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Archives for February 2022

Injury Notes: MacKinnon, Poolman, Dvorak, Sabres

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The Colorado Avalanche could have Nathan MacKinnon back on Sunday, according to head coach Jared Bednar. The injured forward skated for the first time today after suffering a facial fracture and concussion on January 26. He won’t play tonight when the Avalanche take on the Tampa Bay Lightning, but will hopefully be back before long.

The injury, which was sustained on a collision with Boston Bruins forward Taylor Hall, forced MacKinnon to miss the All-Star game where he was set to be captain of the Central Division. It’s not the first time he’s been out of the lineup this season either; the 26-year-old has played in just 31 of Colorado’s 44 games to this point, yet the team is 32-8-4 on the year.

  • Tucker Poolman has been moved to injured reserve as he continues to deal with an ailment that has kept him out since January 27. Unfortunately, Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters including Thomas Drance of The Athletic that the defenseman’s absence is related to “headaches and migraines.” There is no clear timetable for his return to this point, but with Quinn Hughes also missing due to COVID protocol, the team has activated Kyle Burroughs from injured reserve.
  • Christian Dvorak still isn’t ready to return to the Montreal Canadiens lineup and will miss tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils. Dvorak has been out since suffering an upper-body injury in a January 24 match against the Minnesota Wild, and despite being cleared yesterday, will not play this evening. It’s been a tough year for the 26-year-old, who has just seven goals and 16 points in 34 games for his new club.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have issued updates on all of their injured players, but the most important ones are Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who rejoin the team at practice today, and Casey Mittelstadt who is expected to be on the ice Wednesday. Mittelstadt consulted doctors recently with some complications from a surgery he had earlier this season–head coach Don Granato termed it as “some fluid” because of the recently increased intensity in rehab–but is now cleared to return to the main group.

Snapshots: Montreal, Matthews, Ovechkin

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The Montreal Canadiens will be allowed to have 50 percent capacity at home games as of February 21, according to Quebec Premier Francois Legault today. By March 14, they will be back to full capacity under the current plan. The Canadiens have five home games between now and the first threshold, which means five more games of lost revenue for the team and league.

Recently, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman put some pressure on the government by suggesting that this summer’s draft could be pulled from Montreal if restrictions were not lifted. Should this plan move forward and there are no further complications that cause another shutdown, it would seem as though the Canadiens will host the event after all.

  • Auston Matthews didn’t take part in practice but was feeling “pretty good” today according to head coach Sheldon Keefe, who spoke to reporters including Joshua Kloke of The Athletic. Matthews left last night’s game late in the third period with what appeared to be a head or neck injury after colliding with Brett Pesce. The injury wasn’t before the Toronto Maple Leafs superstar scored another two goals, taking him to 31 in 40 games this season.
  • Alex Ovechkin has cleared the COVID protocol and is available for the Washington Capitals today according to head coach Peter Laviolette. Ovechkin was asymptomatic during his All-Star isolation and is expected to be in the lineup when the team takes on the Columbus Blue Jackets this evening. The team sent Brett Leason, who likely would have been in the lineup if Ovechkin had been unavailable, back to the AHL. Ilya Samsonov and Connor McMichael, who missed practice yesterday while awaiting results, have also been cleared according to Tom Gulitti of NHL.com.

Seattle Kraken Claim Austin Czarnik

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The Seattle Kraken have nabbed a depth forward off waivers, selecting Austin Czarnik from the New York Islanders according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The veteran minor leaguer will join Seattle’s active roster.

Czarnik, 29, will actually be an interesting player to follow with the Kraken, given his obvious offensive upside. The 5’9″ forward has lit up the minor leagues over the years, routinely putting up point-per-game seasons. Even in the NHL he’s been relatively productive with 43 points in 136 career games, including five this year in 11 with the Islanders. If he’s given a more offensive role with the expansion club, perhaps some of that production can make its way to the Kraken scoresheet.

The fact that he carries a cap hit of just $725K also makes him a potential deadline trade piece, should a contender be dealing with any injury issues. Not that he’d bring much back in any deal, but a waiver claim from the Kraken does nothing but add an asset to the organization while they continue to try and find their way forward. It also could represent some insurance for a different trade, with players like Calle Jarnkrok and Marcus Johansson in the rumor mill as pending unrestricted free agents.

