Leo Komarov Clears Waivers
March 24: As expected, Komarov has cleared waivers and can now bounce between the taxi squad and roster whenever necessary.
March 23: In what has become a monthly routine, the New York Islanders have placed Leo Komarov on waivers today according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. The veteran forward has already cleared waivers twice this season, once on January 13 and once on February 13, but continues to suit up and play with the Islanders. Last night he even started on the team’s first line, but if they want to move him to the taxi squad he needed to clear again since more than a month has passed.
Komarov, 34, has just two points in 16 games for the team this season and hasn’t totaled more than seven goals in a single year since the 2016-17 campaign. The bang-and-crash winger is capable defensively, but the offensive output that once got him selected to the All-Star game has completely dried up. Still, he seems to still be a favorite of head coach Barry Trotz, who inserts him into the lineup on a regular basis to add some energy.
There is almost no way that Komarov is claimed this time around given how little cap space is available around the league. The veteran forward carries a $3MM cap hit through the end of next season, a number that far outstretches his on-ice contribution. More likely is he will clear and continue to play a part-time role on the Islanders down the stretch.
New Jersey Devils Sign Tyce Thompson
10:35am: And just like that the Devils have made it official. The two-year entry-level contract does indeed start with the 2020-21 season. Thompson has reported to the team to begin his quarantine.
10:15am: According to AHL reporter Mark Divver, the New Jersey Devils have agreed to terms with prospect Tyce Thompson on his entry-level contract that will begin this season. Thompson is expected to report to the team today and could play in the NHL as soon as he is through the league’s protocols.
Thompson, 21, recently finished his junior season at Providence College, where he recorded 25 points in 25 games and was nominated for the Hobey Baker award. Originally selected 96th overall in 2019, the young winger was a star in all three years of college, totaling 94 points in 101 games. That included a 44-point campaign in 2019-20 that really opened eyes around the league, suggesting that he could have more NHL upside than originally believed.
The 6’1″ winger is the younger brother of Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson, who was selected much earlier perhaps because he is six inches taller. The younger Thompson has all the same history of offensive success and has now thrown himself into the mix for an NHL opportunity in the short-term. Even if that chance doesn’t come this season, the Devils certainly aren’t so full with talented forwards that Thompson will be blocked next year. Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri, and Nikita Gusev are all unrestricted free agents this summer, leaving a sizable gap upfront that will have to be filled internally.
Tim Peel No Longer Officiating NHL Games
In last night’s game between the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings, referee Tim Peel was caught on a hot mic suggesting that he had made a make-up call, despite there being little evidence of a penalty. After the clip spread, the league investigated and has now announced Peel will no longer be working NHL games “now or in the future.”
Executive vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell released a statement:
Nothing is more important than ensuring the integrity of our game. Tim Peel’s conduct is in direct contradiction to the adherence to that cornerstone principle that we demand of our officials and that our fans, players, coaches and all those associated with our game expect and deserve. There is no justification for his comments, no matter the context or his intention, and the National Hockey League will take any and all steps necessary to protect the integrity our game.
Peel was expected to retire at the end of the season. This is not the first time he has been embroiled in controversy. Six years ago, when working at Yahoo Sports, Greg Wyshynski (now of ESPN) released a piece in which Peel suggested that the NHL instructs their officials to “manage the game a certain way,” including on calls that would not usually be a penalty. Obviously, that controversy died out at some point, but this new one was too much even for the veteran referee to withstand.
The NHL so rarely comments on officiating at all that his removal—the release carefully does not indicate he has been fired or released—still comes as a bit of a surprise, despite the evidence.
Trade Deadline Primer: Los Angeles Kings
Although we’re now just two months into the season, the trade deadline is less than a month away. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Los Angeles Kings.
It has been an interesting season for the Kings. While they’re still in the midst of their extended rebuild, they’ve done well enough to hang around the playoff picture. Accordingly, there is a case to be made for GM Rob Blake to try to add a piece or two but on the other hand, staying the course would certainly be prudent as well. As a result, that makes them a team of some intrigue heading into the April 12th trade deadline.
Record
13-12-6, 5th in West Division
Deadline Status
Light Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$22.72MM in full-season space ($41.09MM at the trade deadline), 0/3 retention slots used, 48/50 contracts used per CapFriendly.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2021: LA 1st, LA 2nd, STL 2nd, LA 3rd, TOR 3rd, CGY 4th, LA 4th, LA 5th, LA 6th
2022: LA 1st, LA 2nd, LA 3rd, LA 4th, LA 5th, LA 6th, LA 7th
Trade Chips
Up front, the Kings only have one pending unrestricted free agent in winger Alex Iafallo who is certainly an under-the-radar player. After finishing second on the team in scoring last season, he has upped his point per game average to a career best 0.67 with 20 points (7-13-20) in just 30 games. The 27-year-old is also very quietly averaging nearly 20 minutes per game while taking turns on the power play and penalty kill. With a $2.425MM cap hit and an ability to play pretty well anywhere in the lineup, Iafallo is someone that could certainly fit on quite a few contending teams. On the other hand, he is someone that they want to retain and whether or not he gets moved will likely depend on the status of how extension talks go over the next few weeks.
