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Archives for January 2020

Metropolitan Notes: Andersson, Crosby, Devils Injuries, Farabee

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New York Rangers team president John Davidson emphasized to reporters Friday that the team has not begun divorce proceedings with prospect Lias Andersson, who has been suspended after requesting a trade on Dec. 21 and leaving the team, and now is sitting in Sweden. In fact Davidson said he wants to speak to him one-on-one to see what the real issue is that he opted to leave the team, according to Newsday’s Denis Gorman.

“It’s a really hard one to figure out until you really end up talking to Lias,” Davidson said before practice at the MSG Training Facility on Friday. “I’ve gone and done a lot of research. I can’t figure out exactly what the issue is other than disappointment.”

Davidson said he has already tried to reach out to Andersson personally, but the prospect has chosen to allow his agents to handle things and he has failed to speak to him up until now. He hopes to get an opportunity to talk to him soon, but also noted that a trip to Sweden won’t be happening any time soon.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins may be playing well, but the team might be getting a big boost as star Sidney Crosby could be ready to go on Sunday against Arizona, although it still remains up in the air, according to TribLive’s Seth Rorabaugh. Crosby practiced Saturday without limitations and participated in line rushes alongside right wing Patric Hornqvist and both Jared McCann and Dominik Simon on the left wing. He also practiced on the top power play unit. Crosby, however, was noncommittal about returning on Sunday. “I haven’t ruled out anything,” Crosby said. “But I haven’t really discussed it that much. I just got off the ice here.” Crosby has been out since Nov. 9 after having core muscle surgery.
  • NJ.com’s Chris Ryan reports that goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood, who isn’t starting Saturday due to an upper-body injury, shouldn’t be out long-term, according to head coach Alain Nasreddine. “We don’t have a concern that it will be long term,” Nasreddine said. “So it’s just precautionary and is getting evaluated.” The team also hopes that rookie Jack Hughes is skating again, but isn’t just ready to return, meaning he will miss his fifth-straight game Saturday with an upper-body injury. However, Ryan adds that forward Jesper Bratt, who has missed three games after blocking a shot with his foot, is ready to return Saturday.
  • Sam Carchidi of Philly.com writes that Philadelphia Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said that while rookie forward Joel Farabee has struggled for a while now, it doesn’t look like the team intends to return the 19-year-old to the AHL any time soon. Farabee, who has tallied just one goal in his last 27 games and has been demoted to the fourth line, will likely stay due to his penalty killing abilities. “I’d like him to score [more] and get a little more confidence, but he’s got a lot of attributes,” Vigneault said. “There are a lot of things he does with the puck and without the puck that we like, so we’re going to stick with him.”

Central Notes: Maatta, Ellis, Sissons, Fabbro, Klingberg

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The Chicago Blackhawks worked hard at upgrading their defense last summer by trading for Calvin de Haan and Olli Maatta. De Haan fared well when healthy (he’s now out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery). However, Maatta has struggled often and found himself often playing third-pairing minutes in his first season in Chicago and finds himself playing a career-low 17:54. The problem with Maatta is that he still has another two years on his contract at $4.08MM.

The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus (along with Scott Powers — subscription required) make several predictions for 2020 for the Blackhawks, and Lazerus believes that with new pending contracts for Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome and Robin Lehner, the team will have to free up some cap room. He suggests that Maatta would be a logical candidate for the team to cut loose, along with forward Zack Smith. Buying out Maatta would save the team $3.4MM over the next two years, while buying out Smith would save the team $2.1MM next season. With the expected arrival of Ian Mitchell and the continued development of prospect Nicolas Beaudin, there may be no need or even roster space for Maatta.

