Douglas Murray Announces His Retirement
Veteran defenseman Douglas Murray is hanging up his skates, he told Tomas Ros of Aftonbladet (link in Swedish). While he believes he can still play in the NHL, he hadn’t received a contract offer and evidently was not interested in pursuing another contract in a different league.
Murray last played in the NHL with Montreal in 2013-14, picking up two assists in 52 games. He secured a tryout deal with Calgary late in 2014-15 as well as the 2015 preseason but was unable to secure a contract. Between those two NHL teams, he also suited up in eight games in Germany with Kolner Haie in 2014-15.
The 36 year old is a player whose skill set was highly valued several years ago but since then, players like him have been phased out of the league. Murray was best known for his physicality and willingness to block shots although he was far from the best of skaters. As the NHL shifts towards more speed and puck skills, the demand for players like Murray has subsided quickly.
For his career, Murray played in 518 games, mostly with San Jose with brief stints in Pittsburgh and Montreal as well. He scored just seven goals while adding 57 assists but added 412 penalty minutes, 1,097 hits, and 756 blocked shots spending most of his time as a stay-at-home third pairing defenseman.
Snapshots: Corrado, Tortorella, Rakell, Weise
Toronto blueliner Frank Corrado finds himself in a familiar situation this season and as Chris Johnston of Sportsnet writes, it’s not a good one to be in. Last year, the Leafs claimed Corrado off of waivers just prior to the start of the season and then proceeded to keep him in the press box for the better part of two months, save for a brief conditioning stint in the AHL. The justification was that the team thought high enough of him to keep him on the roster and not risk losing him for nothing but that he wasn’t quite good enough to be in the lineup.
Fast forward to this year and history seems to be repeating itself for Corrado, who has been a healthy scratch in four straight games to start the year. Toronto is carrying eight defensemen to start the season and their other scratch – Roman Polak – made his season debut on Thursday, suggesting that Corrado once again sits eighth on the depth chart without much hope of getting into the lineup. The belief remains that if Toronto tried to assign him to the minors, he’d be claimed off of waivers, creating an identical situation to last season.
For the time being, it appears that like last season, it’s going to take an injury or two for Corrado to get into the lineup. Until then, he’ll have to bide his time and wait for a chance which is far from an ideal situation for a 23 year old who has yet to play 50 games in each of the last two years.
More from around the league:
- Today marks the one year anniversary of the Blue Jackets hiring John Tortorella as their new head coach. In that time, the team has played to a 34-35-8 record, notes Puck Rakers’ Tom Reed. Clearly, Columbus was looking for more of an immediate impact from Tortorella behind the bench and as a result, he is one of the coaches who came into the season firmly on the hot seat. The Jackets made a quick coaching change last season and if the team continues to struggle, GM Jarmo Kekalainen may be quick to pull the trigger again this year.
- The agent for Ducks center Rickard Rakell told Eric Stephens of the OC Register that the expectation is that Rakell will be able to report to the team sometime next week. Rakell is in the process of securing a P-1 visa which is required before he can resume skating with Anaheim. In the meantime, Rakell will continue to work out on his own in Sweden while waiting for the visa process to be completed which is expected to be shortly after the weekend.
- Philadelphia right winger Dale Weise has been suspended for three games as a result of an illegal check to the head on Anaheim defenseman Korbinian Holzer on Thursday night, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced. No penalty had been assessed on the hit during the game. Weise becomes the third Flyer to miss time due to suspension already this season, joining Brayden Schenn and Radko Gudas.
Dallas Notes: Defense, Hemsky, Cracknell
While the Dallas Stars are carrying eight defensemen for the second straight season, head coach Lindy Ruff is changing how he’s handling the extra depth on his roster, writes Mike Heika of the Dallas News. Through just four games, all eight blueliners have played in at least two of those contests, a stark contrast to last season where Ruff predominantly kept his top six the same from game to game. Ruff commented on the decision to cycle some of his defenders in and out of the lineup:
“I want to get everybody going. It’s not really based on play. I have eight defensemen I’ve used throughout the whole training camp. It will sort itself out. It’s not easy for the two guys who are coming out but at the same time that process usually works out where somebody will step up and really become a player that you don’t want to take him out. But I feel all of these guys can play, and I don’t want them sitting too long.”
