Rookie Notes: Laine, Werenski, Marner
After writing yesterday about the incredible group of teenagers that inhabit the NHL right now, they continued to show why they deserve to have ink spilled every night about them. Patrik Laine, playing in his 12th NHL game scored his seventh goal (while seemingly practicing his golf game) which is the fastest since it took Evgeni Malkin just six games in 2006. The Finnish sniper now has 9 points in those 12 games, and is showing why he was drafted so high.
The Jets are obviously pretty high on Laine, as he’s averaging over 19 minutes a night which leads all rookie forwards this season. As fans watch him play, they must be reminded of another Finnish scoring winger that made an impact as a rookie once upon a time – Teemu Selanne‘s amazing rookie season started with 11 goals in his first 12 games, and ended with 76.
- The idea that defensemen take longer to develop than forwards is being thrown out the window in Columbus, as Zach Werenski continues to dominate in his rookie season. The Blue Jackets are currently tearing the Montreal Canadiens apart (8-0 as this article is written), and Werenski is a big part of it. Though he has just one assist tonight, he’s also the quarterback of an effective powerplay that has gone 4/5 in the game. This 19-year old blueliner was drafted eighth overall in 2015 and is providing huge dividends already for the Blue Jackets; they’ll be 5-3-1 after tonight, with Werenski scoring (at least) nine points.
- Though Mitch Marner wasn’t included in the original post, he probably should have been. His start with the Maple Leafs has been overshadowed slightly by Auston Matthews, but the former fourth-overall pick has played extremely well in his own right. Two goals last night led the Maple Leafs to victory in Buffalo, a place they’ve had trouble winning in for years. Though Marner now has eight points in eleven contests, it’s his defensive play that is repeatedly mentioned by head coach Mike Babcock. The diminutive winger has nine blocked shots on the season, which leads all Toronto forwards.
Jaromir Jagr’s Quest For Second Place
If you were a hockey fan in the early 90’s, you probably remember watching Rock’em-Sock’em tapes and being amazed by the different goals and saves from each year. One of the standouts each time, was none other than the mullet-donning Pittsburgh Penguin winger Jaromir Jagr. He was a star of the videos not just because Don Cherry couldn’t pronounce his name correctly (Yammy, for those who don’t remember) but because he was constantly scoring highlight goals.
Now, two decades later and the ageless wonder is still going strong. Who would have known back then that we were watching a player who would go down as one of the greatest offensive players in the history of the NHL. We all knew he was great, but exactly how great was a lesson still to come.
After notching an assist last night, Jagr is now just 14 points behind Mark Messier for second place all time in NHL scoring at 1873. He ranks third in goals with 750, and sixth in assists. This season he’ll turn 45 years old, something only Gordie Howe and Chris Chelios have accomplished while still playing in the NHL, and if he stays healthy he’ll play in his 1700th career game (he currently ranks sixth all time in GP with 1640).
Flyers’ Michael Del Zotto To Return Saturday
After a suffering a knee injury at the beginning of October, Flyers’ defenseman Michael Del Zotto is set to return to the lineup on Saturday night, according to Sam Carchidi of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Del Zotto was placed on injured reserve on October 7th, and originally given a timetable of 4-5 weeks which was clearly accurate.
After a successful first season with the Flyers in 2014-15, Del Zotto fought his way through another injury plagued year in 2015-16, a situation far too familiar to the 26-year old. He’s played in 80+ games just once in his career, his rookie season with the New York Rangers, and has eclipsed 70 just one other time. If he’s to make the impact many Philadelphia fans hope, he’ll have to avoid injury for the rest of this season.
[Related: Philadelphia Flyers Depth Chart]
Expected to skate alongside Flyers’ star sophomore Shayne Gostisbehere, Del Zotto will deepen a Philadelphia defense corps that has allowed a league-leading 43 goals through 12 contests. Remarkably, the team is at 6-5-1 on the year and still poised to take a run at the playoffs again this season.
The team will have some roster work to do however before activating the defenseman, as they currently sit more than $1MM over the cap and have to be compliant before bringing Del Zotto back into the fold. The team could perhaps move Andrew MacDonald to LTIR, as he’s out at least a week with a lower-body injury.
Jets “Gauging Interest” On Alexander Burmistrov
Winnipeg Jets’ forward Alexander Burmistrov has just one point through his first ten games, and has seen less than 15 minutes of ice time in each of them. Now, according to a tweet from Gary Lawless of TSN, the Jets are “gauging trade interest” on the 25-year old.
Obviously, general managers gauge interest on many players at many times, and it doesn’t mean they’re looking to trade them. In Burmistrov’s case though, it does seem like his favor has soured somewhat and he could be on his way out. After scoring just 21 points last season despite his playing time actually increasing down the stretch, he’s now been relegated to the fourth line most nights and almost removed from the powerplay entirely.
While trading him at this point would represent a case of selling-low for the Jets, perhaps his eighth-overall pedigree and relative youth could still command a solid return. Burmistrov clearly has skill, as he showed during his time in the KHL; the forward scored 63 points in 107 games at a very young age. With the Jets struggling out of the gate, perhaps adding a different type of player could give them a boost and vault them back into playoff contention in the Western Conference. If not, fans and coaches alike might just have to hope Burmistrov can find his game and become the player the Jets’ (then Thrashers) envisioned when they selected him in 2010.
