Snapshots: Russell, Lucic, Ducks, Pardy, Rangers
Following yet another disappointing campaign for Edmonton in 2015-16, GM Peter Chiarelli orchestrated several changes to his team’s roster this offseason in an effort to build a playoff contender. Chiarelli dealt away two former first overall draft picks, Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov (receiving Adam Larsson, a marginal prospect and a conditional draft choice in return), while signing free agents Milan Lucic and Kris Russell in free agency. Many in the hockey community at large weren’t particularly fond of Chiarelli’s moves and while it’s far too early to make any definitive judgement, through two games Lucic and Russell have done exactly what the Oilers and Chiarelli hoped for, as David Staples of the Edmonton Journal writes.
Staples has been tracking scoring chances for and against for every Oilers skater through two games. His research shows that Connor McDavid, who has simply been phenomenal already with six points on the young season, has been Edmonton’s best player by far, helping to generate better than six more scoring chances for than against, per 15 minutes of ice time. Lucic is second in that category with a differential of 4.82. Russell leads the defense corps with a 2.34 differential per 15 minutes of ice time. Incredibly, Russell has yet to make a single error leading to an opposition scoring chance through two games, based on Staples’ tracking.
Again, it’s too early to conclude anything for certain but the early returns on Lucic and Russell have to be encouraging for Chiarelli and Co. Obviously this team will only go as far as their superstar captain McDavid will lead, but should his two prized free agent acquisitions continue to perform at this level, Edmonton might yet prove the pundits wrong and compete for a playoff spot in 2016-17.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
- Could the Anaheim Ducks soon find themselves at a crossroads with a roster core too old to compete for a Stanley Cup? Eric Stepens, who covers the team, asks that question in a post that appears in the Los Angeles Daily News. Stephens notes that the team’s three best forwards, Ryan Getzlaf (31), Corey Perry (31) and Ryan Kesler (32) are all on the wrong side of 30. At the same time, many of the league’s top stars – Johnny Gaudreau (23), McDavid (19), Auston Matthews (19) – are in their early-20’s or even younger. Getzlaf, Perry and Kesler also account for $23.75MM, or nearly one-third of this year’s salary cap, now that Kesler’s massive extension kicked in. These commitments leaves less space for the Ducks to flesh out the rest of their roster with quality talent as evidenced by their struggles to reach agreements with restricted free agents Rickard Rakell and Hampus Lindholm.
- After being released from his PTO with Florida, Adam Pardy has agreed to sign an AHL deal with the Panthers organization, tweets Harvey Fialkov. Pardy will report to Springfield and provide an experienced blue line depth option for Florida. He has appeared in 338 NHL games over parts of eight seasons. Pardy previously has seen action in the league with Calgary, Buffalo, Edmonton, Dallas and Winnipeg.
- New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault was quite specific in how he put his forward lines together to start the 2016-17 campaign. By design, the team would ice three lines capable of scoring while the fourth line was to be comprised of “penalty killers and defensive specialists.” But after introducing rookies Pavel Buchnevich and Jimmy Vesey to the lineup, a couple of skilled veterans slid down the depth chart and onto the team’s fourth line. As Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post writes, the presence of Brandon Pirri and Michael Grabner at the bottom of the Rangers lineup has already paid dividends for the Blue Shirts. Grabner, a once tallied 34 goals as a member of the Islanders, netted the first marker of the season for the Rangers. Pirri, meanwhile, assisted on Grabner’s goal and potted his first as a New York Ranger on the power play. As long as the duo remain defensively-responsible, their ability to put the puck in the net will be welcome on the teams fourth line.
Injury Notes: Schwartz, Crosby, Hartman, Bitetto, McGinn
St. Louis forward Jaden Schwartz has started skating as he continues to recover from an elbow injury sustained late in September, Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. While he will accompany the team on their road trip to Western Canada early next week, he still isn’t ready just yet to return to the lineup.
