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Tanner Laczynski Undergoes Surgery

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After four seasons dominating the competition at Ohio State University, Tanner Laczynski has certainly had an interesting first year of professional hockey. The 23-year-old forward scored ten points in 14 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and earned himself a chance in the Philadelphia Flyers lineup. In five NHL games he failed to record a point though and he’ll have to wait a long time for his next opportunity. The Flyers announced today that Laczynski has undergone successful surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip and will be out for the next 16 weeks.

Laczynski was a sixth-round pick in 2016, so even just making it to the NHL wasn’t guaranteed. But after a point-per-game career at Ohio State, he signed his entry-level deal with the Flyers last spring and quickly shot up the depth chart. With the Flyers now nine points out of a playoff spot there figured to be even. more playing time for young forwards trying to make their mark, but Laczynski will now face a long difficult rehab instead.

The first season of his entry-level contract will come to an end without a single point and given his age, the deal was limited to just two seasons. That means the 2021-22 season is imperative for Laczynski if he wants to go into salary arbitration with any leverage. With a four-month recovery timeline, he is expected to be ready to compete at training camp.

Andrew Shaw Announces End Of Playing Career

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After suffering another concussion in February, Andrew Shaw is going to call it a career. The Chicago Blackhawks forward has announced that he will hang up his skates based on the recommendation of the team’s medical staff. The team fully supports the move to prioritize his long-term health.

Importantly, nowhere in the press release does the word “retire” appear, as Shaw has another year left on his current contract. Official retirement would mean he forfeits the $2.9MM he is set to earn next season. Instead, he will likely be moved to long-term injured reserve whenever the Blackhawks need some extra cap flexibility.

Shaw was an integral part of two different Stanley Cup runs for the Blackhawks, winning in 2013 and 2015. The hard-nosed forward was occupying a checking center role at that point while also contributing a bit at the offensive end. His career-high in points actually came during the 2018-19 season with the Montreal Canadiens when he scored 47 in just 63 games, but that kind of output was never really his calling card in Chicago.

Overall, Shaw will finish his career with 247 points in 544 regular season games, but none of that will compare to a single moment. In 2013, the Blackhawks were in triple overtime in game one of the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins. After some dirty work in the corner to free up the puck, Shaw tipped a Michal Rozsival shot (well, technically tipped a Dave Bolland tip) past Tuukka Rask to put Chicago up 1-0 in the series.

It’s never easy when a 29-year-old player is forced to retire due to injury, much less when it is concussion-related. But Shaw has already accomplished a lot in his career and will be able to focus on his health moving forward knowing that he is a Stanley Cup champion.

Five Key Stories: 04/19/21 – 04/25/21

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It was a quieter week around the hockey world with some COVID-related cancellations garnering plenty of attention.  Those can be found among the top stories from the past seven days.

Hartman Extension: Wild winger Ryan Hartman decided to avoid the risk of being non-tendered this offseason, instead inking a three-year, $5.1MM contract extension.  The deal represents a $200K pay cut compared to his current contract but gives him some job security at a time where teams are expected to be more hesitant than usual to qualify role players that have arbitration eligibility.  As someone who has been in that situation before, getting a three-year deal – his longest since his entry-level pact – is something he’ll definitely appreciate.  The 26-year-old is logging nearly 15 minutes a night this season, a career-best.

Cancellations: Last week was somewhat reminiscent of a year ago when leagues and tournaments started shutting down.  This was the case at the junior level on two different fronts as the WHL revealed that they will not hold any playoffs, a decision that will allow NHL-contracted players to be recalled once their regular season comes to an end.  Meanwhile, the OHL announced that their season will not even get underway let alone hold a postseason as COVID-19 case numbers in Ontario have risen quickly in recent weeks.  That means that players that are in the minors because that league wasn’t underway means that they’ll be able to remain there for the rest of the season.  On the international front, the Women’s World Hockey Championships were abruptly cancelled as a result of an escalating COVID-19 caseload in Nova Scotia.  However, there are other cities that have shown an interest in trying to hold the event later in the summer, providing some hope that the tournament will get another shot.