  • Nashville Predators head coach John Hynes said that Ryan Ellis and Colton Sissons, both on injured reserve, continue to make progress in their recovery. However, neither player is expected to travel with the team on their two-game road trip, starting on Sunday, to Winnipeg and Edmonton, according to The Athletic’s Adam Vingan. Ellis has been on IR since Jan. 3 with an upper-body injury, while Sissons has been out since Dec. 23 after suffering a lower-body injury.
  • Vingan also reports that defenseman Dante Fabbro is close to returning after practicing with the team on Satuday. Fabbro, out since Jan. 1, but found himself paired with Mattias Ekholm in practice, which suggests he may be ready to play again. Fabbro has been solid in his rookie campaign, scoring four goals and nine points in 39 games, while averaging 19:20 of ATOI.
  • NHL.com’s Mike Heika reports that Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg skated Saturday. The blueliner has missed three games already with a lower-body injury, but is expected to miss a few more as Heika adds that Klingberg isn’t ready to return yet.

 

Golden Knights Shopping For Defensive Help

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Scoring goals hasn’t been an issue for Vegas this season as they sit in the top ten in the league in that regard.  However, after being one of the better teams in the league last year at keeping pucks out, that hasn’t been the case this season as they’re in the bottom half in total goals allowed despite being tied for the lead in the Pacific Division in points.  Their goals allowed per game has gone up by roughly a quarter goal per night and as a result, the Golden Knights are on the lookout for defensive help, reports Jesse Granger of The Athletic (subscription required).

However, one of the challenges that GM Kelly McCrimmon faces is the salary cap.  Recent injuries have forced them to carry a max-sized roster which has stopped them from banking much cap space.  As a result, they project to have less than $600K in full-season cap space at next month’s trade deadline, per CapFriendly.  Considering that the league minimum salary is $700K, that doesn’t leave them much wiggle room to work with.

With that in mind, McCrimmon could try to use that to his advantage.  Knowing that he’s going to have to make a player-for-player trade with similar salaries, Vegas isn’t in a spot where they have to wait until closer to the deadline to accrue cap space like some other contending teams are.  As long as they can find a financially-balanced trade, they can do it at any time.

As for what players they could be looking to move, Granger suggests center Cody Eakin, winger Ryan Reaves, and defenseman Nick Holden as potential options; all three players are pending unrestricted free agents.  Eakin has dealt with injuries this season and hasn’t been overly productive when he has played and at $3.85MM, he’s not living up to his contract.  Reaves is providing what they expected from him but a $2.775MM price tag is high for a full-time fourth liner while Holden ($2.2MM) has been serviceable but is someone that could stand to be upgraded on.

While Vegas certainly won’t be adding an impact player if those are the players they decide to try to move, they could at least upgrade their depth to give them some extra insurance in case injuries arise down the stretch.  At this stage though, most of the blueliners available are rentals which is something that McCrimmon and former GM (now President of Hockey Operations) George McPhee haven’t shown much interest in acquiring in the past.  If that continues to be the case, it will likely take a while to find the right fit to bring in.

PHR Mailbag: Sabres, Hynes, Canadiens, Palmieri, Red Wings, Recall Rules, Avalanche

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Topics in this edition of the mailbag include Buffalo’s struggles, Nashville’s coaching change, what’s next in Montreal, Kyle Palmieri’s future in New Jersey, who Detroit shouldn’t be trying to move, recall rules, and Colorado’s sluggish start after the holiday break.  If your question doesn’t appear here, watch for it in next week’s mailbag.

Dukes45: Fans clamoring for anything positive in Buffalo and hearing Botterill actively seeking trades. Anything, please, anything? How warm is seat getting under Botterill?

sabres3277: Do you think the Sabres have any chance at the playoffs?? If not, who should they deal at the deadline to get ready for next year once again???

There doesn’t seem to be much to report on the trade front for Buffalo, at least for now.  Even after trading Marco Scandella for Montreal in what was essentially a three-way deal that saw them land Michael Frolik, they still have a surplus of defenders and a need for forwards.  In the immediate term, that’s still something Botterill is looking to do.

The challenge here is that Bogosian doesn’t have a lot of suitors and there aren’t a lot of similar forwards on expiring contracts that have a similar level of trade value.  The pricier rentals up front (Chris Kreider, Tyler Toffoli, even Mikael Granlund potentially) happen to be some of the better trade chips out there and as a result, the asking price is going to be a lot higher than Bogosian and given their current situation, that’s not a justifiable price to pay.  For me, Colin Miller is the better trade chip among their right-shot options.  They’d be selling low but should still be able to get back close to what they got for him if not a similarly-valued forward.

