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Archives for February 2021

Blues Activate Robert Bortuzzo Off Injured Reserve

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The Blues now have their full complement of defensemen available to them as the team announced that they have activated Robert Bortuzzo off injured reserve.  He had missed the last ten games due to an upper-body injury.

The 31-year-old has played just twice this season before sustaining the injury.  He has been in a depth role with St. Louis for the past several years and will likely battle Carl Gunnarsson and Niko Mikkola for playing time.  They’re currently carrying eight blueliners on the roster although Mikkola is waiver-exempt but their AHL affiliate in Springfield opted out of playing this season which presents some challenges if they want to send him down.

The team also made several other roster moves.  Robert Thomas was played on IR after it was revealed earlier today that he’ll miss four-to-six weeks with a broken thumb.  With Bortuzzo returning, Jake Walman was sent to the taxi squad.  Lastly, St. Louis recalled center Jacob de la Rose from their taxi squad, sending winger Mackenzie MacEachern down to the taxi squad in a corresponding move.  Both Walman and MacEachern have played once with the Blues this season while de la Rose has yet to suit up.

Minor Transactions: 2/7/21

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With the AHL now underway, some teams are adding extra depth to their system while there are some other moves affecting NHL prospects around the hockey world as well.  Here’s a rundown of those moves.

  • Buffalo has added a veteran winger to their farm team as AHL Rochester announced the signing of Michael Mersch to a PTO agreement. The 28-year-old spent the last two seasons in Dallas’ system and has reached the 40-point mark four times over the last six years.  Mersch has 17 career NHL games under his belt, all with Los Angeles back in 2015-16.
  • Flyers prospect Emil Andrae is dropping down a level as he has been loaned to Vasterviks of the Swedish Allsvenskan, per a team release. The 18-year-old was the 50th-overall pick back in October and suited up for Sweden at the World Juniors.  The loan agreement permits HV71, his SHL team, to recall him at any time.
  • The Ducks have re-assigned winger Maxim Golod from Tulsa of the ECHL to San Diego of the AHL, per the AHL’s transactions page. The 20-year-old signed with Anaheim as a free agent just after the draft and got into ten games so far this season at the ECHL level, notching two goals and five assists.

Snapshots: Danault, Simek, Frk

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Montreal Canadiens center Phillip Danault has struggled this season as he is one of just two forwards who have yet to record a goal this season. The 27-year-old is coming off of 53 and 47-point seasons that last two years, but the pending unrestricted free agent reportedly turned down a six-year, $30MM deal during the offseason, according to Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan, and it looks to be weighing on him.

Danault refused to talk about his contract situation Friday, but Cowan said that ice time might play more of a role in his decision-making than money. Danault, who was playing top-six minutes for much of the past two seasons, is now the team’s No. 3 center behind Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

“I needed some time to adapt,” Danault said. “There are a lot of things that changed at the same time, whether it was my ice time or the way I was being used on the penalty-kill. I’m still playing with the same linemates, though. We try to give everything we have every night. I’m ready to do everything I can to help the team win. It’s going really well right now and we’ll keep on going that way.”

  • NHL Player Safety announced that San Jose Sharks defenseman Radim Simek has been fined $5,000 for spearing Anaheim Ducks forward Adam Henrique Saturday (video here). The fine is the most that is allowed by the CBA.The infraction occurred at 6:21 of the second period when the spearing occurred in front of the Sharks’ net. The two players then fought immediately afterwards with both players receiving two-minute penalties for roughing with the spearing getting missed.
  • The Los Angeles Kings could be without forward Martin Frk for some time, according to Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris. While he hasn’t received an update from the team’s training staff, head coach Todd McLellan said that by the look of the injury, he could be “out for a little while.” Frk missed the first nine games of the season with a groin injury and was making his season debut Friday only to be knocked out with another  lower-body injury.