Last season, the Stars kept waiver-eligible Jamie Oleksiak up with the team the entire season but only played him in 19 games, hardly an ideal situation. Fast forward to this year where the team is reportedly shopping him but his lack of playing time last season will certainly be a factor when it comes to any trade discussions. If their blueline corps stays healthy (which would be a stark contrast to their forward group), it will be interesting to see how long Ruff keeps his rotation going.
[Related: Stars Depth Chart]
Other notes out of Dallas:
- Right winger Ales Hemsky is close to returning from his groin injury and could make his season debut on Saturday, Heika reports in a separate column. The injury came about at last month’s World Cup of Hockey. Hemsky had 13 goals and 26 assists last season and will give an already deep forward group another offensive threat when he does return to the ice.
- Newcomer Adam Cracknell has been one of the early pleasant surprises for the Stars this season, notes Mark Stepneski on the team’s official site. He was brought in over the offseason to give them more depth up front and with the injuries the team has had to deal with, Cracknell has found himself receiving regular ice time. He has two goals and an assist in four games so far this season while spending time both at center and the wing. As players such as Hemsky start to return, Cracknell’s role will likely diminish but for the short-term at least, the 31 year old is giving them good value for a cap hit of only $600K.
Jarred Tinordi Clears Waivers
Oct. 22: Tinordi has cleared waivers, reports James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail (Twitter link).
Oct. 21: With his 20-game suspension for testing positive for a performance enhancing substance now about to finish (the final game is tonight), the Coyotes have placed defenseman Jarred Tinordi on waivers, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link).
It has been a rough time for Tinordi over the past couple of seasons. The former Montreal first rounder (22nd overall) in 2010 spent most of last season as a healthy scratch with the Canadiens as they didn’t want to risk losing him for nothing via waivers. Eventually, they dealt him to the Coyotes as part of a series of trades that yielded them tough guy John Scott and defenseman Victor Bartley, both of whom left as free agents this summer. (Scott remains unsigned while Bartley signed a two-way deal with Minnesota.)
Tinordi got into seven games with Arizona last season before the suspension and played in just ten total NHL games between the two organizations where he was held pointless with a -5 rating and 17 PIMS while averaging 14:18 per game. He also played in six AHL games on conditioning stints with Montreal, picking up a pair of assists in that span.
The Coyotes declined to tender him a qualifying offer back in June but agreed to a one year, two-way contract worth $700K in the NHL and $150K at the minor league level in early July.
In his career, the 24 year old has played in just 53 NHL games between Montreal and Arizona, recording six assists, a -7 rating, and 78 PIMS while averaging 13:27 per game. If he clears at 11am on Saturday, the Coyotes plan to assign him to their AHL affiliate in Tucson.
[Related: Coyotes Depth Chart]
Still with the waiver wire, Columbus blueliner Cody Goloubef cleared on Friday and has been assigned to Cleveland of the AHL.
Eastern Conference Snapshots: Hoffman, Warsofsky, Pouliot, Weise
Ottawa Senators winger Mike Hoffman has led the team in goal scoring in each of the last two seasons, a fact which prompted the team to sign the 26-year-old to a five-year, $20.75MM extension this summer. Even though he has totaled 56 goals since the start of the 2014-15 campaign, Hoffman is no stranger to slow starts and this season has been no exception. Despite the fact the Sens are tied for second in goals-per-game, Hoffman has yet to tally his first marker of the season. But, as Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen writes, it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through.
Hoffman is currently tied with Chris Kreider and Brent Burns in shots on goal with 20 and says he has been getting plenty of scoring chances.
“I’m just trying to keep a level head, I know the goals are going to come. You don’t want to hit the panic button too early. I feel like I’m getting a lot of shots, a lot of chances every game.”
Like Hoffman, head coach Guy Boucher believes the gifted winger will find his scoring touch soon enough.
“I liked a lot of his game (against Arizona). The work is always when the guy is not getting (any chances) and you can see (the confidence) go down, which is not Mike’s case.”