Marleau Sets The Record: All records are supposed to be meant to be broken but some have stood the test of time without an expectation of being broken.  The all-time games played mark was one of those that could be classified as unlikely to be reached but Sharks forward Patrick Marleau has set the new benchmark when he played in his 1,768th career regular season game, breaking the previous record held by Gordie Howe.  The 41-year-old is in his 23rd career NHL season, three fewer than Howe who suited up in 26 NHL campaigns (plus six more in the WHA).  Marleau is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July and will have to decide if he wants to continue to add to his record or retire with his name now atop the record book.

Injuries In Detroit: It has been a tough few days on the injury front for Detroit.  Already without Bobby Ryan for the rest of the season and Robby Fabbri who has been out for three weeks, Tyler Bertuzzi and Frans Nielsen were then ruled out for the rest of the season.  Captain Dylan Larkin was then ruled out for the rest of the year, giving them five forwards on the shelf.  Long out of the playoff picture, head coach Jeff Blashill will have an opportunity to evaluate some younger players and those on the fringes of the roster down the stretch.

Jaskin Eyeing NHL Return: With KHL contracts expiring this coming Friday, there should be some players signing NHL contracts soon after.  One of those could be winger Dmitrij Jaskin whose agent Allain Roy confirmed that the 28-year-old is looking to return to the NHL for next season.  While he was more of a physical energy player in his first stint in North America, Jaskin’s offensive abilities have come to light back at home with 69 goals and 54 assists in 117 games with Dynamo Moscow which should help generate some more interest in his services.  Arizona is known to be one of the teams talking to Roy about a deal for Jaskin for next season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

David Backes Considering Retirement

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It has been a tough last few seasons for veteran winger David Backes who has gone from being an impact power forward to someone who has cleared waivers multiple times, been moved in a salary cap dump trade, and has been a healthy scratch or on the taxi squad for large portions of this year.  With his contract ending at the end of the season and the fact he turns 37 next weekend, his playing future is certainly in question.  In a scrum with reporters today (video link), Backes strongly hinted at retirement when asked if hanging up his skates was a possibility:

Possibility…I’d say it’s more of a probability. But it’s not a certainty. That’s just kind of where I’m at. I’ve said it all year that every game you play in this league is a gift, every shift you play is a gift. It’s a great blessing to be able to play in this league.

I’ve taken a bit of notes from guys before me that in the emotions and the grind of a season to make a concrete, hundred percent decision is a difficult process. No offense to Brett Favre because he had a great career, but he retired six or eight times and still came back. I think when I say ’that’s enough,’ I’d like it to be enough and not have to go back and forth.

Backes was a second-round pick of the Blues (62nd overall) back in 2003 and became one of the more prominent power forwards in the league, notching six seasons of more than 20 goals and seven years of more than 200 hits.  That helped him land a five-year, $30MM contract with Boston in the 2016 offseason, part of that ill-fated free agent class.

His role has deteriorated significantly the last two years as he managed to play in just 22 games in 2019-20 and has suited up just 14 times this season with the Ducks where he has collected three goals and an assist while averaging just under 13 minutes a night.  If this is indeed his final season, he’ll wind up just shy of the 1,000 games played mark as he currently sits at 964, 18th among players selected in his draft class.

Backes indicated that a final decision won’t come right away but if it indeed winds up being the end of the road for him, his time in the NHL may not be done entirely as he noted that a job in a front office down the road could be in the cards.  In the meantime, he still has eight games left to focus on this season although with Anaheim evaluating some of their youngsters, playing time may be scarce the rest of the way.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 04/25/21

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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 today’s list:

Calgary – Josh Leivo
Colorado – Joonas Donskoi, Mikko Rantanen
New Jersey – P.K. Subban, Jonas Siegenthaler

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: None

No news is good news on this front as while no one came off, there were no newcomers to the list either.  Of the five on the list, Donskoi has been on the longest going back to the 16th but he still should be on there for a few more days at least.  Accordingly, barring Leivo or Siegenthaler’s tests being false positives, there shouldn’t be anyone coming off the list over the next few days.

