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Archives for December 2018

Metropolitan Notes: Penguins, Orpik, Patrick

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Although the new five-year, $30MM deal the Penguins gave forward Jake Guentzel on Thursday really tightens their salary cap situation, GM Jim Rutherford told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that this doesn’t affect their projections for next season:

“This doesn’t put us in any cap difficulty for what our projections are and what our vision of the team is.  If you’re going to be successful in the cap world, you have to have some guys coming who are going to be at the lower end of the pay scale.”

Considering that Pittsburgh now has just over $74MM committed to just 14 players for next season per CapFriendly, they are going to be needing a lot of players at the lower end of the pay scale.  Even if the cap raises to $83MM as the league projects, that doesn’t leave much wiggle room for the Penguins to fill out a roster beyond players making close to the minimum salary.  That could certainly affect their efforts to bring back pending UFA goalie Casey DeSmith who is off to a very strong start to his season and should command a notable raise this summer.

Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

  • The Capitals could have defenseman Brooks Orpik back as soon as Monday night, reports Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. The 38-year-old has missed the last 26 games due to a knee injury and is currently on LTIR.  Washington will have to do some salary cap manoeuvring in order to activate him as simply sending one of Jonas Siegenthaler or Tyler Lewington back to the minors won’t be enough to get them back into cap compliance.  However, if Christian Djoos is going to be out for another week at a minimum, they can transfer him to LTIR which, when coupled with the demotion of one of their other blueliners, would be enough to be able to activate Orpik.
  • Flyers center Nolan Patrick will miss the next three games due to an upper-body injury sustained on Thursday against Tampa Bay, notes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Daily News and Inquirer. His sophomore season has not gone as anyone has hoped as he has managed just five goals and six assists through 33 games, a pace that’s below his output from his rookie year.  Winger Jordan Weal is set to take his place in the lineup.

Overseas Notes: KHL Trade Deadline, Holmstrom, Toivonen

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The deadline for teams in the KHL to trade and sign players came and went yesterday, but not without some intriguing moves involving several former NHLers. Outside of the previously reported Michal Cajkovsky signing, several other notable names changed hands. After trading former Nashville Predators top prospect Taylor Beck to Avangard Omsk, the Kunlun Red Star were quick to replace him. Kunlun inked Drew Shore, who played briefly with the Vancouver Canucks just two years ago, to a contract for the remainder of the season. While Beck had been the team’s leading scorer with 22 points through 39 games, Shore is no slouch either. With the ZSC Lions of the NLA, Shore had ten points in 16 games before departing for the Red Star. He was also one of the top scorers in Switzerland in 2016-17 at nearly a point per game. Martin St. Pierre, who played eight seasons in North America with five different organizations, also signed with Kunlun ahead of the deadline. Elsewhere, former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Geoff Kinrade signed on with Severstal Cherepovets, as arguably the worst team in the league looks for answers on the blue line.

  • As it pertains to the current NHL, perhaps the most intriguing move at the KHL deadline was the return for the aforementioned Beck. In exchange for sending their leading scorer to Avangard Omsk, the top team in their own division, Kunlun received the rights to Swedish forward Axel Holmstrom. However, Holmstrom is currently under contract with the Detroit Red Wings. A seventh-round pick back in 2017, Holmstrom is in just his second full pro season in North America, played entirely with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. While there is no concrete indication yet that the young forward is thinking of retreating back to Europe, there tends to be fire where there is smoke when it comes to these transactions in the KHL, just as there was when Cajkovksy’s rights were acquired by Dynamo Moscow earlier this season. Especially considering the fact that the Red Star surrendered their leading scorer to acquire just one piece, and an abstract piece at that, there would seem to be at least some optimism that Holmstrom is considering a jump to the KHL. While Holmstrom, 22, has been productive in the minor leagues, he has yet to get a sniff of opportunity in Detroit and may be cherishing the though of a lead role in Kunlun next season.
  • A familiar name is back in North America for the first time in five years. The ECHL’s Maine Mariners announced today that they have signed 34-year-old Hannu Toivonen to a contract for the remainder of the season. Toivonen was a first-round pick of the Boston Bruins back in 2002 and spent four years with the organization. He was then traded to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Carl Soderberg and went on to start a career-high 23 NHL games with the team in 2007-08. Toivonen also suited up briefly for the Chicago Blackhawks and various AHL and ECHL squads before returning to Europe in 2014. Before the nostalgic get too excited about a potential NHL comeback, Toivonen was a stable option in his native Finland for several years after heading back across the Atlantic, but struggled at stops in Austria and Denmark last season and has had difficulty finding work this year. While his name alone brings some intrigue and perhaps some added ticket revenue for the Mariners, this is likely just one of the final stops in a long career of a well-traveled goaltender.

