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St. Louis Blues “Open For Business”

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Things have not gone right for the St. Louis Blues this season. The offseason darlings of many, the Blues are off to a terrible start to the season at 8-11-3 and find themselves firmly in last place in the Central Division. That poor performance has already cost their head coach his job, and could very well see even bigger changes in the near future. In Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, the insider claims that the Blues are “open for business” with “few things they won’t consider.” That shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise, given the way they heavily invested in veteran talent in the offseason.

The Blues suffered a bitter fate last season when they missed the playoffs despite recording 94 points in the regular season, and must have felt as though they were good enough to compete this season. Summer brought big changes up front, as they brought in David Perron, Patrick Maroon and Tyler Bozak through free agency and landed Ryan O’Reilly in a massive trade with the Buffalo Sabres. Add in the idea that top prospects Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou might be able to contribute and a return to health for Robby Fabbri, and the Blues became the trendy pick for a dark horse Cup contender.

That contender simply hasn’t emerged, despite the excellent start for O’Reilly, who has been everything the team hoped and more with 26 points in 22 games and a league-leading 60.4% faceoff percentage. Star winger Vladimir Tarasenko hasn’t been the same destructive force with just three goals at even-strength, and Colton Parayko still hasn’t taken the huge step forward offensively that many have predicted.

Still, the offense isn’t the entire problem. If there was one thing that seemed poised to make-or-break the Blues in the offseason, it was the men between the pipes. Gone was reliable backup Carter Hutton to the Sabres in free agency, and in came Chad Johnson to backup the enigmatic Jake Allen. Allen, now 28, has been a complete mystery at times for the Blues, alternating between Vezina-caliber performances and minor league level struggles. This season he’s been as inconsistent as ever, resulting in an .896 save percentage through 17 games. Johnson meanwhile has continued the struggles he experienced last season, and has an .895 save percentage through his eight appearances.

It’s obvious that changes are coming in St. Louis if the team continues to perform poorly, but the situation is by no means simple. Allen carries a cap hit of $4.35MM for two more seasons and likely can’t be replaced very easily, and those free agent deals for Bozak and Perron locked them up for a combined $9MM through at least 2020-21. The Blues are right up against the cap thanks to their expensive forward group, and can’t really take on much more for this season without shipping salary out the other way. That makes it even tougher to make a move to turn things around right away, and puts even more pressure on this group to turn things around.

If the decision is ever made to sell though and focus on next season—when young players like Thomas and Kyrou should be able to do more—there will certainly be some interest in their roster. Brayden Schenn and captain Alex Pietrangelo each have just one year remaining on their current deals after this season and would desirable assets for nearly every team in the league given their versatility and pedigree. It’s hard to imagine them selling on either core piece, but as Friedman notes there are “few things they won’t consider” at this point.

Minor Transactions: 11/27/18

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Another day, another 10-game schedule for the NHL that will start with an intriguing matchup between the San Jose Sharks and Buffalo Sabres. Jack Eichel and company will try to prove once again that they belong in the conversation for the Atlantic Division crown as they look for their tenth consecutive win, while Erik Karlsson and the Sharks are just trying to stay above water. As teams prepare for tonight’s festivities, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves around the league.

  • Mark Borowiecki has been moved to injured reserve, though he already hasn’t played in six days. The bruising Ottawa Senators defenseman is out with an undisclosed injury and will be eligible to return as soon as he is healthy enough to do so.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have activated captain Shea Weber, and will have him in the lineup tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. Weber’s recovery went even better than expected and the Canadiens will welcome him back several weeks before his initial timeline suggested. The veteran defenseman will be a huge boost for the team as they look to continue their relatively strong start.
  • Tim Gettinger has been sent down by the New York Rangers, returned after just a day at the NHL level. The club has been bouncing Gettinger up and down for the past week, using him as an extra body for the past couple of games but giving him very little ice time. The 20-year old is still looking for his first NHL point.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have recalled Lawrence Pilut for the second time this season, and could get him into the lineup given Zach Bogosian’s absence from practice today. The young Swedish defenseman has great offensive upside, but will need to fight to get a full-time spot with the Sabres.
  • Antti Raanta should be fine to start tonight for the Arizona Coyotes, but the team has recalled Hunter Miska from the minor leagues just in case. Carrying three goaltenders for the time being, Miska is likely headed back to the Tucson Roadrunners after the game.
  • Michael Raffl has been activated from injured reserve by the Philadelphia Flyers, and is expected to be back in the lineup tonight. Raffl hasn’t played since October 22nd when he suffered a lower-body injury against the Colorado Avalanche.

