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NHL Orders Independent Evaluation Of Joffrey Lupul

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Joffrey Lupul may not want a second opinion, but the NHL does. Sportsnet’s John Shannon was the first to relay the news from a league source that the NHL plans to have the veteran forward evaluated by an independent doctor. It’s not surprising giving the recent allegations made against his “current” team. No specific time frame has been given, but one would expect the league to have interest in putting an end to this saga sooner rather than later.

It was only three days ago that Lupul turned heads around the hockey world when he publicly accused the Toronto Maple Leafs of “cheating” by keeping him on the Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) when he is healthy enought to continue playing. Lupul, who turns 34 this Saturday, has not played in a game since February 6, 2016, having been kept on LTIR for the entirety of the 2016-17 season. When he went in for his yearly physical with the Leafs’ medical staff last week, he was once again told that he would remain on LTIR. Frustrated and wanting to play again, Lupul lashed out on Instagram and accused the team of mismanaging not only his injury status, but several past and “current” teammates’ injuries. Yet, given a week to seek a second opinion, Lupul announced last night that he would not. Many have taken that to be backtracking on Lupul’s part and perhaps an end to this issue.

Well, the league would rather get a clear answer than continue watching Lupul’s animosity boil over while he sits on LTIR, maybe injured or maybe not. An independent evaluation will set things straight, once and for all, whether Lupul is healthy and able to return to his playing career, signaling that Toronto may have in fact been “cheating”, or whether he simply wishes and believes he can play contrary to medical sensibilities. The saga continues, but at least there now appears to be a definitive end in sight once the league schedules the exam. Of course, a decision in Lupul’s favor would open a new can of worms, one of the cap circumvention variety…

2017-18 Primer: New Jersey Devils

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With the NHL season now just a few weeks away, it’s time to look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in the year to come.  Today, we focus on the New Jersey Devils.

Last Season: 28-40-14 record (70 points), eighth in Metropolitan Division (missed playoffs)

Remaining Cap Space: $10.37MM per CapFriendly

Key Newcomers: F Marcus Johansson (trade, Washington), F Brian Boyle (free agency, Toront0), F Drew Stafford (free agency, Boston), D Mirco Mueller (trade, San Jose), D Will Butcher (free agency, Colorado)

Key Departures: F Beau Bennett (free agency, St. Louis), F Mike Cammalleri (buyout), F P.A. Parenteau (PTO, Detroit), F Jacob Josefson (free agency, Buffalo), F Devante Smith-Pelly (buyout)

[Related: New Jersey Depth Chart From Roster Resource]

Nico HischierPlayer To Watch: F Nico Hischier – There is no one else more exciting than the number one overall pick. The Devils won a lottery to move up in the draft, and it will pay off immediately as Hischier looks ready to impress right out of the gate. The 18-year old Swiss-born center scored in his first preseason game after stripping a Washington Capitals’ player, something Devils fans will hope to see more of this year.

Though some still see Nolan Patrick as the player most likely to make an immediate impact out of this year’s draft class, Hischier is ready for the big time. His ability to be forgotten in the neutral zone and cause turnovers is uncanny, and he has all the offensive finish to rack up points in his first season. It’s unclear who he’ll play with at this point, but with some of the talented wingers that New Jersey has it could be an impressive group.

Hischier is only 18 though, and despite his high draft stock isn’t as much of a lock as some former top picks. He’s still small enough to worry about him breaking down in a season—though much like Mitch Marner or Johnny Gaudreau he rarely gets hit—and is by no means a lock down defender yet. While there is clearly potential for him to grow into one, he’ll have to be sheltered somewhat this season.

Key Storyline: Even though the Devils haven’t been competitive since going to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011-12, doesn’t mean they’re exactly in a rebuild. The core of their team remains in the middle to latter part of their careers, and they need success quickly or else risk wasting the entire prime of Cory Schneider. Now 31, Schneider has yet to experience the postseason with the Devils despite putting up incredible numbers in his first three years.

Last year was a different story, as Schneider struggled mightily at times and ended the season with a .908 save percentage, easily the worst of his career. There were times that Keith Kinkaid looked like he might wrestle away at least part of the starting gig, but the Devils will need their starter to return to form this year.

