Metro Notes: Pirri, Leighton, Wilson
The hardest skill to find on the open market is goal-scoring yet one of the NHL’s most prolific when it comes to finding the back of the net, Brandon Pirri, remained unsigned as a UFA late into the summer. Pirri is tied for 30th in goals scored for every 60 minutes of ice time he plays at even strength over the last two seasons. Eventually, the New York Rangers decided to roll the dice and invest in a one-year deal with Pirri and as Sean Hartnett of CBS New York writes, the Blue Shirts might have scored the steal of the summer.
Despite his offensive prowess, Pirri has bounced around the league quite a bit since breaking into the league with the Blackhawks during the 2010-11 season. He wouldn’t earn a regular role until dealt from Chicago to Florida during the 2012-13 campaign. Pirri would spend parts of three seasons with the Panthers before a trade deadline deal to Anaheim this past season. The Ducks chose not to qualify Pirri after the season, thus making the forward a free agent.
Recently, after a preseason loss to Philadelphia, Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault acknowledged the offensive abilities but also pointed out other areas Pirri needs to improve upon before earning the bench boss’ trust.
“There’s no doubt that he’s got the knack to find the net and score. Tonight, he scored a big goal for us. But there’s other areas where I need to be sure he’s going to be able to make the play, get the puck out, be strong on the wall. And tonight, in certain areas, he needed to make a better play. But there’s no doubt offensively that he’s got good hands and he can find the back of the net.”
Pirri is also locked in a tight battle for a roster spot. Even after placing Marek Hrivik and Nicklas Jensen on waivers for the purpose of sending them down to the AHL, the Blue Shirts have four or five players competing for perhaps three spots. Additionally, Vigneault has previously said Pirri would be best served in a top-nine role and he might have a hard time beating out some of his competition despite a four goal, six point preseason. But as Hartnett notes, Pirri’s versatility could be key as he can play either wing and even fill in at center if needed. If Pirri can find enough playing time in New York and continues to put the puck in the net as he has done for much of his career, the minimal investment the Rangers made this summer could prove one of the wisest moves of the offseason.
Elsewhere in the Metro Division:
- When goalie Michael Leighton inked a deal with Carolina in September, he knew in all likelihood he was destined to spend most of the season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers. But as Chip Alexander of The News & Observer writes, the veteran of 106 regular season NHL contests is content being the #3 netminder in the organization and with his role mentoring the teams goalie prospects. “They’ve got two solid goalies up here, I knew that coming in. I just want to go down there and help the young guys, hopefully show them a little bit of leadership and kind of guide them toward what they should be doing in the future. And also play well. I want to win. If I go down to Charlotte I want to win games and hopefully win a championship.” Of course Leighton is aware he is just an injury away from NHL duty. Last season, while in the Chicago organization, Leighton got that call and would see action in a single NHL contest. Leighton is perhaps best known for back-stopping the 2009-10 Philadelphia Flyers to within two wins of an improbable Stanley Cup championship. He won eight of his 13 starts that spring and recorded three shutouts during the Eastern Conference Final against Montreal. Regardless of whether Leighton sees any NHL action this season or not, his experience should prove valuable to the Hurricanes organization.
- LW Scott Wilson of the Pittsburgh Penguins is doing his best to land a plum job skating next to one of the elite centers in the game today. As Seth Rorabaugh of DKPittsburghSports.com writes (subscription required), Wilson has taken advantage of the absence of several high profile players due to their World Cup commitments and impressed the Penguins coaches with his play. He is being rewarded with an opportunity to skate along side Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist in tonight’s preseason tilt with Detroit. Whether the Penguins leave Wilson in the spot to open the season is open for debate. But assuming the Carl Hagelin – Nick Bonino – Phil Kessel line that was dominant in the postseason remains intact, the Penguins will need to find four wingers to play with Sidney Crosby and Malkin. Hornqvist, Chris Kunitz and Conor Sheary figure to fill three of those vacancies but that does leave open the possibility Wilson could force his way into that last spot.