Schwartz was originally expected to miss at least a month with the injury and it’s about halfway into that timeline currently. Head coach Ken Hitchcock doesn’t have a firm expectation of when Schwartz should return to the lineup but it would appear he’s pretty much on schedule at this time.
With the departures of David Backes and Troy Brouwer this offseason, Schwartz will be expected to take on a larger role in the offense for the Blues this year. In an injury-riddled 2015-16 campaign, he had 22 points in 33 games but put up point totals of 63 and 56 in the previous two seasons. St. Louis inked him to a five year, $26.75MM extension back in July.
Other injury news and notes from around the league:
- Penguins center Sidney Crosby skated on his own for the fifth straight day after being diagnosed with a concussion back on Monday, Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. Head coach Mike Sullivan is encouraged by Crosby’s progress but there remains no timetable for his return to game action. He has yet to receive the green light to participate in contact drills.
- Chicago right winger Ryan Hartman suffered a lower body injury in a goalmouth scramble in just his second shift in Friday’s loss to Nashville, Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times notes. Head coach Joel Quenneville didn’t provide a projected timeframe for his return but added that Hartman will “miss some time”. The 22 year old has a goal and an assist in two games so far this season.
- Predators defenseman Anthony Bitetto suffered an upper body injury in a fight against Nashville’s Jordin Tootoo on Friday night. He left the game and did not return. Thomas Willis of the Predators website reports (via Twitter) that he will not play tonight. Instead, Yannick Weber will make his season debut. Bitetto is expected to be re-evaluated on Monday.
- Coyotes left winger Jamie McGinn will have to wait a little while longer to make his regular season debut with Arizona as he continues to recover from an upper body injury, AZ Central’s Sarah McLellan notes via Twitter. Head coach Dave Tippett said he remains day-to-day and that it’s questionable that he will travel with the team for their upcoming Eastern Conference road trip next week.
Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Twelfth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?
Here are the results of our redraft so far:
1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
5th Overall: Kris Letang (Montreal Canadiens)
6th Overall: Tuukka Rask (Columbus Blue Jackets)
7th Overall: Bobby Ryan (Chicago Blackhawks)
8th Overall: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (San Jose Sharks)
9th Overall: Ben Bishop (Ottawa Senators)
10th Overall: James Neal (Vancouver Canucks)
11th Overall: T.J. Oshie (Los Angeles Kings)
Now we move forward to the twelfth pick, which was held by the New York Rangers.
To recap how this works:
- We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
- The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.
Back in 2005, the Rangers picked blueliner Marc Staal. While the team was hopeful his two-way game from the junior level to the pros, that hasn’t been the case although Staal has been a core player in New York for quite some time as a shutdown defender. He has played in 618 career NHL games – all with the Rangers – which ranks ninth highest among all players drafted in 2005. Of those in front of him in that regard, only three others have played that many games with the team that drafted them. Staal is likely to remain with the team for several more years as he still has five years left on his current contract (including this season) with a cap hit of $5.7MM with some form of no-trade protection in every year of the deal.
With the twelfth pick of the 2005 NHL Redraft, who should the New York Rangers select? Cast your vote below!
Mobile users, click here to vote.
Flames Sign Goaltender Tom McCollum
The Calgary Flames have added some goaltending depth as the team has agreed to terms on a two year, two-way contract with Tom McCollum, Dhiren Mahiban of The Hockey News reports. McCollum will earn the league minimum at the NHL level in each of the next two seasons, $575K in 2016-17 (with an AHL salary of $175K) and $650K in the NHL in 2017-18 (with a minor league pay of $200K). The second year is an important one as that will make him eligible to be exposed in the upcoming expansion draft; all teams must leave at least one goaltender unprotected.
McCollum was originally drafted in the first round (30th overall) in 2008 but failed to live up to his draft billing, getting into just three NHL games in seven professional seasons. Last year, he spent most of the year with Detroit’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids, posting a 15-13-0 record with a 2.42 GAA, a .923 SV%, and one shutout.
