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Five Key Stories: 10/23/23 – 10/29/23

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The week around the hockey world ended in tragedy, with former Penguins center Adam Johnson passing away.  Meanwhile, it was a busy week across the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.

Draft Changes: A majority of teams have told the league that they would like to decentralize the draft, meaning teams would no longer send large contingents to the draft city and that it would work more like the drafts of the other major league sports.  With that, the NHL’s intention is now to switch formats no later than 2025 with 2024 not being ruled out either.  In our current reader poll, it’s fair to say that this change is not exactly a popular one.

Lots Of Injuries: It has been a tough week on the injury front across the league.  Blackhawks winger Taylor Hall’s shoulder injury isn’t getting better so he’s now on IR and listed as week-to-week.  That’s the same designation for Coyotes winger Jason Zucker who is dealing with a lower-body issue.  At one point, it seemed like Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce was going to be out long-term.  While that’s not the case, he underwent surgery on a lower-body injury and will miss two to four weeks.  Meanwhile, Canadiens blueliner David Savard and Senators rearguard Thomas Chabot both sustained fractured hands that will likely keep them out of their respective lineups until sometime in December.

Pinto Suspension: The bad news in Ottawa didn’t stop with Chabot as the NHL announced that unsigned center Shane Pinto has received a 41-game suspension for activities relating to sports wagering, to quote its press release.  The exact nature of the violation was not revealed publicly with the league noting that Pinto did not bet on NHL games.  The Sens have since rescinded all of their previous contract offers to Pinto, who is now almost certain to sign a low-cost, one-year deal once he is cleared to return in mid-January.  While there is a December 1st deadline for unsigned restricted free agents to sign deals, that rule will be waived for Pinto and the Sens.  Instead of Ottawa potentially getting him back in a week or two, it’ll now be a few more months before that happens.

Retirements: A trio of long-time NHL forwards hung up their skates.  First, after failing to catch on with Anaheim in training camp, winger Zack Kassian retired at the age of 32.  The 13th pick in 2009 played in 661 games over parts of a dozen seasons, collecting 203 points, 913 penalty minutes, and 1,360 hits.  Long-time Montreal center Tomas Plekanec was next to retire; he had been playing for his hometown team in Czechia but suffered an early injury that ended his season prematurely.  The 40-year-old played in 1,001 NHL games, all but 17 of which came with the Canadiens.  Lastly, Joe Thornton officially called it a career at the age of 44.  The top pick back in 1997 last played in 2021-22 and he amassed over 1,500 points in 1,714 games over parts of 24 NHL seasons.  He currently sits 12th in league history in points and sixth in games played.

Bowness Steps Away: The Jets are currently without head coach Rick Bowness as he has taken a leave of absence to be with his wife who suffered a seizure and was hospitalized earlier in the week.  Bowness is in his second season behind the bench in Winnipeg and obviously, there is no timetable for his return.  Associate coach Scott Arniel, who has head coaching experience from his time with Columbus a little more than a decade ago, is currently serving as their interim bench boss.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Adam Johnson Passes Away

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Former NHL forward Adam Johnson has tragically passed away after suffering a major medical emergency during a game last night with the EIHL’s Nottingham Panthers. Nottingham confirmed his passing this morning after Johnson suffered a cut during a game against the Sheffield Steelers last night. The 29-year-old was attended to by medical personnel as fans were asked to leave the arena after the incident had occurred. A statement from Johnson’s former NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, can be found here.

The unfortunate sequence of events started with a collision at center ice that caused Johnson to suffer an injury to his throat. The players from both teams formed a circle around him before screens were brought onto the ice as paramedics attended to him. This morning the Panthers released an official statement saying:

The Nottingham Panthers are truly devastated to announce that Adam Johnson has tragically passed away following a freak accident at the game in Sheffield last night. The club will dearly miss him and will never forget him. Adam, our number 47, was not only an outstanding ice hockey player but also a great team-mate and an incredible person with his whole life ahead of him.