Devils Lose Merrill, Gazdic For Four Weeks
The New Jersey Devils announced today that they will be without the services of defenseman Jon Merrill and forward Luke Gazdic for four weeks each due to injury. Merrill broke his index finger in Saturday’s preseason tilt against the New York Rangers, while Gazdic suffered a broken left foot on September 26th.
The loss of Merrill is a particularly tough one for the Devils as their top-six was already a bit thin. Merrill recorded a goal to go along with four assists in 47 games in 2015-16 but missed the final three weeks of the season due to a shoulder injury. He had surgery on that shoulder in May and was expected to miss four months but recovered quickly enough to participate in training camp.
The Devils could choose to roll with Seth Helgeson or perhaps Yohann Auvitu to pick up the slack on the back end until Merrill is healthy. Or the club could look to the waiver wire where a number of interesting players could be available. Jakub Kindl, cut by Florida, or Matt Bartkowski, released from his PTO with Ottawa, could represent solid, short-term fixes for the Devils.
While Kindl might have name recognition going for him, he would also represent a fairly sizable financial commitment should the Devils claim the 6-foot-3, 199-pound blue liner. He is in the final year of a contract that has an AAV of $2.4MM but with Detroit retaining $360K as part of last year’s deadline trade with Florida, any team claiming Kindl would be on the hook for just over $2MM.
On the other hand, Auvitu is an intriguing player. The French-born blue liner was named the top defenseman in the Finnish League in 2015-16 and attracted plenty of interest from teams in both the NHL and the KHL this summer before choosing to sign with the Devils. The 27-year-old Auvitu also speaks five different languages: English, Russian, German, Finnish and French.
Gazdic, a big LW, spent the last three seasons with Edmonton, seeing action in 129 games for the Oil and accumulating just five goals and eight points. He was expected to add some size and toughness to the organization in a depth role.
Professional Try-Outs Remaining In Camp
We’re now two weeks into training camp, and there are still a handful of professional try-out contracts (PTOs) remaining in camp. With the difficult economic situation in the NHL, these veterans have been forced to take PTOs to try earn contracts.
Here’s an updated list:
Anaheim Ducks:
LW Sean Bergenheim
G Yann Danis
C Kyle MacKinnon
Boston Bruins:
D Christian Ehrhoff
Calgary Flames:
D Nicklas Grossmann
LW Chris Higgins
LW Lauri Korpikoski
Colorado Avalanche:
RW Gabriel Bourque
LW Rene Bourque
Columbus Blue Jackets:
G Brad Thiessen
Detroit Red Wings:
D Nathan Paetsch
Edmonton Oilers:
D Eric Gryba
RW Kris Versteeg
Los Angeles Kings:
RW Devin Setoguchi
Minnesota Wild:
LW Ryan Carter
New Jersey Devils:
G Anders Lindback
New York Islanders:
C Stephen Gionta
St. Louis Blues:
D Mike Weber
Toronto Maple Leafs:
LW Rich Clune
D Raman Hrabarenka
LW Brandon Prust
C Colin Smith
Vancouver Canucks:
RW Jack Skille
RW Tuomo Ruutu
Information via Cap Friendly.
Oilers’ Hendricks To Miss “Weeks”
The Edmonton Oilers will start the season without one of their best penalty killers and leaders.
Forward Matt Hendricks left the Oilers’ Tuesday night win over the Anaheim Ducks in the second period with a lower-body injury. According to Oilers head coach Todd McLellan, Hendricks will miss “weeks”.
Hendricks absence, combined with Iiro Pakarinen‘s serious knee injury sustained earlier this week, gives a couple of young forwards a better chance of cracking the opening night roster. Center Anton Lander, right winger Tyler Pitlick, and left winger Anton Slepyshev are battling for the 12th and 13th forward slots. Expect Lander and Pitlick to have the inside track on those jobs.
