Bobby Ryan Out With Broken Finger
The Senators will be without the services of Bobby Ryan, one of their top offensive threats at least for tonight’s game against Florida due to a broken finger, according to the team’s official Twitter account. The team also described the likelihood of Mike Hoffman suiting up tonight as “less than likely,” suggesting it’s probable that two of the Sens best forwards will be out of the lineup tonight.
Curtis Lazar, who was recalled from Binghamton of the AHL this morning, will be in the lineup.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun adds that this is the third broken finger over the last three years for Ryan.
Ryan has struggled at the outset of the 2016-17 campaign, scoring just three goals and recording six points in 17 games to date. The native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey and former second overall draft choice in 2005 – selected only after Sidney Crosby – tallied four straight 30-goal campaigns from 2008-09 through 2011-12 while a member of the Anaheim Ducks. Since being acquired by the Senators in a blockbuster deal which saw Jakob Silfverberg, Stefan Noesen and a first-round pick going to Anaheim, Ryan has failed to to reach the 30-goal mark. His best season came last year with a scoring line of 22G – 34A – 56Pts.
One of the reasons the Senators traded for Derick Brassard was to give Ryan a skilled, left-handed pivot who could more easily get the puck to the right-handed right wing on the rush. The two have failed to click as hoped and were recently moved to different lines in an attempt to jump start the offense.
Hoffman, like Ryan, is off to a slow start with just three goals and seven points in 16 games. He is considered day-to-day with a lower-body-injury. Hoffman inked a massive four-year contract extension worth a total of $20.75MM this summer on the heels of a 29-goal, 59-point performance in 2015-16.
The Senators currently rank 27th in the NHL in goals scored and losing Ryan for what could be a lengthy period won’t help matters. Lazar has been considered one of Ottawa’s better prospects and the hope is he is ready to contribute some offense.
Islanders’ Notes: Halak, Lineups, Injuries
As the New York Islanders try to right the ship and get their season back on track, they welcome the defending Stanley Cup Champions tonight. The struggling Islanders sit dead last in the Eastern Conference and have been unable to find an answer to their offensive woes.
Tonight, the team will start Jaroslav Halak for his seventh straight game after starting the year with a three-goalie rotation. Halak has done his best with what’s in front of him this year, as even with a .904 save percentage he’s still carrying a 3.09 GAA. Surely he’d like to improve both numbers, but it’ll be tough against Sidney Crosby and Co.
- The team will look to shake things up tonight, as Shane Prince will get back into the lineup, putting them back to 12 forwards (they’d been playing with 7 defensemen recently). Scott Mayfield will return to the press box after playing just under seven minutes in their last game. Anthony Beauvillier will move back to the middle, while Ryan Strome moves up to the first line on John Tavares‘ wing. The team will also reunite the fourth line of Casey Cizikas, Nikolay Kulemin and Cal Clutterbuck, after a failed attempt of Clutterbuck on the top line.
- Dennis Seidenberg, one of the Islanders’ effective blueliners is skating with the team, but can still barely eat through his broken jaw. He’s still a while off from getting back into game action according to head coach Jack Capuano, who doesn’t expect it “to be any time soon”. The other injured Islander, Ryan Pulock, is getting closer, but isn’t expected to play on the upcoming west coast road trip, when the Islanders will face the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings in four nights.
Ducks Trade Michael Sgarbossa To Panthers For Logan Shaw
Sports Illustrated’s Alex Prewitt is reporting that a minor deal has gone down between the Anaheim Ducks and Florida Panthers, with the clubs exchanging depth forwards. Going out west to is Logan Shaw, while Michael Sgarbossa is heading back east. The Panthers are treading water right now – playing .500 hockey in their past ten games and currently tied for fifth in the Atlantic Division – and are hoping that Sgarbossa, who has played nine games thus far in 2016-17, can help to shake up their lineup. The Ducks on the other hand are flourishing, having fixed their early season issues and climbed into a tie atop the Pacific Division. As of right now, they can afford the luxury of having Shaw, who played 53 games last season, be a depth option for the team.
