It has been a tough year for Blue Jackets goaltender Daniil Tarasov. The 25-year-old has played to a 4.26 GAA and a .857 SV% in his nine starts and has only played once in the last month while AHL starter Jet Greaves has seen time with Columbus since then. However, GM Don Waddell told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link) that he has no plans to put the netminder on waivers, feeling that Tarasov has too much talent to go through unclaimed. Tarasov had some success just last season when he had a 3.18 GAA and a .908 SV% in 24 games so they’ll continue to work with him in practice for the time being. It’s a contract year for Tarasov who will be owed a $1.26MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights this summer so he’ll need to turn things around soon or risk being a non-tender candidate in June.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- While Stars defenseman Mathew Dumba returned to practice today with a full cage, he will not suit up on Monday against Utah, relays Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports (Twitter link). He has missed the last two weeks with an upper-body injury. It has been a tough first year in Dallas for Dumba as he has been limited to just one assist in 19 games so far this season which is not the type of production the team was expecting when they signed him to a two-year, $7.5MM contract this summer.
- Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky told reporters including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (subscription link) that they expect to have more information on the path forward for goaltender Vitek Vanecek in the next day or two. The netminder was hit by a puck on the bench on Tuesday and was listed as week-to-week. He has since seen a specialist so further clarity on how much longer he’ll be out should be coming soon. Vanecek, a pending unrestricted free agent, has a 3.84 GAA and a .885 SV% in 14 appearances this season.
- Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller missed today’s game and remains listed as day-to-day, mentions NHL.com’s Dan Rosen (Twitter link). New York was hoping that he’d be able to return from his upper-body injury but evidently, he wasn’t quite ready to do so. The Rangers are in action on Monday against New Jersey so it’s possible that he returns then or they could opt to give him a few more days of rest over the break. Miller has just six points in 30 games so far while sitting second in ice time among blueliners at over 21 minutes a night.
- Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was scratched tonight due to illness, notes Bob Stauffer of 880 CHED (Twitter link). The veteran had played in all 33 games before this one but is having a quiet year offensively, tallying six goals and a dozen assists. For comparison, Nugent-Hopkins had 18 goals and 49 helpers in 80 games just last season.
Tarasov will not be tendered regardless of his stats. Jet is moving up next season.