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Archives for April 2018

Western Notes: Bennett, Murphy, Girard, Perron, Bieksa, Fowler

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The Calgary Flames have a lot of questions this offseason after a disappointing season that leaves them wondering what happened. However, the biggest question probably falls on what to do with Sam Bennett. The former fourth-overall pick in 2014 should be improving every season, but that hasn’t been the case for the 21-year-old who has seen his numbers drop every year.

After putting up 18 goals and 18 assists in a promising rookie season, he has put up only 26 points in each of the last two seasons and his goals have dropped from 13 in 2016-17 to 11 this year. The Calgary Sun’s Wes Gilbertson writes the team must decide whether he can take his game up several notches or whether to use him as trade bait. Of course, you don’t want to be the general manager that trades him away only to thrive with another team, but the team needs production out of the forward and is running out of time to figure out if he is the star they thought they drafted. He has one year left after this one at $1.95MM before hitting restricted free agency again.

  • The Chicago Blackhawks think they have found something in defenseman Connor Murphy. The 25-year-old, who was acquired in the Niklas Hjalmarsson trade last season from Arizona, struggled early on in the season with Chicago, according to Chicago Sun Times’ Mark Potash, but was one of the team’s better defensemen in the second half and the team believes he can develop into a top-four defenseman. “If you look at the way he played over the last 30 to 40 games, I think there’s reason for excitement,” said Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman.
  • The Colorado Avalanche is without defenseman Samuel Girard today as the young defenseman is out with an upper-body injury sustained in a hit from Nashville’s Filip Forsberg during Thursday’s game. The rookie defenseman is day-to-day.
  • Vegas Golden Knights winger David Perron, who has been out since Mar. 26 with an undisclosed injury, says he hopes to play before the series with the Los Angeles Kings is over, but did not give a timetable on a potential return, according to SinBinVegas.
  • The Anaheim Ducks expect defenseman Kevin Bieksa to play in Game 2 tonight against the San Jose Sharks, according to Orange Country Register’s Eric Stephens. Bieksa has been out since Mar. 12 after having hand surgery. Stephens also notes that defenseman Cam Fowler is no longer wearing a sling on his shoulder and will resume skating shortly. The blueliner has missed 13 straight games, but no timetable is set for his return.

Sabres Notes: O’Reilly, Ristolainen, Lehner

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With the Buffalo Sabres at the bottom of the standings, you can expect that general manager Jason Botterill plans to shake things up. However, where do you start? The obvious answer is start looking at players who don’t want to be there and it looks like center Ryan O’Reilly has made it clear he wants out of Buffalo, according to the Buffalo News’ Jon Vogl.

The talented 27-year-old shocked a lot of people during his exit interview when he revealed that he was fine with losing and has started to lose his love for the game. Vogl writes that it isn’t just a coincidence that O’Reilly admitted these things on his way out the door for another offseason. He believes O’Reilly and his agent have orchestrated this to force his way out of Buffalo as he and his agent have had a major role in dictating every stage of his pro career, from his entry-level deal to his restricted free agent years to his trade from Colorado.

While his numbers are good as the center has scored 65 goals and 111 assists in three years in Buffalo, a trade would still likely to be difficult as he has five more years on his contract at $7.5MM. Even with the salary cap likely to go up, that’s a big contract that many playoff teams couldn’t afford unless the team intends to retain salary, which they’d likely prefer not to do.

“The sense that I’ve been given from the management in Buffalo, is yeah of course he’s going to listen on Ryan O’Reilly,” TSN’s Darren Dreger said on WGR Friday. “But it would take an absolute sweetheart deal for the Buffalo Sabres to consider. In saying that, he’s a hell of a player. On pretty much every team in the league he’s at least a #2 center isn’t he? There’s going to be a market for Ryan O’Reilly and Jason Botterill is going to have some tough decisions specific to O’Reilly. Teams who need centers will do whatever they need to do to get in that conversation…Botterill will be big game hunting.”

