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Archives for April 2017

Injury Updates: Zaitsev, Carlson, Jarnkrok

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without rookie defenseman Nikita Zaitsev tonight in Game 1 against the Washington Capitals, reports Rogers Sportsnet. Zaitsev suffered an upper body injury in the Maple Leafs’ final regular season game on Sunday when he was hit into the boards by Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno. The Maple Leafs will miss Zaitsev’s presence on the blue line as Zaitsev was second in team ice time behind Morgan Rielly.
  • Staying with the Capitals vs. Maple Leafs series, Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson will return tonight after missing the Capitals’ last four games. Carlson missed those games with a lower body injury, but told reporters yesterday that he “felt good.” The Capitals will breathe a sigh of relief when Carlson returns as he is the team’s leader in average time on ice. Losing a first-pair defenseman ripples throughout the lineup no matter how much depth a team has.
  • The Nashville Predators should have center Calle Jarnkrok tonight, reports Adam Vingan of the Tennessean. Jarnkrok missed the Predators’ final game against the Winnipeg Jets with a lower body injury. Nashville takes on the Chicago Blackhawks in their first-round playoff matchup, and they will need all the center depth they can muster against the top team in the Western Conference.

Snapshots: Stevens, Koppanen, Seguin

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The Los Angeles Kings are apparently only looking at John Stevens currently for their head coaching position, reports both Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger of TSN. Stevens, as some may remember, coached the Philadelphia Flyers for parts of four seasons from 2006-2009 where he had a record of 120-110-34 and took the team to the playoffs for two seasons. His resume includes a Calder Cup championship, and he has been part of the Kings organization now for seven years.

It doesn’t mean that Stevens has the job, or that he even will be retained as an assistant, but the new Kings’ GM Rob Blake wants to exhaust internal options before looking outside the organization. Stevens definitely has the qualifications, but it may come down to just needing a new voice in the room. The new management team will likely decide before long, so that whoever it is can be part of the offseason discussions prior to the expansion and entry drafts.

  • The Boston Bruins have signed Joona Koppanen to a three-year, entry-level contract. The Finnish forward was rumored to have turned down NCAA offers last week and was set to “turn pro”. Now it’s clear that meant with the Bruins, as the contract will kick in for the 2017-18 season. The 19-year old could now come over and join the AHL Bruins for next season, developing his game further from the excellent season he had in the Finnish junior league. With 54 points in just 38 games, it was clear Koppanen needed a greater challenge next season. A fifth-round pick of the Bruins in 2016, the 6’5″ Koppanen has the size to enter the professional ranks right away.
  • At a press conference to introduce Ken Hitchcock this morning, one of the first things the new Dallas Stars’ head coach said was that he expects Tyler Seguin to return to center and play “in all situations”. That will include some penalty kill time as Hitchcock intends to turn Seguin into the dominant center the Bruins had hoped for when they picked him second overall. Already an offensive dynamo, Seguin told Mark Stepneski of NHL.com that the idea of playing all over the ice “makes him giddy”. It should, if it can turn him into a dynamic two-way player. Hitchcock is known for riding his stars hard when they play poorly defensively, even if they are succeeding at the offensive end. Perhaps he’s exactly the coach Seguin needs to turn him into the MVP-type player that he clearly has the talent to be.

Team USA Names Fifteen Players To World Championship Squad

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Though some of the names had already been confirmed, USA Hockey has released a full list of the 15 players that have agreed to play in the upcoming World Championships. The team so far is as follows:

Nick Bjugstad (Florida Panthers)
Daniel Brickley (Minnesota State, undrafted)
J.T. Compher (Colorado Avalanche)
Andrew Copp (Winnipeg Jets)
Danny DeKeyser (Detroit Red Wings)
Christian Dvorak (Arizona Coyotes)
Jordan Greenway (Boston University/Minnesota Wild)
Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets)
Jimmy Howard (Detroit Red Wings)
Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings)
Anders Lee (New York Islanders)
Connor Murphy (Arizona Coyotes)
Brock Nelson (New York Islanders)
Cal Petersen (Notre Dame/Buffalo Sabres)
Jacob Trouba (Winnipeg Jets)

