseman.

Snapshots: Corrado, Tortorella, Rakell, Weise

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Toronto blueliner Frank Corrado finds himself in a familiar situation this season and as Chris Johnston of Sportsnet writes, it’s not a good one to be in.  Last year, the Leafs claimed Corrado off of waivers just prior to the start of the season and then proceeded to keep him in the press box for the better part of two months, save for a brief conditioning stint in the AHL.  The justification was that the team thought high enough of him to keep him on the roster and not risk losing him for nothing but that he wasn’t quite good enough to be in the lineup.

Fast forward to this year and history seems to be repeating itself for Corrado, who has been a healthy scratch in four straight games to start the year.  Toronto is carrying eight defensemen to start the season and their other scratch – Roman Polak – made his season debut on Thursday, suggesting that Corrado once again sits eighth on the depth chart without much hope of getting into the lineup.  The belief remains that if Toronto tried to assign him to the minors, he’d be claimed off of waivers, creating an identical situation to last season.

For the time being, it appears that like last season, it’s going to take an injury or two for Corrado to get into the lineup.  Until then, he’ll have to bide his time and wait for a chance which is far from an ideal situation for a 23 year old who has yet to play 50 games in each of the last two years.

More from around the league:

  • Today marks the one year anniversary of the Blue Jackets hiring John Tortorella as their new head coach. In that time, the team has played to a 34-35-8 record, notes Puck Rakers’ Tom Reed.  Clearly, Columbus was looking for more of an immediate impact from Tortorella behind the bench and as a result, he is one of the coaches who came into the season firmly on the hot seat.  The Jackets made a quick coaching change last season and if the team continues to struggle, GM Jarmo Kekalainen may be quick to pull the trigger again this year.
  • The agent for Ducks center Rickard Rakell told Eric Stephens of the OC Register that the expectation is that Rakell will be able to report to the team sometime next week. Rakell is in the process of securing a P-1 visa which is required before he can resume skating with Anaheim.  In the meantime, Rakell will continue to work out on his own in Sweden while waiting for the visa process to be completed which is expected to be shortly after the weekend.
  • Philadelphia right winger Dale Weise has been suspended for three games as a result of an illegal check to the head on Anaheim defenseman Korbinian Holzer on Thursday night, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced.  No penalty had been assessed on the hit during the game.  Weise becomes the third Flyer to miss time due to suspension already this season, joining Brayden Schenn and Radko Gudas.

Dallas Notes: Defense, Hemsky, Cracknell

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While the Dallas Stars are carrying eight defensemen for the second straight season, head coach Lindy Ruff is changing how he’s handling the extra depth on his roster, writes Mike Heika of the Dallas News.  Through just four games, all eight blueliners have played in at least two of those contests, a stark contrast to last season where Ruff predominantly kept his top six the same from game to game.  Ruff commented on the decision to cycle some of his defenders in and out of the lineup:

“I want to get everybody going.  It’s not really based on play. I have eight defensemen I’ve used throughout the whole training camp. It will sort itself out. It’s not easy for the two guys who are coming out but at the same time that process usually works out where somebody will step up and really become a player that you don’t want to take him out. But I feel all of these guys can play, and I don’t want them sitting too long.”

Last season, the Stars kept waiver-eligible Jamie Oleksiak up with the team the entire season but only played him in 19 games, hardly an ideal situation.  Fast forward to this year where the team is reportedly shopping him but his lack of playing time last season will certainly be a factor when it comes to any trade discussions.  If their blueline corps stays healthy (which would be a stark contrast to their forward group), it will be interesting to see how long Ruff keeps his rotation going.

[Related: Stars Depth Chart]

Other notes out of Dallas:

  • Right winger Ales Hemsky is close to returning from his groin injury and could make his season debut on Saturday, Heika reports in a separate column. The injury came about at last month’s World Cup of Hockey.  Hemsky had 13 goals and 26 assists last season and will give an already deep forward group another offensive threat when he does return to the ice.
  • Newcomer Adam Cracknell has been one of the early pleasant surprises for the Stars this season, notes Mark Stepneski on the team’s official site. He was brought in over the offseason to give them more depth up front and with the injuries the team has had to deal with, Cracknell has found himself receiving regular ice time.  He has two goals and an assist in four games so far this season while spending time both at center and the wing.  As players such as Hemsky start to return, Cracknell’s role will likely diminish but for the short-term at least, the 31 year old is giving them good value for a cap hit of only $600K.

