Anaheim, Vancouver Discussing Jake Virtanen Trade
Normally Pacific Division rivals, the Anaheim Ducks and Vancouver Canucks are nevertheless discussing a trade that would send underperforming young forward Jake Virtanen further down the Pacific coast. According to multiple sources, the two teams continue to negotiate what the exchange of packages may look like. A flurry of information over the past hour or two implies that talks are very much still ongoing and public nature of the trade discussion is often a strong indicator that a deal of some sort will get done. However, The Athletic’s Thomas Drance writes that while the Canucks and Ducks are “grinding away”, a deal is not imminent for now.
Virtanen’s name as the headliner of this trade should come as no surprise. He has been one of the most verified members of the trade block this season, with whispers of Vancouver’s impatience with his lack of production dating back to last season. It’s difficult to blame the Cancucks for being upset with Virtanen to the point of wanting to move on; the 24-year-old was the sixth overall pick in 2014 and plays with the size and skill to be a dynamic power forward. Virtanen was seen as one of the safest bets in his draft class, yet six years later has shown too much floor and not enough ceiling. Although 2019-20 marked a career year for Virtanen with new highs in goals and points, it still only amounted to 18 goals and 36 points whilst his checking game diminished. After earning 55 NHL games as a rookie in 2015-16, the Canucks’ first sign that Virtanen’s effort and reliability may become a question came the following season, when he only played in ten NHL games and spent the rest of the season producing pedestrian numbers in the AHL. At the top level ever since, Virtanen has only managed 20 points, 25 points, and the aforementioned 36 points in his first three full NHL seasons.
The final straw for GM Jim Benning and company has been Virtanen’s play so far this season. The obviously talented forward has failed to meet expectations before, but this time the disparity is too great. Virtanen has just one point in 19 games despite ample opportunity early on in the campaign. As a result, Virtanen has now been relegated to a fourth line role, a poor fit for a player of his offensive ability but who also too frequently plays without energy. Unable to motivate their young forward and without a fit in the lineup, Vancouver is looking to move on.
The Ducks make sense as a partner in a Virtanen trade for many reason. Anaheim’s roster, though it includes a number of established veterans, is largely in a rebuild. The team has acquired a large group of young pro options and are in the process of evaluating who they do and do not want to build around as their new core. Unfortunately, veterans and youngsters alike have been underperforming in Anaheim, last year and early this season. The Ducks are understandably willing to take on a high-upside risk in Virtanen given that they have scoring opportunity to spare in their ever-changing lineup and are looking for top talent to build around.
There are a number of potential underachieving young forwards who could be off to Vancouver in exchange, but it seems that one name in particular has emerged as a definite inclusion. Both The Athletic’s Rick Dhaliwal (link) and Sportsnet’s Nick Alberga (link) report that forward Danton Heinen is expected to be moving to Vancouver in the potential trade. A fellow member of the 2014 draft class, though as an unheralded fourth-rounder of the Boston Bruins, Heinen has nonetheless found slightly more success than Virtanen. However, his numbers are trending in the wrong direction. After a 47-point rookie season in 2017-18, Heinen fell to 34 points the next year and ultimately fell out of favor in Boston last season, dealt to Anaheim for Nick Ritchie at the trade deadline. Heinen has recorded 10 points in 26 games across two seasons so far for Anaheim – a 32-point full-season pace – indicating that his scoring may not jump back up to near-50 and beyond with the Ducks either. Vancouver appears willing to take the chance on the British Columbia native though, perhaps with some added insight from former Bruins executive Benning. Whether or not he fits the description of the “young forward” that the club has been hunting for depends on your definition of the word.