The full statement is available here.

Johnson was born in Minnesota and was in his first season in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) after joining the Panthers this offseason. He began playing as a professional in 2017 after spending two years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he won an NCHC championship in 2017. He spent the first three years of his pro career with the Penguins organization and did dress in some NHL games with the club, posting a goal and three assists in 13 games spread over two NHL seasons. In his AHL career, Johnson dressed in 257 career AHL games with the Ontario Reign, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He registered 50 career AHL goals and 87 assists.

Former NHLer Matt Cullen told Rob Rossi of The Athletic that Johnson was “An unreal kid, just a great guy. A salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. So humble and a very easy person to be around. He’s one of those guys who just loves the game and being around the rink with the guys.”

PHR joins the entire hockey world in mourning the passing of Adam Johnson. Our condolences to the Johnson family and all of his teammates, friends, and peers.

Tomáš Plekanec Announces Retirement

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1001-game NHL veteran Tomáš Plekanec has announced his retirement from the game, via Czech journalist Matěj Hejda. Citing health issues as the reason for his decision, Plekanec ends his playing career several years removed from his last NHL game, after three full, highly productive seasons playing in the Czech Extraliga.

A third-round pick of the Canadiens at the 2001 NHL draft, the versatile center would become one of the faces of the Canadiens franchise in the team’s post-lockout era. After back-to-back AHL All-Star campaigns, Plekanec broke into the league at the age of 23, scoring 29 points in 67 games.

Early in his career, Plekanec was defined by how quickly he climbed the Canadiens’ depth chart.

In his age-24 season, Plekanec scored 20 goals and 47 points, beginning to establish himself as a true top-six center in the NHL.

In his age-25 season, Plekanec had soared to 29 goals and 69 points, a performance that helped the Canadiens to the second round of the playoffs and earned him a third-place Selke Trophy vote.

In 2009-10, Plekanec had the best season of his career, scoring 25 goals and 70 points. He was the top scorer on an underdog Canadiens team that took out two heavyweight Eastern Conference contenders en route to the Conference Finals, helping the Canadiens on their deepest playoff run since their 1993 Stanley Cup championship.

That playoff run marked the beginning of a competitive era for the Canadiens that included three division titles and another run to the Eastern Conference Finals.

By 2017-18, the Canadiens’ decline had mirrored Plekanec’s fading on-ice value, and near the end of that season the Canadiens made the shocking move of trading their beloved two-way center to their arch-nemesis Toronto Maple Leafs.

Plekanec spent a short period of the following campaign with the Canadiens, a move that allowed him to play his 1,000th NHL game with the team before departing for Czechia. This season has been Plekanec’s third as captain of Rytíři Kladno, a team he has also led in scoring during that span.

Beyond just his consistently strong NHL career as a member of the Canadiens, Plekanec also had a highly respectable international career.

He represented Czechia at two World Junior Championships, eleven IIHF Men’s World Championships, and two Winter Olympics.

A valuable leader, Plekanec had the honor of captaining Czechia on multiple occasions, including at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Although a gold medal eluded him as team captain, he won the gold at the 2001 World Juniors and also took home two bronze medals and a silver at the World Championships.

Although it’s unfortunate that health issues have ended Plekanec’s career before he might have wanted to hang up his skates, he nonetheless ends his professional career with so much to be proud of.

He wasn’t the flashiest player, but he was a consistent two-way force. Sporting his signature turtleneck, Plekanec was one of the faces of the most competitive era of hockey in recent Montreal Canadiens history. We at PHR would like to extend our best wishes to Plekanec and his family as he begins his retirement.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. 

Arizona Coyotes Recall Jan Jeník

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The Arizona Coyotes have recalled forward Jan Jeník from their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. Jeník was originally sent down on Wednesday but now he returns to the NHL roster in advance of tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.

PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan wrote on X that Jeník’s recall was likely made for the purpose of him serving as the club’s spare forward for tonight’s game.