The Oilers have already suffered several injuries in training camp, with WHL-bound second-round pick Tyler Benson injuring his shoulder, Patrick Maroon and Oscar Klefbom missing short amounts of time with minor injuries, Pakarinen’s knee injury, and Brandon Davidson taking a headshot.
Training Camp Cuts: 10.05.16
We’re now a week away from the beginning of the NHL regular season. Teams are getting closer to their final rosters, and with that comes more cuts.
Here are the cuts made on October 5, 2016:
Carolina Hurricanes (via General Fanager):
G Michael Leighton (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
D Keegan Lowe (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
C Brody Sutter (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
D Matt Tennyson (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
LW Brendan Woods (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
Columbus Blue Jackets (via team release):
D Keith Aulie (released from PTO)
D Marc-Andre Bergeron (released from PTO)
RW Mike Brown (released from PTO)
C Jarret Stoll (released from PTO)
RW Daniel Zaar (assigned to Cleveland, AHL)
Snapshots: Trouba, Stoll, Bjugstad
Recently it was learned that RFA defenseman Jacob Trouba and his representation formally requested a trade from the Winnipeg Jets. The young blue liner cited his wish for consistent playing time on the right side and dismissed the notion his request was based on either money or a desire to leave the city of Winnipeg. The Jets understandably are placing a high price on Trouba and it’s been said the team wants a left-shooting defender of comparable talent and age to the 22-year-old native of Michigan.
One team thought to have been on the hunt for a top-four blue liner this summer and linked in the past to Trouba is Boston. The Bruins essentially admitted that interest when team president Cam Neely appeared last month on CSN’s Great American Hockey Show:
“Basically from April to now everybody is talking about our back end, and not being able to land a top-four defenseman. We still have an opportunity as far as cap space goes if something shakes free, and I know Don [Sweeney] has been working hard trying to do something. But I feel like as a group we can do better than we did last year.”
While Boston, like many teams, might love to add a young talent the ilk of Trouba, Joe Haggerty of CSN New England believes the acquisition cost would simply be too high. Haggerty reasons that in order to meet the Jets supposed asking price, the Bruins would have to part with highly-skilled defenseman Torey Krug in exchange. Krug is a “leader-in-the-making,” who adds toughness and attitude to the lineup according to Haggerty.
At the end of the day, even while highlighting Krug’s strengths, Haggerty admits it’s unlikely that would be enough on its own to pry Trouba away from the Jets. Ultimately he believes the combination of a pricey new contract for Trouba and the cost in terms of players and/or other assets is simply more than the Bruins should be willing to pay.
More from around the NHL:
- It’s unclear at this point whether or not Jarret Stoll makes the final roster of the Columbus Blue Jackets but what is clear is that the veteran pivot is not ready to call it a career, according to Tom Reed of The Columbus Dispatch. “I definitely think I have a lot left in the tank and my body feels good. I understand the game is getting younger – young, skilled and fast — but I feel like I can still contribute.” Reed goes on to write that Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella did not express “strong feelings either way” with regards to Stoll’s recent performance against Pittsburgh. Stoll, who is one of four players on PTOs remaining with the Blue Jackets, is an excellent faceoff guy and expereinced penalty-killer who has been part of two Stanley Cup championship teams while a member of the Kings. He left Los Angeles as a free agent and signed with the New York Rangers last summer. After 29 games with the Blue Shirts, Stoll was off to Minnesota after the Wild claimed him on waivers. He would finish the campaign with just nine points in 80 games in 2015-16. Perhaps most troubling is that he was among the worst drivers of puck possession in the league, finishing with a CF% of just 37.34%, a rate which was actually last in the NHL.