Of course, if this was a simple one-for-one deal, it would be done by now. According to multiple sources, both players seem to be aware that they are included in the potential trade, but work still needs to be done on the additional pieces. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that balancing the books may be part of the problem, though Virtanen carries a $2.55MM cap hit this year (and next) while Heinen sits at $2.8MM, so there is not much an impactful discrepancy, even for two cap-strapped clubs. Drance notes that Vancouver was insistent on getting current value back for Virtanen, rather than just a pick or prospect to dump his salary, but Anaheim may be looking for more as a result of giving up a roster asset and taking on an additional contract year. Regardless of the reason for the deal not being completed, the two sides appear close and continue to talk. Stay tuned for more.
Hampus Lindholm Expected To Return Saturday
- The Ducks are expected to have defenseman Hampus Lindholm back in the lineup on Saturday against Vegas, relays Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register. The 27-year-old has missed the last three games due to a lower-body injury. While he won’t do much to bolster their scuffling offense that’s averaging less than two goals per game, Lindholm is a big part of their back end as he logs more than 22 minutes per night on the back end, second on the team to only Kevin Shattenkirk.
Ducks Activate Sonny Milano, Place Carter Rowney On IR
- The Ducks activated Sonny Milano from IR and recalled him from his AHL conditioning loan, relays Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). The winger suffered an upper-body just a week into the season, limiting him to just two games. He was quietly productive after joining Anaheim last season with five points in nine contests, making him an intriguing addition to a lineup that has struggled mightily offensively in the early going. The team also placed winger Carter Rowney on IR due to a lower-body injury. While the veteran is known more as a bottom-six player, he’s tied for the team lead in assists with six in 19 games.
Anaheim Ducks Recall Prospect Trevor Zegras
The Anaheim Ducks were planning on taking a cautious approach with the development of top prospect Trevor Zegras, but the 19-year-old forward has done everything he could this year to prove that he’s ready to play at the NHL level. The team apparently agrees as they announced they have recalled him to their roster.
Zegras was actually skating with the team on Sunday, suggesting a promotion was near. The forward, who turned pro last March after one season at Boston University, was dominant at the 2021 World Junior Championship, earning the MVP honors at the tournament as well as leading Team USA to the gold medal. He then reported to the AHL, where he has been impressive as well, posting four goals and nine points in eight games with the San Diego Gulls as well as a plus-four rating.
With the Ducks struggling on the ice, currently in last place in the West Division with a 6-9-3 record (having lost four of their last five games), the team needs an offensive spark to get the team going and are hoping that Zegras could provide that. Anaheim is currently ranked 31st in the league in goals scored, averaging just 1.83 goals per game. Youngster Max Comtois leads the team with seven goals. After that, no player has more than three this year, including their veteran leaders, Jakob Silfverberg (3), Adam Henrique (3), Rickard Rakell (1) and Ryan Getzlaf (1).
Anaheim is looking to shake up their roster as the team placed center Adam Henrique on waivers on Saturday (he cleared), meaning he can be assigned to the team’s taxi squad. However, the team is looking to make changes to do something to intensify its rebuilding project. Many of the youngsters are also struggling on the team as Sam Steel, Troy Terry and Isac Lundestrom each have just two goals this season, not exactly what they were hoping for when the season started.
Poll: NHL’s “Thanksgiving Trend” Revisited
Fans of the NHL are sure to be familiar with the deeper meaning that American Thanksgiving holds each season. With unrelenting consistency, the NHL’s standings on the final Thursday of November have had great predictive ability when compared to the final regular season standings. In fact, over the past seven years the Thanksgiving standings have been about 75% accurate at forecasting eventual playoff teams, predicting 12 of 16 spots on average. Even though American Thanksgiving only rolls around less than two months into the season, three out of four teams in a playoff spot at that time will have retained their postseason berth when the season ends.
