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Snapshots: Flames, Senators, Blues

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“We were pathetic. It was a pathetic display. No bite back, no kick back. Our top guys didn’t do anything. We needed someone to step up.”

Tell us how you really feel, Glen Gulutzan. The head coach of the floundering Calgary Flames ripped into his team after another their fourth straight loss. All four games have seen Calgary going down 4-0 to start the game. The Flames nearly came back from the four-goal deficit against the Predators but lost 4-3. They were then smoked 7-3 by the Oilers, 4-0 by the Maple Leafs, and 5-1 by the Canadiens. Calgary has allowed the first goal in the previous nine games..

On Monday, I wrote about how Flames GM Brad Treliving is facing some big questions as they continue their rebuild. Gulutzan’s first year at the helm of the Flames has not gone well so far; the team is now 24-24-3 and is currently sitting in the second and final wildcard spot in the Western Conference with 51 points. They’re nine points behind the Oilers, who are in third in the Pacific Division. The Flames are two points behind the Blues for the first wildcard spot, and one point ahead of the Kings and Canucks.

  • The Ottawa Senators have announced the hiring of Tom Anselmi as the president and CEO of the organization, according to Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. He’ll replace Cyril Leeder, who was not offered another position; Leeder held the position since June of 2009. Anselmi spent 17 years with MLSE, ending his time there when Tim Leiweke replaced him as president and CEO in 2013. Garrioch speculated that Anselmi has a background in construction and could be key in getting the Senators a new arena. Owner Eugene Melnyk seconded that opinion at the press conference. Perhaps the most notable information to come out of the conference is the news that the Senators will likely be playing in an outdoor game in Sweden next year. As Garrioch puts it, the season-opening trip to Sweden appears to be “a done deal,” and negotiations continue with regards to the outdoor game.
  • With their starting goaltender struggling, St. Louis Blues backup Carter Hutton made a strong statement with a 3-0 shutout of the hot Pittsburgh Penguins. ESPN’s Scott Burnside believes that Hutton’s performance was the biggest story of Tuesday night. Hutton’s second shutout of the year snapped the Blues’ three-game losing streak. Burnside writes that the Blues still have to right the ship as far as their play in front of Jake Allen, who has struggled mightily in his first year as starter; his SV% has fallen below 0.900 after posting a 0.920 in 47 games last season. Allen begins a four-year, $17.4MM contract extension next season.

Roster Notes: January 23, 2017

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  • For the second straight game, Blues starting goaltender Jake Allen will be a healthy scratch. Tom Timmerman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that backup Carter Hutton will get the start tomorrow night after third-stringer Pheonix Copley started last game; Copley will back up Hutton. Allen is scheduled to start on Thursday, after what coach Ken Hitchcock called a week of “tech workload.” Allen has really struggled this season, with his SV% dropping below 0.900 after posting a 0.920 in 47 games last season. Allen begins a four-year, $17.4MM contract extension next season.
  • Staying in the Central Division, the Dallas Stars announced via Twitter that Radek Faksa will miss the next two games with a lower-body injury and superstar center Tyler Seguin is questionable for tomorrow’s game with an illness. Seguin has quietly had a good season so far, with 45 points in 48 games. Meanwhile, Faksa has improved his point totals in his sophomore season with 22 points in 48 games, after posting 12 points in 45 games in his rookie year.
  • A day after clearing waivers, Drew Miller has been loaned to the Grand Rapids Griffins. However, as Dana Wakiji of DetroitRedWings.com writes, Miller could be back up with the big club quickly because of recent injuries to Dylan Larkin and Thomas Vanek. Miller has has five goals and an assist in 34 games with the Red Wings, after re-signing him to a one-year, $1.025MM contract in July.
  • The San Jose Sharks will get rookie Timo Meier back after missing two games with an upper-body injury. The 2015 ninth-0verall pick will play with Melker Karlsson and Tommy Wingels on the Sharks’ fourth line, according to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Meier has two goals and four points in 15 games with the Sharks, and 15 points in 17 game with the San Jose Barracudas of the AHL. Meanwhile Tomas Hertl is travelling with the team but will not play tomorrow night.

