Florida Panthers Place Roberto Luongo On Injured Reserve
Monday: George Richards of The Athletic reports that Luongo will be out two to four weeks with an MCL strain.
Sunday: After Florida Panthers’ star goalie Roberto Luongo was injured and helped off the ice last night and the team quickly recalled Michael Hutchinson from the AHL this morning, this outcome is far from a surprise. The Panthers have placed Luongo on the injured reserve, according to CapFriendly. Seeing as the injury was suffered last night, the IR placement won’t be retroactive and Luongo won’t be eligible to return to action for a week, if he is even ready at that point.
Luongo’s injury, although not yet confirmed by the team, appeared to be a lower-body injury caused by his own teammate, Frank Vatrano, falling on his leg during a scrum in front of the net. Luongo missed 26 games with a lower-body injury last season and 19 games in 2016-17 as well. The injury prone keeper, also 39 years old, has taken a fair amount of time to recover from injuries in the past and this time may not be any different.
Fortunately, the Panthers do have James Reimer ready to take over. The split-time starter made 43 and 44 starts in each of the past two seasons respectively and, while he had struggles last year, put up strong numbers in 2016-17. Hutchinson is also as solid as No. 3 goalies come, with 102 games of NHL experience and outstanding numbers in the AHL. Hutchison was signed this off-season specifically to safeguard against Luongo’s frequent injuries. Florida also has incentive to give young Samuel Montembeault some action at some point this season, perhaps even while Luongo is out. The injury is obviously a tough way for the Panthers to start the season, but they have the pieces to pick up the slack.
Los Angeles Kings’ Jonathan Quick Placed On Injured Reserve
UPDATE: The Kings have in fact placed Quick on injured reserve, per a team release. Quick is thus likely to miss at least a week with the injury. In a corresponding move, L.A. has recalled Budaj from the AHL.
One of the biggest fears for Los Angeles Kings fans would be an injury to their superlative goaltender Jonathan Quick and now the veteran has been deemed day-to-day with a lower-body injury after getting injured in practice Saturday, according to Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen. Quick was not at practice today as Jack Campbell and goaltending coach Bill Ranford covered practice.
Rosen adds Campbell, a Michigan native, is expected to start in goal today against Detroit and the team is expected to recall a goaltender from the Ontario Reign of the AHL shortly. The team has 36-year-old veteran Peter Budaj there as well as prospect Cal Petersen as potential call-ups. The team departs Monday for a four-game road trip through Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. There is no word on whether Quick will join them.
Fans remember that Quick suffered a groin injury during their season opener in 2016 and went to miss more than half the season, crippling their season as they failed to make the playoffs without his presence for much of the season. The team has already suffered numerous injuries early in the season as Dustin Brown is expected to miss time with a broken finger, while Jonny Brodzinski is also on injured reserve after undergoing shoulder surgery. Rookie Gabe Vilardi is also an injured-non roster player due to a back injury.
Minor Transactions: 10/07/18
After the first handful of games and a handful of injuries, many teams should be active as they make changes and/or additions to their roster. Keep checking to see what teams do.
- The St. Louis Blues announced they have assigned veteran defenseman Chris Butler to the San Antonio Rampage now that Jakub Jerabek has gotten his visa and is ready to join the team. With Jerabek, the team has nine defenseman on the roster, forcing them to send Butler down. The 31-year-old blueliner played in the Blues’ first two games for the injured Joel Edmundson, faring well and even scored a goal. Once an NHL regular, Butler has spent the past few years in the AHL, being utilized as an emergency recall.
- The Minnesota Wild announced they have assigned forward Luke Kunin to the Iowa Wild of the AHL. That means that Kunin has been cleared to play since he’s been working to return from a torn ACL he sustained on Mar. 4. The team’s 2016 first-rounder, Kunin bounced back and forth between Iowa and Minnesota last season, playing in 19 games for the big-league club before sustaining the injury. He has been rehabbing since and passed coach Bruce Boudreau‘s infamous skating test Saturday and looks ready to continue his return.
- The Arizona Coyotes have recalled forward Laurent Dauphin from his conditioning stint with the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL, the team announced. The 23-year-old played one game there, putting up a goal and an assist and will now return to the Coyotes. Dauphin has been recovering from a lower-body injury he sustained at the end of last season and had been limited at training camp. The hope is he can fill in for injured Coyotes’ such as Alex Galchenyuk and Christian Dvorak.