The 2019-20 season of course did not have a standard postseason, but if it had then the Thanksgiving trend would have proved even more prophetic in a shortened campaign. Last year, in which teams were limited to between 68 and 71 games apiece prior to the early termination of the regular season, the Thanksgiving standings would have predicted 13 of 16 playoff teams in the standard format. Of the three teams that would have slid out of the postseason, the Florida Panthers trailed the Toronto Maple Leafs by .014 points percentage in the Atlantic Division and the Winnipeg Jets missed out by a measly .001 points percentage behind the Calgary Flames as the final Western Conference wild card. The Thanksgiving standings were that close to predicting 15 of 16 playoff teams in the shortened season, with the unexpected slow start for the Vegas Golden Knights and hot start for the Arizona Coyotes being the other unsurprising course correction.
But how does this trend impact a season that didn’t even begin until well after American Thanksgiving? Based on total games played by Thanksgiving over the past few seasons, Thanksgiving represents about the 30% progress through the NHL season. In the current 56-game season, that comes out to about the 17-game mark. Although postponements and rescheduling have created a wide discrepancy in games played among teams this year, the league as a whole passed that 17-game average on Saturday: Happy Thanksgiving. Admittedly, the 2020-21 campaign does have a different playoff model as well, one that is somewhat stricter than the last few years without the fallback of a wildcard spot for a team on the fifth-place fringe in their division. Yet, it is still a 16-team postseason and the Thanksgiving trend should hold. Using points percentage to rank the standings (the stat may end up determining playoff position for a second consecutive season anyhow) and adjusting for the season’s makeshift divisions, here is the current “Thanksgiving” outlook:
North Division East Division
Toronto Maple Leafs (.789) Boston Bruins (.733)
Montreal Canadiens (.625) Philadelphia Flyers (.679)
Winnipeg Jets (.618) Washington Capitals (.594)
Edmonton Oilers (.600) Pittsburgh Penguins (.594)____
Calgary Flames (.472) New Jersey Devils (.583)
Vancouver Canucks (.405) New York Islanders (.559)
Ottawa Senators (.237) New York Rangers (.469)
Buffalo Sabres (.429)
West Division Central Division
Vegas Golden Knights (.700) Carolina Hurricanes (.781)
Colorado Avalanche (.679) Florida Panthers (.750)
St. Louis Blues (.611) Tampa Bay Lightning (.700)
Minnesota Wild (.571) Dallas Stars (.583)
Los Angeles Kings (.531) Chicago Blackhawks (.579)
Arizona Coyotes (.500) Columbus Blue Jackets (.526)
San Jose Sharks (.500) Nashville Predators (.412)
Anaheim Ducks (.417) Detroit Red Wings (.325)
Now this begs the question, especially seeing how accurate the Thanksgiving standings were in last year’s shortened season but also accounting for the many disruptions for a number of teams early this season, who is the trend currently overlooking? Which teams currently outside the playoff picture, if any, do you think will make the postseason when all is said and done later this season? Use the comments section below as well to discuss which teams may fall out of the postseason and whether you feel the Thanksgiving trend will apply this season.
Ducks’ Adam Henrique Clears Waivers
Sunday: Henrique has cleared waivers. Despite a career of consistent scoring and quality two-way play, it seems that teams were too frightened by Henrique’s lengthy contract and slow start to the season to risk a claim. This may not be over though; it is hard to imagine that there are not teams in the NHL that could benefit from the dynamic Duck’s services if they can make the salary cap work in a trade.
Saturday: There have been some notable veterans placed on waivers in recent days and Saturday has yielded another of those moves as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Ducks have placed center Adam Henrique on waivers. While it’s not common for a GM to comment on a player hitting the waiver wire right away, Bob Murray did release a brief statement to Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register:
Adam is not alone in this. But I’m tired of talking and waiting. We need results and difficult decisions must be made.
It has been a tough year for the 31-year-old, to put it lightly. Henrique has just three goals and an assist in 16 games this season despite logging over 16 minutes per game and nearly two per night with the man advantage. For someone that’s expected to be a top-six forward, that type of production hasn’t been good enough which has resulted in this move. The drop-off offensively comes as somewhat of a surprise considering that Henrique actually led Anaheim in scoring last season with 26 goals and 17 assists in 71 games; had it not been for the pandemic, he would have had a realistic chance at reaching the 30-goal mark for only the second time in his career.