Among the expected NHL names are three college player, Brickley, Greenway and Petersen who are interesting additions to the squad. Greenway, for instance, played in the World Juniors just a few months ago and is still just 20-years old. This shows how much the hockey world believes that he’s ready for the NHL, as he already has the size and strength to compete with fully grown men. Petersen’s inclusion as the third goalie is very interesting, as though he won’t be expected to get much playing time it is an excellent experience for the youngster. A prospect of the Buffalo Sabres, Petersen had another outstanding season for the Fighting Irish and is currently in negotiations with the team to turn pro.

Brickley on the other hand is currently a free agent, though he intends on returning to Minnesota State for his junior season. The undrafted defenseman just finished a point-per-game sophomore year which had him turning heads across the country. If he decides to turn pro after next year, he’ll have teams lined up to bid on his services. A good showing in the World Championships could increase his profile even further.

The Red Wings are well represented, and should be since Jeff Blashill will be the head coach of the team. Jack Capuano, Rand Pecknold and Seth Appert will join him as assistants. Larkin, Howard and DeKeyser should all play important roles on the team. Capuano will obviously be very familiar with the Lee-Nelson duo, though it may be a bit awkward after his firing earlier this season.

Which Players Could Make The Most Money These Playoffs?

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Every year, there are players who step up their games in the postseason, provide big memories and are rewarded with even bigger paychecks. From Alex Killorn’s playoff dominance helping him land a seven-year deal, to Dave Bolland turning Stanley Cup magic into a huge contract with the Florida Panthers a few years later. Some work out fine, while others aren’t quite worth it (sorry Dave).

With that said, there is always money to be made with a solid playoff run and this year is no exception. Let’s take a look at some of the players who could give themselves some leverage this summer, should they pay off this spring.

T.J. Oshie, Washington Capitals – Oshie obviously is going to be one of the most sought after free agents this summer regardless, and along with Alexander Radulov and Joe Thornton won’t have a tough time finding a job no matter what. But after a season in which he broke out and scored 30 goals for the first time, he could make himself indispensable for the Capitals by helping them get over their playoff stumbles. For a player who historically didn’t perform all that exceptionally in the postseason with St. Louis, Oshie upped his game in his first go-round with the Capitals last year scoring 10 points in 12 games. If he shows that he’s the answer to the struggles Alex Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom have had taking this team to the finals, the team might just have to find a way keep him around for the foreseeable future. It’s just too bad that NHL playoffs don’t go to shootouts, or Oshie would have it locked up. Matt Hunwick

Matt Hunwick, Toronto Maple Leafs – With Nikita Zaitsev out for at least the first game of their series, the Maple Leafs are going to lean on veteran defender Hunwick to log important minutes alongside Morgan Rielly. At 31, Hunwick is an unrestricted free agent this summer and is playing for his NHL future. Since Zaitsev was the Leafs’ leader in ice time this season, there will be plenty of minutes to go around—especially with the obvious distrust between Mike Babcock and Martin Marincin, who will draw into the lineup. If the Leafs could ever find a way to get past the Capitals in the first round, it would likely be because of a Herculean effort from Hunwick on the top pairing.

Patrick Eaves, Anaheim Ducks – Is Eaves really a 32-goal man? Many teams likely don’t think so, and as we examined a few weeks ago maybe they shouldn’t. With a solid postseason, continuing the absolute tear he has been on since he joined the Ducks—he scored 11 goals in 20 games for the team, including seven in his final eight games—he could legitimately turn this dream season into a multi-year deal. Eaves has always been considered a good defender, and if he can convince a team that he can be an offensive contributor when the games get harder and the powerplays fewer, he’ll easily break his current record of $1.4MM in a single year.