Edmonton Oilers Activate Mike Smith Off Of LTIR

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The Edmonton Oilers should get a much-needed boost in goal as the team announced they have activated goaltender Mike Smith from long-term injured reserve. The team has played 13 games this season with starter Mikko Koskinen starting 12 of those 13 games. Stuart Skinner, the team’s backup all this time, has appeared in one game and now has been assigned to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL.

Smith, who has missed the entire season so far with an undisclosed injury, should immediately provide the team a second NHL-caliber goaltender who can help share net duties rather than force Koskinen to play constantly. In the 12 games he’s played, Koskinen has a 5-7 record with a 3.52 GAA and a .889 save percentage — not numbers of a goalentender who should be playing every game.

Of course, the 38-year-old Smith didn’t exactly put up eye-catching numbers last year either. Smith played 39 games last season, posting a 2.95 GAA and a .902 save percentage. Regardless, those numbers would be quite a bit better than what the Oilers have seen so far this season. Smith is expected to start one of the team’s back-to-back games on Monday or Tuesday against Ottawa.

Smith signed a one-year, $1.5MM this offseason.

Maple Leafs Sign Scott Sabourin To One-Year Deal

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As expected after placing him on waivers earlier today, the Toronto Maple Leafs have signed forward Scott Sabourin to a one-year, two-way deal, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. The deal will be for $700K at the NHL level and $250K at the minor league level.

Sabourin was signed in the offseason to an AHL contract after not being tendered an offer by the Ottawa Senators last season. The 28-year-old forward played 35 games with Ottawa last season and provided the team and many of their prospects some much-needed size and physicality, something the team lacked. The forward scored two goals and six points as well as 74 hits, while averaging just 7:01 of ice time.

In Toronto, the team likely had the plan of keeping him with the Marlies all season unless they needed some extra depth — something the team focused on heavily this season. With the injury to Wayne Simmonds, the team’s need for some bottom-line depth became more apparent and giving Sabourin an NHL contract made more sense. Sabourin will likely spend much of his time on the taxi squad and likely won’t see too much time on the NHL roster, but now has added value to the team who could eventually need more grit down the line.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/07/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. Here is the CPRA list for Sunday:

Anaheim – TBA
Buffalo – Taylor Hall, Rasmus Ristolainen, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Jake McCabe, Dylan Cozens, Curtis Lazar, Casey Mittelstadt*
Chicago – Adam Boqvist, Ryan Carpenter, Lucas Wallmark
Colorado – Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog, Samuel Girard*
Dallas – TBA
Florida – TBA
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota – Marcus Foligno, Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Johansson, Jared Spurgeon, Nico Sturm, Ian Cole, Brad Hunt*
New Jersey – Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac, Andreas Johnsson, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Pavel Zacha, Jack Hughes, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Jesper Bratt, Nathan Bastian, Nikita Gusev, Yegor Sharangovich, Dmitry Kulikov, Eric Comrie*
Philadelphia – Travis Sanheim*
Vegas – Alex Pietrangelo
Washington – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Ilya Samsonov, Jakub Vrana

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Sami Vatanen, New Jersey Devils

Sanheim was put into COVID protocol earlier in the day for COVID-19 and while that doesn’t necessarily mean he tested positive, he at least could have been seriously exposed. However, the NHL announced that they conducted rapid testing for all Flyers players, coaches and staff before their afternoon game with the Washington Capitals. All tests came back negative and the game was still played.

*denotes new addition

Penguins To Narrow Down List Of GM Candidates

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The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to forge forward in their quest to bring in a new general manager to run their franchise as soon as possible. The team has now been rumored to have interviewed eight candidates for the job and according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Penguins are moving into Phase 2.

“As far as I can tell, I believe there’s been eight individuals who have been interviewed so far,” Friedman said on the Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday. “From Patrik Allvin, who’s currently in there alphabetically through Kevin Weekes of the NHL Network.”

