Several Players Placed On Waivers
March 17: Vesey and Forsberg were claimed by the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators respectively, but both Byron and Grigorenko have cleared. The latter two can now be placed on the taxi squad or sent to the minor leagues.
March 16: Several players have been placed on waivers today, including Paul Byron of the Montreal Canadiens. Byron is joined by Jimmy Vesey of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Anton Forsberg of the Winnipeg Jets, and Mikhail Grigorenko of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Byron has already experienced this once this season, clearing waivers a month ago. Since then he had played more than ten games, meaning if the Canadiens want to place him on the taxi squad he’ll have to clear again. It’s been a disastrous two seasons for the 31-year-old forward, with just 17 points since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That includes just two goals in 27 games this season, a far cry from the player who was one of the most effective even-strength scorers in the league just a few years ago. With the development of other younger players on the Montreal roster, Byron finds himself either buried in the lineup or on the sidelines watching. His $3.4MM cap hit (through 2022-23) certainly makes him a tough target to claim.
Vesey hasn’t seen waivers before, but it doesn’t come as much of a surprise at this point. The 27-year-old forward has seven points in 30 games for the Maple Leafs and has been relegated to the fourth line in recent weeks. He has only cracked the 10-minute mark three times in his last ten games and played just 4:41 a few nights ago. With the Maple Leafs expecting Wayne Simmonds back soon and facing a delicate cap situation, Vesey’s time has come to be moved to the taxi squad.
Forsberg was already claimed off waivers twice this season, first by the Carolina Hurricanes and then by the Jets just a few days later. Now he faces another round that could change his destination as teams are still struggling to find NHL experience in net. Injuries all across the league make goaltenders like Forsberg valuable, if only because he could enter an NHL game in a pinch. It’s not like that’s actually happened this season though, through the first two months Forsberg hasn’t played a single game.
Grigorenko is an interesting name, after signing a one-year $1.2MM deal with the Blue Jackets as a return to the NHL. The 12th overall pick in 2012, Grigorenko left the NHL in 2017 to return to Russia and play in the KHL. After developing his game further there, his return was supposed to be a strong addition for Columbus. Unfortunately, with just seven points in 18 games and limited minutes, it hasn’t really worked out. Perhaps another team believes they can get the best out of him down the stretch, but a return to the KHL seems possible after this season concludes.
Anders Lee To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery
The decision has been made on Anders Lee, who will undergo ACL surgery this week and is out for the rest of the season. The New York Islanders captain got tangled with New Jersey Devils forward Pavel Zacha in a game last week and had to be helped off the ice.
It shouldn’t shock to find out that Lee is done for the year, but it certainly will spark some discussion on where the Islanders go from here. While Mathew Barzal might be the team’s most dynamic offensive player, there’s no question that Lee is New York’s most effective goal-scorer. His 12 tallies are still tied for the team lead even three games into his absence and he has a 40-goal campaign in his past. The 30-year-old was signed to a seven-year, $49MM deal in 2019 because of that goal-scoring, making him the most expensive player on the team at the time (his $7MM cap hit has since been matched by Barzal).
That cap hit is the news here though, as Lee was already placed on long-term injured reserve and without any risk of him returning this season, the Islanders can now use the added space for a deadline upgrade. New York was already well into LTIR thanks to Johnny Boychuk‘s early retirement due to injury, meaning there is really no penalty for the team spending even more now that Lee is on the shelf. With more than $5.5MM in space, the Islanders could acquire quite an asset for their playoff run.
Immediately, the team will be linked to a player like Kyle Palmieri given GM Lou Lamoriello’s familiarity with him. In yesterday’s 31 Thoughts column by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the insider mentioned that the New Jersey Devils have “begun conversations” about Palmieri’s future, implying that a trade could be coming. Friedman even lists the Islanders as a potential landing spot.
It won’t be just Palmieri though. Every rental forward on the market could be linked to the Islanders, especially after Lamoriello admitted to reporters including Arthur Staple of The Athletic that they were looking for scoring wingers even before Lee’s injury. Taylor Hall is still sitting in Buffalo as well, and the coach that drew him to the club in free agency was fired this morning. Other options with more term include Rickard Rakell, Zach Parise, and even perhaps someone like Jake Debrusk.
