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Archives for October 2016

Coyotes Send Zbynek Michalek To AHL

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After clearing waivers just before the season started, the Arizona Coyotes have now sent Zbynek Michalek to their AHL affiliate Tucson Roadrunners, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet.

Michalek, a former stalwart of the Coyotes’ blueline has seen his play deteriorate greatly in recent seasons, perhaps due to the multiple concussion or concussion-like injuries he’s suffered on the ice. While the 33-year old isn’t the shutdown defender he once was, this move is clearly one to save cap space for a team who suddenly finds themselves right up against it.

John Chayka, the league’s youngest GM, has openly spoken about how valuable cap space is as an asset in the new NHL, and has used it often to acquire talent.  Pavel Datsyuk, Dave Bolland, and Chris Pronger are all examples of the team using their space (but not neccessarily actual money) to gain prospects or draft picks to fuel their rebuild.

With Michalek earning $3.2MM this season, it will save the Coyotes close to a million dollars in cap space to bury him in the minors for the entire year. While the player might not like it, these are the realities of a cap-driven league.

Mason Raymond On Waivers

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Oct. 18: Raymond has cleared waivers.  Eric Stephens notes via Twitter that remains with the big club for the time being.

Oct. 17: The Anaheim Ducks have place veteran winger Mason Raymond on waivers, according to TVA Sports reporter Renaud Lavoie.

Raymond was brought in to Anaheim on a one-year, two-way contract worth $675K. He made the team out of training camp, but was held pointless in three games with a -2 rating. The Ducks are 0-2-1 so far this season.

The speedy Raymond played six seasons with the Vancouver Canucks before signing with Toronto in 2013. He had a successful 45-point season with the Maple Leafs, which earned him a three-year, $9.45MM contract from the Calgary Flames in 2014. He’s scored 28 points in 89 games since then.

Raymond was bought out of the final year of his contract by the Flames in June.

Speaking of the Flames, newly-signed depth goaltender Tom McCollum has cleared waivers and has been assigned to the Stockton Heat of the AHL.

Snapshots: NHL Three Stars, Oilers Fallout, Montoya

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It’s been a pretty good start to the NHL season for two of the best young players in the game.

Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews have been dominant to start the year, and they’ve been named the NHL’s first and second stars of the week. Veteran goaltender Roberto Luongo has been named third star.

The newly-minted youngest captain in NHL history scored 3 goals and 6 points in three games. McDavid had three points in each of the Oilers’ first two games before being held pointless in Sunday night’s 6-2 loss.

Matthews scored four goals in his NHL debut on Wednesday, breaking the record for most goals in an NHL debut. He was also held pointless on Saturday night, but his debut showing was more than enough to secure the second star of the week.

The Panthers are 2-0-0, and Luongo has been a major part of that. He’s won both games, allowing just two goals; he’s sporting a sparkling 0.957 SV% and a 0.98 GAA.

  • After getting blown out by the injury-plagued Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night, the Edmonton Oilers are in need of a shake-up. They’ve postponed their CBA-mandated day off from Monday to Wednesday. Coach Todd McLellan told the media after the game that “we took [a day off] today, so we’ll skate tomorrow.” Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reported the NHLPA is reviewing the decision.
  • Oilers winger Benoit Pouliot has always had a penchant for taking poor penalties. While he’s usually been able to draw penalties to make-up for them, he’s not done well the last two games. He was benched for the second period on Friday after taking three bad penalties in a short period of time, but returned and played well in the third. On Sunday night, he took another two penalties in the first period and was stapled to the bench for the final 40 minutes. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug told TSN 1260 that he thinks Pouliot could find himself in the press box on Tuesday night. “I think they’re going to healthy-scratch him. That’s what I would be doing. At least one, if not more games. Because enough has to be enough. The message needs to be sent … I could see Todd [McLellan] coming down really, really heavy.”
  • Carey Price will miss the Canadiens home opener with the flu. New backup Al Montoya will get the start against the Penguins on Tuesday night. Price did skate with goaltending coach Stephane Waite before team practice.

Top KHL Salaries And Their NHL Comparables

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The KHL has long been labelled a place where fringe NHLers can go to get a bigger opportunity and paycheck. However, a report by KHL writer Aivis Kalniņš suggests that might not be the case.

Kalniņš tweeted a list of the top 30 player salaries in the KHL this season, and the salaries have a much lower ceiling and drop off quite quickly. The top 30 in the KHL add up to a shade over $55MM, while the NHL’s top 30 cap hits amount to an astounding $291.15MM.

