Dallas Stars Activate Stephen Johns, Place Radek Faksa On IR
The long-awaited wait for the return of defenseman Stephen Johns, who hasn’t appeared in 22 months due to post-traumatic headaches, is finally here. SportsDay’s Matthew DeFranks reports that John has been activated and is expected to play Saturday against the Minnesota Wild. To make room for the blueliner, Dallas has placed center Radek Faksa on injured reserve.
“For 22 months this is the day I’ve looked forward to every second of every day,” said Johns earlier today (via The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro).
The 27-year-old Johns hasn’t played in a game since March 29, 2018, and many wondered if he’d ever return to the ice. However, the blueliner began skating several months ago and finally was cleared to play recently. He was assigned to the Texas Stars of the AHL on a conditioning stint where he played two games for them, picking up a goal and three assists and looks to be ready to return to action. He is expected to be paired with Andrej Sekera on the team’s third pairing.
Johns should provide the team with significant defensive depth as his 6-foot-4 frame and physical play should only help the Stars down the road. Johns played 75 games for the Stars back in the 2017-18 season with eight goals, 15 points, 155 blocked shots and 201 hits. The team also is thrilled to see him return after star defenseman Miro Heiskanen went down in the second-half of Thursday’s game against Buffalo and is considered day-to-day as he is in concussion protocol.
Faksa is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury and is not expected to play Saturday, their last day before the all-star break the team has. With the next game not being until Jan. 27, the team can activate him then with just one game missed.
David Backes, Luke Schenn Placed On Waivers
Saturday: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that both Backes and Schenn cleared waivers. NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin adds that Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy said that Backes will be given the same break that all NHL players are getting for the all-star break before the team decides whether it will send him to the AHL.
Friday: The Boston Bruins have decided to place veteran forward David Backes on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to the minor leagues. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet adds that Luke Schenn has also been placed on waivers by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Backes, 35, has finally worn out his welcome with the Bruins. The former St. Louis Blues captain signed a six-year, $36MM contract with Boston in 2016 but was almost immediately a disappointment. He failed reach the 20-goal mark in his first season with the Bruins, a threshold he had met in each of his previous five full seasons (not counting the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign). Still, at that point he was still at least adding some secondary scoring and providing a physical presence in the lineup on a nightly basis.
Injuries started really affecting that contribution however, which made many look at the deal as a potential problem. By the time the summer of 2019 rolled around Backes was a buyout candidate, and now he finds himself on the way to the minor leagues.
Backes’ $6MM cap hit will not be entirely buried by heading to the AHL. Only $1.075MM is covered by sending him down, and the Bruins will still be on the hook for the entire actual salary. This transaction couldn’t have been done last year when Backes still had a no-movement clause, but this very well could be the end of his time in the NHL.
For Schenn, this the second time he’s found himself on waivers since signing a one-year deal with Tampa Bay. He cleared just before the season began, but now that teams are dealing with injuries there is a chance he gets grabbed for a short-term fix. The 30-year old has 749 games of NHL experience under his belt, though is obviously not an extremely effective option at this point in his career.
PHR Mailbag: Rangers, Islanders, Coyotes Offense, Canadiens, Golden Knights, Midseason Surprises, Bruins, Draft Talk
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include the looming decisions the Rangers need to make, the Islanders at the trade deadline, Arizona’s offense, Montreal’s top veterans, needs for the Golden Knights, midseason surprises and disappointments, Boston’s continued search for a top-six winger, and some draft talk. If your question doesn’t appear here, look for it in last week’s edition.
acarneglia: How do the Rangers resolve Kreider’s pending free agency, Lias Andersson’s request out, and their situation in goal?
CoachWall: With the Rangers promoting Igor Shesterkin, could they be seriously considering trading Georgy? They need to get a good return to make that deal.
@hawkeyguy: Are the Leafs and Rangers really linked in trade talks?
Chris Kreider is someone that the Rangers don’t appear to be all that interested in talking about an extension with, at least according to recent reports. They’ve made teams aware that they’re willing to retain on his contract to facilitate a trade and there haven’t been any discussions about a deal beyond this season. That can certainly change at any time and I’m sure GM Jeff Gorton will eventually get a sense for what a new deal will cost. But at this point, it’s looking like a trade is a lot likelier than not and will happen relatively soon (by the trade deadline).
