Vancouver’s Chris Tanev, Vegas’ Max Pacioretty Out “Week-To-Week”
The Pacific Division playoff race received a significant shake-up on Wednesday night when two contenders announced the injury absences of key players. The Vancouver Canucks, fighting hard to stay in the playoff race, will be without defenseman Chris Tanev “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury. The same generalized injury and timeline was later announced by the Vegas Golden Knights in regards to veteran forward Max Pacioretty as well.
Tanev is no stranger to injury, having missed considerable time in each of the past three seasons. In fact, Tanev was on pace for the first full season of his career and could still top his career high of 70 games played if he returns for only two more contests. When healthy, Tanev is arguably the Canucks’ best two-way defenseman. Fortunately, he is not as much of a lynchpin player this season following the additions of rookie sensation Quinn Hughes and major free agent add Tyler Myers. Still, with the Canucks currently sitting in the final wild card spot out west and already missing starting goalie Jacob Markstrom, the team surely hopes that “week-to-week” might just mean a week or two tops without Tanev.
Meanwhile, the Pacific-leading Golden Knights are dealing with an even bigger loss. Pacioretty is the team’s leading scorer and has been healthy for every game up until this point. His injury comes much around the same time as last season and under similar circumstances. Vegas was hindered by a rash of injuries late last season as well and find themselves in the same place this year, with Pacioretty, Mark Stone, and Alex Tuch all sidelined. With only a three-point lead on the Edmonton Oilers, who hold a game in hand, the Knights’ division lead is at risk if Pacioretty’s “week-to-week” prognosis ends up extending into April.
San Jose Sharks To Play March Home Games Without Fans
The San Jose Sharks, who initially hesitated to comply with the three-week ban on large social gatherings put in place by Santa Clara County, have now announced that they will indeed play home games closed to the public. The team’s release states that “admission to games will be limited to home and visiting club personnel, approved credentialed media and broadcast partners, essential club and arena staff, and NHL officials.” Unlike the Columbus Blue Jackets, the team has only confirmed this restricted access policy through their March home games and not through the end of the regular season.
Fortunately, the Sharks will not miss out on that much ticket revenue if they only limit attendance for their remaining March home games. San Jose is set to host the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, and Coyotes, but that is it. The team has two additional home games in April that could be opened back up to the public.
As the fear of the spread of coronavirus intensifies, the Sharks and Blue Jackets are far from the only teams who will be playing empty arenas. Teams across multiple sports and at the major league, minor league, and amateur levels are all taking measures to mitigate the risk of the virus spreading to players and fans alike. That of course includes the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda as well, who share a building with their parent club Sharks. The Barracuda have just two home games scheduled through the rest of the month.
Los Angeles Kings Sign Top Prospect Alex Turcotte
It seems 2019 No. 5 overall pick Alex Turcotte will be one-and-done at the University of Wisconsin. The Los Angeles Kings have announced that Turcotte has signed his entry-level contract. Even better for L.A., the deal does not start until the 2020-21 season, meaning Turcotte will not be playing down the stretch and burning a year in what is a lost season for the Kings. Instead, Turcotte will join the AHL’s Ontario Reign on an ATO for the remainder of the season.
Turcotte, 19, has signed a standard entry-level contract of three years with a cap hit of $925K. However, the deal also includes more than $1.5MM in annual performance bonuses for an AAV of $2.475MM. Yet, even that amount could turn out to be a bargain for the Kings. Lauded as the best two-way forward in last year’s draft class, Turcotte was a superstar with the U.S. National Team Development Program, recording 62 points in 37 games and 78 points overall in 56 points over two years with the U-18 team. As a freshman at Wisconsin this year, Turcotte again impressed with 26 points in 29 games. While injury concerns have remained through Turcotte’s developmental years, when on the ice he looks like a top-six NHL forward in the making and should make an immediate impact for L.A.
