Earlier today, Sweden defeated Canada 2-1 in a shootout at the World Championships with Toronto’s William Nylander earning MVP honors. It marked only the second time that the Gold Medal Game was decided by a shootout. While that’s an early headline for this week, here are five notable ones from the week that was.
1) Johansen Out 2-3 Months – The Predators received some tough news following their Game Four loss to Anaheim as their top center Ryan Johansen is out for the remainder of the playoffs. Johansen was diagnosed with Acute Compartment Syndrome in the left thigh and surgery was performed nearly immediately after he was diagnosed. The team announced that the procedure was a success, that there should be no permanent injury, and that a full recovery is expected.
2) Sekera Out 6-9 Months – The injury that kept Oilers blueliner Andrej Sekera out of the lineup for the end of their second round series against the Ducks is quite a serious one. The team revealed that Sekera is dealing with a torn ACL that will keep him out for the next 6-9 months. Even in the best case scenario, he would likely miss the first six weeks of the season while the nine month mark would cause him to miss the better part of half of the 2017-18 season. Sekera ranked second in points by a defenseman (35) as well as ice time (21:29 per game) this year.
3) Teams Inquiring About Niederreiter – While many expect that Minnesota will inevitably have to deal a defender in advance of the expansion draft, one of their forwards – winger Nino Niederreiter – is drawing some interest around the league. The 24 year old is set to become a restricted free agent in July and is due a qualifying offer of $3.5MM. Wild GM Chuck Fletcher acknowledged that teams have been calling about Niederreiter as well as defenseman Mathew Dumba as well as several other players. He noted he’s going to have to make some changes to the roster but that he’s only listening to offers at this time and not truly shopping players.
4) Vegas Gets AHL Affiliate – With the expansion draft still a month away, most of the heavy lifting for the Golden Knights is still to come. One thing they needed to take care of was getting an AHL affiliate and this week, they did just that, reaching a multi-year deal with the Chicago Wolves as their primary affiliate. The Blues, who have been with Chicago since 2013, will still send some players there next season but are also expected to seek agreements with other teams for next season. The expectation is that a 31st team will join the AHL for 2018-19, leaving just one year that St. Louis will be in limbo.
5) Da Costa Receiving NHL Interest – With the Worlds now over, there will likely be some more international signings in the coming days. One of those could be former Ottawa Senator Stephane Da Costa, who is receiving interest from multiple NHL clubs. His first NHL stint didn’t go too well as he had just 11 points in 47 games but Da Costa has put up 96 points in 94 KHL games over the past three seasons since leaving the Sens following the 2013-14 campaign. The 27 year old is also fielding offers from multiple KHL teams so there’s no guarantee he will once again try his hand in North America.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.