Henrique still has three years left on his contract after this season with a $5.825MM AAV and salary and with many teams being capped out (only five teams can afford to claim him), it’s quite unlikely that he’ll be claimed on Sunday. Instead, the placement will give them a bit more roster flexibility and allow them to shuffle him to the taxi squad on non-game days, allowing them to temporarily clear $1.075MM off their salary cap. It could also serve as somewhat of a wakeup call to Henrique and the rest of the Ducks who are off to a bit of a sluggish start to their season having won only six of 17 games so far, though that’s still enough to be just two points out of a playoff spot in the West Division.
Latest On Ryan Getzlaf’s Future
The Anaheim Ducks lost again last night, adding just a single mark to the goals for column that they have struggled so much to fill this season. The team has just 33 goals in 17 games, the fewest on a per-game basis in the league and a historically low rate. They do have some offensive weapons pushing for a call-up but some wonder if the team should be selling off some expiring or aging assets to rebuild for the future. When you scroll over the Ducks’ CapFriendly page looking for potential trade chips, one name might stick out above all the rest: Ryan Getzlaf.
The 35-year-old center is on the last season of the eight-year, $66MM contract he signed in 2013 and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. That could potentially make him an attractive piece on the market, especially since he isn’t actually earning the $8.5MM cap hit that his contract carries. Getzlaf is owed just $6MM for the 2020-21 season, and half of that was in a signing bonus. That means he would come at a considerable discount for a cash-strapped contender, though obviously, the cap structure would need to work.
Hold that thought. Getzlaf also has a full no-movement clause in his contract and Frank Seravalli of TSN reported last night on Insider Trading that the Ducks have no plans to ask him to waive it at this time. The only way the veteran forward would be on the move is if he asked for a trade to go chase a Stanley Cup. That chase, which is so alluring to many of the league’s greatest players as they get to the twilight of their career, may not be so for Getzlaf, who already won a championship in 2007 with the Ducks.
There’s also the fact that he’s not the same Hart Trophy-level star that he once was, meaning the return wouldn’t likely be a big one. Getzlaf has just six points through 15 games, including zero even-strength goals. His ice time is down and he’s now just playing a support and leadership role as the team transitions to the next wave of talent.
As of now, it doesn’t appear as though he’ll be on the block. But Seravalli points out that could change if he “raises his hand” and tells the Ducks he wants to chase another ring.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Minor Transactions: 02/16/21
Although the minor professional leagues in North America are up and running, a handful of players are still searching for new homes. Several of them found places today and here are some of the ones affecting current and former NHL prospects.
- The Flames have inked forward Rory Kerins to a minor league amateur tryout agreement, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 18-year-old was a sixth-round pick (174th overall) back in October after putting up 30 goals and 29 assists with OHL Sault Ste. Marie last season. With that league not up and running just yet, Kerins is eligible to play with Calgary’s AHL affiliate in Stockton until the OHL gets their season underway.
- The Ducks have added some physicality to their farm team as the AHL’s Gulls announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed winger Jamie Devane to a PTO. The 29-year-old briefly saw NHL action with Toronto back in 2013-14 and spent last season with Pittsburgh’s farm team where he had four goals, five assists, and 81 penalty minutes in 36 games.
- After the Islanders declined to sign him back in August, Nick Pastujov has found a place to play, inking a contract with Kansas City of the ECHL, per that league’s transactions log. The 23-year-old was drafted in 2016 and spent four years at Michigan but saw his production dip in his senior season which certainly didn’t help his chances of getting signed.
Poll: Should The Anaheim Ducks Call Up Jamie Drysdale, Trevor Zegras?
The Anaheim Ducks can’t score. In fact, their current goals for per game rate of 1.94 would be the third-lowest mark of the last decade, only behind two Buffalo Sabres teams (’14 and ’15) that finished at the very bottom of the NHL standings. That rate is lower even than the 2019-20 Detroit Red Wings who won just 17 games and posted a historically-low points percentage.