Coyotes head coach André Tourigny told the media today that forward Lawson Crouse is sick and is unlikely to play in tonight’s game. So with Crouse likely to miss the contest, veteran Zach Sanford will most probably draw into the lineup in Crouse’s place.

Sanford’s move into the nightly lineup necessitates this Jeník recall so that the team can have an extra forward on its roster as a precaution. The cost of this to the larger Coyotes organization is that Jeník won’t be able to appear with the Roadrunners in their game today against the Bakersfield Condors.

Jeník, 23, has scored at an almost point-per-game rate in Tucson since 2021-22, so not having him in their lineup is a major loss for the Roadrunners.

But the NHL club and its chase of a Central Division playoff spot is of the utmost importance, and this recall gives Tourigny an extra option to work with as he looks to put together a winning formula for tonight’s game against the Kings.

Zack Kassian Announces Retirement

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Zack Kassian has officially ended his playing career, according to a release from the NHLPA.

As part of the release, Kassian issued a statement which reads:

To play in the NHL is one thing, but to make a 12-year career of it is pretty special. From coaches to equipment staff and fellow players I’ve met along the way, I’ve made so many relationships that are going to last a lifetime.

Kassian, 32, signed a PTO with the Anaheim Ducks in August with the hope of making the team and earning a full-time NHL deal.

He ended up released from the PTO, though, and rather than potentially play in the AHL or Europe (which may have been options open to him) Kassian has instead decided to hang up his skates.

The 13th overall pick of the 2009 NHL draft, Kassian’s career was defined by ups and downs. While he never quite became the impactful prototypical power forward at the NHL level that he was drafted to become, he still had a respectable 661-game NHL career with some memorable moments.

A two-time 15-goal scorer, Kassian scored a total of 92 goals and 203 points in his career, to go alongside 913 penalty minutes.

He played in the playoffs in six of his twelve seasons in the NHL and created some memories for Oilers fans in particular, such as with this memorable goal against the Anaheim Ducks in the 2017 Western Conference Semifinals.

Beyond just the NHL, Kassian was an accomplished junior player. Not only did he represent Canada at an IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship tournament, he also took home an OHL championship and a Memorial Cup title.

While Kassian slowed down considerably in recent years (he scored two points in 51 games last season) he did manage to carve out a steady role in the NHL for more than a decade, which is an impressive feat.

We at PHR would like to extend our best wishes to Kassian as enters his retirement.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Penguins Rookie John Ludvig Leaves Game

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that defenseman John Ludvig will not return to tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars. The 23-year-old rookie left the game with an injury after laying a hit on Dallas forward Radek Faksa. The two men appeared to bump heads at high speed as Ludvig stepped up to complete a check. Faksa was able to bounce back up from the hit while Ludvig fell to the ice face-first and did not move.

The good news is that Ludvig was able to leave the ice under his own power, however, the Kamloops, British Columbia native didn’t look steady on his skates as he was escorted by teammates to the bench. It was a sad ending to what was a special night for Ludvig as tonight’s game was his NHL debut.

Ludvig spent three years in the AHL after being drafted in the third round of the 2019 NHL entry draft by the Florida Panthers. The Penguins claimed him off waivers prior to the start of the season and have kept him with the big club, although he had only practiced with the team prior to tonight. Today he was inserted into the lineup to replace healthy scratch Chad Ruhwedel.

The Penguins have offered no update on Ludvig’s condition yet and are saying that they will provide updates at a later time. The young defender had shown aggressiveness and physicality during his limited time on the ice, and it was something the Penguins desperately needed to add to their lineup. Hopefully, for both Ludvig and the Penguins he will be okay and able to get back into the lineup sooner than later.

Poll: Which Is The Most Surprising Team To Start The Year?

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A little over a week and a half into the 2023-24 NHL season, it’s still tough to gauge for most teams where they will end up in the standings in April. Between teams reaching well beyond expectations, and other teams reaching well short, there have been a handful of surprises out of the gate.