- After winning the Atlantic Division in 2015-16, the Florida Panthers appear poised to take the next step following an active offseason. The team invested huge resources this summer to upgrade the blue line in an effort to support a talented and deep group of forwards. As Harvey Fialkov writes, while the team’s top two lines are essentially set in stone, the club is still searching for the right wingers to play with third-line pivot Nick Bjugstad. Fialkov believes Jared McCann, acquired in an offseason deal with Vancouver, Colton Sceviour and Jon Marchessault, who were both inked as free agents this summer, are the likeliest candidates to line up next to Bjugstad this season. McCann, a former first-round draft choice, was specifically targeted by the Panther front office to fill a top-nine role, as Fialkov writes. Sceviour is quick and has averaged 10 goals and 25 points playing the last two seasons for Dallas. Marchessault is undersized, 5-foot-9 and 174 pounds, but has plenty of skill. Bjugstad believes that finding chemistry with the right linemates is the most critical factor: “It’s more about learning the system and getting that effort. Everyone’s getting more and more comfortable with each other, especially the younger guys. We’re figuring out how guys work out on the ice and see which guys click with each other. I think there’s a lot of different options and that’s what’s good about this team. We have a lot of depth.’’
Pacific Division Notes: Raymond, Etem, Coyotes
Mason Raymond is out to prove that lightning does indeed strike twice as he works to earn a roster spot with the Anaheim Ducks. Shortly after the final year of his contract was bought out by the Calgary Flames, Raymond inked a one-year, two-way deal with Anaheim that guarantees the nine-year vet $675K while on an NHL roster and $225K if he’s suiting up in the AHL. It’s fair to say Raymond has reached a proverbial crossroads in his career, though as the Orange County Register’s Eric Stepens writes, the former Canuck, Leaf and Flame has history to fall back on as he attempts to make the Ducks roster.
Just three seasons ago Raymond was in a similar boat. Unsigned well into the summer of 2013, Raymond would eventually accept a PTO from Toronto and made the Leafs roster out of training camp. Playing for head coach Randy Carlyle, now behind the bench in Anaheim, Raymond saw action in all 82 games for the second time in his career and responded with a 45-point campaign. His 19 goals that year represented the second-highest single-season total of his career. He would parley that strong performance into a three-year deal with Calgary prior to the start of the 2014-15 season.
Raymond is hoping for a similar outcome in Anaheim and for his former Leafs bench boss. For his part, Carlyle believes Raymond can still contribute to an NHL team.
“He’s a talented player and he can score. He doesn’t need a lot of chances to score goals. I always used to use the analogy where some guys need 10 chances to score a goal. With Mason Raymond – when looking at him and watching his number of chances, he gets three or four and he scores a goal. That’s what his history has been, for me.”
Raymond’s chances of making the team went up after the Ducks released both David Booth and David Jones from their PTO’s. Sean Bergenheim, also in camp on a PTO, is still fighting for a job but the Ducks would have room for both players should they choose to go that route. If he can crack the roster, Raymond would add plenty of speed and some offensive potential in a bottom-six role.
Elsewhere in the NHL’s Pacific Division:
- The Arizona Coyotes find themselves in rarefied air these days as the club can fairly be called a “cap team.” Most seasons, the Coyotes payroll ranks among the lowest in the league but this year they have the third highest projected salary cap hit according to Cap Friendly. Of course a significant chunk of space is taken up by the contracts of Chris Pronger, Pavel Datsyuk and Dave Bolland; players not even expected to suit up for Arizona this season barring an unexpected development. As Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports writes, Coyotes GM John Chayka has an interesting perspective on the club’s sudden willingness to spend. He feels that Arizona’s commitment to spend to the cap ceiling this year is “good practice” as the team builds his roster into one capable of contention and the prices of players currently on ELCs begin to rise. “As we grow this thing, there’s a day when we foresee ourselves being a cap team. It’s good practice.”
