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Injury Notes: Couturier, Gaborik, Cunningham

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The Philadelphia Flyers’ nightmare season continues. Today, the team will recall Scott Laughton from Lehigh Valley to replace Sean Couturier, who will be out for 4-6 weeks with a left knee injury. According to Sam Carchidi, Couturier will be examined this afternoon in Philadelphia but has already been placed on injured reserve.  The 23-year old centerman had eight points in twenty games this season.

For Laughton, this won’t be the first time he’s set foot on NHL ice, but it will be the first this season. The 22-year old former first-rounder played 71 games for the Flyers last season, recording 21 points but was injured early in training camp and had been playing in the AHL since his return. Eight points in eight games at the lower level as he shook off the rust, and proved that he’s ready for an NHL return. As Carchidi reports, he’ll be available to dress tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, though there has been no indication whether or not he’ll get into the lineup right away.

  • Marian Gaborik is back with the Los Angeles Kings and aiming for Saturday to make his season debut, according to Kings beat reporter Elliott Teaford. The 34-year old sniper has been out since suffering an injury at the World Cup in Toronto in September, breaking his right foot in a game against Sweden. The Kings will hope that he’ll come back fresh and looking to show that last year wasn’t what to expect going forward. The former 40-goal man only scored 12 goals and 22 points last season, the lowest point total of his career. He also played in only 54 games, a mark he’ll hope to eclipse this season (the Kings have 62 games remaining).
  • Sarah McLellan of AZ Central is reporting that Craig Cunningham is still in stable but critical condition after suffering a heart attack on the ice Saturday night. Cunningham was playing for the Tucson Roadrunners when he collapsed on the ice and needed to be taken to a local hospital.
  • Tyler Myers has officially been moved to the injured reserve, retroactive to November 11th, reports Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun. The defenseman suffered a lower-body injury just three days after he was last activated from the IR. The hulking blueliner has played in just 11 games this season, scoring five points.

Central Notes: Blues, Blackhawks, Predators

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The Blues offense have received a spark in their offensive production writes the St. Louis Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann. It’s been the shifting of lines that has opened up the scoring for the Blues, who were struggling to put the puck in the net. Timmermann reports that Hitchcock began tinkering with his lines after the second period began during their 4-2 vicotry over Boston, and success was born. Timmermann adds that Hitchcock is a big fan of Jaden Schwartz and Paul Stastny on a line and they’ve seen a bump in their production with the pairing. Timmermann also writes about Jake Allen’s dominance in net, stopping all 64 shots he’s faced in third periods dating back to November 3. In his last four games, Allen has allowed two goals or less, and has posted a .953 save percentage.

In other Central Division news:

  • Mark Lazerus writes that the Blackhawks’ stars are struggling on their long Circus Trip that takes them away from Chicago for seven consecutive games. Lazerus reports that while the bigger name players filed out of the locker room after a 5-0 loss to Edmonton, it was Corey Crawford who stayed to answer the tough questions for the teammates who have been bailed out several times by his performances this season. Lazerus goes on:

Jonathan Toews hasn’t scored a goal in seven games, and hasn’t had a point in all four games on the trip. Patrick Kane hasn’t scored on the trip, and has one goal in his last seven games. After his blistering start, Artem Anisimov has no goals and one assist in his last six games. Artemi Panarin — who is emerging as one of the Hawks’ most important players, given his line’s consistently great possession numbers, and given the way he has rejuvenated Marian Hossa the same way he elevated Kane’s play last season — has just one goal in his last six games.  Even Richard Panik, who actually led the NHL in goals through six games, hasn’t scored in 14 games, and is pointless in his last 10.

About the only one who Lazerus feels is pulling his weight on the trip is Hossa, who has helped the Hawks through a tough road trip where they’ve managed to come back several times from large deficits and poor performances.

  • The Nashville Predators stunned the hockey world when they acquired P.K. Subban and according to the defenseman’s parents, the change has not been as simple as people thought it would be. Adam Vingan writes that the transition to Nashville has been made simpler because Montreal wasn’t always the best fit for him. But it doesn’t completely cushion the shock that Subban felt when he was dealt. His parents are both confident that he will acclimate to his new surroundings because P.K. is one who “never halfheartedly tackles life’s problems.”
  • In other Preds news,  Matt Carle and Cody Bass were waived tweets Chris Johnston. Carle was signed to a one-year deal for $700K back in July. Cody signed a two-year deal back in June.