By far and away the team most dramatically outperforming expectations is the Detroit Red Wings. Led by Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin, the Red Wings bring a 5-1-0 record into tonight’s game against the Seattle Kraken, looking to extend their winning streak to six games. Detroit had primarily been projected as a fringe playoff candidate coming out of the Eastern Conference this year, but with DeBrincat and Larkin one and two in league scoring, respectively, and the Red Wings leading the entire NHL in GF/G, their offense could easily carry them to postseason hockey.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Edmonton Oilers have failed to deliver on some lofty expectations coming into this season. After finishing sixth in the league standings last year thanks to a generational season by superstar Connor McDavid, as well as losing to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions in back-to-back postseasons, the Oilers were considered the third likeliest team to win the Cup by Vegas oddsmakers. Nevertheless, the team has gotten off to a 1-3-1 start, in large part due to the subpar play of their defensive core and goaltenders.

In a similar vein to the Oilers, the Carolina Hurricanes had incredibly high expectations heading into this season, carrying some of the best defensive depth in the entirety of the NHL. The Hurricanes still have plenty of time to recover from a 3-3-0 start, but they will need their goaltending to bounce back in a big way. After finishing second in the NHL last season in terms of GA/P, Carolina now sits alone in last place to start the 2023-24 campaign. Combining the trio of Frederik Andersen, Antti Raanta, and Pyotr Kochetkov, the Hurricanes goaltending trio holds a 3-3-0 record, with a .833 SV% and a 4.50 GAA.

So there you have it, even though the season is young, there are still plenty of emerging storylines to follow throughout the season. Now it’s time for the vote, which team do you think is off to the most surprising start?

Minor Transactions: 10/23/23

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It figures to be a quiet day in the NHL with just a single game on the docket this evening. However, across the hockey world things have been busy as usual. In Switzerland, the ZSC Lions have made news by extending several players to multi-year contract extensions including a couple of former NHLers. The Lions currently sit in second place in the Swiss National League with 11 wins in their first 15 games.

Although the NHL schedule has just one game this evening, the world of pro hockey is busy today and therefore so is the transaction wire. We’ll keep track of notable player movement here.

  • The ZSC Lions announced a two-year extension with former NHL defenseman Yannick Weber. The 35-year-old veteran of 499 NHL games last played in the NHL during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, dressing in two games with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Over the course of his 13-year NHL career, Weber posted 28 goals and 94 points while playing primarily as a sixth or seventh defenseman. Since returning home, Weber has dressed in 116 games with the Lions, posting nine goals and 22 assists.
  • The ZSC Lions also extended defenseman Mikko Lehtonen on a two-year deal. The former Toronto Maple Leafs rearguard spent one season in the NHL split between the Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets where he posted six assists in 26 games during the shortened 2020-21 season. The Turka, Finland native is in his second season with the Lions and was solid last year with seven goals and 23 assists in 52 games. This year he has 11 points in the first 15 games as he has continued to produce strong offensive numbers from the back end.

This page may be updated throughout the day. 

Five Key Stories: 10/16/23 – 10/22/23

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The beginning of the NHL season was full of big signings.  This past week didn’t have any of that as instead, it was headlined by plenty of injuries.

Out For The Year: After having a breakout season that was still limited by injuries, hopes were high for Canadiens center Kirby Dach this year.  However, his campaign came to an early end as he suffered a season-ending torn ACL and MCL last weekend against Chicago.  He will undergo surgery once the swelling subsides.  The 22-year-old had a career-best 38 points last season despite only playing in 58 games, a decent first impression after being acquired from the Blackhawks at the draft.  He’ll have to wait a while to make his second impression now.

Extension Progress: Noah Hanifin’s willingness to sign an extension in Calgary (or perceived lack thereof) has been a key discussion point for several months now.  At one point, it looked like he wasn’t interested, then he was, then he wasn’t again.  Now, a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests that Hanifin is indeed willing to work on a new deal and that some progress has been made on that front.  The 26-year-old has been a reliable part of the back end for the Flames for the past five seasons (plus the first couple of weeks of this year) and is set to earn a considerable raise on his current $4.95MM AAV.