Morning Notes: Pronger, Matthews, Bean

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We heard about another name that the Philadelphia Flyers have interest in this morning when Frank Seravalli of TSN put forward Steve Greeley’s name, but we’re also learning about who won’t be a candidate for the vacant GM position. Paul Holmgren announced that the new GM would be coming from outside the organization and ruled out senior advisor and former Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi specifically.

Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer adds another name to the pile of those who won’t be interviewed, as he reports that Chris Pronger is not a candidate for the job. Pronger has been open with his desire to eventually become a GM in the league and has ties to the Philadelphia organization, but will not be given this opportunity. Pronger is currently working as an advisor in the Florida Panthers organization.

  • It’s been quite a while since the Toronto Maple Leafs had star center Auston Matthews take part in a full practice, but that’s exactly what happened today when he joined the rest of the team. Shedding the non-contact sweater, Matthews looks poised to return soon from his recent shoulder injury and add another offensive weapon to the potent Maple Leafs attack. As Mark Masters of TSN points out though, the last time Matthews dealt with a shoulder injury he went through two full practices before returning to the lineup. That would put him on track for Saturday’s game in Minnesota, not tomorrow’s against the San Jose Sharks. We’ll have to wait and see how the Maple Leafs play it, but getting a player of his caliber back should only improve their chances in the tight Atlantic Division.
  • While one player hopes for his return, another readies for his debut. Jake Bean is set to play in his first NHL game when the Carolina Hurricanes take on the Montreal Canadiens tonight, a long-awaited occurrence for the young defenseman. Bean, 20, was picked 13th overall in 2016 but was sent back to junior for two more years and has now been playing with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL for the start of this season. He’s shown his offensive upside there, recording 11 points in 21 games as a rookie, and is just the latest to join an incredibly deep group of defensemen in Carolina.

Karl Alzner Placed On Waivers

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Tuesday: Alzner has cleared waivers as expected, and is on his way to the minor leagues.

Monday: The Montreal Canadiens had to make a decision about their defense corps as they prepare to welcome captain Shea Weber back, but it wasn’t going to be easy. Today, they have placed Karl Alzner on waivers with the intent of sending him to the minor leagues. Alzner is not at practice with the Canadiens today, and will almost certainly clear waivers thanks to his hefty contract.

Alzner, 30, is less than two years removed from signing one of the largest contracts of the 2017 offseason, a five-year $23.125MM deal with the intent of him shoring up the Montreal blue line. The former Washington Capitals player was meant to be another physical, veteran presence alongside Weber and allow the team to develop their young defensemen slowly. Unfortunately, Alzner’s game took a quick and decisive downward turn and he started this season in head coach Claude Julien’s dog house. Scratched on opening night and several more since then, Alzner has played just eight games this season despite previously playing all 82 games (or 48 in the case of the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season) in his previous eight years.

Suddenly, not only does Alzner look like he’s headed for the minors but his NHL career could potentially be over. With a $4.625MM cap hit he would have to substantially improve his play to be appealing to any team in the league, and with three more seasons still left on his contract after this year he’ll be 34 before he could be back up with a lower cost. That is, unless the Canadiens buy out his contract at the end of the year.

