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Archives for December 2017

Five Key Stories: 12/25/17 – 12/31/17

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The final week of 2017 saw quite a bit of news around the league, even if it wasn’t in the form of player movement following the holiday roster freeze.  Here are the top stories for the week.

Key Injuries: Both the Jets and Blue Jackets received some tough news on the injury front.  Winnipeg center Mark Scheifele is out six-to-eight weeks with an upper-body injury sustained against Edmonton.  For the time being, their plan is to shift Blake Wheeler down the middle instead of looking for a replacement via a trade.  As for Columbus, they’ll be without winger Cam Atkinson (broken foot) and center Alexander Wennberg (back) for the next four-to-six weeks.  While both players have underachieved this season, their absences create a sizable hole in their lineup.  While not an injury, the Rangers also got some tough news as winger Chris Kreider is out indefinitely due to a blood clot in his right arm.

Four More Years For Armstrong: There are quite a few general managers who started the season in the final year of their contract, something that’s a bit of an unusual occurrence in the NHL.  That number decreased by one this past week as the Blues inked GM Doug Armstrong to a four-year extension.  Armstrong also made some headlines when he acknowledged that St. Louis isn’t likely to be active in the rental market between now and the trade deadline.  There are still at least four active general managers that are unsigned beyond this season: Jim Benning (Canucks), Chuck Fletcher (Wild), Ken Holland (Red Wings), and Lou Lamoriello (Maple Leafs) while it has been suggested that Brian MacLellan (Capitals) is also in that situation as well but his contract status was never made public.

Kris LetangPenguins Not Actively Shopping Letang: While there was a suggestion earlier in the month that the Penguins could consider trading defenseman Kris Letang as they look to change things up on their roster, they are not actively shopping him either.  Given Letang’s contract ($7.25MM for four more years after this one) with his injury history and no-trade protection (he can block a deal to 18 teams), making everything work in-season with a lot of buying teams not having anywhere near that type of cap space would be a challenge.  A summer trade is certainly more likely (if they’re going to move him at all) and if they are able to find a team that can make it work now, they’ll likely want to see Letang (currently on IR with a lower-body issue) back in action before pulling the trigger.

Bower Passes Away: Long-time Maple Leafs and Hall of Fame netminder Johnny Bower passed away at the age of 93 after a short battle with pneumonia.  He played in 552 career NHL regular season games (all but 77 with Toronto), winning four Stanley Cups and a pair of Vezina Trophies while playing regularly through the age of 44.  Bower was also very active in the community and took part in numerous charitable functions, even in the days leading up to his passing while serving as an ambassador for the game for decades.

Senators Looking To Make Changes: With Ottawa tumbling rapidly down the standings, it appears GM Pierre Dorion is looking to shake up the roster.  Although some have wondered if top blueliner Erik Karlsson could be moved, he has now been identified along with winger Mark Stone as the two untouchables among their current core players.  Winger Mike Hoffman’s name has already surfaced as a player several teams are interested in but the big question here is if Ottawa is looking to start a rebuild or if they’re looking to bring similar players in return in the hopes that a new player or two will get them going in the second half.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Phillips, Hanzal, Parise

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The Flames announced that they have signed prospect forward Matthew Phillips to a three-year, entry-level contract.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  Phillips was Calgary’s sixth-round pick (166th overall) back in the 2016 draft.  Since being selected, the diminutive forward has been a dominant scorer at the junior level, recording a 50-goal season last year while putting up 59 points in just 39 games so far in 2017-18.  The timing of this announcement is noteworthy.  Today was the last day that the Flames could sign Phillips and still have the contract slide a year (so that it won’t begin until 2018-19).  That will result in Phillips’ cap hit ultimately being lower than it is currently as his signing bonus that he receives today won’t count against his cap hit next season.