Red Wings Notes: Struggles, Little Caesars Arena

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Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin said that the team is “sick” of losing writes the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. The Red Wings are mired in a slump that has seen only two wins in their last 11 games, and has plunged Detroit into the Atlantic basement. Worse, the Red Wings have looked sloppy and uninspired during many of the losses in the stretch.

St. James writes that the Red Wings are the only team in the Eastern Conference with double digit losses, while newly acquired Frans Nielsen said tonight’s game against Buffalo will show everyone what the team is made of. From St. James:

“We’ve got to realize where we put ourselves,” Nielsen said. “The good thing is it is still early, but we have to stop the bleeding. The other good thing is we know we can put a streak together, we have done it before this year. But we have got to realize we have to start playing here soon, or it is going to be too late.

“You can say everyone goes through ups and downs, but it’s just been too long for us. We can’t afford any more this year. Pretty much, from now on until the end, we have to be solid.”

The Red Wings were expected to struggle by many analysts, but this is unprecedented for many in a fanbase who have never seen the Red Wings not make the playoffs. Though they’re certainly trying to make it a 26th consecutive season for the playoffs, things are not looking positive for a team that re-signed Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm to expensive, long-term deals and also snagged Nielsen for six years a tune of $5.25MM AAV.  The Red Wings, though, have not seen a return on investment. Nielsen has not played up to the expectations, posting a -7, and only posting eight points in 19 games. Further, a player signed for his puck possession skill, Nielsen’s CF% is the lowest in his career at 46.1%.

While the Red Wings have been saying all the right things, the product on the ice speaks a much different message. Through many of the contests, the Red Wings have been significantly outshot and outplayed for long stretches of games. How they respond against Buffalo will be telling.

In other Red Wings news:

  • The Detroit Pistons will be moving from their home in Auburn Hills and sharing the new Little Caesars Arena with the Red Wings next season. The move is another sign of Detroit’s renaissance writes the Detroit News’ Bob Wojnowski.  Called the “right move” by Pistons owner Tom Gores, Wojo’s colleague Tony Paul reports that the Red Wings-Pistons merger means that Detroit will be the only North American city where all four professional teams play within four blocks of one another. Further, Paul writes that Detroit mayor Mike Duggan told Red Wings owner Chris Ilitch that he wanted the Pistons back in Detroit. Though scheduling will be trickier with two teams in a single building, both owners feel the move will be beneficial for the city.

Injury Updates: Chara, Boyle, Scandella, Connor, Eichel

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Zdeno Chara is day to day after the Bruins released a very short release on his status. Chara left the game after one shift in the second period, and bench boss Claude Julien reported that he knew nothing further about the injury. In the statement, the Bruins characterized the injury as lower body, while Mike Loftus tweets that the Bruins don’t expect Chara to play Thursday and that he’s “iffy” for Friday’s game. Chara is a +12 this season and has six points (1-5) in 19 games.

In other injury news:

  • Bryan Burns tweets that Tampa Bay center Brian Boyle is day-to-day with an upper body injury. Erik Eriendsson also tweets his day-to-day status and writes that he’ll be out for the game tonight. Boyle was also not at the morning skate.
  • The Minnesota Wild’s Marco Scandella is back in the lineup after missing the last 10 games. Mike Halford writes that Scandella has been skating for the past 10 days after suffering an ankle injury. He also writes that his Scandella’s return will bolster a blue line tasked with stopping the Jets’ Patrik Laine.
  • Speaking of the Jets, Kyle Connor has taken his non-contact jersey off in practice tweets Ken Wiebe. Connor has been out with an upper body injury since last week.
  • Jack Eichel might be back in 3-5 games tweets Mike Harrington. Head coach Dan Bylsma believes that “the end is near” for the Sabres being without their star center, though there is no expected timetable per Bylsma.

Jack Eichel Skating At Practice

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The Buffalo Sabres certainly have a reason to be thankful. Jack Eichel was skating this morning and from the video is moving rather well for the young center who has been out since mid-October with a high ankle sprain. Mike Harrington also tweets that Eichel’s progress is going well.

Eichel was injured during an October practice and the Sabres have slumped in his absence. Buffalo has been salvaged by injury, and with Ryan O’Reilly returning and Eichel close, it certainly spells relief for a team expected to build on last year’s successes.

With O’Reilly, Harrington tweets the lines skating at practice and O’Reilly is working in with Matt Moulson and Kyle Okposo. Joe Yerdon tweets that O’Reilly could also see time on the power play.