Sgarbossa may finally get the chance in Florida to have the breakout performance that he has been unable to find thus far in his young career. An undrafted free agent in 2012, Sgarbossa signed with the San Jose Sharks in 2010, but continued to play at the junior level. At the NHL Trade Deadline in 2012, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche alongside Jamie McGinn as part of a deal for Daniel Winnik and T.J. Galiardi. After putting up 102 points in just 66 games with the Sudbury Wolves in his final OHL junior season, Sgarbossa excited the Avalanche with the possibilities of a passed-up prospect. However, Sgarbossa was thrown into the Avs lineup at 20 years old, and was unable to record a point in six games and demoted to the AHL. Although his minor league numbers were strong with the Lake Erie Monsters, Sgarbossa remained relegated for most of 2012-13 and all of 2013-14. After failing to make an impression in three more games in 2014-15, Sgarbossa was traded again, this time to Anaheim for defenseman Mat Clark. Last season, Sgarbossa got into just one game for the Ducks, while continuing to play well in the AHL, now for the San Diego Gulls. So far in 2016-17, the 24-year-old has a career-high nine game played and two points, but has still struggled to carve out a role for himself. With potential to be a contributor at the NHL level, perhaps one more change of scenery is what Sgarbossa needs to establish himself.
Shaw’s career path has followed a more stable path, but contains just as much untapped potential. A third-round pick by the Florida Panthers back in 2011, Shaw made his name as one of the strongest and toughest forwards in the QMJHL. Although he was a point-per-game player in his final junior season with the Quebec Remparts, while continuing to dominate physically, he had a hard time taking translating that success to the pro level. In his first professional season in 2013-14, Shaw spent 20 games with Panthers ECHL affiliate, the Cincinnati Cyclones, and the remainder of the year in the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage, and did not find much scoring success on either team. After playing in the AHL for the entirety of the following season, Shaw got the call in 2015-16 to take an energy line roll for the Panthers. In 53 games with the team, Shaw had just seven points, but earned his ice time by playing physical while staying out of the penalty box. Although the Panthers gave Shaw a one-year contract extension this summer, he was not given his spot back on the team this season. Shaw has yet to play an NHL game this season and has just six points in 13 games with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds. However, he has proven himself to be a reliable checking line player at the highest level, and could be given the chance to carve out a nice bottom-six role for himself in Anaheim.
Chris Wagner Clears Waivers
Nov. 15: Wagner has cleared waivers, reports Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register (Twitter link).
Nov. 14: The Anaheim Ducks have placed center Chris Wagner on waivers, reports ESPN and TSN’s Pierre LeBrun (Twitter link). This marks the third time in less than two years that Wagner has been on waivers. Last November, the Ducks waived him and lost him to Colorado but Anaheim brought him back in late February after the Avalanche re-waived him.
This season, Wagner has played in all but one of Anaheim’s 16 games, tallying two goals, a -4 rating, six penalty minutes, and 15 shots on goal while averaging 10:43 of ice time per game. However, he has struggled at the faceoff dot, winning just 29 of 72 faceoffs for a success rate of just 40.3%.
In his career, the 25 year old has played in 67 NHL games between the Ducks and Avalanche, picking up eight points (6-2-8). He is in the first season of a two year, one-way deal he signed back in April shortly after rejoining Anaheim, carrying a cap hit of just under $640K. If he clears, it’s likely that he will be assigned to Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in San Diego.
[Related: Ducks Depth Chart]
Metro Division Notes: Vesey, Smith-Pelly, Kennedy
The New York Rangers are off to a strong 10 – 4 – 0 start and lead the NHL in scoring, averaging 4.14 goals per contest. Their +24 goal differential is also tops in the league. They recently had a five-game winning streak snapped by Vancouver and during that stretch the team tallied five or more goals in each contest. While the Rangers are getting strong performances throughout their lineup, the contributions they are receiving from several rookies and first-year Blueshirts is a primary reason for their early-season success.
One of those rookies, Jimmy Vesey, has been everything the Rangers could have hoped for, with six goals and 10 points through 14 games. But as Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post writes, it appears as if the talented winger is beginning to experience the type of ups-and-downs most first-year pros go through.
For the second time in a week, Vesey found himself benched for an extended period of a game when Rangers bench boss Alain Vigneault sat Vesey for much of the third period in Tuesday’s 5 – 3 loss to the Canucks. Vigneault didn’t single out Vesey, or any other Ranger for that matter, but it was clear he was unhappy with the team’s play Tuesday. The benching of the 23-year-old left wing – along with veteran forward Chris Kreider – clearly suggested the coach found something lacking in the performance of Vesey.
Of course, as Cyrgalis points out, Vesey has never had to navigate through a schedule as condensed as this year’s and it’s only natural for an inexperienced player to see his game tail off at times as they learn to adapt to the rigors of the long NHL season. While at Harvard, Vesey never appeared in more than 37 games in a single session and generally, most games were played on the weekends. He’s no stranger to playing back-to-back games but three contests in four is new for the rookie. Despite his occasional struggles, the Blueshirts will still be more than happy if Vesey can maintain his scoring pace through the season.