The Anaheim Ducks can’t score.
Somehow though, the Ducks aren’t at the bottom of the NHL standings. They aren’t even in last place in the West Division, instead sitting at 6-7-3 through their first 16 games. Their relatively low mark of 2.56 goals against per game would indicate that if they could just score a little more, they actually might be a formidable opponent. Perhaps even push for a playoff spot this season.
Enter Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, the team’s top two prospects who are currently dominating in the AHL.
Zegras, 19, was the ninth overall pick in 2019 and has seven points through his first five professional games. The tournament scoring leader and MVP at the recent World Juniors, Zegras has almost limitless offensive potential and could likely help the Ducks’ powerplay the moment he steps on the ice.
Drysdale, 18, meanwhile has five points in his own first five pro games and given he’s a defenseman, has heads turning already. The sixth-overall pick in 2020, Drysdale is an elite puck-moving option, and though his actual scoring upside may not be quite as high as Zegras, his mobility and ability to get the puck quickly to his forwards would help the Anaheim attack.
Remember though that player development is a tricky, always evolving thing. The Ducks obviously have high hopes for the pair and want them to be ready before forcing them into NHL games. The fact that the team wasn’t really expected to challenge for the Stanley Cup this season may be a huge factor as well, given many organizations don’t want to bring their top young players into losing situations.
In Drysdale’s case specifically, they might not be able to keep him in the minors forever. The 18-year-old would normally not be eligible to play there, but with the OHL still suspended he is allowed to suit up in the minor leagues. Once that changes—recent developments have provided some encouragement that the OHL can hold a shortened season in the coming months—Drysdale would need to move up to the NHL or be returned to his Erie Otters team.
For Zegras, there’s nothing forcing him out of the AHL at the moment. As a college player who turned pro last spring, he is eligible for the minors even though he’s just 19.
It’s important to note that in both cases, playing in more than seven NHL games would activate their entry-level contracts. Currently, both Zegras and Drysdale are slide candidates, meaning the three-year deal wouldn’t kick in until next season, keeping them away from restricted free agency longer. But with the Ducks struggling to score and the AHL proving no trouble, is it time to call them up anyway?
Cast your vote below, making sure to explain your plan in the comments.
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Snapshots: Danault, Simek, Frk
Montreal Canadiens center Phillip Danault has struggled this season as he is one of just two forwards who have yet to record a goal this season. The 27-year-old is coming off of 53 and 47-point seasons that last two years, but the pending unrestricted free agent reportedly turned down a six-year, $30MM deal during the offseason, according to Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan, and it looks to be weighing on him.
Danault refused to talk about his contract situation Friday, but Cowan said that ice time might play more of a role in his decision-making than money. Danault, who was playing top-six minutes for much of the past two seasons, is now the team’s No. 3 center behind Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
“I needed some time to adapt,” Danault said. “There are a lot of things that changed at the same time, whether it was my ice time or the way I was being used on the penalty-kill. I’m still playing with the same linemates, though. We try to give everything we have every night. I’m ready to do everything I can to help the team win. It’s going really well right now and we’ll keep on going that way.”
- NHL Player Safety announced that San Jose Sharks defenseman Radim Simek has been fined $5,000 for spearing Anaheim Ducks forward Adam Henrique Saturday (video here). The fine is the most that is allowed by the CBA.The infraction occurred at 6:21 of the second period when the spearing occurred in front of the Sharks’ net. The two players then fought immediately afterwards with both players receiving two-minute penalties for roughing with the spearing getting missed.
- The Los Angeles Kings could be without forward Martin Frk for some time, according to Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris. While he hasn’t received an update from the team’s training staff, head coach Todd McLellan said that by the look of the injury, he could be “out for a little while.” Frk missed the first nine games of the season with a groin injury and was making his season debut Friday only to be knocked out with another lower-body injury.