Las Vegas Reveals Name And Logo

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At long last, the Las Vegas expansion team finally has an identity. Team ownership and management announced that taking the ice in 2017-18 as the 31st member of the NHL, will be the Vegas Golden Knights. Five months to the day since it became official that Las Vegas would get a hockey team, the announcement tonight comes as the culmination of months of speculation surrounding countless rumors of trademark filings and legal roadblocks.

After all the talk and guesswork as to what the expansion team could be called, it turns out that a report from NHL.com back in August all but spoiled it. It was reported that the team had filed for trademarks for “Desert Knights”, “Silver Knights”, and… “Golden Knights”. Team owner Bill Foley reportedly wanted the team to be named the “Black Knights”, after the Army Black Knights of the U.S. Military Academy, which he attended. The shortened version of just “Knights” seemed like the next best option, but the team had trademark contention with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League and would have faced legal issues in Canada with the moniker. After considering their options, the team has now settled on Golden Knights. While the double entendre of “Las Vegas Knights” won’t be as clean, that is likely what they will referred to as in the shorthand anyway, and the first team called the Knights in major North American pro sports will still be a nice addition to the National Hockey League.

In addition to revealing the team name, Las Vegas also gave fans their first look at the logo. A gold and black helmet, hearkening back to the days of King Arthur, appears to be the primary logo for the new NHL competitor. Although the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins have their claim on various shades of gold and yellow to go along with black, the Western Conference is lacking such a team and the logo looks promising for some good-looking jerseys down the road. Other team colors will reportedly be gray and red.

Although many hoped for a gambling reference with the Las Vegas team name, the NHL made it clear that they did not approve of that. The goal of any professional franchise is to have a nickname that simply makes sense, represents the team, and, above all else, sells merchandise. Any new team usually doesn’t have trouble with the latter, but with a cool logo that is a reference to both bravery and a killer instinct, as well as a classic color scheme, Las Vegas is well on their way to selling out lots of gear.

Pro Hockey Rumors is happy to officially welcome the Las Vegas Golden Knights to the National Hockey League. We look forward to continuing to follow along with the teams further announcements (jerseys, coaching staff, AHL affiliate) and keeping up with all of the rumors surrounding the team’s trades, free agent signings, and, of course, the NHL Expansion Draft in June.

Bruins Notes: Backes, Franchise Goals, Vatrano

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David Backes and the Boston Bruins taking on the St. Louis Blues tonight has been a big story around the hockey world today, even with so much else going on. It speaks measures about how much the former Blues captain meant to his former franchise. A second-round pick by St. Louis in 2003, the big power forward quickly established himself as one of the best two-way players in the league, as well as a strong leader in the locker room. Backes ranks in the top ten in Blues’ franchise records for games, goals, assists, points, and penalty minutes and has had a lasting effect on the team beyond just the record books.

With the Blues struggling defensively this season (51 goals allowed vs. 40 by the Bruins), there has been a lot of talk about the negative effects that the loss of Backes has had on the team and questioning the decision to let him walk. So when the two teams lined up at TD Garden in Boston tonight, St. Louis fans could only hope that Backes wouldn’t directly harm them as opposed to his absence indirectly hurting the team against other teams. Fittingly, it was Backes who scored the first goal of the game, early in the first period. Backes had told NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin that he was worried about shooting on the wrong goal tonight, but got it right when he he jammed home a rebound to put Boston up 1-0.

The goal was also a significant career achievement for Backes, as it officially gave him a goal against all 30 NHL teams. The long-time Blue has been a great addition in Boston, scoring his fourth goal and eighth point of the season early in the game, playing in only his 14th game. A big, strong player, who also wears the alternate captain “A” on the road (and at home tonight for this special personal circumstance), Backes has helped the Bruins to get back to the physical, defensively sound game that led them to two Stanley Cup appearances in three years not long ago, but has been lacking the past couple of seasons.

  • Backes’ goal was also a milestone for the Bruins franchise, as it marked 20,000 goals for the team. An Original Six franchise with a winning history, Boston joins their arch-rival, the Montreal Canadiens, as the only two teams to accomplish the feat.
  • Although the Bruins are off to a strong start, their is still room for improvement. The top line of Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak has been excellent, but a lack of consistency and cohesion among their other forward lines has limited an offense that was among the league’s best in 2015-16. The line combinations may finally sort themselves out when Frank Vatrano returns to the lineup and, fortunately for the Bruins, that appears to be coming sooner rather than later. Vatrano injured his foot in off-season conditioning, and was forced to undergo surgery that was expected to keep him out at least through the calendar year. Instead, he took the ice this morning in his first skate with the team and is ahead of schedule to return. The AHL’s leading goal-scorer in 2015-16 (36 goals in 36 games), Vatrano also contributed eight goals in 39 games in Boston last year. The former UMass star was expected to win a top nine job in camp and was a prime candidate for a breakout year. With line chemistry still unclear, a prime spot will surely still be up for the 22-year-old with a knack for finding the back of the net.