Here are some notable names on the list, and comparable salaries in the NHL. It is important to note that Kalniņš’ list does not include bonuses, which could bump many of the numbers up. All numbers are from Kalniņš or Cap Friendly.

Kalniņš notes that new Montreal Canadiens forward Alexander Radulov was offered $7MM by CSKA, but chose to sign in Montreal for $5.75MM back in July.

The KHL has never released player salaries. Kalniņš speculates that this reveal could lead to full disclosure about KHL salaries. While some NHL teams are beginning to release numbers, most of what we know is based on reports from insiders.

Red Wings Notes: Early Struggles, Mantha, Svechnikov

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An 0-2 start for the first time since 2009 has Red Wings fans in a frenzy and bench boss Jeff Blashill has only liked two of his defenseman’s play writes the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. Only Jonathan Ericsson and Xavier Ouelett have played well enough to garner Blashill’s praise and for the Wings, it’s been a brutal stretch early as they’ve struggled to score goals, generate shots on goal, and be responsible in their own end. The Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan reports quoted captain Henrik Zetterberg as saying that the Wings’ efforts haven’t been good enough:

“We’re not really connected right now. We should be able to create more than we have been in these two games. Can’t blame it on chemistry. We’re supposed to be better hockey players than that and should be able to create more.”

Positives are free agent pick ups Thomas Vanek and Frans Nielsen have been effective in the first two games, and Petr Mrazek has kept games from getting completely out of control. But there is a glaring need on defense, and it will be interesting to see if the Wings address it soon.

With the early woes, many fans have already begun calling for the heads of anyone in management, but fan blog Winging It In Motown writes that a steady course is the best bet for Detroit. Though the Red Wings have struggled out of the gate, and looked poor through stretches of both games, the column states that Blashill can only do so much. As stated by Zetterberg, time and familiarity could bring success.

In other Wings news:

  • Evgeny Svechnikov and Anthony Mantha both scored goals in Grand Rapids’ 3-2 victory over the Chicago Wolves, making the calls for Mantha’s promotion louder. Mantha has now scored in both Griffins victories, with one goal coming on the power play. Mantha was on the bubble of making the final roster, but the spot went to Andreas Athanasiou, who spent considerable time with the Red Wings last season. Mantha, who bulked up in the offseason, continues to make strong impressions in the hope of getting a longer stay with the big club. Svechnikov, who wasn’t expected to make the roster, has shown his own flashes of brilliance and while the team is struggling in Detroit, there still appears to be a solid pipeline of talent that could come up should the season turn disastrous.

Krueger The Top Candidate For Las Vegas Head Coach?

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In his bold predictions for the 2016-17 season, TSN’s Frank Servalli predicts that the head coach of the Las Vegas expansion team will be Ralph Krueger. The head coach of Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey last month, a team that exceeded everyone’s expectations, Krueger has gotten plenty of buzz as a top coaching candidate for any spots that open in the near future. No NHL coaching gig will get as much attention as the man picked to helm the new team in Las Vegas next season.

The only problem? Krueger is currently the chairman of Southampton FC of the English Premiere League, and yes that is a soccer team. Although Krueger grew up in Canada and was a hockey player, he was born in Germany, and his German roots and time spent playing and coaching overseas also made him a big soccer fan. He was named director of Southampton in 2014, and was soon after promoted to chairman. As of now, he has pledged his dedication to his switch to soccer, but Servalli notes that Krueger also added in a World Cup interview that he would “never say never”.

Should Las Vegas GM George McPhee convince Krueger to return to hockey and coach the league’s newest team next year, it would not be his first stint as an NHL bench boss. Krueger began working for the Edmonton Oilers in 2010 and was promoted to head coach for the 2012-13 season. After finishing below .500 and missing the playoffs, Krueger was relieved of his duties after just one season. However, his recent success at the World Cup shows that the former Oilers coach still has a passion for the game of hockey, as well as an innate ability to coach it. It is a certainty that Las Vegas will inquire about Krueger’s interests in a return, and if you believe Servalli, he will be the first head coach of the franchise in 2016-17.

Jamie Oleksiak On The Trade Block

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Within a catch-all sports article in the Toronto Sun, Steve Simmons slipped in a line implying that Dallas Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was for sale. With a plethora of young blue liners supposedly available across the league, all much more high-profile than Oleksiak, his availability has flown under the radar. However, with the season underway and many teams seeing the holes in their lineups, those who can’t meet the demands for names like Jacob Trouba or Cam Fowler might just end up swinging a deal for the big Dallas defenseman.

