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Two Players Sent To AHL As Roster Freeze Ends

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With the NHL’s holiday roster freeze over, Washington and Toronto made a pair of minor transactions on Wednesday morning.

The Capitals sent rookie Zachary Sanford back to Hershey of the AHL, the Bears announced this morning. Sanford has played for both the Bears and Capitals this season, with one assist in 20 NHL games and four goals and seven points in just six AHL games. The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan isn’t surprised by the move, considering Sanford had been a healthy scratch for three of the past four games after being recalled on December 17.

Meanwhile the Toronto Maple Leafs’ goaltending carousel continues, as the team demoted backup goaltender Jhonas Enroth to the AHL. The move has not been announced by the team as of this being written, but the move is already up on the AHL’s official transaction page and Enroth is listed on the Marlies roster. This comes one day after the Leafs recalled a trio of players, including goaltender Antoine Bibeau. Enroth was expected to be a solid backup for new starter Frederik Andersen, but has struggled mightily with no victories in six appearances and a 0.872 SV%. Because he makes under $950K, ($750K), he will not count against the Maple Leafs’ salary cap.

Enroth joins Karri Ramo, Garret Sparks, and Jeff Glass as goaltenders on the Marlies’ roster. Enroth and Sparks are under contract with the NHL club, Ramo is with the team on a tryout basis, and Glass is on an AHL-only deal after spending the past seven years in the KHL.

Snapshots: Gudlevskis, Luongo, Rule Book

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After Ben Bishop suffered a lower-body injury in last night’s game, the Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled Kristers Gudlevksis from the Syracuse Crunch.

If the name Gudlevskis sounds familiar, it’s likely because of his performance for Latvia at the 2014 Olympics. In their 2-1 quarter-final loss against Canada, Gudlevskis made 55 saves on 57 shots.

So far this season, Gudlevskis has struggled in the AHL, with just a 5-4-2 record and an 0.884 SV%. However, with Bishop expected to be gone sometime this year or this summer, an NHL callup is a chance for Gudlevskis to show he has what it takes to back up Andrei Vasilevskiy going forward.

  • Jaromir Jagr wasn’t the only Florida Panthers player to hit a milestone last night. Roberto Luongo tied legendary goaltender Terry Sawchuk for fifth all-time in wins. Both have 477 wins, with Luongo doing it in 22 less games. Luongo needs eight more wins to pass Curtis Joseph for fourth, and 105 wins to pass Patrick Roy for second. Martin Brodeur is safely first with 691 wins, which is 140 more than Roy.
  • Over at OilersNation.com, TSN’s Jason Gregor writes that the NHL needs to once again call the rule book. While it was strictly enforced after the 2005 lockout, obstruction is no longer being called properly in the NHL. Gregor argues that players like Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, and Johnny Gaudreau are being prevented from demonstrating their elite skill because of the constant hooking and slashing that isn’t called. Whether it was Gaudreau missing weeks with a broken finger from being slashed 21 times in a single game (no penalties) or McDavid being denied penalty shot after penalty shot when he’s whacked and hooked on breakaways (most recently on Monday when Alex Pietrangelo denied McDavid a shot on a breakaway by slashing his hands several times, again no penalty), there is a systematic failure on the NHL’s part to protect its stars from fouls. Gregor wonders why no GMs or players have spoken up about this, and hypothesizes that they’re either scared of being “deemed whiners” or scared of commissioner Gary Bettman. Former referee Kerry Fraser told Gregor that the current officials need to “be a little more vigilant,” in a rare comment about fellow officials.

Jimmy Howard “Out For A While”

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It was a rough night for goaltenders in Tampa Bay last night, as both Ben Bishop and Jimmy Howard left the game with lower-body injuries.

While we don’t yet know Bishop’s status, Howard has been placed on seven-day IR. Per Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, Red Wings GM Ken Holland said Howard will be “out for a while. Not sure how long.”

The length of Howard’s recovery will depend on how his body reacts in the next few days, according to Holland. It’s a tough loss for the Red Wings, as Howard has the fourth-best save percentage in the NHL this season, after his play had regressed over the past three years. The Red Wings’ expected starter this season, Petr Mrazek, has struggled so far with just an 0.899 SV%, but does have a winning record, which is something Howard doesn’t have, despite his excellent numbers.

In the meantime, Detroit has recalled Jared Coreau from Grand Rapids of the AHL. Coreau has appeared in one NHL game, allowing four goals in a 5-3 loss against Pittsburgh. He boasts an 11-6-0 record with the Griffins, with a 0.924 SV% and a 2.18 GAA.