Unfortunately, that buyout option doesn’t look very appealing at the moment. While the Canadiens would get more than $3.5MM in cap savings for the 2019-20 season, that benefit wouldn’t last because of the structure of Alzner’s deal. In fact, in 2020-21 they’d still have to carry a $4.2MM cap hit because of his low base salary. That’s more than the $3.6MM cap hit he’ll cause by playing in the minor leagues. Alzner also has a seven team no-trade clause, if the Canadiens hope to move him somewhere else for some cap relief.

Remember though, Alzner’s cap is not dead money like a player who has suffered a career-ending injury. With him healthy, the team still owes him his full $6MM salary this season, and though that decreases in the future, a team like Arizona who has been known to take on injured contracts in the past likely wouldn’t have much interest. There’s no insurance paying Alzner’s deal, meaning he’ll be a very expensive minor league asset for Montreal going forward.

Steve Greeley Latest To Be Linked To Flyers GM Search

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Paul Holmgren and the Philadelphia Flyers are underway on their search for a new GM after the team fired Ron Hextall yesterday, and early indications were that Chuck Fletcher and Ron Francis were on the list of candidates for the job. Add Steve Greeley to that list, as Frank Seravalli of TSN reports that the Buffalo Sabres assistant GM is on the Flyers’ radar. The team has not reached out to the Sabres for permission to talk to him, but it’s easy to see why they would be interested.

Greeley, 38, is a former minor pro player who spent several years with the Los Angeles Kings as a scout under then-GM Dean Lombardi, who happens to now be a senior advisor with the Flyers. He then joined David Quinn’s staff at Boston University as associate head coach, before moving to the New York Rangers’ player personnel department. Jason Botterill hired him after taking over in Buffalo, but it was easy to see that Greeley was on the fast track to run a team of his own one day. Whether that happens in Philadelphia is still obviously undecided.

At a press conference today to explain the Hextall firing, Holmgren explained that while the organization is still in a fine position going forward the upper management felt that a new voice was needed to take them “to the next level.” One has to wonder whether that will be someone without any experience in the GM role like Greeley, or a more veteran name like Fletcher or Francis. For what it’s worth, neither of those two could ever get their franchises—Minnesota and Carolina respectively—to that next level when in the GM position.

Metropolitan Notes: Hayes, Zuccarello, Kuznetsov, Oshie

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While many expect Rangers center Kevin Hayes to be dealt between now and the trade deadline, Larry Brooks of the New York Post believes that they would be better off re-signing him unless they can get a young core winger or defenseman back.  While adding more depth to their prospect pool is still beneficial, he argues that they’d be better off re-signing him over acquiring a pick or prospect that could reach Hayes’ current level several years down the road.

The question is how much is it going to take to get the 26-year-old to sign long-term?  Brooks suggests a six-year, $6MM deal could be a fair amount as it would represent a small raise on his current $5.25MM deal while beating what Adam Henrique got on his extension with Anaheim this past summer.  The Rangers aren’t eligible to officially re-sign Hayes until January 1st and GM Jeff Gorton acknowledged that there haven’t even been preliminary talks on an extension just yet.

Elsewhere in the Metropolitan:

  • Still with the Rangers, although they held Mats Zuccarello out of the lineup tonight once again due to groin issues, head coach David Quinn told reporters, including Newsday’s Colin Stephenson, that the winger remains day-to-day. Zuccarello has now missed eight of the last ten games with this problem and the team has acknowledged that his recovery has not gone as well as anticipated.  The 31-year-old is one of New York’s more notable potential trade chips this season but teams that may be interested are going to need to see that this won’t be a lingering problem before trying to make a move.
  • Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov skated Monday for the first time since suffering a concussion nearly two weeks ago, notes Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. He missed his sixth straight game tonight but his return appears to be closer than winger T.J. Oshie, who is dealing with a concussion of his own.  He has yet to skate since sustaining it and head coach Todd Reirden indicated that he’s unsure if Oshie will be able to skate at all this week.  Considering that this is his fifth career concussion, Washington will certainly be erring on the side of caution.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Calgary Flames

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Calgary Flames. 