The expectations for Oleksiak were high when he was taken 14th overall by the Stars in the 2011 NHL Draft. At 6’7″, and over 250 lbs. at such a young age, Oleksiak had the size and raw power to become a shutdown defenseman in only a short matter of time. After his freshman year at Northeastern University, Oleksiak was drafted by Dallas and decided to move to the junior ranks. His first and only season in the OHL was split between the Saginaw Spirit and Niagara Ice Dogs, and Oleksiak showed his first glimpses of puck-moving ability. Dallas jumped at the chance to sign their up-and-coming star while he was still a teenager, and he rewarded them with the best year of his career with the AHL Texas Stars and even got into 16 games with the big-league team. Every year since, those once-promising numbers have gone down. Oleksiak has been unable to stick in Dallas, and has not had the same production in the AHL either. Last year, injuries kept him from doing much at either level.

Now it looks as if the Stars are trying to sell Oleksiak based on his potential before he’s officially labeled a bust. With little production to use as a selling point, all Dallas has is the size and style of the big blue liner. A big defenseman who has shown an ability to skate and move the puck will always have some value, but how much is yet to be determined. If Dallas is set on giving up on Oleksiak, expect him to be moved this season, no matter the sunk cost.

Central Snapshots: Avalanche, Gunnarsson, Lehtera, Brodziak, Stars

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After missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season, the Colorado Avalanche perhaps surprisingly kept their roster mostly intact this past summer; though they did make one big change which is expected to impact their on-ice fortunes. Jared Bednar replaces Patrick Roy behind the bench and is being counted on to implement a system better-suited for the talent on hand and one that can compete in the tough Central Division. But as Terry Frei of The Denver Post argues, by sticking with this core group of players, making the playoffs isn’t going to be good enough for the Avalanche.

By virtue of the expensive long-term contracts doled out over the last couple of seasons to Semyon Varlamov, Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie and Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado has demonstrated an immense amount of faith that this group can guide the franchise to Stanley Cup contention, opines Frei. Those six players account for nearly half of Colorado’s cap commitments in the 2016-17 campaign and perhaps more importantly, all remain under contract to the Avalanche for at least the next three seasons. If this group underachieves yet again, it could make it that much tougher for GM Joe Sakic to receive fair value for these players in potential trade talks. Consequently, since his ability to spend on free agents will be restricted as well, it might be difficult moving forward to drastically change or augment the Avalanche roster.

More from the Central Division:

  • The Blues are 3 – 0 following their 3 – 2 win over the New York Rangers Saturday night but the victory could prove costly. Centers Kyle Brodziak, Jori Lehtera along with defenseman Carl Gunnarsson all left last night’s tilt with injuries and did not return, notes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The exact nature and severity of the injuries are not known at this point and as Rutherford points out, with a day off today more information may not be available until Monday. Playing with 10 forwards and five defenseman for the entire third frame last night, the Blues hung on despite being outshot by the Rangers 15 – 0 in the period. With Petteri Lindbohm available in the minors, St. Louis is likely better-equipped to cover for the loss of Gunnarsson than they would be if both Lehtera and Brodziak were to miss extensive time.
  • Another Central Division team that’s had to deal with injuries in the early going is Dallas. Veteran forward Ales Hemsky has battled a groin issue and won’t be available for the first week or so of the season. Center Cody Eakin is expected to be out into November with a knee problem while Mattias Janmark’s season could be in jeopardy following knee surgery. With that much forward talent on the sideline, it would have been understandable if GM Jim Nill reacted by acquiring a veteran player or two, whether via trade or waivers, to buoy the team’s depth. But as Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News writes, Nill prepared his roster this summer by inking the likes of Adam Cracknell, Jiri Hudler and later, Lauri Korpikoski. Cracknell was expected to provide insurance at the AHL level but has been pressed into service early and has responded with a goal and an assist through two games. Korpiksoki had the final year of his deal bought out by Edmonton and failed to convert a training camp PTO into a roster spot with Calgary. The Stars inked Korpikoski, who has been criticized for his poor performance in the puck possession department, to a one-year deal which has already paid off for Dallas. The Finnish forward has already tallied a goal and is a plus-two so far this season. It appears as if Nill’s savvy, low-risk moves have a good chance of keeping the Stars ship afloat until reinforcements arrive in the form of Hemsky and Eakin.