The Red Wings currently sit in sixth place in the Atlantic Division and are nine points out of the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.

Cory Schneider, Ben Bishop Struggling

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It’s been a tough first few months for all three of Team USA’s World Cup goaltenders.

Jonathan Quick hurt his groin in the first period of the Kings’ season opener and isn’t expected to be back until February at the earliest. Cory Schneider has performed well below his career averages. Ben Bishop has also struggled, and is now hurt as well.

When the New Jersey Devils traded for superstar forward Taylor Hall in June, it gave them a second superstar on the roster. Many believed that the combination of Hall’s scoring and Schneider’s goaltending would bring the Devils back to the playoffs for the first time since their 2012 Stanley Cup Finals appearance. It’s not worked out so far, with Hall missing eight games and Schneider’s play falling off.

This is Schneider’s fourth season in New Jersey and third as starter. In the two previous seasons, he has a 0.925 SV% and a 2.21 GAA. Both numbers demonstrate Schneider is a top-flight starter in the NHL. Schneider and the Devils started off decently, with a 0.941 SV% and a team record of 4-2-2 in October. Schneider had a 0.893 SV% in November, and has fallen even further in December to 0.881.

It’s not clear what’s happened to Schneider. The Devils did move their second-best defenseman in Adam Larsson to acquire Hall, but based on his career numbers Schneider should be much better than 28th in league SV%.

The Devils are part of the Metropolitan Division, which is the best in the NHL this season. They’re already 10 points out of a playoff spot, and unless Schneider picks up his play and starts stealing games, the Devils will be out of the playoffs once again.

Over the past three seasons with the Lightning, Bishop has averaged a 0.922 SV% and a 2.20 GAA. He’s been a Vezina finalist twice in those three years. Bishop racked up 77 wins over 186 games in those three seasons. This year, however, his record has fallen to 9-10-2. Andrei Vasilevskiy has much superior numbers in nearly every category compared to Bishop this season. Bishop has a 0.906 SV% and a 2.82 GAA in the final year of his contract, while Vasilevskiy has a winning record to go with his 0.921 SV% and a 2.49 GAA.

Bishop left Tuesday night’s game versus the Red Wings, and his status is not known. Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes that Bishop could be out anywhere from two days to two months. His injury may only be fast-forwarding to the inevitable handing-off of the starters job to Vasilevskiy. With Bishop’s contract up after this season and Vasilevskiy signed for another three seasons after this one, the Lightning appear to have shown their plan. Not to mention, only one can be protected from the expansion draft. That will be Vasilevskiy.

With Bishop hurt again, Smith wondered if his trade value would be affected. Smith quoted TSN’s Craig Button, a former GM, who said that it wouldn’t be an issue “so long as teams are satisfied that it’s not long term.”

The Stars would definitely be interested in acquiring a new starter, but there are other options like Marc-Andre Fleury. The Lightning need Bishop to return as soon as he can and be the dependable starter of years past. That gets the Lightning more wins and better potential trade value, while improving Bishop’s chances at a big contract in free agency.

Jaromir Jagr Ties Mark Messier For Second-Most Points

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Jaromir Jagr played his first NHL game on October 5, 1990 in Washington. He scored the first goal and point of his Hall of Fame career two nights later at home versus the New Jersey Devils.

So far, 766 players have played in the NHL this season. Just 455 of those, or 58%, were born before the end of 1990. Jagr has played against players born from 1951 (Guy Lafleur) to 1998 (Patrik Laine). Yet he’s still here, and reached an incredible milestone on Tuesday night: Jagr is now tied with Mark Messier for second all-time in NHL scoring.

With three assists against the Sabres, Jagr now has 755 goals, 1,132 assists, and 1,887 points. That’s 524 points more than the next highest active player, Joe Thornton. The 45-year-old Jagr is now playing in his twenty-third NHL season, and has played for eight teams.