As for their playoff hopes, they’re better than they were a few weeks ago with Montreal falling out of it.  However, I don’t think they’re cracking the top three in the division and I like Florida’s chances of staying ahead of them.  I also don’t expect the Atlantic to get both Wild Card spots.  So while their chances are better, they’re still not good.  Selling makes sense.

Those two defensemen should be considered as trade chips and I’d put Jake McCabe (one of the few lefties on the team) there as well.  Is he part of the long-term future?  If not, his value may be at its best now.  I don’t think there’s a great market for Evan Rodrigues or Jimmy Vesey gave their performances but taking what they can get isn’t a bad idea.  I think Zemgus Girgensons would be someone that would generate a fair bit of interest from teams looking to add center depth and/or size to their bottom six.  There aren’t any Grade A trade chips but they could land a handful of later draft picks at the very least.

Let’s go back to the first question and look at Botterill’s future.  It’s certainly reasonable to suspect that he could be in jeopardy if they ultimately miss the playoffs again.  He didn’t fare well in his big trade of Ryan O’Reilly nor does the Jeff Skinner contract look good.  He’s already on his second head coach.  Most of the time, there are only so many big moves that can be made without achieving the desired results before ownership changes the ones making the moves.  Botterill seems to be getting pretty close to that (though I do think they have the right coach in place now).

pitmanrich:  What does Nashville see in John Hynes? Done little in NJ apart from one season when Taylor Hall was outstanding. I understand Nashville wanting a different voice behind the bench but it seems like an odd move.

Part of the change is simply to get that different type of coach behind the bench.  Peter Laviolette was a strict systems coach and Hynes isn’t as much of one.  Laviolette is stricter, Hynes is a bit more of a players’ coach.  Of the recent coaching changes, a lot have been towards getting rid of the former and bringing in the latter.  Of the coaches that were let go this season, only Hynes really qualifies in that more progressive category.

GM David Poile also is one who rarely likes to make coaching changes so I think the fact that he was able to hire someone with experience who’s only 44 also was appealing.

Hynes’ tenure with New Jersey wasn’t the greatest but at the same time, he didn’t exactly have the most talented of teams at his disposal and their goalie went from being a franchise piece to someone that’s toiling in the minors.  It’s hard to pin all of that on Hynes.  He had a good track record of development with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton which certainly came into play as well.

This hire surprised me a bit as well but Poile is choosing what he thinks will be the best long-term solution over bringing in someone who might be able to get a short-term boost before the voice and system goes stale.  Time will tell if it’s the right call.

goosr: Is this the year Marc Bergevin finally make a good trade instead of 4th liners or washed up players?

While Bergevin has certainly made his fair share of depth acquisitions, he also has traded for Shea Weber, Max Domi, Tomas Tatar, and Jonathan Drouin since the 2016 offseason.  That’s a fair bit of changeover in the core and some of those deals have worked out better than originally expected.  With Montreal rapidly dropping in the standings, it seems unlikely that they’ll turn around and acquire a big-name player as that addition alone probably wouldn’t change their fortunes enough to make a difference.  With their pending UFAs being basically depth players, expect to see some more small moves in the coming weeks.

wu tang killa beez: With the Habs already out of a playoff spot in early January, is Bergevin gonna be fired if they miss the playoffs once again this year? I do not see them getting back into the playoff portrait will all the injuries and they should be sellers at the deadline (Petry, Tatar?)

I don’t think a GM change is coming if they’re not in a playoff spot this season.  There has been a fundamental change in philosophy towards more of a slow-scale build over the past couple of years, one that places a bigger emphasis on drafting and development.  Getting ownership to agree to that likely bought him some extra time.

