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What Your Team Is Thankful For: Florida Panthers

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Florida Panthers.  Click here for the other articles in this series. 

What are the Panthers most thankful for?

Their young core that is locked up long-term.  In Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, and Jonathan Huberdeau, they have a trio of high-quality forwards aged 25 or younger that are all signed to below-market contracts for at least three more years.  They also have defenseman Aaron Ekblad (22) locked up for seven seasons and while his deal is a bit of an overpayment for now, it could look better a couple of years from now as he continues to improve.  These four players represent a very strong foundation for GM Dale Tallon to build around for the foreseeable future.

Who are the Panthers most thankful for?

Beyond that core group, they’re certainly thankful for offseason acquisition Mike Hoffman.  The winger was picked up for a collection of four draft picks (most of them of the depth variety) and he has had no issues adapting to his new team.  The 27-year-old is third on the team in scoring and is on pace for a career year offensively.  He has been particularly effective on the power play with a dozen of his 26 points coming with the man advantage.  That’s quite a pickup without giving anything away from their roster and considering he has another year left on his contract with a team-friendly cap hit of just under $5.2MM, it’s a deal that has worked out spectacularly thus far.

What would the Panthers be even more thankful for?

Better goaltending, plain and simple.  Roberto Luongo has been okay when healthy but staying in the lineup has proven to be a challenge.  At the age of 39, that’s likely going to continue to be a concern.  They’re paying big money to James Reimer to give them above average goaltending but he has struggled mightily this season, posting career-worst numbers in the process.  Florida has done a decent job scoring goals so far so getting even league average goaltending could be enough to get them going again.  They haven’t had that level of play too often in 2018-19.

What should be on the Panthers’ Holiday Wish List?

Given Reimer’s struggles (plus those of third-stringer Michael Hutchinson), extra goaltending depth should certainly be on the list and if things don’t improve, they may have to move on that sooner rather than later.  Beyond that, a top-six forward would be a helpful addition with Trocheck out long-term and would really improve their overall attack when he returns.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: DeBrusk, Daley, Jokinen, Forsling

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Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk will miss both games this weekend, notes Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston.  Head coach Bruce Cassidy noted that DeBrusk is “not feeling well physically” which has led to some speculation he may be dealing with a delayed onset of concussion symptoms after he took a puck to the head late last month; the winger indicated he wasn’t feeling particularly well on Thursday against Tampa Bay either.  His absence will open up a spot for center Gemel Smith who was acquired via waivers earlier this week.

More from around the hockey world:

  • Although he has resumed skating, Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley will miss his fifth straight game tonight due to a lower-body injury, reports Dana Gauruder of the Detroit Free Press. The 35-year-old is off to a quiet start to his season with just a single goal and four assists through 21 games.  That means that Luke Witkowski will likely be counted on to serve as a defenseman once again; he has predominantly played on the wing this year.
  • Winger Jussi Jokinen is no longer with Kloten of the Swiss NLB. A report from Roland Jauch of Tages Anzeiger mentions that he has returned to his home in Florida and is hoping to get a look with an NHL team.  If the 35-year-old is unable to land a deal in North America, it’s believed that he’s opening to returning to Switzerland although it wouldn’t be surprising if he landed with a team in the top division this time around.
  • The Blackhawks announced that they have placed defenseman Gustav Forsling on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. The placement was made retroactive to December 5th so he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as Wednesday.  Taking his place on the active roster is fellow blueliner Connor Murphy who was activated off IR.  He’s expected to make his season debut on Sunday against Montreal.

Pacific Notes: Sharks, Carter, Hinostroza

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The Sharks could soon turn to the trade market to address their struggles on the fourth line, suggests Paul Gackle of The Mercury News.  The team has tried four different players in the fourth line center position with none of them having any extended success.  Head coach Peter DeBoer is a proponent of running a four-line attack and the struggles of San Jose’s bottom trio has made that a difficult proposition.

GM Doug Wilson has had to make moves to shore up that line in recent years.  Last season, he picked up Eric Fehr in a midseason move while in 2016, he added Nick Spaling via a trade and Dainius Zubrus as a free agent.  They can add a player making roughly $1.6MM right now per CapFriendly so if they intend on filling other holes between now and the deadline, they may want to wait a little bit before attempting to add a fourth line pivot.