David Backes Suspended Three Games For High Hit

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The Department of Player Safety has had their hearing with Boston Bruins forward David Backes and has opted not to be lenient with the respected veteran. Instead, Player Safety announced a three-game suspension for Backes, resulting from an “illegal check to the head” on New Jersey Devils forward Blake Coleman late in the third period of Thursday night’s game. The response from Player Safety is as follows:

As Coleman releases the puck, Backes delivers a shoulder to the head of Coleman, making the head the main point of contact, and knocking him to the ice. This is an illegal check to the head… (T)he brunt of the impact on this hit is delivered to Coleman’s head. It is also important to note that the head contact here was avoidable… If Backes wishes to deliver this check, he must take an angle of approach that hits Coleman’s shoulder and core. Instead Backes takes an angle of approach that cuts in front… making it the main point of contact.

Backes is a repeat offender by NHL standards, but also specifically for this type of hit. The power forward delivered a similar high hit to the head of Detroit Red Wings forward Frans Nielsen late last season and received a similar three-game suspension. At that time, a three games on his Backes’ violation seemed like a harsh penalty from Player Safety. This time around, so soon after the last incident and so similar in nature, anything less than three games likely would have been too lenient. The absence will also cost Backes approximately $220K.

Backes is set to miss a divisional bout with the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow night, as well as a tough match-up with the Calgary Flames on January 3rd, but Backes’ biggest regret is likely that he will not be able to participate in the Winter Classic on New Years Day, when the Bruins face the Chicago Blackhawks at Notre Dame Stadium. While this likely opens the door to young Bruins forward Anders Bjork earning a call-up in time to make a homecoming of sorts at his alma mater, the 34-year-old Backes may have cost himself his last chance to play in an outdoor game in his NHL career.

Dallas CEO Rips Into Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin

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In the modern world of sports management and media, very rarely do upper executives of a team express anything but mild frustration if their team isn’t doing well. They may issue marching orders, or make sweeping changes in the front office, but almost never pick out individual players and air their grievances. Perhaps it’s something about the Texas heat that leads Dallas sports to act differently, but that market may be used to unusual outbursts given the bombastic personalities of Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA, and Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL. The Dallas Stars, who play arguably the least personality-driven of the four major sports, were getting by relatively unscathed when compared to their Texas counterparts. Until today.

In an incredible piece by Sean Shapiro of The Athletic (subscription required), Stars CEO Jim Lites goes into an on-the-record, expletive-filled rant about his best players, Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. The entire piece is an absolute must-read for hockey fans thirsting for this kind of drama, but one (expletive-free) paragraph explains his thoughts on the situation:

These guys are not good enough. They’re not good enough for me, they’re not good enough for the owner, and they’re certainly not good enough for the general manager, who I can’t speak for, but it’s not good enough for the job he’s done. But we’ve had meeting after meeting after meeting. The accountability on the ice is not there. These guys were signed to big contracts because they were the third- and sixth-leading scorers in the National Hockey League over the past five years. They get their money, we expect them to not be outplayed every game we play in. And if they were as good as they’ve been in the past we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Amazingly, this tirade comes at a time in the season when the Stars are actually sitting in a playoff spot. Because of the struggles of many of the other top teams, Dallas sits in the second wild card spot with a 19-16-3 record, and are actually just three points behind the Colorado Avalanche for a divisional playoff spot. They sit just nine points behind the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Central Division, and are by no means out of the race entirely. In fact, they beat the Nashville Predators 2-0 yesterday (a game in which Seguin and Benn were both held scoreless).

