Injury Updates: Lightning, Barron, Sandin, Jensen
Several injured Tampa Bay players appear to be nearing a return to the lineup. Team reporter Chris Krenn notes (Twitter links) that forwards Tyler Motte and Luke Glendening along with defenseman Haydn Fleury all took part in a full practice today in advance on Sunday’s series opener against Florida. Motte missed the final week of the season with a lower-body injury, Glendening was scratched for their regular season finale with an undisclosed injury, while Fleury has been out the last two weeks with an upper-body issue. All three players play depth roles for the Lightning, the forwards on their fourth line and Fleury as a seventh defenseman; all should see action in the opening round at some point.
Meanwhile, Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times adds (Twitter link) that blueliner Mikhail Sergachev also skated in a regular (full contact) jersey. He has already been ruled out for the start of the playoffs since undergoing leg surgery back in February but this is certainly a key step toward potentially returning later in the opening round. Sergachev logged over 22 minutes a night for the Lightning this season and his potential return down the road would undoubtedly give their back end a significant boost.
Other injury news heading into the opening games of the playoffs:
- Jets center Morgan Barron won’t be available for their series opener against Colorado tomorrow, relays Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press (Twitter link). The 25-year-old left Tuesday’s win over Seattle in the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return. Barron was a quality fourth liner for Winnipeg this season, chipping in with ten goals despite logging just 10:30 per night. One of David Gustafsson and Cole Perfetti will likely take Barron’s spot in the lineup.
- Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin practiced today in a non-contact jersey, notes NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has missed the last two weeks with an upper-body injury and with the non-contact designation, it seems unlikely he’ll be able to suit up in the series opener against the Rangers on Sunday. Sandin was an important part of Washington’s back end this season, logging over 21 minutes a night while collecting 23 points in 68 games.
- Sandin wasn’t the only injured Washington blueliner who took to the ice today as Gulitti adds (Twitter link) that Nick Jensen also practiced in a non-contact jersey. Jensen suffered an upper-body injury last week against Tampa Bay and was stretchered off the ice. The 33-year-old spent a lot of time on the Capitals’ second pairing this season, picking up 13 points while averaging a little under 20 minutes a night. Like Sandin, the non-contact designation likely means he won’t be available on Sunday either.
Penguins Sign Tristan Broz
After helping lead the University of Denver to the NCAA title, Pittsburgh prospect Tristan Broz has decided the time is right to turn pro. The Penguins announced that they’ve inked the forward to a three-year, entry-level contract that begins in 2024-25. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 21-year-old was a second-round pick by the Penguins back in 2021, going 58th overall after a strong season with USHL Fargo. He made the jump to the college ranks the following year but had a very quiet freshman season at the University of Minnesota, resulting in Broz entering the transfer portal after that campaign came to an end.
The decision to transfer worked out quite well as Broz had a strong first year in Denver, collecting 10 goals and 18 assists. He then improved on that again this past season, tallying 16 goals and 24 helpers in 34 games, finishing fourth on the Pioneers in scoring. He scored a pair of overtime winners in the tournament, landing a spot on the All-Tournament Team for his efforts.
While Pittsburgh’s season has ended with the Penguins not qualifying for the playoffs, Broz’s year hasn’t ended just yet. He has joined AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an amateur tryout agreement and will be eligible to suit up for them down the stretch. The Baby Pens sit third in the Atlantic Division on the penultimate day of the AHL’s regular season and have already clinched a playoff spot.
Penguins, Sidney Crosby To Discuss Extension This Summer
With the Penguins missing the playoffs for the second straight year and the team potentially heading for some sort of reset, some have wondered if they could consider parting with franchise icon Sidney Crosby. However, speaking with reporters today including Justin Guerriero of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the captain certainly isn’t thinking like that, indicating that he expects to have talks about a contract extension this summer.
It will be the first time in quite a while that Crosby will be discussing a new deal. He’s about to enter the final year of a 12-year agreement signed back in 2012. That contract, with a term and a back-diving structure that is now illegal throughout the league, carries an $8.7MM AAV, the price tag he has had every year since the 2008-09 campaign.
In some ways, not a lot has changed over those years. Crosby has produced over a point per game in each of his 19 NHL campaigns, routinely leading the Penguins in scoring. Even this season, Crosby had the third-highest goal total of his career (42) along with his highest point total (94) since the 2018-19 campaign. Suffice it to say, those are impressive numbers, especially for a 36-year-old.