Elsewhere around the Pacific:

  • Although Kings center Jeff Carter has struggled considerably this season, Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic (subscription required) believes that the time may be right for the team to move him. As a result of his back-diving contract, the financial outlay over the final three years of his deal is just $7MM in total which would make him attractive to lower-spending teams while his cap hit of roughly $5.27MM isn’t overly pricey for a top-six forward and would still carry some value.  The 33-year-old has been quiet offensively this season with just five goals and nine assists in 29 games but a change of scenery might give him a boost.  Carter does not have any trade protection in his contract.
  • On top of missing goalie Antti Raanta on a week-to-week basis, Coyotes winger Vinnie Hinostroza has received the same designation, notes Craig Morgan of The Athletic (Twitter link). He sustained a lower-body injury on Thursday night against Washington.  Arizona is now missing six regular players out of their lineup as they look to hang around the postseason picture.

Ducks Sign GM Bob Murray To A Two-Year Extension

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Bob Murray will be sticking around in Anaheim for a few more years as the team announced that they have given their GM a two-year contract extension.  His current deal runs through the 2019-20 season so this ensures that he will be in the fold through the 2021-22 campaign.  Ducks CEO Michael Schulman released the following statement:

“Bob has created a winning organization with his commitment and expertise. We are very pleased to be in a position where expectations are high virtually every season, thanks in large part to Bob and his staff. We passionately share a common goal – bringing another Stanley Cup to Orange County.”

Murray first joined the team in 2005 as their senior vice-president of hockey operations.  In November of 2008, he was promoted to the GM role, taking over from Brian Burke.  Over that span, Anaheim has made the postseason eight out of a possible ten times while he was named GM of the Year back in the 2013-14 season.

The Ducks have done a strong job when it comes to drafting and developing players in Murray’s tenure; nine of their top twelve scorers this season were either drafted by the team or signed as an undrafted free agent so it’s certainly understandable that they’ve decided to keep the person largely responsible for that in the fold.

One area that will need to be addressed in the very near future is their salary cap situation.  Anaheim has nearly $74MM committed for next season already with just 16 players signed.  Even if the salary cap jumps to roughly $83MM as has been speculated, that doesn’t leave them a lot of wiggle room to re-sign pending UFA winger Jakob Silfverberg, re-sign or replace backup goalie Ryan Miller, and add to their team.  With this extension, Murray now knows he has the full backing of the organization to navigate through this and continue to shape their roster.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that the Ducks were working on an extension with Murray.

Sabres Not Currently Active On The Trade Market

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The Sabres have been one of the biggest surprises around the NHL in the early going this season.  Instead of being on the outside looking in at a playoff spot, they have one of the top records in the league.  With that in mind, some have wondered if Buffalo may want to start looking to add to their roster.  In an appearance on WGR 550 (audio link), TSN’s Darren Dreger indicated that GM Jason Botterill isn’t engaged in any significant trade talks at the moment.

Instead, the focus in the short-term appears to be focusing on extension talks with pending UFA winger Jeff Skinner.  Last month, it was reported that talks on a new deal would start sometime this month but Dreger notes that the Sabres intend to slow play these discussions.  Skinner is among the league leaders in goals this season and is positioned to land a substantial raise on his current $6MM salary.

Unlike some teams that are tighter to the salary cap, Buffalo has plenty of long-term flexibility.  The team has just shy of $56MM committed for next season per CapFriendly with just 13 players under contract.  Even if they get Skinner locked up, they’ll still have lots of space for next season.  However, their injuries have used up most of their cap room for this year as they’ve routinely been carrying well over 23 players on their roster as a result.  That certainly limits their ability to get a trade done in the short term.

As a result of their cap space beyond this season, when Botterill does decide to pursue help via trade, he won’t be restricted to the rental market and will be able to look at longer-term commitments.  Given where they are in terms of their roster setup, a multi-year addition may be the better way to go.  But until they get a read on Skinner’s situation and free up some extra cap room once some of their injured players return, the Sabres will be staying away from making any trades.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Edmonton Oilers

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Edmonton Oilers.  Click here for the other articles in this series. 

What are the Oilers most thankful for?

A very jumbled Pacific Division.  No team has truly run away as a contender just yet and second through seventh place are separated by just eight points.  As a result, Edmonton still is right in the thick of a push for a playoff spot despite not a whole lot going well.  They’ve fired their coach, are struggling to score, and have a goaltending controversy with their starter struggling.  Despite all that, they’re three points out of a top-three spot in the division.  There aren’t many times where that much can go wrong early on and still be that close to a postseason position but this is one of them.

