Injury Notes: Ekblad, Backlund, Meier
After sustaining a head and neck injury during the World Cup, Aaron Ekblad has been skating in Florida for a few days now, and has officially been cleared by doctors to return to full activity. Panthers fans everywhere can now release a huge sigh of relief as arguably their best player won’t miss the start of the season.
Ekblad, still just 20-years old, signed a huge eight year, $60MM extension this summer that will kick in after the 2016-17 season. The number one pick from 2014 has already made a huge impact at the NHL level, stepping in as an 18-year old and becoming the Panthers top defender. Now joined by all-star Keith Yandle and steady-as-she-goes Jason Demers, the Florida blueline looks impressive going into the season.
If there is any downside to the World Cup and seeing the best on best right before the season, it’s this. Ekblad could have easily suffered a concussion and put his season if not his career at risk for the tournament. When coupled with the news that Matt Murray and Marian Gaborik will both miss extensive amounts of time, owners around the league may be slightly more wary of sending their players during the next World Cup.
- For the Flames, it’s been two straight days of good news, as after Sean Monahan took the ice yesterday before practice, Mikael Backlund was back at it today according to Ryan Leslie of NHL.com. While he didn’t work with the team, he will re-join practice tomorrow wearing a non-contact jersey. The Swedish forward is working his way back from a concussion suffered during the World Cup (one of a list of injured players at the tournament) that apparently wasn’t as severe as originally thought. A return before the season opens would be huge for Backlund, who played in all 82 games last season for the first time in his career. 47 points was also a career high, something that Backlund will try and build off of this year.
- Timo Meier, the ninth overall pick in last year’s draft, is still ill and will miss Friday’s game against Arizona according to Curtis Pashelka of Mercury News. While he hasn’t been ruled out of the Sunday contest in Vancouver, the team will take it slow as he nurses himself back to health. Meier had a tremendous year in junior last season, scoring 87 points in 52 games despite being traded mid season. The Swiss forward has dominated the QMJHL since he came over, including some amazing playoff performances.
Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Bitten, Brown
After turning heads at the World Cup as the youngest player in the tournament, Auston Matthews is already making an impact at Leafs camp. At the end of his first practice with the blue and white, Matthews fired a one-timer from Mitch Marner into the glass, shattering it. While it’s probably not the last pane that will fall victim to Matthews’ hard shot, it’s just nice for the team to finally have him in their own building with their own jersey.
While Mike Babcock has repeatedly said that Matthews will start on the third line this year for the team, when he hit the ice for the first time he was skating between James van Riemsdyk and Leo Komarov on the first group. The 19-year old centerman will likely be sheltered to start his career, but many believe it won’t last long, just as it hasn’t at both the World Championships and World Cup.
At both tournaments, Matthews opened as one of the final few forwards, but finished among the top two lines. Every coaching staff that has worked with him speaks about his learning curve, and how hard he works. We’ll see if the curve isn’t a bit steeper once the real NHL season begins, and teams bear down on the youngster.
- Montreal prospect Will Bitten has been dealt to the Hamilton Bulldogs, according to Ryan Yessie of HockeyProspect.com. Bitten was selected in the third round of the latest draft, but has flashed enough skill to have gone higher. The undersized center put up 65 points in 67 games last season on an awful Flint Firebirds team (20-42-6) and is expected to make another big development step this season. He’ll now be a little closer to home, playing for a familiar name to Canadiens fans – their former AHL affiliate was also the Hamilton Bulldogs, where players like Carey Price spent time seasoning before making the NHL.
- The Ottawa Senators have sent first round pick Logan Brown back to junior as expected today. Brown, an absolute monster on the ice standing 6’6″, 222 lbs already, is actually incredibly skilled for a player his size. He notched 53 assists last season for the Windsor Spitfires, and showed off his offensive flair more than once. The Senators will hope he can start using that size a bit more as he gets stronger and matures as a player, letting him become a preeminent power forward in the NHL within a few years. For now, he’ll return to junior for his third year, expected somewhere close to 100 points and lead the Spitfires back to another strong season.
Atlantic Notes: Wisniewski, Girgensons, Marner
Despite plenty of postseason success the last two seasons resulting in two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals and a Stanley Cup Finals berth in 2015, the Tampa Bay Lightning have ultimately come up short of reaching their goal. Returning almost entirely the same roster for 2016-17, the Lightning should again be among the best teams in the east and one certainly capable of winning the Stanley Cup. And despite not adding much impact talent from outside the organization this summer, a minor addition might be the “missing piece” in the Lightning’s championship puzzle, opines Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times.
