Dallas Stars Send Down Lindell, Activate Eakin
The Dallas Stars are starting to get healthier. Mark Stepneski reports that the team has activated Cody Eakin from injured reserve today, while sending Esa Lindell down to the AHL.
Eakin was originally injured in training camp and was given a six week timetable, a big blow to a Stars team that expected big contributions from the center. After three straight seasons of 35+ points, the team is still waiting on that big breakout from the 25-year old. With Jiri Hudler, Patrick Sharp and Ales Hemsky all still injured, he’ll get his chance over the next few weeks.
Lindell had played ten games for the Stars this season, but was a healthy scratch the last few and shouldn’t be a surprising demotion. The 22-year old blueliner has shown that he can at least provide NHL minutes on a part-time basis, but will go back down to log more icetime and continue his development at both ends of the rink.
Patric Hornqvist Suffers Concussion
According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Patric Hornqvist suffered a concussion last night against the Washington Capitals and is listed as day-to-day. The Penguins’ forward blocked a Brooks Orpik shot with the side of his head in the dying minutes of the second period, which may possibly be the cause of the injury.
While it doesn’t sound like Hornqvist will be out for a great deal of time, this comes just after the publication of a Boston Globe article with Marc Savard and his fight with concussions. In it, Savard talks about seeing nothing but black even though his eyes were open, and describes in detail his battle which includes once being labeled as suicidal at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Between this article, and the recent piece by Gabriel Landeskog at the Players’ Tribune, the spotlight has never been greater on brain injuries and concussions in hockey. Just last night, fellow Penguin Matt Murray was forced out of the game by spotters in the arena after his helmet was knocked off by teammate Evgeni Malkin.
The Savard piece is a must-read for anyone concerned about the future of the game, or youth hockey. Obviously, the game isn’t going to eliminate contact entirely, but hearing first-hand about the horrors Savard had to endure is a hard, but important thing for everyone involved in the game.
Rangers Notes: Nieves, Buchnevich, Injuries
It didn’t last long, but for Cristoval Nieves his first taste of the NHL was probably an exciting one. The hometown kid who was called up from the AHL on Monday was sent back to Hartford today, according to Steve Zipay of Newsday. Nieves played on Tuesday because of a rash of injuries that hit the Rangers, getting just under 12 minutes of icetime in a 7-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
Nieves will head back down to the AHL where he has six points in thirteen games. The former second-round pick will try to make his way back to the big leagues now that he has a taste of NHL game action.
- Pavel Buchnevich, one of the injured players who allowed for Nieves’ callup, will skate today according to Zipay but is still unlikely to play Friday against the Blue Jackets. The 21-year old has suffered from back spasms all year, only skating in 10 games thus far. Off to a blistering start in his rookie season, the Russian forward had already put up 8 points this season.
- Kevin Hayes and Derek Stepan, both banged up on Tuesday should be ready for the Blue Jackets. Hayes scored twice in the win, adding to his impressive point total of 16. Hayes is on pace to blow by last year’s of 14 goals, and the Rangers need him to. At just 24, perhaps he’s developing into something more than a secondary scoring option.
Vancouver Canucks Recall Michael Garteig From ECHL
In a head-scratching move, the Vancouver Canucks have recalled goaltender Michael Garteig from the Alaska Aces of the ECHL for tonight’s game against the Arizona Coyotes. No word has come down on why the move was made, but Ben Kuzma of The Province suggests that a flu virus has been going around the room, and perhaps it’s struck one of the regular netminders.
Garteig was signed out of Quinnipac University this April, where he had starred for four years. Holding a 78-25-16 record, the goaltender helped his school lead the ECAC the last two years and win the championship in 2016. Off to a good start in Alaska, he’s 5-1 with a .916 save percentage.
Kuzma adds that Ryan Miller wasn’t at today’s optional skate and although that doesn’t confirm he’s the one who is ill, good money would be on Jacob Markstrom making the start tonight. The Canucks are 6-10-1 this season, but are still ahead of the Coyotes in the Pacific Division.
Central Notes: Iginla, Blackhawks, Bortuzzo
Last season, Colorado right winger Jarome Iginla was insistent that he would not waive his no-trade clause under any circumstances. When Adrian Dater of Bleacher Report asked Iginla whether he’d be willing to do so this year, he gave a noncommittal answer while stopping short of saying an unequivocal no:
“I’m really not thinking about that. It’s too soon in the season.”
The Avalanche are currently in a playoff position but have a sub-.500 record at 7-8-0 through 15 games. If they start to fall out of the race as the season progresses, it’s likely that they will become sellers and Iginla as a rental player will be towards the top of the list for several contending teams. For his part, Iginla remains confident that the Avs can make it to the postseason this year:
“I want to play in the playoffs. I think it will be here, that we have the ability to get there.”
Iginla is off to a slow start this season with just two goals and an assist while he has been dropped to the bottom six in recent weeks. Despite that, his style of play is suited to postseason hockey while he has a track record of success in the playoffs. However, with a cap hit of $5.3MM, there may not be many teams that will be able to afford him on their cap come the trade deadline.