Canada: The New Championship Drought To Watch For
The Chicago Cubs won the World Series on Wednesday night, their first since 1908, snapping a 108-year championship drought, the longest by any team in North American professional sports history. Back in June, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Championship, snapping a 52-year drought for a city with three major pro sports teams. So what’s next on the drought-busting checklist?
Sure, there are a few teams and few cities still struggling. The NBA’s Sacramento Kings organization has not won a title in 65 years and never since their move to California. Wednesday night’s losers, the Cleveland Indians, haven’t taken home the hardware in 68 years. Ten NFL teams still have yet to win it all in the Super Bowl era. Yet, with the Cubs and Cleveland off the books, it seems like there’s a void in the championship drought department right now.
It’s time that attention turns not to any one team or city, but to the country of Canada. Canadian teams have combined to go 199 straight seasons without winning a major North American title. In 1993, the country was championship central, with both the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Blue Jays winning their respective leagues. Since? Nothing.
It’s been 23 years now for the Blue Jays since they were MLB champs. They have come close over the years, but have failed to even take home an American League pennant. Playing in a division that has been one of the strongest in baseball over the past decade plus, which has housed four New York Yankees championship teams and three Boston Red Sox championship teams since 1993, it’s been an uphill battle for the Blue Jays. Meanwhile, the Montreal Expos, title-less since their inception in 1969, were forced to relocate to Washington, D.C. in 2004 (where the drought continues to this day).
The Toronto Raptors are still seeking that elusive NBA championship. It’s been 21 years since the Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies brought pro basketball to Canada in 1995, and neither team has been able to get it done. The Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2000, where they too have yet to find glory. In a league that is unquestionably the most competitively unbalanced, a Raptors team with a lot of talent are still annual underdogs against the likes of the Cleveland Cavaliers and other Western Conference powerhouses.
Of course, the biggest drought-magnifier is the NHL. With seven teams competing in a 30-team league, Canada should have close to a 25% chance to win the Stanley Cup every season. Alas, no such feat has been accomplished in 23 seasons. The odds of that happening: less than 1%. The Toronto Maple Leafs are tied with the St. Louis Blues for the longest championship drought in the league at 48 years. The Vancouver Canucks, established in 1970, have never won the Cup. After Alberta went back-to-back in 1989 and 1990, the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers have not won since. The Ottawa Senators, the 1992 NHL expansion team, has also never gotten it done, and their first season, 1992-93, was the first and last time that they even saw a Canadian champ, with Montreal taking the crown. Both iterations of the Winnipeg Jets are also without a Stanley Cup and Quebec Nordiques fans sat and watched their team move to Denver and establish the Colorado Avalanche dynasty at the turn of the century.
To make matters worse, no Canadian team even qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs last year, and the Oilers have a league-high ten-year drought of even making the postseason. Canada’s NHL teams are in need of some puck luck, and the Blue Jays and Raptors will take some as well. With the two biggest drought story lines in sports now over, it’s time that North American sports fans turn to the northernmost of the two participating countries. Canada needs a championship, and they need one soon.
If there’s any consolation, the only more tortured fan base than the country of Canada is their closest neighbor to the south, Buffalo, New York. Misery loves company.
Karri Ramo Practicing With Maple Leafs
According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, injured free agent netminder Karri Ramo was the third goaltender at Maple Leafs practice today, and may eventually sign with the team. Johnston reports that there is a strong relationship between Ramo’s agent and Leafs’ general manager Lou Lamoriello, and though this is just a courtesy to allow Ramo to rehab at a professional facility, no one is ruling out the possibility of a contract down the line.
Ramo injured his left knee in February and needed surgery to repair his ACL and meniscus, giving him an 8-10 month rehab at initial estimates. He’s now just working to get clearance to get into game action, and Toronto eagerly gave him that opportunity. While Johnston says his clearance should come soon, many teams will end up calling in on the goaltender.
For teams like Los Angeles, adding Ramo would at least give them a serviceable, experienced NHL netminder. Through 159 NHL contests, the Finnish goaltender has posted a .906 save percentage, though that’s brought down considerably by his first few seasons in the NHL. For Calgary, his last team, he posted a .911 and a 2.63 goals against average. While not a top-tier starter by any means, he’ll surely find work somewhere around the league.
Jets Place Tyler Myers On IR
The Winnipeg Jets have placed star defenseman Tyler Myers on injured reserve today. Myers suffered a lower-body injury and has missed the past two games. It is unclear how long Myers is expected to be out, but the 4-6-1 Jets face a tough upcoming stretch on the road against the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers before returning home to the Dallas Stars, and would rather have the big blue liner healthy.
Myers, the 2010 Calder-Trophy winner, isn’t much of an offensive threat, but is one of the best shutdown defenseman in the league. Acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in 2015 alongside Drew Stafford, Joel Armia in a package for Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian, Myers has become one of the leaders of the young Jets squad. Myers and Dustin Byfuglien give Winnipeg some of the best depth on the right side of the blue line of any team in the league.