More from the West:

  • Stars center Martin Hanzal is set to resume skating on Tuesday as he works his way back from his latest lower-body injury, reports Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. There is no timetable for when he may return to the lineup.  This is Hanzal’s fifth different minor injury since the start of training camp which has limited him to just 26 games on the season.  He has yet to be overly effective when he has played either as he has just six points on the year while averaging a career-low 14:28 of ice time per game.  Suffice it to say, this isn’t what Dallas was expecting when they handed him a three-year, $14.25MM contract at the beginning of free agency back in July.
  • The Wild have yet to decide if winger Zach Parise will participate in a second game on his AHL conditioning stint, notes Megan Ryan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The veteran suited up with Iowa on Thursday in his first game action of the 2017-18 season as he continues to work his way back from a back injury, picking up an assist along the way.  If Minnesota decides to activate him, they won’t have to make a roster move as they are only carrying 22 players and they have just enough cap space to transfer him off LTIR without any issues.

Canadiens Actively Shopping Max Pacioretty

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The Canadiens are actively shopping winger Max Pacioretty, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reports (video link).  He notes that while Montreal may eventually look for a return involving draft picks or prospects, GM Marc Bergevin’s priority at this time is to receive a high-end goal scorer in return and adds that this is something that they don’t necessarily have to get done before the trade deadline.

Pacioretty has been one of the most consistent goal scorers in the NHL in recent years but is in the midst of the worst slump of his career offensively with just one goal in his last 21 games.  On the season, he has eight goals and 12 assists through 39 games.  Prior to 2017-18, Pacioretty had reached the 30-goal mark in five of the last six seasons with the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign being the one he failed to do so (although he scored at that pace).

Nov 4, 2017; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Montreal Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty (67) warms up during the pre-game before a game against the Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY SportsThe 29-year-old has one year on his contract remaining after this one with a team-friendly cap hit of $4.5MM and he doesn’t have any no-trade protection.

As is often the case with players with term beyond the current year, there won’t be as much of a market in-season as there could be in the summer when teams have more payroll flexibility.  However, if the Canadiens are inclined to move their captain sooner than later, there still should be several suitors given the manageable contract and Montreal’s current cap space could certainly be used to take extra contracts back to facilitate a move.

Kypreos points out how patient Colorado GM Joe Sakic was when it came to moving Matt Duchene and there certainly are some parallels to this situation.  The two players have a nearly-identical point-per-game average over the course of their careers and many wonder if Pacioretty would benefit from a change of scenery to a less pressure-filled environment.  Pacioretty has actually out-produced Duchene in five of the last six seasons so it’s fair to speculate that Bergevin’s initial asking price may be a comparable (or slightly greater) return than the Avalanche received for Duchene.

The fact that the Canadiens have put Pacioretty’s name in play suggests they may be looking to shake up the roster.  Given that they find themselves eight points out of a Wild Card spot already, they may have to do something sooner than later.  If not, they may soon be shifting the focus from a retooling of the roster to more of a rebuild in the weeks to come.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Dahlin, Tanev, Zaitsev, Ellis

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While Nico Hischier used the World Junior Championships a year ago to propel him to be the top pick in the 2017 draft, that hasn’t been needed for Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, the consensus No. 1 overall pick for the upcoming 2018 draft. However, no matter how secure Dahlin has that spot locked, he has done more than enough in this tournament to prove his worth, according to TSN’s Frank Seravalli.

On the final day of preliminary-round play, Dahlin is tied for the lead in points in the tournament with six and that’s as a 17-year-old. Most of the top players are 19. However, his play is what has garnered the most attention.

“Rasmus Dahlin is to a franchise what McDavid and Matthews have meant to the Oilers and Maple Leafs,” TSN director of scouting Craig Button said. “He is to defencemen what those two guys are to centremen. He is a No. 1, elite defencemen who can play in the NHL right now. Right now.”

Seravalli adds that while Team Canada won’t decide until Jan. 11 whether to use major junior players for the Olympics, Dahlin could be the first player to go from the World Juniors to the Olympics since Eric Lindros did it in 1992.

