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Five Key Stories: 11/22/21 – 11/28/21

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The final full week of November got off to a quiet start but there was plenty of notable news towards the end of the week which are highlighted in our key stories.

Big Money On Waivers: The Senators haven’t been pleased with what they’re received from Matt Murray since he became their starting goalie last year and with him being off to a tough start this season, they opted to waive him to give him some time in the minors to try to get back on track.  With two years left after this at $6.25MM, he cleared as expected, enabling him to be sent to Belleville.  One day later, Sharks winger Evander Kane finds himself on the wire as well.  His suspension to start the season for providing a fake vaccination card is up but amid speculation that San Jose would like to move on from the 30-year-old, he’ll start his season in the AHL assuming he clears on Monday.  With the team being willing to retain on his $7MM AAV, it’s quite unlikely he’ll be claimed.

Lemieux In Trouble: Kings winger Brendan Lemieux has already been suspended twice in his young career and it looks quite likely that a third is on the horizon.  After he received a match penalty (which carries an automatic suspension pending a hearing) for biting Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk, the league offered Lemieux an ‘in-person’ hearing (which is currently conducted through Zoom).  That gives them the ability to suspend him for more than five games.  That’s notable considering the longest biting suspension has been three games.  The time for the hearing has not yet been set.

Front Office Shakeup: The front office for the Canadiens looks a lot different all of a sudden.  After assistant GM Scott Mellanby resigned on Saturday, the Canadiens then fired GM Marc Bergevin and assistant GM Trevor Timmins who had been in charge of their amateur scouting.  Montreal made the playoffs in six of the nine years that Bergevin was at the helm while they made it to the Stanley Cup Final this past summer.  However, the two sides were unable to agree on a new contract in the offseason and with the team off to a tough start this season, ownership decided a new direction was needed.  The executive tasked with shaping that new direction is Jeff Gorton.  The former Rangers GM has been added as VP of Hockey Operations and will play a key role in their search for a new general manager.

More Postponements: The Islanders are the second team to have games affected by a COVID outbreak as the league postponed their games through November 30th which means at least two games will need to be rescheduled.  New York currently has eight players in COVID protocol as well as three off-ice personnel.  Ottawa had three games postponed earlier this month due to their own outbreak which triggered an ability for the NHL to opt out of playing in the upcoming Olympics.

Leave Of Absence For Wilson: Sharks GM Doug Wilson is taking a temporary leave of absence from the team for non-COVID medical reasons.  The recent Hall of Fame inductee has reportedly been dealing with a persistent cough for the last three months.  Assistant GM Joe Will will take over as interim GM in Wilson’s absence.  Everyone here at PHR extends their best to Wilson as we hope to see him back on the job as soon as possible.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Central Notes: Klingberg, Forsberg, Johnson

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The Hurricanes have inquired about the availability of Stars defenseman John Klingberg, Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports (video link).  The 29-year-old is in the final year of his contract and a report earlier in the season suggested that he was seeking a max-term eight-year extension worth over $60MM, a price tag that Dallas clearly hasn’t been willing to meet yet.  He’s off to a quiet start to his season with no goals and seven assists in 15 games although his track record suggests he’ll turn things around offensively.  The fit in Carolina is interesting as they’re already using LTIR and don’t have the cap space to take on Klingberg’s $4.25MM AAV; they’d need Dallas to retain or to send close to matching money the other way.  They already have a strong back end and Klingberg would certainly give them a big boost but it’s the type of trade that is more plausible closer to the trade deadline than this early in the season.

Elsewhere around the Central:

  • The Predators will soon have a decision to make on pending UFA winger Filip Forsberg. Do they re-sign him and keep trying to win with their current core or go in a different direction to shake things up?  Adam Vingan of The Athletic makes the case (subscription link) that Nashville should take the latter option over running the risk of being saddled with another high-priced contract on a core that already has over $46MM in commitments for 2024-25.  Considering that core probably isn’t good enough to contend, moving on from Forsberg – likely making him a rental trade at the deadline – would be another critical step in GM David Poile’s shakeup, one that saw Viktor Arvidsson and Ryan Ellis head elsewhere this past summer.
  • The Blackhawks were hoping to have center Tyler Johnson back soon but it doesn’t appear as if that will be the case. Interim head coach Derek King told reporters including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link) that the veteran isn’t as far along in his recovery as they hoped from an undisclosed injury that has kept him out for the last week and a half.  Johnson is in his first season with Chicago after being acquired from Tampa Bay but has been limited to just eight games so far due to injuries while he has just a goal and two assists when he has been in the lineup.

