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East Notes: Backstrom, Panthers, Johansson, Nedeljkovic

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Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom missed the first two months of the season with a hip injury and while he played the rest of the way, he wasn’t fully healthy.  Speaking to reporters at today’s end-of-season press conference, the veteran told reporters, including Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press, that his injured hip will never fully recover while GM Brian MacLellan indicated that Backstrom continuing to play through the injury in its current form will not be sustainable moving forward.  As a result, MacLellan indicated that the 34-year-old will be exploring his options.  The uncertainty surrounding Backstrom’s availability will make Washington’s offseason planning that much more difficult as a result.

Other news from the Eastern Conference:

  • Panthers winger Mason Marchment is unlikely to be available for the start of their series-opener against Tampa Bay, relays David Wilson of the Miami Herald. The 26-year-old had a career year as a secondary scorer, notching 18 goals and 29 assists in just 54 games while also averaging two hits per game which made him a key part of Florida’s bottom six.  He missed the last two games with an unspecified injury and there’s no word on how much longer he might be out.  Meanwhile, interim head coach Andrew Brunette indicated that defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Ben Chiarot will be ready to start the season after being banged up in the final game of the Washington series.
  • After playing on loan in the SHL this season, Red Wings prospect Albert Johansson confirmed to Expressen in Sweden that he will play in North America next season. The 21-year-old defenseman had 25 points in 52 games this season with Farjestad while chipping in with eight points in 19 playoff contests as he won the SHL title.  Johansson also indicated that he won’t ask to be loaned back home if he doesn’t crack Detroit’s roster after training camp in the fall.
  • Still with Detroit, goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is out for the remainder of the World Championship due to an injury, reports ESPN’s Kevin Weekes (Twitter link). He was named to the team earlier this month but had yet to be registered by Team USA, a decision that certainly was the right one now.  As he wasn’t officially registered to the team, they will be able to find a replacement.  Devils goalie Jon Gillies and Sharks prospect Strauss Mann are the other netminders on the roster so far.

Offseason Checklist: Philadelphia Flyers

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The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t playoff-bound plus some that were eliminated early in the playoffs.  It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Philadelphia.

Things went off the rails early and often for the Flyers this season.  The team had high internal expectations and didn’t come close to meeting them.  Injuries hurt them considerably throughout the year, a coaching change did nothing to turn the tide, and Carter Hart put forth a second straight tough year.  Despite all that, they’re showing no signs of a rebuild so their checklist this summer may seem counterintuitive to the direction that many believe they should take.

Thread The Needle

GM Chuck Fletcher has talked about what he terms an aggressive retool.  On the surface, it appears that the intention there would be to shake up the core again, moving veterans for other veterans in the hopes that the new mix will result in better success.  They tried that last summer with the additions of Cam Atkinson and Ryan Ellis but while Atkinson had a decent season with 23 goals and 27 assists, Ellis was limited to just four games due to injury.  In the end, it didn’t really change their fortunes.

Fletcher now needs to find a way to make more of those swaps to make the team more competitive now while also not throwing away parts of his future as he did in the Rasmus Ristolainen trade.  While there will be teams open to those types of swaps since many will have salary cap challenges and will be limited to those types of trades involving impact players, finding the right combination of moves to spark the team isn’t going to be easy as the success rate around the league on those is nowhere near 100%.

Only one team scored fewer goals than the Flyers this season (Arizona) and only five allowed more goals so clearly, notable changes need to be made both up front and on the back end.  Full seasons from Sean Couturier and Ellis will help but that alone won’t be enough.  To borrow terms from other sports, Fletcher will need to thread the needle on a pretty significant sequence of moves and knock a few acquisitions out of the park.  They have their work cut out for them as a result.