Goal scorers like Hoffman are prone to slumps but when the get hot they tend to score in bunches. So far Hoffman’s inability to put the puck in the net hasn’t had much of an impact on Ottawa’s on-ice fortunes as the team has won three of their first four. Once he does ratchet up his output, the Senators chances of competing for a playoff spot will only improve.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- The Pittsburgh Penguins blue line is a little beat up which today prompted the recall of David Warsofsky from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In a related move, the team placed Derrick Pouliot on IR. Pouliot has made just one appearance for the Penguins, and left that game in the second period with an undisclosed injury. It appears that whatever the injury, it could keep Pouliot out a while. In addition to Pouliot, Olli Maatta and Kris Letang are both banged up as well. Letang is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury but as Mackey writes, he might be healthy enough to suit up Saturday.
- Dale Weise of the Philadelphia Flyers is slated for a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety after his illegal check to the head of Anaheim defensman Korbinian Holzer in a game Thursday night. Weise wasn’t penalized on the play but the league wasted no time calling for the hearing. It appears it will be a phone hearing, meaning Weise won’t receive a suspension longer than five games. Weise, signed this summer as a free agent, has not yet recorded a point for the Flyers in four appearances.
LeBrun’s Latest: Lindholm, Fowler, Murray, Fleury, Condon
Earlier today we referenced an item regarding the status of the Jacob Trouba trade discussions in Pierre LeBrun’s recent Rumblings column on ESPN.com. As it turns out, LeBrun covered a number of other worthwhile topics in his piece, which should naturally be read in its entirety. But in the meantime, we’ve got several of the highlights for your reading pleasure.
- There’s been a lot of talk of late regarding the potential availability of Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler, in large part due to the team’s need to re-sign RFA Hampus Lindholm and Anaheim’s precarious salary cap situation. As it stands, the Ducks have less than $400K in space according to Cap Friendly. With Lindholm expected to receive in excess of $5MM annually on a new deal the team certainly has their work cut out for them. Dealing Fowler would clear $4MM in cap space, assuming of course they don’t take an NHL contract back in any trade. Anaheim also has Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore, both of whom appear to be NHL-ready, or close to it, and that could step into the vacancy should the club move Fowler – or any other defenseman for that matter. LeBrun, however, doesn’t believe trading Fowler is a “front-burner issue” and believes the club could keep Fowler. He suggests Anaheim could create some salary cap space and buy more time by placing Simon Despres on LTIR. Despres has been out since leaving the team’s first game with what is believed to be a concussion. Despres accounts for $3.7MM against the cap so the Ducks would likely have to make at least one more move to create enough space once Lindholm is re-signed.
- Speaking of Lindholm’s contract talks, LeBrun believes the two sides continue to move closer on a new pact, with the defenseman likely using the recent extensions inked by Seth Jones and Rasmus Ristolainen – six years, $5.4MM AAV – as a comparable and the Ducks possibly countering with Morgan Rielly – six years, $5MM AAV. A six-year deal would buy out two of Lindholm’s potential free agent seasons, whereas the Jones and Ristolainen contracts only bought out one. That likely serves as justification for Lindholm’s pursuit of something more than $5.4MM annually.
- Matt Murray‘s recent extension with Pittsburgh shines the light on the decision the team will have to make ahead of next June’s expansion draft. LeBrun notes the team believes Marc-Andre Fleury‘s NMC will force the Penguins to protect him, assuming he’s still on the roster. Assuming the Penguins decide Murray is their long-term answer between the pipes, the team would still have several options, as LeBrun writes. In addition to the NMC, Fleury’s contract contains a modified no-trade clause which allows him to list 18 teams to which he would accept a trade. The Penguins could attempt to move him to one of those clubs to whom the goalie would agree to go to. Or the Penguins could buy out Fleury’s contract after the season. Pittsburgh also might try to work out a separate deal with the Las Vegas franchise ensuring they don’t select Murray if the team is required to protect Fleury. The scribe did say he doesn’t believe the team has decided on a course of action as of yet. Whatever they decide, however, LeBrun believes the team will make sure Fleury is on board as they “greatly respect” their longtime #1 netminder.
- Once Murray returns from injury, the team is likely to waive goalie Mike Condon with the intent of sending him down to the AHL. LeBrun believes he could be claimed and one interested party could be the Kings. With Jonathan Quick out for up to three months, Los Angeles may eventually look for a short-term upgrade between the pipes and they might conclude Condon fits the bill. Condon’s contract expires at the end of the season and currently makes just $575K. LeBrun suggests that Pittsburgh could call up the Kings and offer Condon in a trade with the idea that adding a late round draft pick would be better than losing the young goalie for nothing on waivers.
