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Archives for February 2020

Connor McDavid Out 2-3 Weeks

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The Edmonton Oilers have lost their captain for at least a few weeks. Oilers GM Ken Holland announced today that Connor McDavid will be out two to three weeks with a quad injury. McDavid is returning to Toronto to work with his rehab team in the meantime. Holland was clear to point out that this injury has nothing to do with the major knee injury that McDavid suffered last year. No surgery will be required.

Losing one of the most exciting players in the world is bad for the NHL, but for Edmonton it could be disastrous. The Oilers currently sit in second place in the Pacific Division, but that doesn’t really show the real precariousness of the situation. The Vegas Golden Knights and Calgary Flames are both tied with Edmonton with 64 points, while the Arizona Coyotes sit just behind them with 63. The Winnipeg Jets also sit at 63 and are battling for the wild card, meaning the Oilers could fall right out of a playoff spot if they have a bad stretch.

The Oilers have an especially busy scheduling coming up as they catch up to the teams around them in games played as well. With eight games over the next two weeks and 12 over the next three, McDavid could miss a good chunk of the most important part of the season.

That puts the onus on Leon Draisaitl to prove his Hart Trophy candidacy and lead the Oilers through this stretch with his quick strike offensive ability. Already leading the league in scoring with 85 points in 55 games, the 24-year old forward will have even more attention put upon him every night.

Minor Transactions: 02/11/20

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The Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild decided to shake up the hockey world last night, completing the first major trade of deadline season by finally agreeing to a Jason Zucker deal. The former Wild forward is expected to debut on Sidney Crosby’s line tonight, not a bad place to try and make an impact on your new team. As the rest of the league responds and prepares, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves.

  • After their game last night, the Columbus Blue Jackets announced two transactions to fix their roster. The first was to send Liam Foudy back to the OHL after making his NHL debut as an emergency call-up, with the second being Gabriel Carlsson’s return to the AHL.
  • Karson Kuhlman is back with the Boston Bruins, recalled today and put onto the second line at practice beside Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci. Kuhlman has five points in 17 NHL games this season, and has bounced back and forth regularly.
  • After getting into some action to test his mettle, Martin Fehervary has been returned to the AHL. Though the 20-year old defenseman has shown glimpses of what he can become, there is still development to be done.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have returned Taro Hirose and Givani Smith to the minor leagues, while activating Anthony Mantha and Frans Nieslen from injured reserve. Those moves come in addition to waiving Jonathan Ericsson.
  • Taylor Fedun will be making his AHL debut this season, as the Texas Stars announced that Dallas has assigned the veteran defenseman to a conditioning loan. Formerly an AHL regular, Fedun has only skated in three games in the minors since he was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres early last season. At the price of only a seventh-round pick, Fedun has been a valuable asset for Dallas, recording 11 points in 54 games last year and nine points in 27 games so far this year.
  • The AHL’s Laval Rocket have re-signed forward Yannick Veilleux to a one-year extension, the team announced. In his second go-round with Laval, the Quebec native has nine points in 14 games since being recalled from the ECHL. Veilleux spent all of last season with the AHL’s Rochester Americans but was in Laval the season prior.

Pittsburgh Penguins Acquire Jason Zucker

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have finally landed their man. The Penguins have acquired Jason Zucker from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Alex Galchenyuk, Calen Addison and a conditional 2020 first-round pick. Should the Penguins miss the playoffs this season, they will have the option to instead give the Wild their 2021 first-round selection.

Zucker, 28, has been a target of Penguins’ GM Jim Rutherford for some time. Last summer there was a deal agreed upon between the two teams that would have sent Phil Kessel to Minnesota, but the enigmatic sniper refused to waive his no-trade clause. Kessel was eventually dealt to the Arizona Coyotes instead with Galchenyuk a big part of the return. Zucker is signed through 2022-23 at a $5.5MM cap hit, giving the team a lot more cost certainty than Galchenyuk, who is a pending unrestricted free agent.