Martin Hanzal, Minnesota Wild – For years, people have been waiting for Hanzal to put it all together and become a top-line center in the NHL. He’s 30 now, and most of us have moved on from that idea and come to see him as the solid middle-six player that he is. But all it takes is a little spark—like 13 points in 20 games down the stretch for the Wild—for all that potential to come rushing back into people’s minds. If he’d finished the year out with Arizona, he would have been looking at a solid but unspectacular deal in the offseason. Instead, if he can take the Wild deep into the playoffs he may be looking at a career-making contract. After playing 21 minutes in the Wild’s heartbreaking loss in game 1, he needs to step it up even further if he wants to cash in.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Babcock, Fehr, Diaby

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As always with Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated, his latest piece is an outstanding example of storytelling and should be required reading for most hockey fans. In it, he chronicles the ’93-94 Lethbridge University championship hockey season and their young head coach Mike Babcock. Even now, after so many years in the NHL and victories everywhere he goes, Babcock maintains his proudest moment as a coach was turning the Pronghorns into a championship squad.

Babcock now helms a Toronto Maple Leafs team as they head back into the playoffs for the first time in a non-lockout shortened season since 2003-04. His squad, who finished dead last in 2015-16, would love to remind Babcock a little more of the Cinderella-like run the Pronghorns took to the number one spot. They’ll take on the powerhouse Washington Capitals tonight.

  • Those Maple Leafs did get some good news on the injury front today, as Eric Fehr rejoined the team at practice. The forward was acquired by the Leafs at the trade deadline from the Pittsburgh Penguins, but broke his hand blocking a shot in his first game for the squad. While he won’t figure into the lineup right away, he’s getting close according to Kristen Shilton of TSN, who Babcock told “[the medical staff] let him out of jail today. Looks like the science project’s almost over.” Fehr could provide the Maple Leafs with some size for the fourth line should they feel like Kasperi Kapanen isn’t cutting it.
  • James Mirtle of The Athletic reports that the Nashville Predators have placed Jonathan-Ismael Diaby on unconditional waivers. This likely means that his release will soon follow, as the team clears contract spots for next year. Though the Predators are only at 46 currently, they have recently promised one of those spots to Tyler Moy, and have four draft picks that will become free agents if not signed by June 1st. Diaby was a third-round pick in 2013, but hasn’t quite turned out the way they’d hoped when they saw his 6’5″ frame. He’ll become a free agent should the team release him after clearing.

Marc-Andre Fleury To Start Game 2 For Penguins

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After helping the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 1-0 series lead last night, Marc-Andre Fleury will be back in net for Game 2 on Friday night. Matt Murray is day-to-day with a lower-body injury suffered in the warm up last night, so Tristan Jarry will be the backup. Murray of course was expected to start for the Penguins throughout the playoffs, but will likely now need to wait for Fleury to falter even when he does return to full health. Marc-Andre Fleury

All season people have critiqued GM Jim Rutherford’s decision to keep Fleury around, despite the looming expansion draft where he will lose one of his talented netminders. This is exactly the situation he was preparing for, and he looks like a genius now as Fleury stopped 31/32 shots to guide Pittsburgh to a 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets. Fleury’s wealth of playoff experience—he’s now played in 101 career postseason games—will be relied upon for the Penguins to get past the dangerous Columbus squad and keep their hopes of another Stanley Cup alive.

Interestingly, Fleury actually has struggled over his career in the playoffs, registering just a .906 save percentage. Save for an outstanding run in 2008 to take the Penguins to the finals and some outstanding performances dotted throughout the years, he’s been regularly below average when the games mattered most. Perhaps now, when he steps in without much preparation he’ll be able to turn things around and stake a claim as the starter for their entire run. He may just be auditioning for his next team, as the Penguins are still widely expected to move Fleury prior to the expansion draft in order to protect Murray. A strong playoff performance could help them facilitate that.

As for Murray, this latest injury comes at the most inopportune time as he was set to show once again what he can do in the playoffs. As a rookie last year (which he technically still is), he registered a .923 save percentage in taking the Penguins to the Stanley Cup, and followed it up with an outstanding first full year. Already locked into a three-year extension which will see him earn $3.75MM per year, the Penguins will be paying pennies relative to the performance he’s given them thus far.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Eichel, Panarin, Bruins, Letang

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Jack Eichel wasn’t happy at his year-end press conference, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be in Buffalo for a long time. Sabres’ GM Tim Murray told Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald that he hopes to work out an extension this summer for the young superstar. Eichel will be heading into the final year of his entry-level deal in 2017-18, and will be deserving of a huge raise should the Sabres buy out any free agent years. A four year extension would make him an unrestricted free agent at the end of it, and every year after that will cost quite a bit extra.