*denotes new addition

Blue Jackets Believed To Be Showing Interest In Justin Danforth

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With KHL contracts officially expiring at the end of the month, there should be a few players signing NHL deals soon after.  One of those could be winger Justin Danforth who Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the Blue Jackets are believed to be interested in.

The 28-year-old played his NCAA career at Sacred Heart before turning pro in 2017, inking a minor league tryout with the Islanders’ AHL team before catching on with Buffalo’s affiliate soon after.  However, after spending the majority of the 2017-18 campaign in the ECHL, Danforth opted to go overseas.

That decision definitely proved to be the right one.  He spent two years with Lukko in Finland’s SM-liiga, leading the team in scoring both seasons and the entire league in scoring last season with 27 goals and 33 assists in just 56 games.  That helped him land an opportunity in the KHL with Vityaz Podolsk this season where he again made the most of it.  His 23 goals and 32 helpers in 58 games led the team in scoring while slotting him sixth overall league-wide.  Clearly, he has done enough to get himself on the NHL radar.

Because he’s already 28, Danforth is not subject to NHL entry-level restrictions which gives him a bit more flexibility to work with as he looks for his first contract although the deal can’t have any performance bonuses in it either.  On the surface, Columbus would make sense for the winger as they have struggled mightily when it comes to scoring this season, as they’re averaging less than 2.5 goals per game.  Even though he’s a late bloomer which carries some uncertainty, Danforth could be a good fit for the Blue Jackets when he’s eligible to sign in May.

Coyotes Prospect Carson Bantle Transfers To Wisconsin

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The NCAA transfer portal has been a busy one this year with the expectation of the implementation of allowing players to transfer once without having to sit out.  Arizona prospect Carson Bantle entered the portal three weeks ago and has found his new school, announcing via Twitter that he is transferring to Wisconsin for the 2021-22 season.

The 19-year-old was a fifth-round pick of the Coyotes back in October (142nd overall) after a point per game season with Madison of the USHL.  However, that production didn’t follow him to Michigan Tech as he had just two goals and an assist in 19 games with the Huskies this season while playing a limited role.

Obviously, Bantle is making the move with an eye on getting a bigger opportunity with the Badgers, one that should materialize.  Wisconsin has already lost its top four scorers from this season (Cole Caufield, Linus Weissbach, Dylan Holloway, and Ty Pelton-Bice) to the professional ranks over the past month so there will definitely be a chance for more playing time there next year.

Snapshots: Schwartz, Gostisbehere, Glass

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The St. Louis Blues and Jaden Schwartz are interested in getting together for an extension as the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent nears free agency. However, after failing to come to an agreement before the trade deadline. However, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford and Shayna Goldman (subscription required) note that Schwartz might have a hard time earning a big contract this offseason considering the flat cap as well as Schwartz’s inconsistent year.

The 29-year-old Schwartz will be seeking a big contract this offseason, but after a 22-goal season in 2019-20, he has just six goals in 30 games this year. Despite that, the Blues remain interested in bringing back Schwartz.

“I don’t want to get into specifics,” general manager Doug Armstrong said after the trade deadline. “But Jaden is a player who we talked about earlier that is a primary player for us that we’d like to keep here. Nothing has changed since then, or until the day that we hopefully get him signed.”

Schwartz, who is currently wrapping up a five-year, $26.7MM contract ($5.35MM AAV) is still considered a top-six player and should still be for some time and his dip in production is nothing new as he has always been an inconsistent player who is capable of getting red-hot at any time. However, with the flat cap and the number of teams offering much less term than usual years, it’s possible that Schwartz will have to accept a slight raise for fewer years if he wants to stay in St. Louis.

  • The Philadelphia Flyers announced they will be without defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere for seven to 10 days with an MCL sprain. He was injured Friday against the New York Rangers, but played 20:17 and finished the game. Samuel Morin replaced him in the lineup Sunday, but head coach Alain Vigneault said the team is considering recalling defensemen Cam York or Egor Zamula from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL with the idea to see one or both in action with nine games remaining in the regular season. Gostisbehere has eight goals and 16 points in 37 games for the Flyers.
  • SinBin Vegas’ Steve Carp writes that while watching Vegas Golden Knights center Cody Glass while he plays with the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL, that the 22-year-old is struggling with confidence. Carp writes that the center is playing well with two goals and five points in seven games, but the former sixth-overall pick in 2017 should be a dominant presence and isn’t. Of course, with injuries mounting in Vegas, the team likely will have to recall Glass after recent injuries to Tomas Nosek and Nicolas Roy.