- Former first-round pick Emerson Etem may well be in jeopardy of losing his job in Vancouver opines The Province’s Ben Kuzma. Kuzma believes the top nine spots are locked up and that young forward Brendan Gaunce has done enough to make the team while Jake Virtanen should be on the roster come opening night. He goes on to note that Mikael Granlund has been better than Etem in the preseason and also suggests young Joseph LaBate has played well enough to garner consideration for one of the final roster spots up front. If Etem does in fact fail to make the team it would represent a low point in what has already been a disappointing career. Etem was selected by Anaheim with the 29th overall selection in the 2010 entry draft and would see action in 112 games with the Ducks before he was shipped off to the New York Rangers last summer as part of the package used to acquire Carl Hagelin. He failed to make an impact on Manhattan in 19 games and was shipped off mid-season to Vancouver in exchange for Nicklas Jensen. Etem would go on to net seven goals and 12 points in 39 games with the Canucks but now it looks as if his days in British Columbia may be numbered. The Canucks would have to expose the four-year veteran to waivers prior to sending him down to the AHL. It’s conceivable another club could take a flier on Etem’s talent should he hit the waiver wire.
RFA Update: Gaudreau, Trouba, and Kucherov
News and notes concerning the NHL’s remaining unsigned restricted free agents:
- Johnny Gaudreau and the Flames are inching toward a deal, says TSN Insider Darren Dreger. Dreger refrained from saying that a deal is imminent, but that he expects an agreement within the week. The latest reports on negotiations from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, however, paints a bleaker picture. Friedman interviewed Gaudreau’s agent Lewis Gross and uncovered that the Flames had not talked to Gaudreau’s camp since September 9th. That was around the time that the Calgary Sun’s Eric Francis reported that Gaudreau was looking for something in the $8MM range while the Flames wanted to keep the contract under $6.75MM. It is important to note that Gaudreau lacks leverage in these negotiations because he is not eligible for an offer sheet.
- A deal for Jacob Trouba is no closer to happening, says Darren Dreger on TSN 1040 Vancouver. Winnipeg is still looking for a 22-23 year old left shooting defenseman in return, and are not budging from that position. Dreger points to an ideal trade partner in Detroit, but the lack of that type of defenseman has stymied any potential deal. Expect Winnipeg to wait this out just like Tampa Bay did with Jonathan Drouin.
- TSN’s Bob MacKenzie opined on a Nikita Kucherov offer sheet, stating that of all the unsigned RFAs, Kucherov is the most attractive offer sheet candidate. The Lightning are tight against the cap—both this year and in the future—and may not be able to pay Kucherov market value. MacKenzie gauges Kucherov’s market value at around $6-7MM, but the Lightning only have around $5.5MM in cap space. Even if they move players around to fit a matched contract this year, contracts to impending RFAs Jonathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat, and Tyler Johnson next summer pose serious cap consideration.
Training Camp Cuts: 10-04-2016
Camps continue to trim down as the deadline of October 11th approaches. Here is where we’ll keep track of all the cuts.