Right-handed defenseman James Wisniewski, who missed all but one shift of the 2015-16 season because of an ACL tear, was signed by Tampa to a PTO and has an excellent chance of making the team out of camp. As Smith notes, the Lightning ranked 28th in the NHL in power play efficiency and that’s an area Wisniewski specializes in. The 11-year-veteran has tallied more than half of his 53 career goals on the man-advantage and has twice recorded seven in a single season.
The Lightning do list Anton Stralman, Braydon Coburn and Andrej Sustr as right-side defenders, though as a left-handed shooter, Coburn could potentially play on either side. Tampa also re-signed RFA Nikita Nesterov, another starboard-side shooter, further congesting that side of the blue line depth chart. But, as Smith writes, when GM Steve Yzerman reached out to Wisniewski, he indicated the team had been looking for a right-handed shot on the blue line who could help out on the man advantage and that should improve his chances of finding playing time in Tampa Bay.
Elsewhere in the NHL’s Atlantic Division:
- After a down year in 2015-16, Zemgus Girgensons is ready to turn the page and hopeful a consistent role with the Sabres will help him get back on track, writes John Vogl of The Buffalo News. Girgensons had a strong sophomore season in 2014-15 recording 15 goals and 30 points in 61 games. But under new head coach Dan Bylsma and moving back-and-forth from center to wing, Girgenson netted just seven goals and 18 points in 71 contests this past season. Bylsma is prepared to start the season with the 22-year-old Latvian at center with the hope it will allow him to rebuild some of his confidence. Girgensons inked a new one-year deal worth $1.15MM as a RFA and is banking on a much better season in 2016-17.
- Mitch Marner, selected fourth overall in 2015 by Toronto, is not a sure bet to make the Maple Leafs roster to open the 2016-17 campaign but if he keeps performing as he did Monday night, his chances look good. According to Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun, Marner was “electric” on the ice and generated several quality scoring chances for the Leafs. Marner finished with two assists in the Ottawa Senators 6 – 3 win over Toronto but the 19-year-old pivot was the best player on the ice for either team and took a great first step in convincing the Leafs he is ready for the NHL.
Canucks Notes: Horvat, Gaunce, Gudbranson, Hutton
Based on the composition of their roster it would seem the Vancouver Canucks are approaching a transition year. Many of the players they will rely on for production – specifically Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Loui Eriksson, Alexandre Burrows, Jannik Hansen, Alexander Edler and Ryan Miller are in or nearing the twilight of their careers. Others, such as Bo Horvat, Jake Virtanen, Sven Baertschi and Ben Hutton have either little experience or have yet to reach their potential in the NHL. With so few players comfortably in their respective primes the Canucks will need a few of their younger players to take the next step in their development if they want to push for a playoff spot.
One who will be given an opportunity to take that next step is Horvat, who, as Jason Botchford writes, is slated to center the top line in the Canucks opening exhibition game tonight against San Jose and whom head coach Willie Desjardins expects to spark the offense. Brandon Sutter is currently listed as the team’s second-line pivot, but he tallied just nine points in an injury-shortened first campaign in Vancouver and has only reached the 40-point plateau once in his eight-year NHL career. Horvat scored 40 points in his second season in the league last year and at 21 should be capable of more.
Henrik Sedin just turned 36 and his days as a #1 center are likely numbered. In fact, it would behoove the Canucks to try to keep Sedin away from the opposition’s top defensive players night-in-and-night-out in order to maximize his effectiveness. Sutter has yet to demonstrate he can consistently produce in a top-six role but perhaps Horvat can, if allowed the opportunity. Chances are he’ll get his chance this season.
On to other Canucks notes:
- Within the same piece, Botchford mentions Brendan Gaunce, who the Canucks drafted in the first round of the 2012 draft, as another young player who could grow into an important role this season. Scouts originally were skeptical of Gaunce’s quickness and foot speed but as Botchford notes, the young winger has made great strides in those areas since coming to the Canucks organization. Surprisingly, Gaunce believes what hindered his skating had more to do with his brain rather than his legs. “I was never slow, I just tried to read the game too much. You don’t really have time to read NHL defencemen. It was in my head. It was not necessarily changing my footspeed, it was being more instinctual. Before I would try to read the play before it happened and now, it’s move the feet first and then react.” Gaunce made his NHL debut in 2015-16 but scored only a single goal in 20 appearances. His performance with Utica, the Canucks AHL affiliate, was strong as the 22-year-old winger netted 17 goals and 38 points in 46 games for the Comets.