Throw in the fact that Botterill will be looking for a big payday after finding himself on the losing end of the deal when he traded away forward Evander Kane to the San Jose Sharks for much less than what he had hoped. So a trade partner might even be more difficult to find.

  • Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News writes that besides O’Reilly, the team will likely also seriously look to trade defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, even suggesting he should find a real estate agent. Ristolainen is another player who puts up solid numbers, but seems to lack the leadership skills that Buffalo needs to take that next step. The 23-year-old blueliner had six goals and 35 assists this year.
  • Harrington also admits the team will attempt to trade goaltender Robin Lehner, but after a difficult season in which he had just 14 wins and a 3.01 GAA, the team might have trouble moving him. The good news is Lehner does not require surgery on his hip injury, which should make him a little easier to move. Harrington believes that the team may choose to let him walk as a restricted free agent if the team fails to find a trade partner, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.

Injury Notes: Wennberg, Beagle, Nash, Wingels

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are likely to be without center Alexander Wennberg Sunday when they play their second-round matchup with the Washington Capitals. Wennberg is listed as doubtful, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required) and did not practice today. He was victim of a hit to the head from Washington’s Tom Wilson in Friday’s 5-4 overtime victory in Game 1. Despite the impact of the hit, the league ruled that they were not going to punish Wilson as the league could not determine whether Wennberg’s head was the main point of impact.

The injury will force the Blue Jackets to adjust their lines as Brandon Dubinsky will move up to the third line to replace Wennberg. It likely means the return of rookie Sonny Milano to the team’s lineup. The 21-year-old has 14 goals this season.

  • The Washington Capitals could be getting a little help as the team hopes to get back bottom-line center Jay Beagle back for Game 2 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, according to the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan. Beagle has been day-to-day with an upper-body injury and has missed four games. While he only has 22 points this season, the 32-year-old is one of the team’s top faceoff specialists as he has won 58.5 percent of faceoffs this year, a career high. “Jay is one of those guys that you don’t probably value him as much until you don’t have him,” said Washington coach Barry Trotz via Khurshudyan. A final decision will be made tomorrow, says NBC Sports Tarik El-Bashir, but Beagle said it will be up to coaches and team doctors. The team also expects that T.J. Oshie and defenseman Michal Kempny are both expected back Sunday despite lingering injury issues.
  • The Boston Bruins announced that Riley Nash will miss Game 2 today. The veteran has missed five straight games, including Game 1 of their playoff series against Toronto. The 28-year-old had 41 points this season, but suffered an ear injury when he took a puck to ear and needed 40 stitches.
  • In the same tweet, the Bruins added that Tommy Wingels is listed as a game-time decision for Saturday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wingels was hit in the head on a hit by Toronto’s Nazem Kadri, who was suspended three games for the incident. “Feel better than I did yesterday and I’ll come to the game tonight and see how I feel. Decide from there,” Wingels said via the Bruins. If Wingels doesn’t play, rookie Ryan Donato will get the call for Boston.

Dallas Stars Have Many Options To Replace Head Coach

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It’s only been 24 hours since Dallas head coach Ken Hitchcock announced his retirement, but what coach might replace him has been a popular topic as multiple names have come up. While the job may not have the flashiness of the New York Rangers opening, the new head coach of the Dallas Stars will get an opportunity to work with top forwards Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn as well as the talent of top defenseman John Klingberg and goaltender Ben Bishop. In fact, one could make the case the Stars might be the best team not to make the playoffs (outside of the New York Islanders).

While the Stars only got a one year out of Hitchcock, SportsDay’s Mike Heika writes general manager Jim Nill believes he laid the groundwork for the team’s younger players to learn how to win in the NHL.

“I think Ken Hitchcock did some great things, and I don’t want that to go unknown,” Nill said. “There was a lot of growth here. I think what Ken Hitchcock has done in one year, the wealth of knowledge, how to play the game the right way … for our young kids to understand what it takes to win, I think that’s a big influence of Ken Hitchcock, and I think our next staff coming in is going to be rewarded because of the groundwork he did.”