I don’t expect Andersson’s situation to be resolved as quickly. The fact that he walked out doesn’t help. Some of the almost cryptic comments he made back home doesn’t help. He wasn’t playing all that well in Hartford and isn’t playing at all now. You guessed it – that doesn’t help either. If they were to move Andersson now, they’d be doing so at a considerable loss and at the same time, setting a precedent that they probably don’t want to do (if you want out, walk out and we’ll trade you). This one should drag out into the summer where they’ll likely take a run at trying to get him to try again with New York before acquiescing if he still wants out.
I’m still of the opinion that they don’t have to trade a goalie. Yes, a three-goalie situation is far from ideal but there is a defined end date when Henrik Lundqvist’s contract is up following 2020-21. If they can make it that long, Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev is a quality tandem to work with.
If they do decide to make a deal, it seems that Georgiev will be the odd man out and Toronto is among the many teams that have kicked the tires. The big question is going to be whether or not there’s a team that sees him as a number one down the road. If so, they should be able to land a good enough player to justify moving him. But if he’s viewed as a platoon option, they’re not going to get the impact young player they’re seeking so waiting for the offseason would make some sense. I liken his situation to that of Cam Talbot’s when he was in New York and that one took until the summer to sort out.
nk: Lou Lamoriello is known for being the wise GM and aggressive when need be but it is getting evident that he knows the AHL Sound Tigers affiliate is not ripe with forward talent and with the Pelech injury does not want to deal D out of the system. Knowing this, with the major offensive struggles the Isles have had recently do you see him making a trade or will he be content to ride the wave with his current cast and just wait until the summer to try and get the offensive help needed when certain salaries come off the books?
I expect the Islanders to still try to add an offensive upgrade or two. This is a team that showed that when they can score at even a reasonable clip, they can be dangerous. They’ve largely struggled in that department over the last couple of weeks (aside from popping eight on Detroit earlier in the week) and that has dropped them back to third in the division and only a few points ahead of a Wild Card spot. Reinforcements are going to be needed and Lamoriello knows that.
The injury to Adam Pelech makes it a bit tougher to deal from their defense but they can still dangle some prospects or draft picks to try to add some pieces. While they don’t have any extra picks, they also have their full complement of selections at their disposal and while some of the Bridgeport forwards aren’t likely ready to contribute at the NHL level yet, they would still attract some interest from other teams. Someone like Otto Koivula comes to mind – he hasn’t looked great in NHL duty yet but at 21 and another year left on his deal, there will be teams intrigued by his size and offensive output in the minors.
Vin Scully: Will the Yotes do anything else to shore up their offense?
Short of a depth move, I don’t see them doing much else of consequence up front. When you add Phil Kessel and Taylor Hall and the needle doesn’t move much, that suggests that the limited offense is more systemic than talent-based. Their system is working pretty well for them (they’re tied for first in the Pacific despite some injured goalies as of late) so they’re not going to change that so why make another big swing when you have a reasonable idea that it won’t have that much of an impact?
Part of the reason I don’t see them doing much more is that their trade chips are limited. They’re down first and third-round picks this season. Their top three picks are essentially encumbered from the Hall trade while we wait to see which provision(s) take place. That basically takes them out of the running for any top talent right there.
I actually think Arizona may look to add a defenseman even though their unit is pretty deep. Jordan Oesterle, Ilya Lyubushkin, and the recently-recalled Kyle Capobianco are all depth options and finding an upgrade for a reasonable cost (a mid-round pick or similar prospect) is doable while fitting in the range of assets that they’re likely willing to part with.
Mark Black: What would a Carey Price or Shea Weber trade look like for Montreal? From a salary/long term strategy standpoint, who would be better to trade?
In terms of what it would look like, the return would be completely theoretical as GM Marc Bergevin is going out of his way to try to quash any notion of them getting traded so let’s focus on the second part of the question.
From a long-term standpoint, I would move Price first. The contract was pricey to begin with and now with the marketplace shifting towards preferring starters playing less, it’s not going to get any better. Price’s reputation is still relatively strong even if his numbers aren’t so there may be some teams out there that think behind a better defense, he could get back to his top form. There would need to be a fair bit of money offset though, either by retention (something I don’t think Montreal would do anytime soon) or by taking some higher-priced players back.
