Nazem Kadri Suspended Eight Games
The Department of Player Safety has reached a decision regarding Nazem Kadri and the Colorado Avalanche forward will not be available to the team for a while. Kadri has been issued an eight-game suspension for his hit on St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk. As the accompanying video explains:
It is important to note that while we accept Kadri’s arguement that he was attempting to deliver a full body check, the head was the main point of contact on this hit. While Kadri does make some contact with Faulk’s right shoulder and chest, the brunt of this impact is absorbed by the head of Faulk.
Kadri, 30, had already been suspended five times in his career before this incident, which occurred on Wednesday night in game two of the first-round series between the Avalanche and Blues. A five-minute major was assessed and Kadri was given a match penalty, which initiates an automatic review from the league. Faulk, who was immediately taken from the game, will not play in game three tonight but head coach Craig Berube did tell reporters including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic there is a “chance” he returns at some point in this series.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong spoke with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and indicated that though he doesn’t believe the time is now, a meaningful discussion about the state of player safety in the league needs to be had. He pointed directly to the hit on Robert Bortuzzo which also caused an injury but did not receive any supplementary discipline. Armstrong “isn’t looking to make headlines” according to LeBrun, but is “genuinely concerned.”
Kadri meanwhile will be replaced in the Avalanche lineup by Carl Soderberg for tonight’s game, a trade deadline acquisition that has played just 11 games since returning to the organization. Though Colorado has a stranglehold on the series after outscoring the Blues 10-4 in the first two games (both Avalanche wins), Kadri’s absence will be significant. The veteran center recorded 32 points in 56 games this season, averaging more than 16 minutes a night. Only Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen logged more powerplay time among Avalanche forwards.
In 2013, Kadri was suspended three games for interference. In 2015, he was given a four-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Matt Fraser. In 2016, he was suspended the final four games of the regular season for a cross-check to the face of Luke Glendening. In the 2018 playoffs he received a three-game suspension for boarding Tommy Wingels. The following year he was suspended in the playoffs again, this time for the remainder of the first round (five games) for a cross-check on Jake Debrusk.
Colorado Recalls Eight Players
With Colorado’s AHL team falling 5-1 to San Jose in Wednesday’s play-in game, the Avalanche have made their end-of-season recalls to join their ‘Black Aces’. Per CapFriendly, the following players have been brought up from the Eagles:
Goalies: Justus Annunen, Adam Werner
Defensemen: Kyle Burroughs, Keaton Middleton
Forwards: Martin Kaut, Sampo Ranta, Miikka Salomaki, T.J. Tynan
The majority of these players likely won’t see any action for the Avs during the postseason barring a rash of injuries but will continue to skate to stay in playing shape unless they’re called upon. Three of the eight – Burroughs, Middleton, and Kaut – saw NHL action this season with Burroughs being the only one to record a point, notching an assist in five games. Among the others, Annunen and Ranta are two of their better prospects but are highly unlikely to suit up and are just up for the experience.
Tynan was one of the top scorers in the AHL this season, averaging an assist per game while picking up eight goals in 27 contests. Among players who played in at least 20 games this season, his 1.30 points per game average was the best in the league. Salomaki has the most NHL experience among the group with 167 appearances spread across six seasons with Nashville but hasn’t yet had an opportunity to suit up for Colorado.
Injury Updates: Miller, Hintz, Arvidsson, Tanev
Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller was taken to hospital for scans and further evaluation following an injury sustained on a hit from Washington blueliner Dmitry Orlov in tonight’s Game Four, the team announced (Twitter link). A video of the hit can be seen here. Orlov was initially given a major penalty on the play but it was subsequently dropped to a double-minor before play resumed.
Other injury notes from around the NHL:
- Stars forward Roope Hintz has undergone successful surgery to repair his left adductor tendon that was injured back in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, relays Saad Yousuf of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 24-year-old was basically a game-time decision for the majority of the season and while he did miss 15 games, he was still quite strong offensively, notching a career-high 43 points while finishing third in scoring for Dallas. He is expected to make a full recovery in time for training camp in the fall and considering the year he had while playing injured, there is certainly cause for optimism for him finding another level offensively next season.