The last several years have been quite the rollercoaster for Galchenyuk. The third overall pick in 2012 scored a career-high 30 goals in 2015-16 with the Montreal Canadiens but will now join his fourth organization in three seasons. Despite coming in to potentially replace Kessel in the Pittsburgh top-six, the 25-year old couldn’t find a fit beside Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin and was dropped down in the lineup. With just five goals and 17 points in 45 games it has been a disaster for him, especially given he’ll be negotiating a new deal in a few months.

Though Zucker and Galchenyuk will fill most of the headlines, Addison isn’t to be overlooked. The 19-year old defenseman is the real gem in the deal for the Wild, who are trying to add more prospect talent to the organization. Selected 53rd overall in 2018, the puck-moving blueliner has 43 points in 39 games for the Lethbridge Hurricanes and was one of the best players for the gold medal-winning Team Canada at the World Juniors. McKenzie tweets that the Penguins didn’t want to include Addison in the deal, but given Wild GM Bill Guerin’s familiarity with the Pittsburgh organization it’s not surprising that he was a target.

The fact that the Wild will also add a first-round selection makes this quite the package, especially if they can either re-sign or flip Galchenyuk for even more. Zucker does appear to be a perfect fit for the Penguins however, especially given Jake Guentzel’s long-term injury.

Not only is capable of creating plenty of offense—he currently sits at 14 goals, 29 points through 45 games—he also brings the one attribute that has worked so well in the past alongside Crosby: speed. Zucker is still one of the best straight line skaters in the league and will give the team another weapon at even-strength and on the powerplay.

It comes as no surprise that Rutherford has landed one of his top targets several weeks before the deadline. The veteran executive has never been shy to pull the trigger on a big deal, and with his dynamic duo getting older there is no time to waste when pursuing another Stanley Cup.

One statistic that may cause some anxiety in Pittsburgh fans? Zucker has just eight points in 31 career playoff games, and was held scoreless during his most recent series in 2018.

Bob McKenzie of TSN was first to break the deal on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

John Marino Undergoes Surgery

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Monday: The Penguins have announced that Marino underwent surgery to repair facial bone fractures and will miss three to six weeks.

Friday: The Pittsburgh Penguins have dealt with injuries to almost every single one of their core players this season, and now the bug has caught on with the rookies too. According to several reports including Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, John Marino has broken three bones in his cheek and is expected to require surgery.

Marino, 22, has been a revelation for the Penguins this season, stepping right into the NHL to become an impact player in his rookie season. A sixth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers, it was clear he was not going to sign with the team so they traded him to the Penguins in the offseason for a new sixth. All he’s done in the meantime is record 25 points in 51 games for Pittsburgh and average more than 20 minutes a game.

Struck in the face by a deflected Steven Stamkos shot on Thursday, it originally seemed as though Marino would be okay. Further evaluation has revealed the extent of the damage, though there has still not been an official statement released from the team. To that end, it is not clear when Marino will be able to return to action for the Penguins

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Jason Spezza Hoping To Play Next Season

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It looked for a little while like Jason Spezza’s career was coming to an end. After struggling through his final two seasons with the Dallas Stars, Spezza was forced to settle for a one-year $700K deal with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs. Made a healthy scratch on opening day and several times after that, the 36-year old was barely hanging on. Things have changed since Mike Babcock was fired from his position as head coach however, and now things are looking up for the veteran center.

Chris Johnston of Sportsnet spoke with the Maple Leafs’ forward today, who explained that he is already hoping to play next season. Spezza’s “I don’t see why not” is exactly what you should expect from a player who has suddenly become a key part of Toronto’s playoff chase and looks like he has turned the clock back a decade.