Heika is quick to point out that a top candidate to replace the 66-year-old coach could be former New York Rangers’ coach Alain Vigneault. The 57-year-old coach, who was let go last week after a disappointing season in New York was a top candidate for the Stars’ job in 2013 when they hired Lindy Ruff. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan (in a three-person panel along with Greg Wyshynski and Chris Peters) suggests the Stars may not want to pay Vigneault’s high price tag.

However, one thing that stands out by comments made by Nill that he wants to “let the younger generation of coaches take over,” suggesting the team might look to avoid going after a veteran coach after going in that direction for their last two coaches. The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) writes that Nill’s comments Friday suggest the team will be looking for a coach that emphasizes speed.

“We’ll go through that,” Nill said. “Are they a good fit for our team? Do they play fast? What’s their style? That’s always the interesting part. A lot of times you think you know them but you don’t (until the interview).”

Wyshynski believes that AHL Toronto Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe might be an appropriate candidate, although the Rangers are supposedly already targeting the up-and-coming coach, while Kaplan suggests that AHL Manitoba Moose’s Pascal Vincent, the AHL Coach of the Year, might also be a good candidate. Peters also suggests the team make a splash for University of Denver’s coach Jim Montgomery as a perfect coach that can create a firm identity and culture, which the franchise has lacked recently. Shapiro suggests that AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins coach Todd Nelson might be a good candidate as he has a history with Nill in Grand Rapids.

Other mentioned candidates include Jack Capuano, Dave Cameron, Dave Tippett, Geoff Ward, Tim Hunter, Benoit Groulx, Swedish National Team coach Rickard Gronberg. Heika even throws the name of the Carolina Hurricane’s head coach Bill Peters as a dark-horse candidate, whose status remains up in the air. Internal options such as Curt Fraser and Stu Barnes as well as Texas Stars’ AHL coach Derek Laxdal.

 

Pacific Notes: Thornton, Edmonton Defense, Nugent-Hopkins

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After a double-overtime thriller in which the Vegas Golden Knights took a 2-0 lead in their first-round series with the Los Angeles Kings, the San Jose Sharks will attempt to take a 2-0 lead of their own tonight against the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks, who picked up a 3-0 victory Thursday on the road, got a surprise during pre-game warmups when injured veteran center Joe Thornton participated in the pre-game skate before Thursday’s game. According to Paul Gackle of the Mercury News, Thornton is close to returning to the team, but isn’t yet ready.

Thornton, who went down in January with a torn MCL injury, has been rehabbing for the past 11 weeks, but has said that unlike last year when he returned from a knee injury after just two weeks for the playoff run, he intends to make sure he isn’t a distraction to the team before returning. However, the more wins that the Sharks can pick up in the meantime can buy time until Thornton believes he is fully healthy and ready to return to the lineup.

  • Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal writes that the Edmonton Oilers are desperate to repair their defense and wants to trade for a top-line defenseman. While he suggests the team could offer up its lottery pick in a deal to get Arizona’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson or work out some type of deal to get Colorado’s Tyson Barrie, neither is realistic. The team’s best chance at solving their defensive issues is right-handed shot Justin Faulk from the Carolina Hurricanes. The 26-year-old is falling down the Hurricanes’ depth charts with the emergence of younger defensemen like Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce. Faulk would also fix their logjam of left-handed defenseman as several defenseman such as Andrej Sekera and Kris Russell are left-handed, but playing on the right side. The problem is that Carolina wants a forward back. So who are they going to send?
  • Matheson, in the same article, adds that the Oilers have no intention of trading Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who might be their best trade chip. The center was rumored to be a trade candidate with his high salary ($6MM AAV) over the next three years. However, the team believes he might be the perfect linemate for Connor McDavid as a wing, which would move youngster Ryan Strome to the third-line center position. Nugent-Hopkins is coming off a season where he tied his career-high in goals with 24 (and he missed 20 games this season).