Still, Lites—and apparently owner Tom Gaglardi—are not happy. The Stars signed Seguin to an eight-year, $78.8MM extension just a few months ago after the star forward publicly expressed his disappointment that they hadn’t worked out a deal yet, and are already paying Benn an average of $9.5MM per season to captain the Stars for majority of the next decade. That kind of money puts both among the very highest paid players in the league, but Lites apparently doesn’t think they’ve played up to their capacity. Seguin is on pace for just 69 points this season, which would break his streak of five consecutive seasons of at least 72 points. The 26-year old forward set a career high with 40 goals last year, but is on pace for just 23 this year thanks to a career-low shooting percentage and league leading number of posts hit. Lites clearly doesn’t buy the post excuse:

He’s hitting posts, ‘wah-wah.’ That’s what I say about hitting posts. Get a little bit closer to the action, actually go to the spot where you score goals. He doesn’t do that, he never does that anymore. He used to be a pest to play against, people hated playing against Tyler Seguin, they don’t anymore.

Benn meanwhile has 30 points in 38 games, which is also a pace that would give him his lowest total since the 2012-13 shortened season. The captain surprisingly has just one powerplay assist this year which drastically hurts his totals, but is still leading the club with 15 goals.

The fact that Benn and Seguin are still at the top of the Dallas scoring list may lead some fans to point out how weak the rest of the roster has performed this season, but Lites clearly isn’t buying it. He’s put the onus on his best players to step up their game, an done so in such a public way that they will not be able to escape questions about it for the rest of the year. The Stars are back at home tomorrow night against the Detroit Red Wings.

Snapshots: Keane, Byfuglien, Bruins

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The London Knights must have felt a little thin on defense with Evan Bouchard and Adam Boqvist off playing in the World Junior Championship. The powerhouse OHL organization has added another top option to their blue line, trading for Joey Keane from the Barrie Colts. Keane himself was almost suiting up for Team USA at the tournament, but was one of the final cuts just before Christmas.

After going undrafted in his first year of eligibility, Keane was snapped up in the third round by the New York Rangers in June after putting up a solid season with Barrie. His 44 points in 62 games were impressive, but it’s Keane’s legitimate shutdown ability that intrigued most scouts. While he’s not the biggest or strongest, the Illinois native is a force in his own end with his exceptional reads, and will only strengthen what is already a dominant London blue line. The opportunity he’ll get to compete in the OHL playoffs will only help his development as he tries to jump to the professional ranks down the road.

  • While the Department of Player Safety is looking more closely at a David Backes hit, they’ve already handed out punishment for a different incident last night. Dustin Byfuglien has been fined $2,500 for slashing Johnny Gaudreau in last night’s Winnipeg-Calgary game. When Gaudreau beat Byfuglien at the Calgary blue line and had a clear path for an empty-net goal to seal the win, the Jets defenseman spun and delivered a forceful slash. While he won’t serve any suspension for it, the incident will be taken into account in any future supplementary discipline. Gaudreau practiced today for Calgary.
  • It seems the Boston Bruins can’t possibly have everyone healthy at the same time. After activating Zdeno Chara, Kevan Miller and Jake Debrusk yesterday, the team has placed Charlie McAvoy on injured reserve today in order to get under the 23-man roster limit. McAvoy’s injury is only expected to keep him out a few days, but will definitely keep him out of tomorrow’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. Whether he’ll be ready for Tuesday’s Winter Classic at Notre Dame is still undetermined.

Dallas Stars Make Four Roster Moves

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The Dallas Stars were one of two teams that had raised their roster numbers over the regular allowable limit during the holiday roster freeze, and needed to make a move today to get back under the 23-man threshold. Instead, they made several moves. Martin Hanzal and Jason Dickinson have both been placed on injured reserve with back injuries, while Connor Carrick was activated. Gavin Bayreuther, the odd man out on defense, has been sent back to the minor leagues.