In any case, the move from New York to Seattle will probably be a good one for Czarnik, who should see some playing time when he arrives and gets acclimated. The Kraken are in action tomorrow night and have nine games left in February alone.

Dennis Cholowski Placed On Waivers

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The Washington Capitals have placed Dennis Cholowski on waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the second time he’s found himself there this season. The Capitals claimed Cholowski from the Seattle Kraken at the beginning of the season and now he could be on his way to another team.

The 23-year-old played just seven games for the Capitals during his stint in Washington, averaging fewer than 14 minutes of ice time whenever he did get into the lineup. It’s been a dramatic fall-off for a player that was selected 20th overall in 2016 and quickly made his way to the NHL. In 2018-19, Cholowski played 52 games as a rookie for the Detroit Red Wings, but has just 59 in the three years since.

It would certainly make sense for the Kraken to put in a claim, adding him back to their depth chart. That said, as a pending restricted free agent that very well may go unqualified, the team may decide to just move on. Cholowski was Seattle’s choice in the expansion draft but already it seems as though that was likely a mistake, given some of the other names available to them at the time.

Perhaps there is still more to come from the 6’2″ defenseman, but given he’ll turn 24 in a few days and has struggled to provide any level of consistency at the NHL level, the minor leagues appear to be in his immediate future.

Anaheim Ducks Add Scott Niedermayer To Hockey Ops

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After helping in the search for the Anaheim Ducks new general manager, Scott Niedermayer will take on a role in the front office. The Ducks have announced that Niedermayer is now a special advisor to the hockey operations department and will work with new GM Pat Verbeek. In a statement, Verbeek explained:

I’m really excited that Scott has taken on an enhanced role within our hockey operations staff. His winning culture and great hockey mind will help all of our players and staff moving forward.

One of the most decorated defensemen in NHL history, Niedermayer spent five seasons with the Ducks at the end of his career and won the Conn Smythe while leading them to their only Stanley Cup in franchise history. A four-time Cup winner himself, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014. It wasn’t just the NHL where he found success though. Niedermayer is a member of the Triple Gold club, with gold medals at the World Championships and Olympics, a gold medal winner at the World Cup and World Juniors, and a Memorial Cup winner (not to mention two-time WHL champion). Everywhere he goes, success followed him as he smoothly glided around the ice in control of any game he was part of.

For years, Niedermayer was also the owner of the Kootenay Ice of the WHL, but sold his part of the franchise a few years ago and rejoined the Ducks as a development coach for a time. He’ll now join the front office, even if it is in a limited role for the time being, and hope to drop a bit of that winning magic on the next wave of talent in Anaheim.

Philadelphia Flyers Add Daniel Briere To Hockey Ops

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The Philadelphia Flyers have officially named Daniel Briere to the position of special assistant to the general manager, bringing him into the front office on a full-time basis. Briere had previously been with the Maine Mariners of the ECHL, most recently as president and governor. Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher explained what it means to have Briere join:

I’m very happy to add Danny to our hockey operations team in a full-time role. His insight and experience from 25 years in professional hockey, as well as first-hand knowledge of the Philadelphia Flyers, is a valuable asset for our organization and I look forward to working closely with him on a day-to-day basis.

Briere, 44, is considered a top up-and-coming executive and was even considered for the GM role with the Montreal Canadiens recently. He has been a development consultant with the Flyers for the past two years and before his time with Maine, served on the business operations side of the Philadelphia organization.

Now, according to Fletcher, Briere will be involved in all aspects of hockey operations including scouting and player development. A veteran of 973 regular season games, Briere racked up more than 300 goals in a long career that included a long stint with the Flyers. While his regular season production was excellent, it is the playoffs where most of the center’s memorable moments occurred. Briere was an outstanding postseason performer, racking up 116 points in 124 career playoff games and helping the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010, leading all players in scoring.

All of that experience will now come into play for the Flyers front office, where he’ll take the next step toward a likely eventual future at the helm of an NHL team.

