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Dylan Larkin Avoids Suspension, Earns Fine

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The Detroit Red Wings will escape Washington with two points and their captain’s availability intact. Dylan Larkin has avoided a suspension and was instead given a $5,000 fine—the maximum allowable under the CBA—for his cross-check on T.J. Oshie last night.

Larkin was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for the play, which happened partway through the first period. Missing more than two periods likely impacted the decision, though the Red Wings were still able to fight off the Capitals for a 3-1 win, thanks to two unassisted goals from Pius Suter.

Whether intentional or not, Larkin delivered a forceful blow directly to the face of Oshie as he tried to slow him down coming out of the zone. He is rather fortunate to escape without at least a one-game ban, especially given the important match tomorrow against the New York Rangers.

Detroit is in a race for one of the wildcard positions in the Eastern Conference and sit just two games behind the Florida Panthers with four games in hand. If they can continue their recent hot streak—the Red Wings are winners of seven of their last ten—they have a chance of making the playoffs this season. Larkin, with 56 points in 55 games, is a big part of that.

The incident ended a pretty significant streak, too. Larkin had scored seven goals and 13 points over a seven-game point streak going into the game against Washington but had it snapped when he played just 2:54 before exiting.

New York Islanders Recall Otto Koivula

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The New York Islanders have made a roster swap, sending Andy Andreoff to the AHL while recalling Otto Koivula ahead of tonight’s game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Andreoff, 31, has played in three games so far this season, recording one assist in just 22 total minutes of ice time. The veteran winger has been mostly a minor league player for his decade-long professional career and has suited up just nine times with New York since joining the organization in 2021.

For the Bridgeport Islanders, though, he’s been a key player, scoring 20 goals in just 46 games this season. With Bridgeport entering a key three-in-four stretch over the next few days, he’ll be a welcome reinforcement.

Koivula, meanwhile, has played just one game for New York, the 21st of his NHL career. The 24-year-old forward has 25 points in 45 games for Bridgeport and continues to bounce up and down whenever the organization needs an extra body at the NHL level.

West Notes: Karlsson, Kane, Krug

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Edmonton Oilers fans’ dreams of two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson being traded to oil country might have to wait to become a reality. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period is reporting that a deal between the Oilers and San Jose Sharks for Karlsson is considered “unlikely,” for mainly financial reasons. Pagnotta reports that while the Sharks are willing to retain two or three million dollars off of Karlsson’s deal, the Oilers want the Sharks to retain a more significant portion, around $5MM, if not more.

As a result, Pagnotta says that “it sounds like there haven’t been any recent serious discussions between the two clubs as a result” of those financial disagreements. The rationale for the Oilers to want to acquire Karlsson is very real, as he’s a Norris Trophy frontrunner with 76 points in 58 games. But asking San Jose to take on such a large number of dead cap dollars for the foreseeable future is a major ask, and it’s understandable that the Sharks balked at the prospect of making such a deal. According to Pagnotta, the Oilers could be pivoting to new targets, such as Anaheim Ducks defenseman John Klingberg, and Arizona Coyotes blueliner Shayne Gostisbehere.

Some other notes from across the Western Conference:

  • As relayed by NBC Sports’ Charlie Roumeliotis, Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson gave an update on the team’s situation with top trade candidate Patrick Kane. Davidson said that he is in “constant contact” with Kane’s representatives, but hasn’t yet heard a decision on whether Kane wants to be dealt and is willing to waive his trade protection. While Kane has had some health issues and scored less than he’d likely have hoped he would, his decision on a trade is still one of massive importance, as Kane is likely at or near the top of quite a few contending teams’ trade deadline wishlists.
  • The St. Louis Blues announced that defenseman Torey Krug left tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes with a lower-body injury. It’s another stroke of bad luck for Krug, who has dealt with lingering injury issues recently. Krug’s performance this season has mirrored the Blues as a whole: inconsistent and largely disappointing. The veteran defenseman, who is on a $6.5MM AAV contract through 2027, has scored just 22 points in 40 games, a decline from last season when he scored 43 points in 64 games. Hopefully, this injury is not connected to what Krug has been dealing with in recent weeks and this absence was just a precautionary measure.