What are the Flames most thankful for?

A high-powered attack that not many people saw coming.  Calgary has been well-known for its defensive depth and to be fair, they still have a pretty deep back end.  However, some offseason movement and a new head coach have helped the Flames boast the highest-scoring team in the Western Conference (tied with Nashville).  Considering they were in the bottom five in that department last season, this has been a very impressive turnaround and has helped lead them to first in the Pacific Division so far.

Who are the Flames most thankful for?

After being a player that has typically put up roughly 40 points per season, Carolina opted to part ways with Elias Lindholm and dealt him (along with Noah Hanifin) to Calgary at the draft.  The Flames thought Lindholm may still have some untapped offensive potential and so far, they’ve been proven right.  He is already halfway to his career-high in points with 23 through his first 24 games while leading all Calgary forwards in ice time per game.  While some viewed Hanifin as the centerpiece of the trade, Lindholm has stepped in and given their top line the fit that they’ve been missing in recent years.

Matthew Tkachuk has largely flown under the radar with the number one line drawing most of the attention.  However, he is tied for the team lead in scoring with 12 goals and 15 assists through 24 games.  He’s setting himself up for a significant raise as a restricted free agent this summer.

What would the Flames be even more thankful for?

Mike Smith playing like the goaltender he has in the past.  The 36-year-old had a decent first year with the Flames last season but his performance this year has been rather disastrous.  He has just a .883 save percentage, a career low while ranking 47th out of 50 qualifying goaltenders.  A strong start from David Rittich has helped offset that somewhat but if Calgary wants to remain where they are in the standings, they’re going to need Smith to at least get back to league average territory.

James Neal was another key acquisition over the summer, inking a five-year, $28.75MM contract but he has failed to live up to it.  He has just three goals so far in 24 games and him rediscovering his scoring touch would make their attack that much deeper.

What should be on the Flames’ Holiday Wish List?

For the time being, they’ll keep Smith and hope that he can eventually round back into form.  If that doesn’t happen, they’re going to have to venture into the trade market and try to find a replacement.  They don’t have a lot of cap space to work with so they’d be wise to save what they have for now to potentially give them more options if they have to go after a goalie.  If Smith returns to form, adding a checking forward that can help on the penalty kill would be a good idea as that has been an area of concern through the first quarter of the season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Los Angeles Kings Place Carl Hagelin On Injured Reserve

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Monday: Hagelin will miss four-to-six weeks, reports Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider (Twitter link).

Sunday: The Los Angeles Kings can’t seem to find any continuity as injuries continue to play a part in the team’s downfall this season. After just having acquired veteran Carl Hagelin from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Tanner Pearson, the Kings announced they have placed him on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and consider him to be “week-to-week,” with an MCL sprain. He will have an MRI on Monday.

Hagelin was starting to connect in his time with the Kings, having played five games now with Los Angeles. Hagelin has been a big influence on rookie Matt Luff, who has posted three goals in the three straight games for the Kings. Hagelin assisted on two of them. He had fallen out of favor in Pittsburgh as he averaged under 15:00 per game in November, but has received more playing time in Los Angeles, averaging close to 16 minutes per contest.

The team has recalled Michael Amadio from Ontario, who has already appeared in 13 games for the Kings this season, although he has scored just one goal in that time. Amadio has played just three games for the Reign, putting up three assists.

Reactions To Ron Hextall’s Firing In Philadelphia

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Ron Hextall being let go as General Manager of the Flyers earlier on Monday came as a shock to many.  While some expected some changes to be made, relieving a GM midseason isn’t something that happens too frequently; the last one occurred in 2013 when Columbus relieved Scott Howson of his duties.  Instead, usually the head coach takes the fall or a substantial trade is made to shake up the core but that isn’t happening here, at least for now.  There has been plenty of mixed reaction to this around the hockey world today, some of which are highlighted below.