- Although noted more for being a strong, stay-at-home defenseman, Erik Gudbranson bested every other Canucks blue liner in a skating drill conducted during a recent four-day camp, writes Iain MacIntyre of The Province. Gudbranson’s speed caught teammate and potential defense partner Ben Hutton off guard. Hutton was beaten by Gudbranson three times and afterwards said: “I saw that. Three times. One time I had a little bit of a stumble, but the other two I was thinking he must have been cheating or something. He was bugging me about that. Honestly, I think he’s a great skater for a guy that size.” Gudbranson is expected to fill a spot in the team’s top-four and with the league becoming more of a speed and quickness game, it bodes well for the Canucks that the 6-foot-5, 216 pound blue liner is showing he can more than keep up.
League News: Olympics, World Cup, Lockout, Gretzky, Outdoor Games
Dan Rosen of NHL.com spoke with deputy commissioner Bill Daly, who said that there has been little progress in talks about the league sending players to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, but that a decision will be made by November or December. The league is trying to speed up the decision-making process, Daly said, as the end of the year will be too late for schedule-makers who are trying to set up the 2017-18 season. Whether or not the NHL sends it’s players to the next Olympics will greatly impact the structure and length of next season. The reported hold up in those negotiations has been cost issues facing the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as the NHL is looking for fair value in putting a halt to their season and exposing their players to injury risks only for exposure in a non-traditional hockey country. While players, like Alex Ovechkin, have already committed to playing in the Olympics, regardless of the NHL’s stance, Daly has said that it would be a “club issue” for those players that choose to leave. As far as the league goes, Daly feels more negatively toward the situation now than he did just a few weeks ago, and the NHL skipping out on Pyeongchang is becoming a real possibility. However, it has been reported by multiple sources that not competing in 2018 might not signal the absolute end of NHL participation in the Winter Games. The 2022 Olympics are scheduled to take place in Beijing, and China is a very populous country that has just begun to embrace the sport of hockey, as shown by the establishment of KHL team Kunlun Red Star, who are currently taking part in their inaugural season. In 2026, Calgary, Canada, Stockholm, Sweden, and multiple cities in both the United States and Switzerland have been confirmed as potential bids for the Games, all of which would be strong markets for NHL hockey. Whether the NHL will (or should) take part in the 2018 games will be decided shortly, but regardless the NHL and the Olympic Games have a future together.
In other league news:
- Continued participation in the Winter Olympics will not deter the extended existence of the World Cup of Hockey. ESPN’s Pierre Lebrun reports that the NHL and NHLPA have agreed that the World Cup is “here to stay”. Although the structure of the tournament could change, the games will continue to be played every fourth year. Building off the successes – and failures – of this World Cup, decision-makers moving forward will have to evaluate the viability of teams like Europe and North America, as well as consider many different locations and formats for the tournament. One way or another, expect the World Cup of Hockey to become a regular event in the future of the sport.
- While the NHL and the Player’s Association agree on the World Cup, that may be where their good terms end. At least one insider believes that another lockout is a “foregone conclusion” in 2020. Octagon Sports player agent Allan Walsh stated as much in a recent tweet, though no further evidence was provided to support it. With recent labor struggles having put a prominent stain on the league’s reputation, one has to think the commissioner Gary Bettman will do all that he can to avoid yet another lockout, which would be the third since the turn of the century.
- In happier news for hockey fans, the game’s most legendary player has returned to a role with the NHL. The league announced that it’s ambassador for it’s centennial celebration in 2017 will be none other than “The Great One”, Wayne Gretzky. The legendary player will make a multitude of appearances throughout the year, trying to bring together generations of fans for the league’s 100-year celebration.
- Part of that celebration is the addition of a second outdoor game around the holidays. The Winter Classic, between the host Blues and the Blackhawks will take place on January 2nd of 2017, as opposed to it’s regular date of January 1st, as New Year’s Day will be reserved for the Centennial Classic in Toronto between the Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. Later in the month, the Penguins and Flyers will also face-off in an outdoor showdown. The league released the logos for both the Centennial Classic and Stadium Series game today, as the PR machine is already running for the year-long celebration that’s on the horizon. Additionally, the league is reportedly looking to schedule yet another outdoor game, in Montreal, for the beginning of the 2017-18 season.