Trade Deadline Primer: Los Angeles Kings

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The trade deadline looms and is now less than two weeks away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Los Angeles Kings

The rebuild is over in Los Angeles. After a three-season stretch where the Kings languished near the bottom of the standings, the Kings climbed out of the basement last season, making the playoffs for the first time under head coach Todd McLellan. While they would fall to the Edmonton Oilers in a hard-fought seven-game series, the team left the 2021-22 season highly encouraged about the future of their franchise. So far this season, the Kings have largely supported that attitude with quality play.

The Kings are just a point behind the Vegas Golden Knight for first place in the Pacific Division. Centerpiece offseason acquisition Kevin Fiala has fit in about as well as anyone could have imagined. He’s leading the team with 61 points in 57 games, and behind him, the Kings have a balanced group of scorers led by franchise legend Anze Kopitar, two-way force Phillip Danault, a now-extended Adrian Kempe, and a resurgent Drew Doughty, among others. This is a team that has been ramping up for true contention for quite a bit of time now, and might just be ready to take their first big swing.

Record

32-18-7, 2nd in the Pacific

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$2.81MM in current space, $3.51MM in deadline space, 0/3 retention slots used, 46/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2023: LAK 1st, LAK 2nd, LAK 3rd, PIT 3rd, LAK 4th, LAK 5th, LAK 6th
2024: LAK 1st, LAK 2nd, LAK 3rd, LAK 4th, LAK 5th, LAK 6th, LAK 7th

Trade Chips

The most obvious of the Kings’ trade chips can be identified by taking just a quick look at the team’s cap sheet. Goaltender Cal Petersen is currently playing in Ontario, with Los Angeles’ AHL affiliate, and is costing the Kings $3.875MM against the cap, which is the value of his $5MM cap hit once the Kings “bury” it in the AHL. the issue is, since the deal has two years left after the conclusion of this season, moving Petersen is easier said than done.

There aren’t many teams across the NHL who can afford to take in money with term without moving money out to match. We saw this last summer when the Montreal Canadiens dealt Jeff Petry to the Pittsburgh Penguins and received Mike Matheson in return, with Canadiens GM Kent Hughes later commenting on the fact that it was next to impossible to find a suitable deal for Petry without taking a contract back.

Those kinds of deals can be exceptionally difficult to complete in the middle of a season, so while it seems likely that the Kings would love to deal Petersen before the deadline, it seems highly unlikely that they’d actually be able to find a suitable trade. His .868 save percentage this season and .895 last year is simply too big of a cloud over his head for him to be a simple player to move.

If the Kings want to acquire a significant player to add to their lineup for the rest of this season and beyond, they’ll likely need to pull from a well-stocked prospect cupboard. A few names stick out in that regard, and no, the Kings probably won’t be trading top prospect Brandt Clarke, despite some earlier reports. Instead, a prime candidate to be moved from the Kings’ prospect pool appears to be 2019 fifth-overall selection, Alex Turcotte. The aggressive, pace-pushing forward has struggled with injuries and underperformance since turning pro after one season at the University of Wisconsin, and he has thus far been unable to break into the NHL in the way other 2019 lottery picks have.

Perhaps a team that had Turcotte high on their draft board in 2019, a team that still believes in his upside, would be willing to prioritize acquiring Turcotte when dealing with Los Angeles. It’s worth noting here in terms of potential interest that Kirby Dach, once a fellow underperforming top 2019 draft pick, net his former club the 13th overall pick at the 2022 draft via trade, and now Dach is flourishing with his new club.

At this trade deadline, the Kings could look to follow that model with Turcotte, except with the return likely coming in the form of a useful player rather than a top draft choice.