Turcotte’s departure is another tough blow for the Badgers. The team was a preseason favorite of many given their depth of NHL prospect talent, but inconsistent play and spotty goaltending led the team out of the NCAA rankings and eventually to a last place finish in the Big Ten Conference. While Montreal top prospect Cole Caufield seems likely to return for his sophomore season, New York Rangers defensive prospect K’Andre Miller could follow Turcotte out of Madison and Wisconsin’s title window could close just like that. The team has to hope that their numerous NHL prospects and solid incoming recruiting class can improve on this season’s disappointing results.
Columbus Blue Jackets Will Play In Empty Arena
The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that they will play tomorrow night’s home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins with restricted attendance. The game will be closed to the public, with admission limited to club personnel, credentialed media, broadcast partners, NHL officials and essential arena staff.
This will be the first NHL game played without fans in the stands, though the San Jose Sharks are facing a similar decision when they return off their current road trip.
The rest of the Blue Jackets’ home games are also scheduled to be played with restricted attendance. Columbus has five games remaining during the regular season, but are also in a race for the playoffs.
Today, the World Health Organization classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic, causing several sporting organizations to cancel or restrict attendance at upcoming events. The NCAA Men’s and Women’s basketball tournaments have been closed to fans, and this is likely not the final NHL team to close their doors.
Frank Seravalli of TSN wrote today how the outbreak could affect the NHL’s financials, including examining the impact it could have on next year’s salary cap. The cap is based on a projection of hockey-related revenue, something that would obviously decrease without ticket sales. At this point it is entirely too early to say what exactly could happen to the league, especially if playoff games are affected this season.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi Out For Rest Of Season
It certainly hasn’t the sophomore campaign that Jesperi Kotkaniemi or the Montreal Canadiens were hoping for. Now, after struggling to maintain any sort of production in the NHL and spending time in the minor leagues, Kotkaniemi will miss the remainder of the season thanks to a splenic injury. Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports that the young forward will not require surgery, but no recovery timeline has been determined.
There’s no way to describe Kotkaniemi’s 2019-20 season other than disappointing, especially given the flashes of brilliance he showed as a rookie. In 36 games with the Canadiens he scored just eight points, never seeing more than 16 minutes of ice time in a single game. While he has been a point-per-game player at the AHL level, that includes just a single goal in 13 games.
It’s obviously not the end of the world for the 19-year old forward, but when players selected after him in the 2018 draft are already in starring roles—namely Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes, selected at fourth and seventh respectively—it’s a bit frustrating to see the Montreal youngster struggling.
Now that his season is over, Kotkaniemi will have several months to work on his game and come back ready to take a full-time spot in the Canadiens’ lineup. He still has one year remaining on his entry-level contract and a lot to accomplish if he wants a big extension like some of his draft contemporaries will be getting.
Fredrik Handemark Drawing NHL Interest
With European leagues finishing up (or being cancelled) over the next few weeks, plenty of interest will be shown in some of the top performers. In his latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, Elliotte Friedman writes that both the Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks have shown interest in Fredrik Handemark out of the SHL.
Handemark has spent the last five seasons with Malmo, breaking out offensively in 2016-17 when he recorded 32 points in 47 games. He has been a consistent scorer for them ever since, and set a career-high in both goals (14) and points (38) this season.
Not only has Handemark produced offensively, but also represents a big body—6’4″ 209-lbs—that can play the center position. That’s the kind of player that always draws NHL attention, though it’s hard to know exactly how his game would translate to North America.
Hearing that the Red Wings and Sharks are “eyeing” Handemark shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given their seasons so far. Both teams are near the bottom of the standings, with the Red Wings orchestrating a perfect tank season. Detroit is already eliminated from the postseason and will be looking forward to the draft lottery next month.
Nathan MacKinnon To Miss 1-2 Weeks With Lower-Body Injury
While it obviously isn’t the worst news they could have received, the Colorado Avalanche will still be shaking their fists in frustration today. Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic that Nathan MacKinnon will be out for one to two weeks with a lower-body injury.
The team is already without several other forwards including Mikko Rantanen and Nazem Kadri, weakening their depth up front considerably. One positive is that Cale Makar is expected to return for the Avalanche tonight, though MacKinnon’s absence will still obviously be felt.