No matter what it does for the Islanders at the deadline, it’s hard to see Lee’s season end in this way. He is expected to be ready for the 2021-22 campaign.
Buffalo Sabres Fire Ralph Krueger
After another loss last night took it to 12 in a row, the Buffalo Sabres finally did what everyone expected. Ralph Krueger has been relieved of his duties as head coach. The Sabres lost 3-2 to the New Jersey Devils and sit dead last in the NHL at 6-18-4. They have been shutout as many times as they’ve won and there appears to be a clear lack of effort from some of the players.
The Sabres will have Don Granato as interim head coach and he will be joined by assistants Matt Ellis and Dan Girardi. The search for a new head coach begins immediately, though GM Kevyn Adams would not put a timeline on it.
Amazingly, as John Vogl of The Athletic explains, players in Buffalo and those who had previously played for Krueger have expressed how much they loved playing for him. That love didn’t come through on the ice this season for the Sabres and the team was forced to make a change, though whether it will actually result in a better effort is still up for debate.
The Sabres will still be on the hook for the rest of Krueger’s contract unless another NHL team wishes to hire him. Many have speculated that is why the team took so long to make the change with finances so tight during this season. Hired at the start of the 2019-20 season, Krueger’s time in Buffalo will end with a 36-49-12 record and not even a sniff of the postseason.
Bruins, Jets Among Teams Interested In Mattias Ekholm
One of the top prizes of the trade deadline – if he ultimately gets dealt – is Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm. A top-four blueliner is hard to come by at this time of year, especially one that’s on an affordable contract for next season. Accordingly, there will be no shortage of suitors, even in a salary cap environment where most contenders can’t afford to add anyone of consequence without offsetting money. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest 31 Thoughts column that the Jets and Bruins are among the teams that are interested in Ekholm’s services.
The 30-year-old has been a minutes-eater for several seasons now, logging more than 23 per night over each of the last four seasons, a number that hasn’t dipped much this year as Ekholm is at 22:18 per game in 2020-21. He’s playing at a 33-point pace offensively, a mark that he has reached in four of the last five seasons as well. Often matched against top lines from other teams, he’s someone that can conceivably slot onto the top pairing which will have many contenders intrigued.
The easy parallel to draw in terms of what the cost will be is Toronto’s acquisition of Jake Muzzin two years ago. Muzzin’s contract situation was similar to Ekholm’s deal ($3.75MM this season and next before being UFA-eligible) and Friedman notes that Nashville is using Muzzin’s return as a template for these talks. That would include a first-round pick plus a pair of quality prospects.
There is definitely a case to be made for both Boston and Winnipeg to pay that price. The Bruins never replaced Torey Krug who left for St. Louis in free agency last summer which has left a vacancy in their top-four. Their younger blueliners have held their own in that role but if they have eyes on contending, they’d be in better shape with a proven veteran in that spot. Jarred Tinordi, a recent waiver claim to cover for some recent injuries, suffered an upper-body injury tonight against Pittsburgh as well.
As for the Jets, defense has been a considerable weakness for them the last couple of years with the exodus of talent they’ve had. Two years ago, Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, and Ben Chiarot were all fixtures on their back end but all four are gone now with Neal Pionk being the only impact blueliner added since then. Ekholm would form a nice one-two punch on the left side with Josh Morrissey and give that unit some stability. Of course, there is the quarantine period to contend with but GM Kevin Cheveldayoff indicated yesterday that it’s not a concern for him; they’ve already made one big move this season with that in place as it is.
Ekholm has made it known that his preference is to remain in Nashville but as Friedman puts it, the veteran may be the ‘belle of the trading ball’ at the moment. If that’s the case, GM David Poile may eventually be offered an offer that’s too good to pass up on between now and next month’s trade deadline which means the defenseman may not get his wish.
Golden Knights Activate Robin Lehner Off LTIR
It appears as if the Golden Knights will have their goalie tandem intact once again as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they have activated Robin Lehner off LTIR. He had been out for more than a month due to a lower-body injury, forcing Marc-Andre Fleury to take the bulk of the workload though the veteran did quite well in that stretch.