Other Potential Trade Chips: D Tobias Bjornfot, D Sean Durzi, C Tyler Madden, D Helge Grans

Team Needs

1) Left-Shot Defenseman: While most might look at the performance of the Kings’ goalies and say that that position is undoubtedly their top need, 31-year-old Pheonix Copley just signed a contract extension and has a 17-3-1 record this season. While the Kings should definitely explore upgrades in the crease, it feels that upgrading the left side of their defense should be the more pressing priority. The team’s current stable of left-handed blueliners is extremely thin behind the underrated Michael Anderson. Their top two left-shot options behind him are 36-year-old veteran Alexander Edler and Tobias Bjornfot, who is still largely unproven. Adding a capable top-four (or better) left-shot blueliner would do wonders for the overall makeup of their lineup. And for those who’d prefer a new goalie, adding to the Kings’ defense will also help their goalies as well.

1) A Quality Goalie: As mentioned, Copley has stolen the show in Los Angeles with his impressive record through 23 games. But if the Kings want a legitimate chance to win the Stanley Cup, they might want a more reliable face in their crease beyond a player with 54 games of NHL experience and Jonathan Quick, who for all his accomplishments is 37 years old and has an .878 save percentage this season. Netminders such as Joonas Korpisalo, Semyon Varlamov, Cam Talbot, or even Karel Vejmelka could be available and each would present a solid investment for a team with a shaky-at-best situation at the game’s most important position. The Kings have made a deadline-season goalie acquisition before, and it didn’t work out well for them, but they can’t let that history stop them from making what would likely be a very helpful addition this time around.

Pictures courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Ovechkin, Konecny, Schmid

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Alex Ovechkin is expected back in the Washington Capitals lineup later this week. Emily Kaplan of ESPN reports that the Capitals star will return to the Washington area on Wednesday and could make his return to the lineup as soon as Thursday night. The Russian sniper has been away from the team since February 12th, dealing with the death of his father, Mikhail.

The team has told Ovechkin to take the time he needs before returning to the lineup, but Kaplan reports that he will likely return either Thursday or Saturday. The Capitals host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday before taking on the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon. Ovechkin has continued his torrid goal-scoring pace this season with 32 goals and 54 points in 54 games played. He will look to boost the Capitals playoff chances upon his return as they sit just outside the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.

  • Travis Konecny will miss tonight’s Philadelphia Flyers contest against the Edmonton Oilers. Flyers beat reporter Giana Han of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports Konecny has an upper-body injury and will be assessed by medical staff when the team returns home. The Flyers wrap up a four-game western road trip tonight and will be looking to tighten things up defensively after allowing 15 goals in the previous three games. They will miss Konecny’s presence as he is the team’s leading scorer with 54 points this season.
  • The New Jersey Devils have called up goaltender Akira Schmid from the AHL’s Utica Comets as per a team release. Devils reporter Amanda Stein added Mackenzie Blackwood tweaked something in practice this morning, so Schmid will serve as Vitek Vanecek’s backup when the Devils face the Montreal Canadiens tonight.

Injury Updates: Klingberg, Henrique, Blackwood, Ekman-Larsson, Armia, Mantha

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The Anaheim Ducks have announced that defenseman John Klingberg is out with a lower-body injury. There was no word on whether his status was considered day-to-day or something longer, though the team noted that Nathan Beaulieu would be drawing into the lineup in Klingberg’s place. While this development won’t have any impact on the Ducks’ long-gone playoff hopes, it could have an impact on the trade deadline. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman notes that this is not an instance of a team holding a player out of the lineup for trade-related reasons, as we have seen teams do with other blueliners such as Jakob Chychrun and Vladislav Gavrikov.

While Klingberg, 30, has had a nightmarish season in Anaheim (22 points in 48 games, down in scoring pace from 47 in 74 last season) he’s still a well-regarded offensive defenseman. Just last summer he earned a $7MM one-year deal, and it’s likely that there would be teams interested in acquiring him at the deadline. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta links Klingberg with the Edmonton Oilers’ search for defensive help at the deadline, and it’s likely that there would be more than just Edmonton looking to add him to their team. Assuming that’s the case, interested teams will likely want to monitor his health status closely due to this news. In addition to Klingberg, the Ducks also announced that Adam Henrique would be leaving the game with an injury, which could be another injury development with trade deadline implications.