This offseason, he had signed a tryout deal with the Kings but was cut. He then landed a tryout with their AHL affiliate but was released from that opportunity on Tuesday.
With Calgary, McCollum will provide some extra depth in the minor leagues, assuming he makes it through waivers first. The Flames currently have Jon Gillies and David Rittich in the AHL plus prospect Mason McDonald at the ECHL level.
[Related: Flames Depth Chart]
Trade Suitors For Jacob Trouba
TSN’s Bob McKenzie debuted ‘The Bobcast’ yesterday, weighing in on a variety of topics around the league. Among those was Winnipeg defenseman Jacob Trouba and who has shown interest in him so far. McKenzie highlighted the Avalanche, Bruins, Coyotes, Rangers, and Red Wings as teams that have significant interest. Let’s take a closer look at where Trouba would fit in on those teams and if they have the young left-shooting blueliner that the Jets reportedly are coveting in return.
Arizona: The Coyotes already have a very deep blueline but GM John Chayka hasn’t hesitated to add to their defensive depth since taking over in the offseason. Trouba would conceivably fit in as their top pairing defender alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson which would give them a pretty dynamic duo as their anchors for years to come.
With Ekman-Larsson and newcomer Alex Goligoski both signed long-term, they’re not going anywhere and those are Arizona’s top two left shot defensemen. Behind them currently are first rounder Jakob Chychrun, Kevin Connauton (injured), and Jarred Tinordi (suspended). The latter two wouldn’t come close to securing a player like Trouba but the Jets are a draft-and-develop type of team and could have interest in Chychrun as a long-term piece, even if he isn’t ready to step into a top four role right away.
Boston: With Zdeno Chara starting to show his age and several blueliners that are better suited as bottom pairing options than top four players, there is a definite need for an impact defenseman and Trouba would arguably slot in as their number one option of the short and long-term. In the short-term, he could play alongside Chara, giving the 39 year old a mobile partner that could help take some of the pressure off of him.
Aside from Torey Krug, the Bruins don’t have the young left shooting defender that the Jets have been looking for. Boston just committed to Krug on a long-term deal this summer and with a cap hit of $5.25MM, he may be too pricey to fit into Winnipeg’s budget moving forward. That said, a power play pairing of Krug along with Dustin Byfuglien could be among the best in the league in a hurry.
Colorado: While the Avalanche haven’t been known for their defensive prowess in recent years, the current right side of their back end is a strength, anchored by Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie who are signed through 2023 and 2020 respectively. On the surface, this would appear to present Trouba with the same issue he faces in Winnipeg (wanting to play top four on his natural side) unless one of Johnson or Barrie were willing to move to their off-side.
Colorado also doesn’t have a young impact NHL-ready left shot defender readily available either. Their lefties on the blueline currently consist of a veteran (Francois Beauchemin) and a couple of recent castaways from other teams (Fedor Tyutin and Eric Gelinas). Nikita Zadorov and Chris Bigras are two prospects who have some upside that could interest Winnipeg but neither would be ready to play a key role right away.
Detroit: The Red Wings have never really replaced Nicklas Lidstrom since his retirement in 2012 and have been rumored to have interest in pretty much any top four blueliner that has been available since then. Mike Green is Detroit’s top right-shot option so Trouba, a Michigan native, would definitely be able to step into a big role immediately. Continued knee problems for Niklas Kronwall, even though he’s a lefty, may very well be another factor in their interest.
Detroit doesn’t really have a young, impact left-shooting rearguard to move, however. Kronwall and Danny DeKeyser (who is signed through 2022) are their top options while Brendan Smith, who’s next in line, is a pending UFA. Xavier Ouellet has long been viewed as a youngster with NHL potential but he isn’t advanced enough in his development to be a key piece involved in any deal for Trouba.