AHL Shuffle: 02/08/22

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The NHL returns to a full slate of games this evening with seven on the schedule, including a key Pacific Division matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights. Connor McDavid will try to make up some ground in the playoff race with a win and start what will be an incredibly busy second half. The Oilers have played just 42 games so far and currently sit eight points back of the Golden Knights, who lead the division with a 27-16-3 record. As those teams and others prepare, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.

Atlantic Division

  • The Detroit Red Wings have recalled Joe Veleno from the AHL, where he was excellent for the Grand Rapids Griffins over the weekend. Veleno is finally starting to show that he can be relied on at the NHL level and has six points in 31 games for the Red Wings this season.
  • Peyton Krebs, another young player that has been excellent in the minor leagues, has been recalled by the Buffalo Sabres. Mattias Samuelsson is coming with him this time, meaning he could get another chance to try and score his first NHL goal. The 21-year-old defenseman has played in eight games this season with the Sabres.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled Darren Raddysh from the minor leagues, where he has spent most of the season. The 25-year-old defenseman made his NHL debut this season and has two games under his belt at that level.

Metropolitan Division

Central Division

Pacific Division

  • The Edmonton Oilers have recalled Stuart Skinner after Mikko Koskinen went on the COVID list yesterday. As PuckPedia explains on Twitter, because he’s up under emergency conditions, Skinner won’t count against the Oilers cap for the time being.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Tampa Bay Lightning Extend Pat Maroon

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The Big Rig knows where his bread is buttered. Pat Maroon has signed a two-year extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning that will keep him under contract through the 2023-24 season. The deal comes with an average annual value of just $1MM but allows the veteran forward to stay with the organization that he has helped win two Stanley Cups. Per CapFriendly, Maroon is awarded $1MM in actual money per season, and both years of the deal carry a 16-team no-trade list for Maroon.

Maroon, 33, has actually been part of three consecutive championship-winning teams, after lifting the Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019 before joining the Lightning. During that memorable run, he had two game-winning goals, including one in overtime of game seven against the Dallas Stars. Another game-winner sent the Florida Panthers packing this past year and Maroon firmly planted himself as a Lightning playoff legend.

There aren’t many players in the league more beloved by teammates than Maroon, even though he likely will never come close to repeating the 27-goal, 42-points campaign he had with the Edmonton Oilers. This year, he has seven goals and 13 points in 45 games while averaging a little over 13 minutes a night, perfectly acceptable from a player earning just $900K. He’ll actually get a raise moving forward but that $1MM cap hit represents very little risk for the Lightning.

The Lightning now have just three pending unrestricted free agents to deal with this summer. Ondrej Palat, who is still a key part of the forward group, Jan Rutta, a depth defenseman who could potentially be replaced internally and Brian Elliott, a backup netminder that has been called upon just nine times this season. The Lightning are actually in a pretty nice spot with Brent Seabrook’s LTIR hit making next year’s cap number look more inflated than it really is. Maroon can be a useful piece at the bottom of the lineup and if that changes, his $1MM cap hit can be completely buried in the minor leagues.

St. Louis Blues Extend Robert Bortuzzo, Logan Brown

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The St. Louis Blues have had a busy morning, announcing contract extensions with two players. Robert Bortuzzo has inked a new two-year deal that will keep him under contract through the 2023-24 season and carries an average annual value of $950K. Meanwhile, Logan Brown has re-upped for one more year at $750K, the league minimum.

It wasn’t all good news though. The team has also moved Scott Perunovich to injured reserve with an upper-body injury, recalling Dakota Joshua to take his roster spot.

Bortuzzo, 32, has been with the Blues since 2015 when he was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins and has been a loyal soldier in the years since. Never confused for a top-four option, he’s averaged just over 14 minutes over his 341 games with the Blues and recorded just 46 points. Still, that kind of reliable depth on defense is incredibly important, especially when it comes with size–Bortuzzo stands 6’4″ 216-lbs–and physicality. The big defenseman played in 17 games for the Blues in their 2019 Stanley Cup run, actually scoring two goals including a game-winner against the San Jose Sharks.

A two-year deal may normally come with a little risk for a player like him, the $950K cap hit effectively eliminates any. Bortuzzo could be buried in the minor leagues if the Blues run into any cap issues and the two-year term would likely actually help him clear waivers if it was necessary. All this means is that the team’s sixth or seventh defenseman will be a reliable one with nearly 500 games of NHL experience.