Iginla is no stranger to being a rental player after he was shipped to Pittsburgh back in 2013. Back then, the Penguins were believed to be the only team he’d waive his no-trade clause for. Will we see another situation like this in a few months? It’s still too early to tell but the possibility seems a bit more realistic than it did before.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- The Blackhawks’ exhaustive search for a top line winger continues with no end in sight, writes Mark Lazarus of the Chicago Sun-Times. Since the beginning of last season, no fewer than 12 different left wingers have been tried with Jonathan Toews. Head coach Joel Quenneville acknowledged that they’re still looking for the right fit but considering that six different wingers have already been tried this season, they’re starting to run out of internal options in a hurry. In the meantime, they’ll likely keep rotating the players they’ve already tried in the hopes of finding some short-term chemistry. Given their cap situation (less than $50K of space per CapFriendly), going outside of the organization to find a new option doesn’t seem like a likely scenario at the moment.
- Louis defenseman Robert Bortuzzo could make his return to the lineup tonight, report Jeremy Rutherford and Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He has missed the last eight games with a lower body injury and participated in his first full practice yesterday. The team is hoping that Bortuzzo, who has played in just four games so far this season, will get the green light from team doctors later today and then will decide on whether or not to insert him into the lineup at that time.
Penguins Waive Tom Sestito, Jets Place Axel Blomqvist On Unconditional Waivers
The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed left winger Tom Sestito on waivers, reports CBC’s Tim Wharnsby (Twitter link).
Sestito has played in eight games with the Penguins this season, recording an assist along with 24 penalty minutes, second on the team to Evgeni Malkin. He’s also averaging a team-low 5:28 per game of ice time.
This is Sestito’s second year in Pittsburgh’s organization although he spent the bulk of last year with their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. It would seem likely that he’ll be headed back there if he clears waivers on Friday although a team official told Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link) that the decision to waive him was to give them more roster flexibility.
The enforcer has played in 149 games in parts of nine NHL seasons with Columbus, Philadelphia, Vancouver, and Pittsburgh. He has a total of ten goals and ten assists in that span along with 475 penalty minutes.
Wharnsby also reports that the Jets have placed prospect left winger Axel Blomqvist on unconditional waivers for the purposes of contract termination. He signed with the Jets back in October of 2013 as an undrafted free agent but has yet to make it past the minor league level. He has only suited up in Tulsa of the ECHL this season, scoring twice in six games. A report from Johan Svensson of Expressen (Swedish link) states that Blomqvist is expected to sign with Sodertalje of the Swedish Allsvenskan.
Steven Stamkos To Undergo Knee Surgery, Out Four Months
Tampa Bay forward Steven Stamkos is heading to Vail, Colorado today to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a lateral meniscus tear, reports TSN’s Bob McKenzie (Twitter link). While the Lightning are officially saying he’s out indefinitely, McKenzie adds in a follow-up tweet that the recovery period for this type of surgery is typically four months, if not longer. The injury was suffered in Tuesday’s victory over Detroit.
This is undoubtedly a huge loss for the Lightning as Stamkos not only has been one of their top scorers this year but also is near the top of the league in points. Through 17 games this year, he has nine goals and 11 assists despite averaging nearly two minutes less per game compared to last season.
Injuries have not been kind to Stamkos, who is in the first of an eight year deal with a cap hit of $8.5MM signed late in June to avoid free agency. In 2013-14, he missed more than half the season with a fractured tibia and just last season, he had surgery to repair a blood clot near his collarbone.
Given that he will be out until around March at the earliest based on McKenzie’s timeline, the Lightning are eligible to place him on Long-Term Injury Reserve to free up some cap space to pursue a short-term replacement, should they deem that necessary. In the meantime, it’s likely that center Valtteri Filppula will be asked to move into a top six role for Tampa Bay.
[Related: Lightning Depth Chart]
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Wild Assign Joel Eriksson Ek To Farjestad
Although he made a strong impression with Minnesota so far this season – including scoring in his NHL debut – the team announced that they have assigned center Joel Eriksson Ek to Farjestad of the Swedish Hockey League.
Eriksson Ek, Minnesota’s first round pick (20th overall) back in 2015, has played in nine games for the Wild, scoring five points (2-3-5) while logging 10:07 of ice time per game. However, as he’s just 19 years old, the team had to make a decision as to whether or not to burn the first year of his entry-level contract this season, something that would have happened had he played in one more NHL game. He had been a healthy scratch for two straight games while the team determined what their decision was going to be.
While the team could in theory recall Eriksson Ek if they so desire, the odds of doing so seem highly unlikely. As a result, his contract will be eligible to ‘slide’ which should result in a slightly lower cap hit for next season (the cap hit is reduced by the signing bonus paid this year divided by three, or just under $31K).
Minnesota had the option to assign Eriksson Ek either to Sweden or to their AHL affiliate in Iowa but GM Chuck Fletcher indicated earlier this week that the team felt it would be better for his development to play back at home as well as the upcoming World Junior Championships.
