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San Jose Sharks Remove Seven Players From COVID Protocol

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As suggested by the team’s AHL assignments this morning, the San Jose Sharks have removed seven players from the COVID protocol. Kevin Labanc, Erik Karlsson, Timo Meier, Jacob Middleton, Matthew Nieto, Radim Simek, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic have all been removed from the protocol and added back to the active roster. Head coach Bob Boughner, head trainer Ray Tufts and equipment manager Mike Aldrich have also all been removed from the protocol.

Sasha Chmelevski, Joel Kellman, Artemi Kniazev, John Leonard, Ryan Merkley, Jaycob Megna, and Nicolas Meloche have all been assigned to the AHL. Nicholas Merkley, who had also been recalled with this group, remains with San Jose for the time being.

It’s obviously a huge moment for the Sharks, as they receive a good portion of their regular lineup back in time for tomorrow’s game against the Colorado Avalanche. The team is sitting at 7-5-1 on the season and is still well within striking range of the division playoff spots. Getting back key options like Labanc, Karlsson and Meier will only help them as they try to chase down the teams ahead of them.

Activating the group from the protocol is also a good sign that the team has this outbreak behind them, or at least contained. The activated players were actually able to skate in recent days, though they would not have been able to join the team in Canada given their recent positive tests. They’ll now be able to join the group in Denver, nearly two weeks after originally entering the protocol.

AHL Shuffle: 11/12/21

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Five games on a Friday for the NHL, including the seemingly unstoppable duo of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid visiting the Buffalo Sabres. The pair have now combined for 50 points through the first 12 Oilers games, and are joined by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at the top of the league’s assist table. As those teams and the rest prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling:

Atlantic Division

  • Oskar Steen has earned a recall with his strong play in the AHL. The Boston Bruins have announced that the hard-working forward has been promoted after getting off to stellar start in Providence with a team-leading ten points in seven games. Several Bruins forwards are not playing at full strength and others are under-performing, leaving opportunity open for Steen’s energetic style to make a mark.

Metropolitan Division

Central Division

  • The Minnesota Wild have sent Kyle Rau back to the AHL for the time being, opening up a roster spot on an off day. The team plays tomorrow night in Seattle, and it seems likely that there will be a recall of some sort before that happens. Rau, 29, has played in three games for Minnesota this season.
  • The Dallas Stars have officially sent Blake Comeau and Tanner Kero to the AHL after they cleared waivers today, recalling Jacob Peterson in their place. Peterson, 22, scored one goal in six games with the Stars earlier this year and has been a force at the minor league level so far.
  • Rocco Grimaldi, the other player who cleared waivers today, has been assigned to the AHL by the Nashville Predators. Grimaldi hasn’t played in the AHL since 2018-19 but was a very strong contributor the last time he was down there.

Pacific Division

  • The San Jose Sharks might be out of the woods with their COVID situation, as Sasha Chmelevski, Joel Kellman, Artemi Kniazev, John Leonard, Jaycob Megna, and Ryan Merkley have all been returned to the San Jose Barracuda. The Sharks were able to hold their heads above water over the last several games and will now try to get back on track for a playoff spot in the division.
  • With Tucker Poolman likely facing a suspension, the Vancouver Canucks have recalled Madison Bowey from Abbotsford. The group was run out of the building last night by the Avalanche, but now must try and regroup for a game against the Golden Knights tomorrow night.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Braydon Coburn Announces Retirement

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After a long, successful career, Braydon Coburn is hanging up his skates. The veteran defenseman announced his retirement today, issuing a statement through the NHLPA:

Walking into NHL buildings for the last 16 years, surrounded by hockey’s greatest players, coaches, management, trainers, officials, and fans, has been an incredible privilege. I’m very proud to have come into the league as an Atlanta Thrasher, proudly wore the orange and black as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers, won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning and finished my career with the Ottawa Senators and the New York Islanders.

Thank you to my parents, grandparents, and siblings for the sacrifices you made helping me realize my NHL dream. Thank you to my minor hockey coaches for always making the game fun, and countless others that taught me how awesome it was to be a part of a team. I would also like to send a sincere thank you to my teammates, friends and family, especially my wife, Nadine, my daughter, Rory, and my son, Blair, for their patience, support and unwavering love. I’m thankful for the amazing people I have met along the way, and I am very excited for what is to come.