Elsewhere in the Metro:
- It was hoped Devante Smith-Pelly would be able to supply some secondary scoring to the Devils lineup this season but instead the 24-year-old winger has been a healthy scratch for each of the last two games and according to Chris Ryan of NJ.com, it’s beginning to get frustrating for Smith-Pelly. The former second round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks has just one goal and three points on the season. Even worse, Smith-Pelly has been a liability at even strength with a Corsi For % of just 41.6%. He felt he was beginning to get on track following a three-game points streak but after New Jersey dropped their next two in Florida, the team decided to sit Smith-Pelly in back-to-back wins over Carolina. For his part, Smith-Pelly is trying to stay positive: “Not sure I agree with it, but like I said, it’s a coach’s decision, and I’m not going to cause any trouble or anything like that. I’m going to keep working hard and wait for my chance.” According to Andrew Gross of NorthJersey.com, Smith-Pelly is likely to again be a healthy scratch tonight as the team held only an informal skate this morning and based off the lines from yesterday’s full practice he was skating as an extra forward.
- Nine-year NHL veteran Tyler Kennedy, who spent six seasons in Pittsburgh, has resigned himself to the likelihood of retirement, telling Adam Bittner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “you always as a hockey player want to keep playing as far as you can, but it feels like I’m going to retire, and that’s the thing that’s going to happen, I’m pretty sure. You never know, but I’m almost positive last year was my last year, so I’m kind of settling in. It’s a tough transition to do one thing your whole life and then have to change it. But it’s a good transition and we’ll see what happens.” Kennedy, who also has suited up for San Jose, New Jersey and the Islanders during his career, would finish up his career with 89 goals and 215 points in 527 contests should he decide to call it quits. He appeared in 50 games last season with the Devils but has so far been unable to latch onto an NHL team this season.
Pacific Notes: Lindholm, Gaudet, Injuries
Hampus Lindholm will make his long awaited debut tonight for the Anaheim Ducks, figuring into the lineup after a long hold out and visa process. While the team is off to a 6-5-2 start without him, he’ll be a welcome addition to a blueline that has already lost Simon Despres for an indefinite period.
Lindholm is one of the more underrated skaters in the league, with his smooth possession style falling somewhat under the radar. He’ll likely take the place of Korbinian Holzer, who had worked his way into the lineup after the team sent Shea Theodore back to the AHL.
- After just a single game with the big club, the Arizona Coyotes have decided to send Tyler Gaudet back to the AHL. Gaudet got into the match against the Colorado Avalanche last night, but will now retake his spot with Tucson where he was off to a good start. The 23-year old has five points in eight games at the minor league level.
- On the ice today for the Coyotes were Michael Stone and Mike Smith, two key injuries the team has been fighting. Stone has gotten into just four games this season between two injury stints, while Smith has been out since October 23rd with a lower-body injury. Louis Domingue has taken the reigns in his absence and fared poorly, notching an .896 save percentage through ten games. The Coyotes will need both Stone and Smith to make quick returns should they hope to keep the playoffs within sight.
Pacific Division Snapshots: Vermette, Puljujarvi, Kassian, Miller
As part of the team’s widespread youth movement, the Arizona Coyotes jettisoned Antoine Vermette, buying out the final season of the veteran pivot’s contract during the summer despite a solid 38-point showing in 2015-16. Several teams were interested in securing Vermette’s services but the 13-year pro elected to ink a two-year pact with the Ducks in the hopes he could add some scoring punch to the team’s bottom-six. While the $1.75MM annual investment is minimal, given the Ducks tight salary cap situation and with the need to re-sign Hampus Lindholm and Rickard Rakell as restricted free agents, some felt that money was best utilized elsewhere. But Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register argues the signing is paying off just fine for Anaheim.
Vermette has tallied two goals and seven points in 12 contests while averaging 15:46 of ice time per game. He’s assumed the third line pivot position behind Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler but has the ability to slide up the lineup when needed. Always known for his abilities in the faceoff circle, Vermette has won two-thirds of his draws so far on the young season.