As for Weber, there will come a time where he can’t log 25 minutes a night but right now, he’s still playing quite well and with the Canadiens unwilling to go into a larger-scale rebuild, it’s hard to see them wanting to move him. There would be several interested teams if they were open to dealing him though. Once his salary really starts to drop off (to $3MM in 2022-23, $1MM for three seasons starting in 2023-24), he could move to a team looking to get to the cap floor but by then, he’s probably more of a second pairing option at best and the return would be low. The 2022-23 season is the first that Montreal would be out of salary recapture risk as well (though their potential exposure is a lot lower than Nashville’s).
I think the fall off risk is higher with Weber but they can get out of that deal easier down the road based on its structure so from a strategic standpoint, moving Price is probably the better way to go but neither will happen anytime soon.
WalterNYR: Vegas is obviously a Cup contender, but what kind of move can they make to put themselves in the best position possible?
Evidently, they saw a coaching change as something that would help put them in the best position possible which is something I certainly didn’t see coming. Time will tell if that helps or hurts their chances. It will likely delay any movement though as GM Kelly McCrimmon will want to see if Peter DeBoer can help cure what ails them, particularly on the back end.
That’s the position I think they should be trying to upgrade at and by all accounts, they’ve been trying to do just that for a while now. They have plenty of firepower up front but their back end is still largely patched together with depth options playing more minutes than they should. A legitimate top-four defender could be the final piece of the puzzle. However, with minimal cap space, they’ll have to unload some contracts the other and potentially get the other team to retain. Are they open to dealing another first-round pick or will they be trying to deal from their surplus of second-rounders (five over the next two drafts) instead? That will determine what tier of blueliner that they can ultimately get.
Minor Transactions: 01/18/20
The final Saturday before the All-Star break features a busy schedule with a dozen games on the docket which means there should be plenty of roster movement throughout the day. We’ll keep tabs on those here.
- The Bruins have reversed yesterday’s goaltender flip, recalling Dan Vladar from AHL Providence while sending Maxime Lagace down, per the AHL’s Transactions page. It appears that Friday’s roster move was solely designed to get Vladar a start to keep him fresh as he made 24 stops in a 2-1 loss to Bridgeport.
- With its defense numbers down with their extensive injuries, the Winnipeg Jets announced they have recalled defenseman Nelson Nogier from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. The 23-year-old played one game for the Jets last season and did make a 10-game appearance back in 2016-17. He has no goals and six assists in 42 games with the Moose.
- The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they have assigned defenseman Mark Friedman to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. The 24-year-old blueliner has only played in five game for the Flyers, but has appeared in 28 games for the Phantoms, tallying two goals and 10 points there. He is expendable with the return of Justin Braun.
- The Edmonton Oilers announced they have assigned defenseman William Lagesson to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL. With the upcoming all-star break approaching, it’s likely the team wants Lagesson to get more work in. The 23-year-old has only appeared in two games for the Oilers since being recalled on Dec. 29. He has three goals and 18 points for the Condors in 21 appearances.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning announced they have assigned forward Mitchell Stephens and defenseman Luke Schenn to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. Neither are expected to report, however, as The Athletic’s Joe Smith writes that both are paper transactions to save the team some money over the All-Star break and the team’s bye-week.
- The Anaheim Ducks have decided to shake things up in their forward corps, announcing the demotions of Max Jones, Daniel Sprong and Chase De Leo and recalling Blake Pietila. This will be Pietila’s Ducks debut if he draws into the lineup. The veteran has 14 points in games with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls this season.
- Alexander Yelesin has been returned to the AHL’s Stockton Heat, the Calgary Flames have revealed. The young defenseman did not see any NHL action while on recall with the Flames, but has played well in the AHL in his first season in North America.
West Notes: Oilers, Raanta, Saad
While Edmonton is believed to be looking for help in the top six, Oilers GM Ken Holland is being cautious with the timeline for when such a move may take place. While the trade deadline is now less than six weeks away, Holland told Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun that he expects that it will be a while before activity around the league picks up:
When it comes to the trade deadline, I think it’s still another eight to 10 games needs to be played before anything happens. I want to see what happens over the next 10 games leading to the trade deadline.