Friedman says that the eight that have already interviewed for the job include current interim GM Patrik Allvin; NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes; John Ferguson, Jr, the executive director of player personnel for the Boston Bruins; former Los Angeles Kings assistant GM Michael Futa; Ron Hextall, advisor to the Los Angeles Kings; former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager Mark Hunter, former Penguins assistant GM Jason Karmanos; and Colorado Avalanche assistant general manager Chris MacFarland.

While the team might be willing to add more candidates to their list, Friedman notes that the team is ready to go into second interviews with their current list and bring in Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux into the interview process.

The team has been working to replace former GM Jim Rutherford, who resigned two weeks into the season.

 

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/07/21

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There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day.

East Division

  • With Jakub Vrana joining the COVID list Saturday, the Washington Capitals continue to be short on forwards. The team announced they have recalled forwards Daniel Carr and Philippe Maillet from their taxi squad. The Capitals have also assigned Michael Sgarbossa to the taxi squad. Carr has one assist in two games with Washington this season, while the 28-year-old Maillet will make his NHL debut Sunday.
  • The New York Islanders have returned winger Oliver Wahlstrom to the taxi squad, reports CapFriendly.  He played just over 12 minutes in Saturday’s win over Pittsburgh and has a goal in three games with New York this season.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled winger Samuel Morin from the taxi squad while promoting goalie Felix Sandstrom and defenseman Derrick Pouliot to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  Morin has gone back and forth this season while Pouliot has briefly been on the taxi squad but has not yet played this year.  As for Sandstrom, it’s his first NHL recall of the season.

North Division

  • The Ottawa Senators announced several roster moves. The team recalled forward Logan Brown from the Belleville Senators of the AHL to the team’s taxi squad. The Senators also have assigned forwards Filip Chlapik and Matthew Peca to the AHL squad as well. The 22-year-old Brown has yet to appear in any game either for the NHL or the AHL despite appearing in 23 games for Ottawa last season. Head coach D.J. Smith said that Brown will likely get into the lineup later this week.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have once again sent forward Corey Perry and Jesperi Kotkaniemi back to the taxi squad as part of their standard transactional moves, according to CapFriendly. Perry has appeared in seven games for the Canadiens with a goal and three points, while Kotkaniemi has played in all 12 of the team’s games with a goal and seven points.
  • The Calgary Flames have sent center Byron Froese, defenseman Connor Mackey, and winger Zac Rinaldo to the taxi squad, reports Ryan Pike of the Sporting News.  The moves allow Calgary to still bank a little bit of cap space even after the placement of Derek Ryan on LTIR.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have assigned center Jason Spezza to the taxi squad and recalled center Adam Brooks, per CapFriendly.  The move allows Toronto to extend Spezza’s waiver exemption a little longer and he will almost certainly be recalled before tomorrow’s game against Vancouver.

Central Division

  • The Detroit Red Wings announced they have once again recalled forwards Mathias Brome and Givani Smith from the taxi squad to the NHL team. The Red Wings also assigned defenseman Alex Biega to the taxi squad. Brome has been a regular with Detroit, having already appeared in 10 games, but hasn’t registered a point yet.  Smith has two assists in five games this season.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets already lost goaltender Elvis Merzlikins to injury and is currently on injured reserve. Now his backup, Matiss Kivlenieks also has gone down as the netminder suffered a lower-body injury and is currently listed as day-to-day. The Blue Jackets have now recalled the backup to the backup of Merzlikins, announcing they have recalled Cam Johnson via emergency recall to fill in as the backup goalie.  Liam Foudy was also recalled from the taxi squad.
  • The Florida Panthers announced they have promoted forward Scott Wilson from the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL to the team’s taxi squad. The team has also recalled forward Mason Marchment to their NHL team from the taxi squad. Wilson did appear in six games for the Buffalo Sabres last season, but the 28-year-old has struggled getting back into the NHL after being a regular many years ago. Marchment has yet to make an NHL appearance since being acquired from Toronto last year.
  • The Dallas Stars announced they have recalled goaltender Landon Bow and forward Jason Robertson from the taxi squad. Bow will step in and serve as the backup to Jake Oettinger after the team benched starter Anton Khudobin for disciplinary reasons. Robertson has already appeared in three games for the Stars.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes had center Morgan Geekie and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic in uniform for today’s game against Columbus, meaning they were recalled from the taxi squad.  Both players have gone back and forth several times already this season.