World Cup Notes: Gaborik, Getzlaf, Babcock
After Marian Gaborik was given a timeline of eight weeks to rehab his leg injury, sustained in Team Europe’s semi-final victory, head coach Ralph Krueger has replaced him with Mikkel Boedker in the lineup. While Boedker can be an effective player and has speed to burn, Krueger admits to Helene Elliott of the LA Times that it’ll be a step down from one of their leaders:
We’re losing some leadership and smarts on the puck that were exemplary.
Gaborik obviously is one of the most important players on Europe, with 933 games and 773 points under his belt in the NHL. The three-time forty-goal man put up his worst season last year while fighting injury, only scoring 12 goals in 54 games. The 34-year old will not be ready for the start of the season, making it even harder to bounce back after the career-worst campaign.
- Team Canada hit the ice this morning before the first game of the finals versus Team Europe, and every player was present including Ryan Getzlaf, who according to Pierre LeBrun missed practice yesterday. The Ducks forward was given a “maintenance day” in preparation for the three-game series, as he’s battling a few small nagging injuries. Now 31, the big center doesn’t bounce back as easily as he did when he was young, but has still played in 77 games in each of the last three seasons. While he’s a big part of Team Canada, the Ducks are hoping he comes back fully healthy, as a bounce-back year from him and Corey Perry is integral for a successful season.
- While the talk swirls about the NHL not heading to the Olympics in 2018, especially now that the World Cup has been a success, one influential voice sounds unconvinced. When asked about the difference between the two events, Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock said “The World Cup is great, but it’s not the Olympics. Let’s not get confused.” As Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports, the Maple Leafs coach would like to see the event spread across two cities so that only night games were played, while having only countries compete. These changes would make it more like the Olympics, and would seem to be a future plan for the NHL’s tournament. If the league doesn’t go in 2018 (which it doesn’t look likely to), the World Cup will have to become the preeminent international event. Having Team North America and Team Europe prevents it from ever fully replacing the Olympics, despite their success as individual story lines.
Camp Notes: Gagner, Flyers, Sergachev
Sam Gagner has had a roller-coaster career. After looking like a young all-star in his early Edmonton Oilers career, he just hasn’t been able to put all his talents together for a full season. Heading into this season with his fourth NHL club, he’s trying to show the Columbus Blue Jackets that he can be relied upon as a top-six contributor.
As Rob Mixer writes on NHL.com, he’s already starting to turn heads in Ohio. Skating alongside Brandon Saad at times, the 27-year old center has proven his ability both 5-on-5 and on the powerplay early in camp. Whether he plays with Saad during the season or not, Gagne is just happy to be a part of the squad:
At the end of the day, it’s not really my decision as far as where I play or who I play with. I’m happy to play with whoever and wherever they decide to slot me.
- The Flyers have made a round of cuts, according to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post, and one of them is 2016 second-round pick Carter Hart. Even though the Everett Silvertips starter is only 18, many believe he is polished enough to make an NHL impact within the next few years. While many goalies don’t hit their prime until their late-twenties, perhaps it will come slightly earlier for Hart, who already logged a hefty workload last season. In 63 regular season games, Hart carried a 2.18 GAA and .918 sv%.
- After sustaining an injury earlier this summer, Mikhail Sergachev has been cleared to return to practice this afternoon. While some had speculated it was a concussion, Brian Wilde of CTV tells us that Sergachev has actually been skating by himself all week, likely removing that possibility. Wilde believes it was a shoulder injury, which would be a much better scenario for the recent draftee. Sergachev was Montreal’s first round pick, ninth overall in the past draft and won the OHL’s Defenseman of the year in his rookie season.
Vladimir Sobotka Likely Remaining In KHL
After a long fight over Vladimir Sobotka and where he’ll spend his playing days this season, it appears that he’s made a decision. Avangard Omsk has released that the St. Louis Blues forward will report to their camp on Wednesday, and play this season in the KHL.
Both St. Louis and Omsk had previously claimed that they had valid contracts with the 29-year old, making this release at least a touch suspect. We’ve been burned before by reports out of Russia, even from the teams themselves.