Brown meanwhile is in a very different situation. The 23-year-old has just 47 games at the NHL level, 17 of those coming with the Blues since they acquired him from the Ottawa Senators at the beginning of the season. The 6’6″ forward was selected 11th overall in 2016 but has never been able to translate his mix of size and skill to the NHL. There are some signs that is perhaps changing, as he gets a few regular minutes with St. Louis but there is still no guarantee he becomes a reliable full-time member of the lineup.

The win here for Brown is that the contract is one-way, meaning he’ll earn that $750K no matter which league he plays in. To this point in his career he had only been on two-way contracts, and with the amount of time he has spent in the minor leagues, this $750K deal should appear like a windfall. He also gets to play at home, given he’s a St. Louis native that played minor hockey in the area before going to the OHL.

For the Blues, this is just another bet that it will all click for Brown and some insurance for next year as they approach the salary cap ceiling once again. If he can establish himself as a regular, the team can only benefit from having a player on a league-minimum contract in the lineup. If he can’t, it’ll be waivers again, where his cap hit can be buried in the minor leagues.

Rangers Have An Opportunity To Strike Early In Trade Market

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The concept of the time value of money is a very common one in investing.  Your money is worth a certain amount today but ideally grows over time.  A similar philosophy applies in the NHL when it comes to cap space – $1MM at the start of the season can be worth around $4MM at the trade deadline so teams wisely try to save what they have, hope for minimal injuries, and that would put them in a position to add a useful piece or two for the stretch run.

The end result of such a philosophy is a trade market that has basically resembled that of Major League Baseball since the start of December, notwithstanding a couple of minor AHL swaps last week.  (If you don’t follow MLB, they’ve been in a lockout since then with no trades allowed.)  For the most part, that’s probably not going to change over the next few weeks as many contenders have cap space ranging from none to minimal with a hope that between now and the deadline, it could improve to a level that could be considered as slightly better than nothing.  Such is life in a league where half the teams are technically over the cap and are using LTIR to get into compliance.

That provides an opportunity for a contender that’s fortunate to have cap space to make a move now to get a leg up on their competition.  Only one such team in the top seven in the NHL standings heading into Monday’s games is in that situation and that’s the New York Rangers.

So far, they’ve been linked to many different players with former Ranger J.T. Miller being the headliner.  Some of the others are on expiring contracts and there needs to at least be a mixture as new contracts for Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox add $11.725MM to next season’s payroll compared to what they’re making now.  With nearly $71MM in commitments to 16 players per CapFriendly, there is some room for a longer-term addition but some of their pickups will need to be rentals as well.

Right now, they’re pegged to finish the season with $7.056MM in cap space, an amount that’s equivalent to $17.2MM today and $35.2M at the trade deadline.  Yes, they have some bonuses to factor in but the struggles of Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko limit that somewhat.  Fox will reach his $850K but his bonuses should be the only ones of any sort of consequence.  So if you’re working backward, New York needs to have at least $850K in room at the end of the season.  Even if you add a few hundred thousand as a safety net for some of their other youngsters and factor in that they’re just carrying the minimum-sized roster due to the All-Star break, we’re only looking at holding back around 15-20% of their end-of-season cap room and a few million off the present value of contracts they can acquire right now.

That means that New York could add comfortably more than $10MM in salaries today to their roster.  That’s enough to add an impact player up front and some depth in the bottom six which is an area of concern for the Rangers at the moment with even perhaps having enough left over to shore up their back end.  There’s a reasonable chance that will be about all of the spending they’re going to do between now and the deadline; no one should be expecting GM Chris Drury to bring in five or six new players between now and March 21st.  That would be asking a lot of any team.

In that sense, there isn’t much of a need for them to wait.  While many contenders will have to wait until more time elapses resulting in less salary to take on, the Rangers can go after their targets aggressively now.  Waiting until closer to the deadline will bring in more contenders for their desired players which could drive the price tag higher.  With that in mind, there’s a case to make that paying a little more now to get the player is worth doing, ensuring they get their targets and getting several weeks of extra games out of them in the process.

Patience is often a good characteristic but for New York, the time may be right to be aggressive and strike early on the trade front.  With their cap situation, they’ll be a team to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

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