For a while, it appeared as if the 2021 offseason was going to be the big change in direction as the Canadiens have been structuring their contracts so that a lot are ending at the same time.  That was the point where they’d choose which core pieces would be staying and which would be going.  Jeff Petry and Tomas Tatar are among that group which certainly has them in the mix to move if Bergevin decides to take a bigger step back now.  Petry would have the better value, especially since Tatar failed as a rental with Vegas back in 2018 which could make some teams hesitant to bring him in.  Knowing that they’re hosting the draft, I think their bigger moves will wait until then unless a team wants to pay a significant price to get a second playoff run out of a player.

DVail1979: As a Devils fan and a big fan of Kyle Palmieri … how much longer can I expect him to be in New Jersey … if he’s dealt where can I expect him to go and what kind of return might I see?

Palmieri has another year on his deal left at this one at $4.65MM so I don’t expect his name to come up too much in trade talks this season.  They’re going to want to take a run at extending him and that’s going to have to wait until the summer until the window to do so opens up.

Unlike Taylor Hall, I think there’s a pretty good chance Palmieri sticks around.  He’s not going to be someone that commands top dollar on the open market as 50-55 point players aren’t landing rich contracts.  He’ll also be 30 by then.  If the Devils went to him with a six-year offer around a $6.5MM-$7MM AAV, that might be enough to keep him around without breaking the bank or messing up their cap structure.

If they were to move him over the next few weeks, a first-round pick would be all but a given.  A B-level prospect and a lower-level one or comparable draft pick would likely be in there as well as they’d want to be compensated for the extra year that he’s under contract.  Then there would be a mid-priced contract coming back or New Jersey would be retaining part of Palmieri’s deal as a lot of buyers are tight to the Upper Limit.  But I wouldn’t count on that happening though.  I think he’ll stick around.

tigers22: With the Red Wings this bad wouldn’t it be something to look at by trading Larkin, Mantha, and AA for as many prospects and picks they can?

It all depends on how long you want the rebuild to be.  If GM Steve Yzerman commits to dealing Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha in particular, he’s likely extending what is already becoming a relatively long rebuilding process.  Larkin has three years left on his deal after this one and is their franchise player.  If things are going well by the end of that contract, it’s certainly reasonable to think he’d want to stay.

In Mantha’s case, he’s a restricted free agent this summer with arbitration rights.  If he signals that he wants to go year-to-year to get to the open market, then trading him makes more sense.  Until that happens though, they should be planning for him to be part of the veteran core down the road.

Andreas Athanasiou’s case is different.  He’s not having a good year and isn’t quite at the same level that the other two are.  It’s far from a given that he’s a part of their future plans so in that sense, a trade makes sense.  However, with just five goals and a -35 rating, offers aren’t going to be great.  Do you sell low now or hope he improves down the stretch and boosts his trade value?  It’s not an easy call either way.

Teams that blow it all up and go all in on youth tend to struggle without a capable veteran supporting cast.  Yzerman’s smart enough to realize that he’ll need some productive veterans to help shoulder the load.  They have that in Larkin and Mantha so unless a team wants to overpay significantly in terms of assets, they’re better off keeping those two around.

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Atlantic Notes: Red Wings, Bruins, McCabe

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With the Red Wings sitting in last place, there’s no question about what direction they’ll be going at the trade deadline.  However, with a lot of their veterans underachieving, their respective trade values have taken a hit.  Despite that, GM Steve Yzerman stated in an interview on the team’s website (video link) that he’s not looking to be passive and is hoping to bring in picks or young players that can contribute sooner than later.  The last bit is somewhat noteworthy as there have been teams in recent years that have preferred players to picks when they’re selling and it appears as if Detroit is at least open to going in that direction.  As for their recent picks, Yzerman acknowledged that they could give players like Moritz Seider or Joe Veleno a look down the stretch but they likely wouldn’t go as far as playing them ten games to burn the first year of their entry-level deals.

More from the Atlantic:

  • The Bruins have had interest in Kings winger Tyler Toffoli for a while now and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested in the latest 31 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that they could do a deal for him at any time and that “they know they’ve got that in their hip pocket”. If that is indeed the case, it would seem that GM Don Sweeney is likely focusing on trying land a more impactful rental or this year’s version of Charlie Coyle, a secondary scoring addition that brings an extra year of control.  With their cap situation, however, Boston would need the Kings to retain some of Toffoli’s $4.6MM AAV to have a chance at getting a deal done.
  • Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe is expected to return this afternoon after missing Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury, notes Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. Buffalo doesn’t need to make any roster moves as McCabe remained on the active roster.  The 26-year-old has had a quiet season offensively with only seven points in 41 games but is logging more than 19 minutes a night in a top-four role on their back end.