Not only does it hurt Colorado’s chances of catching the St. Louis Blues for first place in the Central Division, but this also may rob MacKinnon of his first 100-point season. The explosive forward has recorded 97 and 99 points the last two years and sits at 93 in just 69 games so far this year. Two weeks could mean missing eight of the team’s final 13 games though, making it tough to crack the elusive threshold.
It could also potentially impact any Hart Trophy votes that may have been coming MacKinnon’s way, though Leon Draisaitl‘s 110 points may have already done irreparable damage to that campaign.
Nate Thompson Out With Knee Sprain
The Philadelphia Flyers were starting to show what they’re capable of, but now will have to battle through injury. After losing Philippe Myers recently, the team has now announced that trade deadline acquisition Nate Thompson will miss a minimum of two weeks with a knee sprain. Connor Bunnaman has been recalled in his place, while Mark Friedman was also recalled earlier today.
Thompson, 35, was brought over from the Montreal Canadiens at the deadline to give the Flyers a little more depth in their bottom-six and some versatility. Able to play both center and the wing while never being afraid to engage physically, Thompson had fit right in and was getting just over 12 minutes a night.
Those 12 minutes will have to go to someone else now that he’s out, and his absence certainly doesn’t come at the most opportune time. While a two-week vacation may not be the end of the world in the middle of the regular season, the Flyers only have 13 games remaining in the season and need all hands on deck if they are to catch the Washington Capitals.
Two weeks likely means Thompson will miss at least the next seven games.
Troy Brouwer, Aaron Ness Clear Waivers
Wednesday: Both Brouwer and Ness have cleared waivers and can be sent to the minor leagues.
Tuesday: Even though the season is almost over, teams are still making tweaks to their rosters. Today, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that both Troy Brouwer and Aaron Ness have been placed on waivers.
In Ness’ case, Craig Morgan of The Athletic tweets that the Arizona Coyotes are expecting Jakob Chychrun back this week. Even though teams no longer have a roster limit, Ness is eligible to play for the Tucson Roadrunners and can continue to get some game action in the minor leagues.
For Brouwer, things are a little different. The veteran forward was not recalled until after the trade deadline, meaning he is eligible for AHL playoffs, but he actually hasn’t played a single game at that level this season. It’s unclear if the St. Louis Blues would send him down to the minor leagues in the event he clears waivers.
When it comes to post-deadline waivers, it is important to remember that any claim comes with some restrictions. As CapFriendly pointed out recently, a team changing reserve lists after the deadline is not eligible to play in the regular season or playoffs for his new club. That means even if a playoff team claimed Brouwer or Ness to give them a little more depth, they could not play.
Minor Transactions: 03/11/20
The party ended for the Philadelphia Flyers last night, unable to extend their winning streak to ten games after being defeated 2-0 by the Boston Bruins. They’ll be able to get right back on the horse tomorrow night, but first the NHL will hold five games this evening. Today’s schedule is heavily represented by Western Conference teams, with a battle between the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers perhaps the most interesting in terms of playoff implications. As they prepare, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves throughout the day.
- Ahead of their road trip that starts tonight in Chicago, the San Jose Sharks have recalled Nick DeSimone. San Jose will face the Blackhawks, Blues, Stars and Avalanche before heading home later this month.
- The Montreal Canadiens have sent Lukas Vejdemo back to the minor leagues after playing in three games during this latest recall. The 24-year old forward scored his first NHL goal last night but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Nashville Predators.
- Once again, Martin Kaut has been recalled by the Colorado Avalanche, the third such occasion over the last few weeks. The young forward has looked ready to make the jump to the NHL and will give Colorado another body as Nathan MacKinnon deals with a lower-body injury.
- The New York Rangers have recalled Steven Fogarty under emergency conditions, likely meaning that Filip Chytil will not be ready to go tonight against the Avalanche. Chytil has been listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Fogarty, 26, has played in six games this season and 17 in his career, but is still looking for his first NHL point.