Still, having Lehner back will give Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer much more flexibility in setting his gameday roster, at least when it comes to his goaltending decisions. Prior to the injury, the netminders were basically in a platoon situation and even with as well as Fleury played, it wouldn’t be surprising to see that trend resume soon with an eye on keeping Fleury fresh for the postseason.
As for Lehner, he had gotten off to a bit of a quieter start by his standards as he posted a 2.96 GAA along with a .890 SV% in his first five starts before the injury. While he did spend some time on a conditioning stint with AHL Henderson, he didn’t see any game action. Considering how long he has been off, he may be a little rusty when he gets into the lineup.
To make the finances work, Vegas had to make a long list of roster moves to get cap compliant which was required before Lehner could be activated. Cody Glass, Nicolas Hague, Patrick Brown, and Dylan Coghlan were all sent to the taxi squad while Logan Thompson went from the NHL roster to the minors. To make room on the taxi squad for those four assignments, Gage Quinney, Dylan Ferguson, and Carl Dahlstrom were all sent to Henderson. The Golden Knights are back under the cap, albeit by less than $40K with a minimum-sized roster so while DeBoer has some flexibility in his goaltending choice, that’s about the only decision he’ll be able to make in terms of who plays and who doesn’t for a while.
Canadiens Have Shown Interest In Luke Glendening
Red Wings center Luke Glendening is no stranger to being involved in trade deadline speculation. Veteran role players like him are always in demand at this time of year but no move ever came to fruition. However, now that he’s in the final year of his contract and Detroit already way out of playoff contention, this feels like a case of when and not if he’s dealt and there should be quite a few suitors for his services.
One of those suitors is Montreal, reports Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. The Canadiens have struggled at the faceoff dot this season and Glendening is the best in the league among qualifying centers in that regard, winning 65.7 of his draws which is well above his career 55% average. He also leads all Detroit forwards in shorthanded ice time per game and the Canadiens find their penalty kill in the bottom ten in the league.
While the 31-year-old isn’t known for his offensive contributions, he has already equalled his point production from last season with three goals and six assists through 27 games; his 0.33 point per game average is also a career best.
As is the case with many teams that are looking to buy, the salary cap will be a challenge. While Glendening’s cap hit of $1.8MM isn’t particularly exorbitant, it’s more than they can afford right now. Detroit could retain up to half of that to make a deal more affordable but that would only up the asking price. Of course, there is also the two-week quarantine period to consider from Montreal’s perspective (or any other Canadian-based team interested in acquiring him).
As things stand, it may not be a trade deadline that sees plenty of top-end talent changing hands with role players that are more affordable on the cap becoming a higher priority. For the Red Wings, they hold one of the more interesting ones in Glendening and Montreal certainly won’t be the only team calling about him in the coming weeks.
Chicago Blackhawks Willing To Take On Cap At Deadline
If you want to make a deal in today’s NHL, there are several important hurdles to get past. The most important one may be the salary cap situation around the league, which is squeezed as tightly as ever after the cap ceiling stayed at $81.5MM. That number isn’t expected to go up for the next several seasons, meaning teams are hesitant to take on any money this season or into the future.
That is, other than the Chicago Blackhawks.
Two different reports have emerged this evening, from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Frank Seravalli of TSN respectively, explaining that the Blackhawks have let the rest of the league know they are willing to take on some bad cap at the deadline to facilitate moves or acquire assets. After moving Brent Seabrook to long-term injured reserve and admitting his career is over the team now has more than $20MM in potential cap space that they could use this season. A good portion of that can’t be used if Jonathan Toews is going to come back at any point, but that still leaves the Blackhawks with more than enough room to play matchmaker at the deadline if they want.
The Blackhawks are familiar with this strategy, given they used the Toronto Maple Leafs in a similar fashion last season to complete the Robin Lehner trade. The Maple Leafs were already deep into LTIR by the time the trade deadline rolled around, so they were used as a pit stop to unload part of Lehner’s remaining cap hit so the Vegas Golden Knights could fit him in. The Maple Leafs received a fifth-round pick for their trouble, but depending on what it is Chicago is taking on, the return could be even greater this time around.