Minor Transactions: 01/11/20

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The Red Wings picked up their 12th win of the season on Friday night (albeit against the Senators), while the injury-riddled Penguins won their 13th game since the beginning of December alone and miraculously have the most points in the league since Sidney Crosby went down with an injury. Two of just six teams in action last night, both Detroit and Pittsburgh will take a seat tonight while 22 other teams hit the ice. They return to action on Sunday as two of just twelve teams, as the NHL has just 20 games scheduled from Friday night through Sunday in a relatively quiet weekend. With substantial off-time for many teams, look for the focus to instead be on roster transactions as teams prepare for the coming week. Keep up with all of the action right here:

  • Late last night (or this morning on the east coast), the Vegas Golden Knights made a swap up front. The team announced that Nicolas Roy had been reassigned to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, with Keegan Kolesar promoted to replace him. Roy has been a competent part-time player for the Knights this season, recording five points in eleven games, but Vegas is clearly looking for a different type of presence in bringing up Kolesar. The hard-hitting winger has just ten points on the season in the minors but brings a valuable physical element. However, Vegas timed the recall well if they’re hoping to see a little offense, as Kolesar scored his first two goals of the season with the Wolves just last night. This would be Kolesar’s NHL debut if he does draw into the lineup on this recall.
  • CapFriendly reports that the San Jose Sharks also made a move late last night, sending rookie forward Joachim Blichfeld back to the AHL. Blichfeld had only been recalled the day before, but fortunately it is a short walk from the Sharks’ locker room to the Barracuda’s. The Danish winger has been a point-per-game player in the AHL this year, but has been held off the score sheet in two NHL games.
  • Yet another Pacific Division team has made a move, though this one occurring this morning, as the Vancouver Canucks have announced the demotion of forward Zack MacEwen. The big, 23-year-old winger has the size and ability to be a difference-maker and has proved as much in the AHL over the last few years, but since the beginning of last season, he has been held to just one goal and three points in a dozen games with the Canucks. He will continue to be a top depth option from the Utica Comets, but will have a hard time finding a full-time role in Vancouver without more consistent production.
  • The Washington Capitals have reassigned a healthy Christian Djoos to the AHL’s Hershey Bears. Djoos, who received a $1.25MM salary in arbitration this summer, has nevertheless been relegated to the minors for much of the year, mostly as a cap-saving measure. Djoos has played in just two games with the Capitals this year after skating in more than 100 since the start of the 2017-18 season. The move leaves Washington with just six defensemen on the roster for the time being, further proving that Djoos’ experience and AHL production this season will not be enough to keep on the league-leaders’ roster this year.
  • The Laval Rocket, farm team to the Montreal Canadiens, have come to terms on a contract with defenseman Evan McEneny for the remainder of the year. McEneny played ten games on a PTO with Laval prior to his status with the team becoming official. The former Vancouver Canucks prospect was a productive AHL defenseman with the Utica Comets over the past three seasons and is deserving of a pro contract.
  • With MacKenzie Blackwood out with an upper-body injury, the Devils have recalled goaltender Evan Cormier from Binghamton of the AHL.  Cormier has split the season between the AHL and ECHL and will likely only serve as the backup to Louis Domingue until Blackwood returns.  To make room on the roster, Ben Street was transferred to IR.
  • The San Jose Sharks have recalled forward Lukas Radil from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL, according to CapFriendly. The 29-year-old has a goal and five points in eight games with the Barracuda after failing to register a point in 14 contests with the Sharks.
  • The New York Islanders announced they have recalled defenseman Sebastian Aho from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL. Aho was initally recalled when defenseman Adam Pelech went down with an injury and then sent down on Thursday as the team wasn’t playing again until Saturday. Now he’s back and he’ll serve as an extra defenseman. Just an hour later, Aho was assigned back to Bridgeport. Go figure.
  • The Arizona Coyotes announced that they have recalled goaltender Ivan Prosvetov from the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL, while assigning defenseman Kyle Capobianco to Tucson. Prosvetov’s recall suggests that Arizona still needs a backup to Adin Hill, while the team hopes one of their starting netminders will get healthy. Obviously, they are not ready yet. The 20-year-old has fared quite well in his first pro season as he has a 2.38 GAA and a .931 save percentage in 15 appearances. Capobianco has one goal in seven games for the Coyotes.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Vancouver Canucks