Andreas Athanasiou is no stranger to trade speculation having been in it for several years before finally getting moved to Edmonton at last year’s deadline, a deal the Oilers undoubtedly would love a mulligan on. His trip through unrestricted free agency last fall after being non-tendered wasn’t what he was hoping for as he eventually settled for a one-year, $1.2MM deal. Athanasiou isn’t having the best of seasons but the low price tag and potential for another year of control as he remains RFA-eligible makes him a possible candidate to be moved, albeit for much less than the two second-rounders that he yielded a year ago.
With Calvin Petersen looking like the starter of the future, Jonathan Quick’s name has come up in some trade speculation. However, he still has two more years left on his deal after this one with a $5.8MM cap hit although his salary is considerably lower at this stage of his 10-year contract. Given the salary cap constraints that so many teams face right now, it’s hard to see there being much demand for his services although an injury elsewhere could certainly change things. Lias Andersson has had a limited role this season and has made numerous appearances in our daily Taxi Squad Shuffle pieces. With the centre depth they have in the system, the 22-year-old could make some sense as a change of scenery candidate.
Others to Watch For:
F Michael Amadio ($700K, RFA), F Matt Luff ($700K, RFA), D Austin Strand ($735K, RFA)
Team Needs
1) Long-Term Defensive Help – While Los Angeles has to be pleased with the performances of Michael Anderson and Tobias Bjornfot, their long-term prospects on the back end aren’t the greatest. Recent deals to Matt Roy and Sean Walker (last offseason) give them some depth at somewhat high prices but both are better suited for limited roles as is Olli Maatta. Adding to their prospect pool would certainly help but bringing in a current top-four NHL defenseman with a few years of team control would give them a boost. That may be a move for the offseason instead as it’s more of a buyer trade but the fact that they have as much cap space as they do could put them in a better spot to act now rather than later.
2) Top-Six Forwards – Similar to above, the Kings have decent forward depth in terms of their bottom-six options but they are lacking a bit in the impact forward department. Obviously, the hope is that their top prospects (including Quinton Byfield, Alex Turcotte, and Rasmus Kupari) will eventually fill the void but adding a slightly older established player to the core would fill a big need. Again, it may not quite be time for that just yet but the reality is that the players that they could move now aren’t going to really fill any of their needs and instead just add to their draft pick capital. When the time comes to add, Blake will need to be thinking big.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Injury Notes: Moore, Raanta, Hjalmarsson, Okposo
Bruins defenseman John Moore last suited up on February 26th and it appears that will be the last game he plays for a while. Head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed to reporters, including Matt Porter of the Boston Globe (Twitter link), that Moore recently underwent surgery. The nature of the injury nor the timeline for a return were specified. It’s the latest in what has been a series of frustrations since he inked a five-year, $13.75MM contract back in the 2018 offseason. Since then, Moore has held a limited role in the lineup, spending time as a healthy scratch.
With how much time he has missed and now the news that he has had surgery, the Bruins are eligible to transfer Moore to LTIR. It’s a move that they don’t need to make for now as they’ve had ample cap space to recall a short-term replacement but if it happened to be a season-ending injury, it would give GM Don Sweeney a bit more flexibility heading into next month’s trade deadline. For now though, Moore is one of four Boston blueliners currently on IR, joining Brandon Carlo, Jeremy Lauzon, and Kevan Miller.
Other injury news from around the league:
- Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta is injured once again, reports Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider (Twitter link). The 31-year-old has had a hard time staying in the lineup in recent years, a trend that has continued this season. A pending UFA, Raanta has been speculated as a possible trade chip at the trade deadline but missing any time due to injury doesn’t help his value. Ivan Prosvetov is up from the taxi squad to serve as Adin Hill’s backup for tonight’s game.
- Also from Morgan’s note, defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson is out due to an upper-body issue. The injury was sustained in Monday’s loss to Colorado and there is no word on how long he will miss. The team announced (via Twitter) that both Raanta and Hjalmarsson were placed on injured reserve.
- Sabres winger Kyle Okposo isn’t expected to join the team for the remainder of their current road trip, relays John Vogl of The Athletic (Twitter link). The veteran is dealing with an upper-body injury and interim head coach Don Granato indicated that the hope is that Okposo will be able to return next week. It has been another tough year for the 32-year-old who has scored just once in 24 games this season.