There is a lot to like going forward for the Devils, with Hischier, Pavel Zacha, Micheal McLeod, John Quenneville and Damon Severson making up the next core of the team, but there is will also be a need to win now or start selling off assets. Adam Henrique and Taylor Hall are two and three years away from free agency respectively, and right in their prime. If it doesn’t work now, the team should start thinking about moving them to bring back as much value as possible, before potentially seeing them walk away on the open market.

Snapshots: Sheahan, Robinson, Aaltonen

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In Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, the venerable hockey insider touches on several different trade topics we’ve heard about over the last few weeks. The most interesting is perhaps one brewing between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings surrounding Riley Sheahan. Friedman seems to think the deal could be contingent on whether Detroit comes to terms with restricted free agent Andreas Athanasiou, who is currently still holding out of training camp without a contract.

The Red Wings wouldn’t want to lose Athanasiou and Sheahan both, but if they wait much longer Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford might move on to one of his other two options. The Red Wings need to take advantage of trades when they can, even if moving Sheahan would weaken their center depth considerably.

  • Larry Robinson has been hired by the St. Louis Blues as a Senior Consultant to Hockey Operations. Robinson is a legendary hockey player and mind who has found success everywhere in the game. From a player, winning six Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens to a coach, raising three more championships with the New Jersey Devils. Most recently, he has been an associate coach and director of player development with the San Jose Sharks, helping them reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in their history.
  • Jonas Siegal of The Athletic penned an interesting piece on Toronto Maple Leafs’ new acquisition Miro Aaltonen, outlining his battle for a roster spot this season. Aaltonen was a free agent after the Anaheim Ducks—the team who originally drafted him—chose not to sign him in 2015, and apparently decided between the Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights on where to start his North American career. It’s interesting that he chose Toronto, as he likely could have made the Vegas roster out of camp but will have a tough battle for the Maple Leafs. Part of that likely has to do with him signing way back in March, before Vegas even had a roster at all.

John Mitchell Signs PTO With Columbus Blue Jackets

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Well that free agency didn’t last long. Just after the Chicago Blackhawks released John Mitchell from his professional tryout, the Columbus Blue Jackets have snatched him up and signed him to a similar agreement. The Jackets got a good look at Mitchell this week, when they took on the Blackhawks in Tuesday night’s preseason action.

Mitchell played just under 10 minutes in that game, but does have a longer track record of NHL success. He’s scored double-digit goals in five different seasons, and even had a career-high of 32 points in 2013-14. It’s unlikely that will translate into an NHL opportunity in Columbus, but he can provide some more experience and a fresh body to insert into the rest of the exhibition schedule.

Columbus has their fair share of young players vying for full-time roles, and bringing in veteran competition is a motivational tactic of many coaching staffs. Mitchell will certainly be incentivized to push as hard as he can, knowing that this could be his last chance in the NHL. At age 32, he’s only seen the playoffs a single time in his career and is coming off a dreadful season with the Colorado Avalanche.

Noah Juulsen Out Six Weeks With Broken Foot

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Noah Juulsen suffered a broken foot on Monday night, and will be out for six weeks. It’s a disappointing outcome for the young Montreal Canadiens defenseman, who just this month was the topic of conversation between GM Marc Bergevin and TSN’s Bob McKenzie. Bergevin at that point said that Juulsen was “very close” to being NHL ready, and would be given a chance to compete at training camp. Unfortunately, this will end that chance.

Juulsen was a first-round pick of the Canadiens in 2015, and made his professional debut last season with the St. John’s IceCaps during the AHL playoffs. While it would have been extremely tough for him to jump right from junior hockey to the NHL this year, he does have an impressive skillset and the ability to make fans jump out of their seats with his open-ice hits. He’ll not certainly start the year with the Laval Rocket (Montreal’s new AHL affiliate) after rehabbing from this injury.

