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Blackhawks Notes: Panarin, Crawford, Tootoo, Krys

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Despite only being in his second year in the NHL, Artemi Panarin has rapidly developed into one of the Chicago Blackhawks most important players. After netting 30 goals and 77 points as a rookie, Panarin is producing at a point-per-game rate and currently ranks fifth in the league in scoring as a sophomore. Set to become a restricted free agent in the summer, Panarin is poised to cash in and score a substantial long-term contract from Chicago.

Given Chicago’s current salary cap situation, the team is going to have to make some difficult decisions to make in order to free up enough space to fit Panarin’s next pact under the cap ceiling. As it stands today, the Hawks have roughly $60.6MM in salary cap commitments to 14 players in 2017-18. Depending on exactly where the cap ceiling falls, that would leave Chicago with somewhere between $13MM and $15MM in available space. Unless the team makes other moves to shed salary, the Blackhawks will have a tough time fleshing out their roster if they sign Panarin to a market-value extension.

As they’ve had to do often in the past, it’s likely the club will end up moving some veteran talent to free up space. With backup goalie Scott Darling performing well in Corey Crawford’s recent absence, some have speculated Chicago could look to move the latter and his $6MM cap charge. However, Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune opines that moving Crawford is not the solution to the Blackhawks Panarin question.

While acknowledging that the team and their fans are likely tired of seeing some of their top young talent traded away due to salary cap concerns – Brandon Saad, Teuvo Teravainen and Andrew Shaw are a few of the players Chicago has drafted and developed only to see them moved elsewhere because of financial considerations – Hine believes any notion of dealing Crawford ignores the goalie’s importance to the team. Hine argues that Crawford has established himself as an elite netminder and his contributions to two Stanley Cup championships should not be ignored.

Additionally, Crawford has a modified NMC and there is little reason to believe he would waive it to facilitate a trade. While the specifics of the NMC are unknown, at the very least it would serve to limit Crawford’s market and complicate any potential trade. Further impacting the veteran goaltender’s hypothetical market is his $6MM cap charge. Few teams currently need a goalie and even fewer are in the position to take on that type of commitment.

Ultimately the Hawks will find a way to get a deal done with Panarin. He’s simply too talented and important to Chicago for them to let him get away. Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman will inevitably have to make a tough decision or two to free up the necessary cap space but moving Crawford likely won’t be one of them.

In other Blackhawks news:

  • Despite being on the smaller side – 5-foot-9, 195 pounds – Jordin Tootoo has carved out a lengthy NHL career playing a tough, physical style and often fighting players much larger than himself. After a nine-point season with New Jersey in 2015-16, Tootoo hit free agency at a time when more teams are moving away from employing one-dimensional tough guys. Fortunately for the diminutive winger, Chicago found themselves in need of a veteran presence willing to work at or near the league minimum and inked the 33-year-old to a one-year deal worth just $750K. Tootoo recognizes the situation he now finds himself in and is willing to do whatever it takes to help his new team, as Scott Powers of The Athletic writes in a Q & A piece. Tootoo has yet to register a point on the season and is averaging just 6:44 of ice time per contest, but has done quality work as Chicago’s resident agitator and enforcer.
  • Just days after Chicago forward prospect Alex DeBrincat was cut from Team USA’s WJC entry, fellow Blackhawks prospect Chad Krys was announced as the team’s final cut, CSN Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis reports. Krys, who represented Team USA last year in the same tournament, is in the midst of his freshman season at Boston University after the Hawks selected the defenseman in the second-round of the 2016 draft.

Snapshots: Joseph, Hartley, Blackhawks

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The Tampa Bay Lightning announced the signing of prospect winger Mathieu Joseph to a three year, entry-level contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Joseph was Tampa’s fourth round pick (120th overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.  He is in his fourth season at the junior level, with Saint John of the QMJHL.  Through 29 games this season, Joseph has 25 goals (tied for the league lead) and 20 assists along with a +23 rating.  He will be participating in the World Juniors for Team Canada which begins on Monday.

Unless Joseph plays in ten or more games with Tampa Bay this season which is quite unlikely, his contract will slide a year and begin in the 2017-18 season.