Many players Crosby’s age use their performance as a barometer for when the time might be right to hang up the skates but that isn’t necessarily the case for the captain:
I’ve always just gone year to year, and that’s always served me well as far as how I evaluate my game and that sort of thing. There’s always a lot of factors, but I think that’s separate from talking contracts and, at my age and things like that, there’ll be a lot of factors. But as far as just evaluating my game, I don’t look any differently at how much longer I can play based off that.
Crosby can’t sign his next contract until July 1st as players must be in the final year of their existing deal before becoming extension-eligible. While the Penguins certainly need to start to make their core younger, they’d be taking a big step back if they can’t reach a new deal with him. That said, given how smoothly talks have gone in the past, it definitely wouldn’t be surprising if an agreement wasn’t in place at some point in the summer.
Seamus Casey Undecided On Turning Pro
This is the time of year when many college players will elect to forego the remainder of their college eligibility and sign their first professional contract. Plenty have done so already, some of which have already made their NHL debuts. One player who hasn’t made a decision at this time is Devils prospect Seamus Casey. Speaking with reporters today during his end-of-season press conference (video link), GM Tom Fitzgerald indicated that Casey hasn’t made a firm decision yet on his future but believes he might be inclined to sign with New Jersey:
If I was a betting man, I would say he’s probably leaning toward turning pro but with that being said, we talked to him right before the National Championship weekend, he wasn’t sure, there wasn’t any pressure from us. To me, if you forfeit the rest of your college career, you need to be more than two feet in the water. You have to jump right in and you have to really want this. Any hesitations, then it may not work. So we’re going to give him all the time he needs.
The 20-year-old was a second-round pick by the Devils back in 2022 (46th overall) and recently wrapped up his sophomore year at Michigan. It was certainly a strong one as Casey had seven goals and 38 assists in 40 games, good for third-most among NCAA blueliners behind draft-eligible Zeev Buium and Lane Hutson. Casey also took part in the World Juniors for the second straight year, collecting six assists in as many contests.
If Casey decides to stay in college, he’ll be remaining with a team that will be missing some key pieces as Frank Nazar, Gavin Brindley, and Dylan Duke have all elected to turn pro. That said, the core isn’t entirely gone as Rutger McGroarty is still there while undrafted forward T.J. Hughes – one of their top scorers this season – still has two years of eligibility remaining.
On the other hand, if Casey turns pro now, there might not be a spot for him on New Jersey’s roster to start next season. Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec are two players on their entry-level deals on the back end already while they’ll also be welcoming back Dougie Hamilton from injury. Accordingly, if the choice is between playing in the AHL or staying in college, Casey could determine it’s better to do the latter.
With the deadline for registering a contract that burns a year this season now having passed earlier today, there’s no rush for Casey to make a decision, especially since New Jersey’s AHL team is in tough to make the playoffs. Accordingly, it may take a while yet before the blueliner decides on his future.
Brad Malone To Retire After The Season
Veteran winger Brad Malone is in his 13th professional season and it will be his last. AHL Bakersfield announced that this will be his final year and that the Oilers farmhand will be retiring at the conclusion of the upcoming postseason.
The 34-year-old was originally drafted by Colorado, going 105th overall back in 2007 but didn’t turn pro until the 2011-12 campaign. Malone spent parts of three seasons with the Avs before signing on for two years in Carolina, followed by one with Washington.
In 2017, Malone joined Edmonton in free agency and has stuck with that organization ever since; he’s on his fourth contract with the team. He has spent most of his time with the Condors during that time but did get into 41 games with the Oilers, ten of which came last season. This year, the veteran has 17 points through 48 contests in the minors with two games left on their regular season schedule.
All told, Malone will wrap up his career with 217 appearances at the top level where he had 32 points. He also has suited up in 551 AHL contests so far, tallying 290 points, a quality career for a player selected in the middle of the draft. Now, he’ll look to go out on a high note with a strong postseason run with the Condors having already sewn up a spot in the Pacific Division.
Snapshots: Drysdale, Thompson, Lee, Draft Lottery, Playoffs
It was a tough season for Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale as he battled injury woes at multiple parts of the year. Speaking with reporters today (video link), the blueliner indicated that when he was in the lineup, he was often playing hurt and that he might need a procedure done this summer to get back to full health for next season. The 22-year-old was the centerpiece of the return they received for Cutter Gauthier back in January but he was limited to just 24 games with his new team and 34 on the season, a year after playing in only eight contests in 2022-23. Drysdale is still viewed as a key piece of Philadelphia’s future and they’ll certainly be hoping that he can not only stay healthy but be an impactful player next season.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- During his end-of-season media conference (video link), Sabres GM Kevyn Adams indicated that the lower-body injury that Tage Thompson sustained in Monday’s season finale against Tampa Bay will take a few weeks to heal. Accordingly, he won’t play for Team USA at the upcoming Worlds. After a slow start to his year, Thompson wound up collecting 29 goals and 27 assists in 71 games, an output that was down from the past two seasons but was still good enough to finish with three points of the team lead.