While Myers remains sidelined, the Jets had previously called up Julian Melchiori. The young defenseman appears likely to remain on the roster as long as Myers remains on IR. While Winnipeg would undoubtedly rather have Jacob Trouba filling in, those talks still appear to be going nowhere.
To fill the roster space created by the designation, Winnipeg announced today that they have called up Nic Petan. The 2013 second-round forward played in 26 games last season and will try to work his way into the lineup and secure a spot on the team for the rest of 2016-17.
Sabres’ Carrier To Make NHL Debut
The last of the returns from the Ryan Miller trade is about to make an impact. When the Buffalo Sabres dealt Miller and Steve Ott to the St. Louis Blues at the NHL Trade Deadline in 2014, William Carrier felt like more of a toss-in compared to Jaroslav Halak, Chris Stewart, and two high picks. However, when Buffalo flipped Halak, traded both picks, and let Stewart walk after a season and a half, by default Carrier became the centerpiece of a return for a franchise goalie. After two seasons in the AHL, Carrier has been called up to join the Sabres and expectations are high.
A second-round pick in 2013, the 21-year-old Carrier was a star in the QMJHL with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Although he struggled with injuries during his junior career, when healthy Carrier was an elite mix of skill and strength. In his past two years with the Rochester Americans of the AHL, Carrier has struggled to put up eye-popping numbers, but has continued to develop a complete game.
Carrier was called up as the other side of fellow young winger Justin Bailey being sent down. Bailey has yet to record a point in ten NHL games and now Carrier will be given a chance to show what he can offer. Carrier is expected to slot right into Bailey’s spot on the fourth line for now.
Bergenheim Signs With Frolunda
Another player is headed overseas, but this time it’s one who hasn’t seen meaningful NHL action in some time. Sean Bergenheim has signed on to play with Frolunda HC of the Swedish Elite League, the team announced (link in Swedish). The Finnish winger was back in North America this off-season on a professional tryout agreement with the Anaheim Ducks, but was unable to earn a contract. Last season, Bergenheim played with Bern of the Swiss NLA, with his last big league action coming back in the 2014-15 season split between the Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild.
A first-round pick of the New York Islanders all the way back in 2002, Bergenheim got his NHL start early on, cracking the Islanders’ roster at the young age of 19. By 23, he had carved out a nice top-nine role for himself in New York. Never quite a 20-goal scorer, Bergenheim instead thrived as a strong two-way presence, capable of being a shutdown penalty killer, but also putting up 25+ points per season. After five seasons on the island, Bergenheim signed an affordable one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010-11 and had a breakout year. He followed up a career-high 29 points in a career-high 80 games with nine goals in 16 playoff games for the Lightning. His success translated into a nice raise in the form of a four-year, $11MM contract with the cross-state rival Florida Panthers that off-season. While Bergenheim continued to be a reliable player, his numbers didn’t live up to his contract, and he missed the entire lockout-shortened 2012-13 season with an injury. In the final year of his deal in 2014-15, a fed up Panthers team shipped Bergenheim to the Minnesota Wild, where he was a complete non-factor down the stretch. Bergenheim has not played in the NHL since.
Bergenheim’s contract with Frolunda, one of the most decorated teams in Sweden , is for just one year. Don’t be surprised if the 32-year-old veteran of over 500 NHL games tries his hand at earning a North American gig again next season.
Blackhawks Notes: Anisimov, Improved Play
The Chicago Sun-Times Mark Lazerus writes on a couple of topics and one is the strong play of Artem Anisimov. The center, who was acquired by Chicago in 2015 in a deal that cost them Brandon Saad, has made his mark on a Hawks team transitioning several young players onto the roster. Anisimov, Lazerus reports, not only leads the league in scoring, but is also breaking out of the shadows of the more well known Blackhawks on the team. Though Anisimov had a slow start to the season, Lazerus points to the October 18th game against Philadelphia where Anisimov had two goals and two assists in the Hawks’ 7-4 victory. Linemate and reigning Hart Trophy winner Patrick Kane couldn’t be happier to have him on the team:
“You know what? He’s a really great person. He’s one of those guys that’s always calm and relaxed, and [then] he’ll kind of surprise you with a comment here or there that’s really funny. He’s just a really great guy, and a great teammate, too.”
Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune writes that Anisimov is trying not to overthink his hot start–which includes seven goals and 13 points. Hine adds that Anisimov is just two goals off of his career total of game winners–which stands at three through Wednesday.
- Only a week ago Lazerus wrote about the anemic Blackhawks penalty, but things are certainly looking up in the Second City. The Hawks are 4-0-1 in their last five games (through Wednesday) and in a Central Division that has a bevy of surprises with Dallas and Nashville fighting to stay out of the basement. Chicago, meanwhile, finds itself in a tie for first place. Reasons for improvement? The Blackhawks have successfully killed off nine consecutive penalties, including four against Calgary during their 5-1 victory. And though the Hawks have a packed schedule that sees six games in a ten day span, Chicago is looking much better than they were just a week ago.