Snapshots: NHL Three Stars, Flames, Lightning

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The NHL has named Conor Sheary, Thomas Greiss, and T.J. Oshie as their Three Stars of the Week.

The undrafted Sheary had six goals and nine points in four games as the Penguins went 4-0-0. He had two three-point games to bookend the week. He had two goals, including the overtime winner, in the Penguin epic 8-7 win over Washington, and the same statline in the Penguins 5-1 win over Boston. Sheary now has 17 goals and 34 points in 39 games this season, a significant increase over his 10-point rookie season.

Greiss had two shutouts and an overtime loss in a week where he had a 0.971 SV%.  The Islanders shutout the Bruins 4-0 then fired head coach Jack Capuano the next day. They followed the firing with a 3-0 shutout of the Stars and a 3-2 overtime loss to the Flyers. Greiss is 12-7-3 with a 0.928 SV% so far this season, taking over the starting job from Jaroslav Halak.

Oshie had three goals and three assists in three games as the Capitals went 2-0-1 last week. Three of those points came in the 8-7 OT loss to the Penguins. The pending-UFA has 31 points in 38 games for the Capitals, and ranked fourth on PHR’s Top 20 UFA list.

  • The Calgary Flames are facing a crisis of confidence after being hammered by their division rivals, writes Mark Spector. The organization is facing some big questions, notably surrounding their top players’ ability to lead a championship team. Are Sean Monahan and Sam Bennett, with 30 and 18 points respectively, a Stanley Cup-calibre one-two punch up the middle? Does Johnny Gaudreau have the speed and temperament to get past the tight coverage? Who is the starting goalie of the future? The Flames are a fragile team, with Edmonton speeding past them in the rebuilding process and tonight’s opponent, Toronto, looking like they’re on a much better path back to the playoffs.
  • It’s not looking good for the Tampa Bay Lightning. After their 5-3 loss to the lowly Arizona Coyotes, the Lightning are currently last in the Eastern Conference. Tampa Bay Times writer Joe Smith tweeted a bleak stat for Lightning fans: since 1993-94, only two teams have made the playoffs after sitting last in their conference on January 22. The 1997 Ottawa Senators and 2009 St. Louis Blues are the only two teams to accomplish the feat.

Kevin Hayes Out 2-3 Weeks

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The New York Rangers will be without forward Kevin Hayes for the next 2-3 weeks.

Hayes had been on a hot streak as of late, with seven points in his previous six games before leaving Sunday’s matinée against the Red Wings in the third period. The Rangers announced that Hayes underwent an MRI on Monday morning and will be out of the lineup with a lower-body injury.

The big forward is on pace to set career-highs in goals, assists, and points. Despite the prognosis, that’s still achievable thanks to the All-Star break. A two week absence would mean five games in the press box; three weeks would see him miss nine games. Hayes has 35 points in 47 games this season, good for third on the Rangers. He’s previously scored 45 and 36 points in his first two seasons.

It’s a tough break for the Rangers, who were just beginning to get healthy. Dan Rosen, of NHL.com, tweets that Hayes’ injury means Matt Puempel will be around longer, despite Rick Nash, Mika Zibanejad, and Pavel Buchnevich all returning to the lineup.

Snapshots: Coyotes, Bruins, Ellis

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The Arizona Coyotes swapped forwards with their AHL affiliate on Friday morning, according to GM John Chayka.

Laurent Dauphin is making his way to the Tucson Roadrunners while Christian Fischer will take his place on the NHL roster. Fischer has 16 goals and 32 points in 31 games in the AHL, which puts him first in goals and second in points on the Roadrunners. The 32nd-overall pick in the 2015 draft has been named to the AHL All-Star Classic. Meanwhile Dauphin has three points in 24 games with the big club.

The Coyotes have lost four games in a row, and are currently in 29th with a 13-26-6 record.