- The Los Angeles Kings announced they have recalled veteran goaltender Peter Budaj to be the team’s backup for Jack Campbell for the near future while starter Jonathan Quick sits out after he suffered a lower-body injury in practice Saturday. The 36-year-old Budaj has only played one game for Ontario in the AHL as he allowed five goals, posting a .833 save percentage.
- With Joe Thornton landing on the IR, the San Jose Sharks have promoted center Dylan Gambrell, per CapFriendly. The first-year pro out of the University of Denver was a perennial point-per-game player in the college ranks and will be looking to live up to his second-round pick billing in his first opportunity with the Sharks.
- The Colorado Avalanche have promoted center Vladislav Kamenev from Colorado of the AHL in advance of their upcoming road trip, per the AHL’s Transactions page. The 22-year-old was added as part of the Matt Duchene trade last season but was sidelined shortly thereafter. In two games with the Eagles so far this season, Kamenev has one assist.
Atlantic Notes: Cooper, Nylander, Kotkaniemi, Kronwall, O’Brien
Despite the fact that Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper is in the final year of his contract, often a bad sign if a team hasn’t extended him, that isn’t the case here. Cooper and new general manager Julien BriseBois have a long history together as BriseBois was the one who originally hired Cooper back in 2010 as the head coach of their AHL franchise when BriseBois was the assistant general manager.
The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required) documents their long history together and writes that even though negotiations haven’t started, BriseBois and Cooper aren’t worried about it at all, considering the trust and bond the two share together.
“I don’t see anyone else I’d want to work with right now,” BriseBois said, who hoisted a Calder Cup trophy with Cooper seven years ago. “The people who were there with you, you never forget that.”
- Damien Cox of The Star writes that while the Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t done anything wrong when it comes to the contract situation with holdout William Nylander, the team does need to think about how it intends to manage their next two major contract discussions when they must tangle with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. While Nylander is rumored to be asking for $8MM plus in his next deal, both Matthews and Marner could ask for quite a bit more. With the team’s significant cap issues in front of them, the scribe writes the team would be well advised to avoid a similar situation next season by trying to lock those two youngsters up during the season.
- Montreal Canadiens’ centers have already begun training their newest addition in Jesperi Kotkaniemi by working separately after practice with him on faceoffs on Friday. According to The Athletic’s Marc Antoine Godin (subscription required), Tomas Plekanec, Mathew Peca, Andrew Shaw and Phillip Danault got together and helped teach the 18-year-old some tips and tricks on taking faceoffs with the hopes that the youngster improves his game as quickly as possible.
- The Detroit Red Wings will be without Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson for their two-game road-trip, according to the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. Both defensemen have been on injured reserve and still are not ready to return to action.
- While not on the Ottawa Senators NHL roster, Matt Tidcombe of the Belleville Senators website reports that team lost forward Jim O’Brien for four to six months after the 29-year-old forward underwent surgery on a severed tendon in his right leg in an AHL preseason game. O’Brien played 10 games for Ottawa last year.
Snapshots: Hamonic, Russell, Seidenberg, Gionta
When the Calgary Flames recalled Rasmus Andersson yesterday, it was an indication that defenseman Travis Hamonic‘s facial fracture, suffered in the team’s opener, was going to cause him to miss some time. However, the team has now officially announced that Hamonic has been placed on injured reserve. The team has labeled his status as week-to-week with no specific timeline for a return. Hamonic suffered the blow in a first period fight with the Vancouver Canucks’ Erik Gudbranson and was forced to leave the contest early. Hamonic has been sidelined frequently in his career, with his 74 games for Calgary last season actually setting a new career-high. Hamonic missed eight games for the Flames in his first season with the team, but spread throughout the season and not more than four at a time. The Flames would be fortunate if this injury only costs Hamonic four games. In the meantime, Andersson, fellow rookie Juuso Valimaki, and veteran depth defender Dalton Prout will be asked to pick up the slack in Hamonic’s absence.
- The rival Edmonton Oilers are getting one of their top defensemen back from injury, as the team announced that Kris Russell has been activated from the injured reserve. Russell’s injury was never disclosed by the team, nor was a timeline given, making his activation both a surprise and not a surprise at all. Russell traveled with the team to Europe and returns in time for the Oilers’ season opener against the New Jersey Devils in Sweden. Russell will skate with rookie and 2018 first-round pick Evan Bouchard, as he makes his NHL debut. In a corresponding move, Edmonton has returned young puck-moving blue liner Ethan Bear to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Bear has been established as the next man up on defense, so if Bouchard’s early action does not impress and he is returned to junior, expect a prompt recall for Bear.