Maple Leafs Targeting Mikael Granlund
It has been a rough couple of weeks for the Maple Leafs who have seen their lead in the North Division vanish as they sit tied with Edmonton in points with 42 (although Toronto has two games in hand). GM Kyle Dubas has made it known that he’s looking to add a rental player to the fold and as TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports in the latest Insider Trading segment (video link), their top target is Predators forward Mikael Granlund.
The 29-year-old eventually returned to Nashville in late December after not being able to secure a long-term contract elsewhere. Instead, Granlund opted for a one-year, $3.75MM pact with the hopes that a full season under John Hynes would put him in a better position to cash in on the open market this summer.
That hasn’t happened. After a delayed start to his season due to quarantine protocols, Granlund simply hasn’t found his footing. Although he played well under Hynes following the coaching change last season, any momentum was certainly long gone as he has been limited to just six goals and five assists in 28 games this season. While his deal looked like a possible bargain back in the winger, it’s now an above-market contract.
Despite that, it’s understandable why Toronto would have some interest in Granlund. They have a spot in their top six that they’d like to try and improve upon and while his numbers this season are down, he averaged 63 points per year between 2016-17 and 2018-19. In the right environment, he’s a strong bounce-back candidate and with the quality of their top forwards, he could certainly step in and make an impact.
There are some questions that would have to be answered first before a deal can happen. Let’s get the obvious out of the way with the salary cap. Per CapFriendly, Toronto has just over $400K of cap space. Even as that builds up as time elapses, it’s only worth about $750K in a full-season salary, nowhere near enough. Even if Nashville was to retain half, they’d still need to offset money. Including Ilya Mikheyev ($1.645MM) would work in that scenario but if the Preds aren’t willing to retain, then someone like Alexander Kerfoot ($3.5MM) would likely need to be involved. With term left on both of those contracts (one year for Mikheyev and two years for Kerfoot), there’s no guarantee that the Predators would want to add money into next season.
As Seravalli adds, there is also the question of the quarantine status. Right now, players that are moved from the United States to Canada are required to serve a 14-day stint in a hotel, causing them to miss several games in the process. Canadian teams – led by Toronto – have been trying to push to have that reduced but haven’t made any progress on that front.
There’s also the matter of Nashville’s potential playoff push. Heading into play tonight, they’re only four points out of the final postseason spot in the Central Division. While it has been assumed for a while that they’d sell, their proximity to fourth place could push GM David Poile to delay deciding on their plans for Granlund.
Clearly, while the Maple Leafs have some interest in Granlund, there is a lot to work out over the coming weeks for a deal to happen. But if some of those can’t be resolved or Nashville’s tentativeness in selling is extended, Toronto may have to set their sights elsewhere before the April 12th trade deadline.
Roman Josi Activated From Injured Reserve
The Nashville Predators have activated Roman Josi from injured reserve and are expecting him to play tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. It would be Josi’s first game since March 7, just over two weeks ago. The team has also recalled Michael McCarron and Alexandre Carrier from the taxi squad, moving Jeremy Davis back to it in the process.
Josi’s return comes just as more reports emerge about their other defensemen, including Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm. Today on TSN’s Insider Trading, Pierre LeBrun reported that the ask for Ekholm now is a big one, including a first-round pick, an elite prospect, and a third asset. Ekholm of course is not on an expiring contract as his deal won’t finish until after the 2021-22 season.
If the Predators are going to move a big name off of the blue line, Josi’s return could be an important one. Without him, the team wouldn’t have much left to carry the rest of the season, given Ellis isn’t expected back from injury anytime soon. If he can prove he is once again healthy enough to log 25+ minutes a night and drive offense from the back end, perhaps it changes GM David Poile’s mind on whether to move Ekholm in the coming weeks.
The reigning Norris Trophy winner has 16 points in 25 games this season and will try to add to that total tonight against Detroit.
NHL Postpones Three More Montreal Games
After two Montreal Canadiens players–Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Joel Armia–entered the NHL’s COVID Protocols yesterday, the league decided to postpone their match against the Edmonton Oilers. Now, the league has shut the Canadiens down through March 28, postponing three more games in the process. The team was set to face the Oilers tomorrow and Friday, then take on the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night. Now, the league is hoping that Montreal can reopen its training facilities next Monday, March 29.
These are the first postponements the North Division has experienced this season and will certainly complicate the schedule for Montreal down the stretch. The team has already had their big breaks and plays basically every other day through the end of the season. There is a small window in early May between games that could be used to fit in some matches, but it seems much more likely that the Canadiens will have their schedule extended if all 56 games are going to fit in before the postseason begins. The NHL built in some time between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs for exactly this reason, but the closer it gets to the end the harder it is to reschedule games that are missed for whatever reason.
