Bernier Injured; Ducks Recall Tokarski
The goalie injuries across the league continue, and the Pacific Division is taking it the hardest. The Los Angeles Kings are without both starter Jonathan Quick and backup Jeff Zatkoff and the Arizona Coyotes are missing Mike Smith. Now the Anaheim Ducks have entered the fray, after Jonathan Bernier left last night’s game against the San Jose Sharks.
Bernier left in the second period after suffering an apparent upper body injury, and starter John Gibson was forced to replace him. The extent of the injury is still unknown and Bernier has been listed as day-to-day. In his stead, the Ducks have brought up Dustin Tokarski. The 27-year-old goalie was traded to the Ducks last year and re-signed this off-season on a one-year, two-way deal and stepped into the role of their AHL starter. Spending his NHL career with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens, playing mostly in the minors, Tokarski has never been able to solidify himself as an NHL-caliber keeper with a 2.85 GAA and .904 save percentage in 33 appearances.
Tokarski does have experience though, and should be a reliable backup behind Gibson until Bernier is back in action. Even if he struggles, the Ducks won’t be in trouble like their neighbors the Kings. Anaheim boasts the best pro depth in goal of any team in the league, as Tokarski was joined in the minors by fellow journeyman Matt Hackett and former UMass-Lowell standout Kevin Boyle. The San Diego trio form a strong safety net for the unproven duo of Gibson and Bernier in Anaheim.
Two Players On Waiver Wire
Forwards Emerson Etem and Andrew Miller have been placed on waivers, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie.
Etem was a first round pick of the Ducks in 2010, before being traded to the Rangers. The Ducks claimed him off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks earlier this month. Etem was held pointless in two games with the 2-3-2 Ducks. It’s not clear if he’ll be assigned to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL or remain with the Ducks.
Miller was injured in the pre-season and started the season on injured reserve. He’s healthy now, and is waivers for purpose of assignment to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Miller signed with the Hurricanes organization on July 1 after playing some of last season with the Checkers while on loan from the Edmonton Oilers’s farm team in Bakersfield in exchange for Zach Boychuk.
Snapshots: Backes, Condon, Ducks, Hall
Boston Bruins forward David Backes has been listed as day-to-day for the last few days, and now we know why. Bruins GM Don Sweeney said Backes had a procedure to remove an olecranon bursa in his elbow on Monday (via Dan Rosen).
While Sweeney said there would be a further update after this weekend, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons lists recovery time as somewhere between 10 days and a month, depending on severity.
Backes has had a decent start to his Bruins career, with 2-2-4 in 5 games. The former St. Louis Blues captain has been a consistent performer, hitting 20-plus goals six times while being a solid possession player and being a bruising hitter.
- In this week’s 30 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman suggested Matt Murray‘s return to the lineup likely means Mike Condon could find himself on waivers soon. Friedman suggested the Bruins as a possible new home for the Massachusetts native, with both Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin dealing with injuries.
- Also in 30 Thoughts, Friedman quoted an unnamed GM as saying he’d “bet [him] anything” that Anaheim GM Bob Murray finds a way to protect Jakob Silfverberg in June’s expansion draft. Currently, the Ducks have four players that must be protected (no-move clauses) in Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler, and Kevin Bieksa. At the very least, the Ducks would want to protect newly-signed Rickard Rakell, Andrew Cogliano, and Silfverberg on forward, and Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, and Sami Vatanen on defense. Even that leaves some really good defensemen exposed, like Josh Manson and Simon Depres, so expect some movement before the expansion draft. Bieksa could also be convinced to waive his no-move clause to allow the Ducks to protect someone else; his $4MM salary is likely enough to prevent Las Vegas from taking him.
- New Jersey Devils reporter Chris Ryan tweeted out a rather hard-to-believe stat about Taylor Hall. This season, the Devils’ 3-2-1 start is the first time since Hall has been on a .500 team since the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season when the Oilers started 4-3-1. Edmonton, of course, has started this season 5-1-0.
Lineup Return: Crosby, Murray, McGinn
News and notes from tonight’s NHL lineup announcements:
- The reigning NHL MVP Sidney Crosby makes his season debut tonight with the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Florida Panthers. Crosby missed the first six games of the season with a concussion he suffered in preseason practice. His early return must alleviate concerns the organization had with his recovery, given that Crosby missed 101 games over two seasons with concussions and related issues. Crosby will make his debut centering Scott Wilson and Patric Hornqvist.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins regain another key piece to their Stanley Cup winning team as Matt Murray will dress for tonight’s game. Murray is slated to back up Marc-Andre Fleury tonight, and could start as early as Thursday against the New York Islanders. Murray missed Pittsburgh’s first six games as he recovered from a broken hand suffered in the World Cup of Hockey. Originally slated as the Penguins third-string goalie last year, Murray eclipsed backup Jeff Zatkoff when Fleury went down with injury, and maintained the starting role throughout the playoffs—despite Fleury returning to the team.