- Islanders winger Anders Lee was a late scratch for their game tonight against Pittsburgh but it wasn’t for injury reasons. Instead, the team announced (Twitter link) that the veteran was scratched for personal reasons. Lee’s season comes to an end with 20 goals and 17 assists in 81 games. He also chipped in with a career-high 176 hits despite having his lowest ATOI (15:34) since the 2016-17 campaign.
- The draft lottery will be held on either May 6th or 7th, pending finalization of the first-round schedule, relays David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). The lottery will set the order for the first 16 selections for the upcoming draft in June.
- The league announced the first game for each of the four Eastern Conference playoff series. Two series will begin on Saturday and two on Sunday. The full schedule for each series will be released at a later date. Heading into tonight’s action, three of the four series in the West weren’t set so those schedules aren’t likely to come for another couple of days.
2024 King Clancy Trophy Nominees Announced
Today, the NHL announced the 32 nominees for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, annually presented to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”
Each team submitted their nominee; they are as follows:
Anaheim Ducks: Cam Fowler
Arizona Coyotes: Nick Bjugstad
Boston Bruins: Linus Ullmark
Buffalo Sabres: Alex Tuch
Calgary Flames: Andrew Mangiapane
Carolina Hurricanes: Jaccob Slavin
Chicago Blackhawks: Connor Murphy
Colorado Avalanche: Cale Makar
Columbus Blue Jackets: Zach Werenski
Dallas Stars: Jake Oettinger
Detroit Red Wings: Dylan Larkin
Edmonton Oilers: Darnell Nurse
Florida Panthers: Aleksander Barkov
Los Angeles Kings: Kevin Fiala
Minnesota Wild: Marc-Andre Fleury
Montreal Canadiens: Nick Suzuki
Nashville Predators: Roman Josi
New Jersey Devils: Jack Hughes
New York Islanders: Anders Lee
New York Rangers: Jacob Trouba
Ottawa Senators: Brady Tkachuk
Philadelphia Flyers: Scott Laughton
Pittsburgh Penguins: Bryan Rust
San Jose Sharks: Luke Kunin
Seattle Kraken: Jaden Schwartz
St. Louis Blues: Brayden Schenn
Tampa Bay Lightning: Nick Paul
Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews
Vancouver Canucks: Quinn Hughes
Vegas Golden Knights: Jack Eichel
Washington Capitals: Tom Wilson
Winnipeg Jets: Josh Morrissey
Unlike most awards which are voted on by the players or media, the winner of this award is selected by a committee consisting of Commissioner Gary Bettman and former winners of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and the NHL Foundation Player Award, one that was awarded from 1997-98 through 2016-17.
Last year’s winner was Calgary’s Mikael Backlund. The winner for this season will be revealed in late June.
Ryan Leonard To Remain At Boston College Next Season
Following a dominant freshman year at Boston College and the fact that the Capitals are heading to the playoffs, some wondered if prospect Ryan Leonard would opt to turn pro and potentially suit up for Washington in the postseason. However, that will not be the case as GM Brian MacLellan released a statement (Twitter link) announcing that Leonard will return for his sophomore year:
Ryan Leonard indicated his desire to return for his sophomore season at Boston College. We support Ryan’s decision to return to one of the best programs in the nation to continue his development. Ryan showed great leadership and made tremendous progress during his first year, which saw him score the most goals by a freshman in Boston College program history and the third-most goals in the NCAA. We will continue to monitor his development and progress next year and look forward to watching Ryan build upon his successful freshman season.
The 19-year-old was the eighth overall pick back in June and has only seen his stock go up since then. Leonard appeared in 41 games with the Eagles this season, tallying 31 goals and 29 assists, good for third on the team in scoring but also fourth in NCAA Division I scoring. He played a key role for Boston College on their way to the Frozen Four finals where they were ousted by the University of Denver.
Now, Leonard will set his sights on helping the Eagles have another long run next season. While they’ve lost Cutter Gauthier to the pros, their forward group still features – for now, at least – Will Smith and Gabe Perreault, two high-scoring first-rounders from last year, giving Boston College a very strong core to work from to do just that.