The new top five for all-time points looks like this, until Jagr gets his next:

1. Wayne Gretzky – 2,857 points in 1487 games
T2. Jaromir Jagr – 1,887 points in 1662 games
T2. Mark Messier – 1,887 points in 1756 games
3. Gordie Howe – 1,850 points in 1767 games
4. Ron Francis – 1,798 points in 1731 games
5. Marcel Dionne – 1,771 points in 1348 games

Jagr has said that he wants to play until he’s at least 50-years-old. Should he average 50 points from now until then, he would end up in the neighborhood of 2,150 points. While he would still be 700 points behind Gretzky, he would be the first, and likely only NHLer to ever surpass Gretzky’s assist total. The first years of fantasy hockey pools had a rule: no one could take Gretzky, it was either his goals or his assists. That rule was there for a good reason, as Gretzky still has more assists than any other player in history has points, with 1,963. TSN’s Frank Seravelli wrote that Jagr would need to start another Hall of Fame career to even come close to Gretzky, but says “finishing second only to Gretzky, though, is sort of like being first among the rest of the nearly 6,000 other mere mortals to play in the NHL.”

While it may seem like a longshot for anyone to play until the age of 50, Jagr is still having fun. He’s brought back his legendary mullet from the 1990s and is still one of the most dedicated players in the league when it comes to staying in shape. He once told Sportsnet Magazine:

“The time between when I quit hockey and I die, I want it to be the shortest. It’s not going to be as exciting, that time. So as long as I can play, that’s what I’m doing. If I can play ’til I die, that’s what I will do. What else are you gonna do?”

Previous Post-Roster Freeze Trades

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As of 11:59pm last night (Eastern time), the NHL’s annual holiday roster freeze kicked in.

While there were some rumors kicking around prior to the freeze, there wasn’t anything that seemed imminent. However, we have seen trades made within days of the roster freeze ending. Here are the previous post-roster freeze trades of past few years.

2015-16: On December 28, 2015, the Edmonton Oilers traded former starter Ben Scrivens to the Montreal Canadiens for Zack Kassian. Both teams were looking for a comeback story: Scrivens had fallen to fourth on the Oilers depth chart, while Kassian had just cleared waivers after completing the NHL’s substance abuse program. Scrivens played 15 games in Montreal, winning just five times. While one of those was a 5-1 win for Scrivens over his former team, the Oilers have likely won this trade. Kassian has gotten his act together and is a solid bottom six energy forward/ penalty killer with 15 points in 67 games so far. Scrivens is now playing in the KHL.

2014-15: Just a day after the roster freeze ended, the Oilers acquired Derek Roy from Nashville for Mark Arcobello. Roy had just cleared waivers and had 10 points in 26 games with the Predators. He found immediate success with the Oilers, scoring 22 points in 46 games. He remains one of the few centers to ever get consistent results from Nail Yakupov, who scored 25 points in 35 games with Roy as his center. Arcobello had 12 points in 36 games for an Oilers team with almost no depth at the center position: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Boyd Gordon were the only legitimate NHL centers on the roster, with Leon Draisaitl just days away from being sent to the WHL. Arcobello played just four games in Nashville before bouncing around to Pittsburgh and Arizona before the end of the season.

2013-14: On December 30, 2013, the Calgary Flames traded former OHL scorer Greg Nemisz to the Carolina Hurricanes for tough guy Kevin Westgarth. Nemisz, a former first-round pick of the Flames and double Memorial Cup champion with the Windsor Spitfires, played parts of two seasons for the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate. However, after suffering three season-ending injuries in as many seasons, Nemisz retired. He’s now an assistant coach for the OHL’s Oshawa Generals. Westgarth played 36 games for the Flames, which were his last in the NHL. He failed to stick with the Oilers on a PTO the following year, and ended up playing his last year of hockey for the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League in the U.K.

Interestingly enough, only one of the six players (Kassian) is still in the NHL. Scrivens and Roy are now in the KHL, Arcobello is playing in the Swiss League, and Westgarth and Nemisz are retired.

If you’re handicapping this year’s post-roster freeze movements, expect the Oilers to make a minor trade and for both players to be out of the NHL within two years.

Snapshots: Oilers, NHL Debuts, Blackhawks, Laine

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The last time the Oilers beat the Blues in St. Louis, Nikolai Khabibulin made 43 saves and the Oilers won 3-0. The Oilers then-top line of Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Jordan Eberle combined for eight points. That was in March of 2013.

Since then, the Oilers have lost four straight in St. Louis by a combined score of 17-8. But last night, the Oilers came back twice from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to win 3-2 in overtime. The Oilers moved Nugent-Hopkins, normally a center, to the right wing on a line with Leon Draisaitl and Patrick Maroon, and were rewarded with the tying and winning goal from them. The St. Louis-native Maroon tipped in a shot in the third period, leading to a feel-good moment after the game when he was asked about his son, who lives in St. Louis, cheering him on.