Coburn, 36, split last season between the Senators and Islanders, playing in 19 games total. Before that, he had spent several years with Tampa Bay, where he won a Stanley Cup in 2020. Though he was just a depth player by then, that certainly wasn’t the case for most of his career. For nine years in Philadelphia, Coburn averaged nearly 22 minutes a night, logging time in basically every situation. A huge, physical specimen standing at 6’5″, he was also talented enough with the puck to run a powerplay early in his career.

Over 983 regular season games, Coburn racked up 234 points, 720 penalty minutes, and more than 1,400 hits. He participated in the World Championship for Tema Canada on two occasions and was part of the 2005 World Junior squad that is considered one of the greatest groups of all time.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Tucker Poolman To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Department of Player Safety has some more work to do, as Tucker Poolman will have a hearing today following his high-sticking incident last night.

After absorbing a check from Kiefer Sherwood, Poolman swung his stick and connected with the Colorado forward’s head. Poolman was issued a game misconduct and a match penalty, one that comes with an automatic review from the league. That will likely be followed by a suspension of some sort, meaning that Vancouver will be without the defenseman for the next game at least.

The Canucks are already without Travis Hamonic as they travel through a U.S. road trip. With Poolman now likely missing, they’ll have an even thinner depth chart on defense. The team was already embarrassed on the scoresheet by the Avalanche, losing 7-1, and now will head into Vegas and Anaheim before returning home.

Artem Zub Leaves Game With Upper-Body Injury

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Things continue to get worse in terms of the amount of personnel available for the Ottawa Senators. Defenseman Artem Zub left Thursday’s game against Los Angeles with an upper-body injury, and head coach D.J. Smith says there’s “no update” on his status.

Ottawa is already without nine players due to COVID-19 protocol, including defensemen Nikita Zaitsev, Josh Brown, Victor Mete, and Nick Holden. The team is down to just nine healthy defensemen under NHL contracts now, as Jacob Bernard-Docker, Maxence Guenette, and Jonathan Aspirot remain with AHL Belleville.

The team’s depth is stretched extremely thin, as many young players are now getting NHL time sooner than expected. 2019 first-round selection Lassi Thomson made his NHL debut Thursday in place of Zaitsev.

If Zub is to miss any period of time, Bernard-Docker is the obvious choice to come up from Belleville. The 21-year-old right-shot defenseman does not require waivers and got into five games with the Senators at the tail end of last season.

Zub himself was having a great start to the 2021-22 season, notching five assists in 12 games while working his way up to the team’s top pairing with Thomas Chabot. He’s been Ottawa’s most responsible defenseman since joining the team prior to 2020-21, now averaging nearly 23 minutes a night this season.

Matvey Petrov Signs With Edmonton Oilers

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November 11: The terms of Petrov’s contract were released by CapFriendly today. The three-year, entry-level deal carries a cap hit of $843,333 per season. The year-by-year breakdown is as follows:

2021-22: $750,000 base salary, $85,000 signing bonus, $15,000 performance bonus, $75,000 minors salary
2022-23: $750,000 base salary, $85,000 signing bonus, $15,000 performance bonus, $75,000 minors salary
2023-24: $775,000 base salary, $85,000 signing bonus, $75,000 minors salary

November 10: The Edmonton Oilers have signed prospect Matvey Petrov to a three-year, entry-level contract according to his agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. The 18-year-old forward is currently playing with the North Bay Battalion of the OHL, where he will remain for the rest of this season.

Petrov, the 180th overall pick in the 2021 draft, has lit up the OHL competition to this point, scoring 10 goals and 18 points in his first 14 games for North Bay. Those ten goals tie Petrov for fifth in the OHL, and he has recorded the eighth-most shots on goal as well. The 6’2″ forward was coming off an impressive MHL performance when he fell to the sixth round, scoring 42 points last season in the Russian junior league. His performance in the OHL so far is promising, though there’s certainly still a lot of work to do before he glimpses NHL action.

Still, signing his entry-level deal already is a solid first step for the young forward. The contract will slide for this year and could again next year, should he return to junior or is assigned overseas. In all likelihood, Petrov’s new deal will keep him under contract through the 2025-26 season, after which he would be scheduled for restricted free agency. His deal also won’t count toward Edmonton’s 50-contract limit, since he’s already assigned to junior.