Other notes from around the league:

  • While coach Bob Hartley recently agreed to coach the Latvian national team, he is not viewing the opportunity as a long-term option, he told Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. Hartley will be behind the bench for the World Championships in May but intends to pursue another NHL position this summer.  Spector notes that Hartley has declined offers from Switzerland and the KHL but wouldn’t rule out extending his one year deal in Latvia for a second season if he’s unsuccessful in finding a spot back in North America.
  • If Chicago wants to find a way to re-sign left winger Artemi Panarin beyond this season, the Blackhawks will likely have to shake up their core to find the salary cap space to do so. While many have speculated that one of their skaters would have to go, ESPN’s Craig Custance suggests an alternate route in a reader mailbag (Insider required).  He opines that moving Corey Crawford and re-signing Scott Darling to go with a cheaper goalie tandem may be the best way to go.  Darling is still largely unproven at the NHL level with only 65 games under his belt including the playoffs but fared relatively well as the starter in ten games while Corey Crawford was out following an appendectomy, going 6-3-1 with a 2.12 GAA and a .930 SV% during that span.

Friedman’s Latest: Fleury, Trouba, Trade Market

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 590 in Toronto recently to provide some updates on a few players and the trade market in general.  Here are some of the highlights; transcription courtesy of FanRag’s Chris Nichols.

Marc-Andre Fleury (Penguins)

Friedman, like many others, expects that Fleury’s days with Pittsburgh are close to being over.  The question at this point is whether they’ll make an in-season move or keep him around for what they expect to be another lengthy postseason run.  If they were to keep Fleury, they’d have the luxury of having two starting goaltenders which could come in handy in case of injury, which is how Murray wound up with the number one job in the playoffs.

He also points out Fleury’s 12-team no trade clause as a potential obstacle.  However, Friedman believes that when the time comes to make a trade that they’ll check in with the goaltender to make sure he’s happy with his eventual new destination.  This is his 13th career season, all with the Penguins after being the first overall pick in 2003 so they’ll want to try to do right by their longest-tenured player.

One other potential obstacle that Friedman didn’t mention is Fleury’s struggles so far this season.  He has not adapted particularly well to not being the full-fledged starter and has a GAA of 3.25 and a SV% of .905, both well below league average.  For teams that might be looking at him as an in-season option, those numbers certainly won’t help his value and there are other goaltenders already currently available.

Jacob Trouba (Jets)

Friedman noted that Toronto is among the teams that have kept tabs on Winnipeg blueliner Jacob Trouba.  However, the Leafs, like several other Canadian teams, have some doubts regarding Trouba’s willingness to play in a Canadian market long-term.

Trouba rescinded his trade request when he signed a two year, $6MM bridge deal back in early November.  However, many still think he will be dealt by the time that the contract expires.  The Jets have a pair of big money, higher end blueliners on the right side in Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers and Trouba has stated his preference is to play on his natural side.

Interestingly enough, Friedman floated out a suggestion that a deal involving Trouba and Fleury could make sense for both sides with the Penguins needing some help on the back end while the Jets’ goaltending duo of youngsters Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson have struggled with consistency throughout the season.

Trade Market

Friedman doubled down on his comments earlier this week about the trade market being paralyzed.  He noted that teams are still talking regularly but one GM told him that no one seems ready to do anything yet.  With so many teams having limited cap space, it’s likely that the bulk of the notable trades this season will come closer to the trade deadline.

Coyotes Notes: Chychrun, Strome, Doan

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Making the jump from junior to the NHL as an 18 year old is generally a tough task for pretty much anyone.  Doing so as a defenseman is that much harder which is why it doesn’t happen all that often, especially for players picked outside the top five in the draft.  Arizona’s Jakob Chychrun, the 16th overall pick back in June, is one who has bucked this trend and is the youngest blueliner in the league this season, something that doesn’t seem to faze him, writes Jonas Siegel of the Canadian Press.  Part of the reason for that is that Chychrun doesn’t think of himself as a raw rookie:

“It’s cool and all, but I think I don’t really look at myself as a young kid.  I kind of approach the game just as a pro would and I feel I’m mature beyond my years.”

The Coyotes have eased the 18 year old, who is the third youngest player overall in the league (only forwards Jesse Puljujarvi and Patrik Laine are younger), into the league, primarily using him in a third pairing role.  Through 26 games this season, he has a goal and six assists while averaging 16:36 per night in ice time which is pretty good for an 18 year old rookie.  He told Siegel that he is pleased with his progress so far:

“I feel I’ve done well to this point and I want to continue to get better. It’s crazy to be thrown in at 18 years old, but it’s something you have to take in stride, enjoy it.”

Arizona has been happy enough with his progress so far that they did not loan him to Team Canada for the upcoming World Juniors.  (Although Chychrun was born in Boca Raton in Florida, he’s a dual citizen and has chosen to represent Canada internationally.)