- Predators winger Viktor Arvidsson was a late scratch in their third game against Carolina with the team announcing (Twitter link) that he’s dealing with an upper-body injury. He was fifth in scoring this season for Nashville with 25 points in 50 games and is listed as day-to-day. Calle Jarnkrok, who missed Game Two with an illness, took Arvidsson’s place in the lineup.
- Flames defenseman Chris Tanev has had tough luck with injuries over the years and while he played in all 56 games this season, it turns out he was far from healthy. Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson notes that the blueliner was dealing with a pair of broken ribs and a torn pectoral muscle by the end of the year but preferred to stay in the lineup and play through it rather than get an early start to his offseason. Tanev’s first year in Calgary was a good one as he was able to adapt to playing a bigger role in the lineup (he was second in ATOI among Flames defenders) and while he clearly wasn’t healthy, he didn’t miss a game for the second straight year.
Offseason Checklist: Columbus Blue Jackets
The offseason has arrived with roughly half of the league finished up after missing the playoffs. It’s time to examine what those teams need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Columbus.
After eliminating Toronto in the Qualifying Round last season, there was supposed to be a bit of momentum for the Blue Jackets heading into 2020-21. However, that was quickly derailed by a trade request from Pierre-Luc Dubois and Gustav Nyqvist being ruled out for the season before it even began. Things basically only went downhill from there and instead of being in the mix for a playoff spot, they will be picking much higher in the draft than they wanted to. Now two years removed from their all-in push, GM Jarmo Kekalainen and the recently re-hired John Davidson have a lot of work to do this offseason to retain and supplement their new core.
Find A New Coach
Let’s get the easy one out of the way. Columbus has a vacancy behind the bench following the recent parting of ways between them and John Tortorella whose contract was not renewed. (On top of that, Brad Shaw, one of their assistant coaches, won’t be back either.)
As coaching cycles tend to alternate between tougher coaches and ones viewed as more of ‘players’ coaches’, it would seem that Kekalainen would be seeking someone in the latter category. The GM has already expressed an openness to hiring a first-time NHL head coach or someone who has held that title before so they’ll be casting a wide net.
One element Kekalainen will likely try to focus on is finding a coach who is going to play a more up-tempo system. Columbus struggled mightily in the offensive zone this season and while part of that is simply a lack of offensive firepower, some of the better forwards they had are coming off of tough seasons. Finding someone who can get more out of those players would certainly help their cause.
Extensions For Defensemen
While Columbus has seen their forward core get progressively weaker the past couple of years, that hasn’t been the case on the back end as their two stalwarts – Seth Jones and Zach Werenski – remain with the team. Both of them are signed for next season already but that’s it. As a result, they’ll be eligible to sign contract extensions once the 2021-22 calendar officially begins in July and Kekalainen will undoubtedly be looking to get new deals done with both of them.
Jones needs to be the priority of the two given his expiration status as he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency at the end of next season. His offensive numbers have dipped the last couple of years but he still managed to put up five goals and 23 assists in 56 games while averaging more than 25 minutes a night for the third straight year. He’s a legitimate top-pairing defenseman and will be in line for a significant raise on his current $5.4MM AAV. At 26, he’s in the prime of his career and should be able to command a max-term contract of eight years. He won’t come close to the highest-paid blueliners in the league but something in the $8MM range would appear to be doable.
As for Werenski, he will be a restricted free agent with another year of team control but that will already carry a premium price as his qualifying offer jumps to $7MM despite a $5MM AAV. It’s not that the price tag is daunting at that level but if you’re Werenski, it wouldn’t be worth accepting less than that on an extension knowing that much is already locked in for 2022-23. He is the better offensive player than Jones but isn’t as good in his own end and doesn’t play quite as much. However, he’s also in the prime of his career and is a viable top pairing player so he should be able to command a similar price tag as Jones.
While deals in that range would represent a substantial increase in cost, it’s one that they’d be wise to pay. That’s a strong defensive core to build around and they don’t even have $21MM in salary commitments for 2022-23; they have one of the cleanest cap situations in the league for that year. They can afford to do it.