The Canadiens, who dealt away Mikhail Sergachev and Nathan Beaulieu this offseason, will need Juulsen to become a legitimate NHL player in short order. Though Shea Weber, Jeff Petry and Karl Alzner are locked in long term, they’ll need some entry-level players to start filling out the ranks as Carey Price’s big extension comes into play. Jakub Jerabek, another newcomer signed to an ELC, will be an unrestricted free agent after just one season with the club, and could earn a bigger contract right away. Juulsen’s deal, which includes relatively few performance bonuses, could be very important to the team.

Chicago Blackhawks Release Miller, Mitchell, Stuart From PTOs

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The Chicago Blackhawks made a few cuts today, but instead of sending young players back to junior they’re saying farewell to a few NHL veterans. Drew Miller, John Mitchell and Mark Stuart have all been released from their professional tryouts. The team is down to 54 players in camp.

All three veterans had relatively little chance of making the team, but were there in part to push the young Blackhawks prospects and show them what a professional lifestyle is like. Miller, who spent time in the minor leagues last year for the first time in almost a decade, actually recorded nearly five minutes of shorthanded time in the preseason opener as he tries to prove he can still contribute. Stuart and Mitchell both saw the ice rather sparingly, just helping the Hawks lengthen their lineup with enough NHL experience.

Interestingly, Cody Franson was not among those cut today as he continues to impress in Blackhawks camp. There is much speculation that Franson already has a handshake deal with the team in place, which was only furthered when he served as an alternate captain for Tuesday’s game. Franson also opened the scoring on a 5-on-3 powerplay, a situation he could see a lot this year.

Training Camp Cuts: 09/21/17

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Like every day, teams have continued to shorten their rosters as the season approaches. Yesterday saw a healthy number of names shaved off the lists, sent back to junior or released into the wild of free agency. Today, we’ll keep track of all the training camp cuts right here.

Boston Bruins

F Jack Studnicka – Oshawa (OHL)
G Kyle Keyser – Oshawa (OHL)

Chicago Blackhawks

F John Mitchell – released from PTO
F Drew Miller – released from PTO
F Tyler Sikura – released from PTO
D Mark Stuart – released from PTO
D Robin Press – released from PTO
F William Pelletier – released from ATO
D Darren Raddysh – released from ATO
G Matt Tomkins – released from ATO
F Mathew Highmore – Rockford (AHL)
F Matheson Iacopelli – Rockford (AHL)
F Luke Johnson – Rockford (AHL)
F Graham Knott – Rockford (AHL)
F Anthony Louis – Rockford (AHL)
D Robin Norell – Rockford (AHL)
D Carl Dahlstrom – Rockford (AHL)
F Radovan Bondra – Prince George (WHL)
D Henri Jokiharju – Portland (WHL)

Edmonton Oilers

D Ethan Bear – Bakersfield (AHL)
D Ben Betker – Bakersfield (AHL)
F Greg Chase – Bakersfield (AHL)
F Braden Christoffer – Bakersfield (AHL)
F Joseph Gambardella – Bakersfield (AHL)
D Ziyat Paigin – Bakersfield (AHL)
F Kyle Platzer – Bakersfield (AHL)
G Shane Starrett – Bakersfield (AHL)
F Chad Butcher – released from ATO
F Evan Polei – released from ATO
F Josh Currie – released from PTO
F Ryan Hamilton – released from PTO
F Zach O’Brien – released from PTO

Florida Panthers

F Curtis Valk – Springfield (AHL)
D Thomas Schemitsch – Springfield (AHL)

Los Angeles Kings

F Drake Rymsha – Sarnia (OHL)
D Jacob Friend – Owen Sound (OHL)
D Jacob Moverare – Mississauga (OHL)
D Markus Phillips – Owen Sound (OHL)

Montreal Canadiens

F Maxime Fortier – Halifax (QMJHL)
F Jordan Boucher – Will attend AHL camp
F Kevin Dufour – Will attend AHL camp
F Alexandre Goulet – Will attend AHL camp
F James McEwan – Will attend AHL camp
D Saverio Posa – Will attend AHL camp
D William Corrin – Will attend AHL camp