Central Notes: Blue Jackets, Stamkos, Galvas, Reichel

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With the regular season slowly coming to an end, there have been plenty of speculation regarding what the Columbus Blue Jackets intend to do about their coaching situation. While the team still has head coach John Tortorella under contract, that deal will expire at the end of the season and so far there hasn’t been a new extension, suggesting the team may be looking in a different direction.

In his most recent mailbag, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required) writes while there is no guarantee that Tortorella is on his way out as the team could easily choose to re-sign him, the growing suggestions that the team will instead bring in former coach Gerard Gallant is highly unlikely. Gallant, who has become quite a big-name coach since leaving Columbus, could command a salary in the $4MM range, something the Blue Jackets likely would never meet with the scribe adding that the $2.5MM that Tortorella is making could be one of the reasons why Columbus may be looking for a new coach for 2021-22.

In fact, Portzline suggests that one candidate who could have some merit as a coaching candidate is former Columbus player Luke Richardson.

  • Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said that forward Steven Stamkos remains on schedule with his recovery from a lower-body injury, according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith. While the initial diagnosis stated that he needed seven to 10 days, it’s already been eight days, suggesting he will not be ready to return on time. However, Cooper said that with three weeks left before the playoffs, Stamkos will be ready. He added that Nikita Kucherov also remains on schedule to return by the playoffs, although he has yet to be cleared for contact.
  • The Atheltic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that the Chicago Blackhawks are expected to sign a couple prospect in the coming weeks, including 2017 draft prospect Jakub Galvas. The defenseman must sign a contract before July 1 or the team loses his rights. He has spent the last two years playing in the Liiga and has scored four goals and 27 points combined over two seasons. Powers adds that the team is also working to sign their 2020 first-round pick, German forward Lukas Reichel, to an entry-level deal. Reichel has 10 goals and 27 points in 38 games in the DEL this season.

North Notes: Senators Goalies, Scheifele, Oilers

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The Ottawa Senators seem to be running short on goaltenders. That became apparent Saturday when scheduled starter Anton Forsberg suffered an injury during warmups, forcing Matt Murray into net against the Canucks. However, Murray got tangled up with Jake Virtanen early in the second period and was forced to leave the game himself, leaving Marcus Hogberg as the only remaining goaltender.

In a unusual scare, Hogberg and Nikita Zaitsev collided within 10 seconds of Hogberg’s appearance in the game, scaring the coaching staff. Hogberg was OK and finished out the game, but with no emergency backup goalie in place due to COVID-19 restrictions, who would have taken Hogberg’s place had he been injured?

The Athletic’s Ian Mendes (subscription required) writes that while the team did consider goaltending coach Zac Bierk, but the team settled on putting the pads on Artem Anisimov, who was on the taxi squad, instead.

Murray is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

  • Much of the Winnipeg Jets season could find itself in the reaction of center Mark Scheifele, who was benched in the middle of Saturday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Scheifele was benched for 17 minutes during the second and third periods while being on the ice during John Tavares’ goal, which gave the Maple Leafs a two-goal advantage. Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe writes that the team needs Scheifele to be at his best and the benching on national TV was meant to make a point. However, it is up to Scheifele and how he will respond. He was given a chance to return to the ice in the third period and performed well, according to Wiebe, although the star did not speak to the press after the game.
  • Edmonton Oilers head coach Dave Tippett said that defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is expected to make his Oilers’ debut on Monday, according to Sportsnet’s Jack Michaels. Kulikov was acquired at the trade deadline for a conditional 2021 fourth-round pick and has sat out the mandatory quarantine period. Tippett added that rookie Ryan McLeod has also completed his quarantine period since being recalled from the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL. The coach said McLeod was likely to play on Monday as well at the center position. The 21-year-old had 14 goals and 28 points in 28 AHL contests.

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