New Deal For Laine
The trade of Dubois to Winnipeg brought back two forwards. One wound up finishing tied for second in team scoring while the other struggled offensively. Patrik Laine was supposed to become the go-to scorer for the Blue Jackets but instead, it was Jack Roslovic who thrived while Laine struggled considerably. He had just 10 goals in 45 games with his new team and while those numbers are certainly lower due to the pandemic-shortened season, it’s still worth noting that it was only an 18-goal pace over a full 82-game campaign. For someone that had at least 30 in each of his first three NHL seasons and played at a similar pace when COVID-19 put an early end to the 2019-20 campaign, that’s a substantial drop.
From Laine’s perspective, it was also an untimely one as the 23-year-old will be a restricted free agent this summer. This was supposed to be the year that helped him earn a long-term, lucrative contract. But after a year like this, there will definitely be questions about how much a deal that buys out several UFA years should cost.
At a minimum, we can comfortably say it will cost at least $7.5MM. With his bridge deal being backloaded, that’s the minimum required qualifying offer and while Laine didn’t have a season worthy of that level of production, there’s no way they’re non-tendering him. Has he done enough to earn more than that though? Is he willing to sign a long-term deal for that amount, even in this flat-cap market? Is he willing to sign a long-term deal in Columbus? (His comments at the end of the season seemed to suggest he would.) Is Kekalainen willing to do that type of contract or would he prefer a one-year pact to see how he fits in with a new coach and a new system?
There are undoubtedly plenty of questions, certainly more than either side would have hoped for when the trade was made. With Laine having arbitration eligibility this summer, they will have to be answered somewhere around the middle of August at the latest.
Add Impact Center
If this sounds like a familiar headline when it comes to Columbus, it’s because it is. Unfortunately for the Blue Jackets, it’s an even bigger issue now.
Kekalainen tried to address the issue last summer when he brought in Max Domi from Montreal. While he was coming off of a down season, he was only a year removed from a 72-point season so there was optimism that he’d be able to bounce back. A one-two punch of Dubois and Domi wouldn’t challenge for the best in the league but there seemed to be some legitimate offensive upside there. Except that didn’t happen. Dubois wanted out and was eventually obliged while Domi struggled even more than a year ago, putting up the lowest per-game numbers of his career while collecting just 24 points in 54 games. To make matters worse, he spent time on the wing as well.
Now, their one-two punch is Roslovic, a player who had mostly been a winger in the NHL before getting to Columbus and Domi. Boone Jenner is a capable third liner while Alexandre Texier has top-six upside but hasn’t put it all together. There’s a case to be made here that they could use two impact centers but in a free agent market where there aren’t many available, that would be tough to do. It may have to come from a trade but another notable addition down the middle is certainly required.
Pick A Goalie
The good news is that the Blue Jackets have a good goalie tandem in Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins. It’s a homegrown duo and they combine for a $6.8MM cap hit which is the league median. They don’t even have to worry about losing one to Seattle in expansion as Merzlikins is exempt having just come off his second NHL season.
The bad news is that both goalies are set to become unrestricted free agents next summer. Speculatively, it stands to reason that neither of them will be content with being in a platoon beyond that as both have aspirations of being a starting goalie. Both of them have shown flashes of that already. At some point over the next year or so, they need to pick who they want to keep.
Having said that, the in-season trade market for rental goalies has been minimal for years now. That probably isn’t going to change next year. Accordingly, Kekalainen’s best chance at extracting reasonable value for one of them on the trade front would be over the next couple of months before money starts to be spent in free agency. To that end, in his end-of-season media availability with reporters including Jeff Svoboda of the Blue Jackets’ team site, Merzlikins indicated that he’s expecting an uncertain summer with it seeming unlikely that both goalies will be content with the current situation.
As a result, that pick of who is going to be their goalie of the future may have to come sooner than later and could be dependent simply on if one is willing to sign now versus preferring to wait things out. It’s certainly shaping up to be a very busy offseason for Columbus.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Cap information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Snapshots: Tavares, Bodie, Da Costa
With John Tavares now resting at home following his scary injury last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs must continue without their captain for the time being. The team confirmed that he suffered a concussion and everyone that watched last night’s frightening episode is just hoping Tavares can get back to full health. The 30-year-old has felt the support from the hockey community. He released a statement this afternoon through Twitter:
The support I’ve felt since last night cannot be put into words. I’m thankful to share that I’m back home and recovering. Thank you to my family, friends, teammates, the Maple Leafs organization, Leafs Nation and the hockey community for being by my side.