Philadelphia Flyers

F Connor Bunnaman – Kitchener (OHL)
F Pascal Laberge – Victoriaville (QMJHL)
F Ivan Kosorenkov – Victoriaville (QMJHL)
F German Rubtsov – Chicoutimi (QMJHL)
G Carter Hart – Everett (WHL)
F Nicolas Aube-Kubel – Lehigh Valley (AHL)
F Radel Fazleev – Lehigh Valley (AHL)
F Tyrell Goulbourne – Lehigh Valley (AHL)
F Danick Martel – Lehigh Valley (AHL)
F Carsen Twarynski – Lehigh Valley (AHL)
F Mikhail Vorobyev – Lehigh Valley (AHL)
D James de Haas – Lehigh Valley (AHL)
D Mark Friedman – Lehigh Valley (AHL)
D Maxim Lamarche – Lehigh Valley (AHL)
D Philippe Myers – Lehigh Valley (AHL)
D Reece Willcox – Lehigh Valley (AHL)
G Leland Irving – Lehigh Valley (AHL)
G John Muse – Lehigh Valley (AHL)

St. Louis Blues

F Alexey Toropchenko – Guelph (OHL)
F Justin Selman – San Antonio (AHL)
D Dmitrii Sergeev – San Antonio (AHL)
F Ty Loney – released from PTO
D Michael McKee – released from PTO

Tampa Bay Lightning

F Boris Katchouk – Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)
D Cal Foote – Kelowna (WHL)
D Libor Hajek – Saskatoon (WHL)

Vancouver Canucks

F Jakob Stukel – Calgary (WHL)
F Danny Moynihan – Utica (AHL)
D Anton Cederholm – Utica (AHL)
D Mackenze Stewart – Utica (AHL)

Washington Capitals

F Damien Riat – Geneve-Servette (NLA)
F Kristian Marthinsen – Almtuna (Sweden)
F Beck Malenstyn – Calgary (WHL)
F Garrett Pilon – Kamloops (WHL)
F Robbie Baillargeon – South Carolina (ECHL)
F Tanner Jeannot – Moose Jaw (WHL)
F Brendan Semchuk – Vancouver (WHL)
F Mark Simpson – University of New Brunswick (CIS)
D Dmitri Zaitsev – Moose Jaw (WHL)
F Jimmy Devito – released from ATO
G Adam Morrison – released from PTO

Winnipeg Jets

F Jordy Stallard – Prince Albert (WHL)
F Skyler McKenzie – Portland (WHL)
D Luke Green – Sherbrooke (QMJHL)
D Leon Gawanke – Cape Breton (QMJHL)

Torey Krug Out With Broken Jaw

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The Boston Bruins have had some bad injury luck, as the team announced today that Torey Krug will be out for the remainder of training camp with a non-displaced fracture after taking a puck to the jaw on Tuesday night. He’ll be re-evaluated in three weeks, which casts doubt over when his season will get started. The team also announced that Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and Matt Beleskey are both dealing with day-to-day injuries.

Krug is obviously a huge part of the Bruins defense group this year, as captain Zdeno Chara starts to slow down and more responsibility is given to the younger players. While Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo are heading in the right direction, 26-year old Krug is likely the most important piece. Last season in 81 games Krug recorded 51 points and received votes for the Norris trophy as the league’s best defenseman.

The undersized talent is a deadly force on the powerplay and at even-strength, firing stretch passes and skating the puck out of trouble. After losing Colin Miller to the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft, replacing Krug for any length of time could be difficult.

No Progress In Josh Anderson Contract Talks

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Still holding out looking for a more favorable contract, restricted free agent Josh Anderson has now missed a week of training camp. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that there has been “no progress” between the two sides, which will only clench Blue Jackets’ fans’ teeth even tighter.

Anderson had a breakout season last year, scoring 17 goals in his first full-time chance in the NHL, but head coach John Tortorella has already been clear that he’s willing to insert someone else into the lineup. While it’s unlikely Anderson wouldn’t have a spot upon his return, every day he’s away from the team is another chance for some of their young players to impress the coaching staff.

There is something else he’s missing by not taking part in any preseason games. The league has clearly made a change to the way they call slashing and faceoff penalties, and though the rest of the league has a chance to get used to these rules, Anderson and Andreas Athanasiou are just watching from the sideline. If contracts are signed just before the start of the year, it will be interesting to see if they are disproportionately penalized in the early going.

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