Already the Canadiens had played the fewest games in the North Division, meaning their shutdown is basically a worst-case scenario for the NHL. Hopefully, things will be able to get back to normal next week and they won’t miss any more time.
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 03/23/21
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 the list for today so far:
Anaheim – Danton Heinen*, Ben Hutton*, Jacob Larsson*, Anthony Stolarz*
Boston – Jake DeBrusk, David Krejci, Sean Kuraly, David Pastrnak, Craig Smith
Montreal – Joel Armia, Jesperi Kotkaniemi
NY Islanders – Noah Dobson
NY Rangers – Phil Di Giuseppe, Brett Howden (plus their coaching staff)
Vancouver – Travis Boyd*
As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:
(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol
Players removed today: None
It’s a bad day for the Ducks, who have added four players to the protocol after canceling morning skate today. The team is still currently scheduled to play tomorrow against the Minnesota Wild, but that is obviously up in the air at this point. Interestingly, the Wild announced earlier today that Andrew Hammond had entered the protocol, though he does not actually appear here. Perhaps he will be added later. Three of the four Ducks players dressed against the Wild last night.
In Boyd’s case, it is almost certainly travel-related after he was claimed by the Canucks from the Maple Leafs. He is expected to be ready to play for the March 31 game after the Canucks upcoming break though no details have been officially announced.
After Montreal’s game was postponed last night, the league took three more games are off the schedule as they try to contain the spread of the virus. While their list was delayed, TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie was among those to report that Armia and Kotkaniemi were Montreal’s only players on the list.
*denotes new addition
Latest On Nashville Predators Deadline Chips
The Nashville Predators have won three of their last four games and had a familiar face on the ice at this morning’s skate, as injured captain Roman Josi joined the group while working his way back. The team also had pending unrestricted free agent Mikael Granlund on the ice after he missed the team’s game on Sunday, but still absent were the group of Matt Duchene, Luke Kunin, and Ryan Ellis.
Ellis specifically is not close to a return, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be making headlines. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet opened his 31 Thoughts column today with a note on the veteran defenseman, explaining that he is no longer off-limits in trade talks. Ellis was one of three players that Friedman listed as an “untouchable” when discussing the Predators last month, but now writes that “something’s made the Predators think.”
Specifically, Friedman speculates that the Philadelphia Flyers could be a fit for Ellis, given how long he could be an impact player for them. The recently-turned 30-year-old is under contract through the 2026-27 season at a cap hit of $6.25MM, more than reasonable when Ellis is playing at his full capacity. There aren’t a ton of defensemen that can impact the game as much as Ellis when healthy, as shown by his outstanding offensive and defensive numbers.
Since his first full season in 2013-14, Ellis ranks 30th among defensemen in scoring with 244 points, fifth in plus/minus at +103, and has averaged more than 21 minutes a night playing on both the powerplay and penalty kill. If possession statistics are more your taste, his 56.5% on-ice GF% puts him 10th among defensemen with at least 100 games played, and he comes in at 27th in CF% at 52.7%, again among those with at least 100 games played since 2013-14.
In short, Ellis is a true top-pairing defenseman that could be a game-changer for many teams around the league, though it’s not clear what kind of package would be needed to pry him out of Nashville. Even his inclusion in trade talks is surprising and may point to a more widespread rebuild plan for Predators GM David Poile.
Also mentioned in Friedman’s piece is Granlund, who continues to be among the top rental options on the market, and Calle Jarnkrok, who still has a year left on his contract. The 29-year-old Jarnkrok was one of the long-term deals that paid off for Poile, who signed him to a six-year, $12MM deal in 2016 after just 167 NHL games. While he has never really developed into a top scoring option, Jarnkork has chipped in double-digit goal totals in each season of the deal and has 15 points in 26 games this season. For just a $2MM cap hit, that kind of scoring depth is valuable, especially when it is versatile enough to play center or the wing.
Mattias Ekholm is the other big name available in Nashville, and though Ellis steals Friedman’s headline, the Sportsnet scribe tucks in another note. Other executives around the league believe that Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin has “made a push” for Ekholm, despite his pleas to the media that it will be a quiet deadline for the club. Ekholm has been linked to almost every contender in the league at one point or another, given how effective he is for a relatively low cap hit. The 30-year-old is under contract through next season at a $3.75MM cap hit, though is owed $5MM in actual salary for 2021-22.
Even with several obstacles in the way of trades this season, it seems to be shaping up as an exciting deadline for the Predators if they want it to be.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images