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Zach Werenski, Alexandre Texier Placed In COVID Protocol

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Jan 7: Alexandre Texier has also tested positive and is now in the COVID protocol, according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.

Jan 4: After initially being positive on a rapid test yesterday, Zach Werenski has now been officially placed in the COVID protocol after his case was confirmed. The Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman will be unavailable to the team for the next few days at least.

The team has also added Jean-Francois Berube and Cam Johnson to the taxi squad, as Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov are both dealing with lower-body injuries. Johnson comes all the way from the ECHL, where he has spent the last several seasons.

Losing Werenski is arguably the worst thing that could happen for the Blue Jackets, given how much responsibility he carries on a nightly basis. The 24-year-old defenseman is averaging 26:34 in ice time this season, four minutes more than the next highest Columbus player. He also happens to be third on the team in scoring with 20 points through 30 games.

The Blue Jackets are in action tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, before a home-and-home with the New Jersey Devils this weekend.

Tuukka Rask Officially Signs PTO With AHL’s Providence Bruins

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Jan 7: Rask’s return to the P-Bruins will have to wait. The AHL has announced that games originally scheduled for tonight and Sunday will now be moved to April due to COVID-19 protocols affecting the Phantoms, meaning there are no Providence games until January 14 against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The Maine Mariners, Boston’s ECHL affiliate, play the Adirondack Thunder tonight, tomorrow and Sunday, so perhaps there is a chance that Rask sees action there instead.

Jan 6: After being rumoured this past week, unrestricted free agent goalie Tuukka Rask is officially on his way to making a comeback in Boston. The Bruins announced this morning that he’s signed a professional tryout agreement with their AHL affiliate in Providence.

Rask will play his first AHL game in 13 years when he starts for Providence against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tomorrow. His last season with Providence was in 2008-09, where he played in 57 games and posted a 33-20-4 record and .915 save percentage.

The 34-year-old Rask didn’t sign a contract with the Bruins this offseason after he underwent hip surgery, which left his playing future uncertain. Once it became clear that Rask would be able to return to NHL hockey, the NHL granted Rask and the Bruins an exemption, allowing Rask to use the Bruins’ facilities while unsigned to assist in his recovery.

His return casts some serious uncertainty over what the Bruins’ goalie depth chart could look like, however. The plan always seemed to be, at least after signing Linus Ullmark to a big-money deal this offseason, that Jeremy Swayman would head down to Providence to make room for Rask as he doesn’t require waivers.

That’s a tough decision to make at this point in the season, though. Swayman’s put up better stats than Ullmark this season and has received nearly equal usage, with Swayman putting up a .920 save percentage in 15 starts and Ullmark putting up a .917 in 14 starts.

It’s a decision to make later, though. For now, Bruins fans and staff are happy to have Rask back with the team, and Rask is certainly happy to get one more shot, maybe his last, at a Stanley Cup ring.

When Rask eventually plays for Boston this season, though, it will be the return of a living legend to the Bruins crease. He’s first in franchise history in terms of games played (560), wins (306), and save percentage (min. 50 games) (.921).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Mitch Marner, Pierre Engvall Enter COVID Protocol

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After avoiding a scare with Auston Matthews recently, the Toronto Maple Leafs have placed Mitch Marner and Pierre Engvall in the COVID protocol today. Both players took part in the team’s most recent game, but will now miss tomorrow’s match against the Colorado Avalanche. Joey Anderson and Brett Seney have been recalled from the AHL to the taxi squad.

With the new absences, Nick Ritchie–who is currently on waivers–and Kyle Clifford, are practicing with the main group according to David Alter of The Hockey News.

Marner and Engvall were two of the few players who didn’t end up in the protocol last month when the Maple Leafs ended up postponing several games. They will now face at least a five-day absence if they tested positive, meaning not only is the Colorado game in danger, but also matches against the Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes next week.

While Engvall is a regular, it’s Marner’s absence that will obviously be much more dramatic. The 24-year-old plays more than any other Toronto forward, averaging nearly 21 minutes a night through his 26 games this season. In those games, he has just six goals and 21 points, a significant departure from the player that has scored 228 points in 196 games over the last three seasons.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 01/07/22

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Just two games on the schedule this evening as the league continues to miss matches due to COVID and attendance restrictions. Still, both should be pretty great matchups as four current playoff teams do battle. Elias Lindholm will lead the Calgary Flames against his old club in Carolina, while the Washington Capitals will avoid facing Vladimir Tarasenko when they travel to St. Louis. As those clubs and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league and taxi squad shuffling.

Atlantic Division

Metropolitan Division

Central Division

  • Following the injury to Kirill Kaprizov, the Minnesota Wild have recalled Kyle Rau to the taxi squad. Kaprizov is expected to miss at least one game, with further evaluation still ongoing to determine how long he’ll be out of the lineup.
  • The Nashville Predators have reassigned Matt Luff to the taxi squad once again, his fourth transaction in the last four days. The 24-year-old forward played and scored last night for the Predators, despite seeing just seven minutes of ice time.
  • The Dallas Stars have assigned Thomas Harley to the Texas Stars, giving the 20-year-old defenseman a chance to play at the minor league level once again. Harley has played in eight games for Dallas but 17 for Texas this season.