Stephens also notes that Ducks coach Randy Carlyle is comfortable using Vermette in his penalty-killing rotation as well as on the power play. To date, Carlyle has been pleased with Vermette: “We had a discussion on where I saw him being used and where I felt he would get an opportunity. I could guarantee him that he would get certain things but if he held up his end of the bargain. That’s what the plan was. And I think that you can ask him that we’ve help up our end of the bargain and he’s held up his end of the bargain.”
As long as Vermette continues to perform at this level, the Ducks appear to have made a quality, value signing.
More from around the Pacific Division:
- Edmonton is off to a rare good start but like many other teams in the league, injuries are starting to pile up for the Oilers, as Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal writes. Both Jesse Puljujarvi and Zack Kassian left Saturday’s game against the Islanders with injuries and did not return. Puljujarvi went down with what is being termed a Charley horse. Speaking from his own experience, Leavins termed the injury “short-term” but also noted that while the pain may be manageable, the stiffness might not be. The Oilers obviously decided not to risk it and scratched the Finnish winger for today’s game against Detroit. Kassian’s injury could be worse, according to Leavins. Head coach Todd McClellan called it a lower body injury but gave no other information. Leavins says the Oilers are at least fortunate that the rash of injuries have so far missed the team’s top players, noting that it would be much different if Connor McDavid, Oscar Klefbom or Cam Talbot went down for any length of time.
- Last night’s tilt between Vancouver and Toronto was a rough and tumble affair, as we wrote about earlier on Pro Hockey Rumors. At one point, Canucks goalie Ryan Miller left his crease to defend rookie blue liner Troy Stecher, who had been jumped by Toronto’s Matt Martin. Miller would then be confronted by Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen, and after all was said and done, Miller was assessed two game misconduct penalties. By rule, that would automatically come with a minimum two-game suspension but as Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma tweets, the league has rescinded one of those game misconducts, meaning Miller will not face a suspension.
Penguins Notes: Murray, Sheary, Hagelin
The Pittsburgh Penguins will take on the San Jose Sharks tonight in a rematch of the Stanley Cup Final from last season, and there will be a familiar face in net. Matt Murray will make his second start of the season after allowing just a single goal in his debut against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. Even though Marc-Andre Fleury has played exceptionally well to start the year, head coach Mike Sullivan says both netminders will continue to play, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
We’re fortunate. We have two really good goaltenders that we know are going to give us a chance to win. We’re going to do our best to keep them both in the mix. We’ll go from there. These situations always have a way to work themselves out. Inevitably performance is always the dictator.
Mackey expects that Murray’s play tonight will factor large in the decision of who to start on Tuesday at home, though it’s up in the air from that point. The team doesn’t have another back-to-back situation until November 18th and 19th.
- The Penguins will get some help up front to try and score some goals for Murray, as Conor Sheary will return from a seven game absence to play tonight. Sheary suffered an eye injury last month in Montreal and has been itching to get back into game action. According to Mackey, he’ll start on the fourth line with Matt Cullen and Eric Fehr, though he could quickly ascend back up the lineup. Sheary has one goal and two assists on the season in just four games.
- The ‘HBK’ line (Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel) is officially broken up, according to Adam Gretz of NBC. The trio that was so dominant in the playoffs is now spread out over the Penguins top three units, with Hagelin skating alongside Sidney Crosby and Patrick Hornqvist. As Gretz notes, Hagelin brings a lot of the same aspects that Pascal Dupuis added so effectively to Crosby’s wing over the years. Hopefully it will spark something in the speedy winger, as he only has two points on the season so far. Kessel on the other hand is off to a great start this season and now finds himself skating alongside Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz. #81’s ten points this year trails only Malkin on the Penguins, and he leads the team in assists.
Ducks Notes: Raymond, Larsson, Fowler
The Ducks made official what has been rumored for the last couple of days, that Mason Raymond has been released from his contract and is now a free agent. After Raymond cleared waivers, he didn’t report to the AHL San Diego Gulls citing personal reasons, and has now worked out a mutual termination with the Ducks.
Raymond signed a two-way deal in the summer, meaning at one point he had thought a move to the AHL was possible, though obviously something must have happened in the interim. A one time 20-goal man with the Vancouver Canucks, Raymond has never been able to make it back to that mark, coming closest in 2013-14 with the Maple Leafs. We wish him all the best with whatever is affecting his personal life, and will watch for where he signs on next.
- The Ducks have also returned Jacob Larsson to Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League, an expected move. Larsson was one of the players we wrote about when discussing the NHL’s slide-rule regarding young professionals. Playing in four games for each the Ducks and Gulls, Larsson recorded two points but was a dreadful -7. The first-round pick will go back to compete in the highest league in Sweden and develop his all around game.