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We’re in the home stretch in our thankful series where PHR will continue its look at what teams are thankful for as the second half of the season gets underway.  We’ll examine what has gone well in the first half and what each team may be looking for at the trade deadline.  Next up is the Vancouver Canucks.

What are the Canucks most thankful for?

The light at the end of the tunnel.  For years, they were a team that seemed to be perpetually spinning their wheels without really falling down far enough in the standings to land that franchise-changing prospect.  No one’s saying that now.  Their new young core has rapidly emerged and all of a sudden, the light isn’t so far away; they have their franchise pieces in place as two of their recent top picks in Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes have panned out quite nicely. They’re right in the mix for a playoff spot and even if they do come up short, it appears that the darker days are behind them.

Who are the Canucks most thankful for?

Franchise centers are really hard to find.  Teams can go decades between having them and they’re extremely difficult (and expensive) to acquire.  Thanks to Pettersson, Vancouver doesn’t have that problem.  The 21-year-old burst onto the scene last year and while he was initially expected to develop on the wing to ease him in, he was used down the middle right away and made an immediate impact in a top-six role while taking home the Calder Trophy.  This season, he has been even better.  He’s under team control for five years after this one so even though he’ll become a whole lot more expensive heading into 2021-22 when his entry-level deal is up, Pettersson gives them a legitimate franchise pivot to build around for the long haul.

What would the Canucks be even more thankful for?

More bang for their buck from their veterans.  Loui Eriksson is having a season to forget and has all of five points on the season with a $6MM AAV.  Jay Beagle has one goal for his $3MM price tag.  Micheal Ferland ($3.5MM) is currently injured but struggled when he was in the lineup.  Same goes for Brandon Sutter ($4.375MM).  They combine for nearly $17MM in spending and have ten goals between them on the year with Sutter having half of that total.  The lack of secondary scoring from their veterans could ultimately be the difference between them making or missing the playoffs and even one of them turning things around would give them a big boost, especially with their cap situation.  Speaking of which…

What should be on the Canucks’ Wish List?

GM Jim Benning’s top priority on the trade front at this point is simply trying to make a move that will allow him to actually trade for someone that can bolster their roster.  Vancouver has been using LTIR basically all season long and as a result, they’re basically capped out of trading for anyone unless some of their injured players are ruled out for the season.  Finding a way to ship out an overpaid veteran without taking much money back would be a huge help for them.  Sven Baertschi could be a small trade chip but it all depends on how much they have to retain for it to make sense; if it’s 50% or close to it, they may just be better off holding on.

Beyond that, Benning hasn’t hidden his interest in getting an extension done with Jacob Markstrom.  He may come up a bit short of 60 appearances this season but he has established himself as a capable starter and as a result, he’ll be in line for a sizable raise on his current $3.67MM price tag which is all the more reason to try to free up some extra cap space for next summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Injury Updates: Crosby, Canadiens, Paul, Ryan

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While it was looking like Penguins star center Sidney Crosby was nearing a return from his core muscle injury, it appears those plans have hit at least a small snag.  The team announced (Twitter link) that although he was scheduled to skate ahead of today’s game in Colorado, he didn’t as he wasn’t feeling well.  The veteran has yet to participate in a full team practice with contact yet so it appears he’ll miss at least another game or two.  Crosby has missed the last 26 games heading into play tonight and still is in the top ten in team scoring with 17 points in as many contests.