Atlantic Snapshots: Bergevin, Point, Red Wings

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Marc Bergevin took a lot of heat this summer after dealing fan-favorite defenseman P.K. Subban to Nashville for Shea Weber. Subban is four yours younger than Weber and while he carries a higher annual cap charge ($9MM versus $7.857MM), his deal expires four years earlier than Weber’s. Nonetheless, as Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette writes, Bergevin knows only time will tell how this trade ultimately works out for the Canadiens.

Montreal is clearly banking on the “leadership and stability” Weber provides as a two-time Olympic gold medal winner. Subban is flashier, according to Hickey, and known for being a bit of a risk-taker. At one point last season it did seem as if the Canadiens were growing tired of Subban’s gambling nature and would prefer a more conservative approach on the ice.

With Weber (31) on board and franchise goalie Carey Price set to turn 30 next summer, the belief is the Canadiens window to win may be closing, lending further justification for Bergevin to pull the trigger on the Subban trade. But as Hickey noted, Bergevin doesn’t believe in windows:

“There are too many variables. In today’s NHL, it turns around fast. I look at Buffalo. I know they have injuries, but they came a long way quick. There’s a price to pay. Obviously, the best way (to improve) is the draft and you saw the kid (Maple Leafs rookie Auston) Matthews with four goals in his first game. He’s going to be a very good player, but there was a price to pay to get him.” 

It’s an interesting perspective from the Habs GM and Hickey’s piece contains additional tidbits on a couple of the Canadiens’ top young players and Bergevin’s thoughts on those players.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • Detroit is off to an 0 – 2 start and much of the blame falls on the back end and their struggles to retrieve the puck and begin the transition from defense to offense efficiently, as Ansar Khan writes. Head coach Jeff Blashill after last night’s loss to Florida: “I thought we were second in all those pucks; their second guy beat our second guy almost all night. Part of that is when you play a long time in your end you get tired playing defense and it’s hard to have enough juice for offense. So, we got to be quicker out of our end.” Blashill singles out Mike Green, Jonathan Ericsson and Xavier Oullet as having been “good” through two games. It stands to reason then that his omissions of Danny DeKeyser, Alexey Marchenko and Brendan Smith, who have also each appeared in the Wings’ first two contests, suggests an indictment of their play from the coach. While it’s still very early in the season it’s clear this Red Wings team may well be in jeopardy of snapping their stretch of 25 consecutive playoff appearances.
  • Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman learned much about his craft from Detroit’s Ken Holland. And like Holland, Yzerman has been careful when it comes to promoting his team’s prospects. Since taking over in Tampa Bay, not one first-year pro player with AHL eligibility has made the team coming out of camp; that is, as Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times reports, until Brayden Point. Taking advantage of the training camp absences of Ryan Callahan (injury) and Nikita Kucherov (unsigned RFA), Point earned this opportunity and not only did the 20-year-old forward make his NHL debut, he saw 16 minutes of ice time in the Lightning’s 3 – 2 win over New Jersey, as Smith notes. Smith argues keeping Point after an impressive training camp “sends the right message to the dressing room,” proving to the group that roster spots are earned through performance and not a player’s contract. Time will tell whether Point will keep his spot once Callahan is healthy enough to return but by simply making the team to open the season, he’s already accomplished something Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Kucherov did not.

Snapshots: Prince, Campbell, Hanzal

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News and notes from around the NHL this morning:

  • The New York Islanders have placed Shane Prince on IR retroactive to last night. Prince suffered a lower body injury last night in the Isles game against the Washington Capitals. Prince has registered zero points and -3 plus/minus this season in two games. Last season Prince split his time between the Ottawa Senators and the Islanders, scoring 6G and 11A in 62 games, and an additional 3G and 1A in 11 playoff games. Prince’s injury opens up a center spot to recently cut prospects.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have suspended forward Gregory Campbell after he refused to report to the Lake Erie Monsters, Columbus’s AHL affiliate. Campbell—through his agent Pat Morris—says that he is not going to play in the AHL and take a spot away from a younger player. Columbus tried to trade Campbell before waiving him, but apparently did not garner any legitimate offers. Campbell will continue to skate on his own, but one would have to think whether he is considering retirement.
  • Arizona Coyotes’ Martin Hanzal will most likely shut down contract talks for the season and instead focus on hockey, reports Sarah McLellan of AZ Central Sports. Hanzal is in the final year of a five-year deal worth $3.1MM a year. The Czech forward says that he wants to stay in Arizona, and is happy to talk to the team once the season ends. Shutting down negotiations once the season started was the plan along, says Hanzal.

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