Nazem Kadri Suspended For Three Games

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After much anticipation, the NHL Department of Player Safety has finally made their decision on Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri. Kadri, who had a hearing today regarding his charge and boarding of the Boston Bruins’ Tommy Wingels last night, learned his fate this evening. Kadri will be suspended for the next three games of the Leafs’ first-round series against the Bruins. Player Safety explained their decision as such (video):

“Kadri sees Wingels has fallen, and with sufficient time to adjust his course or minimize the force, instead drives recklessly into the defenseless Wingels, causing his head to dangerously impact the boards. This is boarding. It is important to note that Kadri is in control of this hit at all times… Instead of avoiding or minimizing this hit, Kadri drives his hip into Wingels’ upper body”.

What Player Safety doesn’t address is the context that also leads one to believe that the hit was intentional. Kadri had just served a minor penalty for boarding Wingels less than four minutes earlier and, just before the hit in question, Sean Kuraly had scored for Boston, giving the Bruins a commanding 4-1 lead late in Game One. Kadri has a history of losing his cool, as this is his fourth career suspension – all of which have come from dirty hits to the head area – another fact that Player Safety definitely took into consideration in issuing this lengthy ban. Also likely taken into account is the fact that Wingels did not return to the game last night and did not practice today (and now the Leafs will likely have to deal with Ryan Donato in Game Two and beyond). Down in the series, the Leafs will be forced to bounce back from a convincing four-goal loss without the services of a veteran top-six forward for three more games. Head coach Mike Babcock and Kadri’s Toronto teammates can’t be happy about what was honestly a thoughtless, selfish decision by Kadri in the team’s playoff debut. Kadri could live to regret it, especially if he’s already played his final game of the season.

Kadri’s suspension is already the second handed down by Player Safety this postseason and just two days into the action. Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty will serve his one-game suspension tonight for a high, dangerous hit to the Vegas Golden Knights’ William Carrier on Wednesday. Yet, some are upset that the number of suspensions is not even higher. The Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals traded cheap shots last night, with the Jackets’ Josh Anderson injuring Michal Kempny and the Caps’ Tom Wilson injuring Alexander Wennberg, but neither player received any additional punishment. Nashville’s Ryan Johansen also had a questionable check on Colorado defenseman Tyson Barrie that didn’t draw any league scrutiny. As always, the playoffs take the physicality to the next level, but this year has seen heavy hitting early and often. At least through two suspensions in two days, Player Safety has shown that they aren’t afraid to hit players with postseason suspensions.

Overseas Notes: Koskinen, Salo, Jooris

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It seems that the New York Islanders could be turning to an old friend when it comes to improving their play in net in 2018-19. The Isles gave up a league-worst 296 goals this season, a 3.61 GAA, behind the pedestrian play of starter Jaroslav Halak and dismal performance of overpaid backup Thomas Greiss. Even solid AHL keeper Christopher Gibson struggled in his eight appearances. With Halak hitting the free agent market and Gibson, a restricted free agent, having an uncertain future – not to mention the undoubted desire by some in the organization to move on from Greiss – the goalie position is in need of an overhaul this off-season. One early rumored piece to the puzzle? Former prospect Mikko Koskinen. In fact, Russian news source Sport Express reports that the two sides have already agreed to a preliminary deal and will make their reunion official on July 1st. Koskinen, 29, was a second-round draft pick by New York back in 2009 and brought with him high expectations when he crossed the Atlantic that same year. However, the hulking 6’7” Finn did not last long, playing in parts of three disappointing seasons in North America, including an .873 save percentage and 4.33 GAA in four starts with the Isles in 2010-11. Koskinen, still very young, returned home and immediately returned to dominating the Finnish Liiga before making the jump to the KHL. Since 2014-15, Koskinen has been the starter for KHL powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg and has been one of the league’s top goaltenders. Last season, Koskinen led the team to a Gagarin Cup title, only to improve his play this year with a stunning 1.57 GAA and .937 save percentage. Now, Koskinen want another shot at the big time and the Isles appear willing to give him a chance to see if his developed game can translate to the NHL. Neither the Islanders nor SKA have confirmed Koskinen’s move at this point, and may not until the deal is made official when free agency opens, but it hardly seems out of the realm of possibility. Not only does New York need a boost in net, but Koskinen is just one of several KHL goaltenders who have expressed an interest in the NHL market this summer, including Olympic standout Pavel Francouz and veteran NHLer Karri Ramo. A short-term contract for Koskinen to compete for the Isles’ starter job would come as little surprise.