Other injury notes from around the league:

  • After bouncing between Ottawa and their AHL affiliates over the past few years, Senators winger Nick Paul has been establishing himself as a regular player this season. However, that progress has now been derailed as head coach D.J. Smith told Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch that Paul is “done for the foreseeable future”  due a lower-body injury sustained on Tuesday.  He has already been ruled out for the next two weeks but it seems like it will be even longer now.
  • Canadiens head coach Claude Julien told reporters, including TSN’s John Lu (Twitter link) that winger Paul Byron has suffered a setback as he works his way back from a knee injury and that he has yet to resume skating. Originally scheduled to be back several weeks ago, Julien acknowledged that winger Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia are now both likely to return before Byron but that those two won’t be back until after the All-Star Game.
  • Kings defenseman Joakim Ryan is expected to return to the lineup at some point on their current five-game road trip that runs through January 18th, reports Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. He has been out with a lower-body injury since late December.  He’s currently on IR and Los Angeles has a full 23-man roster so they will need to make a roster move before they can activate him.

Robin Lehner Comments On His Upcoming Free Agency

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2018-19 was a great season for Robin Lehner.  After struggling to the point of being non-tendered in Buffalo, he performed quite well with the Islanders but was still only able to land a one-year deal in free agency with Chicago, who gave him $5MM for the season.  Once January 1st rolled around, he became eligible to sign an extension with the Blackhawks.  John Dietz of the Daily Herald spoke with Lehner who was quick to point out that while he enjoys it there, he won’t be taking any discounts to stick around:

I’ve taken discounts my whole life.  I’m not a guy that wants to be overpaid either.  I want to gain some respect that I think I deserve and we’ll see if that happens or not.

At the very least, Lehner’s free agent case should be bolstered this summer.  Teams were likely hesitant to commit back in July when he had only the one good year under his belt.  However, he has played well this season and has posted a .922 save percentage, a mark that is well above league average and he knows that is going to work in his favor.

It’s a different summer this summer than last summer.  I have another year under my belt in my new journey.  The market is (also) wide open. There’s a lot of teams that need goalies (and) not that many goalies available.

As things stand, it certainly looks like there will be a shuffle of goalies this summer with players like Lehner (plus teammate Corey Crawford), Braden Holtby, and Jacob Markstrom at the top of the market with top backups like Thomas Greiss, Jaroslav Halak, and Anton Khudobin also certain to garner a lot of interest.  At the very least, Lehner should be able to get a longer-term commitment and a raise which would make his decision to go the one-year route last summer a prudent one.

Staying in Chicago could ultimately be the best move for him though.  With both his and Crawford’s deals coming off the books, they free up $11MM in cap space.  While a good chunk of those savings will be put towards Alex DeBrincat’s new deal that kicks in next season, there is still enough for them to spend on a starting goalie.  Lehner has been the better of the two so it’s likely that he’ll be the one they push to keep.  But after having a quiet market last July, there will be several other suitors to contend with this time around.

Troy Terry Sent To AHL On Conditioning Loan

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The Anaheim Ducks have sent injured forward Troy Terry to the minor leagues on a long-term injury conditioning loan, as he continues to recover from a broken bone below his kneecap. At the time of the injury it was announced that Terry would miss approximately ten weeks, of which only three have elapsed. The team has also recalled Chase De Leo from the AHL.

It’s actually not even the first broken leg for Terry, who suffered a non-displaced fracture last April which ended his season early. As Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register reported yesterday however, Terry has bounced back from this latest injury at an incredibly fast rate and has even resumed skating recently.

The 22-year old forward has played in 33 games for the Ducks this season, though he hasn’t been very effective offensively. With three goals and eight points in those games he is actually scoring at an even worse rate than he did last year as a rookie, something unexpected given the flashes he had shown at the University of Denver and in the minor leagues.

Getting back into some games will allow Terry’s development to continue, though where his ceiling really sits at this point isn’t clear. The fifth-round pick has to bring more to the table to be truly considered a building block moving forward. The fact that he will be a restricted free agent at the end of this season complicates things, though he is still not eligible for arbitration.

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