- Despite a lot of chatter over the past few months on Cam Fowler and his status as trade bait by the Anaheim Ducks, perhaps fans should think again about him moving. After another excellent start to the season, the former 12th overall pick has eight points in eleven games, including four goals already. His career high of ten, coming back in his rookie season, seems easily obtainable for the 24-year old. His stellar start will only elevate his trade value, making it even tougher for teams to provide a reasonable offer. With Simon Despres out indefinitely (and with his career seemingly at risk), perhaps the Ducks will hold onto their young defenseman a bit longer.
- One last note from Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register, is that Shea Theodore has been sent back down to the AHL. This isn’t the first, and it won’t be the last time Theodore gets on a bus to San Diego this season, as he’s already been ping-ponged back and forth between the two levels.
Snapshots: Desjardins, Fisher, Gilbert, Chychrun
Darren Dreger’s been making the radio rounds of late and today, while appearing on Ottawa’s TSN 1200, among many notes the NHL insider discussed was the suggestion that Vancouver bench boss Willie Desjardins could soon find himself on the hot seat if the Canucks can’t right the ship in short order. Dreger was clear that he didn’t believe that was the case as of this moment but the organization believes it has a roster capable of making the playoffs and if the team falls further out of the race, they could decide to make a change behind the bench.
“I’m not suggesting he’s on the hot seat today as we have this conversation. But Jim Benning, the general manager, had a much higher view of where he thought this team was coming out of training camp. He told many that he believed that the Vancouver Canucks are a playoff team and would definitely contend for a playoff spot. And they’re not playing that way right now.”
The Canucks got off to a surprisingly strong start winning their first four games but have since lost five straight to even their record at 4 – 4 – 1. Offense. or rather a lack of, is the biggest issue in Vancouver as the team is last in the league in goal scoring, averaging just 1.78 per contest. Their power play is also among the worst in the NHL converting just 10.7% of their opportunities, which ranks 26th overall.
The team invested heavily in skilled Swedish winger Loui Eriksson, to the tune of a six-year, $36MM contract this offseason but the former Bruin has failed to find the back of the net in nine games with Vancouver. Bo Horvat leads the club in goals with four but only five players have tallied more than once this season. At the other end of the scoring spectrum, the New York Rangers lead the league averaging four goals per contest with 10 players who have at least two markers on the campaign.
Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot relays a quote from Pierre LeBrun indicating the Canucks would like to pull the trigger on a deal for a proven 20-goal scorer, assuming they can find a trade partner. They’ve been rumored to be in that market since the summer but aside from inking Eriksson the Canucks have done little in the way of adding impact offensive talent.
Desjardins is in his third season as coach of the Canucks and owns a career mark of 83 – 71 -19. He guided the team to a 101-point season and a second place finish in the Pacific Division in 2014-15, his first as bench boss. Last season, Vancouver dropped 26 points in the standings and placed sixth in their division. Prior to being hired in Vancouver, Desjardins served as head coach of the Dallas Stars AHL affiliate and guided them to the Calder Cup championship in 2014.
Elsewhere around the league:
- Mike Fisher, who was injured in Tuesday’s 5 – 1 win over Colorado, is being listed as day-to-day with an upper-body-injury, tweets Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. Fisher, who replaced Shea Weber as Nashville’s captain, is tied for second on the club in scoring with five points in eight games. Now in his 17th season in the NHL, Fisher has scored 261 goals with 287 assists in 1,024 contests.
- According to the NHL Department of Player Safety (Twitter link) Los Angeles Kings defenseman Tom Gilbert will face a hearing for his hit on Nick Ritchie of the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night. No penalty was assessed on the play but the league indicated the hearing is for boarding/charging. Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register provides an update on Ritchie and says the big winger won’t be in Anaheim’s lineup tonight as the Ducks host Pittsburgh. Gilbert has appeared in eight of L.A.’s 10 games this season and has recorded three points. Ritchie, meanwhile, has scored two goals and three points in 10 contests with Anaheim.
- The Arizona Coyotes have elected to keep rookie defenseman Jakob Chychrun on the roster instead of returning the 18-year-old blue liner to his junior team, according to Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports. As a result, Chychrun will burn the first season of his three-year entry-level contract. The Coyotes made a trade with Detroit during the 2016 entry draft to move up four spots to select Chychrun and so far has rewarded management’s faith. Chychurn has averaged 17:15 of ice time and has three points in eight games so far.