Patrick Sharp Sidelined With Concussion-Like Symptoms
According to head coach Lindy Ruff – via a tweet from Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News – winger Patrick Sharp is expected to be out of the Stars lineup “for a while” due to concussion-like symptoms. Sharp was injured on a hard check from Los Angeles defenseman Brayden McNabb along the boards and appeared to hit his head as he fell.
The Stars have been hit particularly hard by injuries so far this season. Patrick Eaves, Ales Hemsky, Mattias Janmark and Cody Eakin have yet to appear in a game for Dallas while free agent addition Jiri Hudler will likely miss the team’s next game with an illness. As Heika notes, the absence of Hudler will likely prompt a call-up from the club’s AHL affiliate.
The loss of Sharp for a significant period of time is a big one for Dallas. The veteran scorer, who is in his 14th NHL season, scored 20 goals and 55 points for the Stars in his first season with the club after being acquired via trade from Chicago. Sharp, 34, is in the final year of a five-year deal with a cap hit of $5.9MM.
Morning Snapshots: Backes, Trouba, Rantanen, Boychuk
Former Blues captain David Backes inked one of the richest deals of the offseason when he left the mid-west to join the Boston Bruins on a five-year, $30MM deal. While Backes is an excellent two-way player, many criticized the length of the contract given to the 32-year-old C/RW. However, teams today seem to realize that is an inherent risk of free agency and generally hope to see surplus value in the earlier years of the pact.
Backes is only four games into his Bruins career yet the early returns are solid – two goals and three points. But as the Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa writes, the biggest benefit of the Backes addition may be in how it’s allowed bench boss Claude Julien to balance out his lines to better take advantage of the skill-sets of his other forwards.
With Patrice Bergeron back in the lineup, he joins Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak on the Bruins top line. Backes, meanwhile, is slotted in as the second line RW with rookie Danton Heinen on the left of veteran pivot David Krejci. The left-handed Heinen and right-handed Backes give Krejci two wings who play on their strong side and allow the gifted center to deliver passes to his linemates’ forehands. As Shinzawa notes, Krejci has had some of his best seasons when he’s “had a right-hand strongman clearing space on his wing.” In past years, Nathan Horton, Jarome Iginla and Blake Wheeler have provided Krejci with just that and now he has Backes.
More from around the NHL:
- The Jacob Trouba saga in Winnipeg appears no closer to a resolution, as ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun writes. Trouba and his agent, Kurt Overhardt, recently made public the defenseman’s request to be traded citing a desire to play top-four minutes on his natural, right side. With Tyler Myers and Dustin Byfuglien under contract with the Jets for at least the next three years, that opportunity didn’t appear to be in Winnipeg. For their part, the Jets have understandably placed a high price tag on Trouba, rumored to be a left-handed defenseman of comparable age and talent to the former first-round draft choice. According to LeBrun, the club hasn’t received an offer to their liking and are prepared to wait it out until they do. There is a hard deadline of December 1st; if Trouba is not under contract at that point he won’t be eligible to play this season.
- The Colorado Avalanche appear poised to recall prospect Mikko Rantanen next week from San Antonio of the AHL, writes Mike Chambers of The Denver Post. Rantanen has been with the Rampage since the start of the season in what has effectively been a conditioning assignment as he works his way back from an ankle injury suffered during training camp. The Avalanche used their first-round selection in the 2015 draft to select Rantanen and the Finnish forward debuted in the NHL in 2015-16, appearing in nine games for the Avalanche. Chambers speculates the team will make room on their 23-man roster by placing veteran center John Mitchell on IR or by sending Gabriel Bourque or Ben Smith to San Antonio.
- Zach Boychuk, who has appeared in 127 NHL games over parts of seven seasons with Carolina, Pittsburgh and Nashville, has inked a pact of HC Sibir of the KHL according to this link, re-tweeted by Cap Friendly (original link in Russian). Boychuk was chosen in the first-round of the 2008 draft by Carolina and has scored 12 goals and 30 points during his NHL career. He has had more success in the minors, once tallying 36 goals and 74 points while playing for Charlotte of the AHL during the 2013-14 campaign.