Calgary Flames (via team release):
D Kenney Morrison (to Stockton, AHL)
Chicago Blackhawks (via team release):
LW Spencer Abbott (to Rockford, AHL)
C Sam Carrick (to Rockford, AHL)
LW Pierre-Cedric Labrie (to Rockford, AHL)
D Cameron Schilling (to Rockford, AHL)
D Viktor Svedberg (to Rockford, AHL)
Columbus Blue Jackets (via team release):
D Dean Kukan (to Cleveland, AHL)
D Oleg Yevenko (to Cleveland, AHL)
RW Aaron Palushaj (to Cleveland, AHL)
Detroit Red Wings (via General Fanager):
G Edward Pasquale (on waivers, to Grand Rapids, AHL)
Los Angeles Kings (via General Fanager):
D Zach Trotman (on waivers, to Ontario, AHL)
Nashville Predators (via team release)
F Pontus Aberg (to Milwaukee, AHL)
F Anthony Richard (to Milwaukee, AHL)
F Yakov Trenin (to Gatineau, QMJHL)
D Samuel Girard (to Shawinigan, QMJHL)
G Juuse Saros (to Milwaukee, AHL)
New Jersey Devils (via team release):
F Blake Coleman (to Albany, AHL)
F Rod Pelley (to Albany, AHL)
F Blake Pietila (to Albany, AHL)
D Brandon Gormley (to Albany, AHL)
D Vojtech Mozik (to Albany, AHL)
D Karl Stollery (to Albany, AHL)
New York Rangers (via General Fanager):
D Chris Summers (on waivers, to Hartford, AHL)
D Tommy Hughes (on waivers, to Hartford, AHL)
F Chris Brown (on waivers, to Hartford, AHL)
D Mat Bodie (on waivers, to Hartford, AHL)
F Maxim Lapierre (released)
Philadelphia Flyers (via General Fanager):
RW Colin McDonald (on waivers, to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
Washington Capitals (via team release):
F Travis Boyd (to Hershey, AHL)
D Tyler Lewington (to Hershey, AHL)
F Chandler Stephenson (to Hershey, AHL)
LW Nathan Walker (to Hershey, AHL)
RW Garrett Mitchell (on waivers, to Hershey, AHL)
D Darren Dietz (on waivers, to Hershey, AHL)
Winnipeg Jets (via team release):
F JC Lipon (on waivers, to Manitoba, AHL)
D Brenden Kichton (on waivers, to Manitoba, AHL)
F Quinton Howden (on waivers, to Manitoba, AHL)
G Eric Comrie (to Manitoba, AHL)
D Kevin Czuczman (to Manitoba, AHL)
RW Scott Kosmachuk (to Manitoba, AHL)
D Jan Kostalek (to Manitoba, AHL)
C Jack Roslovic (to Manitoba, AHL)
D Logan Stanley (to Windsor, OHL)
Quotable Coaches: McLellan, Maurice, Blashill
Coaching in the preseason is a difficult task. You have to find combinations that may never play again together, and judge your players against a mixed bag of NHL experience. It leads for some interesting answers, when talking to coaches around the league. Here are some reactions from the league’s bench bosses.
Todd McLellan (via NHL.com), on young Drake Cagguila a recent signing out of the University of North Dakota:
He’s played a very admirable game, and been a factor in each of them. He’s allowed us to think about some other things, one being Leon (Draitsaitl) on the wing. It’s certainly not written in stone, we’ve got a lot of preseason left to play and a number of decisions to make moving forward.
He’s a mature player, he’s got a mature body and a pretty good approach to the daily routine. I think he’ll get the rest that he needs. After that, if he just keeps playing the way he is, he has an impact every night; he shoots the puck, he makes plays, he looks comfortable on the powerplay, he’s been able to penalty kill. That’s not a bad menu for a rookie coming into training camp for the first time.
Paul Maurice (via the Jets Twitter), on first-round pick Logan Stanley heading back to junior:
Playing defense as much as anything, who you’re talking to on the line and what you’re partner is telling you has a really big impact. He got to know Tyler Myers, Dustin Byfuglien and all the guys playing on that side of the ice, and he really enjoyed that.
It’s going to take him some years before he’s an NHL defenseman, learning all the small things about how to position your body, how to roll off a hit, how to extend your stick, all those things. Those training camp conversations are really important.
Jeff Blashill (via the Wings Twitter), on Teemu Pulkkinen and what he has to do to be successful in the NHL:
When guys aren’t like Justin Abdelkader who bring other things like physicality, size, or net front presence, ultimately you have to produce points, whether it’s assists or goals. He’s certainly somebody who has shown a prolific ability to score, be it in the minor leagues.
I saw it first hand, he’s somebody with a right-shot. If he can add that element of scoring, that’ll do what I talked about in camp; demand that you stay here.