Four For Andersson: Still with Calgary, the first notable suspension of the 2023-24 campaign is in the books as Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson received a four-game ban for his elbow on Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine.  The hit occurred in the dying seconds of Friday’s game while Laine is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.  Andersson and the NHLPA have decided to appeal the ruling.  Unlike in some other leagues, players can’t play while they’re appealing so Andersson sat out the first game on Sunday against Detroit.  The appeal will be heard by Commissioner Gary Bettman and given how long it typically takes for a hearing with him, it’s possible the appeal might wind up primarily being to try to mitigate some of the forfeited salary of nearly $95K.  If the suspension stands, the last game he’ll have to sit out is the Heritage Classic (an outdoor game against Edmonton) next weekend.

More Injuries: Another player who will likely miss the Heritage Classic is Oilers center Connor McDavid.  He left Saturday’s game against Winnipeg late in the third period with an upper-body injury.  The good news for Edmonton is that he won’t be out for long (just one to two weeks) but with the Oilers struggling out of the gate this season with just a single win in their first five games, McDavid’s absence won’t help matters.  Meanwhile, Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi will miss the next four to six weeks with a sprained MCL.  The 24-year-old was a key part of the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade this summer but was injured in just his third game of the season.

Seattle Injuries: It has been a tough start to the season for the Kraken as they have just one win in their first six games.  Things are going to get harder for them with a pair of longer-term injuries on the wings.  First, Brandon Tanev will miss four to six weeks with a lower-body injury.  The 31-year-old was coming off a career year with 35 points while chipping in with 190 hits and will be missed on their third line.  Meanwhile, Andre Burakovsky will miss six to eight weeks with an upper-body injury.  The 28-year-old was productive in limited action last season with 39 points in 49 games and was being counted on to be a big part of Seattle’s attack this year.  Those plans will be on hold for now.  Tanev has been placed on IR while Burakovsky will be heading there soon enough as well.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: NHL Draft Format, Phil Kessel, Jesse Puljujarvi

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NHL teams have begun requesting that the draft be decentralized, so front offices have more time to prepare for the draft and free agency in their home markets, rather than needing to travel to the draft city. On TSN’s latest Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun shared that the league sent a memo out to teams on Wednesday of this week discussing this idea, requesting that all teams vote on it by Tuesday of next week. Pierre shared that he’s heard from over a dozen teams on this topic and is expecting that the league will ultimately vote in favor of the change. If this decision goes through, the NHL Draft could mirror the NFL or NBA Draft, where players are greeted by the commissioner after being selected, while teams draft from their own offices.

Insider Trading co-panelist Chris Johnston added that the NHL is confident in their ability to find a location for the 2024 NHL Draft, with the new Vegas sphere as a top option. Even if the sphere doesn’t work out, Vegas still sounds like the league’s preferred host city, with the NHL already identifying alternate locations in the city. If nothing in Vegas pans out, Johnston mentions two unnamed cities are also in the running.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Johnston also spoke about Phil Kessel’s continuing free agency on Insider Trading, sharing that the forward is generating NHL interest and could ink a deal soon. Kessel is the NHL’s current iron man, with a consecutive game streak stretching over 1000 games. But Johnston says that isn’t important for Kessel in his new deal, he just wants to play through the year. Kessel scored 14 goals and 36 points with Vegas last season, en route to his third Stanley Cup win. The 36-year-old winger is eight points away from his 1,000th NHL point.
  • In addition to discussing Kessel on Insider Trading, Johnston also touched on Jesse Puljujarvi’s free agency in a recent article for The Athletic. He shared that Puljujarvi, who is recovering from surgery on both hips, is slated for a return in late November or early December and could be receiving a lot of interest from NHL clubs. Puljujarvi split time between the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes last season, playing in 75 games and notching a mere 16 points. He’s continuing to train in Finland while he recovers from injury.

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