Also, thank you to both medical teams, emergency services and everyone at St. Mike’s Hospital for their exceptional care to help me get back on my feet.
I look forward to when I can wear the Maple Leaf on my chest again. Until then, I’ll be cheering on the boys along with Leafs Nation as we compete in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Maple Leafs will bring Pierre Engvall and Alex Galchenyuk into the lineup for game two tomorrow night, scratching newcomer Riley Nash after just one game with the team. Tavares’ absence will be felt throughout the entire lineup, with trade deadline acquisition Nick Foligno taking his spot in the middle of the second line.
- Troy Bodie, who served as the Maple Leafs’ director of pro scouting, has moved on to the Seattle Kraken organization, taking a position as director of hockey and business operations for their AHL affiliate in Palm Springs. Bodie is married to the daughter of Tim Leiweke, former Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment CEO, and current CEO of the Oak View Group, which is involved in the ownership and management of the Kraken properties.
- Stephane Da Costa, who last played in the NHL during the 2013-14 season, has once again re-signed in the KHL. The 31-year-old inked a new two-year deal with Yekaterinburg after his outstanding 57-point season for Ak Bars Kazan in 2020-21. Da Costa has been a star in the KHL for several seasons, making the league All-Star Game on three different occasions.
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 05/21/21
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:
Pittsburgh – TBA
St. Louis – David Perron, Nathan Walker
Winnipeg – TBA
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: Jake Walman, St Louis Blues
Walman rejoined his teammates at practice this morning but will not play tonight after spending the last few weeks in the COVID protocol. It is very good news that he has been removed, especially as the Blues were down to the final defenseman in the organization. Still, Perron’s absence is more important to the team who find themselves down two games to none.
Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
The playoffs have begun, even though the 2020-21 regular season isn’t actually over for the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames. Still, those games are more like tryouts for young players than competitive NHL action, meaning the focus is on the postseason from here on out.
With that in mind, it’s time to run another edition of the PHR Mailbag. If you missed the last one, it was broken into two pieces. The first part looked at the future for Taylor Hall, some expansion draft complications, and the Selke Trophy vote. The second discussed the unproven goaltending situation in Pittsburgh, Seattle’s first star, and which dark horses could make a run during the playoffs.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run this weekend.
Vancouver Canucks Will Consider Buyouts This Offseason
When the Vancouver Canucks signed Loui Eriksson to a six-year, $36MM contract on July 1, 2016, it was almost immediately met with concern from many who believed it would not go well. After all, Eriksson was going to turn 31 just a few weeks after inking the deal and was coming off a year which saw him shoot 16.3% to rack up 30 goals. Still, there was some hope that he would be able to age gracefully and be a solid contributor throughout the deal, even if he wasn’t a first-line option. After one season in Vancouver, it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen.
Eriksson wasn’t the only bad contract handed out on that day. Milan Lucic, Andrew Ladd, David Backes, Kyle Okposo, and others were also given long-term deals that haven’t panned out, but the Canucks winger has been the poster boy for that disastrous free agent class. Through five seasons in Vancouver he has scored 38 goals and 90 points in 252 games, has cleared waivers twice, and spent almost the entire 2020-21 campaign on the taxi squad. Canucks fans have been clamoring for an Eriksson buyout for years now, but as we examined just two days after it was originally signed, the structure of the contract made it relatively buyout-proof.
At today’s end-of-season media availability, Vancouver GM Jim Benning indicated to reporters including Thomas Drance of The Athletic that the team will explore buyouts this offseason. While the mind may immediately jump to Eriksson when Benning mentions the buyout process, the now 35-year-old forward actually doesn’t seem the most likely candidate.
That structure that made Eriksson’s deal so difficult to buy out in previous years is still there, and the Canucks would still be on the hook for a $4MM cap hit next season if they bought him out this summer. They would also face a $1MM cap hit in 2022-23. By moving Eriksson to the minor leagues, they can already bury $1.125MM of his cap hit next season (the amount will increase because the league minimum salary is moving to $750K), more than half of the buyout savings but without the 2022-23 penalty.
So if not Eriksson, who else could face the buyout machine?