Snapshots: Rask, Housley, Carrier

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TSN’s Chris Johnston notes on Thursday’s edition of Insider Trading that free agent goaltender Tuukka Rask is working his way back after offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum and could be ready to return to game action as soon as January. Johnston notes specifically that Rask could be an option for Team Finland at the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, potentially a huge boost to an already strong Finnish program. While Johnston reports that Rask’s main focus in his “mind and his heart” remains with the Boston Bruins, the door isn’t completely closed on other options, either. Regardless, it’s good to see one of the league’s best goalies of his generation working his way back to health for what could be his last chance at a championship.

More notes from around the league:

  • Arizona Coyotes assistant coach Phil Housley has entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol, per the team’s public relations department. He won’t travel with the team on their upcoming road trip. He’ll miss three games, including a back-to-back set against the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators this Friday and Saturday. Arizona’s next home game is a week from today against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and pending test results, Housley could be available to return then.
  • According to the team, Nashville Predators defenseman Alexandre Carrier is out for Thursday night’s game against the St. Louis Blues with an upper-body injury. The Predators note that he’ll be evaluated further when the team returns home. Carrier blocked a shot that hit him up high during Wednesday night’s game against the Dallas Stars and did not return.

Alex Formenton, Matt Murray, Nikita Zaitsev Placed In COVID Protocol

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5:27 pm: Per the Senators’ communications team, defenseman Nikita Zaitsev has also been placed in COVID-19 protocol just a half-hour ahead of Thursday’s game. Lassi Thomson will make his NHL debut tonight in place of Zaitsev.

9:35 am: Another day, another pair of unavailable players for the Ottawa Senators. The team has announced that Alex Formenton and Matt Murray have been placed in the COVID protocol. Andrew Agozzino, Dillon Heatherington, and Lassi Thomson have all been recalled from the AHL as tonight’s game is still currently scheduled to proceed.

Formenton and Murray join a growing list of players in the protocol for Ottawa, which also includes Connor Brown, Victor Mete, Austin Watson, Nick Holden, Dylan Gambrell, Josh Brown, and assistant coach Jack Capuano. That is a huge chunk of the team, including several important pieces. The Senators are scheduled to play the Los Angeles Kings this evening, before welcoming in the Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames for a back-to-back over the weekend.

The team did not confirm whether Formenton and Murray tested positive, only that they have been entered into the protocol.

In terms of call-ups, Thomson is certainly an interesting one given his experience to this point. The 21-year-old defenseman has yet to play a game at the NHL level, but is showing well in the minor leagues. Selected 19th overall in 2019, he has two points in six games with the Belleville Senators this season.

League Notes: Nash, All-Star Events, DeAngelo

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The Columbus Blue Jackets will retire Rick Nash’s No. 61 on March 5, 2022, raising it to the rafters of Nationwide Arena. This will be the first number retired in Blue Jackets history, but certainly makes sense given Nash’s place on the club’s all-time leaderboards.

First in goals, assists, points, and games played, Nash was the original superstar for the club, winning the Rocket Richard Trophy in just his second season in the NHL. He would move on to New York and then Boston during a 15-year playing career, but returned to Columbus to work as a special advisor in 2019 and is now the team’s director of player development. Even if you weren’t a Blue Jackets fan, jaw-dropping moments like Nash’s goal against the Arizona Coyotes put the club on the national stage.

  • The league is considering two new All-Star events on the Las Vegas Strip, according to Greg Wyshynski of ESPN. The upcoming All-Star festivities will be held in Las Vegas on February 4-5, and undoubtedly have some new flare thanks to the city that’s putting them on. The traditional skills competitions, Wyshynski reports, would still be held inside T-Mobile Arena and these new events would have a “Vegas touch to them.”
  • Tony DeAngelo has been issued a $2,000 fine for diving/embellishment, which is the penalty for the player’s second incident of the season. He was first issued a warning following an incident on October 31, and then received this fine for one on November 6. While this kind of fine doesn’t seem like much when compared to an NHL salary, upon a team’s fifth incident in one season, the head coach is also given a fine. It’s never good to take money from the pocket of the person who controls your ice time.

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