Who are the Oilers most thankful for?

Could it be anyone other than Connor McDavid?  The two-time Art Ross Trophy winner is the top player in the NHL in the eyes of many and he continues to get better.  New bench boss Ken Hitchcock is using him even more with his playing time approaching 25 minutes a game most nights and the 21-year-old has shown he’s up to the task.  McDavid is the type of player that a franchise can be built around and he has already made a long-term commitment to the team, inking an eight-year deal with the team last season.  He’s the most expensive player in the league but he is living up to his price tag.

What would the Oilers be even more thankful for?

Getting some sort of positive contribution from Milan Lucic.  He was brought in with the hope that he could provide some grit and scoring alongside McDavid and in his first season with the team in 2016-17, he fared relatively well.  However, last season he struggled considerably while 2018-19 has been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster thus far.  He has just a single goal in 28 games while his playing time is down to just 14:28 per night, his lowest since his rookie season.  Considering he has four years left after this one with a $6MM cap hit on a contract that is basically buyout-proof thanks to the signing bonuses, the Oilers are stuck with him for the foreseeable future.  Finding a way to get any production out of him would be huge.

What should be on the Oilers’ Holiday Wish List?

While Edmonton has surprisingly had difficulties scoring this season, their focus should be shoring up their back end.  They have enough depth in the system but a top-four defenseman would go a long way towards bolstering their playoff chances, especially with a greater emphasis on defense under Hitchcock.  However, cap space is at a premium so they will likely have to move a notable contract out in order to get an impact defender.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mark Giordano Suspended For Two Games

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The Department of Player Safety announced that Flames defenseman Mark Giordano has received a two-game suspension from a kneeing incident involving Minnesota center Mikko Koivu on Thursday night.  In addition, the league also revealed that winger Ryan Lomberg has also been suspended one additional game on top of the automatic one-game suspension he received for instigating a fight in the final five minutes of that same contest.

Koivu sustained an injury on the play which may have factored into the league’s decision.  The team announced (Twitter link) that Koivu will not play tonight in Edmonton and has been sent home by the team for further evaluation.  There is no timetable for his return and his loss will certainly be felt as he sits tied for third on the Wild in scoring with 21 points in 27 games.

Both players will miss Calgary’s games against Edmonton and Nashville this weekend and will be eligible to return on Wednesday against Philadelphia.  They’re both first-time offenders so they will forfeit 2/186 of their respective cap hits.  As a result, the suspension will cost Giordano just over $72K while Lomberg loses a little under $8K.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Detroit Red Wings

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Detroit Red Wings.  Click here for the other articles in this series. 

What are the Red Wings most thankful for?

Their early-season resiliency.  Detroit got off to an abysmal start as they won just once in their first ten games and looked like early contenders to finish in the league basement.  However, they have picked up 11 wins in 18 games since that time and as a result, they now sit just three points out of a playoff spot heading into play on Thursday night.  Considering they’re doing this while placing some of their younger players in more prominent roles, management has to be encouraged with what they’ve seen as of late.

Who are the Red Wings most thankful for?

It wasn’t that long ago that some of the shine had worn off center Dylan Larkin.  He had followed up a strong rookie year with a mediocre sophomore campaign which had some questioning whether or not he’d be able to become a prominent fixture on their top line.  It’s safe to say those questions don’t exist anymore.

After a breakout 2017-18 season that saw Larkin post 63 points, he’s on pace to beat that this season if he maintains his current output.  He also is now among the league leaders in ice time among forwards, checking in at seventh overall at 21:34 per night.  On top of that, he has gone from being a below average player at the faceoff dot to one of Detroit’s best threats in that regard.  The improvement has been considerable and at just 22 years of age, it’s reasonable to think there could be more to come.

What would the Red Wings be even more thankful for?

More production from their veterans.  Thomas Vanek has just three goals in 20 games this year, a pace well short of his 24-goal output a year ago.  Frans Nielsen has only four goals on the season (and three of those came in a single game earlier this week against a career minor league goalie).  Justin Abdelkader also sits at just four tallies.  Combined, the trio makes $12.5MM this season.  No matter how you slice it, that’s not a good return on their investment.