New York: Their top right handed defensemen are veterans Kevin Klein and Dan Girardi while they are lacking in quality prospects as well which makes them a team that could very much use Trouba. However, they’re already spending over $22MM on their back end and adding another expected sizable salary in Trouba would put them amongst the top spenders in the league at that position and likely force them to move one of their better forwards to make room.
Like many of the other teams that McKenzie singled out, the Rangers don’t really have the young left hander on the blueline to part with. Brady Skjei is a former first rounder with some upside but has all of 13 NHL games under his belt and isn’t ready to play a key role in the NHL just yet. New York does, however, have some young forwards that could potentially move if Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff wants to expand his options.
On top of the above squads, McKenzie highlighted several other teams that have shown interest between the offseason and today, the Kings, Lightning, Maple Leafs, Panthers, and Penguins.
Trouba has until December 1st to sign a contract or else he would be deemed ineligible for the remainder of the season. At this time, that seems to be the firm deadline towards getting something done unless Trouba decides to rescind his trade request and re-sign with Winnipeg which doesn’t seem to be a likely option at this point in time.
Gregory Campbell Will Not Report To The AHL
Columbus center Gregory Campbell has decided not to report to Cleveland of the AHL after clearing waivers, his agent Pat Morris told Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. Morris noted that he will continue to skate on his own but does not want to take away a position from a prospect in the minors.
As a result, the Blue Jackets are likely to suspend Campbell which means he will not collect his $1.3MM salary. He’s in the second and final year of a two year contract that carries a cap hit of $1.5MM.
When asked, Morris also stated that Campbell has not requested a trade but that it is probably the best-case scenario for both sides:
“They’re going in a different direction in Columbus; I don’t think he’s wanted there. They want to help Gregory out (with a trade), but he hasn’t made any demands. “He’s not kicking and screaming and demanding a trade, but I’ll keep calling teams, like I have been. And if somebody who plays like Gregory Campbell gets hurt, then Gregory Campbell will be ready if they need somebody like him in the organization.”
Last season, Campbell played in all 82 games for the Blue Jackets but recorded just three goals and eight assists, his lowest point total since 2006-07. His faceoff percentage also took a notable dip from 54.2% down to 47.5% which isn’t ideal for a fourth line checking center. William Karlsson is taking Campbell’s spot on the fourth line to start the season.
[Related: Blue Jackets Depth Chart]
In his career, the 32 year old has played in 803 career games with Florida, Boston, and Columbus, scoring 71 goals while adding 116 assists and 696 penalty minutes.
While Campbell will now wait at home to see what options become available, Morris added that he is not considering playing in Europe at this time, something that would either require a loan from the team or a contract termination.
Rangers Sign And Waive Justin Fontaine
The New York Rangers have placed right winger Justin Fontaine on waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link). Accordingly, it would appear that the Rangers have signed him to a contract, although that has yet to be announced by the team.
Fontaine has spent the last three seasons with Minnesota. Last year, he had five goals and 11 assists in 60 games but is only two years removed from a 31 point campaign. In his career, he has played in 197 games, all with the Wild, scoring 27 goals while adding 41 assists.
Despite that, the 28 year old has bounced around this offseason. He secured a tryout with Florida in early September but was released. He then caught on with Dallas on another PTO but was cut again several days later. Now it appears he has landed a contract but will have to start in the AHL, assuming he makes it through waivers which seems like a reasonable expectation.
At first glance, it would appear that Fontaine is taking the spot originally earmarked for Nathan Gerbe as veteran depth. The Rangers signed Gerbe back in July but after clearing waivers, he declined to report to the AHL and instead had his contract terminated. He has since signed with Geneve-Servette of the Swiss NLA.
[Related: Rangers Depth Chart]
The Nine Biggest Hockey Days Of The Season
Today is a huge day for NHL action. At least from a games-played perspective that is. While ten-game, eleven-game, and twelve-game days are frequent throughout the league calendar, October 15th marks the first of a rare group of days this season where nearly every NHL team is in action.