Spezza’s 2.04 even-strength points/60 ranks only behind William Nylander (2.52), Mitch Marner (2.51) and Auston Matthews (2.50) for the team lead among those on the roster, meaning he’s doing more with his limited ice time than most of those younger options. Given the league minimum contract he’s on, that’s exactly the kind of bargain that will attract plenty of interest on the open market.

What isn’t clear at this point is whether Spezza would be willing to give the Maple Leafs another discount next season. For now he’ll have to just focus on getting his childhood team into the playoffs, a place he actually hasn’t spent all that much time over the years. Despite having over 1,100 regular season games in the NHL, Spezza has only 80 postseason appearances.

Colorado Avalanche Sign Hunter Miska To NHL Deal

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The Colorado Avalanche have decided to secure a little more goaltending depth for the rest of the season. Hunter Miska has signed a one-year NHL contract with the Avalanche, meaning he can be recalled if necessary. Miska had previously been playing for the Colorado Eagles on an AHL deal. The financial details have not been released, but the contract will likely carry a prorated $700K cap hit.

Now 24, Miska became an unrestricted free agent last summer when the Arizona Coyotes decided not to extend him a qualifying offer. That offer would have only been $874K, but with the depth in their system and Miska’s struggles at the AHL level it made some sense. After all, the former University of Minnesota-Duluth goaltender had only posted an .895 save percentage in 25 minor league appearances during the 2018-19 season.

Colorado took a chance on him on a minor league deal, and it appears to have paid off. Miska has been excellent for the Eagles this season, posting a .925 save percentage and 11-4-3 record through 19 games. That has him tied for fourth in league save percentage, with two of the names ahead of him already in the NHL (Igor Shesterkin and Jonas Johansson).

Because his birthday comes just a few days into July, Miska will not qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency this summer and will now be a restricted free agent under the control of Colorado. That means they will have the same opportunity to issue him a qualifying offer to keep him in the system.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Fenton, Hamonic

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The NHL has released the Three Stars for last week, and to no one’s surprise Elvis Merzlikins has received the top honor. The Columbus Blue Jackets’ goaltender went nearly 180 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal, posting two shutouts and a minuscule 0.67 goals against average. The 25-year old rookie now has a .930 save percentage on the season.

Second and third place go to more familiar faces, as Kyle Connor and Andrei Vasilevskiy take home the honors. The Winnipeg Jets forward had eight points last week and now is just two goals away from his third consecutive 30-goal season. Tampa Bay meanwhile has been on fire with the reigning Vezina Trophy winner showing exactly why he should never be counted out. Vasilevskiy now leads the league in wins with 29 after a slow start to the season and is all the way back up to a .918 save percentage.

  • After being fired by the Minnesota Wild just 14 months into his tenure as general manager, Paul Fenton has found a new home. The long-time Nashville Predators assistant GM is working his way through the turn of the century expansion clubs, now taking a job with the Columbus Blue Jackets’ scouting department according to Michael Russo of The Athletic. Fenton has always been known as a strong judge of talent, but things quickly went south when he was put in charge of the Wild.
  • Travis Hamonic has left the Flames and returned to Calgary for further testing according to Wes Gilberton of Postmedia. The defenseman left Saturday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks, complicating the upcoming trade deadline even further for the Flames’ front office. Hamonic was one of several defensemen that are on expiring contracts and could have been moved, but with captain Mark Giordano already out it will be hard to subtract from the Flames’ blue line at this point. The team has recalled Alexander Yelesin from the minor leagues.

Oilers, Darnell Nurse Sign Contract Extension

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Monday: The Oilers have officially announced the Nurse extension. The deal will carry him through the 2021-22 season at a $5.6MM average annual value.

Sunday: Reports had surfaced earlier this week that the Oilers and Darnell Nurse were making progress in discussions for a contract extension.  TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports (Twitter link) that the two sides are close to finalizing a two-year deal that would carry a cap hit of slightly over $5.5MM.  TSN’s Darren Dreger adds (via Twitter) that the AAV will be $5.6MM.  That represents a sizable raise over his current $3.2MM salary and cap hit which would have represented his qualifying offer in June.