  • The floundering Boston Bruins will publicly address their coaching situation tomorrow, according to Bruins reporter Jimmy Murphy. Murphy quotes “numerous sources” as saying the team will speak regardless of the outcome of tonight’s game versus the Chicago Blackhawks. The Bruins have 52 points, which has them third in the Atlantic Division as of today, but they have played five more games than the teams above and below them. They have four wins in their past 10 games. Murphy tweets that the team’s management has “created a PR mess” by not publicly addressing the situation. This is Claude Julien’s 10th season as head coach of the Bruins.
  • Adam Vingan of the Tennessean tweeted an interesting fact, via Elias Sports. When Ryan Ellis scored twice against Calgary on Thursday night, he lost out on a Predators’ team record. Ellis had the most goals (35 before last night) in his Predators career without having a multi-goal game. That record now belongs to former Predator Dan Hamhuis, who had 32 goals during his six seasons with Nashville.

Maple Leafs Re-Claim Seth Griffith On Waivers

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For the third time this season, Seth Griffith has been claimed on waivers.

The Bruins lost him to the Maple Leafs in the pre-season, who lost him to the Panthers after just three games, and now the Maple Leafs have taken him back.

Griffith had five assists in 21 games with the Panthers, but was a healthy scratch in seven of Florida’s past eight games.

Though Griffith is small by NHL standards at 5’9, teams are clearly fascinated by his potential. Griffith has played in 58 NHL games with those three teams, recording six goals and 16 points. His production at the AHL level has been much better; he had 77 points in just 57 games with the Providence Bruins in 2015-16.

Blue Notes: Shattenkirk, Copley, Allen, Coaching

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Much digital ink has already been spilled on the St. Louis Blues and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.

As our Brian La Rose wrote yesterday, most hockey insiders believe Shattenkirk is committed to becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer. However, the Blues are not looking like a serious contender, having lost six of their last 10 games. Goaltender Jake Allen is sporting an ugly 0.897 SV% in his first year as the Blues’ starter.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie appeared on TSN Edmonton radio on Friday morning and suggested the Blues could raise their asking price for Shattenkirk by talking to him and his agent to find out his ideal landing spot. The Blues could facilitate contract talks before completing the rare sign and trade, meaning the new team could get Shattenkirk on an eight-year contract and the Blues can get a higher price for the offensive defenseman compared to trading him as a rental.

The Blues may not be opposed to that option, as they did something similar at last year’s NHL Draft. The Arizona Coyotes and Edmonton Oilers were both granted permission to speak with Shattenkirk. The Coyotes reportedly made some progress, but the Oilers were told Shattenkirk wasn’t interested in signing long-term. Had he expressed interest in signing in Edmonton, it’s entirely possible that Taylor Hall could have been a St. Louis Blue instead of a New Jersey Devil.

According to Darren Dreger, Shattenkirk could have interest in signing long-term with Anaheim, Boston, Colorado, Detroit, New York (Rangers), San Jose, and Toronto. The Rangers are believed to be the front-runners at this time.

  • The Blues have recalled Pheonix Copley from the Chicago Wolves. Copley is 11-4-1 with a 0.920 SV% with the Wolves. Neither of the Blues’ current goaltenders are injured, but Allen and Carter Hutton have the worst combined SV% in the NHL at 0.895.
  • On their morning roundtable, ESPN insiders discussed the pros and cons of the Blues’ two-coach system. Ken Hitchcock is in his final year while Mike Yeo was brought in to eventually replace him; both men are behind the bench this season, however. While they agree that neither the coaches nor the system are to blame for the Blues’ struggles, Pierre LeBrun wonders “whether [Hitchcock] will last the rest of the season if the Blues keep producing uneven results,” especially considering his replacement is already in place.

Clarke MacArthur Done For The Season

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Ottawa Senators winger Clarke MacArthur will not play this season after suffering a concussion back in training camp.

Senators GM Pierre Dorion said the decision was made after discussions with “numerous doctors,” who all indicated that MacArthur shouldn’t play hockey this year.