  • One player who won’t be leaving Europe for the Islanders is top defensive prospect Robin Salo. Salo, New York’s second-round pick last June, has signed a two-year deal with Finnish club SaiPa, the team announced (link in Finnish). The homegrown product, who has already been applauded for his mature, well-rounded game, appears interested in further seasoning in the Liiga before joining the NHL. The SaiPa press release quoted Salo as saying “”I think I can develop the game here and move forward”, likely meaning when his new contract expires in 2020. Possibly forming an dynamic tandem with top Boston Bruins defensive prospect Urho Vaakanainen, Salo certainly could impress over the next two years. However, back in New York, the Islanders will have to look elsewhere for an immediate boost on the blue line, another sore spot of 2017-18.
  • While the Islanders’ season may be over, Josh Jooris and the Pittsburgh Penguins are still playing. Yet, that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from turning in regards to Jooris’ potential departure form North America. Throughout the year, Jooris has been connected to teams in Europe, particularly in the Swiss NLA, after he nearly signed in the league last summer. The two-way forward could be looking for a new opportunity as his game continues to regress in the NHL. After a promising rookie year with the Calgary Flames in 2014-15, Jooris’ production has dropped off each year. This season, he bounced back and forth from the AHL and had just six points in 40 NHL games, none of which came in his nine games of action with the Penguins following a deadline deal from the Carolina Hurricanes. Jooris reportedly wants a fresh start and now a team has returned that interest. Coach and GM Chris McSorely of the NLA’s Geneve-Servette HC revealed that at the top of his shortlist of potential free agent imports is none other than Jooris. With seemingly mutual interest and a presumed lack of value for Jooris is in the NHL market, this seems to be a rumor with some legs.

Thomas Vanek & The Offense-Only Perception

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In a few months, some lucky team in the NHL will get the chance to sign a two-time 40-goal scorer coming off an excellent offensive season. He put up the third most points by any free agent forward despite making just $2MM this season. In his first taste of playoff action since 2015, he scored two points and helped his team to an overtime victory while playing 16:28. That team will likely get a chance to sign him to an extremely short-term deal with little risk involved. And then, going off of recent history, that team will say “no thanks” and pass.

That player is Thomas Vanek, who was bought out in June of 2016 because of a $6.5MM cap hit, and has been overlooked ever since. In the summer of 2016 Vanek was coming off his 11th consecutive 40+ point season, but ended up signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings for just $2.6MM. That was only $100K more than the salary handed to each of Matt Martin and Joe Colborne, who both signed for at least two seasons. It substantially shorter and cheaper than the deal Jamie McGinn signed, he of 167 career points and exactly zero 40+ point seasons (a mark he still has failed to eclipse). Darren Helm earned a five-year deal, each of which would pay him close to $4MM, after a 26-point season.

The problem with Vanek, as some would explain, was that he was a perimeter player. He didn’t play defense, work hard enough or contribute in different ways. He was one dimensional. Well, who among the group above is two dimensional? Those four combined for 38 points in 2016-17. Vanek scored 48 all by himself.

That’s right, his 12th straight 40+ season was to follow after his $2.6MM contract, even with a trade midseason to shake things up. Vanek would net the Detroit Red Wings a third-round pick at the deadline, a neat little asset for paying a relatively paltry sum.

But then, when free agency rolled around again in 2017 Vanek would have to wait. Even with his 48 points, and obvious skills on the powerplay and in the shootout, he would wait all the way until the Vancouver Canucks finally snatched him up in September. You’d think that proving himself still capable would improve the offers, but Vancouver would sign him for just $2MM this time around. The deal came with no performance bonuses, likely because who would doubt he’d hit them at this point.