Free Up Cap Space

Just when you might be thinking that the above seems pretty daunting in itself, let’s bring the salary cap into play now.  Philadelphia has less than $6MM in cap space this summer with Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost, and Zack MacEwen needing new deals up front and a replacement for Keith Yandle on the back end.  Even if that number is a little inflated with some of their end-of-season recalls, there isn’t much in the way of flexibility in terms of trying to make a splash in free agency.  Unless, of course, they can clear some money up first.

The obvious candidate on that front is James van Riemsdyk.  The 33-year-old has provided the Flyers with some decent secondary scoring in his second stint with the franchise, scoring at least 17 goals in each of his four years since returning (and that low mark came in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign).  However, his effectiveness has waned as he ages and $7MM is an expensive price tag for someone who is best utilized as a middle-six winger.  It’s unlikely he’s going to turn things around next season and get back to the 30-goal mark so he’s someone that stands out as a trade candidate.  The question will be how much of an offset will be needed (either by retention or by taking a player back) or how much of an incentive they’ll need to provide to get a team to take the contract without sending any money back.  What happens with van Riemsdyk will go a long way towards determining what they can or can’t do this summer.

While they didn’t really get a chance to evaluate their full back end due to Ellis missing 78 games, it also seems likely that they will move a defender as part of their aggressive retool.  It won’t be Ellis as his value is down after missing almost the entire year and they just committed five years at $5.1MM per to Ristolainen; clearly, he’s not moving either.  That leaves Ivan Provorov ($6.75MM through 2024-25) and Travis Sanheim ($4.675MM in 2022-23, then becomes a UFA).  Provorov is coming off an underwhelming year so while moving him would save money, his trade value certainly isn’t at its best.  Sanheim is easier to move but yields less in cap savings.  But if they want to shake up the back end again, one of those two may need to be on the move as a result.

Hire A New Head Coach

After the decision to fire Alain Vigneault early in the season didn’t yield the results Fletcher was hoping for, the Flyers decided not to continue with Mike Yeo as their head coach for next season.  That puts finding a new bench boss very high on the priority list over the coming weeks.

With Philadelphia committed to trying to retool instead of rebuild, that could push them in the direction of a veteran coach over a first-timer in that role.  While long-time Flyer Rick Tocchet is viewed as a popular option, someone like Barry Trotz – who led quick turnarounds for the Capitals and Islanders – could stand out for that reason as well.  Paul Maurice is also a possible fit if he wanted to get back behind a bench so quickly after stepping away from Winnipeg.

Among the first-time head coaching options, Lane Lambert has long been speculated as a candidate but he could be promoted to the top spot for the Islanders after Trotz’s departure.  Nate Leaman is always an option to make the jump from the college ranks while Rikard Gronborg and Roger Ronnberg are international coaches that always come up at this time of year.  But again, a first-time NHL bench boss would be a bit surprising given their win-now intentions.  Regardless, it will be a crucial hire for Fletcher as with the way the last couple of seasons have gone, he may not get another one.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Salary figures courtesy of CapFriendly.

Crosby, Rakell, Jarry All Playing In Game 7

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Some fantastic news for Pittsburgh Penguins fans just minutes ahead of puck drop on an obviously pivotal Game 7 against the New York Rangers. Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell, and Tristan Jarry are all in the lineup after dealing with injuries.

The news is monumental for the Penguins, who greatly missed the presence of all three players in Game 6.

Crosby was injured in Game 5 on a controversial hit from Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba. Prior to the hit, he had a stellar nine points in five games. He returns to center the top line between Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust, who have both performed well in this series. Crosby was sidelined with reported concussion symptoms after the hit, however, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported this morning that Crosby did test negative for a concussion.

Rakell, the team’s big trade deadline acquisition, was injured after playing just 4:28 in Game 1’s triple-overtime win. With 13 points in 19 games down the stretch in Pittsburgh, he proved he could be an impactful scorer for them. He’ll fill out the top six on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Kasperi Kapanen.

Jarry is potentially the biggest piece to return, though. Not having played for a month, Jarry comes in to replace third-string netminder Louis Domingue, who had performed admirably but struggled in Games 5 and 6. They’ll rely on Jarry to exorcise last year’s playoff demons and deliver for them in a big way tonight.