  • Kevin Allen of USA Today suggests that Hextall’s inability to find a long-term solution between the pipes was his biggest failing as GM. While there is certainly optimism surrounding Carter Hart, he may still be a couple of years away from being ready to make an NHL impact after a slow start in the minors.  Rather than change things up this summer, he opted to stay with veterans Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth and the two have helped lead Philadelphia to a league-worst save percentage.  (Both happen to be injured at the moment as well.)
  • Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News believes that while a change needed to be made, this wasn’t it. He notes that Hextall had finally alleviated their long-time salary cap concerns and had positioned themselves to make a trade of significance in the days to come.  He also speculates that a new GM could come in and clean house behind the bench which could create another potential landing spot for former Chicago bench boss Joel Quenneville.
  • Mike Sielski, also of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, opines that Philadelphia’s playoff berths in 2016 and 2018 were ultimately counterproductive as Hextall was still in the process of reshaping and building up their infrastructure. However, the fact that they made the postseason created a level of urgency and impatience which goes against Hextall’s patient approach.
  • TSN’s Frank Seravalli notes (video link) that in Hextall’s tenure as GM, there wasn’t a single trade made to significantly bolster their talent level – they were filling holes, clearing cap space, or building for the future. As a result, his legacy will ultimately be complicated – while the team is better positioned for the long-term now compared to when he took over, his teams will largely be remembered for their mediocrity and inability to live up to expectations.

Artemi Panarin “Genuinely Happy” With Blue Jackets’ Season

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One of the biggest stories of this NHL season is the pending unrestricted free agency of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin. After telling the Blue Jackets that he did not want to negotiate a long-term extension with the team in the summer, and then claiming he wanted all business to be finished by the start of the season, he put the team’s front office in quite a bind. GM Jarmo Kekalainen could keep the talented forward and hope that they can convince him at some point down the road, or trade him to try and get some value out of an asset before it expires. He has chosen the former up until this point, and it has the Blue Jackets in second place in the Metropolitan Division and pushing for a playoff spot.

Still, it wasn’t clear how the Panarin situation would resolve, given his apparent unwillingness to negotiate during the year and lack of decision on his future. Now, Brian Hedger of The Columbus Dispatch reports that Panarin and agent Dan Milstein will “discuss business” in late January when the Blue Jackets are on their bye week. That’s a bit different than the timeline presented by Pierre LeBrun recently, who said the two would talk over the holiday break in December. Milstein didn’t tell Hedger what exactly they would discuss, but did tell him that Panarin is “genuinely happy with the way things are going this season.” That at least should give a bit of hope to Blue Jackets fans that are hoping to retain the services of their best offensive weapon past this season.

Now 27, Panarin has dominated the NHL since coming over from Russia in 2015. First joining the Chicago Blackhawks, he found immediate chemistry with Patrick Kane and ended up with a 77-point season as a rookie—albeit an experienced one. He followed that up with another excellent season in Chicago before being dealt to the Blue Jackets in the summer of 2017 in exchange for a package including Brandon Saad, a move that was designed to give the Blackhawks some more cost certainty into the future. Panarin only had two years remaining on his contract, and this is the exact type of situation that Chicago was trying to avoid.

In the one and a quarter seasons since however, the Blue Jackets have been the obvious winner of the trade. Panarin recorded a career-high 82 points last season for Columbus and helped Pierre-Luc Dubois jump right into the NHL lineup and find some success in the offensive zone. The Russian winger has started this season off just as well, recording 23 points in his first 22 games and helping Columbus to their 13-8-2 record. That kind of production though will make him an extremely desirable asset on the open market, one who very well could sign a contract with an average annual salary upwards of $10MM.

That kind of extension may even be acceptable for the Blue Jackets, but at this point Panarin hasn’t even allowed them to make the offer. Though Milstein did meet with Kekalainen recently according to Hedger, it was not to discuss the pending free agent.  It seems as though the team must continue to wait patiently until some sort of decision is made in late January.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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