Nugent-Hopkins was set up by Connor McDavid in overtime and the Oilers got the victory. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug appeared on Edmonton radio on Tuesday morning and said this about the win: “to be down multiple times to that team in a building where they never win… that’s definitely a ’big boy’ win. They didn’t come by that one easily.”

McDavid and Draisaitl now have a combined 70 points this season, the highest of any duo in the NHL. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are second with 68 points.

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have dealt with quite a few injuries this season, but out of injury springs opportunity. Jonathan Drouin has stepped up lately, and now there’s opportunity for Tanner Richard to appear in his first NHL game. Richard was initially supposed to make his NHL debut on Saturday night, but his plane was delayed in New York, which lead to him missing his connecting flight to Edmonton. With no chance of making it to Alberta for game time, Ricard was sent back to Syracuse. Richard told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times that he was “devastated” to miss the game, but had an inkling that he could be recalled for Tuesday. When asked what he expects to bring to the Lightning lineup, Richard said “I’m pretty hated by most teams in the AHL, so that tells me I’m doing an alright job being a little rat.” Richard will play with Brayden Point and J.T. Brown on the fourth line.
  • Also making his NHL debut tonight is Pat Cannone. The 30-year-old center has played 377 games in the AHL, notching 222 points. As Michael Russo put it, the debut will be one for the aged. Cannone has 16 points in 28 games for the Iowa Wild so far this season. Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said “Hey listen, I was in the minors so long, anytime you can bring up a young man to give him a shot at the NHL, I think it’s great.”
  • According to Mark Lazerus, Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford is taking part in the team’s morning skate. We reported yesterday that Crawford could start as soon as Friday, which would be under three weeks since his appendectomy. Coach Joel Quenneville said he would like to see Crawford take part in a full practice before returning. While a morning skate is not as intense as a regular practice, it’s still a good step in the road back for Crawford.
  • Notably absent from Chicago’s morning skate is center Artem Anisimov. Anisimov missed the Blackhawks previous game, and it’s not known if he will be in the lineup tonight versus the Senators. So far this season, he has 27 points in 34 games, which puts him on pace to easily surpass his previous career high of 42 which he set last season.
  • After his gorgeous goal on Sunday night versus the Avalanche, where he one-timed a Mark Scheifele pass on a two-on-one, Patrik Laine told a Finnish newspaper that “from a chance like that, I will score 99 times out of 100. The stick will break once.” Laine has 18 goals and 29 points, one behind Scheifele for the Jets’ lead, and five points clear of Auston Matthews for the rookie scoring lead.

Maple Leafs, Senators Recall Goalies

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It’s a good thing that the Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate is also based in Toronto.

The team has demoted Jhonas Enroth and recalled Antoine Bibeau, according to TSN’s Kristen Shilton. This is the second time the team has swapped the two goaltenders in four days, and the third time this month. Because he has not spent 30 days on an NHL roster since clearing waivers, Enroth does not need to go through waivers to be sent down.

Shilton believes Bibeau will get the start in one of the Maple Leafs’ upcoming back-to-back against Colorado and Arizona. Bibeau has appeared in just one NHL game earlier this month against Colorado. The Maple Leafs lost 3-1 as Bibeau made 26 saves on 28 shots. He appeared in two AHL games in his most recent stint there, going 1-1-0.

Moving northeast, the Senators have recalled goaltender Matt O’Connor on an emergency basis, as Andrew Hammond is unable to backup for Mike Condon for tonight’s game versus the Chicago Blackhawks. O’Connor was a highly sought-after prospect goaltender following his time at Boston University, but he’s struggled to find his form since turning pro. He’s appeared in just one NHL game; O’Connor started for the Senators opposite his new crease-mate in Condon, when the latter was with the Canadiens last season.

Hammond injured his ankle on Sunday night, and has appeared in just three games so far this season as he battles different injuries. The Senators’ regular number one Craig Anderson is with his wife while she undergoes cancer treatment and is not expected to re-join the team before Christmas.

Snapshots: Three Stars, World Junior Captains, Iginla

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The NHL has named Artemi Panarin, Henrik Lundqvist, and Eric Staal as its Three Stars of the Week.