Pacific Division

  • The Los Angeles Kings have assigned Samuel Fagemo to the taxi squad, after he failed to dress for last night’s game. Fagemo has yet to make his NHL debut since being drafted 50th overall in 2019.
  • Forward Adam Ruzicka is back on Calgary’s active roster, coming up from the taxi squad. Ruzicka scored his first NHL goal earlier this season.

This page will be updated throughout the day. 

Michael Krutil Signs In SHL

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It appears as though Michael Krutil will not be returning to the Rockford IceHogs now that the World Junior Championship has been canceled. The young defenseman has signed a contract for the rest of the season with the Vaxjo Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League.

Krutil, 19, played seven games with Rockford before being loaned to Czechia for the junior tournament but ended up failing to get into a single game before the event was shut down due to COVID concerns. Selected 110th overall in 2020, he hasn’t actually signed his entry-level contract with the Blackhawks yet and had been playing on an AHL deal.

A blend of size and skill, the 6’3″ defenseman had three points in 21 games for the IceHogs last season as an 18-year-old, suiting up as one of the youngest players in the entire league. Now in Sweden, he’ll have a better chance to show off some offensive upside or at the very least, play more minutes than he was receiving in Rockford.

East Notes: Zaitsev, Canadiens, Shesterkin, Sabres, Daley

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The Senators will be without defenseman Nikita Zaitsev longer than expected as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays (Twitter link) that the veteran hasn’t resumed skating and will likely be out through the end of the month.  Originally, it was expected that he’d miss between three and five weeks due to his heel injury but that will now likely be pushed to six weeks or longer.  The 30-year-old had gotten off to a quiet start to his season with just two points in 22 games while logging 18:32 per night, the lowest ATOI of his career.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • As a result of seven more players entering COVID protocols in recent days, the Canadiens announced that they are extending their pause for two more days through Saturday. Montreal recently had a game next week against New Jersey postponed and now have nine games that need to be rescheduled.  They’re next scheduled to play on Wednesday against Boston.
  • Still with Montreal, defensive prospect Arber Xhekaj was traded in the OHL as the Hamilton Bulldogs announced his acquisition in exchange for five draft picks along with winger Navrin Mutter. Xhekaj was undrafted in both the OHL and NHL but turned a rookie camp tryout into an entry-level contract with the Canadiens late in the preseason.  Meanwhile, Mutter got into three games with Calgary’s farm team in Stockton last season but no team holds his NHL rights.
  • Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin was a late scratch for their game against Vegas as the Rangers announced (Twitter link) that the netminder was placed into COVID protocol. Assuming it’s for a confirmed positive test, he’ll be out for at least the next five days.  Keith Kinkaid was recalled from the taxi squad in a corresponding roster move.
  • The Sabres got some good news on the COVID protocol front today as the team announced (Twitter link) prior to their game against San Jose that centers Dylan Cozens, Zemgus Girgensons, and Mark Jankowski were all cleared to return. The trio last played on December 17th and each missed three games.
  • While the Florida Everblades of the ECHL raised some eyebrows today when they announced the signing of Penguins staffer Trevor Daley, Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notes (Twitter link) that Daley will remain in his advisory role with Pittsburgh. With ECHL teams ravaged by COVID-19, injuries and recalls, it appears the Everblades are going to use Daley for a game or two until they get some of their players back.  Daley last played back in the 2019-20 season with Detroit.

Blackhawks Place Three In COVID Protocol

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Prior to their game tonight against Arizona, the Blackhawks announced a long list of roster moves necessitated by the placement of three players in COVID protocol – defenseman Erik Gustafsson, winger Brandon Hagel, and just-acquired center Sam Lafferty.  That resulted in the promotion of defenseman Nicolas Beaudin from the taxi squad to the active roster plus the recalls of winger Mike Hardman and defenseman Ian Mitchell from AHL Rockford.

Hagel is the most notable loss of the three for Chicago as he has been a capable secondary scorer this season with eight goals and eight assists in 30 games.  Gustafsson has seven points in 30 contests in his second stint with the team while Lafferty was just brought in yesterday in a trade with Pittsburgh.  If the placement is for a confirmed positive test, they will miss at least five days.

While Mitchell has been back and forth this season on the back end, Beaudin hasn’t had much of an opportunity with the Blackhawks this season, playing just once back in November.  The 2018 first-rounder played in 19 games last season and was looking to push for a regular spot but that clearly hasn’t happened.  Meanwhile, Hardman has played in 19 games this year for Chicago, mostly on the fourth line and returns after nearly three weeks in the minors.

Chicago also made three more roster moves, calling up wingers Josiah Slavin and Kurtis Gabriel along with defenseman Jakub Galvas from Rockford to their taxi squad.  That brings the Blackhawks up to five players with that group, the others being veteran winger Brett Connolly and goaltender Cale Morris.