Beyond that, they’d be thrilled if they could find a way to keep their defense corps healthy.  No fewer than six players on their back end have missed multiple games already which has resulted in them having to call upon youngsters that aren’t quite NHL ready yet and that has cost them some games in the early going.

What should be on the Red Wings’ Holiday Wish List?

With all of the injuries they’ve had on their back end, GM Ken Holland will likely be looking to supplement their depth at that position and considering there always seems to be one or two out, that’s something they may want to add sooner than later.  Up front, with their secondary scoring lacking and injuries to Anthony Mantha and Darren Helm that will keep them out for a little while yet, they may want to try to add some help in that department as well.  However, even with the usage of LTIR, their cap space is limited so the odds of them being able to get help both up front and on the blueline are low.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Guentzel, Byfuglien, Kulikov, Murphy

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Penguins winger Jake Guentzel was open to beginning discussions regarding a contract extension back in the offseason, notes Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription required).  However, GM Jim Rutherford indicated at the time that his preference was to negotiate a new deal next summer.  While that may have been disappointing at the time for Guentzel, it’s fair to suggest that this worked out quite well for him.  The 24-year-old has 22 points through 26 games so far this season which puts him on pace for 69, a number that would vastly surpass his previous career best of 48.  Although he’s still on his entry-level deal, Guentzel is eligible for salary arbitration next summer so he is well-positioned to land a substantial raise on his current $734K cap hit and almost assuredly more than if he signed an extension last summer.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • The Jets could have a key defenseman back in their lineup on Friday. Postmedia’s Ken Wiebe notes that there’s a good chance Dustin Byfuglien will return after missing the last four games with a concussion.  That would be a big boost to their back end as he leads all Winnipeg blueliners in scoring (17 points) while leading the team in playing time per game (24:24).  Meanwhile, fellow rearguard Dmitry Kulikov could also return from his upper-body injury that he sustained early last month.  His initial timeline for recovery was mid-December so he certainly appears to be ahead of schedule.
  • Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy took contact in practice for the first time this week and could return as soon as Sunday, reports Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times. The veteran has missed the entire season since undergoing back surgery in September and while he hasn’t been a big point producer in the past, he’ll give them some extra depth on their back end and likely slot into a third pairing role.  Chicago is currently carrying the maximum 23 players allowable on their roster so they will have to make a move over the next couple of days if they want him to play this weekend.

Metropolitan Notes: Flyers, Sorokin, Rangers Injuries

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While the expectation in Philadelphia is for them to push for the playoffs this season, TSN’s Bob McKenzie notes in the latest TSN Insider Trading (video link) that their plan isn’t to start trading away high draft picks or top prospects to get the short-term help to put them over the hump.  Instead, he reports that the two items on new Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher’s list are to look for an upgrade between the pipes and evaluate head coach Dave Hakstol to see if he should have a long-term future with the team still.

Goaltending has been an issue for Philly all season long and for quite a few years before this one.  Brian Elliott has been passable but has had injury troubles while veteran backup Michal Neuvirth has battled numerous injuries.  Veteran Calvin Pickard struggled and is now gone after being waived so Anthony Stolarz is currently up in a number two role.  None of these players project to be long-term starters for the team so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Flyers target someone who can serve as a reliable starter for a couple of years and serve as a bridge to top prospect Carter Hart.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • While the Islanders would like to bring top goalie prospect Ilya Sorokin to North America as soon as possible, it doesn’t appear that his KHL team is open to letting him go. Igor Eronko of Sport-Express (Twitter link) spoke with Sorokin’s agent who indicated that CSKA Moscow has no intention of letting him go until the expiration of his current contract in 2020.  The 23-year-old is once again one of the top goalies in the KHL, posting a stellar 1.19 GAA with a .941 SV% through 22 games but it appears he’ll have to wait a while yet to join the Islanders, even if he’d like to come over after this season as Arthur Staple of The Athletic reported (subscription required) earlier today.
  • The Rangers appear to be set to get some help up front in time for Saturday’s game against Florida. Newsday’s Colin Stephenson reports that wingers Pavel Buchnevich, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Mats Zuccarello could all play in that game.  Buchnevich has missed the better part of a month due to a broken thumb, Namestnikov has missed three straight with a concussion, while Zuccarello has played just twice in the last month due to recurring groin issues.

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