  • New Jersey Devils netminder Mackenzie Blackwood is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, reports NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. Starter Vitek Vanecek will retain the lion’s share of Devils starts in Blackwood’s absence. Blackwood will be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer and will hope to get this injury behind him and improve on his current .900 save percentage in order to put himself in the best position possible for summer contract negotiations.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have announced that defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been placed on injured reserve. It was previously reported that Ekman-Larsson would miss several weeks with an ankle injury, and now the Canucks have made that reality official on their roster, as they’ve placed Ekman-Larsson on the injured list. With him out, the Canucks are turning to Riley Stillman and Christian Wolanin on the left side of their defense, and will now have an extra spot on the 23-man roster to work with.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have announced that forward Joel Armia has left tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils. He left the bench relatively early in the first period, and at the moment it’s unclear the exact nature of what knocked him out of the game. Armia has had a difficult season, with just eleven points in 31 games. He’s had games where he’s looked quite good, but those games have been met with far longer stretches where he’s faded into the background of games. With the Canadiens already ravaged by injuries, they’ll have to hope that this new injury is a relatively minor one.
  • The Washington Capitals have announced that forward Anthony Mantha has an upper-body injury, and will not return to tonight’s game. It’s been a rough season for Mantha and a difficult adjustment in Washington overall. Mantha has scored nine goals and 24 points in 53 games this season and is being outscored by two of the team’s bargain-bin veteran signings, Erik Gustafsson and Marcus Johansson. Hopefully, this injury proves to be just a minor setback so Matha can quickly return to the ice and work towards ending his season on the right foot.

Cole Perfetti Placed On Injured Reserve; Axel Jonsson-Fjällby Recalled

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The Winnipeg Jets have placed forward Cole Perfetti on injured reserve per a team announcement Tuesday afternoon. Forward Axel Jonsson Fjällby has been recalled from the Jets’ AHL affiliate Manitoba Moose on an emergency basis. In 51 games played so far this season, Perfetti has scored eight goals and 22 assists for a total of 30 points. After spending much of the 2021-22 NHL season split between the Jets and the Moose, Perfetti has shown off his playmaking prowess this year showing just why he was such a high selection at the 2020 NHL Draft.

As the Jets find themselves in a very tight Central Division playoff race, losing Perfetti will be a sizeable hole in the lineup. Entering tomorrow night’s game against the New York Islanders, the Jets are averaging 3.14 GF/G and a PP% of 21.8%, good for 16th and 14th in the league, respectively. Spending most of his time on the Jets’ first line, and helping out with the second power-play unit, the Jets will need to find offensive help in different ways in the near future. With 25 games remaining in the regular season, the Jets find themselves one point back of the division-leading Dallas Stars, and four points up on the third-place Colorado Avalanche, a team with two games in hand on the Jets. After missing out on the playoffs for the 2021-22 season, losing Perfetti will be a hurdle that the Jets will need to clear in order to return to the playoffs.

Replacing Perfetti in the lineup, Jonsson-Fjällby will return to the Jets after a one-week return to the minors. Claimed from the Washington Capitals in early October, Jonsson-Fjällby has been able to provide some depth scoring for the Jets this year. In 45 games played during the 2022-23 season, Jonsson-Fjällby has scored four goals and seven assists. Although he does not garner the same recognition as Perfetti for many Jets fans, Jonsson-Fjällby should be able to provide serviceable minutes for the Jets in Perfetti’s absence.

Vancouver Canucks To Scratch Luke Schenn

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The Vancouver Canucks are the latest team to start protecting assets before the trade deadline, as Luke Schenn will sit out tonight’s game against the Nashville Predators.