It’s not all good news, however. Assistant coach Mike Vellucci, whose main areas of emphasis are the penalty kill and the forwards, entered COVID protocol and is unavailable for the game.

Two Washington Capitals Defensemen Head To World Championship

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A pair of Washington Capitals defensemen are heading to Helsinki and Tampere, Finland, to participate in the 2022 IIHF World Championship. Youngster Martin Fehervary is joining Team Slovakia in Group A in Helsinki, while Michal Kempny will head to Team Czechia in Group B in Tampere.

Fehervary immediately becomes the only Slovak defenseman affiliated with an NHL team. While the team does also have projected 2022 top-five draft choice Simon Nemec, the team’s blue line is largely constructed of players from the Czech and Slovak Extraligas. Slovakia is off to a 1-1 start after defeating France 4-2 and losing to Germany 2-1. Their next game is tomorrow against the Canadians, a tough test for this squad.

The 22-year-old, who Washington selected 46th overall in 2018, forced his way into a full-time NHL role this season for the first time. Playing in 79 games, Fehervary worked his way up to the team’s top pairing alongside John Carlson, showing he could play against top competition. While neither his point totals (eight goals, nine assists, 17 points) nor his defensive metrics were particularly impressive, he did log some penalty-killing minutes as well and showed vast potential for improvement. The two-way defender will look at this tournament as a chance to continue his development on the international stage.

Kempny, now 31, got into only 15 games with the Capitals this season after missing all of 2020-21 with an injury to his Achilles tendon. He never found his way back into the lineup full-time, garnering a goal and assist in those 15 games, and spent 24 games with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. He will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He’ll join a Czech defense core highlighted by NHLers Filip Hronek, Radim Simek, and another projected top pick in 2022 in David Jiricek. Like the Slovaks, the Czechs have also split their opening games at the tournament, defeating Great Britain 5-1 before losing to Sweden 5-3.

Capitals Notes: Goaltending, Wilson, Laviolette

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Today was exit day for the Washington Capitals, and as part of that, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan spoke with the media. The biggest revelation coming from his media appearance regards the team’s goaltending situation, as he shed some light on how the team views their current tandem of goaltenders and what strategy they will take towards the position in the offseason. MacLellan said, as relayed by Samantha Pell of The Washington Post, that the team’s “top priority” regarding their goaltending is to acquire a veteran netminder. MacLellan also added that it’s “possible” that both of the team’s current goalies, Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek, (who are each eligible to become restricted free agents with arbitration rights) return next season, but that the priority is to add a veteran to the team.

Both Samsonov and Vanecek, who are 25 and 26 years old, respectively, had seasons to forget. For Vanecek, his regular season was solid (42 games played at a .908 save percentage) but he unraveled in the playoffs, not even making it to the end of game two before being pulled for Samsonov. Samsonov, on the flip side, had a poor regular season, posting only an .896 save percentage in 44 games. Although he did better in the playoffs (.912 in five games) he still failed to make the saves required for the Capitals to defeat the Florida Panthers. By virtue of both goalies needing a new contract, this offseason the Capitals are afforded the financial flexibility to choose a new direction in net. The Capitals intend on remaining competitive during the remaining years of Alex Ovechkin’s career, and MacLellan’s statements make it clear that the organization deems a veteran goaltender necessary to give their captain a chance at winning a second Stanley Cup. If their prior courtship of Marc-Andre Fleury is any indication, it seems MacLellan and the Capitals will be going fishing for a major addition to their crease this offseason.