He acknowledges that it’s unlikely that they’d turn around and sell if things don’t go well over that eight-to-ten-game stretch but with so many teams within striking distance of a playoff spot, it may take the better part of the next month for some of those squads to pick which direction they’re going to go. If that is indeed the case, the Oilers may be waiting for a while yet for those reinforcements.
Elsewhere in the West:
- Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta is expected to get the start on Saturday, notes Craig Morgan of The Athletic (Twitter link). He returned from a lower-body injury last week only to sustain another injury in his first game back. Raanta’s inability to stay healthy has hurt Arizona over the last few seasons and with Darcy Kuemper also out of action, the timing for this latest one was certainly unfortunate. Fortunately for them, at least this one didn’t keep him out for long.
- While earlier in the week, it appeared as if Blackhawks winger Brandon Saad wouldn’t return until after the All-Star break, that may not be the case. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Saad participated in a full practice today and is questionable to play on Saturday against Toronto. There are three games left for Chicago before the break so if Saad is a possibility to play tomorrow, there’s a very good chance he’ll get into one of the other two at least.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Winnipeg Jets
We’re in the home stretch in our thankful series where PHR will continue its look at what teams are thankful for with the second half of the season underway. We’ll examine what has gone well in the first half and what each team may be looking for at the trade deadline. Our last team to look at is the Winnipeg Jets.
What are the Jets most thankful for?
A young, controllable core up front that has been quite productive. Of Winnipeg’s top five scorers (Blake Wheeler being the exception), four are 26 or younger and are signed or under team control for at least three more years after this one. That gives them a very strong foundation to build off of and for the time being, all are on below-market contracts. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff faced some criticism early in his tenure with the team for his patience but right now, his commitment to the long-term improvement has paid dividends and should continue to do so for a few more years at least.
Who are the Jets most thankful for?
Mark Scheifele. The center has just continued to improve year after year and has gone from a middle-six player early in his career into a top-flight producer that is quietly among the most productive in the league. He’s on pace for a career year offensively and if he can keep it up, he’ll extend his streak of seasons averaging a point per game to four. When Scheifele signed his current contract (eight years, $49MM) following the 2015-16 season, it was viewed as somewhat of a risky one with only one season of more than 15 goals under his belt. Now, his $6.125MM is one of the top bargains in the league among top-line players and even better for Winnipeg, it still has four years left on it after this one.
What would the Jets be even more thankful for?
A resolution on the Dustin Byfuglien front. The blueliner has been involved in a particularly strange situation that saw him leave partway through training camp where it was suspected that he was pondering his playing future and was suspended by the team. It turns out that he was injured and underwent ankle surgery without consulting the Jets. The injury brings into question whether or not the suspension is valid and the issue is heading for an arbitrator. How the ruling goes there will ultimately determine what type of cap room that they have to work with down the stretch. Getting a healthy Byfuglien back for the stretch run if he’s willing to return would also be huge. Basically everything that they can or can’t do revolves around this.
What should be on the Jets’ Wish List?
With the Byfuglien situation holding things up, Cheveldayoff will likely have to look for depth options at this time as he won’t want to add any high-cost acquisitions until he knows how much room he actually has to work with. Their back end has been banged up as of late so adding another option or two there would be beneficial. Roster size restrictions would likely mean that one of those players would need to be stashed in the AHL though. They’ve also churned through a few different fourth line options. They’re not going to get much support in that regard from AHL Manitoba (a lot of their better players have already spent time with the Jets) so looking outside the organization is going to be the next option, similar to what they did when they added Nick Shore.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
East Notes: Muzzin, Gerbe, Ovechkin, Ericsson
The Maple Leafs are hoping to have defenseman Jake Muzzin back in the lineup in their first game following the All-Star break, notes Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. He’s working his way back from a broken foot that has caused him to miss the last nine games and is expected to skate through the break. He’s well past the minimum required number of days on LTIR so he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s ready. If that does indeed happen, that will certainly lessen the short-term urgency to try to bring in another defenseman with Morgan Reilly on LTIR and out for the better part of the next two months.