The Post-Burns Free Agent Market

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Unlike the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steven Stamkos saga of this past summer, the San Jose Sharks have spared hockey fans the drama and re-signed the top free agent on the market well before the trade rumors or free agency speculation could begin. Brent Burns inked an eight-year, $64MM extension earlier today, removing one of hockey’s most dynamic players from play next summer. So where does that leave the rest of the market?

With the Las Vegas expansion team joining the NHL this year by way of an expansion draft and some special free agency privileges, the 2017 off-season was already shaping up to be unique and unpredictable. However, the one constant that many agreed upon was that if Burns hit the open market, he would be the most sought after player this summer. The Sharks put an end to that potential narrative early on and what’s left is a free agent market filled with mostly question marks.

Regardless of Burns availability, the forward market was already lacking in excitement. Burns’ San Jose teammates Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau are likely the biggest names available, but both are way past their prime at 37 years old. Jaromir Jagr and Jarome Iginla qualify for the “future Hall of Famer with little upside” group as well, and Patrick Sharp and Radim Vrbata may as well join the old-timers too. With Burns gone, is it possible that T.J. Oshie is now up for best player available?

Perhaps goalie Ben Bishop now claims the title of top free agent. He was the only one who could realistically give Burns a run for his money, and now faces little competition. The 30-year-old Tampa Bay keeper is set to hit free agency with his team seemingly committed to the young Andrei Vasilevskiy. With one less player out there to command a top contract, Bishop will now likely cash in with a deal close to the $8.5MM yearly pact given by the New York Rangers to Henrik Lundqvist. Without another all-world player like Burns available for teams to weigh against Bishop, expect him to be signed early, leaving money and interest open for the likes of Brian Elliott, Thomas Greiss, Steve Mason and potentially this season’s early surprise star, Peter Budaj.

Where the Burns signing really makes an impact is among the free agent defenseman. Suddenly Kevin Shattenkirk has been thrust into the position of best available blue liner and will be able to command whatever salary he likes. However, reports this past summer indicated that Shattenkirk only had eyes for the Eastern Conference, specifically Boston and New York. So where do the other 28 teams look? Like the majority of big-name forwards, Andrei Markov presents limited upside at 37 years old, and Mark Streit even more so at 38. Brian Campbell, Johnny Oduya, Ron Hainsey: same thing. Burns absence from open competition is likely to instead benefit some younger defenseman who have yet to establish themselves as bona-fide top pair guys. Dmitry Kulikov, who was traded from Florida to Buffalo this summer, has yet to score a point for his new team but may just end up being the most sought-after defenseman. Injury-prone risk/reward players like Michael Del Zotto and Michael Stone will also draw more interest. Even players who have struggled for a couple seasons now, like Dennis Wideman or Cody Franson, could be in a position for a pay day this summer.

What it boils down to is this: take a weak free agent market and remove it’s best player and things are likely to get messy. With the expansion process removing talent from every NHL roster, the 2017 off-season will be one where nearly every team has a need to address. The re-signing of Brent Burns just changed the free agency market dynamics completely and teams will likely be scrambling to make additions (with several overvalued contracts guaranteed). With a dearth of talent available to sign, there will likely be an active trade market this summer as well. This off-season was already going to be crazy, but the San Jose Sharks just took it to the next level with their massive extension for the best impending free agent.

Atlantic Notes: Kane, Jurco, Hoffman, Ryan

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Buffalo left winger Evander Kane has seen his name pop up in trade rumors recently with Vancouver and Minnesota but no deal has taken place.  Speaking with Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, Kane doesn’t seem to be fazed by having his name in trade chatter:

“It’s nothing new for me, something I’ve dealt with. There’s been bad reporting, inaccurate reporting, confused reporting, silly reporting. And then you have accurate reporting too. I’m used to it all. For me, I really don’t care because you can’t worry about it. … I’m happy with what I’m doing. I’m focused on hockey.”