Jake Virtanen, who finished the season with just five goals and zero assists in 38 games this season is an option. Because he is still just 24, the Canucks would be on the hook for only one-third of the remaining salary on his contract. It would mean carrying a $50K cap hit in 2021-22 and $500K in 2022-23. Virtanen has shown flashes of top-line potential since being selected sixth overall in 2014, but they have come far too infrequently. Antoine Roussel is another candidate, but like in the Eriksson situation, thanks to a front-loaded contract a buyout wouldn’t actually save much more than simply waiving him and stashing him in the minor leagues. The Canucks would be on the hook for a cap hit of $1.73MM (compared to a $1.875MM if stashed in the minors) in 2021-22 and $633K in 2022-23 with a Roussel buyout.
Even though the Canucks are in salary cap trouble, there aren’t actually a ton of obvious candidates for buyouts this summer. Instead, they may have to try and trade some of the bad money out if they want to clear real room for players like Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, who both are restricted free agents in need of new contracts.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Marcus Johansson Suffers Broken Arm
The Minnesota Wild will be without Marcus Johansson for the rest of the playoffs after he broke his arm in last night’s loss. Head coach Dean Evason told reporters including Sarah McLellan of the Star-Tribune about the injury today after Johansson crashed into the net and was forced from the game.
Though he hadn’t been much of a scoring threat this season, Johansson was still playing a substantial role for the Wild, averaging nearly 17 minutes through the first two games of the series against the Vegas Golden Knights. This year the 30-year-old forward had six goals and 14 points in 36 games and contributed on both the powerplay and penalty kill.
Immediately, the fact that Zach Parise has been a scratch through the first part of the series comes to mind. The veteran forward has been such a big part of the Wild for so long that it’s hard to see him pushed to the sidelines, but Evason wouldn’t commit to whether or not he will come in for Johansson. The team also does have the interesting option of someone like Matthew Boldy, the 20-year-old phenom who scored 18 points in 14 AHL games after signing out of Boston College. Boldy has exactly zero NHL experience, but could potentially give the Wild a shot in the arm as they try to even the series on Saturday night.
Vancouver Canucks, Travis Green Reach Contract Extension
The Vancouver Canucks finished last in the North Division, a brutal turnaround after their second-round playoff run in last year’s bubble postseason. Many believed it would lead to substantial changes in the organization, but it appears as though they’ll give it another crack with the same management and coaching group. General manager Jim Benning was retained and now head coach Travis Green has signed a multi-year extension with the team. Benning released a statement:
We are excited to have Travis Green continue to lead the Canucks as head coach and move forward from a challenging year to focus on future seasons. Our plan has always been to draft and develop a young core and surround them with supporting players who can help us win. We have some of the best young players in the NHL and I believe Travis is the right coach to help us achieve team success and a return to the playoffs.
Now, Green was certainly not the reason for the disastrous season and many players spoke up in favor of bringing him back at the Canucks’ end-of-season media availability. Captain Bo Horvat said the team would “love to see him back” and explained that Green had been “awesome” toward them. There were also many who speculated that Green would not be unemployed for long if the Canucks let him go, especially with the number of other vacancies around the league.
Still, it is certainly surprising that no one is losing their job after a season like the Canucks just endured. While they did have a brutal schedule, cut up with a late-season COVID outbreak, they finished 20-26-3, ranked 25th in goals for and 24th in goals against. The team’s powerplay put them 25th, their penalty killing 18th, and save percentage ranked them 20th in the league. By almost every metric, the Canucks were one of the worst teams in the league.
In fact, they have been for a while now. Even with the team’s Cinderella-like run last season, Green’s overall regular season record with the Canucks sits at 122-129-31 and he has reached the playoffs just once in four years. If he and Benning are both coming back, it’s obvious that the real organizational change will have to come at the roster level (though perhaps that’s really the only place to effect real short-term change in any situation.).
With so much cap already tied up and new contracts for Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes to come, making that tangible change will be difficult. The only notable unrestricted free agents the team has are Brandon Sutter and Alexander Edler, who both expressed a desire to return to Vancouver earlier today. Most of the roster is still signed for the 2021-22 season, with more than $66.5MM already committed. Green is returning, but it may be difficult to turn things around in Vancouver right away.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images