MacArthur missed all but four games of the 2015-16 season with a concussion, but his return ended before it started when he took a high hit from defenseman Patrick Sieloff during a scrimmage. MacArthur had to be helped off the ice as his teammates rushed Sieloff to confront his about the hit. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reported that MacArthur hoped to return by the All-Star break, but a recent baseline test and examination nixed that. Two concussion experts deemed a return this season to be too risky, so while MacArthur has said he doesn’t want to retire, it may not be up to him. Dorion said MacArthur is “devastated” by the news, but he’s going to stay with the team and continue to work out with hopes of an eventual return.

MacArthur is in the second year of a five-year pact which pays him $4.65MM per season. He’s been on LTIR for all of this season and much of last one. Dorion was asked about his efforts to replace MacArthur via the trade market; he told Garrioch that “the prices are ridiculous, almost.”

There is some good news for Senators fans, however. Goaltender Craig Anderson will permanently return to the team sometime in late January or early February. Anderson has been away from the Senators on-and-off since late October when his wife, Nicholle, was diagnosed with cancer. Her cancer has responded well to treatment so Craig should be good to stay with the team.

Snapshots: Kreider, Hanzal, Carlson, Corrado

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The New York Rangers and Dallas Stars have met twice this season, and NHL Player Safety has had to get involved both times.

Back in December, Stars center Cody Eakin earned a four-game suspension for running over Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist (Streamable link of incident). The two teams met again last night, and Eakin was involved in another incident, though this time it was on the receiving end. Early in the second period, Chris Kreider picked a fight with Eakin, likely out of retribution for Eakin’s run-in with Lundqvist. During the fight, Kreider grabbed Eakin’s helmet and hit Eakin in the head with it (GIF via @myregularface).

Kreider has been fined $5K for the incident, which is the maximum allowable fine under the CBA. Under NHL rules, Kreider should have been ejected for attempting to “deliberately [injure] an opponent by throwing a stick or any other object or piece of equipment at an opposing player.”

Instead, he only received the usual five-minute major for fighting. The swing happened quickly, so perhaps the referees missed it or didn’t deem it to be a deliberate action.

  • The struggling Arizona Coyotes will be without one of their top players when they visit the Winnipeg Jets. Martin Hanzal has left the team temporarily to “attend to a family matter,” according to Dave Vest of the Arizona Coyotes. Hanzal has 15 points in 37 games for the second-to-last-place Coyotes. He’s expected to be dealt sometime before the NHL trade deadline on March 1.
  • Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson is doubtful for Thursday night’s game in St. Louis, according to coach Barry Trotz (via Isabelle Khurshudyan). Carlson missed Monday night’s epic 8-7 loss in Pittsburgh with a lower-body injury. Carlson has 25 points in 43 games this year. Trotz said the team may call up a defenseman before next game; Khurshudyan believes Aaron Ness is the likely call-up. Ness has 16 points in 31 games with the Hershey Bears.
  • While Morgan Rielly being out day-to-day is bad news for Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s good news for Frankie Corrado. Corrado has appeared in just one game at the NHL level this season, and will get a short window to make a good impression on Mike Babcock. Corrado told TSN’s Kristen Shilton that he’s “a hockey player, so it’s nice to play hockey.”

Patrik Laine Returns To Ice, Still No Timetable For Return

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Some good news for Winnipeg Jets fans this morning: Patrik Laine skated this morning.

It was the first time Laine has skated since suffering a concussion earlier this month. Despite the good news, head coach Paul Maurice re-iterated that “there is no time-frame” for his star rookie’s return. When asked about how the young left winger looked, Maurice said Laine looked fantastic, but jokingly complained that “his shot is off.”

Laine was concussed in a head-on-head collision with Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe back on January 7. McCabe also took some damage in the hit. TSN analyst and former NHLer Shane Hnidy reported that Laine will be monitored daily to “determine progress going forward.”

Laine had been having a tremendous offensive season before being hurt; he had 21 goals and 37 points in 42 games. At the time of the concussion, Laine was tied for third in league goal scoring with Auston Matthews. While Matthews has passed Laine by one goal and one point, Laine’s offensive numbers have been very impressive. Laine and Matthews appear to be two of the frontrunners for the Calder Trophy, provided Laine is able to return soon and continue scoring at the same pace.

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