  • The Providence Journal’s Mark Divver tweets that Winnipeg Jets winger Brandon Tanev will be out two to three weeks with a lower-body injury. The 26-year-old Tanev has been a regular for the Jets, having put up three goals and 10 points in 39 games so far this season.
  • Jonas Siegel of The Athletic tweets that Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said that defenseman Nikita Zaitsev might return by Jan. 16. The team needs help on defense after falling 6-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday. “The reality is whoever you play on a nightly basis has to be able to play and sometimes when you play quick teams (like) tonight some guys get exposed and that was evident,” Babcock said.
  • Adam Vingan of the Tennessean writes that now that the Nashville Predators have assigned Frederick Gaudreau to Milwaukee of the AHL, the team has an open roster spot. He adds that defenseman Ryan Ellis, who has been out all season after undergoing knee surgery, has been cleared to play and the team may have opened up a roster spot for his return. It was reported earlier that Ellis’ targeted return was on Jan. 2.

Eastern Notes: Hoffman, Claesson, Duclair, Trotz, Burakovsky

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The Ottawa Senators may be struggling in the standings, but that didn’t stop the team from holding their annual skills competition at the Canadian Tire Center with forward Mike Hoffman and defenseman Fredrik Claesson each winning the key awards of the afternoon, according to Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch.

Hoffman captured the speed award with a time of 13.944 seconds, just short of his time a year ago (13.836) when he won the same event. Ryan Dzingel finished second in the competition at 14.016 and Thomas Chabot placing third at 14.229.

“I always did power skating as a kid and played inline hockey growing up, which can help on your skating as well,” Hoffman added.

Claesson won the hardest shot competition at 104.6 mph in the preliminary rounds and then beat fellow defenseman Johnny Oduya in the finals with a 103.7 shot. Oduya had a 98.0 mph shot.

  • Larry Brooks of the New York Post recommends that in the wake of the Chris Kreider injury and the fact he could be out for two months, the New York Rangers should look into the price of acquiring Arizona Coyotes forward Anthony Duclair, a perfect buy-low candidate. With few options in the AHL, a cheap player with NHL experience might be perfect for New York.
  • Pointing out a suggested trade for Duclair as well, Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith also likes the idea of the Tampa Bay Lightning kicking the tires on acquiring the 22-year-old winger. Smith writes he would be a perfect low-risk, high reward option as a top-nine player for a team to fill out its depth. However, the scribe does add the team might want to focus more on defensive depth first, such as Ottawa’s Codi Ceci.
  • With the Washington Capitals victory Saturday, head coach Barry Trotz recorded his 737th victory, making him the fifth winningest coach in NHL history. Trotz, who is in his 19th year as a head coach, has 180 victories with the Capitals. He had spent the previous 15 years in Nashville.
  • Tarik El-Bashir of NBC Sports writes that young winger Andre Burakovsky, who many felt might have a breakout year, will have a hard time getting back into the Capitals’ lineup as he is one of four players fighting for time on the fourth line. He missed time this year after undergoing thumb surgery and has struggled since his return. “There’s some things that I feel like I’m not really back to after my injury,” said Burakovsky via the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan. “I guess it’s been taking a little bit longer time than I was expecting.”

2017 Year In Review: November

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2017 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world. There have been several big trades, the first expansion team in over 15 years, and much more. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at the month of November.

Duchene Trade: After months and months of rumors about the destination of Colorado Avalanche’s disgruntled center Matt Duchene and a highly publicized failed trade between the Ottawa Senators and Nashville Predators, a three-way trade with those three teams was finally completed one day later. Ottawa picked up Duchene, while Nashville acquired veteran center Kyle Turris. Colorado picked up a large haul of prospects and picks, adding defenseman Samuel Girard, winger Vladislav Kamenev, 2016 first-rounder Shane Bowers, goaltender Andrew Hammond, Ottawa’s 2018 first-round pick (top 10-protected), Nashville’s 2018 second-round pick and Ottawa’s 2019 third-round pick. If Ottawa finishes among the bottom 10 teams this year (which suddenly seems likely), Ottawa will give Colorado a 2019 first-rounder. While the deal seems to have vaulted Nashville to the top of the Central Division after the trade, the Senators have gone in the opposite direction as they stand in seventh place in the Atlantic Division. Turris has five goals and 13 assists in 23 games since arriving in Nashville, but Duchene has struggled. He has just three goals and three assists in 23 games for the Senators.