The most notable transaction here is Hanzal, who only returned to the lineup for the first time this season three weeks ago. Back injuries have already stolen huge chunks of Hanzal’s career, and are clearly a chronic issue that will not go away entirely. That’s frightening for the Stars, who invested $14.25MM on a three-year deal in the big center in the summer of 2017 and have only received 45 games of mostly ineffective play. During his time in Dallas, Hanzal has only recorded 12 points while registering horrendous possession numbers and a -18 rating. That’s a terrible performance for a player carrying a $4.75MM cap hit, especially one who previously in his career was considered a potential Selke winner as a shutdown center.

Though Hanzal’s injury may never truly go away, Dickinson’s has been given a three to four week timeline according to Mark Stepneski of NHL.com. It’s terrible timing for a young player who was starting to establish himself as an everyday option, as Dickinson has 11 points in 34 games this season. The 23-year old was a first-round pick five years ago, but has had trouble shedding the minor league status and earning himself a real opportunity with the Stars. Now he’ll have to fight through injury to get back and not lose his latest chance.

Paul Cotter Signs Entry-Level Contract With Vegas Golden Knights

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The Vegas Golden Knights have inked another prospect, signing Paul Cotter to a three-year entry-level contract. Cotter currently plays with the London Knights of the OHL, and will remain there for the rest of the season.

Cotter, 19, made a huge impact during the Golden Knights development camp but looked like he wouldn’t be joining the organization for some time. That’s because Cotter was set to head to Western Michigan University, where he would be unable to sign a professional contract. After just eight games with the college though, the feisty forward decided to leave and play junior hockey, where his rights were owned by London. The Knights have an incredible chance at the Memorial Cup this year—especially after adding another top defenseman in Joey Keane today—and Cotter could be a real part of it.

Registering eight points in 12 games for the Knights, the biggest part of leaving Western Michigan is that Cotter will be able to start his professional career even sooner. Selected in the fourth round of the 2018 draft, he looks to have a legitimate path to the NHL through his hard work filling an energy role. Though he very well may never make it there, he’s at least taken the first step towards it today by signing his entry-level deal.

Jake Dotchin, Valentin Zykov Placed On Waivers

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The roster freeze is over, and teams can use waivers once again to try and move players to the minor leagues. The Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers have done so, placing defenseman Jake Dotchin and forward Valentin Zykov there. Both players found themselves on waivers earlier this year, with Dotchin seeing his contract terminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning and Zykov claimed from the Carolina Hurricanes. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Michal Cajkovsky and Joonas Lyytinen have also been placed on unconditional waivers by the Hurricanes and Nashville Predators respectively.

Dotchin, 24, is still in a grievance over how his deal was terminated earlier this year when the Lightning found him in “material breach of contract” when he showed up to camp out of shape. Though he was cut loose from the Tampa Bay organization, the young defenseman found a new team in Anaheim and worked hard to get back to the NHL level. He has played 16 games for the Ducks, though saw the end of the bench for much of his last one, playing fewer than seven minutes in a loss to San Jose.

The physical—and sometimes dangerous—Dotchin looked like a promising asset for Tampa Bay just a few years ago, when he recorded 11 points in 35 games down the stretch in 2017. Right-handed, he seemed like a perfect complement to some of the more skilled defenders on the Lightning blue line and was extremely inexpensive. Even the draft capital invested in him was minuscule, as the Lightning had found Dotchin in the 2012 sixth round after just a single year of junior hockey. He could be claimed by another team, but after inconsistent play and the recent trouble, some organizations may look the other way.

Zykov on the other hand just can’t seem to make good on his limited opportunities in the NHL. Claimed by the Oilers to give them some more offense on the wing, the 23-year old forward didn’t score a single point during his five-game stint and now finds himself in limbo. The Hurricanes could reclaim the second round pick, and if they are the only team that tries they would be allowed to immediately move him to the minor leagues. If not, Edmonton might try to build up his confidence and performance at the minor league level before giving him another opportunity.