2021 Year In Review: June

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2021 was certainly another eventful year, both on and off the rink.  Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look at June.

Good Month For Brind’Amour: June was a good month for Hurricanes bench boss Rod Brind’Amour.  First, he took home the Jack Adams Award for Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.  Then, he landed a three-year contract to stick around as head coach in Carolina.  It’s a process that curiously took a long time to play out with Brind’Amour stating he wanted to ensure his staff remained as well which resulted in him delaying until those deals were done before signing his.  While the exact price of the contract wasn’t disclosed, it was widely suggested that Brind’Amour accepted a deal that was considerably below market value for someone considered as one of the top coaches in the league.

Internal Promotions: A pair of teams decided to promote from within to fill their head coaching vacancies.  With Columbus set to embark on a rebuild, they decided against going after a veteran head coach, instead handing things over to Brad Larsen.  Larsen has plenty of familiarity with the franchise having served as an assistant with them since the 2014-15 season.  Just before the end of the month, Buffalo’s extensive coaching search came to an end with nothing changing; instead of looking elsewhere, they opted to lift the interim tag off Don Granato who had taken over down the stretch following the firing of Ralph Krueger.  Buffalo was better over the final few weeks of the season, giving them some cause for optimism that Granato would be a good fit in the full-time role.

Sticking Around: The future of Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had been speculated about for a while with the team being unlikely to be able to afford to pay him market value to stick around.  In the end, they reached a compromise, agreeing on an eight-year, $41MM contract.  The $5.125MM AAV is certainly below what he could have landed on the open market but at the same time, the eight-year commitment gives him plenty of security while Edmonton actually has him on their books at a cheaper price than his previous contract.  The top pick back in the 2011 draft has spent his entire 11-year NHL career with the Oilers, picking up 504 points in 686 games.

More Coaching News: Two other teams also filled their coaching vacancies but looked outside the organization to find their new bench boss.  The Rangers had been linked to Gerard Gallant as soon as David Quinn was dismissed and they were able to get their guy, signing him to a four-year deal worth roughly $3.5MM per season.  Gallant has had success recently with both Florida and Vegas but curiously didn’t last too long with either organization, being dismissed in his third season with each squad.  Meanwhile, Seattle hired their inaugural head coach and it was one that largely flew under the radar in Dave Hakstol.  While there were several candidates discussed as likely fits for the Kraken, the former Flyers head coach wasn’t really one of them.  Nevertheless, GM Ron Francis felt that Hakstol – who had been with Toronto as an assistant – was the right fit for the expansion squad.

Sabres Win: Buffalo didn’t win a whole lot in 2020-21 – just 15 times in 56 games, in fact – but they picked up a key victory when they won the draft lottery.  It marked the second time in four years that the lottery balls fell their way and after picking Rasmus Dahlin the first time, they went with a defenseman again, selecting Owen Power in July as expected.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Central Notes: Bjugstad, Olausson, Beagle

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There’s bad news coming on the injury front for the Minnesota Wild. Head coach Dean Evason said today that forward Nick Bjugstad will be out “for a while” with an upper-body injury. Things certainly haven’t gone smoothly for Bjugstad in his second season with the Wild. In 28 games, he has just five points, and his defensive game has slipped from last year as well. Bjugstad’s entire career has been marred by injuries, and it’s always tough to see when the Minnesota native experiences another setback. Hopefully, he can recover by the end of the season to help out the Wild on a playoff push.

More notes from the Central Division today:

  • There’s movement on the prospect front for the Colorado Avalanche, as 2021 first-round pick Oskar Olausson was moved in the OHL today, traded to the Oshawa Generals from the Barrie Colts. Olausson joins Bruins prospect Brett Harrison and Oilers prospect Ty Tullio in Oshawa, where they hope Olausson’s talent can add a punch to their team. Olausson had 25 points in 22 games with Barrie.
  • Arizona Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong said today that forward Jay Beagle had lower-body surgery and could miss anywhere between eight weeks and the rest of the season. While a defensive center first and foremost, Beagle had just one point in 21 games with Arizona. He’s in the final year of his contract with a $3MM cap hit.

NHL Postpones Detroit/Anaheim Game To Sunday

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3:55 pm: The Anaheim Ducks added defenseman Hampus Lindholm and forward Vinni Lettieri to COVID protocol. With the announcement coming so quickly, it was likely the motivator behind tonight’s postponement.

3:50 pm: The NHL has postponed tonight’s game between the Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks to Sunday, January 9 at 7:00 PM CT.

In the statement, the league says the game was postponed due to COVID issues affecting Anaheim. Currently, the team has five players in COVID protocol – goalie John Gibson and forwards Ryan Getzlaf, Derek Grant, Sam Carrick, and Nicolas Deslauriers.

Trevor Zegras was previously in COVID protocol but was activated from the list today. However, after just one morning skate, he wasn’t going to play in tonight’s game as originally scheduled.

The postponement gives Anaheim a chance to regroup. Getzlaf was placed in protocol on January 2 and could be available by then. Gibson entered today, however, and likely won’t be available for that game.

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