Vanek once again was up to the task, and found instant chemistry with Canucks rookie phenom Brock Boeser. This time, he’d register 41 points by the time the trade deadline came around—his 13th consecutive 40+ if we’re still counting—and earning the Canucks a shiny young Tyler Motte. The now 34-year old Vanek would put up 15 points in 19 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets down the stretch, helping them secure their playoff position.

When this July rolls around, Vanek will be an unrestricted free agent once again. He’ll be entering the summer as the third-highest scoring free agent forward on the market, behind only John Tavares and David Perron—that’s right, ahead of players like Evander Kane, James van Riemsdyk, James Neal, and Paul Stastny—and he still might come with very little risk.

He’s obviously not a player that you’d hand out a long-term deal to, not anymore at least. But when one dimensional defense-only players are getting hefty contracts, teams need to start realizing that the opposite is also valuable. Even if he is a coach’s nightmare—which he’s never been described as by anyone other than outside observers—in the right situations he’s still extremely effective. Any team, even a rebuilding one, should be looking at him as an undervalued asset if his price remains low like the last two offseasons. You can bet there will be a team that wants him at the trade deadline again next year—especially if he’s in the midst of #14.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Ten NHL Players Announced For Swedish World Championship Roster

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After Canada announced their first 18 players yesterday, Sweden has now given us 10 NHL names that will suit up for them at the upcoming World Championships in Denmark. Like usual, their group will include several professional players from the SHL—though top prospect Rasmus Dahlin has already said he won’t be attending.

The confirmed NHL players are below:

Goaltenders:

Anders Nilsson, Vancouver Canucks

Defensemen:

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes
John Klingberg, Dallas Stars
Erik Gustafsson, Chicago Blackhawks
Adam Larsson, Edmonton Oilers

Forwards:

Mika Zibanejad, New York Rangers
Mikael Backlund, Calgary Flames
Jacob de La Rose, Montreal Canadiens
Johan Larsson, Buffalo Sabres
Magnus Paajarvi, Ottawa Senators

Snapshots: Barrie, Varone, Kovalchuk

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The NHL playoffs had quite the night on Thursday evening, with illegal checks being thrown in nearly every game. Tom Wilson and Josh Anderson have already gotten through unscathed, and Ryan Johansen will join them as players that didn’t receive disciplinary hearings. Johansen collided with Tyson Barrie, but will not receive any supplementary discipline as the league ruled it a “full body hit” according to Greg Wyshynski of ESPN.

Barrie and Colorado GM Joe Sakic are both upset about the decision, with Barrie going so far as to suggest to Adrian Dater of BSN Denver more players will take “runs” at opponents knowing they can get away with it. While it looks like Nazem Kadri will be given the second suspension of the postseason (the first being Drew Doughty for his hit on Vegas forward William Carrier), things threaten to get even more out of control in the coming games.

  • Phil Varone has been named AHL MVP for the 2017-18 season, after scoring 70 points in 73 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (with a few games remaining). Varone, a seven year professional, has always been an excellent offensive player in the minor leagues, but has just 50 NHL games under his belt. Drafted in the fifth round by the San Jose Sharks, his longest big league stint came with the Buffalo Sabres in 2014-15, when he recorded five points in 28 games.
  • Though it never did seem like a great fit, rumors persisted about the New York Rangers and Ilya Kovalchuk, with some even going so far to say a deal had already been agreed to. Kovalchuk himself denied that today when speaking to Russian media, saying he hasn’t had any connection with NHL teams so far. That would make sense, as he isn’t supposed to be talking to anyone until he becomes an unrestricted free agent on Sunday. Kovalchuk can’t sign with anyone until June 1st, and still lists team success as one of the driving forces. The Rangers, entering a period of rebuild and dedication to their young players, don’t seem like the perfect landing spot for a veteran looking to compete for the Stanley Cup in short order.

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