More from the Coyotes:

  • One Arizona youngster who will be at the World Juniors is center Dylan Strome. The third overall pick in 2015 made the team out of training camp but played sparingly and eventually was sent back to junior.  He’ll captain the Canadian entry in the tournament and is looking forward to trying to make amends for last year, he told Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star.  “Being on the losing end of a tournament is not very fun. You feel like you’ve let your country down. You want to forget about it at as fast as possible, but it doesn’t go away very quickly. I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to make amends for what happened last year.”
  • Friday’s game against Toronto not only was a big night for Arizona native Auston Matthews, it was also a big one for one of the players he grew up idolizing in Coyotes captain Shane Doan. The 40 year old played in his 1,500th career NHL game, the 17th player in league history to do that.  Of those players, he’s only the sixth to do so with the same organization; Doan was originally drafted by Winnipeg in 1995 with them moving to Phoenix in 1996.  He also picked up his 400th career goal in the game, a 4-1 loss to the Leafs. Speaking with Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic, Doan is very appreciative of the fact he’s been able to play his whole career with the franchise: “Yeah, that’s something that I appreciate. Like I said, there’s a lot of guys that given the opportunity would be able to. But having been given the opportunity that I’ve been given, I’m very grateful the organization has been willing to keep letting me get a jersey and giving me a jersey every year.”

Western Conference Notes: Maurice, Blues, Jankowski

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Despite a talented roster led by #1 center Mark Scheifele (31 points in 33 games), team captain Blake Wheeler (26 points), rookie phenom Patrik Laine (19 goals) and big blue liner Dustin Byfuglien (22 points), the Winnipeg Jets have a disappointing 16 – 17 – 3 record and are three points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. It’s perhaps not surprising that reports began circulating suggesting the job of veteran bench boss Paul Maurice could be in jeopardy, but as Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free Press writes, there is simply nothing to those rumors.

Wiecek points out that the Jets ownership is “loyal to a fault,” and references former head coach Claude Noel as an example of that loyalty. Noel served as the team’s head coach for their first two-and-a-half seasons in Manitoba but mustered just a record of 80 – 79 – 18 and failed to lead the Jets to the postseason before being dismissed during the 2013-14 season. Wiecek believes the team kept Noel around “long after it had become readily apparent to everyone else that an AHL coach was all Noel was ever going to be.”

The scribe also suggests the team still believes Maurice is the right coach to turn “a room full of young talent and inexperience into the kind of club that can compete night in and night out with the best in the league.”

Finally, in response to the belief the Jets have under-performed, Wiecek takes the position that the team has performed exactly as should be expected; like a young team with plenty of peaks and valleys.

It should also be noted that the Jets play in a tough division, one that sent five teams to the postseason a year ago. While the Central may not be as strong this season as the Metro Division, an argument can certainly be made that they could easily boast five playoff squads again this spring

Elsewhere in the West:

  • Jeremy Rutherford hosted his weekly chat with readers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently and tackled several issues related to the Blues. Naturally much of the talk was about how the Blues can improve their roster and while there may not have been much in the way of concrete trade rumors, Rutherford acknowledged the team desperately wants to add both speed and a proven top-six center ahead of the deadline. Of course the one asset St. Louis might be able to move to address their needs is defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who is set to hit unrestricted free agency next summer. Though as appealing as Shattenkirk might be to other teams, his value is limited unless any team looking to acquire the puck-moving blue liner has an indication they might be able to extend the pending free agent. It’s also not certain the Blues will be too interested in dealing Shattenkirk if they are in possession of a playoff berth at the deadline. Last season, GM Doug Armstrong held onto David Backes and Troy Brouwer, both of whom would leave the team after the season and demonstrating the veteran GM will only sell off an expiring asset if it improves his chances to win today.
  • The Calgary Flames surprised some when they went off the board to select center Mark Jankowski in the first round of the 2012 draft. While most teams weren’t sold on Jankowski, then-Flames GM Jay Feaster called him the best player in the draft and compared the pivot to former Calgary star Joe Nieuwendyk. It took four years but Jankowski finally made his NHL debut earlier this season, and as Kristen Odland of the Calgary Herald reports, he is looking forward to working his way back into the league and earning a permanent position. But first, Jankowski, in his first full season as a pro, knows he has to dominate at the AHL level: “Obviously it was a good experience to get up there to see what it’s all about and play my first game, to see what type of game it is,” he said. “It’s a lot faster and guys are bigger and stronger. They’re all just a bit more skilled. Coming back to Stockton, it’s huge motivation for me to see what it’s like if I want to be there full-time.I have to come down here and dominate and play my game.” 