Canucks Receiving Strong Trade Interest In Bo Horvat

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It has been a tough couple of years in Vancouver.  They underwhelmed considerably last season and after adding some key pieces over the summer including Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Conor Garland, and Jaroslav Halak, there was an expectation that they’d be back in playoff contention.  That hasn’t happened as the Canucks have limped to a 6-13-2 record and are already fading from the postseason picture.

As is often the case with teams in this situation, trade speculation is sure to follow.  In a recent interview on Sportsnet 650 (audio link), Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reported that Vancouver is fielding plenty of trade calls but at this time, the bulk of those calls have been focused on one player – Bo Horvat.

The 26-year-old has been with Vancouver for his entire career after being drafted ninth overall back in 2013.  He is in his third season as their captain and after he signed a long-term contract in 2017 following his entry-level deal, it felt like he was going to be a part of their plans for the long run.  Along the way, he went from being deployed primarily as a checker into becoming a strong two-way center for the Canucks.

However, that contract is only a year and a half away from ending and with things certainly not looking great for Vancouver, it’s certainly reasonable to speculate as to whether or not Horvat would be willing to sign another long-term pact, particularly if they shift gears and look towards a rebuild.  Clearly, several general managers around the league seem to have that idea with Horvat driving a lot of the trade inquiries at this stretch.

While Horvat is off to a bit of a slow start offensively this season with six goals and five assists through the first 21 games, he’s still the type of player that could command a sizable return.  He still often receives the toughest checking assignments and is quite strong at the faceoff dot, elements that contending teams always covet while a change of scenery could certainly get him going offensively again as well.

Horvat carries a $5.5MM AAV this season and next which is certainly below market value for a player of his caliber.  He also doesn’t have any trade protection which will make it a bit easier to facilitate a trade.

While Vancouver would understandably like to keep Horvat in the fold, he’s also arguably their best trade chip as none of their rentals – headlined by Halak and winger Tyler Motte – wouldn’t come close to yielding the type of return that Horvat would.  If they do decide to rebuild, Horvat is the type of player that should bring back a minimum of a first-round pick and a top prospect plus likely some other pieces as well.

The future was supposed to be now in terms of Vancouver’s playoff prospects but that’s looking less and less likely.  As a result, the Canucks may soon need to make some decisions about key veterans and with the type of interest Horvat appears to be generating, he could very well be a strong candidate to be traded if they indeed start looking towards the future.

Injury Notes: Zuccarello, Joseph, Kase

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Minnesota Wild right wing Mats Zuccarello was absent from Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning with an upper-body injury. While the Wild were able to take the game with a 4-2 win, Zuccarello’s great performance so far this season (16 points in 16 games) means they’ll want him back as soon as possible. Head coach Dean Evason said after the game that Zuccarello’s got a “nasty injury” on his bottom hand. Zuccarello will try to practice during the Wild’s optional skate tomorrow, but Evason offers no guarantees.

More injury news from around the league:

  • Mathieu Joseph of the Tampa Bay Lightning sustained an injury and did not return to today’s game against Minnesota. Joseph had been playing in the team’s top six along with Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli and had seven points in 19 games. It’s a tough blow to a team that’s already missing Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point up front. It’s unknown if Joseph will miss how much, if any, time.
  • Ondrej Kase isn’t returning for the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight, but head coach Sheldon Keefe assures that his absence is more precautionary in nature. An upper-body injury to Kase is concerning considering his concussion history, but Keefe said today “There’s no clarity on that right now. But that has not been designated as the case.” Kase’s been working out on his own without practicing with the team.

Minor Transactions: 11/28/21

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It was a busy day for waiver and front office news, but the litany of transactions doesn’t stop at the NHL level. There have been a variety of transactions today at lower levels of North American hockey. We’ll keep track of those here:

  • The AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins have brought in forward Matt Berry on a professional tryout contract from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, per a team release. The 29-year-old ECHL veteran and Michigan State alumnus didn’t play in 2020-21 due to COVID, but has absolutely lit up the ECHL with nine goals and 15 assists through just 15 games with Toledo this season. Undrafted, the Canton, Michigan, native now gets a chance to impress in the Red Wings organization.
  • According to the ECHL’s transactions page, the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack recalled defenseman Jeff Taylor from the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen on Sunday. Taylor, originally a seventh-round draft choice by the Penguins in 2014, has failed to replicate the success he had in his first full professional season in 2017-18 after graduating from Union College. However, he’s had a hot start with eight points in 10 games for Jacksonville this season and will now look to try his luck again at the AHL level.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Montreal Canadiens Fire Marc Bergevin And Others, Hire Jeff Gorton

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The Montreal Canadiens have made another front-office change following Scott Mellanby’s resignation yesterday. Per the team, they’ve fired general manager Marc Bergevin as well as assistant GM Trevor Timmins and senior VP of public affairs Paul Wilson.