The 25-year-old has become a fixture on Edmonton’s blueline.  He reached the 40-point mark for the first time last season and has a chance of reaching that level again this year.  He also ranks second on the team in ice time per game, checking in at 22:46 per night behind only Oscar Klefbom.

On the surface, someone that young and has that much of an impact on the team is someone that the Oilers would seemingly want to sign to a long-term deal, not a second bridge contract that walks him right to unrestricted free agent eligibility in the prime of his career as this deal ultimately does.  However, Edmonton’s salary cap situation ultimately made doing that next to impossible.

With this signing, Edmonton will now have a little over $68MM in commitments for 2020-21 to just 13 players.  Even with a small increase to the current $81.5MM Upper Limit, that doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room to round out their roster as things currently stand.  A long-term pact with a higher AAV would have created an even bigger cap crunch for GM Ken Holland to work with this summer.

However, between now and 2022 when this deal will expire, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mikko Koskinen, and Adam Larsson could all potentially be off the books if they’re not retained while James Neal will be in the final year of his deal.  Between that and a likely higher salary cap by then, that should give Holland some more wiggle room to work with down the road.  To that end, McKenzie notes (Twitter link) that the plan at this time is that the plan is to work out a long-term extension with Nurse in the 2021 offseason.  However, they are running a risk with this strategy as the allure of hitting the open market at 27 could be difficult for Nurse to ultimately pass up.  But for now, they’ll have one of their top blueliners signed for at least the next two seasons.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bode Wilde Returned To OHL

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The New York Islanders have decided that the AHL is no longer the best place for Bode Wilde to continue his development. The team has returned Wilde to the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL for the remainder of the season.

Selected 41st overall in 2018, Wilde started this season with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers despite being just 19 years old. That’s normally too young for a CHL player, but since he was actually selected out of the USNTDP there was no issue. In 20 AHL contests however, Wilde had recorded just two points and routinely looked out of place against the more experienced competition.

Wilde may still be out of place in the OHL, but only because he can dominate the competition. As a rookie last season for Saginaw, the smooth-skating defenseman recorded 70 points in 62 games, only trailing Cole Perfetti for the team lead. His 19 goals were incredibly impressive from the back end and he will only improve what is already a strong team this season.

Minor Transactions: 02/10/20

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We’re now just two weeks from the 2020 NHL trade deadline and the rental market is still not exactly clear. Even after the Toronto Maple Leafs squeezed a backup goaltender out of Los Angeles, we’re still waiting on teams to really start buying and selling. As they prepare for the six games on the schedule, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.

  • The Buffalo Sabres have returned Andrew Hammond to the minor leagues, though it is not clear whether he’ll be back for tomorrow’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. Carter Hutton was away from the team for a family reason during yesterday’s loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
  • Mathieu Joseph has been recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning, returning to the NHL after more than a month away from the team. The 23-year old winger has seven points in 34 games with the Lightning this season.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Pontus Aberg to help them out at practice, given some absences up front. Though William Nylander is back, John Tavares and Justin Holl have taken his place on the shelf with an illness. Zach Hyman is also missing the practice as a maintenance day, while Kyle Clifford is away attending a funeral.
  • Alex Lyon has been returned to the AHL by the Philadelphia Flyers, indicating that Carter Hart is ready to return for them. The Flyers take on the Florida Panthers tonight in the first half of an important back-to-back.
  • Martin Fehervary has been recalled and will play for the Washington Capitals again tonight, after being involved in a paper transaction yesterday. Fehervary is getting a look in order for the Capitals to know what kind of depth they have on defense as the deadline nears.
  • Calle Rosen has been returned to the Colorado Eagles, as the Avalanche return home after a five-game road trip. Rosen has played eight games for the Avalanche this season after being acquired in the Tyson Barrie–Nazem Kadri deal last summer.

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