Schenn, 33, has been the subject of trade speculation for weeks, thanks to his unique mix of physicality, reasonable cost, and championship pedigree. He carries a cap hit of just $850K this season, leads the NHL in hits with 258, and recently won the Stanley Cup twice with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Any contender in the league could fit Schenn into their cap situation by moving a single player off the roster, and almost all of them are looking for defensive depth. At one point, a reunion with the Lightning was rumored, but recent reports had the Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames linked to him.

Just a few days ago, Schenn told the media that he expected to play every day until he was traded, meaning a move could be imminent if he’s being pulled from the lineup.

The right-shot defenseman has 21 points in 55 games this season, his highest total since 2011-12 and a pace that will easily have him set a new career-high by the end of the year. He won’t be going anywhere for his offense, but a three-assist game a few days ago only would have helped his profile around the league.

Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV was first to report the fact that Schenn would be scratched. 

Nic Dowd To Return For Capitals; Aliaksei Protas Sent Down

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After a 10-day stretch since being recalled on February 11th, Washinton Capitals’ forward Aliaksei Protas has been reassigned to AHL affiliate Hershey Bears per a team announcement from Capitals’ General Manager Brian MacLellan. Protas’ assignment to the AHL affiliate paves the way for Nic Dowd’s return to the lineup. In 43 games this season, Protas has scored 10 points playing predominantly in the Capitals’ bottom six.

As Dowd returns, Protas will now see his third demotion of the season. Combining this season and last, Protas has played in a total of 76 games in the NHL, scoring six goals, and racking up 13 assists for 19 total points. Failing to carve out a permanent role for the Capitals, Protas will continue his development for the Hersey Bears, where he has scored at a much better rate over his career. In 50 games played for the Hershey Bears, Protas has scored 10 goals and 19 assists for 29 total points. For a bottom-six player in the NHL, there would be value in that kind of production.

Luckily for the Capitals, Dowd’s return gives them a valuable addition to their forward core. After scoring a career-high 24 points during the 2021-22 season, Dowd was awarded a 3-year contract from the Capitals last November. In 44 games played this season, averaging just under 13 minutes of ice time a night, Dowd has scored a total of 19 points. If he continues at this pace and plays in the remainder of the Capitals game this season, he will once again be in the range of setting a new career high in points.

As Dowd is reinserted into the lineup, the Capitals will look to end a current four-game losing streak. Recently sliding out of a playoff position due to this mild losing streak, the Capitals continue to have their sights on returning to the playoffs for a ninth consecutive season. As the Capitals await the return of longtime captain Alex Ovechkin from the unfortunate passing of his father, Dowd’s return will be a welcomed sight in a team in need of a rebound.

Latest On Timo Meier

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As we’ve discussed for weeks, the St. Louis Blues aren’t really looking at a rebuild. The team has committed too much to the young core already in place, and was just using an opportunistic approach at the deadline. This isn’t their year, and instead of committing more money to expiring veteran contracts, they flipped them to grab some extra assets.

St. Louis may not end up using those draft picks to select young players though. Instead, they could leverage them to land some NHL help to load up for next year. Today, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported as much, noting that the Blues have now emerged as a player in the Timo Meier sweepstakes. Meier has plenty of interested parties, though some—like the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers—have already made substantial additions and may have fallen out of the race.

The Blues have essentially weakened the market for Meier by making those trades, and now could use the extra picks acquired by dealing Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, Noel Acciari, and Niko Mikkola to land the big winger themselves. The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes remain in the mix, along with other teams that could benefit from Meier’s top-end talent.

It’s most interesting because the Blues don’t have a ton of wiggle room for next season, when the extensions for Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou kick in. The $10MM qualifying offer Meier is owed would still be difficult to swallow for a team that already has $70.8MM committed to 14 players. Perhaps a long-term extension at a lower AAV would work, but if St. Louis did acquire Meier, they might end up shipping some other pieces out the door before next season starts.

With every new team interested, the Sharks have more due diligence to do, slowing down any potential movement. We’re now ten days away from the deadline and San Jose still holds the biggest chip on the market.

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