Bergevin’s been the GM and executive VP of hockey operations for the Canadiens since 2012-13. Under his term, the team made the playoffs six out of nine seasons.

Timmins was named assistant GM in 2017 but had been with the organization in various capacities since 2002.

Jeff Gorton has been hired as executive vice president of hockey operations. Bergevin is expected to be replaced by another French-speaking general manager, as the release states. Gorton will oversee operations on a day-to-day basis while the search for a new general manager continues.

Gorton, 53, was the GM in New York from 2015-2021 and had previously worked with the Rangers and Boston Bruins in several different roles, including scout, director of scouting, director of player personnel, and assistant general manager. His multiple decades in NHL front offices have now led him to one of the most coveted positions in the NHL, but also one with some of the highest pressures.

The Canadiens, the league’s most historic franchise with 23 Stanley Cup championships, made it all the way back to the finals last season but were unable to capture their first title since 1993. Just months later and the organization has collapsed, losing 17 of its first 23 games and owning the league’s second-worst goal differential. The absences of Phillip Danault, Shea Weber, and Carey Price from last year’s playoff team have been catastrophic, with almost no one playing up to their potential on an already underwhelming roster.

Yet, this move comes a day after the Canadiens won their sixth game of the season, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3. It needed a 47-save performance from Jake Allen to do it though, and three of the goals were of the empty-net variety, meaning the final score was not indicative of how the game played out. Still, Gorton walks into a fan base that has at least been temporarily subdued, despite some season-long failure.

One of the decisions that Gorton will have to make in this newly announced position is on the future of head coach Dominique Ducharme, who signed a three-year contract extension earlier this summer. Ducharme now has a 21-31-9 record in the regular season as head coach of the Canadiens, a dreadful number that is only partially masked by his playoff success. Yes, he is the coach that led Montreal to the Stanley Cup Finals (though even then, he was replaced for a short period by assistant Luke Richardson), but there have been clear signs that Ducharme either does not know how to properly deploy the roster he has or that the roster is unwilling to accept that deployment.

Mellanby, meanwhile, left the organization after initially believing he would be the next general manager of the team. Marc-Antoine Godin of The Athletic examines the way that team president Geoff Molson handled the situation, including “deep talks” with Mellanby to become Bergevin’s successor. When things pivoted to a president of hockey operations and Gorton, Mellanby’s “trust was broken” according to Godin. That means Gorton will not only need to replace Bergevin but also Mellanby’s position of assistant GM.

The focus of incoming front office members will be interesting, as it is unclear whether the Canadiens brass believes the team to still be in a contending window. There are talented youngsters like Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Alexander Romanov, but also too many bloated contracts for players that have not shown an ability to be true difference-makers. The roster should be better than 6-15-2, but it was always going to be a challenge to make the playoffs after some of the key offseason departures.

Poor play from several previously reliable defensive options–including Jeff Petry and newcomer David Savard–may have to be at the top of the list of concerns for the Canadiens. The team got through the playoffs with stingy defense and timely counterattacks, neither of which appear likely on any given night this season. With several long-term deals on the books, including more than $70MM committed to 2023-24 (though that’s counting Shea Weber’s LTIR-bound deal), there is a lot of work to do for a new front office.

Buffalo Sabres Sign Mark Jankowski

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The Buffalo Sabres on Sunday signed forward Mark Jankowski to a one-year, $750,000 contract, per the team. They also loaned forward Arttu Ruotsalainen to the AHL’s Rochester Americans in a corresponding move to create roster space for Jankowski.

Up to this point, Jankowski was on an AHL deal with the Americans after being cut from a professional tryout contract with the New Jersey Devils during training camp. Jankowski’s enjoyed offensive success this season, along with many other Rochester players, scoring five goals and seven assists in 13 games.

Drafted 21st overall by Calgary in 2012, Jankowski, now 27, looked like he was on a path to being a full-time NHL player when he put up 17-goal and 14-goal seasons back-to-back with Calgary in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Jankowski scored just seven points the following season, however, and Calgary opted not to qualify him. He signed with Pittsburgh in free agency but couldn’t make it work there either, scoring 11 points in 45 games.

This is now his third NHL opportunity, and it could very well be his last if it doesn’t work out. Jankowski will likely get more offensive opportunity on this squad than he did in Pittsburgh, and maybe more of a role can help him put more pucks in the back of the net.