- The New York Islanders are keeping defenseman Dennis Seidenberg and forward Stephen Gionta with the team on extended PTO’s, notes Newsday’s Andrew Gross. Both veterans played for the Islanders last season and are familiar with the roster and seem willing to hang around in case an opportunity to officially return arises. Per Gross, head coach Barry Trotz called the pair “long-term insurance”. Seidenberg and Gionta will participate in practice and wait to see how the early season unfolds for the Isles, both in health and performance. Neither veteran has much of a ceiling at this point in their career, but are experienced, serviceable, hard-working pros who could step in if needed and provided some immediate support.
Panthers Notes: MacKenzie, MacDonald, Montembeault
Florida Panthers veteran forward Derek MacKenzie recently relinquished his captaincy to young centerpiece forward Aleksander Barkov, the reason for which has now become more clear. MacKenzie revealed to The Athletic’s George Richards recently that 2018-19 will be his final NHL season. The 37-year-old is in the final year of of two-year extension signed with the Panthers back in 2016 and his fifth year overall with the organization. MacKenzie is entering his sixteenth and final season, having worked his way up from a young, part-time player with the Atlanta Thrashers to a dependable fourth-liner with the Columbus Blue Jackets to a locker room leader and botto-six mainstay with Florida. However, it’s this hard-working style that has finally caught up to the respected veteran, as he tells Richards “the way I have had to play over the past 18 years — the pace I have to go — it has become tougher and tougher over the years.” MacKenzie’s usage and production has maintained relatively consistent in Florida, but he could be in for a drop-off this year, playing in a deep, young, and fast Panthers forward corps. MacKenzie recognizes that his years of wear and tear have caught up with him and that this season will be the last gasps of a hard-nosed career. However, it likely won’t be the end of his time with Florida, as MacKenzie adds that “I love this team, love this organization. I would like to try and stay involved and try and pick up where I left off.” MacKenzie may not be out on the ice for the Cats moving forward, but rest assured the former captain will still be present in the organization.
- When the Panthers take the ice tonight in their opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning, it will mark the NHL debut for defenseman Jacob MacDonald, per Richards. Who? MacDonald, 25, is a largely unheralded prospect who has somehow worked his way into Florida’s starting lineup to begin the year. The team signed MacDonald to a two-year, two-way contract this off-season after three seasons in the minor leagues. The Cornell University graduate hasn’t even been exclusively in the AHL these past three years; he played most of the 2015-16 season in the ECHL and then split time between the two leagues in 2016-17. Only last year did he play his first full AHL season, skating in 75 games with the Binghamton Devils and leading the team with 55 points. He came into camp as unlikely candidate for the Panthers’ roster, but with injuries to Bogdan Kiselevich and Josh Brown and a nagging issue for MacKenzie Weegar, MacDonald has gotten the call. That is not to say that he hasn’t earned his spot though; experienced options like Ian McCoshen and Julian Melchiori were reassigned to the Springfield Thunderbirds while MacDonald remained in camp. The puck-moving defenseman will line up on the Panthers’ third pair with Alex Petrovic tonight and, if he sticks, could be one of the more inspiring stories of this season. For more, check out Erin Brown’s article for The Athletic.
- Florida has one of the more concrete goalie tandems in the league with Roberto Luongo and James Reimer. They even went out and added a solid third option in Michael Hutchinson this summer. However, those three keepers are 39, 30, and 28 years old respectively with birthdays on the way this season. Behind this group, the Panthers actually are one of the more shallow teams in terms of organizational goalie depth in the league, with just young AHL backstop Samuel Montembeault, a third-round pick in 2015, and Bowling Green State University starter Ryan Bednard, a seventh-rounder the same year. For that reason, don’t be surprised to see Montembeault squeeze in some NHL appearances this season as well. The Springfield Thunderbirds goalie struggled in his first pro season last year, but was a competent keeper in the QMJHL and, more importantly, is the closest thing that the Panthers have to an heir apparent regardless of his performance. Luongo is signed for four more years, but it is doubtful that he plays out the entirety of the contract and could retire as early as this summer, and Hutchinson is an impending unrestricted free agent. A future exists where Florida enters the off-season with just Reimer and Montembeault under contract. The youngster has to be ready to embrace his role as the organization’s only standout young goalie and the team has to prepare him for the possibility of an increased role sooner rather than later.