Panarin had three goals and seven assists for 10 points in four games. He bookended two thee-point performances with a pair of two-point nights as the Blackhawks continued their five-game winning streak. Panarin now has 34 points in 34 games this season

This week marks the second consecutive week with a New York Rangers goaltender as the second star. Last week, Antti Raanta was the second star as he temporarily took over the starting role from Lundqvist, but now the man they call The King has taken back over. Lundqvist went 3-0-0 and allowed just three goals to go with his 0.967 SV%. He and Raanta combined for a shutout when Lundqvist was forced to leave a game after being run over by Cody Eakin (for which he was suspended).

Staal had four goals and five points in three games as part of a 3-0-0 week. The Wild have now won seven straight and Staal is leading the team in goals, assists, and points; he has 24 points in 30 games in his first year in Minnesota.

  • Hockey Canada has named its leadership core for the upcoming World Junior Championships. Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Strome will wear the C for Canada, while Mathew Barzal and Thomas Chabot will serve as alternate captains. All three players played for Canada at last year’s tournament and appeared in the NHL at the start of the season. While they combined for just 10 games and one assist in the NHL, all three are 2015 first-round picks and dominant CHL players. Strome has 295 points in 191 games with the Erie Otters; Islanders sixteenth-overall pick Barzal has 281 points in 174 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds; Chabot, a defenseman picked eighteenth overall by Ottawa, has 128 points in 182 games with the Saint John Sea Dogs.
  • The Vancouver Canucks most recent first-round pick, Olli Juolevi has been named captain of Team Finland. Juolevi had nine assists in seven games in last year’s tournament, as Finland won gold. So far, Juolevi has 21 points in 26 games with the London Knights.
  • Today marks 21 years since the Calgary Flames acquired Jarome Iginla from the Dallas Stars for Joe Nieuwendyk. The trade worked out pretty well for both teams: the Stars won the Stanley Cup four years later with Nieuwendyk playing a key role, and Iginla became the face of the Flames franchise. Nieuwendyk was in the prime of his career, while Iginla was an eleventh-overall pick playing for the Kamloops Blazers. Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com tweeted that Iginla initially thought he had been traded to the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. After turning pro, Iginla scored 1095 points in 16 years with the Flames, leading them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004. He’s bounced around between Pittsburgh, Boston, and Colorado in the four years since he was traded. Iginla could be on the move again this year, as the Avalanche are one of the worst teams in the NHL and he could want to go to a contender for the end of his career.

Snapshots: Crawford, Tavares, Lucic

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The Chicago Blackhawks could be getting a nice early Christmas gift on Friday night.

Despite having an appendectomy just two weeks ago, Corey Crawford has progressed enough in his recovery that he may start on Friday night against the Colorado Avalanche. Coach Joel Quenneville told Chris Hine that he would like to see Crawford get in a full practice before returning to the lineup.

The Blackhawks are off on Monday after playing back-to-back on the weekend, however Crawford will skate on his own. Backup Scott Darling has played the majority of games since Crawford has been out, including both games over the weekend. Darling is 6-2-1 since taking over from Crawford, which includes his current five-game winning streak.

  • Glen Schiller and Jamie McLennan on TSN’s That’s Hockey 2Nite discussed if there is any reason why John Tavares would want to re-sign with the Islanders. The Islanders have been “a mess” this year, following up a 100-point season with a 74-point pace. With the Metropolitan Division being the best division in hockey this year, there’s essentially no way the Islanders can climb back into the playoff picture without a 15-game winning streak. McLennan points to the free agency departure of Kyle Okposo, who had great chemistry with Tavares, and the struggles of his replacement, Andrew Ladd. Both players signed for similar contracts, but the Islanders chose the older player with no history with their superstar over the younger, right-handed player with years of success on Tavares’ wing. Tavares, McLennan argues, must be wondering who he would play with consistently and could look forward to playing with years from now if he signed an eight-year contract.
  • Over at OilersNation, Jonathan Willis wonders why the Oilers have not tried separating Milan Lucic and Connor McDavid to boost McDavid’s scoring. While he’s still leading the NHL in scoring by two points with 39 points in 33 games, he has just one even-strength assist in his last eight games. Lucic has just one goal in nine games this month. Despite Lucic’s struggles, the only changes made on the top line have been on the right side. Jesse Puljujärvi, Drake Caggiula, Jordan Eberle, Tyler Pitlick, and Leon Draisaitl have all had time with Lucic and McDavid, with varying degrees of success. Willis suggests moving Lucic to play with Draisaitl on the second line and bumping one of Benoit Pouliot or Patrick Maroon up to the top line; Willis points to chemistry between Draisaitl and Lucic and the dramatically better scoring numbers of when playing with McDavid as evidence of the merit of his suggestion.

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