Now, for some other notes regarding the Capitals:

  • Tom Wilson, one of the Capitals’ most important forwards, did not play very much in their short playoff run. He scored a goal but suffered a knee injury that MacLellan today said would have cost him the entirety of the Capitals’ playoff run, should they have made it into the next few rounds. Per Tom Gulitti of NHL.com, the team will make a decision in the next few days on whether Wilson needs surgery. Even with a potential surgery in mind, MacLellan did express optimism that Wilson would be ready to play by the start of next season. The Capitals rely on Wilson’s goal-scoring and physicality to win games, so if they want to hit the ground running for next season’s campaign getting Wilson back to full health will be a major priority for the team.
  • This season marks coach Peter Laviolette’s second behind the bench in Washington, and his combined 80-41-17 record over those two seasons is reflective of how well he has done in getting the most out of the Capitals’ players.  But despite that regular-season success, the Capitals have bowed out in the first round in both years of his tenure, and as a result, with Laviolette set to enter the final season of his contract, MacLellan was asked about Laviolette’s future in Washington. Per Gulitti, MacLellan made the point that he wanted to keep conversations regarding Laviolette’s contract situation private, but was complimentary about his coach’s work during this regular season and playoffs. While some more frustrated Capitals fans may want to see a change behind the bench after two straight early playoff exits, it seems that the organization has full faith in Laviolette being the right coach to bring the Capitals their second Stanley Cup.

Charlie McAvoy, Brendan Smith Earn Fines

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The NHL Department of Player Safety has handed out a pair of fines today, sanctioning defensemen Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins and Brendan Smith of the Carolina Hurricanes for violations committed during yesterday’s series-ending contest. Both were fined the maximum allowable amount under the CBA.

McAvoy’s $5,000 fine came for tripping, in an incident where he tripped Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei. The incident came at 6:10 of the third period. The Bruins were pressing into Carolina’s end of the ice, looking to create a scoring chance when their possession of the puck ended and Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast cleared the puck down the ice. McAvoy, who was hovering around the area that Fast occupied, knocked Fast down and then went and committed this tripping infraction on Skjei.

Smith’s fine, a $2,000 cost to the player, is for elbowing Bruins’ forward David Pastrnak. Pastrnak retrieved a puck in the corner and curled it around the net, and after the puck had already left Pastrnak’s stick Smith went to engage Pastrnak in a body check. Smith left his feet on the check, his elbow rising to the point of hitting Pastrnak in the head, hence the fine for elbowing. The fine occurred at 1:18 in the third period of yesterday’s game.

Brian Boyle Out Week-To-Week

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As the Penguins gear up for a do-or-die final game in their series against the New York Rangers, they will be without one of their more important bottom-sixers. Veteran Brian Boyle, whose play after not playing all of last season has been one of the best stories all year, is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury, as relayed by NHL.com’s Dan Rosen.

While those looking only at Boyle’s cap hit and box score numbers to get an indication of his value may not view this as any substantial loss, for a team hoping to play deeper into the playoffs beyond tonight, this news is a relatively substantial blow. Coach Mike Sullivan spoke on the value to his team lost by Boyle’s absence, calling Boyle “a good penalty killer” and lamenting that his absence “places a physical burden on the rest of the group.” The Penguins recently called up six-foot-six winger Radim Zohorna, so perhaps he can help bear some of that “physical burden” Sullivan was talking about. But he has yet to skate in a playoff game, and with Rickard Rakell likely back, it’s unlikely that Zohorna will do so anytime soon. So, it seems that the team will rely on the physical contributions of players like Brock McGinn or Jason Zucker to fill the void left by Boyle’s absence.

This loss is perhaps most significant within the context of the Penguins’ penalty kill. Recently, they have struggled mightily against a lethal Rangers powerplay, giving up three goals on only six chances in the past two games. Should the Penguins manage to defeat the Rangers and advance to play the Carolina Hurricanes in the next round, Boyle’s absence could be a major loss in the face of a Carolina powerplay that was top-15 in the regular season. But, before they can worry about that, they will need to beat the Rangers, a task that has now been made more difficult thanks to this news of Boyle’s extended absence.