Kane has been no stranger to having his name out there, both for on and off-ice reasons.  His off-ice issues have been well documented while on the ice, he has shown flashes of being the high end power forward he was pegged to be after being the fourth overall pick of Atlanta back in 2009 but also has had moments of inconsistency that have prevented him from being a top liner wherever he plays.

In the meantime, Kane is working his way back into Buffalo’s lineup after being injured in the season opener with four cracked ribs.  He has played in the last seven games but has only two assists.  He has surpassed the 20 minute mark in each of his last two outings though as he earns more responsibility from head coach Dan Bylsma.

With two years remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $5.25MM and a salary of $6MM in each season, any sort of deal involving the 25 year old would require a high salaried player coming back Buffalo’s way if they were to decide to deal him which could complicate any potential trade.  Harrington adds that the Sabres aren’t shopping Kane but are listening to offers if a team wants to inquire about him.

More from the Atlantic:

  • The Detroit Red Wings have assigned right winger Tomas Jurco to Grand Rapids of the AHL on a conditioning assignment, reports MLive’s Ansar Khan (Twitter link). He’s expected to play two games for the Griffins and then return to Detroit on the weekend.  Jurco has yet to play this season due to offseason back surgery.
  • Senators left winger Mike Hoffman will be back in the lineup tonight after missing the last two games with a groin problem, writes Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen. However, Bobby Ryan (broken finger) is not yet ready to return.  Head coach Guy Boucher is hopeful that Ryan will be able to play on Thursday night against Boston.

Sharks Sign Brent Burns To An Eight Year Extension

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The San Jose Sharks announced that they have signed an eight year extension with defenseman Brent Burns.  ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun was first to report that the deal was done (Twitter link).  LeBrun also adds that the deal is believed to carry a cap hit of $8MM.  Earlier today, it was reported that that the two sides had made considerable progress towards a new deal.  In a follow-up tweet, LeBrun notes that the deal is front loaded and contains signing bonuses.  He also will not have a no-move clause but will have a limited no-trade clause.  Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports (via Twitter) that Burns has a three-team trade list.

The breakdown of the contract is as follows, per CapFriendly:

2017-18: $3MM salary, $7MM signing bonus
2018-19: $4MM salary, $6MM signing bonus
2019-20: $5MM salary, $5MM signing bonus
2020-21: $2MM salary, $8MM signing bonus
2021-22: $4MM salary, $3.5MM signing bonus
2022-23: $3MM salary, $3.5MM signing bonus
2023-24: $3MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
2024-25: $3MM salary, $2MM signing bonus

GM Doug Wilson issued the following statement as part of San Jose’s announcement:

“Brent is one the most dynamic players in the National Hockey League and we’re very excited to get this deal done.  He has worked extremely hard to be an elite defenseman and at six-foot-five, 230-pounds, his abilities on this ice are unique and rare. I also want to thank Hasso Plattner and our entire ownership group for their commitment to our franchise and the fans in San Jose by stepping forward and making this commitment to Brent.”

Burns has evolved into one of the NHL’s elite defensemen after being converted back to the back end following the 2013-14 season.  Two years ago, he posted a career high of 60 points and then followed that up with a 75 point campaign last season, the second highest point total among NHL defenders.  That earned him a nomination for the Norris Trophy for the top defenseman in the NHL; he finished third in the voting.

"MarThe 31 year old is off to another strong start this season with seven goals and nine assists in 19 games to lead all NHL blueliners in scoring.  In 815 career NHL games, Burns has 437 points (147 goals and 290 assists) along with 535 penalty minutes.

While the cap hit of $8MM per season isn’t too surprising, him getting eight years may catch some by surprise.  He’ll now be paid through his age 40 season and it’s very rare for defensemen to remain elite into their early 40’s.  However, as is often the case with long-term deals for veteran players, the Sharks are likely content with the risk knowing that Burns is currently in the prime of his career.  Back in September, we took a closer look at his contract situation and projected a seven year extension with an AAV of $7.875MM.

His $8MM cap hit places him second in the NHL among defensemen behind Nashville’s P.K. Subban ($9MM) and just ahead of Montreal’s Shea Weber ($7.857MM).

The deal takes the best blueliner (and arguably the best pending unrestricted free agent period) off of the market next summer.  Kevin Shattenkirk (St. Louis), Dmitry Kulikov (Buffalo), Andrei Markov (Montreal), and Michael Stone (Arizona) are among the prominent pending UFAs on the back end at the moment.

The Sharks can now turn their focus to their two other prominent pending UFAs up front in forwards Joe Thornton ($6.75MM) and Patrick Marleau ($6.67MM).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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