Last Minute Reassignments: Bibeau, Froese, Gazdic, Helgeson (Updated)

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UPDATE: (3:30pm): Mike Russo of the Star Tribune tweeted earlier today that the Minnesota Wild have loaned Pat Cannone and Jordan Schroeder to Iowa of the AHL. As Russo points out, the Wild won’t play again until Tuesday thanks to the holiday break while Iowa is slated to host Rockford Monday night. Russo does say that unless Erik Haula or Zach Parise is healthy enough to return Tuesday, the Wild will have to recall a player or two, meaning Cannone and/or Schroeder could be back with Minnesota sooner rather than later. Cannone, who finally made his NHL debut at the age of 30 and after six professional campaigns, was held off the score sheet in three appearances with the Wild.

(1:15pm): While the NHL’s holiday roster freeze officially began at midnight of December 20th, a provision allows teams to reassign or loan waiver-exempt players originally recalled by the parent club after December 11th back to their minor league affiliates. The deadline for those roster transactions passed at 11:59pm on December 23rd (last night). With a majority of AHL teams in action the day after Christmas, a couple of NHL clubs took the opportunity to reassign players to their affiliates with the intent of getting them some game action during the Christmas break.

  • The New Jersey Devils announced via their official Twitter account that they have reassigned rugged forward Luke Gazdic and defenseman Seth Helgeson to Albany of the AHL. Gazdic has appeared in four games with New Jersey, failing to register a point while accumulating seven penalty minutes. In 13 contests for Albany, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound winger has two assists and 19 penalty minutes. Helgeson has seen action in just two games, also failing to record a point. (New Jersey Devils Roster)
  • Goaltender Antoine Bibeau, along with forwards Frederik Gauthier and Byron Froese were loaned by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the AHL Toronto Marlies ahead of last night’s deadline, as reported by Cap Friendly. Meanwhile Jhonas Enroth was recalled from the minors to fill the void as the Leafs backup netminder. Bibeau has appeared in just one game, his NHL debut, this season for Toronto and took the loss in a 3-1 defeat on December 11th against Colorado. Gauthier tallied his first career NHL goal and has added an assist in three games this season for the Leafs while Froese is scoreless in two outings. Enroth was inked by the Leafs this summer to serve as Frederik Andersen’s understudy but failed to win a game in four starts for Toronto and posted a GAA of nearly four. His last appearance for the Leafs came on November 30th in a loss at Calgary. Enroth has seen action in just one contest for the Marlies since his demotion to the AHL. (Toronto Maple Leafs roster)

Atlantic Division Notes: Danault, Kennedy, Stamkos

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Injuries to Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais have forced the Montreal Canadiens to shuffle their forward lines around as they try to survive without two of their top offensive players. The loss of Galchenyuk was particularly difficult as the fifth-year pivot was averaging nearly a point-per game (23 points in 25 games) as the team’s top center but the play of Phillip Danault has helped offset Galchenyuk’s absence of late, writes Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette.

With a scoring line of 6 – 6 – 14 through 34 contests, Danault has already bested last season’s totals (4 – 6 – 10) in 17 fewer games. In his last eight games, the 23-year-old center has tallied one goal and five points. As Cowan notes, Danault posted solid offensive numbers during his junior career, potting 18 goals and 71 points in 62 contests in his final junior season with Victoriaville, suggesting his recent rate of production for Montreal is sustainable.

Danault was originally drafted in the first-round of the 2011 draft by Chicago when current Habs GM Marc Bergevin was a member of the Blackhawks front office. Bergevin was able to acquire Danault at last season’s trade deadline as part of the deal that sent rental players Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann to the Hawks. Known as a strong two-way player in juniors, Danault is taking advantage of increased ice time of late to show the Canadiens what he can do at the NHL level.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • Tim Kennedy hasn’t appeared in an NHL game in three years and despite a recent return to the organization with whom he made his NHL debut, it’s not likely that the veteran winger will make much of an impact for the Buffalo Sabres this year either. As John Vogl of The Buffalo News writes, Kennedy was signed by the club to add some offense and to serve as a mentor for the team’s prospects playing for the Rochester Americans in the AHL. Since suiting up for 37 games with the Coyotes during the 2013-14 campaign, Kennedy has made appearances for four different franchises in four different countries, including stops in the KHL, Swedish League and a 75-game stint with Hershey of the AHL in 2013-14. The piece provides an interesting insight into the life of a career minor-league player and his travels around the world in professional hockey.
  • With the Tampa Bay Lightning struggling on the ice and in the standings, a return of franchise center Steven Stamkos could be just the spark the team needs to make a playoff push. Unfortunately, while Stamkos is progressing just fine after surgery to repair a torn meniscus, he is still looking at a mid-March return, as Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Stamkos is still on crutches and is a month or two away from even putting on skates. The 26-year-old pivot was off to a strong start, with nine goals and 20 points in 17 contests before the injury but if Tampa Bay is going to make a postseason run, it looks like it’s going to have to come without the assistance of Stamkos.