Overseas Notes: Rodin, Haapala, Robak
Anton Rodin signed with the Anaheim Ducks this summer hoping to get a second chance at the NHL. Rodin had previously played for the Vancouver Canucks, without much luck. Rodin played in three NHL games and three AHL games in 2016-17 but was otherwise shut down for the year with injury. Then, upon failing to crack the Canucks’ roster last season, the two sides came to a mutual agreement on the termination of Rodin’s contract and he played out the remainder of the year back in Europe, again limited by injury. Unfortunately, history repeated itself in training camp this year, as Rodin was unable to land a spot with the Ducks. He requested a termination of his contract and cleared unconditional waivers last week. Now, Rodin seems to have already found a new home, returning to the Swiss club he played for last year, HC Davos. Swiss new source “Hockey News” reports that a deal is in place to bring Rodin back to Davos, where he will join fellow former NHLers Shane Prince and Anders Lindback. The former Swedish Hockey League MVP reportedly had interest from clubs throughout Europe, including the KHL and other NLA teams, but opted for familiarity, returning to Davos. While his experiments with the NHL are likely over, hopefully the talented winger cans stay healthy and return to his status as one of the top players in Europe.
- By all accounts, Henrik Haapala is still technically under contract with the Florida Panthers. However, the former Liiga scoring leader has signed with HC Lugano of the NLA for this upcoming season, the team announced. The Finnish forward signed a two-year entry-level contract with Florida last summer and even played in five games with the Panthers. After 20 games with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds, Haapala was loaned back to his Liiga club, Tappara, for the remainder of the season. However, he still had a year remaining on his contract and no deal in place with Tappara and was expected to return to Florida this season. Instead, Haapala didn’t even participate in training camp and now appears slated to spend 2018-19 with Lugano. There is no word on what this means for his contract status with the Panthers, but Lugano is happy to have him. The small, speedy winger has excellent play-making ability and has the potential to be a major contributor in the NLA.
- Former Florida Panther Colby Robak is also on his way to Europe, leaving North America for the first time in his career. Robak has signed with Vassan Sport of the Liiga in Finland, the team announced. Robak, a second-round pick in 2008, has not played in an NHL game since 2014-15, in which he split the yeat between Florida and the Anaheim Ducks, but has made a living as a veteran leader in the AHL. Apparently, his time in that role ran out, as Robak was unable to find another AHL contract this summer and has made the jump overseas. Sport finished dead last in the Liiga last year and get a major boost from Robak’s arrival, as the experienced defender should easily become a leader for the team in their efforts to improve this season.
Ottawa Senators Recall Paul Carey
The Ottawa Senators are bringing in some early season reinforcements, recalling veteran Paul Carey from the AHL’s Belleville Senators. The gritty, versatile forward is likely to compete for a job on the Senators fourth line. Carey, 30, recorded career highs across the board in 2017-18 with the New York Rangers and was Ottawa’s most notable free agent addition this off-season.
Despite skating in 60 games with the New York Rangers last season and posting seven goals and seven assists, as well as finishing among the Rangers’ forward leaders in hits, Carey has not seen the expected bump in attention paid his way this off-season. Carey was without any one-way offers on July 1st, signing a two-way contract with Ottawa in order to join a scenario where he felt he could find significant play time. He was then a relatively early cut from training camp, placed on waivers back on September 24th. Although Carey is almost exclusively an off-the-puck style player who was exposed at times last year and certainly benefited from an inflated shooting percentage, he is nevertheless an experienced, hard-nosed forward who can line up at all three positions and contribute to both special teams units. Even after a strong campaign in New York, Carey is still on the hunt for respect this season with Ottawa.
If he can find his niche with the Senators, he does have a chance to play an important role. Ottawa’s current fourth line of Tom Pyatt between Max McCormick and Magnus Paajarvi won’t strike fear into many opponents and Carey would seem to be an upgrade over either wing. Carey also could work his way into a regular short-handed role. With McCormick presently listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury, Carey likely will get his first chance to show that he can be a permanent fixture on the checking line when the Sens square off with the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow night.