Injury Notes: Scandella, Marincin, Redmond
Tonight’s injury update in the NHL:
- The Minnesota Wild report that defenseman Marco Scandella is out of tonight’s Wild game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs because of an undisclosed illness. Michael Russo of the Minnesota Star-Tribune reports that Matthew Dumba will take his place. Scandella is logging 2nd-pairing minutes with the Wild—averaging just under 20 minutes a night—but remains pointless so far. Dumba has had more luck, scoring 1G in his first three games while logging just over 18 minutes a night. Minnesota drafted Dumba 7th overall in 2012 and has seen the defenseman progress in each of first three years in the NHL.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs announce that defenseman Martin Marincin is also out of tonight’s game with the Minnesota Wild. Marincin is replaced by Roman Polak. Marincin has been a nice surprise for the Maple Leafs since they acquired him last year, and he is currently played over 21 minutes a night. He has 1A in the team’s first three games. Polak makes his second Toronto debut tonight—he re-signed with the team in the offseason after being traded to the San Jose Sharks near the 2015-16 NHL Trade Deadline.
- The Montreal Canadiens reported that defenseman Zach Redmond will be out for six weeks after suffering a broken foot in practice. The Canadiens signed Redmond to a two-year deal this summer but he has yet to play for the big club. Redmond was expected to get playing time if the Canadiens sent rookie Mikhail Sergachev back to the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. Last Season Redmond spent time between the Colorado Avalanche and its AHL affiliate San Antonio Rampage. The blueliner put up 2G and 4A in 37 NHL games.
Wild Notes: Dumba, Reilly, Vanek, Weber
With Christian Folin playing well and head coach Bruce Boudreau wanting to give another chance to talented young blue liner Mike Reilly, the Wild are set to scratch Mathew Dumba in advance of tonight’s game against Toronto, writes Mike Russo of the Star Tribune. Dumba has appeared in all three of Minnesota’s games so far this season and has recorded one point – a goal – and a -2 plus-minus rating while averaging 18:16 per game. Even though Dumba is the odd man out tonight, Boudreau still believes he is a quality defenseman.
“Maybe he has to do a little less. Sometimes players try so hard and they do too much rather than just do their job and make plays. Dumba is going to be a really good player. And he’s a good player right now. He’s trying to do too much right now. We just want him to calm it down and play his game.”
Meanwhile, Reilly, will make his second appearance of the season. In his only other start, Reilly saw just 14:09 of ice time and finished with a -1 plus-minus rating. He’s aware he needs to make more of a positive impact if he wants to remain in the lineup.
“Just try to come in and play my game. Obviously, wasn’t satisfied with the first effort and as a team, so just come in and try to do what I do best. It was good for me go down and play in Iowa a few nights ago, get minutes, get a lot of reps and play in every situation. Just try to come in and be confident.”
Russo adds that because Reilly is the only Wild blue liner who does not require waivers to be sent down to the minors, he may find himself frequently shuttling between Minnesota and the team’s AHL affiliate in Iowa.
Update (7:00pm): Evidently, despite the plan, Dumba will play tonight. Russo reports that Marco Scandella is out with an undisclosed illness and Dumba will take his spot in the lineup.
In other Wild News:
- While his time playing for his hometown Minnesota Wild didn’t go according to plan, veteran scoring winger Thomas Vanek is off to a sizzling start with his new club, the Detroit Red Wings, as Michael Rand of the Star Tribune notes. Vanek inked a three-year free agent deal in the summer of 2014 to add scoring punch to the Wild lineup and while he did contribute 39 goals in 159 games for Minnesota, it simply wasn’t enough to merit his $6MM cap hit. Minnesota elected to buy out the final year of his pact, allowing Vanek to join the Wings on a one-year, $2.6MM deal. Through four games with Detroit, the two-time 40-goal-scorer already has three goals and six points. Detroit will have one of the bargains of the 2016 free agent class if Vanek can continue to produce offense near the point-per-game level.
- The Iowa Wild, Minnesota’s AHL affiliate, have signed veteran blue liner Mike Weber to a PTO, according to this tweet from Russo. Weber is expected to fill in for Victor Bartley, who is currently injured. Russo adds that the Wild will have the option of eventually inking Weber to either an AHL deal or perhaps even a two-way contract with Minnesota if he plays well enough to warrant it. Weber was in camp with the St. Louis Blues but didn’t make their final roster. In 351 NHL regular season contests, Weber has tallied nine goals and 53 points along with 437 minutes in penalties.