Jarred Tinordi Clears Waivers

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Oct. 22: Tinordi has cleared waivers, reports James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail (Twitter link).

Oct. 21: With his 20-game suspension for testing positive for a performance enhancing substance now about to finish (the final game is tonight), the Coyotes have placed defenseman Jarred Tinordi on waivers, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link).

It has been a rough time for Tinordi over the past couple of seasons.  The former Montreal first rounder (22nd overall) in 2010 spent most of last season as a healthy scratch with the Canadiens as they didn’t want to risk losing him for nothing via waivers.  Eventually, they dealt him to the Coyotes as part of a series of trades that yielded them tough guy John Scott and defenseman Victor Bartley, both of whom left as free agents this summer.  (Scott remains unsigned while Bartley signed a two-way deal with Minnesota.)

Tinordi got into seven games with Arizona last season before the suspension and played in just ten total NHL games between the two organizations where he was held pointless with a -5 rating and 17 PIMS while averaging 14:18 per game.  He also played in six AHL games on conditioning stints with Montreal, picking up a pair of assists in that span.

The Coyotes declined to tender him a qualifying offer back in June but agreed to a one year, two-way contract worth $700K in the NHL and $150K at the minor league level in early July.

In his career, the 24 year old has played in just 53 NHL games between Montreal and Arizona, recording six assists, a -7 rating, and 78 PIMS while averaging 13:27 per game.  If he clears at 11am on Saturday, the Coyotes plan to assign him to their AHL affiliate in Tucson.

[Related: Coyotes Depth Chart]

Still with the waiver wire, Columbus blueliner Cody Goloubef cleared on Friday and has been assigned to Cleveland of the AHL.

Eastern Conference Snapshots: Hoffman, Warsofsky, Pouliot, Weise

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Ottawa Senators winger Mike Hoffman has led the team in goal scoring in each of the last two seasons, a fact which prompted the team to sign the 26-year-old to a five-year, $20.75MM extension this summer. Even though he has totaled 56 goals since the start of the 2014-15 campaign, Hoffman is no stranger to slow starts and this season has been no exception. Despite the fact the Sens are tied for second in goals-per-game, Hoffman has yet to tally his first marker of the season. But, as Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen writes, it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through.

Hoffman is currently tied with Chris Kreider and Brent Burns in shots on goal with 20 and says he has been getting plenty of scoring chances.

“I’m just trying to keep a level head, I know the goals are going to come. You don’t want to hit the panic button too early. I feel like I’m getting a lot of shots, a lot of chances every game.”

Like Hoffman, head coach Guy Boucher believes the gifted winger will find his scoring touch soon enough.

“I liked a lot of his game (against Arizona). The work is always when the guy is not getting (any chances) and you can see (the confidence) go down, which is not Mike’s case.”

Goal scorers like Hoffman are prone to slumps but when the get hot they tend to score in bunches. So far Hoffman’s inability to put the puck in the net hasn’t had much of an impact on Ottawa’s on-ice fortunes as the team has won three of their first four. Once he does ratchet up his output, the Senators chances of competing for a playoff spot will only improve.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins blue line is a little beat up which today prompted the recall of David Warsofsky from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In a related move, the team placed Derrick Pouliot on IR. Pouliot has made just one appearance for the Penguins, and left that game in the second period with an undisclosed injury. It appears that whatever the injury, it could keep Pouliot out a while. In addition to Pouliot, Olli Maatta and Kris Letang are both banged up as well. Letang is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury but as Mackey writes, he might be healthy enough to suit up Saturday.
  • Dale Weise of the Philadelphia Flyers is slated for a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety after his illegal check to the head of Anaheim defensman Korbinian Holzer in a game Thursday night. Weise wasn’t penalized on the play but the league wasted no time calling for the hearing. It appears it will be a phone hearing, meaning Weise won’t receive a suspension longer than five games. Weise, signed this summer as a free agent, has not yet recorded a point for the Flyers in four appearances.

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