- Jamie McGinn will play his first game tonight for the Arizona Coyotes, the team announced, after signing a three-year, $10MM contract this offseason. McGinn was sidelined since the beginning of the season with an upper body injury and was placed on Injured Reserve retroactive to October 5th. The Coyotes waived Jamie McBain today to make room for McGinn’s return. McGinn is a hard-nosed player with soft hands—he scored 22G and 17A in 84 games last season between Buffalo and Anaheim.
Western Conference Snapshots: Ducks, Preds, Duchene
The Ducks have been busy making moves the last couple of days, according to Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register, though none included the highly anticipated re-signing of top defenseman Hampus Lindholm. Off to just a 1 – 3 – 1 start out of the gates, Anaheim demoted Mason Raymond – who recently cleared waivers – forward Nick Sorensen and blue liner Jacob Larsson. All three will report to San Diego of the AHL.
Meanwhile, the Ducks have recalled forwards Joseph Cramarossa and Michael Sgarbossa, along with defenseman Shea Theodore. Theodore was partnered with veteran defender Kevin Bieksa in practice and appears poised to make his 2016-17 debut for Anaheim.
The Ducks will also insert one of Cramarossa or Sgarbossa into the lineup for the first time this season. For the soon-to-be-24-year-old Cramarossa, an appearance would also represent his NHL debut. Cramarossa has played in 164 AHL games in the Anaheim organization since being drafted in the third-round of the 2011 draft, and has netted 17 goals and 31 points.
Additionally, the team also placed defenseman Simon Despres on LTIR as we noted earlier.
Whether these moves will spark the team and help shake the Ducks out of their early season doldrums or not remains to be seen. If not, and given the team just brought back head coach Randy Carlyle, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team make a trade or two to help try to right the ship.
More from around the Western Conference:
- Nashville is another team that has had a busy weekend with regards to making transactions. With the team ravaged by food poisoning, the Predators were forced to recall five players from the AHL just to field a full lineup for Staurday night’s showdown against Pittsburgh. Team captain Mike Fisher, wing Craig Smith and goaltender Pekka Rinne all missed the game, which Nashville somehow managed to win despite the depleted lineup. Today the club announced that they’ve sent three of the call-ups back to Milwaukee of the AHL. Juuse Saros, who made his NHL debut in goal and earned the win, joins forwards Frederick Gaudreau and Trevor Smith in returning to the minors.
- It might be hard for some to believe but 25-year-old Matt Duchene appeared in the 500th NHL game of his career in last night’s loss to Florida, as Terry Frei of The Denver Post writes. Afterwards, Duchene said, “it’s the first real milestone game that made me feel a bit old.” Duchene is the third player from the 2009 draft class to reach the 500-game mark, joining the top overall pick, John Tavares, and former Colorado teammate Ryan O’Reilly. For his career, Duchene has scored 159 goals and 382 points in his eight seasons with the Avalanche.
LeBrun’s Latest: Lindholm, Fowler, Murray, Fleury, Condon
Earlier today we referenced an item regarding the status of the Jacob Trouba trade discussions in Pierre LeBrun’s recent Rumblings column on ESPN.com. As it turns out, LeBrun covered a number of other worthwhile topics in his piece, which should naturally be read in its entirety. But in the meantime, we’ve got several of the highlights for your reading pleasure.
- There’s been a lot of talk of late regarding the potential availability of Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler, in large part due to the team’s need to re-sign RFA Hampus Lindholm and Anaheim’s precarious salary cap situation. As it stands, the Ducks have less than $400K in space according to Cap Friendly. With Lindholm expected to receive in excess of $5MM annually on a new deal the team certainly has their work cut out for them. Dealing Fowler would clear $4MM in cap space, assuming of course they don’t take an NHL contract back in any trade. Anaheim also has Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore, both of whom appear to be NHL-ready, or close to it, and that could step into the vacancy should the club move Fowler – or any other defenseman for that matter. LeBrun, however, doesn’t believe trading Fowler is a “front-burner issue” and believes the club could keep Fowler. He suggests Anaheim could create some salary cap space and buy more time by placing Simon Despres on LTIR. Despres has been out since leaving the team’s first game with what is believed to be a concussion. Despres accounts for $3.7MM against the cap so the Ducks would likely have to make at least one more move to create enough space once Lindholm is re-signed.