Should the Sabres choose to go a shorter route they could keep costs down but risk pushing Eichel closer to free agency. Murray also told Hoppe that he’d like to re-sign Brian Gionta, the team captain and long-time NHLer. The 38-year old had another solid season with 15 goals and 35 points, and is a huge part of the leadership group that wants to help Buffalo back to the playoffs. Eichel has mentioned Gionta several times over the years in helping him adapt to life in the NHL

  • Stan Bowman wasn’t worried about Artemi Panarin’s bonuses, he tells Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. The young forward earned a $1.725MM bonus in the final game by scoring and putting himself into a tie for 10th in points among forwards. That’s in addition to his $850K “Schedule A” bonuses for finishing high in various team categories. The Hawks will have to carry much of those bonuses over to next season, but Bowman says he was assuming all season that Panarin would hit them.
  • Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com reports that the Bruins will not bring Torey Krug or Brandon Carlo to Ottawa for game 2, still listing them day-to-day. Colin Miller, who exited last night’s game after just seven minutes of ice time, was seen limping around and is questionable for Saturday’s game. Miller was taken out by a knee from Mark Borowiecki last night, and left the game immediately. It will be interesting to see who the Bruins lean on while their defensemen nurse injuries; Charlie McAvoy played over 24 minutes in his debut.
  • Kris Letang underwent the scheduled neck surgery successfully, and is on track to return in four to six months. The operation was to correct a herniated disc, and will sideline him for much of training camp if not the beginning of the regular season. The Penguins won their first game of the playoffs last night, but will be hard fought to go all the way without their superstar defenseman.
  • Ron Hextall spoke to the media in Philadelphia (including Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post), and revealed that both Dale Weise and Brandon Manning will undergo surgery to correct various ailments. He also said that assistant coach Joe Mullen will not be retained for next season. Mullen has been with the Flyers since 2007, working with several different head coaches.

Dallas Stars Hire Ken Hitchcock As Head Coach

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Thursday: The Stars have made it official, naming Hitchcock as head coach. He has a multi-year deal that will transition into a consulting role thereafter.

Wednesday: After firing Lindy Ruff just a few days ago, the Dallas Stars have acted quickly, and according to multiple reports (including Tim Cowlishaw of ESPN) are set to hire Ken Hitchcock as their next head coach. The Stars are coming off a dreadful season that saw them finish with just a 34-37-11 record, a 30 point fall from their division leading 2015-16 season. Ken Hitchcock

Hitchcock of course was fired from his latest job mid-season, when the St. Louis Blues let him go early and installed Mike Yeo as the bench boss. At the time Hitchcock was said to be considering retirement, though many around the league doubted that he would ever be able to stay away from the game should an opportunity present itself. Well, now one has in one of his old stomping grounds. The eventual hall-of-fame coach spent the first seven seasons of his coaching career in Dallas, winning a Stanley Cup in 1999 and returning to the Western Conference Finals the following year. His team finished first in the division five straight seasons, and only had a losing record in his first year.

Hitchcock is known for his bristly nature with players, but also for some unconventional tactics that often pay dividends. He is currently number four on the all-time coaching list, and will surpass Al Arbour for third with just two wins next year. His .606 career winning percentage also ranks among the leaders.

The Stars will have to do more than just change coaches in order to climb back up the standings, but this at least provides them with a picture of what the team’s leadership will look like before they start working on the roster. Goaltending is still one of the biggest issues in Dallas, as they ranked last in save percentage despite paying over $10MM to the duo of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi. Each will become an unrestricted free agent after next year, so Hitchcock and the Stars will need to prepare for the next chapter in net.