Beginning at 7:00pm ET, there are 13 games on the schedule tonight. 26 of the the 30 teams in the league take the ice, including several making their season debuts, with only Buffalo, Carolina, Edmonton, and Los Angeles having the day off. Fans will have to wait almost a month to get another chance to see this many teams in action at once. The next 13-game days come on Saturday, Novmber 5th, when the Avalanche and Wild get the day started with a matinee game, and Tuesday, November 15th, the first of many big Tuesdays.
December features no such hockey-heavy days, but the NHL has cleverly scheduled big days as bookends to All-Star weekend in late January. Thursday, January 26th features 13 games, including Eastern Conference rivalry match-ups in Pittsburgh-Boston and Tampa Bay-Florida. Then, after All-Star festivities are over, the league returns with the ultra-rare 14-game day on Tuesday, January 31st, which is littered with great games.
Not long after that, there are 13-game days on back-to-back Saturdays, February 4th and February 11th, each highlighted by a handful of strong matinee match-ups. March is without any big hockey days, but they return in April as the regular season enters it’s stretch run. Tuesday, April 4th features 13 games, and many of them are divisional face-offs that could have important postseason implications. Finally, the league wraps up the year with 14 games on the second-to-last day of the season as Saturday, April 8th will be the regular season finale for many and potentially crucial points will be at stake as the playoff picture solidifies. 28 teams will surely be desperate for a win on the final Saturday of the season.
So mark your calendars hockey fans: the 2016-17 season has begun and today is the first of nine days this year when you should tune in if you want to maximize your NHL exposure this season.
2017 Unrestricted Free Agents
Starting Wednesday, these guys all began playing for a pay-day. Some may re-sign mid-season, some may be dealt away as rentals, and some might cash in on July 1st, but they’re all looking forward to that next paycheck. These players will be talked about all year long, so may as well start early. Our own Mike Furlano took a look at the Top Ten UFA’s last month (denoted with *), and since then two have already re-signed. The group of impending free agents will surely shorten as the year goes on, but here is the current list of 2017 Unrestricted Free Agents:
Anaheim Ducks
G Jonathan Bernier
LW Ryan Garbutt
C Nate Thompson
D Korbinian Holzer
LW Mason Raymond
D Nate Guenin
G Dustin Tokarski
G Matt Hackett
D Jeff Schultz
Arizona Coyotes
D Michael Stone
RW Shane Doan
D Zbynek Michalek
C Martin Hanzal
RW Radim Vrbata
C Ryan White
D Jamie McBain
C Chris Mueller
G Justin Peters
Boston Bruins
D John-Michael Liles
C Dominic Moore
LW Zac Rinaldo
D Alex Grant
D Tommy Cross
Buffalo Sabres
D Dmitry Kulikov
RW Brian Gionta
D Cody Franson
C Cody McCormick
G Anders Nilsson
C Cal O’Reilly
D Justin Falk
C Derek Grant
D Taylor Fedun
Jonathan Quick Could Be Out 3-4 Months
Per a tweet from Sportsnet’s Daren Millard, Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick will be out for the next 3-4 months due to a severe groin injury. This is significantly worse news for the Kings as only earlier in the day, general manager Dean Lombardi wouldn’t speculate on the injury. Lombardi indicated that it was in the same area as his last major injury–one that kept him out for two months. Millard added in his tweet that the injury could require surgery. Nick Kypreos adds that Quick will be looking at every option before deciding on “rehab options.”
After placing him on injured reserve, Quick was initially seen as being week to week. Clearly, it’s much worse. Quick was hurt on what appeared to be a routine save in the first period during the Kings 2-1 loss to San Jose Wednesday night.
The focus now turns onto who the Kings will rely on without their #1 option available. Adam Gretz of NBC Sports writes that the Peter Budaj/Jeff Zatkoff duo will have to do for now as the Kings have little wiggle room within the salary cap to find a #1 goalie elsewhere. Kypreos also said the Kings will most likely search internally for a solution before “looking elsewhere.”