- Speaking of Lindholm’s contract talks, LeBrun believes the two sides continue to move closer on a new pact, with the defenseman likely using the recent extensions inked by Seth Jones and Rasmus Ristolainen – six years, $5.4MM AAV – as a comparable and the Ducks possibly countering with Morgan Rielly – six years, $5MM AAV. A six-year deal would buy out two of Lindholm’s potential free agent seasons, whereas the Jones and Ristolainen contracts only bought out one. That likely serves as justification for Lindholm’s pursuit of something more than $5.4MM annually.
- Matt Murray‘s recent extension with Pittsburgh shines the light on the decision the team will have to make ahead of next June’s expansion draft. LeBrun notes the team believes Marc-Andre Fleury‘s NMC will force the Penguins to protect him, assuming he’s still on the roster. Assuming the Penguins decide Murray is their long-term answer between the pipes, the team would still have several options, as LeBrun writes. In addition to the NMC, Fleury’s contract contains a modified no-trade clause which allows him to list 18 teams to which he would accept a trade. The Penguins could attempt to move him to one of those clubs to whom the goalie would agree to go to. Or the Penguins could buy out Fleury’s contract after the season. Pittsburgh also might try to work out a separate deal with the Las Vegas franchise ensuring they don’t select Murray if the team is required to protect Fleury. The scribe did say he doesn’t believe the team has decided on a course of action as of yet. Whatever they decide, however, LeBrun believes the team will make sure Fleury is on board as they “greatly respect” their longtime #1 netminder.
- Once Murray returns from injury, the team is likely to waive goalie Mike Condon with the intent of sending him down to the AHL. LeBrun believes he could be claimed and one interested party could be the Kings. With Jonathan Quick out for up to three months, Los Angeles may eventually look for a short-term upgrade between the pipes and they might conclude Condon fits the bill. Condon’s contract expires at the end of the season and currently makes just $575K. LeBrun suggests that Pittsburgh could call up the Kings and offer Condon in a trade with the idea that adding a late round draft pick would be better than losing the young goalie for nothing on waivers.
Atlantic Division Snapshots: Maple Leafs, Babcock, Andersen, MacArthur, Howard
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won just one of their first three contests but by virtue of two overtime/shootout defeats, the team has accumulated four of a possible six points. As Mark Masters of TSN writes, Leafs bench boss Mike Babcock is “relatively pleased” with where his team sits in the standings.
“We’ve had an opportunity, I believe, to be 3-0. We’ve got four out of six points, which if you told me that before this started I would’ve said, ‘That’s fine,’ but we could’ve had more and I’m a bit greedy and so are the guys.”
Toronto is one of the youngest teams in the league, with six rookies – Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Zach Hyman, Connor Brown, Mitch Marner and Nikita Zaitsev – skating regular shifts for the Leafs. With that much youth it’s likely the team will understandably have plenty of ups and downs during the season. Babcock noted that the team’s top line, for example, which consists of Matthews, Nylander and Hyman, has some room to grow based on Wednesday’s performance against the Jets:
“I thought it was really dangerous offensively and not very good defensively.”
Toronto may or may not be ready to challenge for a playoff berth this season, but the arrow is certainly pointing up for a Leafs team that boasts a ton of young, high-end skill and talent.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- Also from the Masters piece, goaltender Frederik Andersen has struggled out of the gate as the Leafs new #1 goalie, posting a 3.61 GAA and a Save % of just 87.6% in three starts, but Andersen is not yet worried. “If you just look at stats it doesn’t look pretty, but I thought I played pretty well. Obviously, some small things I got to clean up and me and Stevey (goalie coach Steve Briere) got to work today in practice so small fixes. I’m not too worried.” The Leafs paid a steep price to land Andersen from the Ducks – a 2016 first-round pick and a 2017 second-round pick – then rewarded the Danish netminder with a five-year, $25MM contract with the belief he would solve the team’s longstanding issues in goal. It’s a small sample size of course, but so far Andersen has not lived up to expectations in Toronto.
- Veteran forward Clarke MacArthur, concussed during Ottawa’s initial intrasquad practice in training camp, is expected to join the Senators on their three-game, Western Canadian road trip beginning this weekend, writes Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen. MacArthur is still not close to playing and may have only recently started skating but the news is still encouraging. This is the fourth documented concussion within the last 18 months for the 31-year-old winger. The hope for the Senators, according to head coach Guy Boucher, is that just having MacArthur around the team on the trip will be good for him: “Obviously, he’s not going to play. We’re talking about being with the guys, being part of the routine. It would be good for him mentally, but we still haven’t 100% decided that.”