Oilers Recall Sam Gagner And Adam Erne
The Oilers will have some extra depth on hand for their final couple of games of the season. The team announced today that they’ve recalled forwards Sam Gagner and Adam Erne from AHL Bakersfield.
Gagner had an extended PTO with Edmonton back in training camp but was converted to a full-season deal back at the end of October. Since then, he has split time between the Oilers and Condors. The 34-year-old has been reasonably productive in limited minutes with Edmonton, tallying five goals and five assists in 27 games while averaging a little over ten minutes a night. He has fared better in the minors on a per-game basis, collecting three goals and six helpers in 15 contests.
As for Erne, he also signed in-season with the Oilers, inking a two-way deal back on October 13th. The 28-year-old has suited up 23 times for Edmonton so far but has just two points along with 67 hits while logging less than eight minutes a night. Meanwhile, in Bakersfield, Erne has six goals and six assists through 35 contests.
Both players are set to become unrestricted free agents in July and aren’t expected to be in the lineup tonight against Arizona. However, they could suit up on Thursday versus Colorado if the team decides to rest some forwards heading into the playoffs.
Five Key Stories: 4/8/24 – 4/14/24
With the playoffs now just days away, there was plenty of news of note around the hockey world. We recap the biggest news from the past seven days in our key stories.
Coyotes To Salt Lake City? Early in the week, it came out that an alternate schedule was being drafted that had the Coyotes playing out of Salt Lake City. Soon after, momentum increased toward a full relocation and while it hasn’t officially been announced yet (that should come as soon as this week), things are trending in that direction with players reportedly being told that the move is happening. With an uncertain arena situation in Arizona, this is an outcome that the league and NHLPA will both likely be pleased with. However, this might not be the end of NHL hockey in Arizona. Outgoing owner Alex Meruelo is believed to have a five-year window to trigger an expansion franchise, giving him ample time to secure a new arena, whether it’s by winning the current auction that will end in June or on another site altogether.
Golden Knights Get Stronger: Vegas got a big boost to their lineup early in the week when they activated center Tomas Hertl off LTIR. One of their key deadline pickups, Hertl will give the Golden Knights another impact center and some more firepower. When they acquired him, it was expected that Hertl would be available for the stretch run, allowing him to get some games in before the playoffs. Meanwhile, captain Mark Stone has been cleared to return to practice as he works his way back from a lacerated spleen. Vegas used Stone’s LTIR savings to make their trade deadline additions so they won’t be able to activate him now as they did for Hertl. However, with a full week next week of practice, the winger might be available when the playoffs get underway.
Sticking Around: One of the other players Vegas added at the deadline using Stone’s LTIR placement is defenseman Noah Hanifin. He won’t be a short-term rental after all, however, as he signed an eight-year, $58.8MM contract extension. The $7.35MM AAV will make the 27-year-old the second-highest-paid blueliner on the Golden Knights behind Alex Pietrangelo ($8.8MM). Hanifin has seen his offensive output increase in recent years while remaining a strong defensive blueliner, making him a relatively safe bet for this long of an extension. Worth noting is that Vegas now has over $85MM in commitments for next season already, per CapFriendly. While Robin Lehner’s $5MM will likely stay on LTIR giving them a bit more wiggle room, Jonathan Marchessault, Anthony Mantha, and Chandler Stephenson are among the players who need new deals and it will be near-impossible to keep all of them around.
Not Sticking Around: When the buzzer sounds at the end of the game on Thursday against Vegas, Ducks winger Jakob Silfverberg’s NHL career will come to an end as he announced he plans to retire from the NHL. The 33-year-old started his career with Ottawa but was moved to Anaheim the following season and has stayed there ever since, spanning 11 seasons. In his prime, he was an impactful two-way player with a stretch of four 20-goal seasons in five years. Since then, he has become more of a depth piece and rather than search for a new contract in free agency, Silfverberg will instead return to play back home in Sweden.
Injury News: The Devils have been without their star center for the last few games as Jack Hughes underwent season-ending shoulder surgery. The 22-year-old ends his campaign with 74 points in just 62 games, his third straight year of averaging more than a point per game. Hughes is expected to make a full recovery in time for training camp in the fall. Meanwhile, their state rival got some good news on the injury front as center Filip Chytil was cleared to start skating with the Rangers. He has missed the majority of the season after sustaining what’s believed to be two concussions with the team shutting him down for the year back in January. Now, while he’ll undoubtedly be ramped up slowly, the 24-year-old could potentially return at some point in the playoffs which would certainly be a big boost to their lineup.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.