[Related: Updated Wild Depth Chart]
Kings Notes: Gaborik, Andreoff, Kopitar, Lucic
Kings winger Marian Gaborik is progressing well in his recovery from a broken foot and is hoping to get back into the lineup somewhat soon, he told Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. He has missed the entire regular season so far after suffering the injury while blocking a shot back in September at the World Cup of Hockey.
Gaborik has been skating lightly over the last week but pushed his workout a bit harder on Wednesday and was pleased with how it went:
“I think I’m right on track. It’s just like I said, a matter of getting the strength back on the ice and skating. I haven’t skated for several weeks or something like that so it’s just a matter of getting those practices in so I can jump in to games ready to go.”
Despite the progress, there remains no timetable for his return to the lineup. When he does get back, he’ll be a welcome addition to a lineup that is scuffling in the goal scoring department as the Kings have just 39 goals in 17 games so far this season.
[Related: Kings Depth Chart]
More news from Los Angeles:
- Left winger Andy Andreoff is nearing a return to the lineup after thumb surgery, Rosen notes in a separate piece. He also appears to be well ahead of schedule as two weeks ago, head coach Darryl Sutter estimated that Andreoff would be out another four to seven weeks. However, the 25 year old is targeting Wednesday’s game against the Islanders as his return date, using the practices between then to work on his conditioning. Andreoff has played in nine games for Los Angeles this season, being held off the scoresheet but is averaging a career high in ice time at 10:02 per game.
- Center Anze Kopitar skated on Wednesday but is not expected to play against the Oilers tonight, reports Curtis Zupke of the LA Times. The captain remains day-to-day with either a hand or arm injury. Kopitar says progress is being made but not enough to return to the lineup: “It’s been feeling better and better but just not quite to where it needs to be and not quite good enough, obviously, to play.” He is off to a bit of a slow start this season with just two goals and six assists in 15 games.
- Milan Lucic is set to face his old Kings squad tonight for the first time since signing in Edmonton in free agency but reiterated to Elliott Teaford of the LA Daily News that he had intentions on re-signing there over the offseason: “I tried everything I could to make it work. I think both sides tried to do everything they could do to make it work. With a cap system, it just didn’t work out in the end.” Lucic spent just one year with the Kings and while he had a strong year (55 points in 81 games), the end result from the trade with Boston didn’t work out too well for LA when you consider that on top of Lucic essentially being a one year rental, one of the players they gave up for him – Martin Jones – is now the starting goalie for a division rival.
Red Wings Notes: Injuries, Sproul, Mantha
The injury bug has certainly bitten Detroit hard as Darren Helm is the latest Red Wing to take a turn on the injury carousel. He joins Andreas Athanasiou, Thomas Vanek, and Niklas Kronwall as wounded Wings, but Vanek is expected to be back for Sunday’s game. The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James reports that Helm is expected out 6-8 weeks, but general manager Ken Holland said that no surgery will be required. Athanasiou will be out for another two weeks at a minimum while Kronwall is game to game with a bad knee. St. James writes that the Red Wings will be calling up a forward later this evening to take Helm’s place. Detroit just sent Tyler Bertuzzi back to Grand Rapids, but he could be back quicker than expected.
- Speaking of younger Red Wings, the Detroit News’ John Niyo pens a column about the emergence of youth in the shadow of injury and how they might just be exactly what Detroit needs. Niyo looks at Ryan Sproul who stepped up in the place of Kronwall and to the joy of a Red Wings fan base clamoring for an injection of youth, looks to be closer to regular play. From Niyo:
And it’s a big reason, though hardly the only one, why Sproul needs to stay right where he is. Not just in Detroit, but also in the lineup, which is sort of what Blashill promised earlier in the day. Sproul hadn’t played in seven games, the last five because veteran Niklas Kronwall was back on the ice. But with Kronwall resting that chronic bad knee again Tuesday — he didn’t look good in the 5-0 loss at Montreal on Sunday — Sproul was given another chance. At the morning skate, Blashill stuck to his pat answer about how long it’d last, saying Sproul’s job was to make sure he was “ready to jump through the window.”
Sproul had a goal and an assist in the Red Wings 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay, but it was his work on the power play that opened eyes. Sproul is known for his booming slapshot, and it was featured in both goals, one that found its way into the net. The other led to a rebound that was dished to Henrik Zetterberg from another young Wing, Anthony Mantha. Mantha has stood tall in his call up, being a net-front presence on the power play, which led directly to the goal that tied the game. There have been questions as to why Mantha hasn’t been allowed to snipe goals like he has in the AHL, but Detroit wants consistency and a two-way game out of him. As injuries pile up, however, the Wings may be better off letting Mantha play the game that’s brought him success since he played juniors: shoot the puck often. The goal scoring problem that has plagued the Red Wings for several seasons may just be solved.
Niyo argues that as Detroit sits seventh in the Atlantic and is on pace for 82 points (which would certainly be way off of a playoff spot), letting the kids play may be in the Red Wings’ best interest.