As we discussed recently, the Blackhawks are in a peculiar situation this season, sitting somewhere between a buyer and seller. The team is currently in a playoff spot thanks to some surprising performances, but aren’t that far removed from declaring a short rebuild. It’s hard to imagine them believing they are really capable of contending for the Stanley Cup or even getting out of the Central Division given how strong the top three teams look, but stripping things down when you’re in a playoff spot also isn’t fair to a team that has performed so admirably this season.
By doing moves like the one detailed above, acting as a middle-man for teams, or a dumping ground for bad cap, the Blackhawks can give this group a chance to compete while also adding assets for the future.
Nico Hischier Undergoes Surgery
The New Jersey Devils have finally given an update on the health of captain Nico Hischier, announcing that he underwent successful surgery to repair the frontal sinus fracture that he suffered on February 27. He has been on injured reserve since March 4 and is still expected to be out for the next three weeks. Hischier has cleared the concussion protocol from the event.
It’s been a tough season for the 22-year-old Hischier, despite being handed the captaincy in February. He started the year on the injured reserve list thanks to an offseason leg injury and has had two different stints on the COVID Protocol list. This latest injury, suffered when a P.K. Subban slapshot deflected up a stick and into his face, means he has played just five games this season. Three more weeks means he’ll return with only about 20 games in the Devils’ season and when they’re completely out of the playoff race.
It was supposed to be another strong development year for the young core in New Jersey, but thanks to injury Hischier hasn’t been part of it. While Pavel Zacha, Jack Hughes, and Ty Smith lead the way, the captain has had to watch from the sidelines. When he returns, you can bet Hischier will be eager to contribute and show that his ceiling is much higher than the 50-point pace he’s shown so far in his career.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 03/16/21
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 so far:
NY Islanders – Noah Dobson
NY Rangers – Phil Di Giuseppe, Pavel Buchnevich, Adam Fox
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: Kyle Turris, Edmonton Oilers; Will Butcher, New Jersey Devils
No new additions so far today and a couple of names come off the list. Importantly, Turris ended up being the only Oiler that hit the list. The North Division hasn’t had a single game postponed so far, a record that the league would obviously like to keep intact as long as possible.
*denotes new addition
2021 NHL Draft Unlikely To Be Pushed Back
March 16: Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet confirms that the draft will not be pushed back. The event will go on as scheduled near the end of July.
March 9: It had been trending this way for a while, but Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the 2021 NHL Entry Draft is not expected to be pushed back. Though there was considerable support from general managers all across the league, the substantial obstacles will make the league keep the event scheduled for this July. Concerns over service time, draft rights, and delaying the top prospects from an October NHL debut were all among the many complexities moving the draft would have created.
Of course, this decision will not come without ramifications. The OHL, one of the biggest sources of NHL draft picks every year, has not played a single game this season. Even if they do sneak in a shortened schedule later this spring, evaluation of the prospects will not be nearly as detailed as a normal year. Some top draft prospects from the league have taken their talents overseas in the interim, but for many prospective mid-round picks, it has been a full calendar year without any competitive action.
The WHL and QMJHL have also not played their full allotment of games, while the NCAA season was also truncated. Potential first-overall pick Owen Power played just 24 games with the University of Michigan during his freshman season. Compare that to someone like Quinn Hughes, who got 37 NCAA games with Michigan plus a World Junior tournament during his draft year. While the consensus is pretty clear on Power’s upside, what about some of the lesser-known college names like Dovar Tinling, who managed just 11 games with the University of Vermont. He was included in NHL Central Scouting’s players to watch as a second or third-round candidate, but it will be extremely difficult to evaluate his true potential at this point. Tinling only just turned 18 a few days ago.
There are names like Mason McTavish, who is still a potential first-round pick but had to play in Switzerland this season as he waited for the OHL to resume. Certainly, a dozen games in Europe won’t give scouts the same amount of information that a full season in the OHL would have.
With the draft staying put, it will be interesting to see how valuable picks are viewed at the upcoming deadline. There’s a chance that first-round talents slip through to the mid-rounds, but also an increased chance of completely whiffing with a player that hasn’t competed in a year.