- For six seasons, Jimmy Howard was the #1 goalie for the Detroit Red Wings before losing the job to Petr Mrazek last season. Howard struggled in the backup role in 2015-16 but coming into the season knowing Mrazek would again be the starter has helped the veteran netminder adapt, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Said Howard: “I think I know how to handle the situation a lot better now. Last year I didn’t quite understand how to be the backup, never had been it before. So I fully understand the role now and how to stay mentally sharp in between starts.” Howard qualifies as an expensive backup with a contract that runs through the 2018-19 season and that calls for a cap hit of nearly $5.3MM per. Detroit was rumored to be looking to trade the 32-year-old goalie this summer and could do so again this offseason, assuming he isn’t claimed in the expansion draft by Las Vegas.
Rangers Reportedly Scouting The Ducks
According to Arthur Staple of Newsday, New York Rangers assistant general manager Chris Drury and Gordie Clark, the team’s director of player personnel, were both on hand for Anaheim’s tilt in New Jersey Sunday. This of course led to speculation that a deal could be in the works between the two trades.
That speculation was further fueled by the appearance of four Rangers “scouts” at Tuesday night’s game between the Ducks and the Devils, as noted by Andrew Gross of The Record. Gross reported seeing Clark and Drury specifically in attendance.
The Ducks are off to a slow start (0 – 3 – 1) and have scored just seven goals in four games. They are also still working on re-signing RFA defenseman Hampus Lindholm and it has been rumored previously that the club would have to shed salary in order to make that happen. Recent reports have indicated the two sides are making progress on a deal, though some work remains. As of today, the Ducks are virtually capped out after agreeing to terms with Rickard Rakell on a new contract.
With top prospects Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore starting the season with Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in San Diego, the team has the necessary depth to deal from their blue line once Lindholm is under contract. In addition to salary cap relief, the Ducks likely would want a young scoring-line winger to boost the team’s lackluster offense. This lines up with earlier reports this summer that the team was interested in adding a high-impact LW.
The Rangers have a plethora of NHL-quality forwards in the organization and could be willing to cash in on that depth in order to upgrade the team’s blue line. Kevin Klein and Dan Girardi have both missed time at the start of the season due to injury though it appears as if both blue liners will be back in the lineup relatively soon.
Hypothetically, a deal of Cam Fowler-for-J.T. Miller could work for both teams, though this is just my speculation. Miller and Fowler each have two seasons remaining on their current contracts, though the Ducks defenseman will be an unrestricted free agent upon the expiration of his deal while Miller will remain under team control. In this scenario the Ducks would save $1.25MM on their salary cap, not an unsubstantial amount but likely not enough on its own to re-sign Lindholm without additional moves.
It should also be noted that Miller has played mostly RW and C for the Rangers and wouldn’t address the Ducks previously stated desire for an impact LW. But at 23-years-old and coming off a 22-goal season in 201-16, Miller could certainly add some punch to Anaheim’s offense.
Of course just because the Rangers had several of their top evaluators on hand at a couple of games may simply be a coincidence. It’s possible they took advantage of the fact they were already in the New York area at the same time the Ducks just happened to be in town to play the Islanders and Devils, though the presence of such a heavy contingent would seem to indicate otherwise.
Friedman’s Latest: Lindholm, Blackhawks, Babcock, Hurricanes
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman covers a wide gamut of hockey news today, starting with the situation regarding Hampus Lindholm and the Ducks’ negotiations. Though the rumored $700K chasm has decreased, the term of the deal remains the sticking point. Anaheim is seeking a five-year deal while the Lindholm camp seeks six years. Friedman emphasizes that neither side will rush, but indicates that the Ducks need Lindholm “badly” as they’ve gotten off to a slow start. (As a side note, Bob McKenzie tweeted something very similar about the terms being the sticking point).
Other tidbits from Friedman
- The Blackhawks are hunting for a forward and are apparently willing to part with defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, who was purportedly dangled for Nail Yakupov. Yakupov eventually went to St. Louis, and Friedman indicates that the Hawks will have to “sweeten the pot” to get the forward they seek should they include van Riemsdyk in a deal. Further, he indicates that Blues general manager Doug Armstrong will try to add a veteran presence to the lineup at some point.