Matt Murray Clears Waivers, Assigned To Belleville

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November 28: Murray has cleared waivers, per Bruce Garrioch of TSN and The Ottawa Sun. The team’s assigned him to the Belleville Senators.

November 27: On Friday, Senators goaltender Matt Murray was a healthy scratch against Anaheim.  One day later, he has been placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Belleville.

The 27-year-old is in his second season with Ottawa after they flipped a second-round pick and prospect Jonathan Gruden to Pittsburgh to get him back at the 2020 draft.  At the time, they felt they had their starting goalie of the foreseeable future, quickly inking him to a four-year, $25MM contract; his $6.25MM AAV is the sixth-highest in the league among goaltenders this season.

What have they received in return for that money?  Not a whole lot.  Murray struggled considerably last season, posting a 3.38 GAA with a .893 SV% in 27 games, the worst numbers of his career.  This season, those numbers aren’t any better – a 3.26 GAA and a save percentage of .890 in six games.  Those numbers are below average for a backup let alone a starter.

Ottawa’s decision to dress Anton Forsberg and Filip Gustavsson against the Ducks was a strong message from head coach D.J. Smith that he has lost faith in Murray.  At this point, getting him down to Belleville for a stint to try to give him an opportunity to find his game again against lower-level competition certainly makes some sense.

Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch suggests the Sabres and Coyotes could be teams to keep an eye on with regards to a potential claim.  Both teams have a need for a goaltender but with two years still left on his contract and both teams operating as lower budget squads, it’s hard to imagine they’d be willing to take him off waivers with how poor he has performed in Ottawa.  A trade with retention after he clears and maybe some games in the minors would be a likelier scenario.

Assuming he does indeed clear on Sunday, the Sens will get a small bit of cap relief as $1.125MM of Murray’s AAV will come off their books when he’s sent down.  Of course, with Ottawa being a team that’s closer to the Lower Limit of the cap than the Upper Limit, that relief won’t be worth a whole lot to them but they’ll be able to move forward with a Forsberg-Gustavsson tandem for at least the time being while giving Murray an opportunity to get back to form in the minors.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that Murray would be waived.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Evander Kane Placed On Waivers

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirms that San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane was placed on waivers Sunday for the purpose of assignment to the AHL.

After scoring 22 goals and 49 points in 56 games last season, Kane has yet to suit up for the Sharks after he was suspended without pay for 21 games for a violation of the league’s COVID protocols after the start of the season.

Kane’s had off-ice issues that have persisted for much of the last calendar year. A bankruptcy filing shadowed over his 2020-21 campaign, while multiple investigations into allegations of gambling and domestic abuse by the league occurred over the offseason. Contrary to the result of the suspension, he was cleared by the league on both of those allegations.

A veteran of 769 NHL games, Kane will be assigned to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda if he clears waivers. If he reports, it would be Kane’s first time playing in the AHL. He made the jump straight to the Atlanta Thrashers from the WHL’s Vancouver Giants in 2009.

Whether Kane will ever return to the Sharks organization at the NHL level remains unclear. Multiple reports surfaced this offseason that many players couldn’t get along with Kane, and the team may not want to jeopardize what seems to be a positive developing culture as the younger team gets off to a hot start. Still, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that Kane returns and suits up for the Sharks again.

His AHL assignment could be an effort to allow teams an opportunity to scout him and see him back in action before making a trade to acquire him. The Sharks have let it be known that they’re willing to retain salary in a trade.

Kane has four seasons remaining on a contract with a $7MM cap hit.

Curtis Pashelka of The San Jose Mercury News was the first to report this story.

Schultz Placed On Injured Reserve; Eller Returns From COVID Protocol

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The Washington Capitals have moved Justin Schultz to injured reserve, after the veteran defenseman left Wednesday’s game with an upper-body injury. Schultz had already missed the Capitals last game and his IR stint is likely retroactive to November 24, meaning he could return partway through next week if healthy.

The team has not announced a recovery timeline, but moving Schultz to injured reserve would open a roster spot for Lars Eller who is set to return from the COVID protocol and play this afternoon. Eller has missed six games, last playing on November 14 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The two-way center had eight points in his first 15 contests and is an important piece of the Capitals lineup.

Schultz meanwhile has been moved down in the lineup this season, averaging just over 17 minutes a night before exiting early in his last game. The 31-year-old has just two points in 20 games this season, a far cry from the 27 he registered in 46 during the 2020-21 campaign. Still an effective enough option at even-strength, Schultz will be missed for the next few games even if he’s not relied on to the same level as years past.

In his place, Dennis Cholowski moved into the lineup on Friday night and played just over 16 minutes. The 23-year-old former Detroit Red Wing has just two games at the NHL level this season.

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