Minor Transactions: 10/05/18
Another outstanding set of season openers last night brought some incredible saves and exciting performances. Now as teams get ready for the weekend, we’ll be watching all the minor moves around the league.
- The St. Louis Blues have called up Chris Thorburn after clearing waivers just a few days ago, and decided to send Niko Mikkola down to the AHL. Mikkola didn’t play in the Blues opener, in which they were defeated 5-1 by the Winnipeg Jets. Thorburn, a veteran forward with 800 games under his belt, may be inserted to give the team a little more experience in their next matchup. The Blues have also shuffled their goaltending assignments. Their AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, announced that Evan Fitzpatrick has been reassigned to the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers. With Jordan Binnington and Ville Husso manning the net in San Antonio, the first-year pro Fitzpatrick will see far more play time with Tulsa.
- Rasmus Andersson will get his chance at the NHL a little sooner than expected this season, as he’s been recalled by the Calgary Flames after just one game. Travis Hamonic suffered a facial fracture in the season opener for Calgary when he was fighting Erik Gudbranson and will be out for at least a week. The 21-year old Andersson played 10 games for the Flames last season, and performed quite well in the preseason.
- The Boston Bruins have sent Urho Vaakanainen back to Providence to play for their AHL team, delaying his NHL debut a little longer. Vaakanainen, the Bruins first-round pick from 2017, will start his North American career in the minor leagues and try to make an impact right away. The smooth skating defenseman is fairly polished in his own end already, and should be able to provide a boost to the Providence blue line this season.
- Collin Delia didn’t even get time to unpack his bags for the Chicago Blackhawks, as the team has sent the young goaltender back to the minor leagues. Delia came up to fill in for an injured Anton Forsberg, who took a puck up high in practice, but will return to his place with the Rockford IceHogs this season.
- Former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Philip Samuelsson has signed with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the team announced. Samuelsson, 27, was a second-round pick of the Pens back in 2009 but has never been able to live up to that billing. He has bounced between the Arizona Coyotes’ and Carolina Hurricanes’ organizations over the past few years, but still has just 13 NHL games to his credit. Unable to find a new NHL opportunity this off-season, Ulf Samuelsson‘s son will try to repair his image with a strong minor league campaign this year in hopes of one day returning to the NHL.
- The Arizona Coyotes have sent forward Laurent Dauphin to the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners on a conditioning stint. Dauphin, 23, missed the final 15 game of the regular season last year with a lower-body injury and rehabbed this summer, but remained limited during the preseason. To get him back to full strength, the ‘Yotes will give Dauphin some time to get his legs going in the minors. There won’t be a corresponding call up to Arizona, as players reassigned for conditioning purposes continue to count against the NHL roster.
Curtis Lazar Assigned To Stockton Heat
It’s been a tough career so far for Curtis Lazar, who today was assigned to the minor leagues and will report to the Stockton Heat of the AHL. The Calgary Flames forward has admitted this offseason that he’s willing to go down and rebuild his game, and he’ll get the chance to play a lot in the minor leagues as he tries to find something to send him back in the right direction. The 2013 17th-overall pick wore out his welcome with the Ottawa Senators in 2016-17 and was traded to the Flames for a second round pick, but still failed to produce much offense last season and finished with just two goals in 65 games. Lazar cleared waivers on Monday, and now faces the tough task of rebuilding his stock before being forgotten as a washed up top prospect.
There is so obviously plenty of talent in Lazar, but the 23-year old has never been able to establish himself at the NHL level. Caught somewhere between a checker and a scoring threat, his role led to fewer than 10 minutes a night last season for Calgary. In Stockton he should be given every chance to perform at a high level, likely including some time on the powerplay and a regular shift among the team’s best forwards. If that can spark something in him and get him back on the right track the Flames might still have an NHL player on their hands, but with a $950K one-way cap hit he’ll have to really prove it before being recalled for any length of time.
The toughest hurdle for Lazar may be that the Flames have several other young players who’ve already made a bigger impact in their short careers. Mark Jankowski staked a claim to a full-time role last season and now Dillon Dube looks to be doing the same in the early going. Lazar, who was a big time offensive weapon for the Edmonton Oil Kings in junior, is at risk of being left behind and going unqualified next summer. As an arbitration eligible forward coming off a $1.05MM salary, the Flames may decide to just move on from him if there isn’t a quick turnaround.