More from the East:
- Blue Jackets winger Nathan Gerbe has withdrawn from the upcoming AHL All-Star game, notes Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). This is noteworthy as it suggests that Columbus is planning to keep him up for the foreseeable future. It’s worth mentioning that Gerbe has already played in 12 games since his recall which means that he will have to pass through waivers to make it back to the minors. Considering he has seven points in those contests, making it through unclaimed is far from a guarantee.
- Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin has selected which game he will sit out under suspension as a result of skipping the NHL All-Star game, reports Samantha Pell of the Washington Post. He has chosen to miss their first game after the break against Montreal, a reasonable decision considering their final game before it is against the Islanders, a division rival.
- Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson is close to returning, notes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. He has been out for the last month due to a broken nose but has been skating regularly and taking part in practice. Detroit has kept him on the active roster this whole time so no corresponding move will be required when he gets the green light.
Dougie Hamilton Out Indefinitely Following Surgery
The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that Dougie Hamilton did indeed undergo surgery on his left leg today to repair a fractured fibula. The defenseman was injured last night when falling awkwardly into the boards and will be out indefinitely. Hamilton will be replaced at the upcoming All-Star game by teammate Jaccob Slavin.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour told team reporter Michael Smith that the injury was very similar to the one that kept teammate Jordan Staal out for three months in 2014, which at this point must seem like an optimistic goal. That would bring Hamilton back near the start of the playoffs, as long as Carolina can get there without him.
It’s hard to replace a player that does as much as Hamilton, but the Hurricanes may be one of the few clubs in the league with enough defense to do so. Already they were using Jake Gardiner much less than he is used to, giving the free agent signing just over 16 minutes a night after he averaged at least 20 in each of his eight first seasons. While Gardiner has been inconsistent this season, he may be able to eat up some of the minutes lost with Hamilton out.
Even behind Gardiner the team has Trevor van Riemsdyk and Haydn Fleury on the roster, not to mention Gustav Forsling, Jake Bean, Fredrik Claesson and Roland McKeown in the minor leagues who all have some level of NHL experience. Even Oliwer Kaski and Chase Priskie could be called upon in a pinch, though they haven’t proven themselves at the highest level yet. That kind of depth is an absolute luxury in the NHL these days, but should allow the Hurricanes to fill their blue line with enough talent to stay competitive in the Metropolitan Division.
Snapshots: Kassian, Moore, Arvidsson
Zack Kassian is just a point away from tying his career-high already this season and will likely set a new high water mark in goals as well. It’s perfect timing for that kind of performance as he heads towards unrestricted free agency in the summer. According to Mark Spector of Sportsnet however, the big forward may never get there.
Spector tweets that Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland has spoken several times with the representatives for Kassian and believes that the team will announce a multi-year contract before the trade deadline. That would take the 28-year old off the market and provide the team with a little more cost certainty up front. The Oilers currently have seven rostered forwards on track to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have assigned Trevor Moore to the minor leagues on a conditioning loan, indicating the speedy forward is getting closer to a return. Moore has played just a single game since the middle of November as he dealt with various injuries, but could be another boost to a Maple Leafs’ team that is built around their offensive depth. The team has just one game before their bye week and All-Star break, meaning Moore will have plenty of time to recover fully.
- Viktor Arvidsson has been fined $2,000 for his second citation of embellishment this season. The first incident, which comes with just a warning, was against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the end of December. This newest one came against the Boston Bruins on January 7th. Though the punishment is not very expensive at this point, it does escalate for repeat offenders and can even cause fines for a head coach eventually.
Dallas Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins Complete Minor Trade
The Dallas Stars have acquired Oula Palve from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for John Nyberg, a swap of two players in the minor leagues. Neither one has spent any time in the NHL, and both will report to their respective new AHL organizations. In fact, they’ll have to just walk down the hall as the Texas Stars and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are set to face off in a few hours.
Palve, 27, is in his first season in North America after a long and fruitful career in Finland. The undrafted forward signed a one-year entry-level deal with the Penguins last April when he was coming off a 51-points season for TPS Turku, but hasn’t been able to repeat that success in the minor leagues. With just eight points in 37 games he very well could be on his way back overseas after the season.
Nyberg meanwhile at least comes with a little bit more upside thanks to being just 23, but also wasn’t having a ton of success in the Stars’ organization. The sixth round pick from 2014 had six points in just 19 games for Texas this year and is a restricted free agent after the season.