For what it’s worth, Aivis Kalnins also hears that Sobotka will be remaining in the KHL, although it’s unclear whether he’s just going off the same release.
If all of this becomes a reality, the Blues will once again miss out on bringing back the former fourth-round pick who has developed into a legitimate offensive weapon. Sobotka put up 33 points in his final NHL season, and has had two successful campaigns in Russia, putting up 38 and 34 points in much shorter seasons.
The Blues will need to find some secondary scoring somewhere else this season, after also losing David Backes to free agency this summer. Omsk, on the other hand, will use Sobotka in a similar scoring role and on the powerplay.
Camp Notes: Marner, Grigorenko, Weal
While it’s true that exhibition results and preseason predictions often mean nothing, fans of each team do like to see and hear strong results from some of their young players. In Toronto, uber-prospect Mitch Marner is really turning heads, as Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun writes. Marner is undersized by all accounts, but is starting to make believers out of his coaching staff and front office that he’ll be able to use his elite offensive ability to succeed right away at the next level. Even veteran teammates like Brooks Laich are impressed:
He’s good at tying up a stick so the other guy can’t make a play and then getting body position so he can kick the puck to his stick. I saw some little things that are very impressive.
Marner has to either make the NHL club or return to the OHL, a level which he absolutely dominated last season, winning every individual and team award available, including the Memorial Cup. While it wouldn’t ruin his career to head back to London for another season, he’s clearly too good for that level and would be at risk of slowing his development.
- One of the big parts of the Ryan O’Reilly deal between Colorado and Buffalo was Mikhail Grigorenko, once selected 12th overall and considered a top prospect. While never delivering on his apparent high-ceiling offensively, Grigorenko did make strides last season in his first go-round with the Avs. Now considered a “veteran forward” by Terry Frei and the Denver Post, Grigorenko scored the only goal in an intrasquad game today and by all accounts has had a strong camp. Still only 22, he has plenty of time to develop into the strong two-way center Buffalo envisioned when spending such a high pick on him.
- Another youngster is enjoying the World Cup, but not because of Team America. Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Jordan Weal has been suiting up on the top line in Flyers camp between Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds while Claude Giroux is off in Toronto, and he’s been showing he may be ready for a full time NHL role as soon as this season. An elite AHL scorer (his last two seasons there he recorded 70 and 69 points), Weal spent all of last season trapped between the injured reserve list and the waiver wire, and only got into 14 total contests, all at the NHL level.
Snapshots: Fortin, Flames, Team Europe
When the Chicago Blackhawks invited Alexandre Fortin to prospect camp this summer, even they didn’t expect to sign him to a three-year entry level contract just a few weeks later. It’s a huge step for the twice-undrafted forward from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the QMJHL.
The 19-year old is the nephew of former NHL goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere and never did really blow away scouts during his junior years. But now, in Hawks rookie camp he turned enough heads to be kept around when the pro camp started, and then enough for the Hawks to invest in him. As assistant coach Kevin Dineen says in Chris Kuc’s latest Chicago Tribune article:
He’s a smart, cerebral kid who has a nice offensive skill set that he’s been able to show here early. He’s off to a real good start and he’s working his way in to trying to find a way into one of our exhibition games.
The Hawks have found overlooked players before, most notably with last year’s Calder trophy winner Artemi Panarin, who, while on the hockey world’s radar, was never believed to be able to step into a top-line, all-star role right away. With Fortin, perhaps they found another late-bloomer who they can shape into an offensive dynamo.
- The Flames have decided to send four players back to their individual WHL teams today; the group includes Brayden Burke, Aaron Hyman, Matthew Phillips and Nick Schneider. Only Phillips was actually drafted by the club (166th overall this year). The team has also cut Dennis Kravchenko from the NHL camp, and invited him to their AHL camp (which he accepted). Kravchenko has scored 61 points in 68 games the past two seasons while playing for UMass-Amherst in the NCAA. An undersized winger, he’s trying to follow the path of Johnny Gaudreau and prove offense is more important than stature.
- Team Europe, the overwhelming underdogs of the World Cup, have now advanced to the final series following an overtime win against Team Sweden. Tomas Tatar, the young flashy Red Wings forward scored twice, including the winner, to send home the defensive powerhouse. The makeshift squad will take on Canada in the best-of-three final series, starting Tuesday night.