Hitchcock has been regarded as something of a defensive coach in the past, introducing systems that limit high quality shot attempts. It will be interesting to see whether this group can accomplish those systems, as they don’t have the established defensive core that some of his previous teams did. What they do have, is a young group that can grow under his tutelage and perhaps change the “high-flying” reputation.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Gerard Gallant Officially Named Head Coach Of Vegas Golden Knights

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The press conference was set for noon, but the Vegas Golden Knights just couldn’t wait. They’ve announced Gerard Gallant as the first head coach in the history of the franchise. The team has been rumored for weeks to be considering Gallant, after his premature exit from the Florida Panthers organization earlier this year. In the press release, General Manager George McPhee explains the decision. Gerard Gallant

We are proud to announce Gerard as the first head coach in Vegas Golden Knights history. He is an experienced head coach, has had success at multiple levels and has a great reputation amongst the players who have played for him.

We undertook a very detailed due diligence process over the last several months and canvassed a number of qualified head coaching candidates to ensure we found the best coach for our group. And we believe we have found that coach in Gerard.

We look forward to working with him to build a team that our fans and our community are proud to support.

One of the most well-respected coaches in the league, Gallant’s firing was taken as a personal attack against the coaching fraternity after he had been a Jack Adams finalist the year prior. He has experience at the head coaching level with both Columbus and Florida, while he also served as an assistant for the Islanders and Canadiens. Perhaps his most success came with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL where he won back-to-back league championships and took home the Memorial Cup in 2011. That team actually included several potential targets for the Golden Knights this summer, like Stanislav Galiev (who was drafted by McPhee), Eric Gelinas, Tomas Jurco and Simon Despres (should he return to health).

With Ken Hitchcock set to return to Dallas after a brief retirement, it was reported that Gallant, Jack Capuano and perhaps Dale Hunter were considered for the Vegas opening. The team has gotten their man now, and definitely found a big presence to shepherd their team into the league. There will be many young players on the squad next season, and he’ll need to let them grow naturally in what will likely be a difficult first year.

Around the league, there are still vacancies in Vancouver, Florida and Los Angeles after each has let their coach go since the end of the year. With Gallant now off the board, perhaps some of these teams will make their final decision. Darryl Sutter, Willie Desjardins and Jack Capuano remain jobless, and will have to battle younger coaches for the openings.

Gallant will now have time to work with McPhee and AGM Kelly McCrimmon to finalize a plan for the upcoming expansion draft, deciding what kind of team they plan on putting together for the first season of Vegas hockey. One thing is for sure, whichever players they do select will know who’s boss.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Morning Notes: Glass, Krejci, Capitals

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Jeff Glass has been recalled from the Rockford IceHogs prior to the Blackhawks’ game 1 match-up according to Scott Powers of The Athletic. The goaltender will serve as the emergency third netminder tonight when they take on the Nashville Predators in what will be an excellent series. Though the Blackhawks are the clear favorites, some have picked Nashville as a potential spoiler even from the eighth seed.

The Predators are a fun team to dream on, with their solid defense corps and young forwards, but don’t count out the powerhouse ’Hawks just yet. They beat Nashville in four of five meetings this season, and are still one of the early cup favorites. Glass will serve only as an emergency backup should something happen to one of Corey Crawford or Scott Darling in the pre-game warm up.

  • The Boston Bruins looked fine without him, winning 2-1 over the Ottawa Senators to take a 1-0 series lead, but David Krejci could be back as soon as the weekend. Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com tweeted last night that he is day-to-day and will be re-evaluated before the second game on Saturday.
  • The Bruins got contributions from all the regular names, but also welcomed Charlie McAvoy to the bright lights of the NHL playoffs. He skated over 24 minutes for the Bruins as they overcame a 1-0 deficit to win in the third period. His smooth skating and decision making ability were on display all night, and saw over four minutes of powerplay time.
  • The Capitals had a very optional morning skate before their first game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and John Carlson wasn’t a part of it. He will take the warm up though and expects to play, according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. The Maple Leafs have their hands full if Carlson does play, as the Capitals defense is one of the deepest in the league.

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