Carl Hagelin’s Eye Injury Could Threaten Career

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Veteran forward Carl Hagelin was enjoying another solid season this year when suddenly it came to a screeching halt. The Washington Capitals winger suffered a mysterious eye injury at some point in early March, which was only disclosed once he underwent surgery on March 6. He was deemed out “indefinitely” and did not return this season. Speaking at the Capitals’ end of the year media availability today, Hagelin filled some of the gaps in his injury story and provided a glimpse into the future.

According to Hagelin, his eye injury was a “freak accident” that occurred in practice. A high stick caught him under the visor and hit him “right in the eyeball”. The incident ruptured the choroid in the back of his left eye, a collection of blood vessels responsible for the health of the eye. It has taken not one, but two surgeries to repair the injury. However, the repair is not complete. In fact, Hagelin states that he will never get full vision back in his eye and does not know how it will impact his attempt at a return next season.

Hagelin is signed through the 2022-23 season and hopes to honor that contract. He is optimistic that he can overcome his damaged vision and has been receiving support from Detroit Red Wings defenseman Marc Staal in his recovery. Staal, who was teammates with Hagelin with the New York Rangers, suffered a serious eye injury early in his career, but was able to return. Carl Soderberg is perhaps the greatest beacon of hope. The former NHLer suffered an even more serious injury to his left eye while still playing in Sweden early in his career. The injury required numerous surgeries over a months-long hospital stay and left Soderberg legally blind in that eye. Despite all that, Soderberg went on to have a full NHL career. Hagelin noted that he will learn from Staal and Soderberg, including copying their oversized visors if he does return, and hopes to find the same success in his recovery.

New York Rangers To Sign Olof Lindbom

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Another talented young goaltender is set to join the New York Rangers. CapFriendly has reported the terms of a to-be-announced entry-level contract between New York and 2018 second-round pick Olof Lindbom. The Swedish netminder is set to sign a two-year deal worth an AAV of $925K. The NHL salary in 2022-23 will be $750K and in 2023-24 will be $775K, with an AHL salary of $70K for both years. The contract also includes a $185K signing bonus, split evenly between each season, and games played bonuses of $82.5K in year one and $57.5K in year two.

Lindbom, 21, was the first goalie off the board at No. 39 overall in the 2018 NHL Draft. Lindbom had dominated the U-18 World Juniors that year, recording a .949 save percentage and 1.66 GAA in six games, and the Rangers didn’t want to miss out on his potential. However, Lindbom’s development has not been straight-line. In the four years since he was drafted, Lindbom has only played in Sweden’s U-20 SuperElit league and second-tier pro Allsvenskan league, finding varying levels of success and not earning any SHL appearances. With that being said, 2021-22 was Lindbom’s best pro season as he posted a career-high .900 save percentage in a career-high 27 games for Kristianstads IK. While that .900 number may not seem elite, it ranked 17th in the Allsvenskan and 10th among goalies who played in at least half of their team’s games; it’s not a bad mark for such a young goalie.

While the signing of Lindbom was inevitable and the timing is not surprising, as the Rangers likely want to play a more direct role in his development, the addition of another young goalie adds to the logjam in New York. The Rangers have long dealt with a two-headed monster at the NHL level in Igor Shesterkin, who at 26 is already the Vezina Trophy favorite, and talented backup Alexandar Georgiev, who is also just 26. In the minors, a pair of former NCAA standouts are awaiting their chances for more opportunity. Adam Huska, who just turned 25, was the backup to Keith Kinkaid for the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack despite outplaying the veteran. Meanwhile, 24-year-old Tyler Wall only played in five AHL games due to the organizational net depth. There’s also Dylan Garand, a 2020 fourth-round pick who has already signed his ELC, played in a couple AHL games last year, and has been stellar in each of the past two seasons with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. The 19-year-old is ready for the next level. Lindbom will not be handed anything in New York; he will have to fight for his place on the depth chart like everyone else.