West Division

  • The Los Angeles Kings announced they have placed defenseman Matt Roy on injured reserve (retroactive to Jan. 28) and have recalled four players from their taxi squad, including forwards Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Lias Andersson as well as defensemen Tobias Bjornfot and Austin Strand.  Andersson, Bjornfot, and Strand were all returned to the taxi squad following the game.
  • The Anaheim Ducks moved defenseman Andy Welinski back to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly, with Hunter Drew being sent back to AHL San Diego in a corresponding move.  Welinski has played in three games with Anaheim so far this season, logging just under 12 minutes per game.
  • After playing on an emergency recall on Saturday, the Arizona Coyotes have returned center Michael Chaput to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  The 28-year-old has played in two games so far this season and while he has yet to become an NHL regular, he has seen action in the NHL in each of the last eight seasons.
  • A day after making his NHL debut, the San Jose Sharks have returned center Sasha Chmelevski to the taxi squad along with defenseman Nicolas Meloche to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  Chmelevski had an assist in just over six minutes of action on Saturday while Meloche has played just once this season.
  • Defenseman Dylan Coghlan was in the lineup for the Golden Knights today, meaning Vegas recalled him from the taxi squad.  The blueliner played 13:44 in his second career game.

Blues’ Robert Thomas Out 4-6 Weeks With Broken Thumb

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St. Louis Blues head coach Craig Berube told reporters today that the team will be without center Robert Thomas for an extended period of time, according to The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford. The 21-year-old is expected to miss four to six weeks after suffering a broken thumb during Saturday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes.

“Well, I mean, somebody else is going to get in that position and do a job for us,” said Berube. “That’s the way we’ve got to look at it. We’ve got players. We’re a deep team and that’s a good thing. Other guys get an opportunity to get in there now and play.”

Thomas was forced to leave Saturday’s game in the first period after playing in just 3:01. The injury occurred when he collided with Arizona’s Nick Schmaltz and fell hard on his left hand. Coincidentally, he did manage to score his first goal of the season in that span.

Thomas, already in his third season, is coming off a 10-goal, 42-point campain in 2019-20 and now has a goal and six points in 12 games this season, was expected to play a big role for the team this year. Thomas will now lose a large chunk of an already shortened season and force St. Louis to reach deeper into its pool of depth forwards to continue moving forward. The Blues have made no roster moves as of yet, but the team has a number of forwards who can play the center position, likely taking away some of the pressure of the injury.

Philadelphia Flyers Activate Sean Couturier

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His time was coming near, but the Philadelphia Flyers announced Sunday that they are activating injured forward Sean Couturier off of injured reserve and the Selke Award winner is expected to be in the lineup today against the Washington Capitals.

The 28-year-old was expected to miss at least two weeks after suffering a Costochondral separation, or a rib separation, early in a Jan. 15 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Couturier has only managed to play in two games this season (including just 45 seconds on the day of his injury).

Couturier should immediately provide some much-needed stability to a Flyers team that was expected to be a dominant team this season. While the team is in second place with a 7-3-2 record this year, Philadelphia has struggled quite a bit at the same time, giving up several leads in games.

The Flyers are also expecting Philippe Myers to return to the Flyers’ lineup and is expected to start on the first pairing with Ivan Provorov, according to The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor. Travis Sanheim has come out of the lineup, but no report on whether it is injury-related.

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