Arizona Coyotes Trade Trevor Murphy To Anaheim Ducks

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The Arizona Coyotes have completed a minor trade, sending Trevor Murphy to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Giovanni Fiore. Both players were playing in the AHL and will likely remain in the minor leagues for the time being.

Murphy, a 23-year old defenseman, made his NHL debut last season and recorded three points in eight games for the Coyotes. Undrafted, Murphy signed out of the OHL in 2015 with the Nashville Predators and quickly became a reliable offensive threat at the minor league level. The undersized blue liner was included in a deadline day deal last season that sent him to Arizona, where he has continued to put up points in the AHL. With the Ducks also putting Jake Dotchin on waivers today, the San Diego Gulls could get a big improvement on the back end.

Fiore has even less experience under his belt, and is used to being traded. The 22-year old winger played for four different teams in the QMJHL over his junior career, before signing his entry-level contract in the spring of 2017. He made his NHL debut last season as well, but didn’t see the ice again after his first and only game. Fiore has 11 points in 23 games for the Gulls this season, and will give a little more minor league depth up front for the Tucson Roadrunners.

Murphy is scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer, while Fiore still has another year on that three-year entry-level contract.

Minor Transactions: 12/28/18

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We’re back to regular roster rules in the NHL, and with that teams will be making several moves to address their needs. A pair of teams, Boston and Dallas, used the holiday freeze to go over the 23 man roster limit and will need to come back down, while others were just waiting to send some underperforming forwards down to the minor leagues. As always, we’ll keep track of all the movement around the league right here.

  • Rourke Chartier is on his way back up to the San Jose Sharks, recalled by the team after their win over Anaheim last night. Chartier has played 13 games for the Sharks this season, but is looking to make a bit more of an offensive impact if he gets back into the lineup. The 22-year old has just a single point—his first NHL goal—in those 13 contests.
  • Though the Los Angeles Kings have normally been moving trios of players up and down to save cap space, that may not be the plan with Daniel Brickley who today was assigned to the AHL by himself. Dion Phaneuf resumed skating yesterday, meaning Brickley’s opportunity at the NHL level could be over for the time being.
  • John Stevens has been on season-opening injured reserve for the first part of the year, but today was assigned to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. That likely means that Stevens is ready to resume his playing career, one that will likely keep him in the New York Islanders minor league system for the rest of the season.
  • The St. Louis Blues have assigned Zach Sanford to the AHL, giving them room on the roster to activate Robby Fabbri from injured reserve. Sanford has already set a career high with nine points in 23 games this season, but will have to continue to hone his skills at the minor league level for now. The 6’4″ forward hasn’t quite established himself as a full-time NHL player, but there is certainly still potential to grow into a reliable middle-six winger.
  • Chad Ruhwedel has been sent to the AHL on a conditioning stint, but he’ll remain on the Pittsburgh Penguins 23-man roster. The 28-year old defenseman has played in just 11 games this season, and with Jamie Oleksiak returning to practice in full there wasn’t room to get him into the lineup.
  • Lias Andersson hasn’t adapted to life in the NHL quite as well as some had hoped, and today the New York Rangers sent the top prospect back to the AHL. The 20-year old center has just four points in 21 games this season, but is such a huge part of the Rangers future they must put him in the best situation to succeed. Andersson did have 12 points in 14 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack earlier this year, a pace he’ll hopefully return to now that he’s back in the minor leagues.
  • With John Gibson dealing with an injury, the Anaheim Ducks have recalled goaltender Kevin Boyle from the minor leagues to fill in for now. The team is already without Ryan Miller, meaning Chad Johnson will have to hold the crease for the time being.
  • Alan Quine has been sent back to the minor leagues by the Calgary Flames, ending a three week run with the team. Quine has played nine games for the Flames this season, recording four points. He cleared waivers before the season began, and would have had to again if he played another game with the team.

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