Looking Ahead To P.K. Subban’s Impending Free Agency

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Despite relatively low fanfare, one of hockey’s biggest names is set to be become an unrestricted free agent this summer. New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban will become a UFA for the first time in his career, having just finished the final year of an eight-year, $72MM contract that carried a $9MM AAV. Subban signed that contract with the Montreal Canadiens prior to the start of the 2014-15 season, but would only play two of the eight years with Montreal before being dealt to the Nashville Predators. The star defenseman would spend three seasons in Nashville, making a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2017, but was again traded to New Jersey in 2019.

A former Norris Trophy winner, Subban is no longer the player he was in Montreal and Nashville, trailing off in production the past few seasons. From 2012-13 (his Norris season) through 2017-18, Subban averaged 58 points per 82 games played, including a career-high of 60 in 2014-15. However, since the start of the 2018-19 season, Subban’s production has been cut, quite literally, in half, averaging just 29 points per 82 games played. Though Subban was never regarded as elite defensively, he’s also seen his struggles in his own end too in recent years. Most notably, during the same 2012-13 through 2017-18 stretch, the defenseman compiled a plus-43 rating in 422 games, which dropped to a near-opposite minus-40 in a far fewer 252 games.

Having just turned 33-years-old, and with the previous four years of regression, Subban is very unlikely to come anywhere close to his previous contract, but it’s not to say he won’t have interest this offseason or a shortage of places to play next season. The veteran has appeared to establish himself as a well-liked leader in an incredibly young Devils locker room and still possesses the big shot and physical ability that made him one of the elite defenders of the 2010’s. Subban could find himself as an important piece on a competitive team which can limit his exposure and utilize him in favorable matchups; perhaps a team that already has solid defensive depth, but is missing the offensive upside from the blueline that Subban does provide. One comparison to this end could be how the Edmonton Oilers have used Tyson Barrie, who posted two strong seasons after a rough 2019-20 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As mentioned, Subban is surely not going to find himself with a $9MM AAV this offseason, but he will have opportunities. What his next contract looks like is very much a mystery, however. One possibility could be to follow in the footsteps of defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. Though Shattenkirk doesn’t have as impressive of a track record as Subban, he did find himself as a UFA after two down seasons with the New York Rangers, having been bought out after two years of a four-year, $26.6MM contract. The path Shattenkirk chose was to sign a one-year, $1.75MM contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2019-20 season, where he would rebound, admittedly not to his past standard, but enough to earn a three-year, $11.7MM contract with the Anaheim Ducks the very next offseason.

Returning to Barrie, he utilized a very similar strategy, signing a one-year, $3.75MM deal for the 2020-21 season with Edmonton, rebounding and earning a three-year, $13.5MM extension with the Oilers. Perhaps Subban could sign a low-value deal in a well-suited role to rebuild his value in hopes of finding a favorable multi-year deal next offseason.

A multi-year deal this offseason at a (reasonably) higher salary isn’t necessarily off the table for Subban, however his options to combine this offer with an ability to compete for a Stanley Cup could be more limited. Considering the current flat-cap and Subban’s age and recent regression, competitive teams will have to budget carefully and taking on a player like Subban who could be considered a bit of a “project,” may not necessarily be a move a team like that would be keen on making.

If Subban does sign a multi-year contract this offseason, ones like Shattenkirk’s with Anaheim, Barrie’s extension with Edmonton, or even Jack Johnson’s five-year, $16.25MM contract that he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins prior to the 2018-19 season, could be strong comparisons. It is worth noting though, that both Shattenkirk and Barrie played their one-year “rebuilding seasons” at age 29, and Johnson was 31 when he signed his long-term contract in Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, Subban turned 33 this week.

Regardless of how Subban pursues his first trip to unrestricted free agency, he should still have a market that offers him several options considering the skills and value he brings on and off the ice. With his previous status as an elite defenseman, his recent regression, and still being regarded as one of the game’s most marketable stars no matter his on-ice performance, his free agency is sure to be intriguing.

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