Panthers Lose Reilly Smith For 7 – 10 Days

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Last night, the Florida Panthers blew a two-goal third period lead in their 4 – 3 loss to Detroit. Compounding that disappointment further is word that the team will be without the services of winger Reilly Smith for the next 7 – 10 days, according to head coach Tom Rowe via George Richards of the Miami Herald. Smith, who scored a goal in the first frame, suffered a concussion after a heavy hit from Niklas Kronwall in the second period.

Projecting a recovery time line for a concussion is usually a trick endeavor but Rowe said the team believes “it’s not too serious,” and the hope is that Smith will be back sooner rather than later.

Smith has scored seven goals and has 15 points in 35 games for Florida while averaging a career-best 19:12 of ice time per game. He’s been heating up as of late with three markers and five points over his last six contests. Last season the 25-year-old forward scored a career-high 25 goals and 50 points, helping the Panthers to an Atlantic Division championship and the team’s first playoff berth in four years. Smith’s production prompted Florida to sign the winger to a five-year, $25MM extension this past July, even though Smith still had a year remaining on his current contract.

Carolina An Appealing Trade Partner

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In a recent article by ESPN’s Craig Custance titled “The NHL’s All-Trade-Candidates team“, his top line includes Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene, Toronto Maple Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk, and Detroit Red Wings winger Gustav Nyquist. The common denominator between all three of those struggling teams? They need defense. The team that Custance mentions as being willing and able to trade away a reliable top defenseman for one of these big-name forwards is the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes have quietly put together one of the deepest group of blue liners in the entire league over the past few years. Even excluding All-Star defenseman Justin Faulk, the team is still loaded with talented youth on the back end. The team’s second pair of 22-year-olds Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce have established themselves as legitimate NHLers, and 19-year-old Noah Hanifin, the 5th overall pick in 2015, continues to develop into a star. Former first rounder Ryan Murphy has been pushed out of the starting lineup and is surely available. Top prospects Haydn Fleury, Roland McKeown, and Josh Wesley are ready to contribute at the NHL level, and Trevor Carrick has been ready for a while now. 2016 first-rounder Jake Bean projects to be an NHL playmaker in the near future as well. Something has to give in Raleigh, as they have more talented defensemen than they have room for on the roster.

However, their forward core is still a work in progress. The Hurricanes are performing much better than many expected they would, but they are still a long-shot for a playoff berth in 2016-17, playing in the Metropolitan Division “group of  death”. They could be better if it wasn’t for a middling and inconsistent offense. The re-build is coming along much faster than expected, and Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho and their second 2016 first-round pick, Julien Gauthier, comprise a solid group of young scorers. However, the addition of a player in his prime like Duchene or van Riemsdyk may put them over the top, turning a rebuild into a contender. A mutually beneficial trade seems to be right around the corner.

James Wisniewski Leaves KHL Club

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James Wisniewski is on the move again. After failing to find an NHL contract this off-season, likely due to missing nearly all of 2015-16 with the Carolina Hurricanes with an injury, Wisniewski settled for a professional tryout with the Tampa Bay Lightning during preseason. Wisniewski was unable to make the most of his PTO and was cut by the team before the regular season began. He then joined the KHL’s Admiral Vladivostok, where he has played for the past two months. However, Wisniewski himself announced his departure from the team this week.

Wisniewski now plans to head to Switzerland where he will join Team Lugano for the upcoming Spengler Cup. The Spengler Cup is an international invitational tournament hosted each year by Swiss NLA club HC Davos every holiday season. The tournament includes mostly European pro teams, usually from the NLA and KHL, as well as a non-NHL/AHL team from Canada. HC Lugano is a fellow NLA team taking part in the tournament this year. Wisniewski will now join the squad, which already employs former NHLers Maxim Lapierre, Damien Brunner, and Ryan Wilson. While it has not been officially announced whether or not Wisniewski will continue to play for Lugano in the NLA season following the Spengler Cup, it is a safe assumption.

So far in 2016-17, Wisniewski had a goal and three assists in 16 games with Admiral Vladivostok, usually skating alongside former NHL defenseman Anton Volchenkov. The KHL team was a ways out from contention though, 23 points behind in their division. Wisniewski now joins a more talented team in Lugano, who is primed to fight for a playoff spot this season. Wisniewski brings 552 games of NHL experience, as well as 274 career points worth of skill to his new team.

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