Prospects Returned To Junior Teams: With many teams evaluating the play of some of their top draft picks as NHL teams can observe their young players for 10 games before they burn a players’ first year of their entry-level contract, many players found themselves heading back to their junior teams in November. The Edmonton Oilers were the first to send 2017 first-rounder Kailer Yamamoto back to the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL. He had three assists in nine games with the Oilers. Other teams followed suit as Florida sent 2017 first-rounder Owen Tippett back to Mississauga Steelheads after putting up just one goal in seven games for the Panthers. Other players were also sent back including the New Jersey Devils’ Michael McLeod and Los Angeles Kings’ Gabe Vilardi.

Vegas Goaltending Woes Continue: The Vegas Golden Knights surprising on-ice success hit some roadblocks when they lost their starting two goaltenders in Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban. The team instead turned to AHL goaltender Oskar Dansk, who was injured as well, forcing the team to go with Maxime Lagace as their starting goaltender. Even he went down and the Golden Knights were forced to recall 2017 seventh-rounder Dylan Ferguson from his junior team on an emergency basis to play some minutes for the Golden Knights. Little by little, the Vegas netminders began to heal with the eventual return of Subban and Fleury. Only Dansk remains on injured reserve. Despite those woes, the Golden Knights rarely faltered.

Extensions Signed: The Columbus Blue Jackets signed winger Cam Atkinson to a seven-year, $41.125MM ($5.9MM AAV) extension, a big signing for a player who was headed for unrestricted free agency this summer. Atkinson had scored 105 goals in the previous four seasons before this one. Ironically, Atkinson has struggled this year as he’s put up just six goals and has been benched for a game by head coach John Tortorella. The extension makes him the third highest-paid player on Columbus’ roster behind only goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and forward Artemi Panarin. The Golden Knights also got into the act, locking up defenseman Brayden McNabb to a four-year, $10MM extension. That gives Vegas a physical presence on the blueline for years.

Devils-Ducks Swap: The Anaheim Ducks and New Jersey Devils completed a trade as the Ducks sent defenseman Sami Vatanen to the Devils in exchange for center Adam Henrique, Joseph Blandisi and a 2018 conditional third-round pick. The deal is one of those equal moves as the Devils needed help on the blueline, while having an excess of forwards with the impending return of Travis Zajac. Anaheim had excess defense, while desperately needing center help as they had to deal with injuries to Ryan Kesler and Ryan Getzlaf. Henrique started strong, but still has eight points in 14 games for Anaheim. Vatanen has a goal and three assists in 14 games for New Jersey.

 

 

 

Calgary Places Frolik On IR, Recalls Mangiapane

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1:35: Postmedia’s Kristen Odlund tweets that the prognosis for Frolik is he will be out four to six weeks.

12:29: The Calgary Flames already knew it was coming when winger Michael Frolik suffered a fractured jaw while trying to block a shot by San Jose’s Brent Burns in Thursday’s game. However, Sportsnet’s John Shannon tweets the team finally placed the 29-year-old on injured reserve today after he underwent surgery Saturday night to repair his broken jaw.

While no timetable has been discussed, Frolik is expected to miss multiple weeks as he recovers from the surgery. His offense had been down a bit this season as he has just seven goals and eight assists through 37 games, but has been playing on the team’s second line most of the season. He had 17 goals and 44 points last season.

The team did recall their AHL’s top scorer as the team promoted Andrew Mangiapane Sunday to replace Frolik. A former sixth-round pick in 2015, the 21-year-old has thrived in the AHL in two seasons, and currently leads the Stockton Heat with 14 goals and 19 assists, which is on pace for a bigger season than his 20-goal output with Stockton last year. Mangiapane is expected to be inserted into the Flames lineup immediately and is expected to play on the team’s fourth line in tonight’s matchup against Chicago.