- Mike Babcock loves to check in on his players and current Maple Leaf Morgan Rielly says that the bench boss is true to his word. Friedman writes this:
“He’s in contact with you in the summer a lot more than you’d think,” Rielly answered. “Not all of it is hockey. Yes, he’s asking if you’re doing what he wants you to do, but he’s also asking what else you’re up to.” He then laughed a little and said, “I like hearing from him. But my family was surprised at how much he reached out.”
- The Hurricanes are betting a lot on forward Teuvo Teravainen and defenseman Noah Hanifin. Both have been featured on the powerplay and Freidman writes that despite some mistakes, the ‘Canes expect the young players to be a part of the core for years to come. The challenging experiences will occur and it’s part of the learning process.
RFA Focus: Hampus Lindholm
With the season now underway, the pressure for teams to come to terms with their remaining restricted free agents really starts to increase. Anaheim’s Hampus Lindholm is one of two remaining RFA defensemen left on the market. Here is a closer look at his situation.
2015-16
Lindholm continued his progression from the first two years of his career, slotting in once again as Anaheim’s top overall defenseman. He set a career high in goals and ice time per game while also making a sizable improvement in his advanced statistics. On a blueline filled with either offensive-minded players or stay-at-home options, Lindholm’s ability to provide above average play at either end of the rink gave the Ducks a much-needed two-way option on their defense corps.
Statistics
2015-16: 80 GP, 10 goals, 18 assists, 28 points, +7 rating, 40 PIMS, 149 shots on goal, 22:00 ATOI
Career: 236 GP, 23 goals, 69 assists, 92 points, +61 rating, 108 PIMS, 372 shots on goal, 21:04 ATOI
The Market
The term of the contract doesn’t appear to be an issue right now as both sides are interested in getting a long-term deal done. In late September, agent Claude Lemieux sent the following update to Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register:
“We are working on a long-term agreement for Hampus. We have been negotiating for a while and have exchanged multiple proposals. I will say that we, both the team and ourselves, are working on getting this resolved ASAP.”
At this point, money is the key sticking point. One of the complicating factors is that Lindholm has yet to have a breakout offensive season; his career high in points is 34. In contracts such as these, teams are forced to project and pay for future performance and Lindholm’s offensive production has yet to show that he has another element to that part of his game.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that Lindholm is seeking upwards of $6.5MM per season, an amount that would appear to factor in the expectation of a big increase in his point production down the road. Meanwhile, the Ducks are believed to be coming in at least $1MM per year below that amount.
Comparable Contracts
Dougie Hamilton (Calgary) – Six years, $34.5MM – Hamilton signed this deal shortly after being traded to the Flames by Boston in the 2015 offseason. The previous campaign was the best year of his career (42 points in 72 games) while he also played a career high in ice time at just shy of 22 minutes per game. The perception of Hamilton at that time (a two-way defender on the rise) is quite similar to where Lindholm’s currently is although Hamilton’s platform season was stronger offensively.
Seth Jones (Columbus)/Rasmus Ristolainen (Sabres) – Six years, $32.4MM – Both players saw their roles significantly increase in 2015-16, becoming number one defensemen in the process. While Ristolainen has taken more strides on his offensive game, it’s expected that Jones will break out at that end in the next year or two and become a top flight two-way defender, much like Lindholm.
Morgan Rielly (Toronto) – Six years, $30MM – The Leafs signed the 22 year old to this deal late last season, one where he outpointed Lindholm for the first time. Rielly is a strong skater like Lindholm and is viewed as one of the more promising up-and-coming two-way defenders in the NHL making him a comparable that the Ducks have surely brought up in negotiations. However, Lindholm has had a bigger role with the Ducks than Rielly’s with Toronto so his new deal should come in above this.
Projected Contract
The comparables are all players coming off their entry-level deals which is where Lindholm currently is now. While their cap hits all start with a five, it’s also worth noting that these were all six year deals and both Lindholm and the Ducks are seeking a longer term. If that does happen, more UFA years would get bought out and those are always more expensive than RFA years which would increase the cap hit.
Projection: Six years, $33.6MM – It’s plausible to expect Lindholm to come close to all of these comparables.
But very few defenders have made more than $6MM coming off their first contract and the ones that have (such as Drew Doughty of Los Angeles and Alex Pietrangelo of St. Louis) have had better track records than Lindholm has at this point in his career so it’s hard to project him exceeding that amount here. Aaron Ekblad’s $7.5MM per year pact signed this summer is a new benchmark but that was signed after just two years of his first contract while he also has the clout of being the number one overall pick. As a result, Lindholm shouldn’t come in anywhere near that high, even if he was to get an eight year deal.