Injury Notes: Couture, Hjalmarsson, Callahan, Compher, Kadri

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The San Jose Sharks look like they will be getting one of their top scorers back soon, possibly even tonight, as head coach Peter DeBoer stated center Logan Couture is a game-time decision, according to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz. In fact, since Couture has been practicing on the team’s power play, Kurz believes that he is probable to play against Dallas tonight.

Couture was reportedly working out in practice yesterday without wearing an orange non-contact jersey, suggesting he could be close to returning. The 28-year-old has missed the past four games with a concussion. He leads the team with 15 goals and is tied for the team lead in points with Joe Thornton with 26. The team, however, has fared well without him as they have won three of those four games Couture has missed.

  • Dave Vest of NHL.com writes that Arizona Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, who has been out with an upper-body injury for more than a month, could be returning to action soon. He practiced with the team Saturday. “He’s actually feeling better,” head coach Rick Tocchet said. “I don’t have an exact time frame, but he’s had some really good days the past couple days.”
  • Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that Tampa Bay Lightning winger Ryan Callahan was participating in practice with the penalty killing unit today. Smith adds that he believes Callahan will be ready sooner than one week. Callahan has missed the last six games with an upper-body injury. The 32-year-old has just one goal and five assists this year, but is the team’s top penalty killer.
  • BSN Denver’s Adrian Dater tweets that Colorado Avalanche forward J.T. Compher will be out the rest of the week with an upper-body injury and with a week-long bye after that, it’s likely the team won’t see the 22-year-old until Jan. 13. He was injured in Friday’s game against the Islanders. Compher has seven goals and six assists in 31 games this season.
  • Jonas Siegel of The Athletic reports that Toronto Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri will miss his second-straight game today against Vegas with an upper-body injury he suffered Thursday against Arizona. The 27-year-old has 13 goals so far this season in 38 games.

 

Arizona Places Emerson Etem On Unconditional Waivers

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The Arizona Coyotes have placed winger Emerson Etem on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract, according to Elliotte Friedman. The 25-year-old was signed by the Coyotes this summer, but did not make the team out of training camp and was placed on waivers back on Sept. 27. He was recalled for one game this season on Oct. 11, but was a healthy scratch and was sent back down two days later. He played 16 games for the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL and has had four goals and an assist.

A former first-round pick back in 2010, Etem has struggled, especially recently. He has played 173 games, but has never played what constitutes a full NHL season to date. The most NHL games he’s played in a season was back in the 2015-16 season when he played 19 games for the New York Rangers and then traded at midseason to the Vancouver Canucks, where he played another 39 games. He combined for seven goals and 15 points that year, his best in the NHL. Vancouver had hoped he would become a regular from that point on, but Etem failed to earn a spot in their lineup the following season and was placed on waivers. He was picked up by Anaheim last year, but only saw three NHL games.

Friedman also says that Edmonton Oilers defenseman Eric Gryba, who was placed on waivers Saturday, cleared. He will likely be assigned to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL unless the team finds a trade partner.

Minor Transactions: 12/31/17

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The last day of 2017 is upon us and 16 teams are expected to play today after a six-game schedule on Saturday. Many teams may want to shake up their roster, so keep an eye out for moves today:

  • The Ottawa Senators announced they have reassigned forward Nick Paul to the Belleville Senators of the AHL. Paul has been with Ottawa since he was recalled on Dec. 13, but has been shuttled back and forth between the two squads for much of the season. The 22-year-old has played 11 games for Ottawa and has one goal, which he picked up Friday against Columbus. He has one goal and six assists in 17 games for Belleville.
  • One day after recalling center Frederick Gaudreau, the Nashville Predators have returned him to the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL, according to Cap Friendly. Gaudreau played in the team’s 3-0 victory over Minnesota, but only saw 6:21 minutes of ice time in the game. He has played 18 games with Nashville with three assists on the year.

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